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The hardness of Pharaoh's heart, Exod. ix. 16. Rom. ix. 17. the obftinacy of Sihon king of Heshbon, Deut. ii. 30. and the unbelief of many of the jews, If. vi. 10. Mat. xiii. 14. Mark iv. 12. Luke viii. 10. John xii. 40. Acts xxviii. 26. Rom. xi. 8. are all afcribed to the purpose, act, or decree of God, who had important defigns to answer by means of these blameable determinations of men. On the other hand, when perfons believe and obey the gospel, it is afcribed to the divine influence upon their minds.

Mat. xi. 25. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou haft hid these things from the wife and prudent, and haft revealed them unte babes. Even fo, Father, for fo it seemed good in thy fight, John vi. 27. All that the Father giveth me fhall come to me. See alfo John 17. Acts xvi. 14. And the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, that she attended to the things that were spoken of Paul. Moreover, every thing of this nature is exprefsly referred to the arbitrary difpofition of God, in Rom. ix. 18, 23. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt fay, then, unto me, Why dotb be yet find fault, for who hath refifted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou, that thou repliest against God? Shall the thing formed fay unto him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the fame lump to make one vessel unto ho

nour,

nour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to fhew his wrath, and to make his power known, bath endured with much long-fuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to deftruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto glory.

To understand such paffages as thefe, we should confider, that in the language of the scriptures God is faid to do those things, which come to pafs according to the natural courfe of things, as well as to perform things of a miraculous nature; because they take place in confequence of the laws which he has originally established. And, certainly, if God had not made men liable to be feduced by temptation, they would not have finned, any more than they could embrace truth without the means of becoming acquainted with it; and it muft depend upon the good-pleasure of God whether he will afford men more, or fewer advantages for attaining to knowledge, virtue, and happiness. But, notwithstanding this, if the means have been fuch as would have been effectual, provided there had been no criminal prejudice to frustrate them, men are blamed, and God is juft and wife in punishing them, as well as in rewarding those whofe minds are fo difpofed, as to receive advantage from the means of virtue and knowledge which are afforded them.

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Now that in this fenfe the facred writers confidered God as just to all mankind, is evident from the many earnest exhortations and expoftulations addreffed to finners in the books of fcripture, and from the blame and reproach which men are reprefented as incurring, when they continue in vice and ignorance. It is not poffible that any persons could be fo inconfiftent with themfelves, as to exhort finners to repent, and to blame and reproach them for not repenting, if they did not confider them as having a natural power to comply with the exhortation. Nay, in this very paffage of the apostle Paul, which is, perhaps, the most favourable to the doctrine of abfolute decrees of any thing in all the books of fcripture, God is reprefented as enduring, with much long-fuffering, the veffels of wrath fitted to deftruction, which evidently implies that they had fufficient power and time to repent, and to prevent their impending deftruction; and therefore proves that their deftruction was not decreed, but in cafe of their impenitence.

How much foever, therefore, the facred writers refer to God, upon particular occafions, and whatever ufe they may fuppofe that his infinite wifdom will make of the errors and vices of fome individuals of mankind, in order to promote the interefts of truth and virtue more at large, we cannot but conclude, that they confidered every man's own determination as final with respect to his future ftate

e;

and

and it is to be observed that neither the obftinacy of Pharaoh, nor even the infidelity of the jews, had any neceffary connection with their state after death. The former might be hard-hearted with respect to the hebrews, and either rewarded for other virtues, or punished for other vices, in a future ftate; and if the unbelieving jews were in other refpects fuch. men as Paul, who had a zeal for God, though not, according to knowledge, they may find mercy in the day of judgment. There is not a fingle paffage in the fcriptures which represents the future mifery of any individual of mankind as determined by an arbitrary decree of God; but a thousand paffages in: which it is exprefsly faid, that the future ftate of all mankind depends entirely upon their own voluntary. actions.

After thefe obfervations, fhort remarks on another paffage may fuffice for the purpose of this section.

Rom. viii. 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the calied according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he did alfo predeftinate, to be conformed to the image of his fan, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predeftinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also juftified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

All that we can fairly infer from this paffage is, that the end of the chriftian difpenfation, or of the calling of mankind to the faith of the gofpel, is their fancti

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fanctification and future glory; for it is manifeft that all who are called are not juftified. If this term called be reftricted in its meaning, let it be reftricted by St. Paul himself, viz. to those who love God; which is fufficiently reprefented as depending upon men themselves, by being the fubjects of precept and exhortation. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, &c.

IV. OF THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. NOTHING can be more evident, from the whole tenor of the new Teftament, than that the person who is diftinguished by the name of the Father is the only true God, exclufive of the Son, or any other being whatever. Nevertheless, there are fome fingle and unconnected paffages, especially in our tranflation of the bible, which feem to favour the contrary opinion, namely, that of the divinity of Chrift. The intimate union which fubfifted between God and Chrift, the powers communicated to him by God, efpecially after his refurrection and afcenfion, and the diftinguifhed honours conferred upon him, 'eafily lead us to the genuine fense of the moft confiderable of thefe expreffions, and make it evident that nothing was meant by them in the least derogatory from the fole proper divinity, and absolute supremacy of the Father.

I. Chrift being appointed the king and judge of men has powers given him adapted to thofe offices, efpecially

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