"Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power :" and John vi. 3. "All that the Father giveth me fhall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out." In the first of thefe paffages, God fpeaks concerning a people of Chrift not as yet his willing people; and he promifes that they fhall be willing. In the other text, our Saviour fpeaks of thofe given him, who had not then come to him, and declares that they all fhall come; and not one of them shall be caft out, or left to perifh. The election of these to everlasting life, you fee, was not left fufpended on any precarious condition. It was not merely, that if they were willing, they fhould be the peculiar people of Chrift-that if they would come to him and abide in him, they fhould be faved in the day of the Lord. No; like the covenant of grace, it was ordered in all things and fure; as implying alfo that they should be willing-that they fhould come-that they bould abide. All this, it feems must be admitted. Unlets we will reject the fcriptures, and likewife the perfections of God, and his government at all events; we must be lieve that a certain part of mankind, even all that will be faved, were, from all eternity" predeftinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counfel of his own will;" in fuch a manner that it is impoffible any of them should fail of falva tion. But, it may be asked, will it not thence follow, contrary to what was at firft afferted, that the elect are fure of going to heaven, do what they will; and that the non elect must go to hell, do what they can? Or that it is all one what men do, in regard to its ma king any alteration in their eternal destiny? I think not. It is apt to feem fo; but this is owing entirely, to our putting asunder what God hath joined togetherthe means and the end. Those to whom God decreed the prize of the heavenly race, he decreed should run. Those whom he decreed should obtain pardoning mercy, he decreed fhould comply with the terms on which alone it is offered. Thofe whom he decreed fhould have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city; he decreed should do his commandments. See Acts xiii. 48. "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." Rom. viii. 30. " Whom he did predeftinate them he allo called." Eph. i. 4. “He hath chofen us in Chrift, before the foundation of the world, that we bould be holy, and without blame before him in love." And 2 Theff. ii. 13. "God hath from the beginning chofen you to salvation, through fan&ification of the spirit, and belief of the truth." If we would fteadily conceive of the divine decrees, and the execution of them, in their proper order and real connexion, all difficulties refpecting them would be removed. The decrees of heaven are never inconfiftent with themselves, nor inconfiftent with the neceffity of that line of conduct in creatures, which is fuitable for bringing them to país. But by fuppofing cafes which never can happen, and never were intended; or by taking in one part of a divine decree, and leaving out all the other parts, we make the bible, and the governing providence of the Moft High, appear full of unrighteoufnefs, darkness and contradiction. It is decreed that, on a certain time, a man fhall go from Hartford to New-York: then, we | May not the fovereign Lord on high ton. fay, he will certainly get there at the hour appointed, though he travel all the time appointed for his journey, in the direct road to Bof. It is decreed that a man fhall recover from a dangerous fickness, by applying to a certain phyfician, and ufing a certain remedy prefcribed by him: then, we fay, he will certainly get well, though he should never call in the phyfician, nor take the remedy. It is decreed that a man shall live twenty years, by taking a prudent care of his health, and ufing proper means of fuftenance then, we fay, he muft live his appointed time, tho' he fhould be ever fo carelefs and intemperate; or though he fhould eat and drink nothing at all, or nothing but rank poifon. God never made any fuch inconfiftent decrees. We make them in our own abfurd imagination, and then charge them upon him. When he decreed that man fhould be juftified, he decreed that he fhould repent, and believe to the faving of the foul. When he decreed that a man fhould go to heaven, he decreed that he fhould turn his feet from the broad way to deftruction; and take, and keep the narrow way which leadeth unto life. He never decreed that any man fhould be damned, who did not deferve to be turned into hell; nor that any man fhould be faved, who fhould not, upon just gofpe! grounds, be entitled to the kingdom of heav en. What then becomes of the question, "Can God be just in fo doing?" I fhall conclude with part of Dr. Watts's Hymns. of one The potter moulds the pliant clay, VOL. I. No. 11. Difpenfe his favours as he will, EVANGELICUS. Obfervations on the nine last chapters of Ezekiel. Friend requested the writer A to communicate his view As fuch a communication, should his thoughts be juft, may be useful to others, and if not, may induce fome abler expofitor to exhibit their true intent and meaning, he fubmits the following fcheme of thoughts on this difficult paffage of holy fcripture. The first object which invites our attention, is, that the prophet in this paffage is relating a divine vifion, exhibited to his view at a time, and in a manner of which he gives a particular relation, together with the feveral explanations, inftructions, and directions, which he received. The particular fubjects of this prophetic vifion were thofe which follow. Ddd 1. The prophet appeared to himself to be miraculously brought from the country of his captivity to the land of Ifrael, and being placed on a very high mountain, where he beheld the frame of a city, (a) and a man with the inftruments of measurement, who gave him a particular charge, carefully to treafure up in his memory, every thing which he fhould fee and hear, for to this end he was brought thither, and he was to de-ple is to denote that the Lord, the clare the whole, to the houfe of Ifrael. abide with them. Accordingly the prophet faw that the glory of the Lord filled the house, and he heard the divine voice speaking to him and faying, "Son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the foles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midft of the children of Ifrael forever." (c) Thus the prophet is led to understand that the vifion of the return of the glory of God to abide in the tem God of Ifrael hath returned to dwell with his people, forever. (d) 4. He is inftructed concerning the qualification of the priests and minifters of the temple, and the ordinances which they are to ob ferve, (e) the whole importing the purity of their character, and their exact attention to divine inftitution. -to which are added rules for the conduct of the prince and people in their wo: fhip. 5. The next object of particular attention in the prophet's vifion is the water, iffuing out from the altar eastward, at the door of the houfe where the glory of the God of Ifrael had entered in. This water 2. The prophet was led thro' the various parts of a fpacious building, which takes its defcription, principally, from the temple of Solomon, the feveral parts of which are found, by exact measurement, to be duly proportioned, and each of them fuited to its particular ufe, and the whole adapted to the convenient and regular exercife of all parts of the temple-worship, and the various functions of the pricfts, and other officers of the temple. (b) 3. The prophet next faw, in vifion, the glory of the God of If rael come from the east, and enter the temple at the eaft gate. This vision, he informs us, was like that which he faw at the river Chebar, when he came to deftroy the city. i. e. He had a view of the fame glory which he faw departing from the city, previous to its deftruction, by the king of Babylon, the vifion of which is recorded in the eighth and following chapters of this book. As the vifion of the eighth chap-covered with trees, which fhall ter denoted the removal of the di- yield fruits at all feafons, which vine prefence from Ifrael, or that thall be for meat, and the leaves God had forfaken them, fo this vi- fhall be for medicine. fion of the return of the glory of the Lord, fignified that from the time herein referred to, his gracious prefence fhould return and ran eastward, and though the ftream was fmall in the beginning, it gradually increafed, till it became a great river. He is then informed that this river fhail pafs into the fea eastward, and heal the waters of it, fo that every thing fhall live where thefe waters come: the fifh fhall exceedingly abound, and the banks of the river fhall be 6. In the last place, the vifion exhibits to the prophet, a divition of the land of Ifracl, for the fanctuary, for the prince, and for the Chap. xliii. d Chap alive Chop, ale people, and a view of the holy city of their folemnities, four square, with twelve gates according to the number of the tribes of Ifrael, and diftinguished by their names. The prophet is informed of the dimenfions of the city, and that its name from that day fhall be Jehovah Shammab, Jehovah is there. The following obfervations will, I trust, caft light on the true intent and meaning of this vifion. 1. Divine vifions are defigned to reprefent one thing by another, or to exhibit truths, facts, and events by the appearance of fenfible objects, impreffed on the bodily organs, or imagination. This is the cafe of most of the vifions recorded in the old and new tef tament, efpecially when defigned to fignify prophetic truth. We refer the reader at prefent, only to the vifions recorded in other parts of this book, and in the book of Daniel. Hence we are to look for a meaning of this wonderful vifion, in a ftate of things bearing as near a refemblance to the different parts of the vifion as will agree to the nature of the things reprefented and to the analogy of faith. Hence 2. We may be affared that this vifion is defigned to reprefent a ftate of things in which the church of God will be raised to great improvement and glory, in the exact obfervation of the inftitutions of religion, in the eminent accomplishments and fidelity of the minifters of religion, and in the manifeftations of the gracious prefence and acceptance of God, for nothing short of this, will in any meafure comport with the divine rep. refentation in the vifion of the prophet. 3. This prophetic vifion cannot be defigned to represent a state of religious profperity in the Jewish church under the ancient difpenfation, or antecedent to the coming of Chrift; because fach a ftate of that church never existed, after the Babylonifh captivity, during that difpenfation. The fecond temple, and the general state of the nation was far inferior to the temple of Solomon, and the state of the nation during his reign, from the date of this vifion till the coming of Chrift; and the little profperity which was fometinies enjoyed was of fhort du ration. The invifible token of God's gracious prefence in the pillar or fiery cloud that refted on the mercy-feat was the peculiar glory of the firft temple, but after its departure as reprefented in vifion to this prophet, a little before the deftruction of that temple, it never appeared to the Jews, accordingly this was one important article, in which they confidered the ftate of their church in the days of the fecond temple, inferior to what it was in the time of the firft. It is indeed true that the prophet Haggai, in the time of the erection of the fecond temple, animated the builders with the affurance that the glory of that house should exceed the glory of the former. But he at the fame time informed them how this fhould be effected, viz. that the promised Redeemer fhould appear during its continuance, and fhould enter into it. (f) This prediction was accomplished when Jefus of Nazareth entered into that temple and acted as the rightful owner, as the God and king of Ifrael. This was an event exceedingly important and glorious. But ftill widely different from that predic f Haggai ii. 7. ted in this vifion, in which the God of Ifrael thus addreffes the prophet, when he enters into the temple, "Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the foles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Ifrael forever."(g) It is further to be remembered that the ftate of things in the Jewish nation and church, at that time, in no respect answered to the reprefentation in the vifion of Ezekiel. 4. It is, if poffible, ftill more evident, that this prophetic vifion cannot be defigned to point out any revival of the Jewish church-ftate in the obfervations of the Mofaic ritual, fince the commencement of the Christian æra, not only because nothing like it has appeared in the fpace of almoft two thousand years, and all appearances are against it in future, but especially becaufe the coming of Christ and the introduction of the Christian system, founded on his fufferings and exaltation, has abolished the whole Mafaic ritual, which was only "a fhadow of good things to come, but the body is Chrift." So that the refloration of that ritual, would be an implicit denial that Jefus Chrift is come in the filesh. officers and ordinances of divine worship. The extenfive and blessed infu- · ence of the Holy Spirit on the hearts and lives of God's people, are to be understood by the waters, iffuing out from the fanctuary, becoming a great river, and purifying the waters of the sea, and by the vivifying fruits on the banks of the river. Waters, and especially, running and pure waters are the well known fcriptural emblems of the Holy Spirit in his fanctifying influences, and no one who has read the defcription of the river of the water of life, and the fruit on its bank, as defcribed near the conclufion of the Revelation to St. John, will doubt the fignification of the ever green and life-giving fruit-trees on the banks of the river in this vifion of the prophet. The return of the glory of God, or the abundant manifeftation of his gracious prefence, never more to be taken from his people, and, finally, the name of the city, or church, from its moft diftinguithing characteristic, confirms the true intent of the whole vifion, and all its parts clearly evince the gracious. defign of the God of all comfort, to procure to himfelf a glorious church, in which the divine Saviour" fhall fee his feed, shall prolong his day, and the pleasure of the Lord fhall profper in his hand." 5. From the preceding articles, in their connexion, it clearly follows, that the vifion we have been confidering, is a divine reprefent ation and fure prediction of a profperous ftate of the church of God, during the days of the Meffiah, or under the Chriftian difpenfation, people is evidently future. The in which the worship and ordinan-import of this vifion has never yet ces of the gospel will be carried to been accomplished. a very high degree of perfection. This feems to be the import of the very exact measurement of the temple, and arrangement of the g Ezekiel xliii. 7. 6. This bleffed state of God's It was not accomplished in the Jewish church before the incarnation of the Son of God, and none will fuppofe it has been accomplish ed fince. It may perhaps be difficult to determine with certainty whether |