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70 willing that any of the heirs oflpfdtaree sitould perish, though in their fallen state they are no bet ter than others, equally guilty and condemned, but God has laid their iniquities on l his Son, he was wounded for their sins, and by his stripes they are healed. If God was slab& cotroeniiog his promise, and willing that any wbdfca his promise embraces should perish, why should he put his Sou to grief? Why could not the cup of agony pass from the Son of God •? Because God is not slack concerning his promise, and the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head could not be accomplished without the death of Christ.— Through death he must destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Heb ii. 14. It was the meat and drink of Christ to do the will of his Father and to finish his work, and the will of the Father is that he should lose none that were given, none for whom he suffered and died. He then saw of the travail of his soul and was satis fied. How could he be satisfied if his great agony and anguish of soul did not accomplish the com plete and eternal redemption of all the Father had given him? And how could God declare “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” if the same beloved Son did not accomplish all his will ? It was necessary that Christ should suffer and die that he should enter into his glory. But what kind of glory could it be, that after all the sufferings of the Son of God as the surety in pay ing the whole debt due to divine justice, and re deeming his people from the curse of the law by being himsell made a curse for them, he should af ter all lose the greater part of them, and see them still suffer the vengeance of eternal life under the curse of the very law which he had fully satisfied by his own precious blood ? Is this the glory that Christ shall enter into as the result of his unspeak able love and sufferings ? No, surely not. But he will present all his people without blame before God in love according to that they were chosen to. They will appear with him in glory in the full en joyement of that eternal life that was in himself before God made the world. They will appear in his righteousness, and not in their own, and they will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. God is not willing that any of them should perish else surely he never would have done so much for them. “What has God wrought?” What has he done ? He has from the beginning chosen his peo ple unto salvatiou. He has predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his Son. And the very ones that he has thus predestinated are the very ones that he has called by his grace. And those whom be thus calls with a holy and heaven ly calling, are those whom his promise of eternal life embraces, and none others; for the promise is to as many as the Lord our God shall call. God’s predestination of itself considered without his work to carry it out does not secure the salvation of his people. He is a God of action as well as a God of purpose and predestination, and his action or work is based upon his predestination and thus carries it out. Hence, Paul says, “He worfceth all things after the counsel of his own will.” He does not predestinate and then leave it to his creatures SOUTHERN BAPTIST MESSENGER. whether his will and purpose are accomplished or not. No, he works and none can hinder. He brings all his people to repentance by that glorious provision of grace in which Jesus is exalted by his own right hand to be a Prince and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. Hence, through this medium they all come to lepentance. That is one of the spiritual blessings with which he blessed them in Christ before the world began, and in this time world Christ Jesus gives it and deals it out to them freely. But Bro. Richards, I must stop writing, though I delight to dwell ®n this heavenly theme. I feel certain our time is short here. We will not much longer remain in this earthly tabernacle groaning with our burden. I have had much affliction in this life. You have been an eye witness to some of my sufferings; but whether I have suffered as a Christian or not God knoweth. May God bless you and your dear family v Affectionately Yours, EDITORIAL ~ WM. L. BEEBE, ] J. L. PURINGTON, j Edltors - COyiNGfONTGAT': : : : MAY 1, 1860. Appointments. Brother Isaac R. Teat of Cobb Cos., Ga„ will preach, if the Lord will, at the following places, viz: Friday, June Ist at Shoal Creek, Newton Cos.; Saturday and Sunday at New Salem, Putnam Cos.; Monday at Crooked Creek ; Tuesday at Ailnon; Wednesday at Mt. Gilead ; Thursday at Hebron, Jasper Cos.; Fri day at Murder Creek ; Satufday and Sunday June 9th and 10th at Holly Spring in this County. Brother Teat will be dependent upon the brethren to convey him from one church to another. Remarks on Isa. ix. 6. “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is giv en: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” In compliance with the request of Bro. James Bridges of Missouri, in our number before the last, we give a brief statement of our views on the above text. From the preceding context it is plain that the Spir it of Christ in the prophet did testify of the Son of God in his character as the Redeemer of the spiritual house of Israel, and the name given in the text can apply to none other. Though there be God’s many and Lord’s many among the children of men in their vain imaginations and superstitious devotions, to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Premising then that there can be but the one char acter to whom the name in the text can fully apply we shall endeavor to show some of the particulars in which the name given applies exclusively to Jesus in his character as the glorious Mediator in whom the saints have their existence as their Life, their Wis dom, their Power, their Father, and their Peace. As their Life it is a glorious mystery how he is at once the beloved of the Father, the spotless Lamb of God, and one with his people who are the guilty transgressors of the Divine Law. Iu this he must ever appear as emphatically the Wonderful. No light of human or seraphic wisdom can explain on any principle of human reason how this thing can be ; nor is it at all requisite that it should be comprehend ed by inferior intelligences, for it is enough for us to know that God so declares the fact, and let our as piring curiosity on this matter be content to be still and know that He is God. We are informed in the sacred volume that “ It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” and Elihusays, (Job xxxiii. 13,) “He giveth not account of his matters.” In this view of his sa cred character He is and must ever remaim emphat ically the Wonderful, the incomprehensible and mys - terious Holy One of Israel. As the counselor He is equally preeminent above all others. No advocate ever displayed such unlim ited power and wisdom as shines in this glorious and unapproachable Counselor. Who, but this High and Lofty One that inbabiteth eternity, could so order the cause of a guilty, self-condemned sinner as to make him really spotless and holy in the piercing sight of Infinite Justice? It is vain to seek among the chil dren of the dust for a parallel or illustration of this glorious Counselor. He is the only Being in heaven or earth whose name can at all resemble the charac ter spoken of in the text. When his people had be come involved in sin and the just sentence of the Law of God had consigned them to death, no ordinary counselor could have undertaken their cause with any hope of success. The case is desperate when a criminal is to be tried before an earthly judge, and acknowledges his guilt; but it is still more aggravat ed when the Judge is the God of the universe, before whose eyes all things are open, and whose wisdom comprehends not only all the actions of men, but the whole workings of the desperately wicked heart which prompted the crime. But vain as are all our efforts to comprehend his character, or the meaning of his name, his right to it is as firmly established as the pillars of heaven. And God has said that his name is above every name. But, it is not only as the Wonderful and Counsel or, that his name is above every name that is named, not only :n this world, but also in that which is to come. His name shall be called the Mighty God. Not without right does he assume this holy and rev erend title. The Father says to the Son, “ Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever, the seeptre of thy king dom is a right sceptre.” Psa. xlv. 6, and Heb. i. See also Phil. ii. 6. The character of the Redeemer cannot be divided. Though in his capacity as the Savior, as well as in his eternal Deity, he exists in three distinct offices, he is yet the One only Wise God our Savior. But we cannot comprehend how He can be at once the Eternal God, who created all things for His own pleasure and glory, and also the Man Christ Jesus, suffering the just deserts of his people’s trans gression. Shall we therefore conclude that it is not a correct doctrine, and that the Scriptures which clearly sustainjit are erroneous? Certainly not upon the same principle we should have to yield the doc trine of the existence of God; for who can compre hend that doctrine in its infinity ? Let us rather be content to know that what God has declared is true, and it is because we are finite worms, that we can not comprehend divine truth. Yet the truth is the same, and all our rebellion and enmity cannot change it. Does the name convey too much dignity and power to be applicable to the Redeemer? He is worthy of all praise and adoration, for he was slain for the redemption of his people. The title, the Everlasting Father, applied to the Messiah, must be understood to allude to his rela-