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106 called. —Rom. viii. 28—30. Now predestination and the purpose of God must be very different from calling, vvliich proceeds from it, unless the cause and the effect are the same thing. Election is fre quently spoken of as an act of God in eternity, and therefore it cannot be a mere temporary act; the evidence of our election is in time, the decree itself is from eternity. Some, by election, understand the eternal purpose of God to save certain and partic ular persons. Now, under this general notion of it we shall find the sentiments of men to be very differ ent. Some tell us, that it is for faith and good works foreseen ; but if we are chosen to faith and good works, we cannot be chosen for them. God does not foresee that men will believe and be holy, and from hence choose them to salvation; but he foresees that men will believe and be boly, bacause he has chosen them to salvalion, through faith and holi ness. God cannot be said to foresee that any will believe and be holy so whom he has not determin ed to give these saving principles, and he has de termined to give them only to those whom he chosen to salvation. Some assert, that God, in electing certain peisons to salvation had no regard to the fall, that election only as crea tures of his making, and not as creatures that had fallen from him ; but though the sovereignty of God may herein seem to have a wonderful display, yet I cannot think that his other divine perfections are glorified by this opinion ; some allow of a par ticular election, but deny any such thing as a non election. They grant that a certain number shall infallibly be saved, but at the same time affirm that all may be saved if they will. This is an opin ion that is absurd in its very nature, as well as it is evidently contrary to the word of God. Some tell us that they believe both am-election and a repro bation, but further suppose that there is a middle sort of persons who are neither elect nor reprobate, and who may yet be saved; but this is a notion of which we have no footsteps in the word of God, ,‘iud which is altogether indefensible. Thus have I given you the various sentiments of persons about the doctrine of Election. If I may be permitted now to give my sense of it, it is this: It is the eternal and immutable purpose and design of God to save a determinate number of fallen Adam’s children by Jesus Christ; it is not a national elec tion, or an election to church privileges only ; it is not a determination to save those who believe, and which leaves it uncertain whether any will believe; it is not a temporary call of men to salvation, but asl have observed an everlasting and invariable pur pose and design of God to save certain particular persons of Adam’s fallen race. God foresaw in his eternal foreknowledge the whole posterity of Adam lost and undone, and he determines in his sover eign good will to raise to his mercy a trophy of honor by erecting to himself a glorious church out cf the lubbish of this apostacy, and that his pur pose, according to election, might stand, without any injury offered to his other perfections he enter ed into a .covenant with Christ as the second Adam, head of this chosen people, according to which poyepsnt Jesus .Christ was to fulfill the law, suffer 80IJ T !:■ : ‘’ r • ‘ “ if - S 8R Pi H V I? . and die, in the room and stead of this choseu peo ple, and thereby purchase the*m, and bless them with faith, sanctification and eternal life, so that all the elect of God shall infallibly be savtd. When God chose a people to salvation, be laid his scheme in sucti infinite wisdom that not one of his chosen people should miss of the end. lam now to prove that there is such an election, or that God has im mutably designed the salvation of a certain num ber of fallen Adam’s children, this is a doctrine that is too generally denied and rejected. In the present day persons make a jest of particular per sonal election, and in the room of it set up a gen eral national one; but whatever insults and con tempts are thrown upon this truth, I hope, by di vine assistance, to make it appear that it is an ar ticle founded on the sacred Scriptures,.and a doc trine according to godliness, we may argue the truth of the doctrine from the divine perfections. Whatever doctrine is deduced from Scripture, and is agreable to the divine perfections, must be true, and that this is so, I will endeavor to prove by the following method of reasoning. It must be gtanted there is One ever living and true God, who is poss essed of all possible perfection; to deny that there is a God, is to break in upon'the first principle of reason, to suppose an imperfect God is a contra diction to common sense, and contrary to all the ideas we have of diety, both from natural and re vealed religion ; if there is a God, he must be a be ing of absolute perfection. It must be allowed that whatever perfection or excellency is to be found in any creature, the same must be essential to the most high God, and that in the most eminent and trans cendent degree. If every creature derives its being from God as its first cause, then no creature can possibly be possessed of any excellency, but*what must, in the highest and most absolute sense, be long to God. Since, therefore, God made all things, he must be before and aboveall things ; before them in existence, and above them in perfection. lie that planted the ear shall he not hear? lie that planted the eye shall he not see? He that teacheth man knowledge shall he not know ? Psalm xciv. 9, 10. No one can deny that it is an excellency in any creature to be wise and powerful ; wise to lay a scheme of what he designs, for a rational being to set about a work without first forming a model in his mind of what he intends to pursue, is to dis cover a defect of wisdom, and not to be able to ac complish the plan he hath laid down, and betrays a want of power. These premises being granted which cannot, x apprehend, be reasonably denied, it must follow from uence, that whatever the great God does, as the effect of power, he designed to do. These are propositions self-evident, which ought not to be disputed; for-to suppose God to perform any work which he did not first design to perform, is to charge him with a degree of folly, and with acting below an intelligent agent; to sup pose him to design to do a thing which he does not effect, is to tax him with impotence. If it is an iustance of the wisdom and power of man, first to design a wo*k, and then perfect it, the Great God who is infinity in both these perfections, must de sign tv hat he e ffects, and effects what he has HfH signed; either God actually saves aMmen,*of h* dues not, if he does be must have designed it, if he does not, it is plain he never designed it. To assert that God designed to save all tnen, and yet only saved some, is, in effect to affirm, either that he changes his purpose as to a great many, or that he wants power to execute his intentions towards them. The very supposition *>f which is faTse and blasphemous, fur reason must tell us, that i't is im possible for an infinitely wise God to change his mind or alter his purpose, and that it is equally impossible that a being of Almighty Power should not be able to bring his purposes to effect. To this decision of reason, the sacred Scriptures bexr their testimony in the. plainest and strongest assertions, when it is said, God is not a man, that he should lie ; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good ? Num. xxiii. 19. God may seem to repent, or to do those things in his Providence, which would argue repentance in man ; but whatever contrariety there may be in his Providences, there can be no alteration in his purposes; therefore, Job, under the different dis pensations of God towards him, readily acknowl edged this of him, He is iu one mind, and who can turn him ? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth; for he performeth the thing that is appointed for, me. Job xxiii. 13. With how much majesty does the Great Jehovah deliver himself in these words, “ I am Clod, and there is none else ; L am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient limes the things which are not yet done, saying, my coun sel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” Isa. xlvi. 9, 10. To this the church bears wituess, when she says, our God is iu the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he pleased. Psa. cv. 3. So Solomon tells us that there are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Prov. xix. 21. God works without control or resistance, be does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say to him, what doest thou. Dan. iv. 35. In whom also says the Apostle, speaking of himself, and the believing Ephesians, we have obtained an inheri tance, being predestinated according to the pui pose of him who works all things after the counsel of bis own will. Eph. i. 11. Thus our doctrine stands firm upon the infinite wisdom and Almigh ty power of God. All that God designed to save, he saves, but he actually saves some only, therefoie he designed ouly to save some of fallen Adam’s children ; for if we consider God as infinite in wis dom and of almighty power, there cannot be a more rational way of arguing than from his acts to his designs. I might further argue the doctrine from the foreknowledge of God. God foreknows from eternity whatsoever shall com® to pass in time* and particularly foreknows all that will be saved. Now either all will be saved, or not, if they will not in fact all be saved, then God does not foreknow that all will be saved, but he only foreknows the