enjoying the light of revelation, are objects of his sovereign choice, when we see far the greater part of mankind involved in midnight darkness : and yet we cannot endure the doctrine, when applied to the more immediate communication of God's mercy to our souls. But to God's everlasting love is our salvation ascribed in our text ; and to that alone can it with truth or propriety ever be ascribed : " I have loved thee with an everlasting love ; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee."]
Now this is the plain doctrine of Scripture —
[God does not love us because we first loved him; but " we love him because he first loved ush." It was thus also with the Apostles themselves : " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain1." To us the terms, Election and Predestination, almost sound like blasphemy : but the Apostles did not view them in this light : they considered every blessing we enjoy as the fruit of God's electing love, and of his sovereign will predestinating us from all eternity to the enjoyment of itk They are par- ticularly careful to exclude all works of ours from forming a ground of God's electing love, lest we should boast as having in some degree merited his favour1. The whole tenour of the Scriptures shews, that " God hath compassion on whom he will have compassion111 ;" and that his people are " a remnant according to the election of grace"."]
And in relation to this subject God is peculiarly jealous —
[How strongly did he guard his people of old against imagining that his distinguishing favour to them was founded in any superior goodness of theirs0 ! In like manner he puts it to us; "Who made thee to differ? and What hast thou which thou hast not received ? and, If thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received itp?" The whole of his Gospel is purposely designed to cut off all ground of glorying from man, that God alone may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ q.]
Address —
1. To those who cannot receive this doctrine —
[Would it not be well to search and examine what is the real foundation of your objections to it ? Nothing can be more
h 1 John iv. 19. » John xv, 16.
k See Eph. i. 3—6. and 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. J 2 Tim. i. 9.
m Rom. ix. 15. n Rom: xi. 5. ° Deut. vii.7,8.
p 1 Cor. iv. 7. i Rom. hi. 27. Eph. ii. 8, 9. 1 Cor. i. 28, 29.