Thus the Apostle has proved beyond all contradiction the unquestionable right of God to give, or to withhold, his bless- ings, according to his own sovereign will and pleasure.
e ver. 15. with Exod. xxxiii. 19.
1885.1 god's mercy the source of blessings. 355
But before we proceed to the conclusion which the Apostle draws from hence, we would guard what has been already spoken from any misconstruction. Though God's right to give or to withhold his blessings is asserted, together with the actual bestowment of them according to his sovereign will, yet he never withholds his blessing from any creature who humbly seeks it at his hands ; much less does he ever infuse evil into the mind of any man in order to glorify himself in his destruc- tion. His hardening of Pharaoh's heart consisted in leaving him to himself, and to the unrestrained exercise of his own evil dispositions : and if we were all left as Pharaoh was, we should harden our own hearts precisely as Pharaoh did. In a word, God's blessings are never dispensed but in a way of grace ; his judgments are never executed but in a way of righteous retribution.]
Having thus stated the argument on which the Apostle's conclusion is founded, we come to the con- sideration of, II. The conclusion itself —
The conclusion is justly formed from the pre- mises. It is indeed a humiliating conclusion, and a truth which our proud hearts are very averse to acknowledge; but still we must join issue with the Apostle, and say, " It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
Let not this however be understood, as though it sanctioned any want of exertion on our part —
[God does not here forbid us to will or to run, nor does he exempt us from the duty of both willing and running : no such thing is here expressed, nor can any such thing be deduced from it. How grievous is it that any should be found impious enough to cite this passage as discountenancing exer- tions on our part! In the whole sacred records, from the beginning to the end, there is not to be found one single word that can warrant such an idea as this. On the contrary, God always complains of us for not exerting ourselves, and refers our final condemnation to this as its proper ground and cause : " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life," says our Lord. " How often would I have gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not/" As for those who say, "I can do nothing without God, and therefore, till God come, I may as well sit still, and attempt nothing ;" God, so far from giving occasion for such a sentiment and such conduct, calls us most earnestly to exer- tion, and promises that we shall not exert ourselves in vain :
a a 2