5. It assumes that the only power which God exercises in the conversion of sinners is that inherent in the Word, whereas the Scriptures abound with prayers for the gift of tlie Spirit to attend the Word and render it effectual ; and such prayers are constantly offered, and ever have been offered, by the people of God. They would, however, be not only unnecessary but improper, if God had revealed his purpose not to grant any such influence, but to leave men to the unattended power of the Word itself. Any doctrine contrary to what the Bible prescribes as a duty, and what all Chris- tians do by the instinct of their renewed nature, must be false.
6. This doctrine, moreover, takes for granted that the ultimate reason why some hearers of the gospel believe and others do not, is to be found in themselves ; that the one class is better, more im- pressible, or less obstinate than the other. The Scriptures, how- ever, refer this fact to the sovereignty of God. Our Lord says, " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." (Matt. xi. 25.) The Apostle says, " It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." " I will have mercy," saith God, " on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." (Rom. ix. 15, 16.) " Of him [God] are ye in Christ Jesus, not of yourselves, lest any should boast." (1 Cor. i. 30.)
7. The doctrine in question has no support from Scripture. The passages constantly referred to in its favour are, 1 Timothy ii. 3, 4. " God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth ; " and Ezekiel xxxiii. 11, " As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." God forbid that any man should teach anything inconsistent with these precious declarations of the Word of God. They clearly teach that God is a benevolent Being : that He delio-hts not in the sufferincrs of his creatures ; that in all cases of suffering there is an impera- tive reason for its infliction, consistent with the highest wisdom and benevolence. God pities even the wicked whom He condemns, as a father pities the disobedient child whom he chastises. And as the father can truthfully and with a full heart say that he delights not in the sufferings of his child, so our Father in heaven can say, that He delights not in the death of the wicked. The difficulty as to the passage in 1 Timothy ii. 4, arises simply from the ambiguity of the word OiXeiv there used. Common y the word means to willy in
652 PART m. Ch. XIV. — vocation.
the sense of to intend, to purpose. Such cannot be its meaning here, because it cannot be said that God intends or purposes that all men should be saved ; or, that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. This is inconsistent witli Scripture and experience. The word, however, often means to delight in, and even to love. In the Septuagint it is used as the equivalent of ypn, as in Psalms xxii. 9, cxii. 1, cxlvii. 10. In Matthew, xxvii. 43, et OiX^i airov, is Correctly rendered in our version, " If he will have him." (Heb. X. 6, 8 ; Luke xx. 46 ; Mark xii. 38 ; Col. ii. 18.) The Apostle, therefore, says only what the prophet had said. God delights in the happiness of his creatures. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But this is perfectly consistent with his purpose not to " spare the guilty."
8. Finally, the Lutheran doctrine relieves no difficulty. The Reformed doctrine assumes that some men perish for their sins ; and that those who are thus left to perish are passed by not because they are worse than others, but in the sovereignty of God. The Lutheran doctrine concedes both those facts. Some men do per- ish ; and they perish, at least in the case of the heathen, without having the means of salvation offered to them. There is the same exercise of sovereignty in the one case as in the other. The Lutheran must stand with his hand upon his mouth, side by side with the Reformed, and join him in saying, "Even so Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight."
The simple representation of Scripture on this subject, confirmed by the facts of consciousness and experience is, that all men are sinners ; they are all guilty before God ; they have all forfeited every claim upon his justice. His relation to them is that of a father to his disobedient children ; or, of a sovereign to wickedly rebellious subjects. It is not necessary that all should receive the punishment wliich they have justly incurred. In the sight of an infinitely good and merciful God, it is necessary that some of the rebellious race of man should suffer the penalty of the law which all have broken. It is God's })rerogative to determine who shall be vessels of mercy, and wiio shall be left to the just recompense of their sins. Such are the declarations of Scripture ; and such are the facts of the case. We can alter neither. Our blessedness is to trust in the Lord, and to rejoice that the destiny of his crea- tures is not in their own hands, nor in the hands either of fate or of chance ; but in those of Him who is infinite in wisdom, love, and power.
But if the Lutheran doctrine that the call of the gospel is uni-