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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

A.W. PINK

Chapter 11 - Difficulties And Objections

"Yet ye say, `The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal?'" (#Eze 18:25).

A convenient point has been reached when we may now examine, more definitely, some of the difficulties encountered and the objections which might be advanced against what we have written in previous pages. The author deemed it better to reserve these for a separate consideration, rather than deal with them as he went along, requiring as that would have done the breaking of the course of thought and destroying the strict unity of each chapter, or else cumbering our pages with numerous and lengthy footnotes. That there are difficulties involved in an attempt to set forth the truth of God's sovereignty is readily acknowledged. The hardest thing of all, perhaps, is to maintain the balance of truth. It is largely a matter of perspective. That God is sovereign is explicitly declared in Scripture: that man is a responsible creature is also expressly affirmed in Holy Writ. To define the relationship of these two truths, to fix the dividing line betwixt them, to show exactly where they meet, to exhibit the perfect consistency of the one with the other, is the weightiest task of all. Many have openly declared that it is impossible for the finite mind to harmonize them. Others tell us it is not necessary or even wise to attempt it. But, as we have remarked in an earlier chapter, it seems to us more honouring to God to seek in his Word the solution to every problem. What is impossible to man is possible with God, and while we grant that the finite mind is limited in its reach, yet, we remember that the Scriptures are given to us that the man of God may be "thoroughly furnished", and if we approach their study in the spirit of humility and of expectancy, then, according unto our faith will it be unto us.

As remarked above, the hardest task in this connection is to preserve the balance of truth while insisting on both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of the creature. To some of our readers it may appear that in pressing the sovereignty of God to the lengths we have, man is reduced to a mere puppet. Hence, to guard against this, they would modify their definitions and statements relating to God's sovereignty, and thus seek to blunt the keen edge of what is so offensive to the carnal mind. Others, while refusing to weigh the evidence that we have adduced in support of our assertions, may raise objections which to their minds are sufficient to dispose of the whole subject. We would not waste time in the effort to refute objections made in a carping and contentious spirit, but we are desirous of meeting fairly the difficulties experienced by those who are anxious to obtain a fuller knowledge of the truth. Not that we deem ourselves able to give a satisfactory and final answer to every question that might be asked. Like the reader, the writer knows but "in part" and sees through a glass "darkly." All that we can do is to examine these difficulties in the light we now have, in dependence upon the Spirit of God that we may follow on to know the Lord better.

We propose now to retrace our steps and pursue the same order of thought as that followed up to this point. As a part of our "definition" of God's sovereignty we affirmed: "To say that God is sovereign is to declare that he is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat his counsels, thwart his purpose, or resist his will...The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite." To put it now in its strongest form, we insist that God does as he pleases, only as he pleases, always as he pleases: that whatever takes place in time is but the outworking of that which he decreed in eternity. In proof of this assertion we appeal to the following scriptures--"But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (#Ps 115:3). "For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (#Isa 14:27). "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou?" (#Dan 4:35). "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (#Ro 11:36).

The above declarations are so plain and positive that any comments of ours upon them would simply be darkening counsel by words without knowledge. Such express statements as those just quoted, are so sweeping and so dogmatic that all controversy concerning the subject of which they treat ought for ever to be at an end. Yet, rather than receive them at their face value, every device of carnal ingenuity is resorted to so as to neutralize their force. For example, it has been asked, If what we see in the world today is but the outworking of God's eternal purpose, if God's counsel is NOW being accomplished, then why did our Lord teach his disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Is it not a clear implication from these words that God's will is not now being done on earth? The answer is very simple. The emphatic word in the above clause is "as." God's will is being done on earth today, if it is not, then our earth is not subject to God's rule, and if it is not subject to his rule then he is not, as Scripture proclaims him to be, "The Lord of all the earth" (#Jos 3:13). But God's will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God's will "done in heaven"?--Consciously and joyfully. How is it "done on earth"?--for the most part, unconsciously and sullenly. In heaven the angels perform the bidding of their creator intelligently and gladly, but on earth the unsaved among men accomplish his will blindly and in ignorance. As we have said in earlier pages, when Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus and when Pilate sentenced him to be crucified, they had no conscious intention of fulfilling God's decrees yet, nevertheless, unknown to themselves they did do so!

But again. It has been objected: If everything that happens on earth is the fulfilling of the Almighty's pleasure, if God has foreordained--before the foundation of the world--everything which comes to pass in human history, then why do we read in #Ge 6:6, "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart"? Does not this language intimate that the antediluvians had followed a course which their maker had not marked out for them, and that in view of the fact they had "corrupted" their way upon the earth, the Lord regretted that he had ever brought such a creature into existence? Ere drawing such a conclusion let us note what is involved in such an inference. If the words "It repented the Lord that he had made man" are regarded in an absolute sense, then God's omniscience would be denied, for in such a case the course followed by man must have been unforeseen by God in the day that he created him. Therefore it must be evident to every reverent soul that this language bears some other meaning. We submit that the words, "It repented the Lord" is an accommodation to our finite intelligence, and in saying this we are not seeking to escape a difficulty or cut a knot, but are advancing an interpretation which we shall seek to show is in perfect accord with the general trend of Scripture.

The Word of God is addressed to men, and therefore it speaks the language of men. Because we cannot rise to God's level he, in grace, comes down to ours and converses with us in our own speech. The apostle Paul tells us of how he was "caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not possible (margin) to utter" (#2Co 12:4). Those on earth could not understand the vernacular of heaven. The finite cannot comprehend the infinite, hence the Almighty deigns to couch his revelation in terms we may understand. It is for this reason the Bible contains many anthropomorphisms--i.e., representations of God in the form of man. God is Spirit, yet the Scriptures speak of him as having eyes, ears, nostrils, breath, hands etc., which is surely an accommodation of terms brought down to the level of human comprehension.

Again; we read in #Ge 18:20,21, "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come up unto me; and if not, I will know." Now, manifestly, this is an anthropologism--God, speaking in human language. God knew the conditions which prevailed in Sodom, and his eyes had witnessed its fearful sins, yet he is pleased to use terms here that are taken from our own vocabulary. Again; in #Ge 22:12 we read, "And he (God) said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." Here again, God is speaking in the language of men, for he "knew" before he tested Abram exactly how the patriarch would act. So too the expression used of God so often in Jeremiah (#Jer 7:13 etc.), of him "rising up early", is manifestly an accommodation of terms.

Once more: in the parable of the vineyard Christ himself represents its owner as saying, "Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved Son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him" (#Lu 20:13), and yet, it is certain that God knew perfectly well that the "husbandmen" of the vineyard--the Jews--would not "reverence his Son" but, instead, would "despise and reject" him, as his own Word had declared!

In the same way we understand the words in #Ge 6:6--"It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth"--as an accommodation of terms to human comprehension. This verse does not teach that God was confronted with an unforeseen contingency, and therefore regretted that he had made man, but it expresses the abhorrence of a holy God at the awful wickedness and corruption into which man had fallen. Should there be any doubt remaining in the minds of our readers as to the legitimacy and soundness of our interpretation, a direct appeal to Scripture should instantly and entirely remove it--"The Strength of Israel (a divine title) will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent" (#1Sa 15:29)! "Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning" (#Jas 1:17)!

Careful attention to what we have said above will throw light on numerous other passages which, if we ignore their figurative character and fail to note that God applies to himself human modes of expression, will be obscure and perplexing. Having commented at such length upon #Ge 6:6 there will be no need to give such a detailed exposition of other passages which belong to the same class, yet, for the benefit of those of our readers who may be anxious for us to examine several other scriptures, we turn to one or two more.

One scripture which we often find cited in order to overthrow the teaching advanced in this book is our Lord's lament over Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (#Mt 23:37). The question is asked, Do not these words show that the Saviour acknowledged the defeat of his mission, that as a people the Jews resisted all his gracious overtures toward them? In replying to this question, it should first be pointed out that our Lord is here referring not so much to his own mission, as he is upbraiding the Jews for having in all ages rejected his grace--this is clear from his reference to the "prophets." The Old Testament bears full witness of how graciously and patiently Jehovah dealt with his people, and with what extreme obstinacy, from first to last, they refused to be "gathered" unto him, and how in the end he (temporarily) abandoned them to follow their own devices, yet, as the same Scriptures declare, the counsel of God was not frustrated by their wickedness, for it had been foretold (and therefore, decreed) by him--see, for example, #1Ki 8:33.

#Mt 23:37 may well be compared with #Isa 65:2 where the Lord says, "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts." But, it may be asked, Did God seek to do that which was in opposition to his own eternal purpose? In words borrowed from Calvin we reply, "Though to our apprehension the will of God is manifold and various, yet he does not in himself will things at variance with each other, but astonishes our faculties with his various and "manifold" wisdom, according to the expression of Paul, till we shall be enabled to understand that he mysteriously wills what now seems contrary to his will." As a further illustration of the same principle we would refer the reader to #Isa 5:1-4: "Now will I sing to my well Beloved a song of my Beloved touching his vineyard. My well Beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" Is it not plain from this language that God reckoned himself to have done enough for Israel to warrant an expectation--speaking after the manner of men--of better returns? Yet, is it not equally evident when Jehovah says here "He looked that it should bring forth grapes" that he is accommodating himself to a form of finite expression? And, so also when he says "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" we need to take note that in the previous enumeration of what he had done--the "fencing" etc.--He refers only to external privileges, means, and opportunities, which had been bestowed upon Israel, for, of course, he could even then have taken away from them their stony heart and given them a new heart, even a heart of flesh, as he will yet do, had he so pleased.

Perhaps we should link up with Christ's lament over Jerusalem in #Mt 23:37, his tears over the city, recorded in #Lu 19:41: "He beheld the city, and wept over it." In the verses which immediately follow, we learn what it was that occasioned his tears: "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side." It was the prospect of the fearful judgment which Christ knew was impending. But did those tears make manifest a disappointed God? Nay, verily. Instead, they displayed a perfect man. The Man Christ Jesus was no emotionless stoic, but one "filled with compassion." Those tears expressed the sinless sympathies of his real and pure humanity. Had he not "wept", he had been less than human. Those "tears" were one of many proofs that "in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren" (#Heb 2:17).

In chapter one we have affirmed that God is sovereign in the exercise of his love, and in saying this we are fully aware that many will strongly resent the statement and that, furthermore, what we have now to say will probably meet with more criticism than anything else advanced in this book. Nevertheless, we must be true to our convictions of what we believe to be the teaching of Holy Scripture, and we can only ask our readers to examine diligently in the light of God's Word what we here submit to their attention.

One of the most popular beliefs of the day is that God loves everybody, and the very fact that it is so popular with all classes ought to be enough to arouse the suspicions of those who are subject to the Word of Truth. God's Love toward all his creatures is the fundamental and favourite tenet of Universalists, Unitarians, Theosophists, Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, Russellites, etc. No matter how a man may live--in open defiance of heaven, with no concern whatever for his soul's eternal interests, still less for God's glory, dying, perhaps with an oath on his lips,--not withstanding, God loves him, we are told. So widely has this dogma been proclaimed, and so comforting is it to the heart which is at enmity with God, we have little hope of convincing many of their error. That God loves everybody, is, we may say, quite a modern belief. The writings of the church fathers, the Reformers or the Puritans will (we believe) be searched in vain for any such concept. Perhaps the late D. L. Moody--captivated by Drummond's "The Greatest Thing in the World"--did more than anyone else last century to popularize this concept. It has been customary to say God loves the sinner, though he hates his sin. {a} But that is a meaningless distinction. What is there in a sinner but sin? Is it not true that his "whole head is sick", and his "whole heart faint", and that "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in him?" (#Isa 1:5,6). Is it true that God loves the one who is despising and rejecting his blessed Son? God is Light as well as Love, and therefore his love must be a holy love. To tell the Christ rejecter that God loves him is to cauterise his conscience, as well as to afford him a sense of security in his sins. The fact is, that the love of God, is a truth for the saints only, and to present it to the enemies of God is to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. With the exception of #Joh 3:16, not once in the four Gospels do we read of the Lord Jesus--the perfect Teacher telling sinners that God loved them! In the book of Acts, which records the evangelistic labours and messages of the apostles, God's love is never referred to at all! But, when we come to the Epistles, which are addressed to the saints, we have a full presentation of this precious truth--God's love for his own. Let us seek to rightly divide the Word of God and then we shall not be found taking truths which are addressed to believers and misapplying them to unbelievers. That which sinners need to have brought before them is, the ineffable holiness, the exacting righteousness, the inflexible justice and the terrible wrath of God. Risking the danger of being misunderstood, let us say--and we wish we could say it to every evangelist and preacher in the country--there is far too much presenting of Christ to sinners today (by those sound in the faith), and far too little showing sinners their need of Christ, i.e., their absolutely ruined and lost condition, their imminent and awful danger of suffering the wrath to come, the fearful guilt resting upon them in the sight of God--to present Christ to those who have never been shown their need of him, seems to us to be guilty of casting pearls before swine. {b}

If it be true that God loves every member of the human family then why did our Lord tell his disciples, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father ... If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him" (#Joh 14:21,23)? Why say "he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father" if the Father loves everybody? The same limitation is found in #Pr 8:17: "I love them that love me." Again; we read, "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity"--not merely the works of iniquity. Here, then, is a flat repudiation of present teaching that, God hates sin but loves the sinner; Scripture says, "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity" (#Ps 5:5)! God is angry with the wicked every day. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God"--not "shall abide", but even now--"abideth on him" (#Ps 5:5; 7:11; #Joh 3:36). Can God "love" the one on whom his "wrath" abides? Again; is it not evident that the words "The love of God which is in Christ Jesus" (#Ro 8:39) mark a limitation, both in the sphere and objects of his love? Again; is it not plain from the words "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (#Ro 9:13) that God does not love everybody? Again; it is written, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (#Heb 12:6). Does not this verse teach that God's love is restricted to the members of his own family? If he loves all men without exception, then the distinction and limitation here mentioned is quite meaningless. Finally, we would ask, Is it conceivable that God will love the damned in the Lake of Fire? Yet, if he loves them now he will do so then, seeing that his love knows no change--he is "without variableness or shadow of turning"!

Turning now to #Joh 3:16, it should be evident from the passages just quoted, that this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it. "God so loved the world". Many suppose that this means, "The entire human race". But "the entire human race", includes all mankind from Adam till the close of the earth's history: it reaches backward as well as forward! Consider, then, the history of mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the Saviour came to the earth, lived here "having no hope and without God in the world", and therefore passed out into an eternity of woe. If God "loved" them, where is the slightest proof thereof? Scripture declares, "Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel till after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own ways" (#Ac 14:16). Scripture declares that, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (#Ro 1:28). To Israel God said, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (#Am 3:2). In view of these plain passages, who will be so foolish as to insist that God in the past loved all mankind! The same applies with equal force to the future. Read through the book of Revelation, noting especially #Re 8:1-19:21, where we have described the judgments which will yet be poured out from heaven on this earth. Read of the fearful woes, the frightful plagues, the vials of God's wrath, which shall be emptied on the wicked. Finally, read #Re 20:11-15, the great white throne judgment, and see if you can discover there the slightest trace of love.

But the objector comes back to #Joh 3:16 and says, "World means world". True, but we have shown that "the world" does not mean the whole human family. The fact is that "the world" is used in a general way. When the brethren of Christ said, "Shew thyself to the world" (#Joh 7:4), did they mean show thyself to all mankind? When the Pharisees said, "Behold, the world is gone after him" (#Joh 12:19), did they mean that "all the human family" were flocking after him? When the apostle wrote, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (#Ro 1:8), did he mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child on the earth? When #Re 13:3 informs us that "all the world wondered after the beast", are we to understand that there will be no exceptions? What of the godly Jewish remnant, who will be slain (#Re 20:4) rather than submit? These, and other passages which might be quoted, show that the term "the world" often has a relative rather than an absolute force.

Now the first thing to note in connection with #Joh 3:16 is that our Lord was there speaking to Nicodemus--a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in giving his Son had a larger object in view, that it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine, reaching out to "regions beyond". In other words, this was Christ's announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews. "God so loved the world", then, signifies, God's love is international in its scope. But does this mean that God loves every individual among the Gentiles? Not necessarily, for as we have seen, the term "world" is general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term "world" in itself is not conclusive. To ascertain who are the objects of God's love other passages where his love is mentioned must be consulted.

In #2Pe 2:5 we read of "the world of the ungodly." If then, there is a world of the ungodly there must also be a world of the godly. It is the latter who are in view in the passages we shall now briefly consider. "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world" (#Joh 6:33). Now mark it well, Christ did not say, "offereth life unto the world", but "giveth". What is the difference between the two terms? This: a thing which is "offered" may be refused, but a thing "given", necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is not accepted, it is not "given", it is simply proffered. Here, then, is a scripture that positively states Christ giveth life (spiritual, eternal life) "unto the world." Now he does not give eternal life to the "world of the ungodly" for they will not have it, they do not want it. Hence, we are obliged to understand the reference in #Joh 6:33 as being to "the world of the godly", i.e., God's own people. One more: in #2Co 5:19 we read, "To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself". What is meant by this is clearly defined in the words immediately following, "not imputing their trespasses unto them". Here again, "the world" cannot mean "the world of the ungodly", for their "trespasses" are "imputed" to them, as the judgment of the Great White Throne will yet show. But #2Co 5:19 plainly teaches there is a "world" which are "reconciled", reconciled unto God, because their trespasses are not reckoned to their account, having been borne by their substitute. Who then are they? Only one answer is fairly possible--the world of God's people!

In like manner, the "world" in #Joh 3:16 must, in the final analysis, refer to the world of God's people. Must we say, for there is no other alternative solution. It cannot mean the whole human race, for one half of the race was already in hell when Christ came to earth. It is unfair to insist that it means every human being now living, for every other passage in the New Testament where God's love is mentioned limits it to his own people--search and see! The objects of God's love in #Joh 3:16 are precisely the same, as the objects of Christ's love in #Joh 13:1: "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his time was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." We may admit that our interpretation of #Joh 3:16 is no novel one invented by us, but one almost uniformly given by the Reformers and Puritans, and many others since them. {c}

Coming now to chapter three--The Sovereignty of God in Salvation-- innumerable are the questions which might be raised here. It is strange, yet it is true, that many who acknowledge the sovereign rule of God over material things, will cavil and quibble when we insist that God is also sovereign in the spiritual realm. But their quarrel is with God and not with us. We have given scripture in support of everything advanced in these pages, and if that will not satisfy our readers it is idle for us to seek to convince them. What we write now is designed for those who do bow to the authority of Holy Writ, and for their benefit we propose to examine several other scriptures which have purposely been held over for this chapter.

Perhaps the one passage which has presented the greatest difficulty to those who have seen that passage after passage in Holy Writ plainly teaches the election of a limited number unto salvation is #2Pe 3:9: "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance".

The first thing to be said upon the above passage is that, like all other scripture, it must be understood and interpreted in the light of its context. What we have quoted in the preceding paragraph is only part of the verse, and the last part of it at that! Surely it must be allowed by all that the first half of the verse needs to be taken into consideration. In order to establish what these words are supposed by many to mean, viz., that the words "any" and "all" are to be received without any qualification, it must be shown that the context is referring to the whole human race! If this cannot be shown, if there is no premise to justify this, then the conclusion also must be unwarranted. Let us then ponder the first part of the verse.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise". Note "promise" in the singular number, not "promises." What promise is in view? The promise of salvation? Where, in all Scripture, has God ever promised to save the whole human race!! Where indeed? No, the "promise" here referred to is not about salvation. What then is it? The context tells us.

"Knowing this, first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?" (#2Pe 3:3,4). The context then refers to God's promise to send back his beloved Son. But many long centuries have passed, and this promise has not yet been fulfilled. True, but long as the delay may seem to us, the interval is short in the reckoning of God. As the proof of this we are reminded, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (#2Pe 3:8). In God's reckoning of time, less than two days have yet passed since he promised to send back Christ.

But more, the delay in the Father sending back his beloved Son is not only due to no "slackness" on his part, but it is also occasioned by his "longsuffering". His longsuffering to whom? The verse we are now considering tells us: "but is longsuffering to us-ward". And whom are the "us-ward"?--the human race, or God's own people? In the light of the context this is not an open question upon which each of us is free to form an opinion. The Holy Spirit has defined it. The opening verse of the chapter says, "This second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you". And, again, the verse immediately preceding declares, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing etc.", (#2Pe 3:8). The "us-ward" then are the "beloved" of God. They to whom this epistle is addressed are "them that have obtained (not "exercised", but "obtained" as God's sovereign gift) like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (#2Pe 1:11). Therefore we say there is no room for a doubt, a quibble or an argument--the "us-ward" are the elect of God.

Let us now quote the verse as a whole: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but, that all should come to repentance." Could anything be clearer? The "any" that God is not willing should perish, are the "us-ward" to whom God is "longsuffering", the "beloved" of the previous verses. #2Pe 3:9 means, then, that God will not send back his Son until "the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (#Ro 11:25). God will not send back Christ till that "people" whom he is now "taking out of the Gentiles" (#Ac 15:14) are gathered in. God will not send back his Son till the body of Christ is complete, and that will not be till the ones whom he has elected to be saved in this dispensation shall have been brought to him. Thank God for his "longsuffering to us-ward". Had Christ come back twenty years ago the writer had been left behind to perish, in his sins. But that could not be, so God graciously delayed the second coming. For the same reason he is still delaying his advent. His decreed purpose is that all his elect will come to repentance, and repent they shall. The present interval of grace will not end until the last of the "other sheep" of #Joh 10:16 are safely folded,--then will Christ return.

In expounding the Sovereignty of God the Spirit in Salvation we have shown that his power is irresistible, that, by his gracious operations upon and within them, he "compels" God's elect to come to Christ. The sovereignty of the Holy Spirit is set forth not only in #Joh 3:8 where we are told "The wind bloweth where it pleaseth ... so is every one that is born of the Spirit", but is affirmed in other passages as well. In #1Co 12:11 we read, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." And again; we read in #Ac 16:6,7--"Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go in to Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not." Thus we see how the Holy Spirit interposed his imperial will in opposition to the determination of the apostles.

But, it is objected against the assertion that the will and power of the Holy Spirit are irresistible that there are two passages, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New, which appear to militate against such a conclusion. God said of old, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man" (#Ge 6:3), and to the Jews Stephen declared, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" (#Ac 7:51,52). If then the Jews resisted the Holy Spirit, how can we say his power is irresistible? The answer is found in #Ne 9:30--"Many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear." It was the external operations of the Spirit which Israel "resisted." It was the Spirit speaking by and through the prophets to which they "would not give ear." It was not anything which the Holy Spirit wrought in them that they "resisted", but the motives presented to them by the inspired messages of the prophets. Perhaps it will help the reader to catch our thought better if we compare #Mt 11:20-24--"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee Chorazin!" etc. Our Lord here pronounces woe upon these cities for their failure to repent because of the "mighty works" (miracles) which he had done in their sight, and not because of any internal operations of his grace! The same is true of #Ge 6:3. By comparing #1Pe 3:18-20 it will be seen that it was by and through Noah that God's Spirit "strove" with the antediluvians. The distinction noted above was ably summarized by Andrew Fuller (another writer long deceased from whom our moderns might learn much) thus: "There are two kinds of influences by which God works on the minds of men. First, `That which is common, and which is effected by the ordinary use of motives presented to the mind for consideration'; Secondly, `That which is special and supernatural'. The one contains nothing mysterious, any more than the influence of our words and actions on each other; the other is such a mystery that we know nothing of it but by its effects--The former ought to be effectual; the latter is so." The work of the Holy Spirit upon or towards men is always "resisted", by them; his work within is always successful. What saith the scriptures? This: "He which hath begun a good work IN you, will finish it" (#Php 1:6). The next question to be considered is: Why preach the Gospel to every creature? If God the Father has predestined only a limited number to be saved, if God the Son died to effect the salvation of only those given to him by the Father, and if God the Spirit is seeking to quicken none save God's elect, then what is the use of giving the Gospel to the world at large, and where is the propriety of telling sinners that "Whosoever believeth in Christ shall not perish but have everlasting life"?

First; it is of great importance that we should be clear upon the nature of the Gospel itself. The Gospel is God's good news concerning Christ and not concerning sinners,--"Paul a servant of Jesus Christ, called, to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God ... concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (#Ro 1:1,3). God would have proclaimed far and wide the amazing fact that his own blessed Son "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." A universal testimony must be borne to the matchless worth of the person and work of Christ. Note the word "witness" in #Mt 22:14. The Gospel is God's "witness" unto the perfections of his Son. Mark the words of the apostle: "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish" (#2Co 2:15)!

Concerning the character and contents of the Gospel the utmost confusion prevails today. The Gospel is not an "offer" to be bandied around by evangelistic peddlers. The Gospel is no mere invitation, but a proclamation, a proclamation concerning Christ; true, whether men believe it or no. No man is asked to believe that Christ died for him in particular. The Gospel, in brief, is this: Christ died for sinners, you are a sinner, believe in Christ, and you shall be saved. In the Gospel, God simply announces the terms upon which men may be saved (namely, repentance and faith) and, indiscriminately, all are commanded to fulfil them.

Second; repentance and remission of sins are to be preached in the name of the Lord Jesus "unto all the nations" (#Lu 24:47), because God's elect are "scattered abroad" (#Joh 11:52) among all nations, and it is by the preaching and hearing of the Gospel that they are called out of the world. The Gospel is the means which God uses in the saving of his own chosen ones. By nature God's elect are children of wrath "even as others"; they are lost sinners needing a Saviour, and apart from Christ there is no salvation for them. Hence, the Gospel must be believed by them before they can rejoice in the knowledge of sins forgiven. The Gospel is God's winnowing fan: it separates the chaff from the wheat, and gathers the latter into his garner.

Third; it is to be noted that God has other purposes in the preaching of the Gospel than the salvation of his own elect. The world exists for the elect's sake, yet others have the benefit of it. So the Word is preached for the elect's sake, yet others have the benefit of an external call. The sun shines, though blind men see it not. The rain falls upon rocky mountains and waste deserts, as well as on the fruitful valleys; so also, God suffers the Gospel to fall on the ears of the non-elect. The power of the Gospel is one of God's agencies for holding in check the wickedness of the world. Many who are never saved by it are reformed, their lusts are bridled, and they are restrained from becoming worse. Moreover, the preaching of the Gospel to the non-elect is made an admirable test of their characters. It exhibits the inveteracy of their sin: it demonstrates that their hearts are at enmity against God: it justifies the declaration of Christ that "men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (#Joh 3:19).

Finally; it is sufficient for us to know that we are bidden to preach the Gospel to every creature. It is not for us to reason about the consistency between this and the fact that "few are chosen." It is for us to obey. It is a simple matter to ask questions relating to the ways of God which no finite mind can fully fathom. We, too, might turn and remind the objector that our Lord declared, "Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness" (#Mr 3:28,29), and there can be no doubt whatever but that certain of the Jews were guilty of this very sin (see #Mt 12:24 etc.), and hence their destruction was inevitable. Yet, notwithstanding, scarcely two months later, he commanded his disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature. When the objector can show us the consistency of these two things--the fact that certain of the Jews had committed the sin for which there is never forgiveness, and the fact that to them the Gospel was to be preached --we will undertake to furnish a more satisfactory solution than the one given above to the harmony between a universal proclamation of the Gospel and a limitation of its saving power to those only that God has predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Once more, we say, it is not for us to reason about the Gospel; it is our business to preach it. When God ordered Abraham to offer up his son as a burnt offering, he might have objected that this command was inconsistent with his promise "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." But instead of arguing he obeyed, and left God to harmonize his promise and his precept. Jeremiah might have argued that God had bade him do that which was altogether unreasonable when he said, "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee; thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee" (#Jer 7:27), but instead, the prophet obeyed. Ezekiel, too, might have complained that the Lord was asking of him a hard thing when he said, "Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard hearted" (#Eze 3:4-7).

It has been well said, "The Gospel has lost none of its ancient power. It is, as much today as when it was first preached, `the power of God unto salvation'. It needs no pity, no help, and no handmaid. It can overcome all obstacles, and break down all barriers. No human device need be tried to prepare the sinner to receive it, for if God has sent it no power can hinder it; and if he has not sent it, no power can make it effectual." (Dr. Bullinger).

This chapter might be extended indefinitely, but it is already too long, so a word or two more must suffice. A number of other questions will be dealt with in the pages yet to follow, and those that we fail to touch upon the reader must take to the Lord himself who has said, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not" (#Jas 1:5).

{a} #Ro 5:8 is addressed to saints, and the "we" are the same ones as those spoken of in #Ro 8:29,30. {b} Concerning the rich young ruler of whom it is said Christ "loved him" (#Mr 10:21), we fully believe that he was one of God's elect, and was "saved" sometime after his interview with our Lord. Should it be said this is an arbitrary assumption and assertion which lacks anything in the Gospel record to substantiate it, we reply, It is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out", and this man certainly did "come" to him. Compare the case of Nieodemus. He, too, came to Christ, yet there is nothing in #Joh 3:1-21 which intimates he was a saved man when the interview closed; nevertheless, we know from his later life that he was not "cast out." {c} For a further discussion of Joh 3:16 see Topic in Appendix C 1414.

Chapter 12 -- The Value Of This Doctrine

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, And is profitable for doctrine, For reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, Throughly furnished unto all good works" (#2Ti 3:16,17).

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (#2Ti 3:16,17). "Doctrine" means "teaching", and it is by doctrine or teaching that the great realities of God and of our relation to him--of Christ, the Spirit, salvation, grace, glory, are made known to us. It is by doctrine (through the power of the Spirit) that believers are nourished and edified, and where doctrine is neglected, growth in grace and effective witnessing for Christ necessarily cease. How sad then that doctrine is now decried as "unpractical" when, in fact, doctrine is the very base of the practical life. There is an inseparable connection between belief and practice--"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (#Pr 23:7). The relation between divine truth and Christian character is that of cause to effect--"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (#Joh 8:32)--free from ignorance, free from prejudice, free from error, free from the wiles of Satan, free from the power of evil; and if the truth is not "known" then such freedom will not be enjoyed. Observe the order of mention in the passage with which we have opened. All Scripture is profitable first for "doctrine"! The same order is observed throughout the epistles, particularly in the great doctrinal treatises of the apostle Paul. Read the epistle of "Romans" and it will be found that there is not a single admonition in the first five chapters. In the epistle of "Ephesians" there are no exhortations till the fourth chapter is reached. The order is first doctrinal exposition and then admonition or exhortation for the regulation of the daily walk.

The substitution of so called "practical" preaching for the doctrinal exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of many of the evil maladies which now afflict the church of God. The reason why there is so little depth, so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities of Christianity, is because so few believers have been established in the faith, through hearing expounded and through their own personal study of the doctrines of grace. While the soul is not established in the doctrine of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures--their full and verbal inspiration--there can be no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the soul is ignorant of the doctrine of Justification there can be no real and intelligent assurance of its acceptance in the Beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching of the Word upon Sanctification it is open to receive all the crudities and errors of the Perfectionists or "Holiness" people. While the soul knows not what Scripture has to say upon the doctrine of the New Birth there can be no proper grasp of the two natures in the believer, and ignorance here inevitably results in loss of peace and joy. And so we might go on right through the list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine that has rendered the professing church helpless to cope with the rising tide of infidelity. It is ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being captivated by the numerous false isms of the day. It is because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches "will not endure sound doctrine" (#2Ti 4:3) that they so readily receive false doctrines. Of course it is true that doctrine, like anything else in Scripture, may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint, and thus approached, doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave the heart untouched, and will naturally be "dry" and profitless. But, doctrine properly received, doctrine studied with an exercised heart, will ever lead into a deeper knowledge of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The doctrine of God's sovereignty then is no mere metaphysical dogma which is devoid of practical value, but is one that is calculated to produce a powerful effect upon Christian character and the daily walk. The doctrine of God's sovereignty lies at the foundation of Christian theology, and in importance is perhaps second only to the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. It is the centre of gravity in the system of Christian truth--the sun around which all the lesser orbs are grouped. It is the golden milestone to which every highway of knowledge leads and from which they all radiate. It is the cord upon which all other doctrines are strung like so many pearls, holding them in place and giving them unity. It is the plumbline by which every creed needs to be measured, the balance in which every human dogma must be weighed. It is designed as the sheet anchor for our souls amid the storms of life. The doctrine of God's sovereignty is a divine cordial to refresh our spirits. It is designed and adapted to mould the affections of the heart and to give a right direction to conduct. It produces gratitude in prosperity and patience in adversity. It affords comfort for the present and a sense of security respecting the unknown future. It is, and it does all, and much more than we have just said, because it ascribes to God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--the glory which is his due, and places the creature in his proper place before him--in the dust. We shall now consider the Value of the doctrine in detail.

1. It Deepens Our Veneration Of The Divine Character.

The doctrine of God's sovereignty as it is unfolded in the Scriptures affords an exalted view of the divine perfections. It maintains his creatorial rights. It insists that "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" (#1Co 8:6). It declares that his rights are those of the "potter" who forms and fashions the clay into vessels of whatever type and for whatever use he may please. Its testimony is, "Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created" (#Re 4:11). It argues that none has any right to "reply" against God, and that the only becoming attitude for the creature to take is one of reverent submission before him. Thus the apprehension of the absolute supremacy of God is of great practical importance, for unless we have a proper regard to his high sovereignty he will never be honoured in our thoughts of him, nor will he have his proper place in our hearts and lives.

It exhibits the inscrutableness of his wisdom. It shows that while God is immaculate in his holiness, he has permitted evil to enter his fair creation; that while he is the possessor of all power, he has allowed the Devil to wage war against him for six thousand years at least; that while he is the perfect embodiment of love, he spared not his own Son; that while he is the God of all grace, multitudes will be tormented for ever and ever in the Lake of Fire. High mysteries are these. Scripture does not deny them, but acknowledge their existence--"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (#Ro 11:33).

It makes known the irreversibleness of his will. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" (#Ac 15:18). From the beginning God purposed to glorify himself "in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end" (#Eph 3:21). To this end, he created the world, and formed man. His all wise plan was not defeated when man fell, for in the Lamb "slain from the foundation of the world" (#Re 13:8) we behold the Fall anticipated. Nor will God's purpose be thwarted by the wickedness of men since the Fall, as is clear from the words of the Psalmist, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain" (#Ps 76:10). Because God is the Almighty his will cannot be withstood. "His purposes originated in eternity, and are carried forward without change to eternity. They extend to all his works, and control all events. He 'worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.'" (Dr. Rice). Neither man nor devil can successfully resist him, therefore is it written, "The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble." (#Ps 99:1). It magnifies his grace. Grace is unmerited favour, and because grace is shown to the undeserving and Hell deserving, to those who have no claim upon God, therefore is grace free and can be manifested toward the chief of sinners. But because grace is exercised toward those who are destitute of worthiness or merit, grace is sovereign; that is to say, God bestows grace upon whom he pleases. Divine sovereignty has ordained that some shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to show that all deserved such a doom. But grace Comes in like a dragnet and draws out from a lost humanity a people for God's name, to be throughout all eternity the monuments of his inscrutable favour. Sovereign grace reveals God breaking down the opposition of the human heart, subduing the enmity of the carnal mind, and bringing us to love him because he first loved us.

2. It Is The Solid Foundation Of All True Religion.

This naturally follows from what we have said above under the first head. If the doctrine of Divine sovereignty alone gives God his rightful place, then it is also true that it alone can supply a firm base for practical religion to build upon. There can be no progress in divine things until there is the personal recognition that God is Supreme, that he is to be feared and revered, that he is to be owned and served as Lord. We read the Scriptures in vain unless we come to them earnestly desiring a better knowledge of God's will for us--any other motive is selfish and utterly inadequate and unworthy. Every prayer we send up to God is but carnal presumption unless it be offered "according to his will"--anything short of this is to ask "amiss", that we might consume upon our own lusts the thing requested. Every service we engage in is but a "dead work" unless it be done for the glory of God. Experimental religion consists mainly in the perception and performance of the divine will--performance both active and passive. We are predestinated to be "conformed to the image of God's Son", whose meat it ever was to do the will of the one that sent him, and the measure in which each saint is becoming "conformed" practically, in his daily life, is largely determined by his response to our Lord's word--"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart."

3. It Repudiates The Heresy Of Salvation By Works.

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death" (#Pr 14:12). The way which seemeth right and which ends in "death", death eternal, is salvation by human effort and merit. The belief in salvation by works is one that is common to human nature. It may not always assume the grosser form of Popish penances, or even of Protestant "repentance"--i.e., sorrowing for sin, which is never the meaning of repentance in Scripture--anything which gives man a place at all is but a variety of the same evil genus. To say, as alas! many preachers are saying, God is willing to do his part if you will do yours, is a wretched and excuseless denial of the Gospel of his grace. To declare that God helps those who help themselves, is to repudiate one of the most precious truths taught in the Bible, and in the Bible alone; namely; that God helps those who are unable to help themselves, who have tried again and again only to fail. To say that the sinner's salvation turns upon the action of his own will, is another form of the God dishonouring dogma of salvation by human efforts. In the final analysis, any movement of the will is a work: it is something from me, something which I do. But the doctrine of God's sovereignty lays the axe at the root of this evil tree by declaring, "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (#Ro 9:16). Does some one say, "Such a doctrine will drive sinners to despair." The reply is, Be it so; it is just such despair the writer longs to see prevail. It is not until the sinner despairs of any help from himself, that he will ever fall into the arms of sovereign mercy; but if once the Holy Spirit convicts him that there is no help in himself, then he will recognize that he is lost, and will cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner", and such a cry will be heard. If the author may be allowed to bear personal witness, he has found during the course of his ministry that, the sermons he has preached on human depravity, the sinner's helplessness to do anything himself, and the salvation of the soul turning upon the sovereign mercy of God, have been those most owned and blessed in the salvation of the lost. We repeat, then, a sense of utter helplessness is the first prerequisite to any sound conversion. There is no salvation for any soul until it looks away from itself, looks to something, yea, to someone, outside of itself.

4. It Is Deeply Humbling To the Creature.

This doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God is a great battering ram against human pride, and in this it is in sharp contrast from "the doctrines of men." The spirit of our age is essentially that of boasting and glorying in the flesh. The achievements of man, his development and progress, his greatness and self-sufficiency, are the shrine at which the world worships today. But the truth of God's sovereignty, with all its corollaries, removes every ground for human boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its stead. It declares that salvation is of the Lord--of the Lord in its origination, in its operation, and in its consummation. It insists that the Lord has to apply as well as supply, that he has to complete as well as begin his saving work in our souls, that he has not only to reclaim but to maintain and sustain us to the end. It teaches that salvation is by grace through faith, and that all our works (before conversion), good as well as evil, count for nothing toward salvation. It tells us we are "born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (#Joh 1:13). And all this is most humbling to the heart of man, who wants to contribute something to the price of his redemption and do that which will afford ground for boasting and self-satisfaction.

But if this doctrine humbles us, it results in praise to God. If, in the light of God's sovereignty, we have seen our own worthlessness and helplessness, we shall indeed cry with the Psalmist, "All my springs are in thee" (#Ps 87:7). If by nature we were "children of wrath", and by practice rebels against the divine government and justly exposed to the "curse" of the Law, and if God was under no obligation to rescue us from the fiery indignation and yet, notwithstanding, he delivered up his well beloved Son for us all; then how such grace and love will melt our hearts, how the apprehension of it will cause us to say in adoring gratitude, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake" (#Ps 115: 1)! How readily shall each of us acknowledge, "By the grace of God I am what I am"! With what wondering praise shall we exclaim--

5. It Affords A Sense of Absolute Security.

God is infinite in power, and therefore it is impossible to withstand his will or resist the outworking of his decrees. Such a statement as that is well calculated to fill the sinner with alarm, but from the saint it evokes naught but praise. Let us add a word and see what a difference it makes:--My God is infinite in power! then "I will not fear what man can do unto me." My God is infinite in power, then "what time I am afraid I will trust in him." My God is infinite in power, then "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (#Ps 4:8). Right down the ages this has been the source of the saints' confidence. Was not this the assurance of Moses when, in his parting words to Israel, he said-- "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun (Israel), who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (#De 33:26,27)? Was it not this sense of security that caused the Psalmist, moved by the Holy Spirit, to write--"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress: my God: in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler: Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee (instead, all things will work together for good), neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling" (#Ps 91:1-16)?

O the preciousness of this truth! Here am I, a poor, helpless, senseless "sheep", yet am I secure in the hand of Christ. And why am I secure there? None can pluck me thence because the hand that holds me is that of the Son of God, and all power in heaven and earth is his! Again; I have no strength of my own: the world, the flesh, and the Devil, are arrayed against me, so I commit myself into the care and keeping of the Lord and say with the apostle, "I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (#2Ti 1:12). And what is the ground of my confidence? How do I know that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him? I know it because God is almighty, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

6. It Supplies Comfort In Sorrow.

The doctrine of God's sovereignty is one that is full of consolation and imparts great peace to the Christian. The sovereignty of God is a foundation that nothing can shake and is more firm than the heavens and earth. How blessed to know there is no corner of the universe that is out of his reach! as said the Psalmist, "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee" (#Ps 139:7-12). How blessed it is to know that God's strong hand is upon every one and every thing! How blessed to know that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without his notice! How blessed to know that our very afflictions come not by chance, nor from the Devil, but are ordained and ordered by God:--"That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto" (#1Th 3:3)!

But our God is not only infinite in power, he is infinite in wisdom and goodness too. And herein is the preciousness of this truth. God wills only that which is good and his will is irreversible and irresistible! God is too wise to err and too loving to cause his child a needless tear. Therefore if God be perfect wisdom and perfect goodness how blessed is the assurance that everything is in his hand, and moulded by his will according to his eternal purpose! "Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him what doest thou?" (#Job 9:12). Yet, how comforting to learn that it is "he", and not the Devil, who "taketh away" our loved ones! Ah! what peace for our poor frail hearts to be told that the number of our days is with him (#Job 7:1; 14:5); that disease and death are his messengers, and always march under his orders; that it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away!

7. It Begins A Spirit Of Sweet Resignation.

To bow before the sovereign will of God is one of the great secrets of peace and happiness. There can be no real submission with contentment until we are broken in spirit, that is, until we are willing and glad for the Lord to have his way with us. Not that we are insisting upon a spirit of fatalistic acquiescence far from it. The saints are exhorted to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (#Ro 12:2).

We touched upon this subject of resignation to God's will in the chapter upon our attitude towards God's Sovereignty, and there, in addition to the supreme pattern, we cited the examples of Eli and Job: we would now supplement their cases with further examples. What a word is that in #Le 10:3--"And Aaron held his peace." Look at the circumstances: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord ... And Aaron held his peace." Two of the high priests' sons were slain, slain by a visitation of divine judgment, and they were probably intoxicated at the time; moreover, this trial came upon Aaron suddenly, without anything to prepare him for it; yet, he "held his peace." Precious exemplification of the power of God's all sufficient grace!

Consider now an utterance which fell from the lips of David: "And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him" (#2Sa 15:25,26). Here, too, the circumstances which confronted the speaker were exceedingly trying to the human heart. David was sore pressed with sorrow. His own son was driving him from the throne, and seeking his very life. Whether he would ever see Jerusalem and the Tabernacle again he knew not. But he was so yielded up to God, he was so fully assured that his will was best, that even though it meant the loss of the throne and the loss of his life he was content for him to have his way--"let him do to me as seemeth him good."

There is no need to multiply examples, but a reflection upon the last case will be in place. If amid the shadows of the Old Testament dispensation, David was content for the Lord to have his way, now that the heart of God has been fully revealed at the cross, how much more ought we to delight in the execution of his will! Surely we shall have no hesitation in saying--

8. It Evokes A Song Of Praise.

It could not be otherwise. Why should I, who am by nature no different from the careless and godless throngs all around, have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and now blest with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in him! Why was I, that once was an alien and a rebel, singled out for such wondrous favours! Ah, that is something I cannot fathom. Such grace, such love, "passeth knowledge." But if my mind is unable to discern a reason, my heart can express its gratitude in praise and adoration. But not only should I be grateful to God for his grace toward me in the past, his present dealings will fill me with thanksgivings. What is the force of that word "Rejoice in the Lord alway" (#Php 4:4)? Mark it is not "Rejoice in the Saviour", but we are to "Rejoice in the Lord", as "Lord", as the Master of every circumstance. Need we remind the reader that when the apostle penned these words he was himself a prisoner in the hands of the Roman government. A long course of affliction and suffering lay behind him. Perils on land and perils on sea, hunger and thirst, scourging and stoning, had all been experienced. he had been persecuted by those within the church as well as by those without: the very ones who ought to have stood by him had forsaken him. And still he writes, "Rejoice in the Lord alway"! What was the secret of his peace and happiness? Ah! had not this same apostle written, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (#Ro 8:28). But how did he, and how do we, "know", that all things work together for good? The answer is, "Because all things are under the control of and are being regulated by the Supreme Sovereign, and because he has naught but thoughts of love toward his own, then `all things' are so ordered by him that they are made to minister to our ultimate good.' It is for this cause we are to give "thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (#Eph 5:20). Yes, give thanks for "all things" for, as it has been well said "Our disappointments are but his appointments." To the one who delights in the sovereignty of God the clouds not only have a "silver lining" but they are pure silver all through, the darkness only serving to offset the light--

9. It Guarantees The Final Triumph Of Good Over Evil.

Ever since the day that Cain slew Abel, the conflict on earth between good and evil, has been a sore problem to the saints. In every age the righteous have been hated and persecuted, while the unrighteous have appeared to defy God with impunity. The Lord's people, for the most part, have been poor in this world's goods, whereas the wicked in their temporal prosperity have flourished like the green bay tree. As one looks around and beholds the oppression of believers and the earthly success of unbelievers, and notes how few are the former and how numerous the latter; as he sees the apparent defeat of the right, and the triumphing of might and the wrong; as he hears the roar of battle, the cries of the wounded, and the lamentations of the bereaved; as he discovers that almost everything down here is in confusion, chaos, and ruins, it seems as though Satan were getting the better of the conflict. But as one looks above, instead of around, there is plainly visible to the eye of faith a throne, a throne unaffected by the storms of earth, a throne that is "set", stable and secure; and upon it is seated one whose name is the Almighty, and who "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (#Eph 1:11). This then is our confidence--God is on the throne. The helm is in his hand, and being Almighty his purpose cannot fail, for "he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth" (#Job 23:13). Though God's governing hand is invisible to the eye of sense, it is real to faith, that faith which rests with sure confidence upon his Word, and therefore is assured he cannot fail. What follows below is from the pen of our brother Mr. Gaebelein.

"There can be no failure with God. 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?" (#Nu 23:19). All will be accomplished. The promise made to his own beloved people to come for them and take them from hence to, glory will not fail. He will surely come and gather them in his own presence. The solemn words spoken to the nations of the earth by the different prophets will also not fail. "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken ye people; let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all armies; He hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter" (#Isa 34:1,2). Nor will that day fail in which "the lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted" (#Isa 2:11). The day in which he is manifested, when his glory shall cover the heavens and his feet will stand again upon this earth, will surely come. His kingdom will not fail, nor all the promised events connected with the end of the age and the consummation.

"In these dark and trying times how well it is to remember that he is on the throne, the throne which cannot be shaken, and that he will not fail in doing all he has spoken and promised. 'Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read: no one of these shall fail' (#Isa 34:16). In believing, blessed anticipation, we can look on to the glory time when his word and his will is accomplished, when through the coming of the Prince of Peace, righteousness and peace comes at last. And while we wait for the supreme and blessed moment when his promise to us is accomplished, we trust him, walking in his fellowship and daily find afresh, that he does not fail to sustain and keep us in all our ways."

10. It Provides A Resting Place For the Heart.

Much that might have been said here has already been anticipated under previous heads. The one seated upon the throne of Heaven, the one who is Governor over the nations and who has ordained and now regulates all events, is infinite not only in power but in wisdom and goodness as well. He who is Lord over all creation is the one that was "manifest in the flesh" (#1Ti 3:16). Ah! here is a theme no human pen can do justice to. The glory of God consists not merely in that he is highest, but in that being high he stooped in lowly love to bear the burden of his own sinful creatures, for it is written "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" (#2Co 5:19). The Church of God was purchased "with his own blood" (#Ac 20:28). It is upon the gracious self-humiliation of the King himself that his kingdom is established. O wondrous cross! By it he who suffered upon it has become not the Lord of our destinies (he was that before), but the Lord of our hearts. Therefore, it is not in abject terror that we bow before the Supreme Sovereign, but in adoring worship we cry, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (#Re 5:12).

Here then is the refutation of the wicked charge that this doctrine is a horrible calumny upon God and dangerous to expound to his people. Can a doctrine be "horrible" and "dangerous" that gives God his true place, that maintains his rights, that magnifies his grace, that ascribes all glory to him and removes every ground of boasting from the creature? Can a doctrine be "horrible" and "dangerous" which affords the saints a sense of security in danger, that supplies them comfort in sorrow, that begets patience within them in adversity, that evokes from them praise at all times? Can a doctrine be "horrible" and "dangerous" which assures us of the certain triumph of good over evil, and which provides a sure resting place for our hearts, and that place, the perfections of the Sovereign himself? No; a thousand times, no. Instead of being "horrible and dangerous" this doctrine of the Sovereignty of God is glorious and edifying, and a due apprehension of it will but serve to make us exclaim with Moses, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (#Ex 15:11).

Conclusion

"Halleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (#Re 19:6).

In our Foreword to the second edition we acknowledge the need for preserving the balance of truth. Two things are beyond dispute: God is sovereign, man is responsible. In this book we have sought to expound the former; in our other works we have frequently pressed the latter. That there is real danger of over emphasising the one and ignoring the other, we readily admit; yea, history furnishes numerous examples of cases of each. To emphasise the sovereignty of God, without also maintaining the accountability of the creature tends to fatalism; to be so concerned in maintaining the responsibility of man, as to lose sight of the sovereignty of God, is to exalt the creature and dishonour the creator.

Almost all doctrinal error, is, really, truth perverted, truth wrongly divided, truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions. Here is where so many have failed, in the past. A single phase of God's truth has so impressed this man or that, that he has concentrated his attention upon it, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Some portion of God's Word has been made a "pet doctrine", and often this has become the distinctive badge of some party. But it is the duty of each servant of God to "declare all the counsel of God" (#Ac 20:27).

It is true that the degenerate days in which our lot is cast, when on every side man is exalted, and "superman" has become a common expression, there is real need for a special emphasis upon the glorious fact of God's supremacy. The more so where this is expressly denied. Yet even here much wisdom is required, lest our zeal should not be "according to knowledge." The words "meat in due season" should ever be before the servant of God. What is needed, primarily, by one congregation, may not be specifically needed by another. If called to labour where Arminian preachers have preceded, then the neglected truth of God's sovereignty should be expounded--though with caution and care, lest too much "strong meat" be given to "babes". The example of Christ in #Joh 16:12, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now", must be borne in mind. On the other hand, if I am called to take charge of a distinctly Calvinistic pulpit, then the truth of human responsibility (in its many aspects) may be profitably set forth. What the preacher needs to give out is not what his people most like to hear, but what they most need, i.e. those aspects of truth they are least familiar with, or least exhibiting in their walk.

To carry into actual practice what we have inculcated above will, most probably, lay the preacher open to the charge of being a turncoat. But what matters that if he has his Master's approval? He is not called upon to be "consistent" with himself, nor with any rules drawn up by man; his business is to be consistent with Holy Writ. And in Scripture each part or aspect of truth is balanced by another aspect of truth. There are two sides to everything, even to the character of God, for he is "light" (#1Jo 1:5) as well as "love" (#1Jo 4:8), and therefore are we called upon to "Behold, therefore the goodness and severity of God" (#Ro 11:22). To be all the time preaching on the one to the exclusion of the other, caricatures the divine character.

When the Son of God became incarnate he came here in "the form of a servant" (#Php 2:6); nevertheless, in the manger he was "Christ the Lord" (#Lu 2:11)! All things are possible with God (#Mt 19:26), yet God "cannot lie" (#Tit 1:2). Scripture says, "Bear ye one another's burdens" (#Ga 6:2), yet the same chapter insists "every man shall bear his own burden" (#Ga 6:5). We are enjoined to take "no thought for the morrow" (#Mt 6:34), yet "if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (#1Ti 5:8). No sheep of Christ's can perish (#Joh 10:28,29), yet the Christian is bidden to make his "calling and election sure" (#2Pe 1:10). And so we might go on multiplying illustrations. These things are not contradictions, but complementaries: the one "balances the other". Thus, the Scriptures set forth both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. So too should every servant of God, and that, in their proper proportions.

But we return now to a few closing reflections upon our present theme. "And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, And said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?" (#2Ch 20:5,6). Yes, the Lord is God, ruling over all the kingdoms of men, ruling in supreme majesty and might. Yet in our day, a day of boasted enlightenment and progress, this is denied on every hand. A materialistic science and an atheistic philosophy have bowed God out of his own world, and everything is regulated, forsooth, by (impersonal) laws of nature. So in human affairs: at best God is a far distant spectator, and a helpless one at that. God could not help the launching of the dreadful war, and though he longed to put a stop to it he was unable to do so--and this in the face of #1Ch 5:22 2Ch 24:24! Having endowed man with "free agency" God is obliged to let man make his own choice and go his own way, and he cannot interfere with him, or otherwise his moral responsibility would be destroyed. Such are the popular beliefs of the day. One is not surprised to find these sentiments emanating from German theologians, but how sad that they should be taught in many of our seminaries, echoed from many of our pulpits, and accepted by many of the rank and file of professing Christians.

One of the most flagrant sins of our age is that of irreverence--the failure to ascribe the glory which is due the august majesty of God. Men limit the power and activities of the Lord in their degrading concepts of his being and character. Originally, man was made in the image and likeness of God, but today we are asked to believe in a god made in the image and likeness of man. The creator is reduced to the level of the creature: his omniscience is called into question, his omnipotency is no longer believed in, and his absolute sovereignty is flatly denied. Men claim to be the architects of their own fortunes and the determiners of their own destiny. They know not that their lives are at the disposal of the Divine Despot. They know not they have no more power to thwart his secret decrees than a worm has to resist the tread of an elephant. They know not that "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all" (#Ps 103:19).

In the foregoing pages we have sought to repudiate such paganistic views as the above mentioned, and have endeavoured to show from Scripture that God is God, on the throne, and that so far from the recent war being an evidence that the helm had slipped out of his hand, it was a sure proof that he still lives and reigns, and is now bringing to pass that which he had foredetermined and foreannounced (#Mt 24:6-8 etc.). That the carnal mind is enmity against God, that the unregenerate man is a rebel against the divine government, that the sinner has no concern for the glory of his maker, and little or no respect for his revealed will, is freely granted. But, nevertheless, behind the scenes, God is ruling and over ruling, fulfilling his eternal purpose, not only in spite of but, also by means of, those who are his enemies.

How earnestly are the claims of man contended for against the claims of God! Has not man power and knowledge, but what of it? Has God no will, or power, or knowledge? Suppose man's will conflicts with God's--then what? Turn to the Scripture of Truth for answer. Men had a will on the plains of Shinar and determined to build a tower whose top should reach unto heaven, but what came of their purpose? Pharaoh had a will when he hardened is heart and refused to allow Jehovah's people to go and worship him in the wilderness, but what came of his rebellion? Balak had a will when he hired Balaam to come and curse the Hebrews, but of what avail was it? The Canaanites had a will when they determined to prevent Israel occupying the land of Canaan, but how far did they succeed? Saul had a will when he hurled his javelin at David, but it entered the wall instead! Jonah had a will when he refused to go and preach to the Ninevites, but what came of it? Nebuchadnezzar had a will when he thought to destroy the three Hebrew children, but God had a will too, and the fire did not harm them. Herod had a will when he sought to slay the child Jesus, and had there been no living, reigning God, his evil desire would have been effected; but in daring to pit his puny will against the irresistible will of the Almighty, his efforts came to nought. Yes, my reader, and you, too, had a will when you formed your plans without first seeking counsel of the Lord, therefore did he overturn them! "There are many devices in a man's heart: nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand" (#Pr 19:21). What a demonstration of the irresistible sovereignty of God is furnished by that wonderful statement found in #Re 17:17--"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." The fulfilment of any single prophecy is but the sovereignty of God in operation. It is the demonstration that what he has decreed he is able also to perform. It is proof that none can withstand the execution of his counsel or prevent the accomplishment of his pleasure. It is the evidence that God inclines men to fulfil that which he has ordained and perform that which he has foredetermined. If God were not absolute Sovereign, then divine prophecy would be valueless, for in such case no guarantee would be left that what he had predicted would surely come to pass.

"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will and, to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (#Re 17:17). Even in that terrible time, when Satan has been cast down to the earth itself (#Re 12:9), when the Antichrist is reigning in full power (#Re 13:1-18), when the basest passions of men are let loose (#Re 6:4), even then God is supreme above all, working "through all" (#Eph 4:6), controlling men's hearts and directing their counsels to the fulfilling of his own purpose. We cannot do better than quote here the excellent comments of our esteemed friend Mr. Waiter Scott upon this verse--"God works unseen, but not the less truly, in all the political changes of the day. The astute statesman, the clever diplomatist, is simply an agent in the Lord's hands. He knows it not. Self-will and motives of policy may influence to action, but God is steadily working toward an end--to exhibit the heavenly and earthly glories of his Son. Thus, instead of kings and statesmen thwarting God's purpose, they unconsciously forward it. God is not indifferent, but is behind the scenes of human action. The doings of the future ten kings in relation to Babylon and the Beast--the ecclesiastical and secular powers--are not only under the direct control of God, but all is done in fulfilment of his words."

Closely connected with #Re 17:17 is that which is brought before us in #Mic 4:11,12--"Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they, know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor." Here is another instance which demonstrates God's absolute control of the nations, of his power to fulfil his secret counsel or decrees through and by them, and of his inclining men to perform his pleasure though it be performed blindly and unwittingly by them.

Once more. What a word was that of the Lord Jesus as he stood before Pilate! Who can depict the scene! There was the Roman official, and there also was the servant of Jehovah standing before him. Said Pilate, "Whence art thou?" And we read, "Jesus gave him no answer." Then said Pilate unto him, "Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" (#Joh 19:10). Ah! that is what Pilate thought. That is what many another has thought. He was merely voicing the common conviction of the human heart--the heart which leaves God out of its reckoning. But hear the Lord Jesus as he corrects Pilate, and at the same time repudiates the proud boasting of men in general--"thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above" (#Joh 19:11). How sweeping is this assertion! Man--even though he be a prominent official in the most influential empire of his day--has no power except that which is given him from above, no power, even, to do that which is evil, i.e., carry out his own evil designs, unless God empowers him so that his purpose may be forwarded. It was God who gave Pilate the power to sentence to death his well beloved Son! And how this rebukes the sophistries and reasonings of men, who argue that God does nothing more than permit evil! Why, go right back to the very first words spoken by the Lord God to man after the Fall, and hear him saying, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" (#Ge 3:15)! Bare permission of sin does not cover all the facts which are revealed in Scripture touching this mystery. As Calvin succinctly remarked, "But what reason shall we assign for his permitting it but because it is his will?"

At the close of chapter eleven we promised to give attention to one or two other Difficulties which were not examined at that time. To them we now turn. If God has not only predetermined the salvation of his own, but has also foreordained the good works which they are to walk in (#Eph 2:10), then what incentive remains for us to strive after practical godliness? If God has fixed the number of those who are to be saved, and the others are vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, then what encouragement have we to preach the Gospel to the lost? Let us take up these questions in the order of mention.

1. God's Sovereignty And The Believer's Growth In Grace.

If God has foreordained everything that comes to pass, of what avail is it for us to "exercise" ourselves "unto godliness" (#1Ti 4:7)? If God has before ordained the good works in which we are to walk (#Eph 2:10), then why should we be careful to maintain good works (#Tit 3:8)? This only raises once more the problem of human responsibility. Really, it should be enough for us to reply, God has bidden us do so. Nowhere does Scripture inculcate or encourage a spirit of fatalistic indifference. Contentment with our present attainments is expressly disallowed. The word to every believer is, "Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (#Php 3:14). This was the apostle's aim, and it should be ours. Instead of hindering the development of Christian character, a proper apprehension and appreciation of God's sovereignty will forward it. Just as the sinner's despair of any help from himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace; and just as the sinner despairing of help from himself will cast him into the arms of sovereign mercy, so the Christian, conscious of his own frailty, will turn unto the Lord for power. It is when we are weak, we are strong (#2Co 12:10): that is to say, there must be consciousness of our weakness before we shall turn to the Lord for help. While the Christian allows the thought that he is sufficient in himself, while he imagines that by mere force of will he shall resist temptation, while he has any confidence in the flesh then, like Peter who boasted that though all forsook the Lord yet should not he, so we shall certainly fail and fall. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (#Joh 15:5). The promise of God is, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might (of their own) he increaseth strength" (#Isa 40:29).

The question now before us is of great practical importance, and we are deeply anxious to express ourselves clearly and simply. The secret of development of Christian character is the realization of our own powerlessness, acknowledged powerlessness, and the consequent turning unto the Lord for help. The plain fact is that of ourselves we are utterly unable to practice a single precept or obey a single command that is set before us in the Scriptures. For example: "Love your enemies"--but of ourselves we cannot do this, or make ourselves do it. "In nothing be anxious"--but who can avoid and prevent anxiety when things go wrong? "Awake to righteousness and sin not"--but who can help sinning? These are merely examples selected at random from scores of others. Does then God mock us by bidding us do what he knows we are unable to do? The answer of Augustine to this question is the best we have met with--"God gives commands we cannot perform, that we may know what we ought to request from him." A consciousness of our powerlessness should cast us upon him who has all power. here then is where a vision and view of God's sovereignty helps, for it reveals his sufficiency and shows us our insufficiency.

2. God's Sovereignty And Christian Service.

If God has determined before the foundation of the world the precise number of those who shall be saved, then why should we concern ourselves about the eternal destiny of those with whom we come into contact? What place is left for zeal in Christian service? Will not the doctrine of God's sovereignty, and its corollary of predestination, discourage the Lord's servants from faithfulness in evangelism? No; instead of discouraging his servants, a recognition of God's sovereignty is most encouraging to them. Here is one, for example, who is called upon to do the work of an evangelist, and he goes forth believing in the freedom of the will and in the sinner's own ability to come to Christ. He preaches the Gospel as faithfully and zealously as he knows how; but, he finds the vast majority of his hearers are utterly indifferent and have no heart at all for Christ. He discovers that men are, for the most part, thoroughly wrapped up in the things of the world, and that few have any concern about the world to come. He beseeches men to be reconciled to God, and pleads with them over their soul's salvation. But it is of no avail. He becomes thoroughly disheartened, and asks himself, What is the use of it all? Shall he quit, or had he better change his mission and message? If men will not respond to the Gospel, had he not better engage in that which is more popular and acceptable to the world? Why not occupy himself with humanitarian efforts, with social uplift work, with the purity campaign? Alas! that so many men who once preached the Gospel are now engaged in these activities instead. What then is God's corrective for his discouraged servant? First, he needs to learn from Scripture that God is not now seeking to convert the world, but that in this age he is "taking out of the Gentiles" a people for his name (#Ac 15:14). What then is God's corrective for his discouraged servant? This--a proper apprehension of God's plan for this Dispensation. Again: what is God's remedy for dejection at apparent failure in our labours? This--the assurance that God's purpose cannot fail, that God's plans cannot miscarry, that God's will must be done. Our labours are not intended to bring about that which God has not decreed. Once more: what is God's word of cheer for the one who is thoroughly disheartened at the lack of response to his appeals and the absence of fruit for his labours? This--that we are not responsible for results: that is God's side, and God's business. Paul may "plant", and Apollos may "water", but it is God who "gave the increase" (#1Co 3:6). Our business is to obey Christ and preach the Gospel to every creature, to emphasise the "Whosoever believeth", and then to leave the sovereign operations of the Holy Spirit to apply the Word in quickening power to whom he wills, resting on the sure promise of Jehovah--"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please (it may not that which we please), and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (#Isa 55:10,11). Was it not this assurance that sustained the beloved apostle when he declared "Therefore (see context) I endure all things for the elect's sake" (#2Ti 2:10)! Yea, is not this same lesson to be learned from the blessed example of the Lord Jesus! When we read that he said to the people, "Ye also have seen me, and believe not", he fell back upon the sovereign pleasure of the one who sent him, saying, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (#Joh 6:36,37). He knew that his labour would not be in vain. He knew God's Word would not return unto him "void." He knew that "God's elect" would come to him and believe on him. And this same assurance fills the soul of every servant who intelligently rests upon the blessed truth of God's sovereignty.

Ah fellow Christian worker, God has not sent us forth to "draw a bow at a venture". The success of the ministry which he has committed into our hands is not left contingent on the fickleness of the wills in those to whom we preach. How gloriously encouraging, how soul sustaining the assurance are those words of our Lord's, if we rest on them in simple faith: "And other sheep I have ("have" mark you, not "will have"; "have", because given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world), which are not of this fold (i.e. the Jewish fold then existing): them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice" (#Joh 16:1-33). Not simply, they ought to hear my voice, not simply "they may hear my voice", not "they will do so if they are willing." There is no "if", no "perhaps", no uncertainty about it. "They shall hear my voice" is his own positive, unqualified, absolute promise. Here then, is where faith is to rest! Continue your quest, dear friend, after the "other sheep" of Christ's. Be not discouraged because the "goats" heed not his voice as you preach the Gospel. Be faithful, be scriptural, be persevering, and Christ may use even you to be his mouthpiece in calling some of his lost sheep unto himself. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (#1Co 15:58).

It now remains for us to offer a few closing reflections and our happy task is finished.

God's sovereign election of certain ones to salvation is a MERCIFUL provision. The sufficient answer to all the wicked accusations that the doctrine of Predestination is cruel, horrible, and unjust, is that, unless God had chosen certain ones to salvation, none would have been saved, for "there is none that seeketh after God" (#Ro 3:11). This is no mere inference of ours but the definite teaching of Holy Scripture. Attend closely to the words of the apostle in #Ro 9:1-33, where this theme is fully discussed--"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved ... And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah" (#Ro 9:27,29). The teaching of this passage is unmistakable: but for divine interference, Israel would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah. Had God left Israel alone, human depravity would have run its course to its own tragic end. But God left Israel a "remnant" or "seed." Of old the cities of the plain had been obliterated for their sin, and none was left to survive them; and so it would have been in Israel's case had not God "left" or spared a remnant. Thus it is with the human race: but for God's sovereign grace in sparing a remnant, all of Adam's descendants had perished in their sins. Therefore, we say that God's sovereign election of certain ones to salvation is a merciful provision. And, be it noted, in choosing the ones he did, God did no injustice to the others who were passed by, for none had any right to salvation. Salvation is by grace, and the exercise of grace is a matter of pure sovereignty--God might save all or none, many or few, one or ten thousand, just as he saw best. Should it be replied, But surely it were "best" to save all. The answer would be: We are not capable of judging. We might have thought it "best" never to have created Satan, never to have allowed sin to enter the world, or having entered, to have brought the conflict between good and evil to an end long before now. Ah! God's ways are not ours, and his ways are "past finding out."

God foreordains everything which comes to pass. his sovereign rule extends throughout the entire universe and is over every creature. "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things" (#Ro 11:36). God initiates all things, regulates all things, and all things are working unto his eternal glory. "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" (#1Co 8: 6). And again, "According to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (#Eph 1:11). Surely if anything could be ascribed to chance it is the drawing of lots, and yet the Word of God expressly declares, "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (#Pr 16:33)!!

God's wisdom in the government of our world shall yet be completely vindicated before all created intelligences. God is no idle spectator, looking on from a distant world at the happenings on our earth, but is himself shaping everything to the ultimate promotion of his own glory. Even now he is working out his eternal purpose, not only in spite of human and Satanic opposition, but by means of them. How wicked and futile have been all efforts to resist his will shall one day be as fully evident as when of old he overthrew the rebellious Pharaoh and his hosts at the Red Sea.

It has been well said, "The end and object of all is the glory of God. It is perfectly, divinely true, that `God hath ordained for his own glory whatsoever comes to pass.' In order to guard this from all possibility of mistake, we have only to remember who is this God, and what the glory that he seeks. It is he who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,--of him in whom divine love came seeking not her own, among us as `One that serveth.' It is he who, sufficient in himself, can receive no real accession of glory from his creatures, but from whom--`Love', as he is `Light',--cometh down every good and every perfect gift, in whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. Of his own alone can his creatures give to him."

"The glory of such an one is found in the display of his own goodness, righteousness, holiness, truth; in manifesting himself as in Christ he has manifested himself and will forever. The glory of this God is what of necessity all things must serve--adversaries and evil as well as all else. He has ordained it; his power will insure it; and when all apparent clouds and obstructions are removed, then shall he rest--`rest in his love' forever, although eternity only will suffice for the apprehension of the revelation. `God shall be all in all' (italics ours throughout this paragraph) gives in six words the ineffable result" (F.W. Grant on "Atonement").

That what we have written gives but an incomplete and imperfect presentation of this most important subject we must sorrowfully confess. Nevertheless, if it results in a clearer apprehension of the majesty of God and his sovereign mercy we shall be amply repaid for our labours. If the reader has received blessing from the perusal of these pages, let him not fail to return thanks to the Giver of every good and every perfect gift, ascribing all praise to his inimitable and sovereign grace.

Appendix A, The Will Of God

In treating of the Will of God some theologians have differentiated between his decretive will and his permissive will, insisting that there are certain things which God has positively foreordained, but other things which he merely suffers to exist or happen. But such a distinction is really no distinction at all, in as much as God only permits that which is according to his will. No such distinction would have been invented had these theologians discerned that God could have decreed the existence and activities of sin without himself being the Author of sin. Personally, we much prefer to adopt the distinction made by the older Calvinists between God's secret and revealed will, or, to state it in another way, his disposing and his preceptive will.

God's revealed will is made known in his Word, but his secret will is his own hidden counsels. God's revealed will is the definer of our duty and the standard of our responsibility. The primary and basic reason why I should follow a certain course or do a certain thing is because it is God's will that I should, his will being clearly defined for me in his Word. That I should not follow a certain course, that I must refrain from doing certain things, is because they are contrary to God's revealed will. But suppose I disobey God's Word, then do I not cross his will? And if so, how can it still be true that God's will is always done and his counsel accomplished at all times? Such questions should make evident the necessity for the distinction here advocated. God's revealed will is frequently crossed, but his secret will is never thwarted. That it is legitimate for us to make such a distinction concerning God's will is clear from Scripture. Take these two passages: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (#1Th 4:3); "For who hath resisted his will?" (#Ro 9:19). Would any thoughtful reader declare that God's "will" has precisely the same meaning in both of these passages? We surely hope not. The first passage refers to God's revealed will, the latter to his secret will. The first passage concerns our duty, the latter declares that God's secret purpose is immutable and must come to pass notwithstanding the creature's insubordination. God's revealed will is never done perfectly or fully by any of us, but his secret will never fails of accomplishment even in the minutest particular. His secret will mainly concerns future events; his revealed will, our present duty: the one has to do with his irresistible purpose, the other with his manifested pleasure: the one is wrought upon us and accomplished through us, the other is to be done by us.

The secret will of God is his eternal, unchanging purpose concerning all things which he hath made, to be brought about by certain means to their appointed ends: of this God expressly declares "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (#Isa 46:10). This is the absolute, efficacious will of God, always effected, always fulfilled. The revealed will of God contains not his purpose and decree but our duty,--not what he will do according to his eternal counsel, but what we should do if we would please him, and this is expressed in the precepts and promises of his Word. Whatever God has determined within himself, whether to do himself, or to do by others, or to suffer to be done, while it is in his own breast, and is not made known by any event in providence, or by precept, or by prophecy, is his secret will. Such are the deep things of God, the thoughts of his heart, the counsels of his mind, which are impenetrable to all creatures. But when these are made known they become his revealed will: such is almost the whole of the book of Revelation, wherein God has made known to us "things which must shortly come to pass" (#Re 1:1--"must" because he has eternally purposed that they should).

It has been objected by Arminian theologians that the division of God's will into secret and revealed is untenable, because it makes God to have two different wills, the one opposed to the other. But this is a mistake, due to their failure to see that the secret and revealed will of God respect entirely different objects. If God should require and forbid the same thing, or if he should decree the same thing should and should not exist, then would his secret and revealed will be contradictory and purposeless. If those who object to the secret and revealed will of God being inconsistent would only make the same distinction in this case that they do in many other cases, the seeming inconsistency would at once disappear. How often do men draw a sharp distinction between what is desirable in its own nature and what is not desirable all things considered. For example, the fond parent does not desire simply considered to punish his offending child, but, all things considered, he knows it is his bounden duty, and so corrects his child. And though he tells his child he does not desire to punish him, but that he is satisfied it is for the best all things considered to do so, then an intelligent child would see no inconsistency in what his father says and does. Just so the All-wise Creator may consistently decree to bring to pass things which he hates, forbids and condemns. God chooses that some things shall exist which he thoroughly hates (in their intrinsic nature), and he also chooses that some things shall not yet exist which he perfectly loves (in their intrinsic nature). For example: he commanded that Pharaoh should let his people go, because that was right in the nature of things, yet, he had secretly declared that Pharaoh should not let his people go, not because it was right in Pharaoh to refuse, but because it was best all things considered that he should not let them go--i.e. best because it subserved God's larger purpose.

Again; God commands us to be perfectly holy in this life (#Mt 5:48), because this is right in the nature of things, but he has decreed that no man shall be perfectly holy in this life, because this is best all things considered that none shall be perfectly holy (experimentally) before they leave this world. Holiness is one thing, the taking place of holiness is another; so, sin is one thing, the taking place of sin is another. When God requires holiness his preceptive or revealed will respects the nature or moral excellence of holiness; but when he decrees that holiness shall not take place (fully and perfectly) his secret or decretive will respects only the event of it not taking place. So, again, when he forbids sin, his preceptive or revealed will respects only the nature or moral evil of sin; but when he decrees that sin shall take place, his secret will respects only its actual occurrence to serve his good purpose. Thus the secret and revealed will of God respect entirely different objects.

God's will of decree is not his will in the same sense as his will of command is. Therefore, there is no difficulty in supposing that one may be contrary to the other. His will, in both senses, is his inclination. Everything that concerns his revealed will is perfectly agreeable to his nature, as when he commands love, obedience, and service from his creatures. But that which concerns his secret will has in view his ultimate end, that to which all things are now working. Thus, he decreed the entrance of sin into his universe, though his own holy nature hates all sin with infinite abhorrence, yet, because it is one of the means by which his appointed end is to be reached he suffered it to enter. God's revealed will is the measure of our responsibility and the determiner of our duty. With God's secret will we have nothing to do: that is his concern. But, God knowing that w