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V I

GOD'S ETERNAL

.3 , •,■'">=

PURPOSE.

■; lis-.

'i'

-;/>^'(t-.,

•v

-'A

i... ■ . ■ i . ^

REV. W. McOREQOR

Barton, Digby County, N. S.

COPYRIGHTED,

* ,

SECOND EDITION— REVISED and ENLARGED.

1 1

ST. JOHN, N. B,

PATKRSON .t CO., ELKCTRICAT, PRINTERS
f * MASONIC TEMPI^R.

■-:-'A

• J . . .■ .

Prefa<
Introc
IThe D|

Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the
year 1895, by Rev. W. McGreoor, in the office of
the Minister of Agriculture,

CONTENTS.

Preface .

Introduction

I The Divine Purpose. Its Plan. Its Execution.

A. The Purpose. B. The Plan. C. The Execution.

Chap, I.

II.

III.

IV.

3
5

The Creation of Angels . . .13

The Creation of Heaven and Earth . . 16

The Creation of Mankind — Permission of Sin 25

The Revelation of the Divine Purpose . 31

The Salvation of Abel ; The Translation of

Enoch ; The Preservation of Noah . . 36

The Establishment of the Worship of God . 42

The Assumption of Human Nature b)' the
Saviour Second Person in the Trinity or
Ivord's First Advent . . . . .48

VIIT. The Advent of the Holy Spirit, and His Work 72

VI.
VII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

xrii.

Organization of the Church.
Predestination

Revivals

Money as Employed in Effecting the Di-
vine Purpose

The Word of God • as a Means of Carrying
out the Dcvsign

The Means of Grace. Institution of the
Sabbath

XIV. The Lord's Second Coming. Raising the
Dead. Changing the Living. Judging the
Race. Creating New Heavens and Earth

XV. The Complete, Perfected, Eternal Result.

85
97

108

"5
12

134
148

/ 5-

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

The way in which the following was appreciated when
delivered in the form of sermons, with a hint that it might
prove acceptable to the public, induced us to issue our first
edition. The patronage accorded to it by an appriciative
and generous class, has encouraged us to print a second,
with an attempt to improve and enlarge. Yet in this age of
books we have to condense in order to be read. We do not
expect ail to endorse our views ; yet, if our, not infallible
readers, and we differ, we believe they have religious prin-
ciple enough to agree to do so ; piety enough to allow
liberty of conscience, and wisdom enough to investigate
where the error is, before pronouncing judgment Whoever
conquers us with the Truth, makes us conquerors. Yet
Lynch law is sometimes resorted to in the lyiterary, as well
as Civil, realm. It 's very much wiser and more reasonable
and Christianlike to investigate the truthfulness of one's
statements than to declare them false ; professed religious,
as well as scientific philosophers, have been in error, are
now, and may be in the future. The book, however, is un-
denominational ; but few, if any, controverted points dis-
cussed. We have endeavored to find authority in "The
Book of God and the god of books," for what we say.

We have always had two objects in view in the acc^uisi-
tion of instruction from this inexhaustible mine of spiritual
wealth, as well as from other sources, viz., the benefit of
otherr as well as ourselves. When we are gone, if God
wills, we would leave a scrap behind that He can use for
His glory and man's good.

If the effort shall be blessed by the Head of the Church
in sanctifying saints and sinners, to any extent, and so we
be permitted to fall in line, in that degree with His Eternal
Purpose, we shall be satisfied and thankful.

" Here we raise our Ebenezer
Hitherto by Thy help we've come

And we hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive 3t home."

ION

ted when

it might
: our first
jpriciative
a second,
his age of
We do not

infallible
LOUS prin-
i to allow
nvestigate

Whoever
rors. Yet
y, as well
easonable

of one's
religious,
error, are
^er, is un-
oints dis-
in "The
ay.

i ac^uisi-
f spintual
benefit of
!, if God
n use for

le Church
tid so we
J Eternal

God's Eternal Purpose.

INTKOIJ LJCXIOX.

In the following pages we endeavor to take a com-
prehensive, yet brief, view ofCiod's works of creation
and redemption ; together with Mis superintending
Providence in accomplishing His eternal purpose.

God is an uncreated, self-existing, infinite IJeing.
He is ever active, not only in His chief work — redemp-
tion—but in upholding the stupendous fabric of creation ;
and, for augliL we know, bringing other worlds, and
inhabitants, into existence. " My father worketh
hitherto, and I work ;"" John 5 : 17. He has not wound
up the universe, as we do a watch, and then left it ; but
>still, by the omnipotent energy by which He created
all things, projected the planets in their orbits, and
maintains the suns in their positions, sustains and reg-
ulates the whole. His presence permeates immensity.

We learn this, and much more, from the revelation
this great an^ gracious Being has made to the inhabi-
tants of this planet in the sacred Scriptures ; although
He has not in tlie Bible informed us of the full exten

■

6 god's eternal purpose.

of creation, the Book being rather an account of 1 1 is
redemptive than creative work. We study and pray
that we may be guided by its light in the following
pages.

We intend, as far as God may enable us, for His
glory and the good of our readers, to write of the
Divine Purpose, its Plan and Execution, as revealed in
its varied developments in His Word and Works, as
seen in Creation and Providence ; meaning by Provi-
dence, His greater work of redemption. We hope that
it may prove pleasant and profitable, edifying and
delightful, as we see the hand of our Maker and
Benetactor in what is transpiring about us ; and while
doing so, adore and worship Him in the great temple
of the universe. Such employment is suited to the
occasion, and worthy of man. We are apt to forget
that "in Iliin we live, move and have our being."
Acts 1 7 : 28.

" Above, below, where'er we gaze,

Thy guiding finger Lortl we view ;
Traced in the midnight planet's bla/e.

Or glistening in the morning dew ;
What'er is beautiful or i r.

Is but thine own reflection there."

THE DIVINE PURPOSE, ITS PLAN AND EXECUTION'.

A. The Purpose.

"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,
is this grace given, that I should preach among the
(ientiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid
in God, who created all things by Jesus ChrivSt ; to the

^*::f?vi.

ra,'>»^^'*

: of His
nd pra^-
)llowing:

for His
of the
ealed in
)rks, as
' Provi-
)pe that
ng and
er and
d while
temple
to the
forget
)eing.'"

lox.

saints,
ig the
• make
\stery.
^n hid
to the

(l(Jl)'S KTKRNAI^ ITHPOSK. 7

intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly places might be known, by the church, the
manifold wUdom of Clod, according to the eternal
purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord : "
Kph. 3:H-N

From these words of inspiration we learn what
(iod'a Kteruiil Purpose is, viz: To have made known
unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
by or through the Church, (by in the Authorized and
through in the Revised Version) the manifold wisdom
of (iod ; through her, as His wisdom, in harmony with
the other Divine perfections is exhibited in her complete
and eternal redemption, and by her, as she now, and
we believe will fonver, make this wisdom known unto
them ; numilbld, becauvse it harmonizes with all the
other Divine attributes, justice, power, etc.

This sublime purpose includes in it, the creation
of many, if not all things ; the use of means for its
accomplishment ; a providential government ; and the
permission of sin; Col. i : 11-16. The church will
consist of an innumerable multitude of our sinful race,
regenerated, sanctified and glorified in body and spirit
forever, occupying new heavens and a new earth,
Rev. 7:9, 2 Peter 3:13. vShe is being built together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit, upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ
//imse/fhrnng the chief corner stone. Eph. 2 : 19-22.

We should like to say when the splendid edifice is
completed, not only that we form a part of it, having
while on this earth, been lively stones offering up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ :
I Peter 2:5; but that we helped in its erection. The

(ion's IvTKUNAI, riUI'OSlv.

finpcrors, kings and (jnccns of this world will he
insignificant compared with the bnilder who has done
the least.

" On grovcUini^ kin/^s of varth,
. With ])ity wc look (low n,

A claim in virtue of our birth.
A never fading crown."

vSo also with the Rothschilds, (ioulds and N'ander-
hilts ifthe\' employ not their wealth in building this
temple.

Who, how many, and what, these principalities
and i)owers are ; and how many of them (iod may yet
create, we may not know while in the church militant ;
but to them, (lod would make known His manifold
wisdom, that being the principle thing connected with
His Turpo.se ; these principalities and powers, no doubt,
knowing more of that than we, because it concerns
them ; we knowing more of the work of redeeming love,
because it concerns us. " Angels desire to look into
these things" i Peter i : 12. There was a multitude
of the heavenly host i)re.sent at the birth of Christ.
Certainly iCC should be greatly interested ; for it is />v
the church, as well as through it — and we profess to be
members of it — that C.od is making these di,splays, and
our eternal destinies hang on our relations to her.
W^hen the work is finished, and the Christians forever
shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father, it
will be known that the redemption of the Church is a
greater undertaking than the creation of the worlds,
they being inanimate, irrational and .senseless, while
the members of Christ 's mystical body are possessed of
immortality, a will, con.science and affections ; and this

(loi) s i:'n:HN.\i, itki'osi:. 9

new creation of falle'* man is now heinjj^ carried on. and
jjjreat as it is, the souls that are dead in sin perceive it
not.

This pnrpose is eternal ; it ninst have always heen in
the Divine mind, for He could not chanj^e to form it ;
it always will be. for He cannot chanjj^e to have it
otherwise. Of how great moment it must be then.
When completed, when the last .stone of the church is
laid, she will be a monument of God's infinite skill
forever, altogether worthy of the Divine Author. Ik-
wants an intelligent unixerse to become accpiainted
with these things ; and a pleasing thought connected
with the whole is: "God is love," 1 John 4 : (S-16.
His works declare it as well as His word. He is not
justice, although just ; not power, although ])owerful.
Love is the actor in affecting the jnirposc ; justice, etc..
are but the attributes of love.

n. The riau.

God has planned His work in the eternal councils
of the Trinity, just as the wi.sdoni with which He has
endowed man guides him to ])lan for house i.nilding.
etc. The heather originates redemption ; the vSou procur*^ ^
it ; the vSpirit dispen.ses it ; while the ])rincipalities a.. .
powers adore ; we being the recipients of the astonisli-
ing grace, and joining, in .some humble measure, in the
celebration of His praise.

He has revealed Himself as subsi.sting in tiiree
di.stinct personalities. \'et one (jod. vSt. Patrick's
illUvStration ( f the three leafed clo^ er, with but one stock,
serves very well to con y the idt -i. As when making
man He said : Let u, make ma ; in our own image ; ' '

;'■:.*

god's eternal purpose.

Gen. I : 26, so in our redemption, or new creation, the
same triune God is engaged ; the deep design being
devised and executed by the Father, Son and Holy-
Spirit.

From the general tenor of Scripture teaching, the
plan is the following : Viewing the end from the
beginning, foreseeing the guilt, moral corruption and
consequent ruin of man by disobedience to his Maker,
and his exposure to the Divine displeasure forever, as
well as bis forfeiture of Heaven, God determined to
sustain the Divine government by the ensuing method :
The Father agreed to give His only Son to suffer the
penalty of sin as our substitute: "God lO loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son," etc.,
John 3:16. He also engages to give His Son, in virtue
of His work as Mediator, an innumerable multitude of
the lost race, John 17:9, Rev. 7 : 9. The Father also
covenants to draw them to Christ that they may be the
recipients of eternal life through Him, John 6 : 44,
and 10 : 28, also Isaiah 53 : lo-ii. These compose the
Church hy and through which the manifold wisdom of
God IS made known to the principalities and powers in
heavenly places.

" Hail sovereign love that first began
The scheme to rescue fallen man ;
Hnil matchless, free, eternal grace.
That found my soul a hiding place. ' '

The Son of God .stipulates to leave the glory that
He had with the Father, come to dwell upon His foot-
stool, as.siime the nature of the offender, and in it
expiate the guilt of our crimes by becoming obedient
in life, and iinto death. He undertook to fill three

"*.*:'

,y^'

(rOD'S ETKRNAIv PURPOSE.

I I

on, the
being
1 Holy

ng, the
)m the
on and
Maker,
;ver. as
ned to
ethod:
Fer the
ed the
" etc.,
virtue
;ude of
er also
be the
6 : 44,
)se the
iom of
^'ers in

' that
foot-
in it
dient
three

offices in the interests ^^^ those the Father gave Him —
a prophet to teach them, a priest to atone and intercede
in their behalf, and a king to subdue them to Himself
by omnipotent grace, to save and defend them from all
their enemies, to reign over them, and bring them, souls
and bodies, to be with Himself forever ; upon the duties
of which offices He entered as soon as man sinned,
John 17 : 5 ; John i : 14 ; Phil. 2:8; Deut. 18 : 18 ;
Psalm no : 4 ; Psalm 2:6., etc. How amazing

" That God's eternal Son should bear
To take a mortal form ;
Made lower than the angels are,
To save a dying worm."

From the way in which the Scriptures and experi-
ence teach us how the Holy Spirit officiates in executing
His part of the plan, the Third person of the sacred
Three agreed to regenerate the hearts, renovate the
nature and thus reform the lives of the redeemed,
John 3 : 3-7 and 16 : 8, Titus 3:5.

In Rom. 8 : r i, we learn that He vshall also quicken
the bodies of the saints ; and very likely He will glorify
iheni, fashioning them like unto Christ's glorious body.
It will be the voice of Christ that the dead .shall hear,
but it will be the Spirit who will quicken. Thus the
Church shall shine forever like the vSon in the kingdom
of their Father, and be the admired of the Heavenly
lio.st as they behold the manifold wisdom of (iod in her
glorification.

" Kttnial Spirit we c(!iife.ss

And sing the wonders of thy grace ;
Thy power conveys our blessing down,
From God the Father and the Son."

Thus the plan was formed by the triune God.

"J '

•--i, ■'■■

(ion's KTERNAIy PUUPOSK.

Divines designate it the "Covenant of Grace. " We-
are saved by the grace of the Father, thf, grace of the
Son and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Eph. 2 : 8.

We cordially recommend the study of this epistle
of Paul to the I\phesian Church to all you'^g converts ;
it was penned to a newly converted people ; hence our
love for it when first regenerated. Real also John's,
epistle to tlie same Church, as recorded in Rev. 2 : 1-7,
and be warned. The candlCvStick, — the church — is
removed from ICphesus, although both these apostles
had been pastors there.

" Grace first contrived a way
To save rebellious man ;
And all the steps that grace display
Which drew the wondrous plan."

Through this plan God is making vicious 'ouls-
virtuous, and the world should not exact anything m.orG:
of Christianity ; this with its concomitants, is the great
mirach of the ages.

C. Ihe Execution of the Eternal Purpose.

(iod has begun, is carrying on, and will complete
His Purpose, 'l^liere are several steps, some of which
we would trace, in the development of this glorious
design : we intend to begin with the angels, whether
God began there, or created the principalities and
powers to wliom Ilis inlinite wisdom is being displayed.
we cannot tell. Rea.son would say that the principali-
ties, etc., were created first. As we proceed, let us bear
in mind that this is a great chain of events, and that

each event — each object

one link in it ; thus, it wi

each link in its own place in the chai

brought into existence, is but
)e more interesting. Keeps

I
I

-■-. '"-■■■■" j*^/t.-t. I 'y;

COD S ICTKUNAK IMUPOSlv.

ice." .We
ace of the
: 8.

^is epistle
convertvS ;
hence our
.so John's.
V. 2 : [-7.
urch — is.
: apostles.

ms 5ouls.
ing more
the great

complete
of which
glorious
whether
ies and
.splayed,
incipali-
; us bear
:ncl that
i, is but
. Keep*

CHAPTER I.
7'Ai' Creation of Angels.

The question naturally arises, what have angels to
do in connection with the Divine Purpo.se? (iod's
Purpose is : " To make known unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places His manifold wi.sdom as
it is exhibited in the salvation of an innumerable
multitude of Adam's race ; and the angels are mini.ster-
ing .spirits to these heirs of salvation," Heb. i : 14.
In bringing them into being, then, by His omnipotent
creative energy, He had an eye to the accomplishment
of His design. He .saw they would be very useful as
officers of the Divine government in connection with
the mediatorial kingdom.

What are they engaged in ? for the work is now
going forward.

[. One means by which (iod accompli.shes the
work of redemption, the work where His manifoM
wisdom is most displayed, is by the ministry of His
Law : The Law is our school-master to bring us to
Christ, (ial. 3 : 34. The law convicts us of sin, proves
us guilty, causing us to fee/ our need of Christ, the
only refuge from its curse. Von and I must come to
Christ in order to be saved — to obtain a righteousness
hat the law will be satisfied with — "the righteousness
of a man who never sinned" — and the law is the means
employed by the Divine Spirit thus to bring us to
Chri.st. Now it was given by the disposition of angels.
Acts 7 : 53 ; moreover, " It was ordained by angels in

rt--

^m^

god's eternal purpose.

the hands of a mediator," Gal. 3 : 19 : so that in this
respect their creation formed a link in the chain of the
Divine Purpose.

You and I must preach the Law then as well as the
Gospel. The believer can say :

*' Free from the law, Oh happy condition,
Jesus has died and there is remission."

2. Again : They wait on Christ. There was a
multitude of them present at the time of His birth :
"Let all the angels of God worship Him," was the
■command when the first Begotten was brought into the
world, Heb. i : 6. Angels ministered to Him after His
temptation, Matt. 4:11. An angel strengthened Him
in Gethsemane, Luke 22 : 43. They were busied at the
time of His resurrection, Luke 24 : 4. They attended
Him when He ascended. Psalm 68 : 17, and Acts 1 : 10.
When He comes to judge the world the angels are to be
there to aSvSist at the great a.ssize, Matt. 25 : 31.

3. They wait on the heirs of salvation. Angels

hastened Lot out of Sodom, Gen. 19 : 15. God sent an

angel to close the lion's mouths in defence of Daniel,

Dan. 6 : 22. "The angel of the Ivord encampeth

round about them that fear Him to deliver them."

Psalms 34 : 7. Believers "angels always behold the

face of the P'ather in heaven," Matt. i(S : 10. Not only

in life, but in death, they wait on the saints. They

carried La/.arns to Abraham's bosom, Luke 16 : 22.
Doubtless they were created for these ends, and it may
he others.

These passages are enough for our present purpose ;
indeed one such inspired text is sufiicient ; and fully
demonstrates that these invisible, celestial spirits, wait
upon the Redeemer and the redeemed. Their creation

COn'vS RTERNAI, PURPOSK.

that in this
chain of the

is well as the

ion,

rhere was a
f His birth :
n," was the
ight into the
im after His
:thened Him
)usied at the
ley attended
I Acts 1 : 10.
els are to be

31.
)n. Angels
rxod sent an
e of Daniel,

encampeth
ver them."

behold the

Not only

Snls. They

ikc 16 : 22.
and it may

nt purpose ;
and fully
pirits, wait
eir creation

is evidently a development of the Divine Purpose, and
immediately connected with it.

If our reader is a believer, you have at least one of

these celestial messengers attending you. How many

[dangers they shield us from we may not know in this

tlife ; we believe we vshall in the next. Do you not feel

m affection for them? Love is God's law for all His

[intelligent creatures ; doubtless they are actuated by it

in the discharge of the duties of their benevolent

mission. * ' He shall give His angels charge concerning

thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, Psalm 91 : 11.

f Mr. Scott, a pious brother of the celebrated com-

■ nientator of that name, dreamt that he sickened and

I'died ; and while his spirit was gazing upon his relatives

I weeping over his lifeless body, an angel took him by

fthe hand and escorted him to a large mansion ; among

other things he showed him a picture of an incident

-that had occurred in his boyhood. He had been riding

on horseback, and the horse having run away, he fell,

but an angel ''aught him in his arms and prevented

injury to him. When Mr. Scott awoke he recollected

the incident, but of counse had no knowledge of the

4 angel's presence and assistance.

i If you are not a ChrivStian may there soon be
i rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over yon
^-repenting, Lake 15 : lo.

nH<-f_ ■

god's kteunai, ihjrpcx-;k.

CHAPTER II.
T/ie Crcatio7i of the Heaven and Earth.

This appears to be the second hnk in the chain of
wonders necessary to accomplish the Divine Purpose.
That the angels were created first is evident from
Job 38 : 4-7.

" Tn the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth," Gen. 1:1. The}' are the amphitheatre;
(iod and man the actors, principalities and powers
being the spectators. We also, while performing our
part, can gaze on the scene and admire. A grand
panorama is being presented to those who can see it.
Not every world is favored with such an exhibition of
Deity as this one. May we be able to realize it ; ice
may behold this wivSdom with them, as well as be re-
deemed by its exercise. Probably this revelation ot the
Supreme Being will subserve all the Divine purposes
forever. What angels, etc. , are created for, is really
more interesting than their creation ; each is great, as
it forms a part, of a great whole. There is a moral
pleasure in the contemplation of such a theme. Imagine
the inhabitants of a planet for a congregation, the story
of redemption by the grace of God being a fitting one
to them ; yea worthy of being told to all the principali-
ties and powers in the heavenly places forever tlie\-
singing individually and collectively :

"Tell me the old, old story
Because I know 'tis true,
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do."

' ' And God made two great lights ; the greater light
to rule the day, and the leSvSer light to rule the night.
He made the stars also," Gen. i : 16. " The heaven "
may mean but the fir.st, for there arc three spoken of
in the Scriptures, especially as they are devoted to-

cod's HTICU s'AI, prHi'osi:.

u-ih.

;he chain of
le Purpose,
ident from

eaveiis and
phitheatre ;
md powers
arming our

A grand
can see it.
:hibition of
lize it ; ivc
11 as be re-
ition ot the
e purposes

is really
s great, as
s a moral

Imagine

the stor\-

tting one

)rincipali-

ver the\-

ater light
he night,
heaven "
poken of
ivoted to-

giving us a history of the redemption of the inhabitants
of this planet, rather than a trestise on science. The
other heavens are mentioned, and it is to those in
heavenly places that the manifold wisdom of (iod is
made known as .seen in our salvation. We have .seen
that the angels were created ])rior to the heaven and
the earth. From a human standpoint (iod was looking
a long way ahead when the angels, etc., were brought
into being. The creation of the heaven and the earth
subser\e a very important preparatory part in effecting
the Divine Purpose. They are the arena where the
stu])end{)us drama of lunran redemption is enacted —
the workshop where Cod matures the deep design. All
the Divine perfections are brought into harmonious
requisition in the execution of the work, while the
])rincipalities and powers in the heavenly places behold
with ceaseless admiration the manifold wisdom (iod
displayed therein. They are a congregation of wor-
shippers, (lod is the great Architect in the creation of
the gloriou.4 palace, the Church, for an habitation for
Himself through the vSpirit, I'^ph. 2 : 19-22. Human
beings, souls and bodies, are the material, built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ Him self hiixwg the chief corner stone, 1 Peter 2 : 5.

/. The Creation of the Heavens.

The vScriptures speak of three heavens. Paul was
caught up to the third, 2 Cor. 12:2. We will now
glance very briefly at their creation as links in the
chain of the Divine work.

(/.) Hie First Heaven,

The lir.st heaven is the air surrounding our planet ;
extending upwards to a distance of about 45 miles,
hence the birds of heaven, Jer. 4 : 25 ; the clouds of
heaven, Dan. 7 : 13 ; and the dew of heaven, Dan. 4 : 13.
Also the lyord said unto Moses, when giving the law
from Sinai : "Ye have seen that I talked with you
from heaven, '' Kxod. 20 : 22. Man lives /;/ the first

(lOI) S KTERNAI, PURPO.SK.

heaven as well as on the earth ; it is the atmosphere we
breathe — indispensible to our existence. Its creation,
then,, is preparatory to the work — is, so to speak, a
part of the .scaffolding for the erection of the royal
palace — the Church — and so included in the design.

'• Let heaven arise, let earth appear,

Said the Almighty Lord ;
The heaven arose, the earth appeared.

At His creating word."

Tlic first heaven might be one of the places from-
which the principalities and powers are viewing the
work of (lod in the economy of human redemption, and'
the work of man, as long as he remains on earth, after
his regeneration. We suppose, however the manifold
wisdom of Ood will shine more conspicuously in the
kingdom of glory than in the kingdom of grace ; and
after the completion of the whole more than any time
prior to that epoch. The enemies of Christ and His
Church, termed principalities, powers, etc., in Eph. 6: 12,
are in the first heaven beyond a do.ibt ; satan himself
being the prince of the power of the air, and the
tormentor of Job, Job 1 : 7, 12, 19, and 2 : 2, 6, 7, and
wh\' not the principalities, etc., spoken of in our text.
The angels are here ministering to the heirs of sal vation,
Heb, 1:14. The passage in Heb. 12 : 22 seems to mean
that when we become identified with the Church of
Christ by regeneration and baptism we have come to an
innumerable company of angels, and to the spirits of
the just made perfect, that is the departed Christians,
who, apparently, are in the first heaven ; at least by
times ; maybe particularly when we as.semble for Ood \s.
worship. Thus part of the church is militant, in the
body, and the other triumphant, and abvSent from it.

" One family, we dwell in Him,
(>ne church above, beneath,
Though now divided by the stream —
The narrow stream of death."

!' ^^

a ; - . - ,att{. ' a eaacajr

(U)D'S KTEKNAI. I'UKPOSK.

ic>

atmosphere we

Its creation,

o to speak, a

of the royal

the design.

-d,

places from-
viewing the
Miiption, and'
1 earth, after
he manifold
Hisly in the
f" grace; and
an any time
ist and His
n Eph. 6: 1 2.
tan himself
r. and the
2. 6, 7, and
n our text,
f salvation,
ms to mean
Church of
come to an
i sp/n/s of
^'hristians.
It least b\'
^forOod's
int, in the
rom it.

And on/v by that narrow .stream ; or, in other
words, the veil of our flesh.

Our flesh is the veil that separates us. Lord help
us to acquit ourselves as in the presence of this innum-
erable company as well as in thine, Heb. 12:1, 22-24.

' • Behold what witnesses unseen
Encompass us around ;
Men once like us, with sufferings tried.
But now with glory crowned."

The spirits of the just made perfect are, in all
probability, in the second and third heaven, ma3be most
of the time. The devils besought Christ that He would
not send them into the deep (hell) but suffer them to
enter the .swine, Luke 8 : 26-33. Are the spirits of the
departed wicked allowed to tarry in this first heaven
with the evil spirits ? Would that account for some of
the sights and sounds we have heard talked of?

This first heaven, at least, will pass away ; and at
that period be entirely clarified from the effects of sin.
or a new one created, 2 Peter 3 : 10.

(2.) llic Second Ueavcu.

This is the firmament or expansion where the sun,
moon and planets are situated ; the globe we live on
being one of the latter. Gen. i ; 16, 17. In all proba-
bility the other planets have inhabitants who may be
some of the principalities and powers who view the
a.stonishing scenes that are being enacted on this one,
in the fir.st heaven ; they being in the second one
beholding them. Their vision, in a sinless condition,
may have telescopic power sufficient to see distinctly
the events transpiring here ; or they could, and may,
have abilitj' to travel space from planet to planet. If
the inhabitants of this world had not sinned, they
might have been glorified and possessed of the same
powers. We may ha\e but little conception of the
myriads of .spiritual intelligence that the Creator of all
worlds may have occupying the firmament or second

\\\

2()

COD s i:ti;r\ai, I'lin'osic.

heaven, as well as beiii};' the space where the sun is, and
where the ])lanets revolve aronrid him. The interplanet-
ar\' sj^aces may be lilled with hosts of beini^s i^a/iny^ at
Jehovah carryini;: out the sublime events involved in
His Kternal Purjose. We are absolutely certain that
the sun and moon, placed in the second heaven, are
indispeiisible appendajj^es to this j^lobe ; and that in
wavs so innumerable that they cannot l)e here referred
to, but will readily occur to the mind of the thouj^htful
reader. The second heaven, then, was formed with a
view to the purpose of (iod. It is unnecessary to
furnish lcn<i,thy data to demonstrate this — it is visible
at a jj^lance.

The solar system is like a time-piece on a very lar;>fe
scale. The annual revolution of the earth around the sun
corresponds to the movements (^f the hour hand ; the
monthly revolutions of the moon around the earth
corresponds to the movements of tlie minute hand ; and
the diurnal rotation of the earth on its axis corresponds
to the second hand. Thus tlie Maker of all thing's has
huuii' a time-piece in the second heaven to teach us
when our three score years and ten are accomplished.
Hap])V they, who. in the book of 365 leaves each year
furnishes us witli, write an autobiography that will
prove a prayer to (iod and a sermon to men ; especially,
that one day in seven — that one year in se\'en — devoted
to Divine service ; so that when the world is ended we
shall have our accounts ready, (ien. 1 : 14, 15.

" High in heaven's resplendent arch
He placed two orbs of light ;
He set the sun to rule the dux,
The moon to rule the night. ' '

AvStronomers say our sun, moon and stars, are
revolving around Alcyone, one of the Pleiades or seven
stars, a body 12,000 times larger than our sun ; hence
Job 38 : 31. 'The heavens declare the glory of God,
land the firmament showeth His handiwork. Psalm 19:1.

What an astonitihing apparatus the Creator has for

<U)n'9 ETERNAL PURPOSE.

P^i-' sun is. and
lie interplanot-
-in^s ^irazinj^r at
ts involved in
ly certain that
(1 heaven, are
: and that in
c here referred
he thou;^htful
ornied with a
1 necessary- to
'—it is visible

" n A-er\' lar;re

round the sun

r hand ; the

1(1 the earth

te hand ; and

^ corresponds

U thin^rs has

to teach us

'coinplished.

•s each vear

■ that will

especial Iv,

11— devoted

s ended M-e

S-

«tars. are
-s or seven
"n ; hence
■y of God,
aim 19 : i.

or has for

jnderin^ the* earth fruitful in the growth of the
Vegetable Kitijjdoiii. and thereby the maintenance of
le Animal. The sun, the central orb of the .system,
IrawH water in the form of vapor from the .seas on its
Jurface, which forms clouds in the air, or first heaven ;
[hey are wafted by the winds over the thirsty land and
listil in fertilizing; showers, while his genial rays warm
[he soil ; machinery worthy of God.

" Me bade the clouds ascend on high,
The clouds ascend and bear
A wiilen* treasure to the sky,
And float upon the air."

(J.) The Third Heaven.

\ Tliere is such a place, or such a state, for Paul did

iiot know whether he was in the body or out of it when

fraught up to it, 2 Cor. 12 : 2. It certainly is a state ;

.^nd nu\N' be the />A7r<' Jesus went to prepare, John 14 : 2.

lit is supposed to be where the seven stars are situated ;

p)ut we are not so clearly instructed in the Word where

^o locate it us the llrst and second. In our opinion it is

inhabited l)y myriads of cherubic, seraphic, angelic and

far )U)Sts, adoring and serving their uncreated,

■immortal and glorious Creator ; especially His moral

fpharacter as revealed in the work of redemption, finding

•their felicity in so doing. The Scriptures give color to

this view, Rev. 5 " '^, 13. All unite in admiring the

nuinifold wisdom of God displayed in the execution of

His eternal purpose of grace to His church.

May be the third heaven is where the Saviour
-carries on His mediatorial government, where He has
gone to appear in the presence of God for us, officiating
in His office of high priest in the most holy place, there
making contituud intercession. In this view of it, it is
a very importatit part of the universe in carrying on
the great (lesign. It may be the most holy place of the
true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man,
Heb. 8 ; 3. All power in heaven and earth is given
into Christ's hands. Matt. 28 : 18.

i -ii

god's eternal PL'RPOSR.

It seems natural to conclude that the third heaven
is the present abode of "the spirits of the just made
perfect," although they may spend some time in the
second and first, Heb. 12 : i, 22-24. No doubt they
enjoy all that glorified spirits, according to their capa-
cities, can ; the happiness will be enhanced when the
body will be glorified, which the Divine purpose
includes. Thus the three heavens referred to may be
occupied by the departed .spirits of mankind, as well as
numerous other intelligences, and may be only a tem-
porary residence ; Isaiah, Peter and John inform us that
there will be new heavens and new earth. Are tho.se
departed spirits the new Jerusalem John saw descending
on the new earth ? Rev. 21 : 1-3.

The heavens and earth, in their present condition,
is but a theatre — or the .scaffolding of the great i)alace
God is erecting — the new heavens and earth to be
eternal. Sin has disordered the whole creation,
Rom. S : 22, and necessitates a new creation of all
things, Rev. 21 : 5, affected by it; and the groans and
travail of all things connected with time are the throes
of a new birth for the univer.se ; nothing but the blood
of the God-man being sufficient to remove the moral
evil from it, and that accompanied by the regenerating,
renovating, reforming power of the Holy Spirit.

If the scaffolding is so grand, what shall the
building be ? Let the principalities and powers in
heavenly places inform us. We know the scaffolding
has little excellency compared with the building. If
Christians, we will not only see it, but own part of it,
yea, be part of it, that will be worth more than the
pleasures of sin.

Where did CJirLst go when he ascended up far above
all heavens ? Bph. 4 : 10. Yet he says, " Lo I am with
you alway, even to the end of the world." "The
hedven of heavens cannot contain Him, " i Kings 8 : 27,
yet He condescends to dwell in the believer.

GODS KTKRNAL PL RPOSK.

//. The Creation of the Earth.

The earth is the scene on which is enacted the >?reat
drama of redemption, possibly the greatest work in
which the Sacred Trinity has been, or ever will be
engaged ; the one by which the Divine wisdom is most
conspicuously disi)layed to the intelligences of the
universe ; and possibly, in a renewed condition, the
eternal abode of redeemed man. " The heavens are the
Lord's, but the earth has he given to the sons of men, "
P.salm 115 : 16. "Blessed are the meek for they shall
inherit the earth, " Matt. 5 : 5. In anticipation, Christ
rejoiced in the creation of the earth, and " His delights
were with lie children of men," Prov. 8 : 30-32. The
earth, as v 11 as His elect, may have been redeemed by
the infinit. I}- precious blood spilt on its surface; and
the throne of God and the Lamb may occup\' the site
where the cross stood, every place thus becoming
"consecrated ground;"' and the scene of His greatest
W'ork and wonderful humiliation, Imcome the home of
His saints and where His own highest glory will forever
shine. "The Tabernacle of God is witli men, and He
will dwell with them." Rev. 1 i : 3.

When tliis earth was made, the dust of Adam's
body was formed, and so of the bodies of the innumer-
able multitude of the saved; Christ's as well, it being
in Adam's loins. Its creation, then, was a mo.st im-
portant development of the purpose of God, and if the
morning stars that sang, and the .sons of God that
shouted for joy at the laying of its foundation, could
anticipate what would transpire on its surface, no
w^onder they did .so, especially if they were enabled to
see the glorious consummation. Here man was created,
fell and was redeemed ; here he is being created anew in
Christ Jesus by the Holy vSpirit. Here the Maker of all
worlds spent 33 years — God manifest in the flesh.
Here, likewise, the third, as well as the second Person
in the glorious Trinity, came on a mission of infinite
benevolence, and is now carrying on the work of salva-
t/ on, renovating human nature — God not only dwelling

god's ETERNAI. PURPOvSE.

with, but in, HivS people. Here our bodies will be
resurrected and thus created anew — from dust again as^
Adam at first — thus qualified for the new heavens and
new earth. The earth, well named "mother earth, "^
also yields very much of what sustains us till we
return to our native dust.

The creation of the eartli, then, can readily be
perceived to form an important part of the chain of
wonders that are being achieved by the uncreated
Creator in order to accomplish His purpose ; and where
He is preparing material for a spiritual house as much
superior to the visible creation as the soul is to the
body ; a building He is erecting in heaven as each soul
is taken there, and from which it appears it wull descend
in the capacity of the New Jeru.salem, and abide on the
new earth, Rev. 21 : i, 2. Thus we may accustom
ourselves to view the heavens and eartli as God's work-
shop, where He is carrying out His purpose ; and if
redemption is His greatest work, greater things have,
been done on earth and in the first heaven than any-
where else. If such is true it need not be a matter of
surprise if this planet on which we live, after the refining
fires of the tremendous conflagration Peter speaks of,,
will be the future abode of God's peopiO, as Luther,
Wesley, Milton, etc., believed, 2 Peter 3 : 7, 10.

Two philosophers discussing the subject of this
conflagration came to the conclusion that the eartli
would be completely annihilated. A little girl, \vho»
had been listening, asked them where they would put
the a.shes ; the}' could not answer her..

"Nothing never made vSomething." It there ever
had been a time when there was no God, it must have
continued so. There is a (iod, "eternity is His life
time," and immensity His dwelling. He is so great
that there conld not be a being great enough to create
Him ; He is, therefore, uucreated and everlasting.

1^ I

lies will be
list again as.
tieavens and
her earth, '"
us till we

readily be-
he chain of
2 uncreated
; and where
ise as much
il is to the
is each soul
;vill descend
ibide on the
i accustom
}od's work-
ose ; and if
hings have

than any-

matter of

:he refining

speaks of,
as Luther.

lO.

ect of this

the earth

girl. who.

would put

there ever
must have
s His life
s so great
h to create
ting.

'ujd's eternai, purpose. 25

CHAPTER HI.

T/ie Creatio^i of Ma }i kind.

The woik^^hop is completed — the heavens and earth
M'ith their varied furniture are in readiness to suKserve
the intentions of the Divine builder in tlie execution of
the great plan. IVIankind is made. A Tabernacle is
built and worshippers formed. The angels are also in
attendance.

God said "Let us make man in our image, " Gen. i : 26.
His moral attributes are a reflex of the Divine.

" Chief o'er all His works below

At last was Adam made ;
His Maker's image blCvSsed his soul

And glory crowned his head."

The morning stars sang together, and all the sons
of God shouted for joy w'hen He laid the corner-.stone ;
yet it is onl}- the arena where the purpose is to be
carried on, and perhaps completed — a preparation for
the work of redemption. The material is now brought
into being out of which the Church is formed, by and
through which the manifold wisdom of God is made
known to the principalities and powers in heavenly
plact'S. The human nature is what God is going to
dwell in forever — in Chri.st and His people.

Thus we have rapidly glanced at what the Alniight\'
did i^reparatory to the great work he intended. We
Avould now briefly dwell upon some 'of the acts of His
creatures, after which we will resume the account of
the conduct of the Creator in prosecuting His design.

Although mankind is the material out of which
the magnificent structure — (iod's Palace — is to be
constructed; the mat' /ial upon which the Divine
Architect will so operate as to reveal His glory, wisdom
and other perfections in such a manner that adoring
hosts shall be astoni.slied forever ; the material after
being thus wrought upon, who will coincide with His
Maker in the accomplishment of His purpose, yet this

i I

I '

il 1

GOb'vS ETERNAL PURPOSE.

material is not in the condition in which it will be when
God commences the building. He could erect a Roj'al
Residence cut of such material as mankind in his
privStine state of innocence. He did not, however, do so.
Had He, the depth af the wisdom of the Builder would
not be vSeen to that perfect degree it is under existing
ciicumstances. Man was placed on trial and he sinned.
That act plunged him into such a condition that, in
order to rescue him from the doleful consequences and
reinstate him in the Divine favor, all the perfections of
Deity have been brought into harmonious action, to the
eternal admiration, love and astonishment of His crea-
tures. God permitted this act on the part of mankind,
and having foreseen it, loved us with an everlasting
love, and laid his plans accordingly. We will now
dwell briefly upon the

re y mission of Si?i.

Ciod performs His purpose by positive action on
His part, and permitting the action of His creatures ;
ruling and over-ruling them in effecting His design.
He rested on the seventh day ; He ceased working and
His creatures a])pear to have assumed the reins of
government. Man was made ' ' a living soul, ' ' possessed
of a will and power to do good or evil. He was placed
in a lovely garden, and under only one rCvStriction :
" Thou shalt not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good
and evil," Gen. 2 : 16, 17. The old .serpent, who
is the devil and satan, tempted Eve. when off guard,
and she ate, and gave to Adam and he ate The
Almighty did not prevent them from breaking the
Divine command. He did not deprive them of tlu
liberty — tlie free-will that He gave them — and so
by that act they incurred the Divine displeasure.
She should have gone to prater. In a measure,
at least, it would appear, their wills became subject
to Satan ; and, acting in the capacity of the repre-
sentative heads of their posterity, plunged them-

al
t]

i^v..=:

GOD 8 RTKRNAI, PURPOvSE.

t will be when
erect a Ro3'aI
nkind in his
owever, do so.
Builder would
nder existing-
nd he sinned,
ition that, in
equences and
perfections of
action, to the
t of His crea-
of mankind.
1 everlasting
Ve will now

ye action on
ivS creatures ;

His design,
^v'orking and
:he reins of
, ' ' possessed
s was placed

restriction ;
idgc of good
Tpeiit. Mho

I off guard,
^- ate The
caking- the
lein of the

II — and SQ
lispleasure.
I measure,
me subject

the repre-
ged them-

telvss and us into our present ruin ; only, so far as
^ elievers in Christ have the work of recovery begun ;
land in a few cases completed. The body, and some

think the soul, of the Redeemer was in the loins of
^dam at the time of the Fall — a Redeemer who has
|come — and as the promised seed of the woman, is now
^ruising the serpent's head. We then, as well as they,
fare unfitted for glorifying and enjoying our Maker. It
|was not sin on the part of God to permit man to sin —
fit was man's own, personal, voluntary act, and he alone
lis to blame. God foreseen, and did not determine to
Iprevent it ; but instead purposed, and so made provision
ithat not all the race would remain in eternal ruin. Sin
is not a necessary part of man — he had none when
created — he will have none when the new creation of
soul and body is completed by regeneration ; sin is
abnormal, and God is engaged in removing it by the
f^fwork of redemption.

^ We want to add : Sin existed in the universe prior

*?to the transgression of Adam and Eve. The one who

tempted them to sin was a sinner. The vScriptures. our

only safe source of instruction on these points, furnish

I us with the light required here. According to the

I Apostle Jude, the devil, and other /^//Vv/ angels, had a

4 first estate — in the highest heaven no doubt — from

-which they fell, Jude 6. John Bunyan says their sin

-was contemplating the destruction of the Son of God,

Their Maker permitted //lem to sin too. It was no sin

on His part to do so. Paul informs ns satan fell

* by his pride, i Tim . 3 : 6. Peter also gives some

instruction on this point, 2 Peter 2 : 4. This Apostle,

. quoting the language of the devil as recorded in

the Book of fob, 2 : 2, informs us that he, as a

roaring lion walketh about .seeking whom he may

devour, i Peter 5 : 8. Probably it was on some such

mission as this he was bent, roaming over God's fair

creation full of malice and determined on revenge when

he attempted the ruin of mankind, which he would

have accomplished but for the Divine Purpose.

.■■.•ichvi , -■■"^'■

god's etkknal purpose.

Thus we trace, to its origin the sin Jehovah po
7nitted in the iinivervSe. Let us as guilty, corrupt am!
lost creatures, find fault with ourselves, and not witli
our glorious Creator and trust in Him for deliveranci
from its guilt and power. We fully believe that it was
better for God to make intelligent creatures than not to,
or He would not have done so ; also that it was better
to permit them to sin than to prevent them from it, or
it would not have been so ; or as the Jews say, " What
is, is best." We may not see it so yet, but we will.
How could God have creatures under subjection to Him
without putting them on trial ? Let us fully believe
in Jesus Christ, repent of sin and obey Him, and we
will rejoice forevermore. Should we not admire the
manifold wisdom of God brought into harmonious
requisition with the other Divine perfections in the
work of redemption as w^ell as the principalities, etc.,
in heavenly places ? and indeed more so ; a wisdom that
could not have been displaj'ed unless sin, however vile
it is, had been in the world. Atonement ha; been
made, it appears, for the sins of the whole world,
I John 2 : 2, and it is our stubborn unbelief, impeni-
tence and disobedience that keeps and leaves us in ruin,
or rather, Adam's transgression plunged us in this
ruin, and we endorse his act and neglect the great
salvation. God's displeasure with sin and love of the
sinner are as clearly, if not more clearly, seen in the
work of man's redemption, than the}' could have been
if he had been prevented from sinning.

" Here the whole Deity is known,

Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brightest shone,

The justice or the grace."

If the display of God's wisdom in connection and
in harmony with His love and justice visible on Calvary,
will prevent myriads of holy beings from falling into
sin ; if an innumerable multitude of mankind will be
saved, and if the lost will be punished only as they

iin Jehovah pcf-
ty, corrupt and
s, and not with

for deliverance
lieve that it was
ires than not to,
at it was better
hem from it, or
\'ssay, "What
t, but we will,
ejection to Ilim
is fully believe

Him, and we
ot admire the
o harmonious
fections in the
:^ipalities, etc..

a wisdom that
1, however vile
lent haf been

whole world,
relief, impeni-
^'es us in ruin,
-d us in this

ect the great
hd love of the

. seen in the

Id have been

c.od'vS ktkknai, purpose.

inection and
on Calvary,
falling into
dnd M'ill be
ly as they

serve, the same justice that impo.ses the penalty not
lowing the Judge to puni.sh more than their sins
erit. is it wise to have permitted sin ? And in this
nnection we must not lo.se sight of the astonishing
ct that God became incarnate to atone for His creatures
n 1 If the angels and the man who sinned had had
ich a view of their Maker's moral perfection as the
istory of Redemption presents, inethinks they had not
lined. Would a l)eing who can love, and loz'es so well
is God, have allowed tlie ruin sin brought, if He had
i[ot had vSomething better than Paradise ? It i.s creation
e principalities, etc., admire, but the work of human
alvation — the manifold wi.sdom it exhibits. But for
iin we nor they, would have not seen God's moral
(Character, which is infinitely lovely, a sight of it being
iiufficient to ravish tlic creature with delight. It will
Se Ihi/t'f for all believers in Christ than if they had not
liiined ; then let us take advantage of the redemption
M'hicli is in Christ Jesus. Tho.sc who continue to rebel
Against such a (rod as redemption reveals will deserve
londemnation. Repent, my dear reader, if you do not.
I' Him that cometh to Jesus He will by ?w means cast
|)ut,"'jchn 6 : 37. If(ic)d permitted sin. He al. so pro-
vided a vSaviour : although under no more obligations
§0 do so than for the angels who sinned. vSin is under
alls control. He subdues it by His exceeding rich
%race.

.'vivT

" Dee]) in imfulhoiiKihle niiues

Of never lailiug skill.
He treiusuros uj) lli.s l>ri^ht designs

Aiul works His sovereign will "

The devil u.sed the tongue of the .serpent ; there are
pbundant human tongues now to ])ropagate falsehood,
%he means by which he deceived and deceives mankind
still. Truth is the antidote God has provided; le*: us
fall in line with His i)urpo.se by making it kno vn.
;Our Lord tells us that the devil is "the father of lie.^ ;"
.0ohn Bunyan observes, "The human heart is the

1 ' '

I i'i

l..-

god'vS eternai^ purpose.

mother. " We have principalites and powers to wrestle!
against, as well as others to make the manifold wisdom [
of God known to. We need all the armour of the.
Christian. We are told ivhat the armour is in
Eph. 6 : 14-17, and how to use it in the i8th and 19th
verses of the same chapter.

" My soul be on thy guard,

Ten thousand foes arise ;
The hosts of hell are pressing hard

To draw thee from the skies."

"Then watch and fight and pray,

The battle ne'er give o'er ;
Renew it boldly every day,

And help divine implore. ' '

God not only permitted sin to enter the fair creation,
but He allows it to continue for a time. He permits it
to culminate in the death of His Son when He came to
save a lost world ; that event is the means by which
sin is destroyed. Sin brings death, but death takes
away sin. God's wisdom and power control it. Sin
will be washed away, or the sinner and it swept away.
The devil is foiled by his own weapon — death. "By
death Christ destroj'ed him that had the power of death,
that is the devil," Heb. 2 : 14, 15. Without the
crucifixion none of the race could have been saved.
Was it neccessary to allow sin to continue in the world
to . ring about that transaction ? If so, is the continu-
ance of evil still essential for the accomplivshment of
good ? for the death of Christ has been productive of more
good to the universe than any event that has transpired.
He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil,
I John 3 : 8. So, when our first parents sinned, God
in revealing His purpose sa^-s, " The seed of the woman
shall bruise the vSerpents head, (ien. 3 : 15. Thus God
permitted man to be tempted and to fall. Thus, too,
what was permitted made way for the execution of His
design, and now He is carrying it forward.

" W'e are fearfully and wonderfully made, " Galen,

as
Mi
^<
un
etc
In

■ •>"'.-r-.

nOD'vS l-PEKNAL PUR1>()SE.

'wers to wrestle
anifold wisdom
armour of the
armour is in
1 8th and 19th

e fair creation,
He permits it
2n He came to
ms by which
death takes
ntrol it. Sin
t swepf away,
death. "By
3wer of death,
Without the
: been saved.
2 in the world
) the continu-
iplishnient of
-ictive of more
as transpired,
of the devil,
sinned, Clod
of the woman
. Thus God
Thus, too,
:ution of His

ade," Galen,

celebrated French anatomist, who was inclined to
leism, said, after dissecting a human bod}-, "there
lUst be a God," and sat down and made a hymn in
is prai.se. Our hearts propel from 20 to 30 pounds of
ood through our system every three ninutes for a
ntury by night as well as day. The lungs cease not
ring that time to inhale the vital fluid and exhale
e impure portion, and the digestive organs perform
eir task with equal faithfulness. Surely God drives
well as made such a complicated piece of machinery I
ay it be His temple forever. And who can describe
e spirit, the will, the affection, the conscience and the
||iderstanding ? We have much to learn, but we have
^ernity to do it in, and the Omniscient One for an
Instructor; we will never become omniscient so we can
lljarn forever. May you and I be in that school.

CHAPTER IV.
JVie Revelation of the Divhic Purpose.

(xod had the purpose before man sinned, indeed it
His eternal purpose ; but there was no special need
a revelation of it till after that event — it would not
ave been required, as far as this world is concerned,
t for sin ; and then, He might have let Adam and
ve perivSh, and only do justice. If man had not sinned
iC would have lieen dealt with in accordance with the
pictates of infinite benexolence ; having sinned infinite
Igrace is brought into requisition, and all the Divine

ferfections in harnion\- with it. in executing the plan of
alvation. The serpent tem])ted and man sinned, and
fhe promise or prophecy that " the seed of the woman
Ifhould bruise his head," was the first intimation of
Sod's design. Doubtless our first parents realized that
fhey had i'-"curred the Divine xlispleasure ; and, although
they feared the penalty, the gospel of mercy was
|)reached to them. His promises and prophecies are
iimply declarations of what He intends to do. and
through a revelation of them He performs it.

ri(,i

il !

il!

i| :

lii
lii

i ; :

■ i 1

god's ETERNAIv PURIOSE.

Only for the purpose of the unchangeable One t(
save an innumerable host of their posterity, no doubt |
the fate ol Adam and Eve v^'ould have been similar t(i I
that of the angels who sinned; they deserved it. But
Christ the Mediator of the covenant of grace, was in
the garden of Eden immediately after, if not at the time H
of, the fall, to undertake the work of redemption ; and
as a prophet, revealed the Divine intention as recorded
in the above quotation. Gen. 3 : 15. It was mercy ^
prevented their condemnation ; not becau e they were
not guilty. The intercession of Christ, who then
began to officiate as Mediator between God and
man, and will continue to do vSO while time lasts,
prevailed. He agreed to do so before the world was.
Such an event as His death con/d have occurred before
man's sin. Under such circumstances how would our
first parents, and their immediate posterity, havt
deported themselves? Faith, however, is efficacious in
saving the soul through ChrivSt's meritorious work
whether v, e look, with such an eye, backward or forward.
In all probabilit}' our first parents became believers,
were regenerated and instructed in the worship of their
INIaker Satan's triumph if it can be called such, was
short, and the deceived ones learned he was a liar, and
that the I<ord Crod was true ; and a multitude of events
have since occurred to confirm this .statement. God
purposed to give the vvorld an age of grace, and it Ijegan
when Adani and Eve were ;/^>/ punished for their sin, and
will continue till the second coming of our I.ord. We
are not under the law, but under grace, Rom. 6 : 14.
Then it is not because we are not guilty that we are not
suffering the penalty of our crimes, but becau.se God is
gracious, "Grace is reigning through righteousness
unto eternal life, b}' Jesus Christ our Lord." Ble.ss
His name, when there was no eye to pity nor arm to
save, His eye pitied and His arm brought salvation.
Let us seek Him while He is on the throne of grace.
Our preservation was not safe in the h nds of our
parents in Eden, our salvation and preservation are

1 'P
hi Hi

'■mim

GOD S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

.V)

^eable One u
■ity, no doub!
een similar tc
?rvecl it. But
grace, was in
ot at the time
^mption ; and
n as record e(
t was merc\
e they were
t. who then
-n God and
- time lasts,
? world was.
curred before
vv would our
iterity, have
efficacious in
orious work
'd or forward
le believers,
ship of their
■d such, was
s a liar, and
ide of events
nient. Ciod
and it began
heir sin, and
• r.ord. We
Korn. 6 : [4.
t we are not
ause (iod is
?hteousness
rcl." Bless
nor arm to
: salvation,
le of grace,
nds of our
rvation are

)th safe in the hands of the I.ord Jesus. Let us
yCom*^it the keeping of our souls to Him in well
Ibing."

How many of the principalities and powers, both
good and evil, and of the inhabitants of other worlds
ere prevSent on that occasion, or could see with
lescopic vision the scenes transpiring in Eden, we
nnot tell. Maybe the great Jehovah has the whole
transaction phonographed or photographed or both ;
and we may yet hear and see the story of Rden, and
Mie others connected with earth's hivStory ; chiefly the
%ony in (iethsemane, and the culminating development
of the eternal purpose in the crucifixion. We may hear
llnd .see, reprodaced, as human skill now does by means
^f the phonograph and photograph, but then manipu-
ilited by the Divine hand, Adam and Ivve, the serpent,
and the Lord (iod as He then appeared, and the
conversation they had ; the scenes of the deluge ; the
cries of the drowning multitudes, and the ark Boating
serenel}' and safely on the mighty waters. We mav
.hear the groans of the vSodomites and l^eliold their
attempts to escape the vengenar.ce of Crod, while Lot
and his daughters are hieing them over the plain to
Zoar. We ma}' see and hear the transaction on Mount
Mariah between God, Abraham and Lsaac ; above all
■we may seethe central and all absorbing scene of the
universe, the stupendous drama of Calvar}' ; above all
the other sights and sounds God f/nu' reproduce in
connection with the history of this planet, you and I
may see and hear the awful record of (iolgotha, the
motley crowd at the foot of the cross, and the Lamb of
God as He takes away the sins of the world crving,
''My God, oMy God, why hast thou forsaken me,"
■words yet sounding through the universe, for the}-
were uttered by Jehovah. What if this globe is an
immense phonograph and camera obscura ard all can
be reproduced at any time? If human skill can effect
such things we may safely presume the Divine can,
' 1 wivSdom dvrell with prudence, and find out knowledge

III!

liili i

jti

i; i
li'l !

iii

god's eternal I'UR po.se.

of witty inventions," Prov. 8 : 12. What sights an
sounds may, and certainly do, await the inhabitants (
this planet as well ag the principalities and powers i
the heavenly places !

In another way we could be enabled to see and he^
the history of this world. If we were placed at such
distance from this planet that the reflected light i
emits would not reach us till the end of time ; and
our vision and hearing were powerful enough (and the |
may be in the glorified state) to see and hear that far
the whole drama would be seen and heard as it at fir^
occurred ; and as it may now be visible and audible t
creatures residing where those rays of light and .souii
have reached at the time this is being written and reac
(^f course sound does not travel with the velocit}' <
light, therefore it requires a longer period for it to read
the same distance than the latter. Such would be ,
ravishing sight. The Almighty could do so in eitlic:
way, Dr. Dick's idea of travelling from world to worli
to behold the works of God need not be realized in ordc
to do so. With Spurgeon, we can have thtt/ar gfca/a
felicity in adoring Immanuel — ",The beatific vision '
— and not be deprived of contemplating His work-
either. Light travels 192,000 miles a .second. It re
quires 8 minutes to come from the sun ; and 700 yea.v>
from Alc\'one, one of the Pleiades or seven stars, aroun(i
which, it is said, our .solar system is revolving, and
also supposed to be the locnlity of heaven. Of course
we would require to be transported ten times as far from
this globe than are the seven .stars in order to see and
hear its hi.story (His .story) as time will probably last
7,000 years. Paidon me for this digression. It may
be one of the ways in which the God-man may entertain
His spouse in the new heaven and earth. It will simply
be a repetition and continuation of Bible hi,story, and
doubtless a means of rich delight. Who would not
love to see and hear Pentecost, the Reformation, etc.,
re-enacted ?

Probably it would not be out of place to remark

Cii
8a
th

■fet.

fa
ra
Ik

al
r*.

w
o

V
fi

s
t

r.OD'S KTKHNAL PURPOSE.

hat sights an;

inhabitants r

and powers i

to see and he;:
laced at such
fleeted light -
)f time ; and
)ugh (and the

hear that far
rd as it at firs
and audible I
ght and souii
itten and read
:he velocit}- <

for it to reac;
:h would be ,
lo so in eitlie
world to worl.
lalized in orde

^atific vision
ig His work
econd. It re
and 700 yeai>
I stars, aroun(i
evolving, and
n. Of course
les as far from
Jer to see and
probably last
Jion. It may
may entertain
It will simply
: history, and
10 would not
rmation, etc.,

ce to remark

ere that njurriu^e was instituted before man fell, so
iiat the secil of the woman who was to bruivSe the
rpent's head, and promised at the time the Divine
lurpose was partially made known, was in accord with
at institution jim well as with the purpose, and was
art of the ])lun. " He fruitful and multiply " was the
ivine command before the fall ; so not only Christ in
is human naltue, but the innumerable host of the
deemed that sprang from Adam and Eve, were in
ccord with that institution as well as Ciod's purpose.
In still lurtlier making known the Divine design,
%e read of tlu* l<or<l (fod nuiking coats of skins for the
criminals, thus instituting types, in all ])robability
sacrifices l)elng one of them ; it being most likely that
these skins, t>l)e!< of Christ's righteousness, were those
<pf animals sliun in sacrifice and also types of Christ.
pMius Adam and Mvc would learn how (iod exercised
"tiiercy to thetii by slaying a type of Christ in their
JBtead, lb' thus entering upon Ilis office of priest ;
'' Thou art w priest forever after the order of Melchize-
dek, "' Psabn 1 10 : 4. Doubtless as a king He frustrated
jpatan's attetnpl to cntirel}- ruin the progenitors of our
race; .t was nearly accomi)lished. (lod stepped in and
l)egan the t'xeoution of His purpose nearly, if not
altogether, as soon as they sinned, and in doing so
revealed Ilis purpose.

liy that levelation, in the hands of the Hoh' Spirit,
we believe they were regenerated and made the children
of (iod in a way they were not His children as His
irratmrs, ami so safer than in Edenic innocence. Very
probably they did not have the Holy Spirit before their
fall, although afterwards, if true believers. Gal. 3 : 14.
We do not think it could be .said of them before the}-
sinned, " (iruftter is He that is in you than he that is in
the world," 1 John 4 : 4. John meant that the Holy
Spirit in tlu* Christian was greater than satan in the
world, who lends wicked men captive at his will. If
our first parents had possessed the spirit of God, they
would not have fallen. " He that is born of God doth

"ill

(ion's ETERNAL PURPOvSE.

:SI

. ' ill:^!

!5 ill

III.

not commit sin ; the seed of God reniaineth in him and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God.'" The new
birth comprises nothinj>: less than the glorification of
body and spirit ; and if born from above we have thai
now in principle, therefore if we are living in known,
voluntary, wilful vSin, we are not born of God, i John 3 : 9.
vet we have sin in us, and it, at times, thinks, speaks
and acts. Sin in us and by us are different things.
" Sin .shall not have dominion over us, for we are not
under the law but under grace," Rom. 6 : 14. We are
virtually delivered from its principle, power and practice
and shall be actually. In the mean time, if any man
sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous, i John 2:1. If we break His laws He
will visit our sins with rods and our iniquities with
chasti.sements, but He will not suffer His loving kind-
ness to fail, Psalm 89 : 30-37. " It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God," Heb. 10 : 31 ;
therefore " let us mortify the deeds of the body that we
may live." If we find it as easy to sin and as hard to
do good after what we call regeneration as it was l)efore,
we may be assuied we are not yet born from above.
The destruction of sin is the principal thing in redemp-
tion, and it, as far as the Spirit's work is concerned,
begins in regeneration. Those who continually sa}',
"We can and do sin," and are also censuring others
for sinning, lead us to doubt of their regeneration.
The word is, '^ 'X:\vGy cannot sin because they are l)orn
of God, " I John 3 : 9.

If Adam and Eve had not sinned possibU' they
would have been translated as Knoch and Ivlijah were ;
of course they were sinners, but their tran.slation was
in virtue of Christ's reden ptive work.

CHAPTER V.
The Salvation of Abel, etc.

In this we have the first actual development of the
Divine purpose as far as the salvation of a human

Lll

inl

ftij
thl
ht
ui

th
til

GOD'S KTKRNAI, PURPOSE.

til in him and
''• " The new
lorification of
we have that
ig" in known,
fl. I John 3 ; 9.
^inks, speaks
-rent thing-s.
3r we are not

M- We are
r and practice

if" any man
Jesus Christ
lis laws He
quities with
Jovin^r kim]-
rful thin^*- to
leb. 10 : 31 ;
od^- that\ve
1 as hard to

was I)efore,
rom aljove.

in redemp-

concerned,
iiially sa\'.
■ing- otliers
^■eneration.

y are ])orn

sibly tliey
ijah were ;
atioTi was

ent of the
a human

in't is concerned. Although not absolutely positive
f the vSalvation of Adam and Kve, we are of this vSon,
eb. II : 4. Abel was first whatever. Whatever Cxod
tended to give w.ien He purposed redemption he was
ade a recipient of. Abel's spirit was the first of the
uman race that entered the state and place where the
pints of the just made perfect are. It was prepared
Jroni the foundation of the world, Matt. 25 : 34 and so,
^ accordance with this purpose, was in readiness ; the
ingels too, to carry his vSpirit to rest. Abel's spirit was
|he first stone placed on the foundation in heaven, and
tie struck the first note of redemption's song in the
iin.seen world ; a song new to the principalities and
bowers there, and one they could not sing — a song
that filled them with great astonishment. What a
Iniiracle of grace to hear and see a being singing in the
palace of heaven that justly might have been in the
prison of hell. The grace that forgave, and the love
that determined to satisfy justice without sacrificing
the sinner, were amazing ; and the wisdom that devised
the method, although, not then fully revealed, filled the
Ibeavenl}' hosts with admiration of their Maker. Christ,
the foundation Ciod laid in the eternal councils of the
Trinity, was the sure corner-stone ; and Abel, who
believed in Him, was the first one in the building.
Christ saved him, and all others who entered heaven
before His own death, on credit in virtue of what He
was going to effect — a thousand years being as one
day with the Lord, it would be a credit of four days,
being four thousand years from Abel till ChrivSt paid
the debt. The sacrifices instituted by Christ were a
kind of promissory notes on the bank of heaven ; He
by them saying, " I will offer myself in the fulness of
time." In sacrifices and burnt offerings for sin thou
hast no pleasure; then said Christ, " Lo I come — I
delight to do thy will, O God," Psalm 40 : 6-8. God
had no pleasure in such because He could not forgive
sin in virtue of them, nor have justice satisfied, and so
the Divine government administered aright ; but

wimnmi^^mm

(iOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

I- i

through Christ He can be just and justify the believe
in Him, Rom. 3 : 26.

Abel was the first martyr of the Antediluviar
Dispensation. His was a fitting type of our Lord
death, it would teach our weeping first parents tlii
sad consequences of disobedience to God, What ;
murderous heart sin gives Cain and his descendants
What persecution has raged for conscience sake ! Wha
a large army of martyrs ; but,

' ' TLy saints in all this glorious war,

Shall conquer though they die ;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith they bring it nigh."
Abel's soul, the first of the spirits made perfect
may be, alternately, in the first, .second and thir
heavens, till the end of time ; employed, along wit.
many others, by this time, as God wills. His body
though mingling so long with its native dust, fror
which it was taken not so very long before, and t
which it so quickly returned, is watched along wit:
countless others by the Master.

' ' God our Redeemer lives,

And often from the skies
Lookc down and watches all our dust,

Till He shall bid it rise."

III : !

77ie Translatio7i of Enoch.

We mention this, in connection with the Diviti ^
purpose, because it is the finst instance in which th ^^
body is saved from the ruin sin brought, it is the firs ^^
complete development of God's purpose in this respect ^^
God can, and does, save spirit and body with
without death. The cross is a tree whose roots an
branches reach back to Eden and forward to the end
time. Its benefits are co-extensive with the dispensa
tion of the world.

Although God could thus save all bodies, it is Hi
plan, in nearly all cavSes, to permit the divSsolution

III! I

e:.

GOD S KTERNAL PURPOSE.

tify the believi

e Antediluviar
; of our Lord
irst parents tin
God. What ;
is descendants
ce sake ! Wha

var.

s made perfect
:ond and thir
ed, along wit!
lis. His bod}
tive dust, fror
before, and t
led along- wit!

dust,

^ith the Diviti
e in which th;
it, it is the firs
in this respect
body with i
hose roots an
rd to the end o
1 the dispensa

•odies, it is Hi
! dissolution o

e body, or what we call death. Would there have
tbeen redemption without death ? Could there have

en without the death of Christ ? If God had not
iurposed salvation, there would not have been any

paration of spirit and body, but punishment of spirit
|knd body together, as it was in the case of Christ's
liatisfaction to the claims of justice ; for He declared it
%as finished before the separation of His spirit and
i#ody ; and it will be the reunited spirits and bodies of
>f)he wicked at last that will suffer the penalty of their
aans. Nevertheless, Christ's spirit did vacate the body :
#as it that He might conquer death and the grave for
bur spirits and bodies ? To allow what we call death
is God's way of new-creating the body, raising it from
the dust as He did Adam's at first. Crod purposed the
ifedemption of the body too ; therefore Chri.st took a
^ne body as well as a reasonable soul. " A body hast
ipou prepared me," Heb lo : 5, and went to the grave

ttid by His resurrection vanquished "The King of
errors." All bodies could have been redeemed as
iilnoch's was, Christ not needing to go to the grave,
Ikut God was pleased to order it as it is.

" Our inbred sins require

Our flesh to see the dust ;
But as the Lord our Saviour rose,

So all His followers must."

Our Lord could have gone to glory, soul, body and
!Divinity, direct from the cross, when He said, " It is
inivShed, " but He was pleased to permit His bcJy to
be buried — a demonstration of His death — that He
Slight rob death of its sting and the grace of its victory .

Adam and Kve would weep bitterly, as man>- of
their posterity have since, over the state to which their
child's body was reduced ; but th^ translation of Enoch,
if they lived to see it, would gladden their hearts, as
well a' those of others who looked for redemption
tfhrough the deed of the woman — redemption for both
body and spirit.

iliily

god's eternal purpose.

, m

if:!'

11 1!
ii! '\

We have a specimen, in Enoch's case, of tli^^j^
change to be wrought on the saints who will be livin,|.j|^

at Christ's second advent ; we also have a demonstratioi

pre

of a future immortality. " Enoch walked with God ^j-
and he was not, for God took him," Gen. 5 : 24 ^q
Heb. II : 5. We should liked to have been in hi .j^jj
place. ^,

Regeneration is not completed till body and spiri; ^
are glorified. Our bodies .shall be fashioned like unti
Christ's glorious body.

" Death itself shall then be vanquished

And its sting shall be withdrawn ;
Shout for gladness, O ye ransomed,

Hail with joy the rising morn."

W^e presume it would be a greater surprise to tlu
principalities and powers in heavenly places to set
Enoch's glorified body and spirit, than Abel's vSpiril.

God had a purpOvSe in the creation of the ol(
heavens and earth, as we have seen ; Enoch's body is
no doubt, in one of these heavens — likely where Elijal
and his Master afterwards went, and probably tlu
many Vjodies of the saints that graced ChrivSt's victor}
at the time of His resurrection.

a3n(
thc|

fail

coil

#a
Ihi
^t

The Preservation of Noah.

The Creator of all things permitted sin, and ii; 'fei
about 1 ,500 years it appeared as if this globe was goin.t; d(
to be deluged by it — as if man and the devil were
going to usurp (ioi's authority over it. He manifested
His righteous displeasure against such ungrateful
rebellion, by sweeping away nearly all the race bj' a
great flood ; but not all for His purpose was not com
pleted. He is unchangeable and wnll perform Hi>
design true and will verify the promises and fulfil the
prophecies ; and so in his providence, execute what He
intended.

By the prevServation of Noah, etc., the globe wa>
re-peopled, the designs of evil men and devils frustrated,

61
t€

.'-r.-jr(-.,vW?'-,u-.;,-i, ■

god's eternaIv purpose.

s case, of thi

will be living

1 demonstratior
£ed with God

Gen. 5 : 24
e been in hi>

3ody and spin:
ioned like unt(

lished
a.

surprise to tlu
places to set
Abel's spiriL.
m of the o],
loch's body is
y where Elijal:
probably tlit
hrist 's victors

d sin, and ii;
obe was goini;
ie devil were
^e manifested
h ungratefn!
the race b}' r
was not com
perform Hi>
and fulfil the
cute what He

le globe wa>
Is frustrated,

purpose of God in saving an innumerable host of
t||e ruined race carried forward, and, in due time, the
omised Deliverer came. Some were in heaven in
ue of what He was going to do, so resolved was He
|» complete it. Probably, if such a thing could be as
at it would not be completed, they would not have
en allowed to continue there. Col. i : 20. Thev would
t have been taken there. Some were spared as Adam
d Noah were ; not because they were better than
ose w^ho were drowned, etc., but as an act of grace,
pst as we guilty ones of the present age are. Ma\' we
ife warned and seek the I^ord while He is to be found.
It was a day of judgment to all but Noah and his
fiimily. It appears the wicked of that age were lost,
t, Peter 3 : 19, 20, they being in the prison of the
cSondemned when Peter wrote his epistle. The flood is
(|>type of the end of the world, 2 Peter 3 : 5-13. It is
lliso typical of baptism, i Peter 3 : 20. It is a great
#arning to the sinful of any age, as well as a type of
®ie fiery deluge approaching. Peter intorms us of the
Idte of the impenitent at Christ's second coming as
^e\\ as of the Antediluvians, 2 Peter 3 : 5-7. Maj- we
fbtain grace to fall in line with the Divine mind and
purpose by exercising repentance towards God, and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He addresses us as
rational beings. He promises seed time and harvest,
feut on condition that we till the soil, etc. We really
do not act vSo absurdly in secular concerns as in
spiritual ; we are diligent if we expect success in otir
tet-'(' ,ral undertakings. If we were as neglectful in
gv ' I" as in spiritual things, many of us would starve.
Vv '/'fiieve in salvation by grace, and not of works;
yet, with Whitfield, that 'none were ever lost that did
what they could to obtain an interest in Christ.

The preservation of Noah and his famih is an
important link in the chain of God's purpose. He
permitted the evil, but did not allow it to frustrate His
design.

The Flood is one of the dreadful consequences of

1 1!
I

i w

■jiijl

m
m

i!liiit.iii

1 !i'

god's eternal purpose.

si'j, and of the stupendous scenes enacted on the planttpfeJ
we inhabit. What a theatre it is. f^if

CHAPTER VI.

77ie Establishmeyit of God's Worship.

upc
Worship, when offered to the true God, is of great bu::
importance in carrying on the Divine purpose. Indi tail
viduals and families worshipped Him prior to tlit occ|
period we now enter upon ; now it becomes national
and thoroughlj' systematized. When we render tht prq
homage of our being to God in spirit and truth, we are of
changed into the Divine image, from glory to glory, as an*
by the spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. 3 : 18, and that is what the
is required h}- us, having lost that image by the fall, hei
The Lord Jesus is the express image of the invisible
God, and having, as a prophet, given us such a revela-
tion of the Divine being as to convince us that H'^is
very Ciod of very God, and so the object of worship, we
preach Him as such. In order then to establish His
worship and destroy idolatry, the sin of the race, in
this revelation we find a number of miracles pertormed ;
and this, not only at the beginning of the gospel
dispensation, but MOvSaic as well. " No man hath seen
Ood at an}' time ; the only begotten son, who is in the
l^osom of the Father, He hath declared Him,"
John 1:18. In His name we preach, and our petitions
apd praises are addressed to Him as God ; the "Jesus
Christ of the New Testament being the Jehovah of the
Old." Thus are the truths concerning the great
Creator of all things brought into contact with human
souls, and an experimental knowledge of Him obtained,
leading to His true love, service and worship, as well
as the salvation of such ; so that the worship of God,
in the use of the means of grace, is a fruitful agency in
carrying on the work of God. "It is life eternal to
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent, " John 173. That we maj^ know Him,
God the Father, angel, John Baptist, and all true

mmm

(.od's irncuNAL itrposk.

<^n the plane

achers of the gospel, have introduced Hiin to us.

at the acquaintance may be cultivated and cherished,

aiid the love and friendship increased, He speaks to us

IB His word unceasinj^ly if we will listen to Him ; and

^rs/iip, a|id may reply to Him unceasingly in prayer as He sits

„ I . - ^on the throne of grace ; yea, v.-c may transact

, ^s of gre.itllpsiness of the greatest imi)ortance with Him, apper-

P9^e. Indi •fining to His own glorv and eternal welfare, as He

Pnor to tlitScupiesit.

es national Sin does not keep us from worship, but from the

render the j^oper object of it. We are very prone, since the days

ruth we are ^ Adam, to forsake (lod the fountain of living waters,

\ \h f -^^ ^^ ^''^ ^° ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^'^ our.selves broken cisterns — idols —

h ^u ^^'^^ ^at can hold no water, (tod is holy, we are unhol}- ;

., ^- ^^^^ Ij^nce the contrariety. The flood did not teach man-

tne invisible find to fear God -nothing but the holy spirit does.

,cn a revela- Jji pursuance of His design He adopts another method

t&an a second deluge. He separates Abraham and his

. , ,. - - i?imily from the rest of the idolatrous world, reveals

stabiish His jlimself to him and them in such a way, and attends

le race, in ^^ revelation with such power, that He is known to

be infinitely superior to the gods of the heathen thus

aecuriiig to Himself the homage of His creatures ; and

by a repetition of His stupendous power, accompanied

by an exhibition of His moral perfections, especially

His benevolence and justice, at the introduction of the

gospel dispensation, He .still commands the love and

obedience of those ac(|uainted with Him, and will

continue to do vSo till the knowledge of His glory covers

the earth as the waters cover the vSea, Isa. 11:9.

Christ is the image of the invisible God, and the
Author of all the revelations God makes to man He
said to Abraham, "In thy .seed," which is Christ,
"shall all the families of the earth be blessed,"
Gen. 22 : 18. Matthew, recording the fulfilment of
this promise in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and
writing for the Jew8, traces His genealogy to Abraham ;
, Luke, representing the gospel as destined to bless all
' mankind, traces that genealogy back to Adam. Some

"s that H- IS
f worship, vve

in
■s performed

f the

gospel

an hath .seen
tvho is in the
ired Him,"
>ur petitions
: the "Jesu.s
lovah of the
the great
^'ith human
ni obtained,
flip, as well
^'> of God,
' agenc3^ in
eternal to
^rist whom
now Him,
J all true

ilHi

il !

I Li

m'i

lliil
1; ;

t1,'

ill

im ' I

god's eternaIv purpose.

superhuman manifevStation is necessary by a being
calling^ for worship, in order to secure such homa^i^t
from beings constituted as we are

We have the worship of God sysstematized in tht
tabernacle and temple service. These, however, art
but types of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched
— the heavens and the earth — where He is worshipped
in vSpirit and truth and where He is revealing His
uncreated glories to the principalities and powers as
He carries out His stupendous purpose of redeeming
His people and erecting f/iem into a temple in which
He will forever dwell. Each has its holy and most
holy place. The sacrifice was slain in the holy, and
and its blood taken into the most holy place ; so Christ,
the great sacrifice, was slain on earth, the holj' place
of the Lord's tabernacle, and then after His resurrection,
for a dead priest would be of no avail, went into heaven,
the mOvSt holy place of this magnificent temple, to
appear in the presence of God for us ; and bj- His
continual intercession there procures the gifts necessary
to carry out His undertakin ■;.

' * Jesus is worthy to receive

Honor and power Divine,
And blessings more than we can give,

Be Lord forever thine.

The whole creation join in one,

To bless the sacred name,
Of Him who sits upon the throne.

And to adore the Lamb."

God's justice was but dimly .set forth in these
typical sacrifices ; they give but a weak conception of
the heinousness of sin. In the mirror of Christ's
sufferings we see sin in its fearful demerit, and justice
more conspicuously than if we saw into hell with its
creature-suffering, for on the cross we behold the
Creator. Doubtless the view given of God s displeasure
with sin, on Ca^var^^ is greater than what will occur
when this world will be wrapped in flames ; and as we

lia
ce
it

god's eternai, purpose.

y by a being
such homage

natized in the
however, are
:.IvOrd pitched
is worshipped
revealing His
ind powers as
of redeeming
iple in which
oly and most
the holy, and
^ce ; so Christ,
he holy place
s resurrection,
t into heaven,
nt temple, to I

and by His
:ifts necessar^'

ve,

rth in these
conception of
of Christ's
, and justice
iell with its
behold the
! displeasure
t will occur
; and as we

ve the greater manifestation of justice, we will
^rtainly have the other, although some do not believe

These offerings did. however, serve as telescopes of
ith through which to view Christ in the distant
^ture, and as mepns of confessing sin. Each offerer
^ much as said, " I am a guilty rebel deserv^ing to be
crificed to justice, but if it can be accepted, I offer
is lamb in my stead, " and God graciously ordered it
us to be, teaching the doctrine of substitution and
jointing to Christ. The sacrifice was a glass through
ll^hich to look at the Lamb of God that takes away the
sins of the world, who returns without them, in order
to save it. Sin must be taken away by the blood and
spirit of Christ, or it will take away the sinner.

' ' My faith looks back to see

The burdens Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursed tree,

And hopes her guilt was there."

This subject appears to be an all absorbing one.
Sometimes we do not wonder Paul said, "God forbid
that I should glorv save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ," Gal. 6 : U-

These offerings by which the doctrines of redemp-
tion were taught, and by which Divine worship was
celebrated, were instituted b\' Christ the great High
Priest, n ^rel}'^ as promises that He would offer Himself
in the fuluess of time, truly satisfy justice and open up
a way for God to forgive ; He by them beginning to
officiate in that capacity. The one shows a way of
-mercy, the other secures it. Would the altar and its
sacrifice typef\' the Divine and human nature of Christ
and the fire the Divine wrath, and thus anticipate the
incarnation and what followed it ? His Deity, as the
altar sanctified ; His humanity, the gift.

The temple service would keep Christ before the
mind as the object of faith and worship, the source of
salvation and the being to be loved and obeyed. It

god'vS eternal pukpose.

:ii!i

lliiH

I! ij

jl
W i \\n I i!

!l ! 'i

:ii

i 111 !

was, however, only an introductory dispensation -
such a revelation as the human mind was capable of
receiving — the alphabet of the science of redemption
Many, notwithstanding, were regenerated by the gract
of God through these means, made a part of tlu
spiritual temple, and so the Divine purpose further
advanced. They were saved on credit, b^- faith in what
Christ had not then accomplished. That faith led
them to repentance and the practice of virtue, so they
were possessed of the character and conduct that
qualifies the sinner for an inheritance in the new
heavens and earth, God will provide for tho5»e who love
and obey His dear Son. " Remember, if our faith does
not save us from sinning, it will not save us from hell;
if it does not produce good deeds it will not carry us to
heaven." True, saving faith, gives us character and
conduct, I mean faith in ChrivSt ; without Him we can
be nothing, nor do nothing. Faith that justifies and
saves is a living active principle ; without it works are
dead. See in the eleventh chapter of the letter to the
Hebrews, how it wrought in the worthies of old.

The light from heaven threw the shadow of the
cross away to Eden.

The temple service was similar to that of the
tabernacle. The fire that descended from God, at the
time of its dedication by vSolomon, was not permitted
to be extinguished for 488 years, night or day. May
the love of God and man so glow in all our churches —
in all our hearts.

" Refining fire go through my heart.

Illuminate my soul ;
Scatter thy light in every part,

And sanctify the whole."

The tabernacle was
ary. So we in this life

moveable ; the temple station-
and the one to come. " Here
we have no continuing city. " " We seek one which
hath foundations whose builder and maker is God ; ' '
and when He shall pitch our moving tent beyond the

god's eternal pur pose.

ispensation -
vas capable of

f redemption

i by the grace
I part of the
rpose further

faith in what
hat faith led
irtue, so the\
conduct that

in the new
lose who love
»ur faith does
us from hell;
3t carry us to
■haracter and

Him we can
justifies and

it works are

letter to the
of old,
adow of the

that of the

Ciod, at the

ot permitted

r day. May

churches —

pie station-
le. "Here
: one which
r is God,"
beyond the

fiver of death, in the new heavens and earth, we shall
i|6niain. " We know that if our earthly house of this
l|abernacle were divSSolved we have a building of God,
0^ house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, "
if Cor. 5:1.

" Here in the body pent,

Absent from Him we roam,
Yet nightly pitch our n,oving tent

A day's march nearer home."

The Shekinah, or visible presence of the God of
Israel, that went before them by day in a pillar of cloud,
and by night in a pillar of fire, lodged in the tabernacle
when they were resting from pilgrimage, and preceded
,^em when they were to go forward. IVIaybe this is
%hat descended when the temple was dedicated. Is
our Shekinah the Word and Spirit of Crod ? "As
inany as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
"of God, " Rom. 8 14. The way to be sure that we are
led b}' the Spirit is to go by the Word.

We may further remark, in connection with the
Establishment of God's worship, that in this same
jiamily of Abraham, was a long succession of prophets
foretelling more and more clearly the coming of Messiah
— mak og God's purpose known. They were the stars
' — He the sun. We have the sunlight in this age —
they but moon and stars. They were the teachers and
preachers of their time. They preached Christ to come,
and through their agency the building was advancing,
the Divine purpose carried on. They, by in.spiration,
wrote the history of the world before the events trans-
pired ; and far more accurately than commentators
interpret and record the fulfilment of their predictions.
Of course Christ is the great prophet from whom all
others derive their inspiration.

We have a line of prophets in the New Testament
also. John, Paul, Peter, etc., but as Christ, the great
subject of prophecy, has come there are not so many
prophets or predictions ; yet His second coming is of

i' III:

III

''ici!,!:'!

I. iii.!"' 'fii

'tOD'S ETERNAIv PURPOvSE.

infinite importance, and it is foretold by the Old
Testament prophets, as well as the New.

God's worship is to continue till time shall end ;
and in some form, no doubt, through eternitj'. The
tarth, in its present form, is the holy place of the true
tabernacle ; and as all the people were praying without,
when Zacharias went to burn incense before the Lord,

llll

so should all the world worship God now, since Jesus P*'
Christ has gone into the heavens for us, »^'

" Waft, waft ye winds His s^ory.

And you, ye waters, roll ;
Till like a sea of glory,

It spreads from pole to pole. ' '

No wonder the Father said, " This in my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased." See what He has
done to save the lost inhabitants of this planet — what
acts of disinterested benevolence — how self-sacrificing,
how brave.

Some consider the part of the church on earth is
the holy place, and that in heaven the most holj' place
of the great tabernacle the Lord pitched. If this be so,
they still occupy the same places as those named, for
the two parts of that tabernacle are on earth and in
heaven.

CHAPTER VH.

The Assumption of Human Nature by the Second
Ferson. in the Tri?iity, or the Lord's First Advent.

What was done during the 33 years of Christ's
stay on earth is the event of the universe. We are able,
to some extent, to grasp the idea of the creation of
angels the heavens and e rth, etc., as preparator}- steps
in the accomplishment of the Creator's eternal purpose ;
because sin has not blinded so much the intellectual as
the moral vision of the soul, but for the Infinite to stoop
so low, to become incarnate, to take His rebel creatures
place and atone for their sin ; this, to be full}' appreci-
ated, requires a moral, as well as an intellectual grasp

<lO!>'S KTgRNAI. PURPOSlv.

by the Old

ne shall end
■ternity. The
ce of the true
ying without,
ore the Lord,
V, since Jesus

1 my beloved
what He has
lanet — what
If-sacrificing,

h on earth is
St holj' place
If this be so,
e named, for
iarth and in

^/le Second
t Advent.

of Christ's
^Ve are able,

creation of
rator}- steps
al purpose ;
:ellectual as
ite to stoop
el creatures
lly appreci-
ctual grasp

at we will not possess in time, and but very
perfectly in ctcrnitv, even with glorified bodies and
Spirits. IJut blessed be His name, He was great
tnough to do HO. It would require infinite capacity
reali/.c the work of an infinite Being ; and
ilthougli we sluill be forever developing, we shall not
leconie Divine, utid, therefore, along with the princi-
alities and jH)wers, we shall always have something
infinitely beyond us to admire. Human redemption is
\j| glorious achievement, worthy of Crod. Our hearts
Require to be warm atid our intellects large to profitably
-ContLinplatf sttcli a work.

^ Witlioul tliese qualifications this part of our study
may not be us interesting to us as sonle other portions ;
yet it ought to be more so.

If the Prince of Wales would enter one of our
common prisons, and exchange garments and places
%ith a condemned criminal, all of which means very
iuuch, it woubl l)e as much beneath what Jesus Christ
:hasdoHi\ MH ii creature is beneath a Creator. How this
jphould ulTect us. And yet,

*' l/ook how we grovel here below,

ImjiuI uf these earthly toys ;
Our Houls how feebly they go,

To reach eternal joys."

So giecit a work must mean great things for those
for whom it is l)eing accomplished. In the light of the
cross we learn that it is the want of true greatness
makes UH proiul and keeps us from condescending.
V We are all criminals in the sight of heaven ; and one
criminal cannot confer much honor on another. Heaven
is below US - we go down by the vvaj' of the cross to
get there. Christ made Himself of no reputation ; He
did not feel the want of it, then. Let us imitate Him.

'* He that is down need fear no fall.

He that is low no pride ;
He that is humble ever shall,

Have God to be his guide."

(JOD'vS ETKRNAU PURPOvSK.

"Christ Jesus humbled Himself, and became obed-
ient unto the death of the cross ; for which cause God
hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which
is above every name, " Phil. 2 : 8, 9.

In this chapter we would contemplate the Workman
as well as the work. The holiness of the Saviour, the
greatness of the work of Salvation together with our
sinfulness, keep us from the study of the Divine
purpose and plan, and seeking an interest in Christ
and coinciding in the design. Yet under the tuition of
the Holy Spirit we may become true disciples and
workmen. Experimental knowledge is far superior to
mere intellectual.

"All previous history was a preparation for the
advent of God's Son ; all succeeding history the result
of it." Hence, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn
till He shall come whose right it is to reign, and He
shall have the dominion," Ezekiel 21 : 27. That is, I
will overturn the Babylonian, Persian and Grecia-
empires, the great world wide monarchies of antiquity
then Christ, during the prevalence of the Roman power,
shall come ; He has a right to reign ; He is our Creator,
Preserver and Benefactor. The Holy Spirit says by
Daniel, " In the days of these kings " — the Babylonian,
Persian, Grecian and Roman — "shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom that vShall never be destroyed, ' '
Dan. 2 : 44. The King was born during the reign of
Augustus Caesar, the Roman Emperor ; and after Pie
had been annointed by the Holy Spirit at the time of
His baptism, began to preach, saying, "Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matt. 4 : 17. The
apostles proclaimed the same tidings, and were not to
taste of death till they saw it ccme with power, which
was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. No doubt but
God is still overturning, and will till the kingdoms of
this world shall have become the kingdom of our God
and His Christ ; till the little stone cut out of the
mountain without hands shall have become a great
mountain and fill the whole earth, Rev. 11 : 15,

f';''**:^

(U)d's kthrnai. pi'r po.sk.

became obecl-
ich cause Go(]
a name which

the Workman
? Saviour, the
ther with our
r the Divine
est in Christ
the tuition of
disciples and
ir superior to

ation for the
)ry the result
irn, overturn
eign, and He
. That is. I
and Grecia-
of antiquity
Oman power,
our Creator,
irit says by
Babylonian,
the God of
destroyed,"
Ithe reign of
jnd after He
the time of
■pent for the
17- The
were not to
wer, which
doubt but
ingdoms of
lof our C*od
lout of the
le a great

^5.

Dan. 2 : 34, 36. "Then the mountain of the Lord's
hoUvSe shall be established in the top of the mountain,
and exalted above the hills, and all nations shall How
unto it," Isa. 2 : 2, Micah 4:1. Christ shall rule the
world through His people. "The .saints of the Most
High shall take the kingdom and possess it forever,
even forever and ever," Dan. 7 ; 18, 27. Messiah,
Christ. Annointed mean t^? same; He v/as annointed
Prophet. Priest and King when the dove-form of the
Spirit came upon Him, and that was the sign by which
He was to be known as such, John i : 32-34.

" Hail to the Lord's Annointed,

Great David's greater Son ;
Hail in the time appointed,

His reign on earth begun."

It would be an honor ju.stly due th< One about
whom we are writing if the whole material creation
had been brought into existence in order to provide
Hini a body, if such was necessary. Man could not
ascend to heaven ; God came down to seek and save the
lost. As a Divine Being He is a Foreign mi.ssionary ;
as a human being He is a Home missionary. His is a
mission of infinite benevolence. "Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godline.ss ; Ciod was manifest in
the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the (ientiles, believed on in the world, received
up into glory." Hitherto the angels veiled their faces
until the veil of mortal flesh hid, in a suitable degree,
the excessive glory of God ; a glory so refulgent that a
revelation of it to mortal sinful man would destroy
instead of save him. He only hath immortality dwell-
ing in the light which no man can approach unto ;
which no man hath seen nor can see," i Tim. 6 : 16.
"For man shall not see Him and live," Exod. 33 : 20.
It is indeed supposed that God let Moses see Him and
thus brought about his death, Deut. 34 : 5, 6. God in
Christ causes all His glory to pass before us, especially
on the cross • so that we have seen it as well as Moses

52 god's eternal purpose.

' * Till God in human flesh I se^,

My thoughts no comfort find ;
The holy, just and sacred Three,

Are terrors to my mind.

But if Immanuel's face appear.

My hope, my joy, begin ;
His name forbids my slavish fear,

His grace removes my sin." -

AvS a cloud hides the noon-day splendour of the
sun, so human nature concealed the uncreated glories
of Jehovah. Still we have the sunlight notwithstanding
the cloud ; and as the intervening cloud enables us to
view the sun without injury to the sight, so the love oJ
God shines to us through the atoning Christ — the
glories of His justice harmonises with His mercy, and
we are pardoned and not destroyed. May be He was
not seen by the angels till manifest in the flesh, Isa. 6:2.
What displa>b of Deity we may be favored with in the
future state, will probably be along the line of this one,
it being necessary for our salvation and the futherin;:
of His purpo.se. Now is laid, in the person of Christ
and His work, the foundation upon which the apOvStles
and prophets built, and upon which the superstructure
shall be erected till the last stone be laid ' ' with
shoutings of grace, grace unto it. " He came to atone
for the sin of the innumerable multitude — to fulfill the
stipulations of the covenant of grace. Since man must
sink forever beneath his sins love said, Let God and
man bear them ; Christ has done vSo.

The divinity shines through His humanity, two
natures in one person ; and will do, and be so, forever.
The transfiguration gives us an idea of the way in
which the Deity is concealed as well as revealed ; also
John's vision of Him in Patnios. after His ascension.
The seed of Mary has come to bruij e the head of the
god of this world, Glory to God in the highest sing
the angels ; for when He bringeth the first begotten
into the world He saith, "Let all the angels of God

CxOD'vS ETERNAL PURPOvSE.

lour of the
ited glories
ithstanding
lables us to
the love ot
Christ — the
mercy, and
be He wa.s
^h, Isa. 6:2.
with in the
of this one,
e futherin^
n of ChrivSt
;he apostles
)erstructure
aid ' ' with
lue to atone
o fulfill the
i man must
it God and

lanity, two
so, forever,
he way in
ealed ; also

ascension .
lead of the
ghest sing

t begotten
els of God

WofvSliip Him. " We slionld surely sing if we can; if
we cannot let us in some other way serve.

" The hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world. "
The one that rocked Jesus' cradle rocked the rcor/ds.
He is the One by whom the worlds are made, and who
governs them all, Heb. 1:2. The sun arises ; tlie
moon and stars of the Mosaic dispensation withdraw.
No wonder a star appears, the angels come and sing
and the Baptist prepares His way ; it is God incarnate.
He appears or. eartli's theatre, prepared before for this
amoiig uiher things, to perform the most sul)lime
drama that shall ver}- possibly- ever be enacted in the
universe. Is the reception lie met with as great a
myst' y of inicpiity as is the mystery of godliness ? It
may i-e that the inhabitants of countless worlds may
be prcsened, nay confirmed, in innocence and virtue
b}' the exhibition of the inflexible justice and infinite
love of God displayed on the cross ; and n)ay be this is
one reason among others, and the principal one, whv
the principalities and powers have the manifold wisdom
of God make known to them through and by the
redemption of the church.

" Here the whole Deity is known,

Nor dares a creature guess ;
Which of the glories brightest shone,

The justice or the grace,"

His miracles as well as His love show His Divinit}'.

If they had been more numerous, or of greater "lagni-

:]^de, they would net have dared to crucify Him, and

ihis world, and may be others, would have perished.

ut sin has so deadened the soul and blinled the moral

ision that we do not discern that (iod has been

anifest in the flesh. We require the teaching of the

oly Spirit to know it. It is a most interf..sting and

itupendous thought that the Maker of all worlds

Itfeii^ited this one in the capacity of the Redeemer of its

abitants — God dwelling in man, shedding His blood

atone for man's guilt. His body was formed of the

GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOvSE.

substance of Mary, and so the seed of the woman, as
Adam's had been of the substance of the earth ; indeed
Christ's body was of the dUvSt of the earth because it
descended from Adam. Thus the formation of this
earth was in view of God's dwelling in clay — ciay as
much refined in His glorified condition as charcoal is
in the condition of the diamond, and so in accord with
His plan. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our
flesh. " In sacrifices and burnt ofiering for sin, Thou
has no pleasure, but a ])0(1 y has Thou prepared me ; ' '
no pleasure because jUvSticc was not satisfied so as to
enable Him to forgive the sinner ; but through Christ's
offering of Himself, (Vod can be just and iustify the
believer in Jesus, (iod dwells in a human being as in
a temple, and through what He has done in that temple,
and is doing, makes a way to dwell in the whole
innumerable multitude that will compose His Royal
Palace, or mj'stical body — the Church. God dwells
in them as we behold the sun sparkling in the dew
drop. All the righteousness of the race since the fall
of man, and a vSacrifice of the whole, would not clothe a
soul fit for heaven ; but Christ's blood and righteousness
cleanses from all sin and robes us fit for the heavenly
palace.

" Jesus Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress ;

Midst flaming worlds m thesf arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up Uiy head."

" He was rich, but for our sakes became poor, that
we through His poverty might be made rich." When
He assumed our nature, it was that He might take the
prisoner's place and exchange our sin for His righteous-
ness. God in Christ has made a way for the exercivSe
of mercy, so that the Divine Governraent, after we are
regenerated by the Holy Spirit, can be administered as
if sin had not existed; "We love because He first
loved us," and "Love is the fulfilling of the law."
He did all this as our Substitute and Surefty; He

-■i''-»-

god's kternal purpose.

joined our note and paid the debt. Blessed be His
name. It was just that man suffer since man sinned ;
it was necessary that the atonement be of infinite value
in order that the believer be saved from the eternal
punishment due to the sin of the creature, and entitled
to the heavenly inheritance ; the work of the God-man
covered both requirements. God's love to man, man's
love to God, and man's love to man are all perfectly
exemplified in the life and death of Jesus Christ — just
what the Divine law requires. It would have been easy
for Christ to love God and man, if there had been no
sin ; it was exceedingly difficult when He undertook to
do so as the sinner's substitute — exquisite sufferings
being then necessary. From His death flows a fountain
of life enabling us to love God and man ; a character
producing such conduct we require, and is included in
Cod's purpose, for we are predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son.

The God-man and His work is the foundation upon
which the Church individually and collectively rests. .

"The foolish builder, scribe and priest

Reject it with disdain ;
Yet on this rock the Church shall rest.

And envy rage in vain."

He would require to be God in order to sustain
such a fabric, but He is immanuel — God with us.
Then :

** How can we fall with such a prop

As our eternal God ;
Who holds the world's huge pillars up,

And spreads the heavens abroad."

We love, serve and worship Him as God, with our
largest conception of what that means ; and we cannot,
and do not want to, help it, when we realize what He
has doneyi?;' and in us ; for an experimental knowledge
of an interest in the atonement of Christ is attained
here and now ; and if He is not God, instead of destroy-

■m

god's eternaiv purpo.se.

ing idolatry, He thereby increases it ; but we have )io
fears of this when rendering homage to Him. When
all learn that He is Ciod as well as some of us have
learned it, they will love and worship Him too. ' ' I
know He is God becaUvSe He forgave my sins. " " Thou
art Christ, the vSon of the living God. "Blessed art
thou Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee but my Father."

" This, this is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable Friend ;

Whose love is as great as His power,
And neither knows measure nor end."

Idolatry has alwaye been the sin of the race. On
account of the corruption and guilt of our nature we
love not a holy God ; and, as creatures that must and
will worship, we turn to idols in one form or another.
God has revealed Himself in Christ for the destruction
of idolatry and the establishment of His own worship.
" And 1, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me ; "
and He is doing so. This revelation demonstrates that
He is worthy of our homage. He loves His creatures
and suffers for His subjects. It is nece.s.sary for the
pre.servation of His creatures lives that His excessive
glory be hidden from mortal vision by the veil of
humanity. INIan could never attain heaven, neither by
qualifying himself for the place or state, nor could he
atone for the violation of the Divine law ; biit the
second Person of the Sacred Three came to this planet
to do so. All His life of 33 years was meritorious —
was spent in effecting salvation — becaUvSe during that
period He was beneath the position and state His
infinite dignity rendered Him worth}^ to occup}'. This
infinite dignity added efficacy to the time of His
humiliation as well as to His great sacrifice. He
reacher". perfect manhood during that time, (33 years is
about *^he average of human life) His manliness shining
conspicuously ; and as a second Adam, removed all the
obstacles the first Adam and we had placed in the way

e have no
11. When
if us have
too. " I
' ' ' Thoii
Jlessed art
\ hath not

GOD S ICTEHNAI, ITKPOSE.

thi

race. On
nature we
t must and
or another.
:lestruction
n worship,
unto me ; ' "
^trates that
s creatures
,ry for the
excessive
:he veil of
neither by
r could he
but the
his planet
itorious —
Inring that
state His
py. This
of His
rifice. He
|33 years is
|ss shining
/ed all the
the wav

of eternal happiness. We appreciate Him in tnis
capacity of \i'\^\\ Priest in pro])ortion as we rely upon
./'.His finished worK, and address onr petitions to Him —
■rely upon what He eiTecled on earth, and plead A'ith
Him now He is in heaven. He ever liveth, and is able
to save to the uttermost. He wrought out the complete
robe of righteousness ro([nisHe for us to appear in, in
the presence of the Father. The human nature enabled
Him to suffer, the Divine gave virtue to the sufferings.
Even if God was to blame for num's sin, which is not
in the least true, He has fully repented in the conduct
of His Son ; and because that is so we are ])ardoned.
He came as low as earth to raise us high as heaven.
The nature that was overcome b}- satan. sin and death.
Overcame them by the indwelling God ; then He took
those captives who held us in bondage, and received
gifts for men. " The branches could not raise them-
selves up, but the tree stooj^ecl down for them."

Some divines suppose that His life was a ])re])ara-
tion for His death, and in a sense doubtless it was;
others, that it was the time in which the believer's
vjustitying righteousness war. wrought out ; that right-
eousness giving us a title to heaven, while His death
savfS us from heli. However it "^ay be, both are
effected bv the great Mediator. His death is very
strongly em])hasi/,ed in the Old and New Testaments.
it is the penalty for sin. " In the day thou eatest
thereof thou shall siuel >■ die. " I )eath means separation
from God ; and the separation would have been far
greater as well as eternal, when man sinned, than being
jkurned out of Kden, but for the eternal purpoee of (rod.
,f'"*Sin separates between us and (iod, and iniquities
tfeause Him to hide His face from us," Isa. 59 : 2. Was
it death for the vSon of God from the time He left His
father's house till He returned? The separation of
Adam and FCve, and of their posterity, from God in
4|iis life, is the first death ; eternal separation fjom God
IjHII be second. The Seed of the woman has come —
lias virtually, and is actually, \ ruising the .serpent's

^sasssm

GOD S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

head. Christ, that Seed, has, during, and by His life
and death, in virtue of His Divinity, effected what is
equivalent to a penalty of eternal separation for the
creature, in virtue of which, through faith, the penitent
believer becomes an heir of (xod. This second death,
or eternal separation from God, awaits thOvSe living and
dying in sin. The Saviour of the penitent is the Judge
of the impenitent ; when the Saviour was born so was
the Judge. Christmas is a day of joy for Christians
only, unless the disobedient rejoice that a Judge has
appeared. But the /me of judgment is not yet ; " Now
is the day of salvation, " The separation of tl:e body
and spirit is what 7t'e are accustomed to call death ; but
Christ said, "It is finished," before that took place
in His case. It was not the separation of His soul and
Deity from the body that atoned for sin, then, but His
separation from God, His sujferi7igs, His blood. " which
is the life thereof, Lev. 17 : 11. In the moment of
extreme separation from His Father and the H0I3'
Spirit, He, the second Person of the Sacred Trinity said
to each of the other two, " My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me." What exquisite agonies. Turn
my soul from such a scene ; it is too dreadful to gaze
on. But nay, I must see or I perish. I must see the
horrors of sin, I must see the justice of God, I must see
His love ; I must learn these lessons as well as the
principalities and powers in heavenlj' places.

The separation of the body and spirit is no part of
the penalty of sin — it is instantaneous — Christ finished
the atoning work before such a separation. If Adam and
Eve had been punished as they deserved, which would
certainl}' have been the case but for the Divine purpose,
they would have been so punished without any separa-
tion of body and spirit. And when the wicked are
finally and forever enduring penalty for sin, it will be
with soul and body united — after the general resurrec-
tion. Death, then, with what precedes it, is, for the
believer, a part of the work of redemption ; at that
period the regenerate spirit leaves a sinful body, and

god's eternal purpose.

the body returns to dust to be raised again and
fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, it being
thereby regenerated ; for it is by the Spirit dwelling in
believers that this glorious work is effected, and so
the great work of regeneration is completed in the
glorification of body and spirit. What we call death
then is a part of the work of ledeniption. Yet,

" We timorous mortals start and shrink

To cross this narrow sea ;
And linger, shivering on the brink,

And fear to launch away,

God's way of refining and remoulding the body, is
to have it go to the grave and have a resurrection. We
have to suffer enough to separate body and spirit ; but,
" Behold, I make all things new " — the body as well
as the spirit.

What preceded the separation of the spirit from the
body of Christ atoned for sin ; in our case it is for the
mortification of sin, the crucifixion of the old Adam, the
.sanctification of the soul, the humiliation of the spirit,
and no doubt for chastivSement. All this may be
termed repentance, corresponding in us to atoning for
sin in Christ.

Some think there is an eternal separation between
the Fither and the Son, in coUvSequence of His assuming
our nature, and because sin deserved eternal .separation
from God, He undertaking to atone for it ; but although
the creature would be thus separated without the
atonement of Christ, yet the infinite dignity of (Tod
the eternal Son would, we assume, do away with such
a necessity. He effecting the atonement without such a
separation. If eternal separation were necessar}- so
would eternal suffering be. All the time of His
humiliation would be His death, but especially when
on the cross exclaiming, " My (lod, my God, why hast
W\o\x foy saken me?" Union with man is not separation
from God ; "I and my Father are one," was said by
our Lord when in the flesh. It was a stat^ of separation

god's KTKKNAI^ PURPOvSE.

during the time He was accomplishing redemption on
earth, rather than a real separation forever. He prays
that His people may behold the glory His Father gave
Him — a mediatorial glory in consequence of His
having redeemed us, in addition to His essential Divine
glory which could not be either increased or decreased.
He also prays that He may be glorified with the glory
that He had with the Father before the world was,
John 17 : 5. Then, although man. He is not at all
separated from His Father. His Divine glorj' was
seen at His transfiguration, and He is to come in all
His Father's glory to judge the world. The infinite
splendours of Jehovah were partially concealed ; or as
they radiated from their uncreated source, were so
modified in passing through the medium of Christ's
humanity that creatures couid behold them without
injury, and shall with supreme joy to eternity, but He
is nevertheless as glorious as ever. He and the Father
being still one. " Herein is love."

Was He so much oyie person, although human and
Divine, that the Divine sufiered ?

A death equivalent to that meant in the words,
" Thou shalt surel}' die, '* was endured by Chri.st ; and
because of this death — this separation from God — we
can have eternal union and communion with Him,
superior to that of Kden. This union is eternal life for
body and spirit. Christ's death is the fountain of life.
As the branch derives life from the trunk, so the entire
man from Him,

No wonder great emphasis is laid upon His death
— no wonder w-e designate it the greatest event ever
transpired on this globe — or, we dare say, ever will
here or elsewhere. It is so great that we do not realize
it fully enough — hence our surprise and admiration
are the less. We could wish that we did, in a greater
degree, comprehend it, and so appreciate it as we ought,
and reciprocate His dying love ; we shall in the future
state, when with renewed, enlarged and glorified
acuities, we shall be enabled to understand it as we

■■"^J-

GOD S ETKRNAI, PIKPOSK.

now do some of the .simpler parts of the stupendous
plan. No doubt but the adoring hosts of the heavens
will be filled forever with astonished love to the Being
whose manifold wisdom and boundless love are dis-
played so gloriously. No wonder the children of God
want to proclaim it in eternity as well as time. Will
this exhibition of Deity preserve myriads of worlds
from sinning, by filling them with holy fear of the
inflexible justice rendered so visible, and irresistible
love of the love so amazing ? We at least believe that
it is sufficient to do vSo I It may be that each of the
redeemed from amongst men may have a world to
proclaim these wonders to, the Church thus making
known the manifold wisdom of (iod their Maker,
Preserver and Redeemer, to the principalities and
powers in heavenly places. No wonder infinite love
and justice awarded Christ a name above every name,
and that every knee should bow to Him. " Thou hast
loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore thy
God hath annointed thee with the oil of gladness adore
thy fellows," Psalm 45 : 7. "To those who believe
He is precious," i Peter 2 : 7.

" Jesus the name to sinners dear,

The name to sinners given ;
It drives awa}' their guilty fear,

And turns their hell to heaven."

The justice that demanded satisfaction at the hands
of the kind substitute will not permit the infliction of
the penalty a second time, so the penitent, obedient
believer, is free from the condemnation of the Divine
law forever.

" Should storms of seven-fold thunder roll,
And shake the earth from pole to pole ;

No thunder belt should daunt my face,
For Jesus is my hiding place."

Justice demands that Jesus be rewarded and the
believer saved. Justice and mercy write in the acquittal
of the penitent.

god's ETERNAIy PURPOSE.

Here we have the greatevSt exhibition of the greatest
Being. " God is love. " Love purposed, love planned
and love is performing. That there may be a photo-
graph of the cross and the precious victim that hung
on it indelibly stamped on the retina of the ej-e of every
soul. God's heart is visible on the cross. Here we
behold His glory, and His glory is His goodness and
His justice, more plainly than Moses saw it. The
work being accomplished by Christ is so much greater
than the creation of the heavens and earth, as the
house is greater than the scaffolding. Our minds may
not be sufficiently clarified to discern it, but, doubtless,
it is nevertheless so.

Christ paid a great debt to justice — gave Himself
to suffer till it was enough — He asks us to pay the
easy, pleasant one of love ; and the more we love Him
and His, the more intense our enjoyment.

" In heaven above all is love,
There'll be no sorrow there."

If it be true that our felicity depends upon the
degree of love we have to God and His — and love is
the fulfilling of the law — what joy awaits the chosen
of God when we shall forever see Jesus face — God
incarnate — and all His redeemed be our associates
always ?

" There we shall see His face

And never, never sin ;
There from the rivers of his grace

Drink endless pleasures in."

Even on earth we hear many a report of the
goodliness of that land. The grapes of the heavenly
Canaan are very sweet to the weary spirit.

" And if our fellowship below

In Jesus be so sweet.
What heights of rapture shall we know

When round His throne we meet ?

We too much deprive ourselves of these antepasts

(iOl)'S KTKUNAI, PUKPOSR. 65

of heaven, by our unfaithfulness. O my fellow
Christians Uiink of our t>blisations to Jesus Christ.
What a divint' philosophy He employs in teaching us
to love IIini==' Christ crucified is the wisdom of (iod
and the power of Cod in this respect. We love because
He loved. He m> loved as to die so as to regenerate.
We ought to work for Him. He gave Himself to
purify us unto good works ; and the vSpirit, if we are
truly born from al)ovc. has created us unto them, r.od's
plan eneourageH holiness, and discourages sin. Can
we sin witli the suffering substitute on the cross ?
" He that i.s l)orn of God doth not commit sin. " It is
morally injpOHsi1)le. Could God devise a wiser method
to induce us to begin aud continue repenting ?

'• In <luf time Christ died for the ungodly." The
time came when, according to covenant, the victim
appeared. Hud He not done so, would those in heaven
be allowed to remain there? Col. i : 20, Christ's death
is indispensable to man's salvation. Mercy roif/(f not
be exercised to us guilty rebels unless ju.stice was
satisfied. If any could escape God's vSon icould have
escaped ; but one or the other must be executed, the
Substitute went, " The great transaction's done."

*' And now I'll tell to sinners round
What a dear Saviour I have found ,

And point to His redeeming blood,
And cry behold the way to God."

^in has so benumbed our souls, and rendered them
so torpid that we do not realize and reciprocate this
love as we ought.

We learn two vastly important les.sons for guilty
ones. 'Phere is a way of escape tor such through Christ ;
and no escape if we neglect this great salvation.
" There is no other name given under heaven among
men whereby we must be saved. "

No one was permitted to approach the tent of
either the Persian king or Roman emperor, when
encamped on the field of battle, under penalty of death

god's eternal Pl'RPOvSK.

unless their majesties were pleased to hold out their
rceptrcs to the offender, thereby extending jjardon ; or
at least an investigation of their cases. On one occasion
the execution was not allowed to take place till it was
ascertained what the soldier sought for ; and upon
in(iuiry it ])ecame known that it was the life of a
comrarle, who had slept at his jjost that he was going
to petition for. When his majesty had this fact related
to him he extended the sceptre of mercy and pardon to
both of them ; a worth}' act.

Reader, the INIajesty of heaven and earth has done
this, save a slight difference. He has, unbidden,
extended the vsceptre of the cross to a lost world, and
all may come and touch it with the hand of faith and
live. Will you ? Have you ? Christ his stepped in
between Cod and an offending world to intercede — not
for Himselt -and has procured our forgiveness.

There is a difference, however, between Him and
the interceding soldier; Christ was not pardoned,
although the soldier was. Jeiius poured out His soul
unto death ; but being (iod He took his life again, and
after His ascension to the Ho!y of Holies, oalls back to
John on Patmos, ' I -^m He that <('< i dv-^ad, but I am
alive again," and so He ever intercedes, and \ve can
ever have mercy through Hir . Ves, He suatJied the
"cey from the girdle of the sentry that watched His
tomb, unlocked His own grave, burst the cerements of
death, vanquivshed the king of terrors and went home.
I need not add, " He was delivered for our offences and
was raised again for our justification. " Christ was 7wt
pardoned so that we can be. The cup did not pass hy
Him ; it shall not us without repentance and laith.
All else could be better di.spensed with than ChrivSt's
death, inflexible justice called for satisfaction ; infinite
love pro\ ided a sacrifice ; unerring wisdom devised the
plan, and omnipotent power is executing it.

Zeleucus, an ancient king of one of the states of
Greece, enacted a law, the penalty attached to the
violation ot \vhicn was the loss of both ej'es. His son

Hi
W

(ion's KTKHXAL PlRPO.SrC.

was the first to break it. The father vvas in a j^reat
(lileniina. In order to discountenance crime, encourage
virtue and adhere to the right administration of his
government the hiw must be enforced. His bowels of
])ity yearned over his erring son. Parental aflection
wanted to show mercy. Kingly authority wanted to
exercise justice. Can />'6>/// be done ? Ves. One of his
own eyes is put out and one of his son's.

Something similar has been done in the realm of
Divine (lovernment, in the sufferings of tlie Ood-man.
Were the two natures not so much one person tiiat we
may say, extending the illustration, was there not an
eye of deity and another of humanity put out ?
JNIethinks so. "Oh the depth of the riches, l)oth of
the wivSdom and knowledge of (iod, how unsearchable
are His judgments and His ways past finding out,"
Rom. I I : 33. No wonder the angels desire to look
into these things ; no wonder the principalities and
powers in heavenly places admire them ; and no wonder
we preach and write about them ; the wonder is that
mankind is ,so little affected b\' them.

Christ's death is the most essential particular in
order to the accomplishme'^t of (iod's purpose, in the
whole plan of salvation. May we say the sinners
substitute redeemed us from hell and purchased heaven
by His offering ? The man who was drafted a second
time to serve in defence of his countr}-, said he was
dead in the person of a substitute he procured and who
was shot, on the battle field. So may the true believer
in Jesus say. We have died for our sins in the person
of Christ.

"Had I ten thousand, thou.sand tongues,

Not one should silent be ;
Had I ten thousand, thousand hearts,

I'd give them all to thee."

The Alexanders, Caesars and Napoleons waded
through the blood of their fellow creatures to reach
their thrones, but our King through His own ; and

god's KTERNAIv purposf.

I4t-

now He sways His ransomed people by the sceptre of
the cross. He got to the crown by the way of the cross
as His people do. By this conduct we see that God is
love; He is just and merciful — just in punishing sin
— merciful in pardoning the sinner ; better government
than ii man had been kept from sinning, with better
results if we believe, repent nnd obey. Let us seek an
interest in this precious Galvation from .sin, and thus
rise hi^^^her in the scale of creation than we ever would
have been if the creature had not sinned. It is evident
(iod is more willing to pardon than to punish. We
should much prefer Christ to reign over us to an}-
other. He suft'eis rather than that His subjects should ;
who else would do so ?

•' Dear dying Lamb Thy precious. 1)lood

Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God

Be .saved to -^in no more."

"The blood is the life thereof." God's blood
(Acts 20 : 28) is eternal life. To the true penitent
pardon is better than Paradise. Our salvation was not
safe in the hands of the first Adam ; it is in the hands
of the second ; it is safe in the hands of our Prophet,
Priest and King. " We love becau.se He loved. " "By
death He virtually, although not yet actuall}-, destroyed
him that had the power of death, that is the devil."
He is the vSon of Mary of whom it was predicted, " He
shall bruise the vSerpent's head. " " He was manifested
to destroy the v.-oiks of the devil."

The Jews have a tradition that Ch-ist was so highlj-
appreciated by satan that he agreed to exchange all the
rest of the race for him. The bargain was sealed ; but
tjatan was foiled and mankind freed forever. Like
Samson, however, He lost His life in the overthrow of
His and our foes. He conquered by dj'ing.

Thus the God-man, in executing His part of the
Divine purpose died as a Substitute to satisfy the
claims jUvStice had against the sinner, that we could be

god's eternal purpose.

saved from endless woe and brought to eternal joy.
Great an act as this is, it effects the minds of some but
little, although the principalities and powers in
heavenly places desire to look into it. We are to
proclaim it from the pulpit and pew, by the pen and
the press ; probably eternity will be spent along with
other engagements in the delightful employ.

He was buried, showing His death to be real. Our
sins were laid upon Him, and crushed Him to the dust
of death ; but being God — God manifest in the flesh —
He vanquished the ' ' king of terrors, deposing him
from his throne of skulls, " rising again and walking
the earth a Conqueror as if there had been no sin, for
indeed He took it away no more to return. See Him
walking out of the tomb, and shortly beginning the
mightiest revolution that ever shook the heart of Ihe
nations, by the introduction of the powerful, Almighty
pri.iciple of Christianity He triumphed over satan and
death. " Great is the mysterj^ of Godliness ; God was
manifest in the flesh, etc."

When He shouldered our sins they brought Him
very low, but they did not crush Deitj' ; if they could
He would have been lost forever with ourselves, and the
darkness that draped the heavens with mourning at
the dread hour of the Creator's crucifixion would have
continued, the sun would have shone no more. How
horrible is sin ! Wherever sin is, sorrow, sadness and
pain must be. May the Holy Spirit enable us to wash
it away by faith in Jesus' blood ; for if we carry the cause
of sorrow into the eternal world with us, we shall endure
eternal sorrow. Dionj-sius the Areopagite, afterwards
regenerated under Paul's preaching, exclaimed, when
he observed the supernatural darkness that veiled the
vsky on that memorable daj', " Tlir^ Creator must be
dying, or the end of the world has come ;" he being in
Egypt at the time, knowing nothing of what was
taking place at Jerusalem,

IS' ■•■«

IS: V ,:A

l-^*' M

68 'tOD'S KTKHNAf. PURPOSE.

" Well might the sun in darkness hide,

And shut his glories in,
When Christ the great Creator died

For man the creature's sin.

So might I hide my 1)lushing face

Wlien His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness

And melt mine eyes to tears."

The resurrection of tliis glorious Lord demonstrates
that the sacrifice was accepted ; He rose for our justifi-
cation. He could have gone from the cro.ss to glory,
but He came to redeem and create the dodv anew as
well as the spirit, .so He was huried. His resurrection
was, for the time being, tlie momentous event or hinge
upon which all else ttirns. His death, without it,
would have been the saddest of all sad news. The
iSIessiali who was to con(pier sin. satan and death for a
lost race has been coiuiuered ]^' them if He has not
risen. But the miracle of the ages has been wrought
— Christ ro.se. There is nt) event connected with
human or Divine historj' can be more fully authenti-
cated than that ; that bloodless body, the heart pierced
with the vSoldier's si)ear ro.se again. He was .seen by
twelve witnesses chosen for that express purpose, and
by five hundred brethren at one time; some of whom,
along with many others, sealed their testimony with
their blood to propagate a falsehood if the}^ did not see
the ri.sen Chri.st, which sane men and women would
not do. All Chri.stendom would not be believers in
such a doctrine today were it not true. Christianity
and its more than human energy proves it beyond the
shadow ot a doubt. He has atoned for the sin of the
spirit and redeemed the l)ody ; and the gospel consists
of the.se facts, He died for our sins and was buried and
rose again, i Cor. 15 : 3, 4.

He became the first fruits of them that slept, and
His resurrection the source of ours. "The creature
itself," our bodies, shall be delivered from the bondage

god's eternal purpose.

of corruption and brought into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. He could have done with all as
with Enoch and Elijah, the method to be employed at
his second coming with the then living saints ; biit it
pleased Him to permit death, burial and resurrection
instead of a change equivalent to them.

" Vain were the terrors that gathered around Him,
And short the dominion of death and the grave ;

The burst from the fetters of darkness that bound Him,
Resplendent in glory to live and to save,"

After their resurrection, the saints will be as
though they had been changed, and had not sinned ;
except it be, that through Christ the second Adam,
thej" shall occupy a higher sphere in the scale of
creation than that they could have done through the
first Adam.

" As in Adam all die, so in CLrivSt shall all (bodies)
be made alive." He was delivered, according to the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, for our
sins, and raised again for our justification.

During His sojourn of forty days on earth after
His resurrection. He gave many infallible proofs of that
event to the apostles, the other foundation^:, with the
prophets, Himself being the chief of the palace He is
building. Tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye be endued
with power from on high, was the command ; upon the
reception of which power the}^ w<. ' to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature He
then a.scended into heaven, leading captivity captive
and receiving gifts for men, that the Lord God might
dwell among them, now by faith, in the hearts of His
people by and bye in the new heavens and earth forever.
He went into the most holy place of the true tabernacle
which the Lord pitched and not man . Then He appears
in the presence of God for us, and in virtue of pleading
the merits of His life and death there, the work of re-
demption is carried forward here through the use of the
means Divinely appointed for that purpose.

, !-

god's eternal purpose.

' * Father forgive their sins He cries,

For I myself have died ;
And then He shows His bleeding hands,

And pleads His wounded side."

His vicarious sufferings here is what He pleads
'litre. As the High Prie.st of the redeemed He shed
his blood in the holy place, and pleads its infinite
virtue in the most holy, securing from justice the
willing consent to pardon rebels. He vi^ent low as sin,
satan and justice could put Him ; now He has ascended
above all heavens. He is worthy that all the songs,
hymns and psalms ever made or will be, be united in
one and forever sung in the ear of the Redeemer by all
the redeemed.

Were the ten days between the ascension of our
Lord and the coming of the Holy Spirit spent by the
redeemed in heaven and the principalities and powers
in irrepressible praise and adoring love, just as they
were spent by the Chuich on earth in praj-er ? Rev.
5 : 6-14. In view of the exhibition of the glorious
perfections of God by Jesus Christ, as well as what was
effected by it in the salvation of man, the supposition
seems natural enough ; especially if men and angels,
and the principalities and powers, and possibh' trillions
of trillions of unfallen creatures are confirmed in glory
and virtue fore\er thereby. The ten daj-'s prayer
would be in view of the promised Comforter and the
great commission. Prayer is natural to those saved by
grace, and praise to those in whom the grace is
matured to glory, (xrace teaches such heavenl}' em-
ployments. " They sang a new song, etc. "

Jesus is worthy that all the crowns that ever will
be worn by the saved should be wreathed into one and
placed on His brow.

' ' O that with yonder sacred throng

We at His feet may fall.
Join in the everlasting song
And crown him Lord o f all."

god's etkunat. purpose.

He is preparing mansions for His chosen, so that
they can say, "We know that if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of
God, an house not made witli hands eternal in the
heavens," 2 Cor. 5:1. In some respects " The king-
c'oin was prepared before the foundation of the world, "
Matt. 25 : 34. It was fitted for those who were taken
there before Jesus died and ascended to complete it ;
just as this earth in its present condition is adapted to
the state of its sinful inhabitants ; and as it may be
renewed for the future abode of the saints. Or it may
have done for a sinless glorified Adam and his posterity,
but for tho.se of the fallen race saved b}- Christ's
precious blood and the infinite grace of God, He has
gone to make it better. One would have been grace,
the other exceeding rich grace. He has all power in
heaven and earth fi)r the completion of His purpose.

" I saw one like unto a vSon of Man come with the
clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Hays, and to Him
was given dominion, glory and a kingdom," Dan.
7 : 13, 14. This, no doubt, refers to the ascension of
the God-man, and the coming of the kingdom of God
on the day of Pentecost, the organization of the Church
of ChrivSt and the e.stablishment of His religion in the
world. He ascended from Olivet in the clouds to His
Father — the Ancient of Days.

The work of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit is as
much greater than the creation of heaven and earth,
although we may be so deprived of spiritual vision by
sin as not to discern it, as the hou.se is greater than
the scaffolding u.sed in its erection ; and the Builder as
much greater than the building as a man is greater
than his house. We hope to see the truth of these
things in the new heaven and earth ; the more clearly
we now behold them with the eye of faith, for we can
look at the things wliich are not .seen, the more
interesting they are. In a coming day we shall fully
realize that creation, great as it is, is only a preparation
for redemption. May we now see that what transpires

god's KTERNAL .PURPOvSE.

I ^f*t'"

in time is only to be weighed as it affects us in eternity .
Earth is only the vestibule of heaven — the place for
preparation. If we see the adverse experiences of life
in this light we shall appreciate them more highly
than what we term prosperous. Our sufferings do us
good as well as our joys. The discipline we endure is
developing a character that shall be perpetual, and fit
us for to be the companions of the good of all ages.
The material for Solomon's temple was gotton in
readiness before taken to Jerusalem ; God thus prepares
His people for the New Jerusalem ; and adversity forms
a part of the preparation as well as prosperity and the
means of grace. The work is in progress — the purpose
is not yet perfected.

CHAPTER Vni.

77ie Adre7it of the Holy Spirit a?id His Work.

The work to which we now invite your attention
is about as wonderful as the preceding, viz., the coming
of the third Person in the Sacred Trinity to continue
accomplishing the Divine purpose where the Second
ended ; He having finished His part of the stipulations
of the covenant of grace, laying the foundations sure.
The superstructure is carried forward by the Holy
Spirit. He takes the stones from nature's quarry and
fits them for the heavenly building. Thus God is with
us still. "I will dwell in them." God, the second
Person, united to the man Christ by His meritorious
life and death, and bj^ His intercession opened a way
for the third Person to abide in and with us forever.
It appears as great an act of love in the Holy Spirit to
come to renovate, sanctify and comfort the hearts of
fallen man as for the Son of God to do what He has.
Christ endured more pain, but the Spirit abides here
longer; however, it is all the work of the one God in three
Persons. In a manner the Holy Spirit is also incarnate ;
"They that dwell in love dwell in God, and God dwells
in them, " i John 4 : 16. The great Jehovah is carrying

..- ,^^.

god's eternal purpose;.

7?>

out the stupendous plan ; and in order to do it, it was
expedient for Christ to leave the earthly theatre and for
the Divine Spirit to come. "We must be born of the
Spirit or we cannot see the kingdom of Cxod, ' ' John 3:3.
This kingdom of God in the spirit of man is what
raises us to our normal condition ; is what constitutes
true felicity and eternal life ; what annihilates the
principle, power and practice of sin ; and what we
require in order to deliverance from the ruins of the
Fall. We must be born from above or we cannot be
received above — regenerate because we are degenerate.
We need life and that comes by the new birtli. God
the Holy Spirit is carrying forward the new creation,
necessitated by the evils sin introduced in His work-
manship, and all things will be made new before He
ceases to exert His new creating energy. We do not
realize His presence, although He is doing a greater
work than bringing the material creation into existence
— than the creation of sun, moon, etc. Ma\' He more
fully clarify our moral vision. The old creation is the
material and the workshop ; the new creation the
building He is erecting for His habitation. He is
preparing His people now, and they work out their
salvation as He works in them. The regeneration of a
human being is greater than the resurrection of a body,
or the creation of Adam. Christ raised dead bodies,
and &aid his disciples would do greater things ; it must
have been the resurrection of dead souls.

The Son could say when He returned to the Father,
I have performed my part of the agreement. I have
taken the nature and place of the guilty creature, and
as Mediator have magnified the Divine law and made
it honorable ; as God-man I have made the atonement
that justice called for; and now regenei ite the people
promised me, make them lively stones iii the heavenly
temple, the Church, that by her may be made known
to the principalities and powers in heavenly places the
manifold wisdom of God. The unchangeable Father,
true to His covenant engagements, begins the work of

god'vS eternal purpose.

renovating human nature, and is still carrying it
forward bj' the eternal Spirit. His agency is absolutely
indispensable in the accomplishment of His purpose ;
"Ye JHKsf be born of the Spirit, etc." Our lives
become reformed because our hearts have been regen-
erated — character ard conduct both being the rCvSult
of this radical change.

We talk of human beings making history, and we
do to an extent ; but it is the Holy Spirit who makes
the history most worth reading. He is the Author of
all those great moral resolutions that have ennobled and
elevated the race, by purifying the source of thought,
word and action. Some part of our moral make-up
constitutes w'hat we do, either good or bad ; it is the
heart, according to Scripture ; and the gOvSpel of the grace
of God takes awaj- the heart of stone and substitutes
one of flesh, thus is the fountain of morals cleansed
The Hoi}" Spirit applies the benefits of the atonement by
which the conscience is purged from dead works to the
service of the living Ciod. We are created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, Eph. 2:10. He inspired men
of old to record the sacred Scriptures with their
doctrines, historical facts and prophetic declarations ;
and now, as in by-gone, He is writing living epistles,
known and read of all men ; epistles that demonstrate
the efficac}' o^ Jesus' blood, the reality of the religion
called Christianity and the power of God's grace, as it
reigns though Jesus Christ, to turn from vice to virtue,
from the Icve of sin and satan to that of holiness and
God. The Church, b}- which the manifold wisdom of
God is being made known unto the principalities and
powers. in heavenly places, is the machinery and the
Holy Spirit the impelling powder. Jesus gave Himself
a sacrifice that He might purify unto Himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works, and the Holy Spirit, the
Lord and Giver of life, creates us anew unto them,
applying the blood of Christ that purges the conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. Idle pro-
fessors, barren fig-trees, demonstrate that they are not

god's eternal purpose.

thus created and are not coinciding with their Maker's
purpose. Let us remember that we are to be co-
workers with God, working out our own salvation with
fe&r and trembling as He works in us, both to will
and to do of His good pleasure. The manifold wisdom
of God is not only displayed by His redemption of the
church, although chiefly in this way, but by the
practical piety of His people as they exemplify the
power of godliness in their lives. The Holy Spirit
communicates eternal life to the spirit dead in sin,
through the preaching of the word of God, this life
permeates the spirit now, and will the body at the
time of its resurrection ; both, as one immortal soul,
being thereby fitted for the new heaven and earth God
intends to create ; for we must not look at His purpose
as already accomplished, but noiv in course of comple-
tion ; possibly more than half of the time necessary for
that completion being past.

That God-man that for a short time was lying dead
in Joseph's tomb has stepped out ; and, by His word
and spirit, is revolutionizing the nations ; and He will
not grow weary till the people of the Most High possess
the kingdom under the whole heaven ; and the gods
that have not made these heavens perish from beneath
them.

The Church consists of those human beings begotten
of God and born of His vSpirit ; the children, in primitive
ages, naming the Holy Ghost their INIother, as well as
God the Father their Father ; Christ, the eternally
begotten of the Father, is the older Brother, and
Christians the new and younger ones the one great
family of God ; the whole family in heaven and earth
being named after Him. May He give us grace that
will enable us to live so that He will not be ashamed to
call us brethren, Heb. 2 : 11. Only the Holy Spirit
can make a saint out of a sinner ; a ChrivStian is a piece
of Divine mechanism ; from, or of such. He builds the
Church. He is now in the world carrying out the
Divine plan. There is a principle in the world perme

god's eternal purpose.

ating and renovating the corrupt niavSS of humanity —
that principle is Christianity — is Christ, and is from
heaven ; and the inhabitants of this globe can act no
more wisely than by being governed by it and
propagating it ; it is infinitely better for mankind than
wealth, intellccrtual culture or high positions in life.
Christianity is triumphing and will till the kingdoms
of earth are God's. Each individual can, in some
measure, communicate this leaven to its neigebour.
'* The Missionary vSociety " is the name given b}' the
Moravians to the Church, each member having to help
support a missionary or be one. Practical piet}- is the
ideal of Christianity, of the Divine purpose in connec-
tion with the Church militant, and of the Divine law-
love to God and man. If God had only talked of loving
us we would have perished ; He acted love for us and to
us. Thus should we.

The Holy Spirit, in regeneratio 1, puts God's laws
in our minds and writes them in our hearts — in our
minds that we may not forget them, in our hearts that
we may practice them. In the Sinai Covenant they
were written on tables of stone ; not so in the Covenant
of Grace. Sab^ation is cessation from sin, the practice
of virtue ; or repentance of sins of commission and of
omission. The annihilation of sin is all that is
requisite — sin in principle and practice — and the
blood of the God-man has been spilt and the Spirit of
God sent for that purpose. Sin was no essential part
of man's constitution when God made him — it will
form no part of him in the new heavens and earth — it
is abnormal, and man is better without it ; why should
we love it ? It is so ingrained in our very being that
nothing short of the radical change called sanctification,
which, it appears, begins in regeneration, or a new
creation, can eradicate it from the body and spirit.
Sin is what makes hell and closes heaven ; and when
the Holy Spirit implants an opposite principle of grace
in the individual — one of holiness and obedience — we
all surely escape the one and attain to the other. If

(ion's KTKRNAL Pl'KPOvSE. 77

we are so cnnblt'd by the grace of God to deport our-
selves, we have tlu- clmracter, and our conduct is such
that we are lU for the society of heaven — the good of
all past and fuUne ages. We 11 be justified in the
final day of accounts by our conduct; for it evidences
what our character is. Our faith will not save us from
destruction if it does not .save us from sin ; it will not
carry us to heaven if it does not teach us to do ■;ood.
Faith it'orA's by love and without works is dead. We
cannot be asHured tli it what is not a working faith is a
justifying faith. Justification, or the appropriation of
Christ's rightcou.sness is entirely by faith, but to be
justified in professing to have the character of a .saint,
works will be tli" test. Failh without wo'ks is like
rowing a boat with one oar — it will go round instead of
forward ; an oar on each side well plied, will take us to
our desired haven ; so faith that works by love to God
and man, purifies the heart and carries us to heaven.
Faith without works is dead ; and works without faith
must be dead. l'*ailh is the life of piet}-. This faith is
the gift of the Spirit, i Cor. 12:9. In order then to
the perfecting of human character and conduct we must
be born of the Hpit it ; hence the vast importauce of His
coming to carry out the Divine plan. The work of
the Holy spirit giving us life and ability to work out
our salvation makes our religion positive as well as
negative teaches us to do good as well as avoid evil.
The good Lord help us to be such Christians.

" Who can describe the joys that rise

Thn ugh all the courts of Paradise,
To see a profligal return,

To Hgii rut heir of glory born ?
With joy the Father doth approve

The fruit of His eternal love ;
The Sou with joy looks down and sees

Thi purchase of his agonies.
The Holy Ghost delights to view

The contrite soul He forms anew ;
And saints and angels join to sing

The growing empire of their King."

(iOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

We do not consider it nnscriptural nor unreasonable
to suppose that the principalities and powers in
heavenly places now view with rapture the work of the
Holy vSpirit in our hearts. If the iiiorning- stars .sang
together, and all the vSons of God shouted for joy when
the foundation of this earth was laid, it is natural to
suppose they would be more likely to do so when lost
man is being redeemed and new created. The unre-
generate, blinded by sin and satan, may not discern
that this spiritual creation is going forward. We feel
His power ; He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of
judgment. Of sin, because we believe tiot on Christ.
Unbelief is Adam's sin transmitted to us, the sin of our
sins, the root of all other sins ; it is original sin, that of
Adam and Eve when they would not believe the I.ord
God, but the devil, and ate the fruit. So in order to
eradicate sin from our moral constitution, the Holy
Spirit goes to the fountain of it when He convicts of
unbelief. It is a dreadful sin ; it ruined the race ; it
prevented the Jews from acrepting Jesus the Messiah ;
and he that now believeth not shall be condemned.
May the Hoi}' Ghost destroy it in our hearts. IrJis
convincing power causes us X.o feel \.\\(t misery sin causes
and to will its destruction in us. Has He so wrought
in you ?

To be thus convieted of the sin of unbelief is no less
than to realize that we have broken the law of God, to
experience that we are exposed to His righteous dis-
pleasure, to be tried and found guilt}^ of the greatest
crime, except it be that of the unpardonable sin, a sin
against the Spirit of God, who alone can make us
Christians, and appears to be committed by the
unbeliever in resisting His convictions. Let us beware ;
all sin is in this dangerous direction.

" There is a time, I know not when,

A place, I know not where,
That marks the destiny between

God's mercy and despair."

f /-4»-w »•'

god's KTKKNAI, nUI'OSK.

God has set a bound to human wickedness ; when
we pass that our case is hopeless. If s/n is destroyed
in the soul, there is no danger but we will escape hell
and enter heaven — sin is the great controversy between
God and man — God is able to destroy it. It is the
annihilation of sin we should be anxious about, not
about escaping hell and gaining heaven.

But the Holy Si^rit of God not only convicts of
the sin of unbelief or Christ, our rejection of Him as
the T .ophet to teach, the rrie.st to atone and intercede,
and the King we should obey ; but, in order to make us
true Christians, He also convicts us of righteousness ;
and that, at the time when we are .sensible of our guilt,
and require a way of escape ; it is a most gracious and
loving work on His part ; probablj- we would never
come to Christ without it. " Man's extremit}' is ('od's
opportunity'." He has said, "Come unto me all ye
that are wearv and heavv laden and I will give j'ou
rest. "

To be convicted of righteousness may mean that
the sinner thus rendered sensible of guilt realizes that
it would be righteous or just on the part of God to
condemn him. whatever good opin^'ons he may before
have enterta'ned of himself; but at. this work of the
Spirit is in order to the .salvation oi" t^ ,-oul ; and as
we cannot po.ssibly be saved by ^hc *av\ .f God since
we are guilty of breaking it» it ci, .',b*"]v -s ;as reference
to a realizing .sen.se of the fa-^t tli u. C^:n: las provided
a righteoiisness for the justifi < lui f Ir , .sinner when
he believes on Him ; and the iJoiy 6 [■'-.'<. in convicting
of unbelief, generates faith in the soul "Therefore,
being ju.stified bj' faith we have peace with ( hkI through
our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and, "He is the end of the
law for righteousness to every one that believeth,"
Rom. 5:1, and 10 : 4.

Our Lord explains it Him.self, "Of righeousness
because I go to my Father and ye see me no more."
The Father sent Him to save , a perfect righteousness
was required in order to our saKation ; Chri.st in our

GODS ETERNAL PURPOSE.

nature — " a man who never sinned — wrought it out
by obedience in life and unto death ; and so having
completed the work to the entire satisfaction of the
Fathei, He returned to Him, who, no doubt, would not
have recei^red Him had not this righteousness been
provided ; or in other words, had He not carried out
the stipulations of the covenant of grace. But He
did so, and we .shall " see Him no more " — He will not
have to return to complete it. "It is finivShed, " were
among His dying words, John 19 : 30. Thus Christ
has two coats and is able and willing to impart to him
that has none, and that is every poor sinner ; and we
ner.'i ^his garment to fit us for the society of heaven ;
" ti:'e garments of our Elder Brother." In the Old
Testament Christ is called, "The Lord our righteous-
ness ; and in the New. " Our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption." He zcas prior to the
incarnation a sinless God ; and always after it, a sin-
less man ; and Ke wrought out maikff righteousness,
hence the /wo coats. Thus the Holy vSpirit, when He
convi'^ts us of our guilt, does not leave us in despair;
Ho directs us to Jesus, and with the eye of faith He
creates, we vSee the suffering Substitute, and are justified
by His imputed righteousness, and obtain peace with
God. "()f righteousness because I go to ni}' Father
and >e see me no more. "

Sanctification has been called the righteousness of
the Holy Spirit. When He opens the eye of the .souT
to see its guilt and vileness, \a o feel our need of such a
righteousness, a righteous heart for the future, as well
as the righteousness of Christ for the past, present and
future ; yea, a righteous heart that we may have right-
eous conduct. If our hearts are not changed so that
we do not sin it would be useless for God to justify us
to-day for it would be necessary to do so again and
again ; but he that is born of God doth not commit sin ;
for the seed of God remainth in him and he cannot sin
because he is born of God. This is God's word how-
ever we interpret it. Although we do not believe in

god's eterxai. purpose.

entire and instantaneous sanctification, we m ist not
swing to the other extreme and deny the truthfulness
of the above scripture ; so let us grow in grace and
knowledge, by the dilligent use of the means. "The
Holy Spirit is a person who can interpenetrate persons. ' '

* ' Enlightened by His heavenly ray
Our shades and darkness turn to-day ;

His inward teachings make us know
Our danger and our refuge too,"

Martin Luther observes: " It is :no more unreason-
able to obtain righteousness from Christ than sin from
Adam. " " As by the disobedience ofo?/e (Adam) many
were made sinners, so by the obedience of One (Chriv«t)
shall many be made righteous ;" and that entirel}- and
forever. At the sight of the cross the burden of sin
that would sink us into hell falls, and we ri.se to heaven.

" Drops of grief can ne'er repay.

The debt of love we owe ;
Here I^ord we give ourselves away,

'Tis all that we can do."

He paid the debt to justice ; He asks us to pay one
of love.

In carrying out the Divine purpose the Holy vSpirit
also convicts of judgment, " because the prince of this
w^orld is judged. " The i\rst intimation of that purpose
was, the prophecy or ])roniise that the seed of the
woman would bruise the head of the serpent. The
prince of this world is that serpent — the devil and
satan. Chri.st, the seed of the woman, the vSon of Mary,
was manifested to destroy the works of the devil ; by
death he destroyed him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil. He said : " Now shall the prince of
this world be cast out ;" also, "If I, b}-^ the Spirit of
God, cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is
come nigh unto you." You notice it is done by the
Spirit of God, who is referred to in the passage we are
commenting on. When He, the vSpirit of God, is come,

■w>^

•iOD'vS ETICRNAL PURPOSE.

I;.:

^B.

I iff >'

He will convict of judgment becau.se the prince of this
world is judged. Tlie prince of this world — the
devil — is judged, every time a heart is renewed b\' the
Spirit of God. The God of this world, who is the same
as the prince of this world, worketh in the children of
disobedience, that is of unbelief; lie abso leads them
capitive at his will, and blinds their minds; but when
the Spirit of God turns us from darkness to light, and
from the power of sin .md satan to God, the prince of
this world is judged, the head of the serpent is bruised
and the prey taken from the mighty. Satan, as light-
ning, fell from heaven, when idolatry was overthrown
and the worship of Jesus Christ became the established
religion of the Roman empire, which was affected bj'-
the Hol}^ Spirit after His advent on Pentecost. "But
if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the king-
dom of Ciod is come unto you." Matt. 12,28. Sowhen
the kingdom of God came on the day of Pentecost, the
devil was cast out of thousands — the prince of this
world was judged, ])y the Holy Ghost. And now when
a person is truly regenerated, the spirit that worketh in
the children of disobedience, the devil, is expelled.
Thus we are convicted of sin, of righteousness and of
judgment, not cf judgment to conic \ but of judgment
because the prince of this world is /m7>/^- judged. This
judgment will be going on till .satan, the prince of this
world is bound for a thousand years. He will be loosed
a little season afterwards, when his judgment will be
finally effected in his consignment to the place pre-
pared for him and his angels.

The Holy Spirit is also called the Comforter, or
Paraclete ; in con.secpience of the consolation He affords
the saints, when witne.ssing to their pardon and son-
ship ; and in sustaining them in all their tribulations.
There is no balm for the ills of this world like the
religion of Jesus Christ.

god's eiternal purpose.

" Religion, what treasures untold

Resides in the heavenly word
More precious than silver or gold

Or all that this earth can afford."

It destroys sin, the cause of sorrow. When we are
old enough to realize the uses of life, we ought to be
old enough to carr^^ them to Jesus ; and we have not
learned as much in the school of Christ as we may
acquire to our advantage, if we have not learned to do
so. "Call upon me in time of trouble and I will de-
liver." " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will
sustain you. "

What a friend we have in Jesus,

AW our sins and griefs to bear ;
What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.

The Hol}^ vSpirit is a Spirit of bondage when con-
victing of sin ; but when we are also convicted of the
righteousness of Christ, and by grace enabled to appro-
priate it to ourselves. He sheds the love of God abroad
in our hearts and comforts us. He also aids in the
preaching of the Gospel, indeed. He only can render it
effectual. "And we know not how to pra}', Ijut he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will
of God." Thus the people of God have two Divine
Persons making intercession in their behalf — Jesus in
heaven, and the Holy Spirit in the heart. Our case is
so desperate that nothing less would avail.

The Holy Ghost shall also quicken our bodies at
the time of their resurrection. " If the vSpirit of Him
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. He
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies fy //is Spirit that dwelleth in you. "
Rom, 8 ; II. We, if dead before the Lord's second com-
ing, will indeed " hear His voice and shall come forth ;"
and t'lat voice must be the trumphet sound Paul speaks
of; but the Spirit shall quicken our mortal bodies.
The lyord Himself will descend from heaven with a

god'vS eternal purpose.

shoiit, with the voice of the archangel and with the
trump of God. i Thes. 4 : 16. Thus the Divine pur-
pose will be completed in reference to the body and
spirit both.

Now God will not change heaven to suit a sinful
creature, so you and 1 will have to experience the work
of the Spirit in order to admission there. Perhaps
the .strongest proof that we need regeneration, is the
fact, that the Jews and Gentiles crucified one with such
a character as had Jesus of Nazareth ; and one whose
character was not only without a flaw, but adorned with
ever}' practical virtue that God's law inculcated ; and
there is no difference between us now and them. " All
have sinned." Anything else but Jesus Christ, saj'S
the unregenerate heart — release Barabbas the murderer,
but away with such a holy one as Christ — crucifj- Him,
might Barabbas not murder again ? That matters not ;
awa}' with the holy One. () the wickedness of our
hearts, and the tieed of regeneration ! It would be no
great recommendation for Jesus, if we, in our unregen-
crac}' did embrace Him. When born of God wc do
receive Him, notwithstanding His holinevSS, as our
Prophet, Priest and King. I know of none who cor-
dially receive, love and serve Him, who have not been
thus born.

" I must for faith incessant cry,

And wrestle L,ord with thee ;
1 must be borne again or die

To all eternity."

" Christ has abolished death, and brought life and
immortality to light by the Gospel."

When Cleombrotus heard and believed the doctrine
of the soul 's immortality as taught by Plato, he threw
himself over a precipice and was dashed to pieces in
order that he might enter upon its enjoyment. How
little earnestness you and I manliest in obtaining the
eternal life that has its vSource in Christ's death, and is
communicated by the Holy Spirit, for both spirit and

god's KTICRNAL PURPOvSE.

«5

body ! How little we try to coincide with God's pur-
pose of love to His creatures ? A bottle ma}- be im-
mersed in water, yet corked so tight, that it connot
enter ; we may be .so f\ill of self, sin and satan, that the
vSp irit of God has no access to the soul.

CIIArTl-:K IX.

Organization of the Church. Revivals.

The creation of the Church by regenerating human
hearts, is an important part of that by which (Vod
makes known his manifold wi.sdoni. hence its intimate
connection with the Divine purpose. The Church is
Chri.st's body ; He the Spirit or life. She is the object
of redeeming love, in whose redemption Jehovah mani-
fests the wisdom, in harmony with 1 lis other perfections.
Iliat tlie principalities and powers admire ; and bv
whom, as an agent or co-worker. He is now prosecuting
His design. Christ's work is external, the Spirit's
internal. Can we answer the questions : What has
Christ done for yow ? And what has He done /// you ?

(rod calls a people out of the human family to Him-
self — a peculiar peo])le - Hischo.sen people and jewels,
The (Vreek word for church means " called out." It is
a " high calling " to be made .sons and daughters of
the Lord Almighty ; princes and princesses of the royal
House of Heaven. IMiil. 3 : 14. It is a "heavenly
calling, "yV^?;;/ heaven and inviting us A> heaven. Hel).
3 : I. It is a "holy calling," to purit}- of heart and
life. Divines designate it " effectual calling," because
it effects the regeneration of the individuals and they
come to Christ. The dead in sin hear the voice of the
vSon of God and live. Calling and regeneration are
similar. 1 ney persevere because thus called — because
they are saints. Regeneration imparts a holy in-
destructible principle of life — " the Divine nature " —
which will live as long as Christ lives : " Because I
live, ye shall live also. " John 14 : 19. Although we
persevere in virtue of being saints, perseverance will
never make a saint ; that depends upon getting rather

god's eternaIv purpose.

(

than doing — getting from God the Fountain through
Christ the Channel, as communicated by the Holy
Spirit, whatever we may do as means in order to receive.
We are troubled far more about the peresevance of the
sinners than the perseverance of the saints. We are
compelled to conclude that we are not saints if we are
not persevering. " Called to be saints ;" what we do
shows what we are. God calls and fits them for their
high eternal destiny. He beautifies them in three
ways. Externally he adornes them with the beautiful
robe of Christ's righteousness ; internally with the
lovel}' grace of the Holy Spirit, also spoken of as the
righteousness of the Spirit ; He also confers gifts upon
them, as well as grace and righteousness. They are
i?i the world biit not of it. They are separated from
sin to a great extent. Its guilt is gone for they are
justified, its power is cancelled, for, "Sin shall not
have dominion over them, for the\' are not under the
law, but under grace." They that are born of God,
effectually called, regenerated, do not commit sin ; the
seed of God remaineth in them, and i\\ey cannot vSin
because the}^ are born of God. It would be folly for
God to pardon them, if he did not thus regenerate them.
The moral corruption of the nature is not entirely re-
moved, however. "He that saith he hath no sin
decei vetli \. imself, and the truth is not in him. ' ' i John
I : 8. Paul says : "It is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth /;/ me." Rom. 7: 20. To illustrate:
We are the servants of those for whom we work mOvSt
of the year ; but not of those for whom we may inci-
dentally labor a da\' or so. There is a great difference
between hazing sin, and committing it — between what
zvc do and what sin does. If the truth makes us free
we shall be free indeed. If, as Chri.stians, we were
more faithful in the use of the public and private means
of grace, we could more full}' realize what this freedom
means : we too much nourish the old Adam instead of
the new One. Y«.'t we do not sin as (^<^/? <? regeneration ,
or calling ; the application of the virtue of Christ's

god's eternal PURPOvSE.

blood, which cleanes us from all sin, together with the
partial sanctification or renovation of our nature by the
Holy Spirit, cuts the top-root of sin, thus giving it a
death blow, although it dies not immediately. If the
top-root of an}'- tree is cut it will die, although all the
others remain ; if it remains the tree will live, although
all the others are taken away. If we sin as before pre-
ferring religion, let us repent of having done so, not
calling ourselves Christians. The destruction of sin in
the soul is the great work of Christianity ; i.nd God is
able to effect it and begins it in this life. Still real
Christians backslide — we need not if watchful and
prayerful. Therefore because of the saving change
effected by this high, holy and heavenly calling, which
constitutes us membeis of Christ's Church, whatever
denomination or local v:)rganization we may be identified
with ; because we are thereby made partakers of the
Divine nature, 2 Peter 1:4; because the vSpirit takes
away the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh, Ezek.
36 : 26 ; and because of a new creation unto good works,
Eph. 2 : 10, God can and does say : I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities
will I remember ?io more, Heb. 8 : 12, although they
may have many a fiery trial and pass through much
tribulation before they reach their destined home.
Such are the members of the Christian Church. Paul 's :
" I delight in the law of God after the inward man,"
corresponds with John's: "He that is born of Gcd
doth not commit sin." Paul's: "Sin that dvvelleth
in me," correJ^ponds with John's : "He that vSaith he
hath no sin deceiveth him.self. " If this vsin that re-
maineth in us originates thoughts, words or actions,
and we, for the time, give our comsent, they being thus
sins on our part, "We have an Advocate with the
Father. ' ' What would we do but for Him .^

* ' When I am filled with sore distress

For some surprising sin,
I'll plead thy perfect righteousness,

And mention none but thine."

god's etkrnai. purposk.

The Church is a wonder to the intelligent universe,
' ' I and the children which God has given me are for
signs and for wonders in Israel, from the Lord of hosts
which dwelleth in Mount Zion," IvSa. 8. i8. By re-
generation, or effectual calling, He makes them the
children of Christ, and forms them into the church, a
wonder to the principalities and powers in this and the
future vState ; and that in view of the consummate skill
and matchless wisdom of Jcliovah rendered conspicious
in the undertaking.

He has officers, ordinances and means of grace for
further developement. " Christ lead captivity captive,
and received gifts for men ;"so he gives apostles, pro-
phets, pastors, etc. Baptism and the Lord's vSupper are
professions c;f our faith in, and union with liim ; oaths
by which we swear allegiance and adherence to Prince
Immanuel. Preaching, prayer, praise, etc, are channels
of communications between Christ and the believers,
through which grace and mercy are conferred, as well
as means by which the work of calling others is pro-
secuted. The Church is a peculiar people, separated
from the world worshipping an invisible God.

The more faithfully we repent of our sins of com-
mission and omission, the more we coiUcide. with
God's eternal purpose and answer the design of a Church
of Christ. ' 'Ye are the light of the world. ' ' We do not
realize our position and the honor of working with
God. Thus organized, and with such a Captain ; fully
equipped, and in obedience to our marching orders —
"Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel," —
the church makes known the manifold wisdom of God.

Who can tell what beings may be looking upon us
as we acquit ourselves in the conflict with the wicked
principalities and powers, with the rulers of the dark-
nCvSS of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high
places ? This earth is the battle-field. We know that
these enemies and the angels are here. Eph. 6 : 12.
Heb. I : 14. Why not the virtuous principalities and
powers spoken of in the text, as well ? The thought,

god's eternal pukfose.

apart from the realit}- vShould stiiiiulate us to renewed
energy in the MavSter's service; even as the ancient
Greeks in their Isthmian and Olympic games were ani-
mated to contend for a corruptible crown by the con-
course of spectators that viewed them. We run for an
incorruptible crown, and the eye of/i'sns is upon us.

Since Christ left the world the Church is the light
of it. If she would arise and shine, ' ' Fair as the moon,
clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners, "
as in the ApOvStolic Age, its Kingdoms would soon
become the Kingdom of Christ. Many martyrs have
fallen in tliC good fight, but the gates of Hades — the
powers of the invisible world and death — have not
prevailed against them, they ha.stened them to heaven,
and their blood became seed for the Church. What
wonders God's Grace can do I

" Thy saints in all this glorious war

Shall conquer though they die ;
They see the triumphs from afar,

By faith they bring it nigh."

And we may say :

"Hush my dark spirit, the worst that can come.
But shortens thy journey and hastens thee home."

The suffering saints, " Fill up that which is behind
of the afflictions of Christ. " Col. l : 24. If we suffer
with Ilim, we vShall be also glorified together. Rom.
8; 17. There always has been, there are, and doubt-
less will be, during the miliant state of the Church,
those who would die an}' kind of death for Christ.

Enlisted for life we'll camp on the field.

With Christ for our Captain we never will yield.

By till' Chtirch the Almighty prosecutes His graci-
ous design. We ought to feel like giving, suffering,
doing, dying, engaged with such a Workman, and for
the accomplishment of such a purpose, and with such a
prospect before us. "They that be wise shall shine

god's etkrnai. purpose.

as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn
many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. ' '
Dan. 12: 3. Herein is as juishing grace. Indeed,
showing the exceeding riches of His grace is intended.
Kph. T : 6, 7.

Part of the Church, the spirits of the ju;it made
perfect, is enjoying the felicities of Paradise. Their
bodies are awaiting the resurrection. Which heaven
they occupy, or whether all three, we cannot fully
declare. Part of the church, a small part is on earth.

" One family we dwell in him,

One church above, beneath ;
Though now divided by the stream,

The narrow stream of death."

We, if as truly Christians as the Kphesians, sit in
heavenly places ; the principalities and powers are said
to be similarly located — the same expression being
employed.

We presume that the part of the Church now
triumphant makes known the manifold wisdom of God
much more fully than the militant portion. She is
God's habitation where he lives and works. lie works
salvation in us ; we work it out, as He does so. She is
the machinery and He the motive power, hence most
useful in the carrying out of His glorious design. He
seems to make the Church the means of educating the
universe — the school in which he instructs myriads of
its rational and intelligent inhabitants in a knowledge
of Himself. It is life eternal to know God and Jesus
Christ whom he has sent ; and the Church, together
with the displays of love and justice on Calvar}-, may
be the means destined by Him to preserve those intelli-
gences in eternal happiness. His conduct towards the
inhabitant? of this world, .shows His character, in all
likelihood, to all worlds, that conduct being a mirror
in which we behold this character. And that w^e might
become acquainted with God in Christ the eternal
Father has introduced Him to the inhabitants of this

CiOD'S ICTKHNAIv PURPOSE.

worUl, sayiii)^ ; " This is my beloved vSoii in whom I
am well i)leu,secl;" John the Baptist, with a similar
object in view, cries : " Beholdthe LambofClod which
taketh fikvay the sins of the worhl ;" and all trne
preachers of the everlasting (iospel take up the same
refrain, " We pleach Christ. " Ood condescends to speak
to us throu);h the written word also ; and that we may
improve the act|uaintance and increase the friendshij)',
invites us to ccnnni me with Ilim in prayer, to answer
Him as ITe addresses us. We hope we know Him better
than any person we ever saw. We have had business
transactions with Him too ; and they are calculated to
afford an opportunity of ascertaining a knowledge of
an individual's character as well, if not better, than any
other way ; we owed a debt to His inflexible justice we
could not pay, we went to Christ about it, and he gave
us a receipt in full, we knoiv Him ; and this is life
eternal. He is a Being of mercy.

The grace, (tod the P'ather imparts through the
merit and intercession of His Son, also through the
labours of the Chur.:h ; elevates man socially, intel-
lectually and morally, fitting him lor service on earth,
and heaven ; there, as a monument of His adorable
wi.sdom to be admired forever by all of His unfallen
creatures. If the Church realized that it was to tho.se
in heavenly places that God was making known, through
her, His manifold wisdom, it seems as if she would be
incited to greater dilligence. This wisdom is rendered
very conspiciuus in the adaptation of the doctrine of the
crucified to teach niankind repentance towards his
Maker, and love to the God who redeemed him. In ad-
ministering the Hivine Government in this way, thus
insures the observation of the Divine Laws ; there is
Divine Philosophy here — wisdom a ove what the
Greeks di,scovered.

A thought worthy of our attention, especially in
an age when the unification of Christendom is so much
di.scussed, is ; The organic union of the primitive
Church. There were local Churches ; but not the same

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god's etebnal purpose.

as the denominations we now have. The Head of the
Church and His word teach but one form of Church
government and one view of each doctrine ; and but for
error creeping into the church it would have continued
so. There is something wrong somewhere.. Was the
primitive type of piety too heavenly for earth ? We
hope the modern type will not continue long on earth.
Some of us do not interpret the Word aright. Who ?
Is it I ? All should be open to conviction and willing
to receive truth. Professing Christians have been the
greatest prosecutors of the saints ; so possible is it for
fallen humanity to be in darkness and be ignorant of
it. We sometimes love somethings better than truth.
The sectional state of the Church of Christ may
weaken His cause. Some think it has the opposite
effect. Paul did not seem to think so when reproving
the Corinthians for their divisions, i Letter i : 10-13.
Christ prays for the union of Christians, "That //le
woi'ld may believe that the Father s^nt Him.'" John 17 :
20, 21. That is an event much to be desired. We
• wonder if the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace
were universally held and observed by all Christians,
if it would do more to bring the world to believe that
the Father sent His Son to redeem it, than all that is
now being done in the Ho^ne and Foreign Mission
Bands for their evangelization ! We have some faith
in the Lord 's plan. Has prejudice more influence some-
times than the love of truth and the brethern ? Our
pre-formed opinions should not prevent us from exam-
ing the views of others — they may be correct — we
were wrong in many things, and may be in many more.
We ought not to care more for our denomination than
the Church of God. We are as strong as Methodists,
Presbyterians and Episcopalians ; yea, even Roman
Catholics, as far as thej^ learn and practice the teach-
ings of the Word of God, as they are, and they or we
should not be any farther ; and all should, positively
should, cherish the same vSpirit. Do you ? It is much
more difficult to remove prejudice than ignorance ; and

GOD S ETERNAI^ PURPOSE.

frequently prejudice developes in bigotry, and bigotry
into persecution. The better a Christian I am, the more
strongly will I hold to what is right, and the more
readily relinguish what is wrong. We maintain sec-
tarianism as well as religion, for we would do more for
the denomination with which we are identified than any
other.

We talk of a basis of union for Christendom. We
have nothing to do but recognize the union that has
already been formed by the Holy Spirit when He re-
generated us. All true believers are one in Chri.st ; but
one says I am of John the Baptist, another I am of John
Wesley, another of John Knox, another of John Calvin,
and another of John Wickliffe ; whereas we ought all to
be of John the Divine and His Divine Master ; we have
only to keep the unity of the spirit that, in a measur
does exist, and a bond of peace that should exist. Let
us renounce sectarianism and the prejudices of educa-
tion and recognize these facts. Christianity as taught
in the Scriptures, and exemplified by the primitive
Chiistians is all the basis of union necessary ; and a
departure from this is what necessitates the leturn now.

Revivals, A word on this subject, in connection
with the church as Gcd 's favored instrument and agent
in carrying forward His design will not be inappro-
priate, we trust. There have been revivals from remote
ages. Forming a large portion of the history of the
Church, they must have been designed by God in His
Mediatorial government ; and as only He can be the
Author of them, the fact is doubly apparent. He is
forwarding the great work, and, it would appear has
set times to favor Zion — set times to revive His people
and increase their numbers by effectually calling others
into tl"=; fold. Is it because His worship and service
have been neglected, that in order to carry on His work,
He interposes ? and saves the church from being swal-
lowed up in the world ? Instead of waiting for God's
set time, if we would labor on when we are revived, it
would not be in vain in the Lord. He is with His

7t' .'.Jrtl'

GODS ETERNAIv PURPOSE.

people alway, and will complete what He has begun.
Or are these seasons of apparent winter in the spiritual
realm necessary as they are in the natural ? He has,
it would appear, His sei times, however. We should
recognize the fact, that, ' 'Without the lyord Jesus we
can do nothing ;" and, " With Him strengthening us,
we can do all things. ' ' Let us give Him such a cordial
reception, by assigning Him the chief place in our
affections, by our doctrine to His cause, and by an im-
provement of our gifts and development of our graces,
that He will dwell in and v;ith us. May we, through
Him, be enabled to grow downwardly in humility,
upward in spirituality, inwardly in holiness and out-
wardly in the fruits of Christianity ; fruits that shall,
and can be adduced in the great day of final accounts,
as evidences of our sincerity, our faith in Christ, and
love to God and man.

Rev. C. G. Finney, the revivalist, says : " When
a Church becomes cold and indifferent a revival is
necessary. "

We read of several revivals in the times of the
prophets and kings in the Old Testament age. The
people often forsook the worship of the true God for
that of idols, and He often repeated history by raising
up individuals that He employed in reviving true re-
ligion, always keeping His purpose in view. What
was Pentecost, for we will turn from ancient to more
modern times, but the greatest revival the w^orld has
known ? The Holy Spirit, through the preaching
and prayers of the apostles and others, regenerated
thoiisands, and organized tliem into the ChrivStian
Church. The ^^formation was a repetition, in many
respects, of what occurred at the formation of the
Church. The revivals under Whitfield, Edwards, the
Wesleys, etc., were occasions when the hand of God
became visible in the history of redemption in carrying
on His gracious work. He will have His worship con-
tinued in the world, it matters not how frequently He
may have to interpose in order to do so. And the

GOD'S ETERNAL, PURPOSE.

Millennium will be the greatest and the longest con-
tinued of thevSe exhibitions of saving power on the part
of the Almighty that the people of the world shall have
been acqiainted with. No doul)t but that will be a
period v/hen God's purpose, in its connection with
human redemption, the enlarfj^enient of the Church and
the erection of the Palace of His glorious Majesty, will
be advanced very .much more than during any other of
the revival periods, especially if it continues 360,000
years as some suppose ; each day reckoned as a year, as
is evidently the case in the prophecies of Ezekiel,
Daniel and John. If satan is bound 360,000 years, or
even 1000, and an almost, if not altogether, universal
prevalence of true religion, vital godliness and practical
piety abounds, no doubt but the Divine purpose will
proceed in its accomplishment very rapidly ; so much
so in addition to that previously effected, that satan is
to be loOvSed but a little vSeason until its completion.
When satan is bound the t-eed of the woman shall have
bruised the serpent's head more than at any other period
during the conflict ; unless when on the cross, at which
time by His death He destroyed him that had the power
of death, that is the devil (destro3*ed him virtually
although not actually) or when he shall consign him
forever to the place prepared for him and his angels.
Satan offered the Saviour all the kingdoms of this
world (whether they were his or not ) if He would wor-
ship him ; but our Lord shall have them during the
Milliennitim as the gift of His Father as His own
purchase.

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journies run."

" The little stone, cut out of the mountain without
bauds, shall have then become a great mountain and
fill the v.'hole earth. " God purposes this for he has
foretold it. It will be a glad period when enrth shall
keep jubilee a thousand years. His power and provid-
ence will effect it.

■it-Viv. , '-I "■"'-'' '.N

god's eternal purpose.

' • He sits on no pr(;carious throne,
Nor borrows leave to be."

I'i" ^^M

Revivals
purpose.

are God at work accomplishing His

" His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour ;

The bud may have a bitter taste.
But sweet will be the flower. ' '

While on this point we add : the devil, the arch
enemy of God and man, who deceived our first father
and mother hy falsehood, still continues to do so to the
utmost extent of his power, in deluding millions of
their posterity, and will while permitted ; but the time
foretold in the sure word of prophecy will shortlj'
arrive, where the second Adam, will, through His
people, and by the chain of God's truth, bind and cast
him into the bottomless pit at least a thousand years.
Rev. 20 : 1-6. Wherever Christianity in its purity and
power now reigns he is bound. Wherever an individual
has been thoroughly convicted by the Holy Spirit of
sin, righteousness and judgment because the prince of
this world ( satan ) is being judged, his power is
cancelled. The god of this world is reigning quite ex-
tensively for a short time ; the God of all worlds will
reign forever. Glory to His name.

"This wrong shall not forever sway —
The many toil in sorrow ; •

The hosts of hell are strong to-day,
But Christ shall reign to-morrow."

May God help us to bind him in each comiiunity
where we reside by extending, as tar as in us lies, the
reign of truth ; he has many strongholds in home and
foreign lands.

" The lives of great men all remind us
We may make our lives sublime ;

And departing leave behind us
Footoriuts on the sands of time."

m >.>

GOD'S ETERNAL PUKPOSE.

Doubtless, we have arrived at a period in the his-
tory of Christianity, when each generation of the
wicked that is swept away, not as suddenly as by the
flood, yet as surely weakens the kingdom of satan ;
while the cau.se ot truth is waxing stronger and
stronger.

CHAPTER X.

l*redcstination.

All the promises and prophecies, the Divine gov-
ernment of the world and the carrying on, and comple-
tion of, His purpose, are but developments of what God
has predestined ; and as this Divine purpose comprises
in it the everlavSting glorification of an innumerable
multitude of the lo.st inhabitants of this planet in anew
heaven and earth, it seems appropriate to try to
simplify this doctrine in its application to them by a
brief reference to it. It is included in the Divine
purpose — forms a part of it — and refers to the salvation
of the Church, individually and collectively, just as
His general purpose does to ell that He designed. Let
it not be forgotten that we must be taught here, by
what God has revealed, as in all other things, irrespec-
tive of our own desires or views — what He sa3\s and
does is eternally right — He can?tot do wrong ; and if he
did not bring one of the fallen, guilty and ruined
descendants of Adam to a state and place of happiness,
it would not be wrong ; and if, on the other hand. He
brings, through the atonement of a Mediator, a very
large number to happiness f rever, it is perfectly
right — the violators of the Divine law are not to find
fault with such a dispensation, nor to dictate to Jehovah
what he ought to do under such circumstances ; and
were we as humble and penitent as those who have
broken the Divine law should be, and as sensible of our
dependence, for salvation, on God's mercy as we really
are dependant, we would not do so. We cannot alter
the doctrines taught by our Maker ; and the sin th at we

god's eternal purpose.

k^'

commit in faulting them is just like the others we are
guilty of; sifiners do not do anything else but sin, till
they are regenerated. Every heart is wicked enough
to reject Christ ; have we not till regenerated ? Are
not millions now ? Then if God would not regenerate
according to His purpose we would all forever perish.
It matters not what we do, it derives character from the
state of the heart, the heart makes what we do either
virtuous or vicious. Can we alter that state of things ?
Only our Maker can ; and He intends it before, and at
the time. He does it. " Ye must be born again. "

From the connection in which this doctrine is
introduced in scripture, it does not appear to be in-
tended to form any rule of duty in seeking salvation ;
yet it would be very discouraging for a person to preach,
or for a seeker to search, if it was not plainly revealed
that God purposed the salvation of this innumerable
multitude. We are to be governed by what we do know
in Divine and spiritual things, instead of by what we
do 7iot know ; we are so in the concerns of this life. We
know that, " Him that cometh to Christ will by no
means be cast out. John 6 : 37. One expressed the
opinion, " If God was making a world jind a sinner
cried to Him for mercy, He would leave the world and
attend to the sinner's cry." We believe He would.
We know He attended to our supplication, whatever
He was doing ; and we have yet to hear of the first re-
fusal. The soul that is as anxious about eternal things
as we should be, will be governed by these tests ; an
earnest soul is not long finding Christ. "When ye
seek me with all your hearts ye shall find me. ' ' Jer. 29 :
13. Those who cavil about the doctrine show by doing
so that they are not in earnest about their salvation.
It is not inconsistent with saving conviction to realize,
to an extent, that Jehovah would not do wrong if He
allowed us to live and die in rebellion against Him, and
damn us for so doing. Is sin our choice ? Then do
not blame God. If truly anxious about your salvation
let the invitation and promise of Christ be your rule of

god's eternal purpose.

conduct, and not God's secret purpose. "The secret
things belong unto the Lord our God ; but these things
that are revealed belong to ms and to our children for-
ever, that we may do all the words of this law. " If in
anxiety about your eternal safety, it is a strong indi-
cation that you are elected to eternal life.

The doctrine is in the Scriptures or we would not
write about it. If we are weary and heavy laden with
sin, it is comforting to know that God has determined,
whatever else He does, to save a countless multitude of
mankind — it is not left an uncertainity, it is not
dependant on the will of man " It is not of him that
willeth — but of God that showeth mercy. ' ' Your per-
plexity would speedily end in despair if the Bible
taught that there was no certainty about sinners salva-
tion. But if I am not one of the number ? I hope you
are anxious enough to make the enquiry. Continue
to do so cordially and prayerfully and you will soon
ascertain that you are. A convicted brother went to
his knees in great distress of mind ; he was perplexed
about this very doctrine ; and he thanked God that 5<?w^
were elected, even if he were not. God soon gave him
peace. If we are proportionately as serious about our
eternal redemption as Jesus Christ was about us, we
will soon be saved, God's mercy is infinite; Christ's
mert is infinite ; the Spirit's power is infinite ; and the
iiivitations of the gospel are universal. How sad that
we love sin so well that we neglect the great salvation.
It is astonishing that mankind could have become so
depraved. God be merciful to us sinners, and in the
riches of thy grace, save us from ourselves ;

Nothing but grace will suit our case.

Listen to Christ, ' ' Come unto me all ye that are
weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."

•' I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary and worn and sad ;
I found in Him a resting place.

And He has made me glad."

'%\ lOO

god's eternal purpose.

:I1

"As I live saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked." Ezek. 33 : 11, The doctrine of
predestination confirms the hopes and faith of the
believer. ' ' Those He predestinates He also calls, and
those He calls He also justifies, and those He justifies
He also glorifies." Rom. 8 : 29, 30. The unsaved are
to exercise repentance towards God and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Our souls yearn over you, but only
God the offended can save, seek him right early. They
that do so shall find Him.

The vast multitude of the saved is composed of
individuals ; this doctrine appears to apply to them as
such. The purpose of Cxod includes ail we have spoken
of, probably, very muc.i more ; this to the Church,
doubtless individually and a? a whole, by them He
making known His manifold wisdom to the principal-
ities and powers. If it was not applicable to individuals,
I would fear being left. We are regenerated one by
one, as a rule ; yet on such occasions as Pentecost, a
number maj'^ have been in the same instant ; it is an
invStantaneous work. Some consider the doctrine is a
great encouragement to preach the Gospel ; and we
believe it so ; we think or.r Lord was encouraged to
undertake and complete His redemptive work by know-
ing that He would see of the travail of His soul and be
satisfied." Isa. 53: it. Some think it a dangerous
doctrine. We cannot entertain the idea, that, the God
who loved the worla so well, would put anything
dangerous in His book ; the ignorant Romanist may
say all the book is dangerous ; we cannot believe any
of it is. ' ' All scripture. New Testament as well as Old,
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.'" It
is here the doctrine of predestination is taught — where
we get all our divinity. To be displeased with it, is
not a good indication of character. John 10: 27-31.
It is comforting to the mind of saint, seeker and sinner,
to know that God the unchanageable has made the
salvation of some certain ; the earnest, seeking soul,
anxious to flee from the wrath impending over the

GOD'S ETERNAI, PURPOSE.

lOI

heads of those who continue to break the Divine Laws
and neglect God's great salvation, shall find a refuge
in His mercy bj' faith in Christ Jesus. God moves us
to pray for what He intends to give. Those who need
sympathy can rule Christ, ( if they have faith ), When
they have been so helped by Him that, for the time,
they appear to need Him no longer. He is sovereign
and rules Him. Thei* if you are a praying soul, fear
not.

•' All the powers of hell would boast,
If but one praying soul were lost."

But some will be lost — some will be on the left
hand in the Day of Judgment. True, but the effect that
should have on you is to make you anxious not to be
among them, to repent of the sin for which they will
be condenmed and obey the commands of the Redeemer.
There is nothing in the doctrine of predestination to
encourage me to continue in sin and disobey ChrivSt,
there is very much in it to encourage me to .seek Him ;
that is : One part of God's word does not conflict with
another — the doctrines do not interfere with the com-
mands. lyCt us listen to the words of Christ as Peter
did. John 6 : 65-69, when the Master was preaching
this very doctrine, and not turn away as many then
did, and as some do now. If it is true that, ■ ' We will
not come to Christ that we might have life;" that,
•'We cannot corae except the Father draw us;" and
that, "Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit ; how we
ought to bless God that He subdues us to Himself by
His omnipotent grace, that we are "Willing in the
day of His power ; ' ' that He ' ' destroys us enemies by
making us His friends;" the way a king of England
said he did when he took prisoners, and was asked why
he did not destory them.

•' 'TwaS the same love that spread the feast

That sweetly forced me in ;
Or I would still refuse to taste,

And perish in my sin."

.■»i;2*.5*-',..

XOI

god's eternal purpose.

"(irace makes Calvinists." Some say: "Salvation
(leljendson Uiewill." Paul says : " It is not of him that
tvilliili norof him that runneth, but of God thatshoweth
mercy." Rom. 9: 16. The human utterance teaches
trust in n>an, the Divine one trust in (iod. " Cursed is
the man that trusteth in man," but "blessed is the
man that tru.^ttth in the I.ord. Jer. 17 : 5-8. We are
\\(A horn again (A t/ic luill of man, hut oi OoCi/' John
I : i,v It a]){jears from the teaching of the above
Scriptures, and many others, that if left to ourselves,
Christ vv(;iild die in vain. The hearts that are enemies
cnongh to (iod to crucif}' His Son, would reject Him
after lie was crucified, unless broken by the hammer of
His word in the hands of His Spirit. Moreover, the
will is governed by the character — by love of good or
love of evil ; by the state of the heart. Only God can
renew my heart the seat of my affections, and He does
nut do such without intending it. Love and justice
<lemiuid that Christ does not die in vain ; an innumer-
al)le mulitude will be glorified, and the principalities
and powers have the manifold wisdom of God made
known to them according to His eternal purpose. It
is not how great a sinner I may be ; although that
woidd be a just reason for my condemnation ; but, how
grid \s the grace of God, and a Saviovr Chtist is. If
we come to Christ we vshall be saved ; if not \vc shTll
be lost, elect or non-elect.

If our hearts have been thus broken, it is not
because we have been better than others ; this is seen
in the fact, that, 07tly\n virtue of the atonement of Christ
could we be saved. The same justice that imposes the
penalty of sin, will not, can not, punish the lost, if they
live and die in sin, more than they deserve ; justice will
not allow it. Unless it is wrong for God to punish sin,
it is not wrong for Him to leave some to reap the bitter
fruits of their rebellion against Him. Then repent.
What matchless grace that any are saved. It was man
decided his own fate when he sinned ; not God. God
decided the fate of those He gave to Christ ; and He did

OOP's ETERNAL PURPOSE.

^oy

■not }?ive all. Some affirm that to be unjust. Mow can
that be so when He punishes sin in those that are saved
and in those that are lost ? vSome any it shows parti-
ality. How can it be so when it is for reasons /// ////;/-
St'// He saves and not for reasons in man ? "I pray
not for the world, but for those thou has ^iven me."
John 17:9. The Bible teaches neither universal salva-
tion nor universal damnation. Ciod the Father j^ave
Christ an innumerable multitude ; let us use the means,
for it is a fearful thing to be lost. Do not say it is no
iise ; you do not act so in worldly concerns. Although
you do not know that you will reap a harvest, you sow
the seed. Rev. C. (i. Finney says : "The harvest is
surer in the spiritual realm than the natural ;" and no
doubt we would find it so, if we were as diligent as he
was ; but we are careless, very careless, when the im-
portance of Divine and eternal realities are concerned.

God is an offended Judge ; we are the offenders ;
He only can pardon. The thought of perishing forever
ought to induce us to seek Christ ; He will receive us
A/l deserve the penalty of sin ; better some saved than
all lOvSt. God is a vSovereign and can regenerate and
pardon ; or He can punish. Eternity is one eternal
■/loza to Him ; He can elect you now, and be the same as
from eternity. Will you choose Him to do so ? If we
all could believe and feel that we are lost sinners, we
might all soon find a Saviour. \\ e love and practice
sin; but, "If any man do His will, he shall know of
the doctrine, whether it be of God." Joi^ ; 17. Jtjv-
pericnce will then teach us ; and it is wort.' trj-ing for.
Let us be wise enough to be ruled by what we do know,
and not so unwise as to be governed by what we do
not know, we know Christ receives the coming soul ;
we do not know if we are elected or not. We know He
blesses the means. We cannot say that there will not
he others saved besides the elect ; but Christ will see
of the travail of His soul whatever. If I knew that I
was electe I would beg of the Lord to regenerate me
that I mig. t go to ^'-ork for Him. If I knew that I

■-A'-vJvTJ:. ' ; ''' ;.^ll!-'? ' i ' !ffi^ii '^

"■i-:*V.*/«'-'v'?;^;V;V^'v V?':

104

god's eternal purpose.

1.1

was not elected I would ask Him for mercy and elect me
now, and I believe it would not be in vain. Yes,
whichever way it is I would seek salvation from hell
and ask him to bring me to heaven ; and the more I
learn of the character of Christ, the more I feel like
doing so.

John 17:9, Eph. I : 3-6, i Peter 1:1, and 11 Tim.
I : 9, prove the doctrine to be biblical. Rebels against
(iod .should not find fault with His government, but
the law that defends the innocent is censured by the
criminal. The Creator is the rightful Arbiter of the
destinies of His creatures that are at enemit}- against
Him. If they lay down their arms He will forgive;
and the rebels theniselves ought n:)t to expect mercy
on any other conditions ; neither should they ask it.
They would not grant it only on such terms, if f/ie_y
were just and merciful governors. If we choose to sin,
can we blame the Almighty if He gives us the result
of our choice ? " Whatever we sow we shall reap ; " it
would be absurd to expect it to be otherwise. We could
say : We wish all to be saved ; but only the penitent,
obedient believer shall be. Go 1 will not change heaven
to suit liS — we must be changed. Sin is the cause of
Ood's displeasure, and it must be discontinued, or we
ought not to ask heaven. The anxious seek Christ ;
the careless, who love si'i, cavil, O do not so. God
.saves and calls with an holj' calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose, and the
E^race given us in Christ before the world began." 11
Tim. I : 9. " He blesses us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we might be holy, and without blame before
Him in love. " Eph. i : 3-6. The.se spiritual blessings
are given to us, not because we were holy and loved
Him, but that we might fw holy and love Him.

-HJ r»f

god's eternal purpose.

105

<i ♦ri

he sovereign will of God alone
Creates us heirs of grace ;
Born in the image of His Son,
A new peculiar race. "

If it was according to our works we would be
damned. " P^* grace are ye saved ; not of works ; we
are His workmanship we have unmade ourselves and
He makes us over again — created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Eph. 2: 8-10. Our righteousness would
damn us as well as our sins if we trusted in it. A
Christian is a piece of God's work. Only the Holy
Ghost can make a saint out of a sinner. " Not accord-
ing to our works, but according to His mercy He saves
us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost. " Titus 3:5. " Even at this present time
also, there is a reti^-nant according to the election of
grace." Rom. 11: 5. Human nature rebels against
the doctrine ; but I am a ruined lost creature by sinning
against God, so I will plead with Him for mercy. We
find that the greater sinners people are, the more they
fight against this doctrine !

Our salvation was not safe in the hands of the first
Adam, even before he sinned ; much less is it safe in
hands of his sinful posterity ; God has put it into the
hands* of a second Adam — Christ — it is safe there.
Blessed be His name. Repent and trust Him. Depend
on God the Saviour, not on the will ; the will has lost
its moral power and is only free to do evil ; and ma}'
be, as great an error as we can believe, is to believe
otherwise. We find that it is in the day of Christ's
power that we are willing. All criminals ere willing
to be pardoned when they see vengenance overtaking
them ; but pardon does not follow as a result — there is
no merit in, willing a thing. " When we were without
stre?igth, Christ died for the ungodly." Strength and
life came through His death.

A king of England was visiting the king of France.
They went to see the galley slaves. The English king
had a privilege given him to pardon one of them. He

io6

GOD S ETERNAL PJRPOSE.

t •

enquired of one why he was thus in slavery ? The
reply was that he was innocent, having been falsely
accused. The same question having been put to
another he had an almo.st similar rej^y. Upon asking
a third, however, lor the king of England decided not
to pardon either of those, he admitted that he was
justly suifering the penalty of his numerous crimes —
less than he deserved. The English king turning to
his friend said, "I will pardon this one." "If we,
too, confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unright-
eousness," I John I : 9. We are all guilty, and it
would be a surer and wiser way to obtain pardon, to
confess sin, than to find fault with the Divine govern-
ment. God waits to be gracious ; let us return to Him.
If He was not divinely willing to save, and unwilling
to condemn, He would not have given His Sea to suffer
for us, and spare us in our impenitence vSo "lOng. We
mi<sf have dealings with God sometime ; now by a
?> Mediator or shortly by a Judge A sister confessing
her sins said, " If God had not chOvSen her before she
was born she was sure He never saw anything in her
afterwards to induce Him to do so. "

Predestination, then, appears to be the Divine
purpose in reference to the heirs of salvation individu-
ally, Rom. : 8 28-30. God is not the author of sin —
angels and man placed themselves where they are in
that respect. Al/ the angels who sinned are left to
perish forever ; not all mankind. God has provided
redemption ; and those who by the grace of God are as
earnest to escape eternal sorrow and obtain eternal joy
as they ought to be, find a Saviour and are saved by
Him ; and they have an experimental knowledge of it in
this life. All penitent believers shall glorify God for
His saving grace in the new heavens and earth forever.
' ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved." If another world would sin, maybe all would
be saved ; yet not without satisfaction being made to
God's law ; we believe the work of our redemption will

god's eternal purpose.

107

keep them from sinning — will be the means by which
all other virtuous beings in the universe shall be
forever confirmed in virtue — in love to their Maker
and His holy creatures. Maybe this is why the angels
desire to look into the mysteries of the gospel of Christ
and the principalities and powers in heavenly places
have its Divine wisdom made known to them. All
through the alone merit of Jesus ChrivSt. What think
ye of him now ? Justice had to be satisfied ; in the cavSe
of the angels who vSinned, by their punishment in the
place prepared for them ; in the case of man, by the
same method, or in the person of a Substitute ; and the
sufferings of the Son of God avails for the salvation of
man ; while the^ Divine love and justice, so visible in
the transaction, serves to fill all the other creatures in
the universe with love to and fear of their Creator so
they shall never rebel against Him we believe, We
fully believe that had angels and men this sight to
behold, they would have never sinned. The sin of the
devil and man has been allowed to continue in this
world, till it has culminated in the crucifixion of the
Second Person in the sacred Trinity, in union with our
nature. All this is by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ruling and over-ruling all events
doing some things and permitting others, as He devel-
oped His eternal purpose. ' ' O the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ; how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways prst
finding out," Rom. 11 : 33.

Man's accountability or Arminianism. if you will,
is taught in the Bible ; so is God's vSovereignty, or
Calvanism, if you like. They become reconciled in
regeneration. Jehovah wills to coiiquer rebel man by
sovereign grace ; then man wills to serve Jehovah.
Rebels must not rule ; the lawmaker must be sovereign
where the laws are violated; especially if those laws
are for the highest interests of the creature.

Let us labor to make our calling and election sure.
The wav in which Paul knew the election of the

IcUiutt-

-W^V> "■xp"--^if!(''i-'ii-i'*'i':''^'''i^'^

1 08

god's eternal purpose.

Thessalonian Christians was, " By their work of faith,
/ador of love and patience of hope," i Thes. i : 2-4.
"We ought to be concerned enough about our eternal
destiny to so act.

To condemn this, or any other doctrine, without
thorough investigation, is equivalent to lynching in
the civil realm. We have been lynched more than
once or twice ; truth has to fight its way, and prejudice
is a sterner foe than ignorance. In order to impart or
receive truth, we must divest our minds of prejudice.
That we can be in error and yet suppose we are right, is
easily seen by the millions who are so. If you over-
come nie by the truth you make me a conqueror.

" Truth crushed to earth will rise again,
The eternal years of God are her's ;

But error, wounded, writhes with pain.
And dies amid her worshippers. ' '

'* If the Son make us free we shall be free indeed. "
Truth blesses ; falsehood curses ; this is visible in the
effects of both in the world, from the fall of our first
parents till now ; and shall be till t. /"th shall univer-
sall}' reign.

CHAPTER XI.

Money as Employed in Effecting the Divine Ptapose.

God uses His gold and silver in accomplishing His
design. He does not manifest His infinite benevolence
as much as He could, and we believe would, but the
channels through which He communicates His blessings
are clogged by our selfivShness ; and ChrivSt suffers in
His members and cause thereby. The human will is
opposed to the Divine just here. The church will not
be making a jUvStifiable u.se of wealth till she accum-
mulates and employs it for the propagation of the
Gospel as men now amass it for secular purposes ; and
by so doing, the blessings that would accrue to both
doners and recipients would render it the best invest-

god's eternal purpose.

109

nient that could be made ; artd doing so would not be
any more love than we owe to Christ and humanity.

If we glance at the effects following the Pentecostal
effusion of the Holy Gho.st, we will find that almost en-
tire self abnegation, in reference to earthly possessions,
is one of them. ' ' The disciples sold their property and
laid the money at the apostles' feet, to divide to every
one as he had need." The fire of the eternal Spirit
consumed the natural selfishness of the heart, taught
them love to God and man, thereby filling them with
sentiments of disinterested benevolence. What an
example of what the Lord and Giver of life can do —
how He can save ; and if all the world was thus bap-
tized, what a heaven it would be. He wrote the law
of God in their hearts that day, and it found expression
in the consecration of themselves Jind their means to
God. We feel like sinking and praying.

" Come Holy Ghost our hearts inspire,

Let us thine influence prove ;
Source of the old prophetic fire,

Fountain of light and love. ' '

' ' They had all things common ; neither said any
man that aught that he possessed was his own. " Acts
4 : 32. They were living epistles known and read of
all men ; written not with ink, but with the Spirit of
the living God ;" not in tables of vStone, as the law was
wher given to Moses, a very good illustration of the
hardness of man's heart since he sinned, but in fleshj-
tables of the heart ; made so by regenerating grace.
God says : ** I will take away their heart of stone, and
give them a heart of flesh. I will put my laws in their
minds and write them in their hearts. " Ezek. 36; 26.
2 Cor. 3 : 3, Heb, 8 : 10. This law is love, and it was
said of them. " Behold how they love one another."
" The Gospel is the law dissolved in grace," and ex-
emplified in their lives. They were, in a great measure
comformed to the image of Christ. "V.'ho was rich,
but for our sakes became poor, that we through His
poverty might be made rich. "

■"»■' ■ ■

'1 ,1

•'•fe-'-

i, ..-;

IIO

god's eternaIv purpo.se.

" Come Holy Spirit heavenly dove
With all thy quickening powers ;

Come shed abroad a Saviour's love
And that will kindle ours."

They were actuated by the Master's spirit, it is a
missionary one. As God he was a foreign missionary ;
as man a home missionary. He gave Himself to live
and die for mankind. He was a missionary in order to
effect the Divine purpOvSe ; and we coincide with that
purpose when we support the missionary enterprise or
labor in it. Love should be the animating motive in
all such action.

We cannot "Go into all the world and preach the
gospel without monev to defray expenses ; shall we ask
you for it, or disobey our Lord? You reply: "Ask
us." He gave us the privilege of working with Him
in this respect, and so laying up treasure in heaven, aa
He commands. The poor need not be denied the
pleasure and the profit any more than the rich ; for a
cent under certain circumstances, counts as muv'i^h in
the treasury of heaven, as a dollar in others. How
much ought we to keep, instead of how much ought
we to give, is the most appropriate question to put
to ourselves as creatures ransomed from hell and
heirs of heaven. That, however, is worth but a very-
few dollars a year ! With these very tew dollars the
Lord is carrying out His design, and we t'.ink could do
so more speedily, if they were increased to the degree
the church of Christ could increase them without injury
to her temporal interests, and would certainly be to her
eternal reward. " hay riot up treasure on earth, " is a
command many disobey. Many of the wealthy covet
still, although possessed of more than they will ever
require ; thus making the poor and the pious less able
to procure the necessaries of life, and to carry on their
philanthropic undertakings. We do not know how
they will give an account for this.

All our political, educational and religious enter-

(iOD'S KTKRNAI. PURPOSE.

I II

prisCvS are carried on by money ; it i.s the oil that keeps
such machinery in motion, and \ve doubt not but (iod
raises up men to support the gospel in this way as well
as to preach it, but we are both unfaithful. May our
God give us repentance. We would much rather see
our brothers and sisters in Christ, rich in heaven than
in earth ; and we believe it a much better investment
to lay up treasure there than any other we can make,
but our faith is weak. Why should our standard of
piety be lower than in less privileged ages ? W^hy is
it so ? The heathen gave, and do yet, a tenth to sup-
port idolatry. »>hall the children of the God of Jew
and Gentile, who are out of debt, possessed of a-l the
comforts of life ard putting money in the banks give
I'jss? God fbrbid. What we have on earth we will
soon leave ; it will shortly be with you and me as with
the brother who, on his death bed, said : " All I have
now is what I gave away." What we have in heaven
will be ours forever — the interest of a good conscience
here and the principal hereafter. Thus God is glorified
and man is saved. Let us have this kind of selfishness,
make our calculations for the next life instead of
this one. How will our present conduct afliecL us in
eternity ?

Giving makes us like God ; ' ' He so loved the world
that He gave His only Son. ' ' Do you wish to resemble
Him ? Then give, and so fall in line with His purpose.
To be a partner with such a Workman in such a work !
If all would obey Jesus Christ, in ?wt laying up treasure
on earth, and the command is as authoritative as the
others, poverty would cease ; alJ would be in a position
to acquire an education ; and the religion of Jesus
Christ that rescues and glorifies fallen humanity, could
be propagated in nil the world ; that would be better
than for tobacco and rum, and piling it in banks and
filling the coffers of the rich ; and it could be thus
employed, and will be when the devil is bound. The
poor have to labor vSo hard in order to obtain a livelihood
that they do not have time, energy or inclination t

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112

god's eternal purpose.

g-J'

improve their mutual and spiritual natures ; and this
in millions of cases ; while the chariot wheels of the
gOvSpel cease rolling. We wish we had means as some
have ; we think we would make a better use of it than
many do.

" Poor and afflicted Lord are thine,
Among the great and fit to shine ;

But though the world may think it strange,
They would not with the world exchange . ' '

If the Master was obeyed when commanding to lay
up treasure in heaven, which may be done bj-^ alleviat-
ing the condition of the poor and spreading the gospel,
the nihilism of Russia, the socialism of German\', the
communism of France and the anarchism of America
would be unheard of; and soon the religious isms, as
well as the social, would be unknown and the gods that
have not made these heavens perish from beneath them.
In principle these social isms appear to be in accord
with the command, " Thou shalt love th}' neighbor as
thyself," but the practice of enforcing them is grevi-
ously at fault, because in doing so the laws of God and
man are both violated. If apostolic piety and practice
prevailed there would be none of them.

" Religion ! what treasurers untold,

Reside in the heavenly word ;
More precious than silver or gold,

Or all that this earth can afford."

A universal intercommunity of goods, we presume,
need not be looked for until the ^Millenium is ushered
in by the power of the Holy Spirit ; that alone can, and
will, destroy the selfishness of the human heart and fill
it with love to God and man as at Pentecost, Let us
pray for it.

God's purpose, in the recovery of man from the
ruins of sin, includes his restoration to the likeness of
Himself — benevolent, charitable, kind — to be con-
formed to the image of His Son, ' ' who is the brightness

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113

of the Father's glorj'- and the express image of His
person. " The actions of Jesus Christ show what man
is as God makes him ; the actions of a selfish, sinful
race .show what he is as he unmade himself. Although
not so surprising to the principalities and powers as
God's manifold wisdom, yet human wickedness niu.st
be astonishing. We believe they view what is trans-
piring on earth, " When He bringeth the finst begotten
into the u'orld, He saith, let pU the angels of God
worship Him." The work of redemption affects more
than the inhabitants of this planet.

' ' Covetousness is idolatry. ' ' We love and worship
self. We love ourselves with all our hearts, and our
neighbor — not much. Selfishness is a sin, if not t/ie
vsin of the race. W'e may judge of the amount of piety
we have by the unselfishness of our lives. Tliere is
enough wealth in this world for all useful purposes ;
some have more than they need, others less. Let us
coincide with God's purpose in the use we make of His
gold and silver that He gives us ; for so much is the
Christian Church dependent upon such means, that
little or nothing is effected without it. This is a fact
patent to all observers. See all our religious and
charitable institutions, the educational department of
the church's work, and the propagation of the gospel
in foreign as well as home lands. It appears evident
that gold and silver v.ere intended to be extensively
employed as means, by the Head of the Church, in
achieving the Divine ends. The wealth of Christian
countries should be devoted to this object, that the
heathen world might be raised to the high standard of
social, intellectual and moral happiness to which we
have attained ; thereby expressing our gratitude to God
in a manner somewhat commensurate with our obliga-
tions to Him for salvation from eternal destitution, and
being made heirs of everlasting plenty. We are debtors
to God and man — we owe them much. We mean that
the voluntary contributions of the people be thus
appropriated ; not that government aid be furnished.

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114

«^;od's eternal pirpose.

li \

I i

i :

God's purpose and the human will ii'.aj- ea.sily coincide
here — God's sovereignity and man's accountability,
alvSo in prayer, etc. The pietj- of the primitive, Church
began to decline as soon as connection with the state
was admitted cf; but while opposed b}- the power of
the Roman Enipire, and ?.n brought to realize her
dependence on (lod, " She was fair as the moon, clear
as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners, " lead
forth conquering and to conquer, shaking and over-
throwing the kingdom of Satan from centre to circum-
ference, and making the religion of the despised ISIan
of Sorrows the established one of the world. Let us
not allow this world to hide the next — our money will
soon be taken from us, or we from it. Two five cent
pieces cover our entire vision if placed near enough to
the eyes. O, there is a wiser selfishness than in
grasping for this life. A gentleman observes that he
never was so happy when amas.sing wealth for himself
as when, after .securing a competency, he devoted nil
the proceeds of his extensive business to the caui:e of
Christ. " It is more blessed to give than to receive. "

"But we mUvSt prepare tor a rainy day." But
there's not going to be a flood. " Gen. 9:11. Then :

' ' Turn to God thy cares forego ;

All earth-born cares are wrong ;
Man wants but little here below,

Nor wants that little long. "

The Japanese bride keeps her bridal attire for her
shroud ; and the Egyptians used to place a skull on the
table or a skeleton in the house, to constantly remind
them of death.

Brethern, Jesus Christ is hungry, thirsty, naked
and in debt; yet, but for Him as mediator, when the first
Adam failed, we never would have had anything good,
temporal or spiritual, it is through Him we are made
heirs of God.

The Rev. Henry W. Beecher asked for a collection
one Sabbath morning for a neighboring Roman Catholic

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god's eternal purpose.

115

)r her
)n the
iiriind

laked

first

food,

Imade

iction
Iholic

who had sustained the loss of his i)ropeity by fire. A
large one was taken and carried to the neighbor. That
man and his family ever after worshipped with ^Ir.
Beecher's congregation. What an eKect prarf/cai piety
has ! If the Christian Church everywhere would do so,
and then employ only what they could easily dispose
of without depriving themselves of the comforts of life,
we would soon see the world at the feet of Jesus, where
we ought to be. All would see that we were working
for God and our fellows and not for self, only so far as
we would be insuring ourselves a rich reward in the
day when the accounts will be closed. Many could
give a tenth, and sustain no loss, indeed : " There is
that Kcattereth and jet increaseth ; and there is that
withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to
poverty." Prov. 1 1 : 24. No doubt many are getting
poorer in this way. " Bring the tithes into the vStore-
house and try God." He will give you a blessing. If
we want to help Him in His great and worthy purpose,
let us give. " We are not our ov^'u, we are bought with
a price ; may we glorify Him in our bodies and spirits
which are His."

" And shall we then go on to live

At this poor dying rate ?
Our love so faint, so cold to Him

And His to us so great."

CHAPTER XII.

The Word 0/ God m this Connectio7i.

We have a revelation from the Divine Being in His
Word as well as in His Works. This has been named,
' ' The Book of God, and the god of books. ' ' This word
has been, is and will be, very extensively employed in
carrying on the Divine purpose ; we would not have
received it but for His purpose of infinite grace. The
word and the Spirit are essential in prosecuting the
design as well as the Word made of flesh — the word
preached as well as Christ crucified. The Word — the

r|)ii

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', •

Ii6

god's eternal PURl»OvSE.

Logos — dwelt in Christ — was thus made flesh: the
word — the Scripture — is spirit and life, and dwells in
the ChrivStian.

In every age, in order to the regeneration of man's
fallen and ruined nature, it became necessary to have
the truths of Ciod's revelation brought in contact with
it ; they are what God the Holy Spirit employs for that
purpose ; and were inspired, recorded and preserved with
that intent. " Of His own will begat He us with the
word of truth.'" James i : i<S Falsehood ruined man ;
truth restores him. "Being born again, not of cor-
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever, i Peter i : 23. (xod
says: "Let there be light, " in the mind and heart,
"and there is light." " Gcd who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of (iod
in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 4 : 6. The light of
Divine truth dispels the moral darknevSS of sin from the
human spirit, as God's voice did the gloom that en-
shrouded this globe in the beginning. A lie was the
means by which satan deceived the progenitors of the
race, and by which he still deceives millions of their
descendants ; truth is the antidote prescribed and pro-
vided by Divine wisdom to save us from the baneful
effects of this error. Hence the command of Jesus
Christ. "Go 3'e into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. " ^Lirk 16: 15, 16. He that
believeth this truth shall be saved ; believeth and
practiseth it as Adam belie\'ed and practised what the
devil told him ; for faith is a working, living, active
principle ; such a receiver of God's truth and such a
believer will work out his salvation, just as the un-
believer works out his damnation — the one by working
that which is right, as God works in him, the other by
doing that which is evil, as the devil works in him.
Faith means obedience — "obeying the truth." Gal.

3: I.

Religion has flourished in proportion as the Word

god's ETEKNAI. I'URPOSE.

117

of Ood has been faithfully preached. In that word we
have our preaching matter. In it we have a complete
revelation of God's plan and purpose, and the means to
be employed by us in working with Him. The coven-
ant of grace, through which, alone, salvation comes
since man's fall is fully revealed and describe d here.

" Here would I learn how Christ has died

To save my soul from hell ;
Not all the books on earth beside,

Such heavenly wonders tell."

This word, when preached with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven, is quickening, life giving to
souls dead in sin. It contains a germ of eternal life,
and when received into a good and honest heart, brings
forth fruit, thirty, sixty and an hundred fold. " O
then receive with meekness the engrafted word which
is able to save your soul." James i : 21. Read, teach,
preach, practice, print it. '• The dead " .spirit '• hears
the voice — the word — of the Son of God, and it lives. ' '
John 5 ; 25. The apostles gave themselves to praj'er
and the word of God ; their love to God and man, the
essence of true religion, abounded. This was repeated,
in a measure, by the reformers, and the same effects
were, and yet are, visible. The Romanist may say :
"It is a dangerous book," but the condition of the
nations who preach, hear and practice its doctrines do
not prove the assertion. In the days of the reformation,
the Bible, the sun of the moral heavens, began to shine,
alter having been clothed in sackcloth 1260 years, and
heaven's benedictions have been coming on us ever
since. God's two witnesses, the Old and New Testa-
ments, rose to life again, after having lain dead for that
period. Ivife was given them from God when they were
translated out of the dead languages into those the
people understood. The people had the word preached
to them, they could read it for themselves ; and then a
great moral earthquake shook the world.

The river Nile, at the annual overflow of its banks,

<rF^^^^^^^^rrrff

W^'^?^^^w^r^m!wW

ii8

god's eternai. purpose.

deposits sufificient alluvial matter to fertilize the soil
and render it very productive ; so with God's word where
it comes. The Gospel Dispensation, with the Word and
Spirit of God, is, no doubt, the river of the water of
life proceeding from the throne of God (the Father)
and the Lamb ( through the merits and intercession of
Christ) Rev. 22 : i. Queen Victoria well observed
that the Bible was the secret of England's greatness.

The word is the incorruptible seed by which we
are begotten of God. It is the instrumentality, as
handled by the Holy Spirit, in the new creation of the
soul to holiness, the resurrection of the spirit to new
life in Christ — its birth from heaven. It is the reed
by which the spiritual palace is measured — the temple,
the worship and the worshippers ; and when the Church
in the doctrines, expressions and practices of all of its
members, comes up to this standard, primitive piety
shall have been restored. The dark ages were ushered
in because this divine lamp was extinguished ; and the
darkness that covers the earth, although lessening, is
for the want of the light it affords. " It is life eternal
to know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast vsent, " John 17 : 3, and this eternal life is
imparted through a knovledge cf God's word as
furnished by Jesus Christ, the world's Divine Teacher ;
and if we want to know how much we appreciate Jesus
Chri.st as a Prophet, it is just proportioned to the way
in which we appreciate His Word. The fulfilment of
its predictions — the intimations of His purpose —
deinonstrated its divinity, and the superintending
providence of God. In this we have a miracle that is
ever being performed, sacred and profane history- are
two faithful witnesses of the fact. The same can be
said of the promises.

" Hi:" every word of grace is strong

As that which built the skies ;
The voice that rolls the stars along

Speaks all the promises."

god's ETERNAi^ PURPOSE.

119

I at is
are
in be

These miraculous occurrences have convinced
many, and doubtless will very many more, of the divine
origin of the sacred writings, and so lead to a study of
the wonderful book, and thereby a saving knowledge
of God. This is especially visible in the condition of
the Jews today as predicted bj^ Moses, etc.; the
prophecies relative to the four great empires of antiquity
as well as of miner states and cities, the authentic
accounts we have of the life, death, etc., of Jesus Christ
hundreds of years before His appearance as the Word
made flesh, particulary by David and Isaiah, but by all
the prophets ; and the way in which the promises of a
faithful covenant keeping God have been realized in
the experiences of His people. And what a radical,
may we not say a miraculous, change is effected b}' the
Word of God in the character and so in the conduct of
individuals who experience its saving power. Lions
are converted in d lambs, persecutors into preachers.
The Holy vSpirit is the agent, the Word the means, the
iUvStructor a co-worker in carrying out the Divine
purpOvSe.

" Come Holy Ghost, for moved by thee

The prophets wrote and spoke,
Unlock the truth, Thyself the key,

Unseal the sacred Book."

We affirm it to be divine and so worthy of the most
cordial reception. Afa?i was inspired by God in its
authorship. Mr. Moody observes that he " would not
believe it divine if he could understand it all."

If all the different parts of a watch were made in
as many countries, by as many individuals, and that
without any previous knowledge on their part, and
when all put together would make a perfect chrono-
met*', it would be nothing short of a miracle, arguing
the superintendence of an omnicient mind. The Bible z's
Just such A miracle. Written in a number of different
countries by thirty-six different persons ; extending
over a period of sixteen hundred years from Moses to

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1 20

OOD'vS ETERNAL PURPOSE.

John, consisting of sixty -six different books, and yet
all harmonizing as the product of one mind ; all teach-
ing the same doctrines ; all inculcating the same truths ;
and all enjoying the same precepts ; makes the evidence
demonstrative that the volume is divine, was super-
intended by the one omnipresent omnicient Spirit of
God, and all for one grand purpose — to be one means
of making His manifold wisdom known to the princi-
palities and powers in heavenly places. May we have
grace to fall in line with this purpOvSe, by carr3'ing and
sending the book to all nations, till the knowledge of
the Author's glory covers the earth.

" Shall we whose souls are lighted

With wisdom from on high ;
Shall we to men benighted,

The lamp of life deny ?"

It is easilj' seen what an important place the Bible
holds in the achievement of the Divine plan. Let us
read it in our families, teach it in our Sabbath schools,
preach it from our pulpits, print it by our presses and
practice it in our pews, and so.

Do what we can

To forward the plan
A little each day

As far as we may.

An anecdote is related of a clergy-man who had
labored a considerable time in a certain parish without
seeing any fruits of his toil. He resolved to leave the
place. The first night after doing so, he had a dream,
from which he inferred it was his duty to return to the
former scene of his labors. He dreamed th?t a gentle-
man had engaged him to hammer a rock ; and as he
was busily employed for a long time without any visible
effects being produced, he went and told his master
that it was of no avail xor him to hammer that rock.
His master informed him that he hired him, not to
break the rock, but to hammer it. He awoke, and

GOD'S ETERNAI. PURPOSE.

121

im,
Ithe
Itle-

he
ible
jter
kk.
to

revolving it in his mind, he resolved to repair to his
old parish again. He did so, and soon a gracious re-
vival followed, and many were converted to God. So
brethern and sisters let us hammer away at the hearts
of stone wi'^h the hammer of God's word, and He will
break them in His own time. He does not hire us to
break them, only to hammer them. " Is not my word
like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"
Jer. 23 : 29.

In connection with the preaching of the Word as a
most important means 'in the prOvSecution of God's
design, it seems not inappropriate to couple the pen
and the press.

The art of printing was discovered about 1440 A.
D., so that, prior to that period, the pen was employed
in copying the scriptures for transmission to succeed-
ing generations ; and so, effectual, insignificiant as it
is, in carrying on the design of the Creator of the
worlds. It is still UvSed in the preparation of the scien-
tific, historical and religious works that have been, and
are, so useful in the improvement and development of
our intellectual and moral faculties, and thus in
furthering the work of redemption. We maj- mention
also the ninety-five theses Martin Luther penned and
nailed to the gates of Wittemberg on the 31st of
October, 15 17, which were instrumental, in the hands of
God, in commencing the glorious Reformation, the
results of which are yet rich blessings to the world, and
shall continue to flow from the Great Fountain till the
knowledge of the Divine glory covers the earth.

In briefly glancing at the instruments, as well as
the agents, God uses in effecting His purpose, the press
calls for a passing notice. It has been a most potent
engine for good. It has occupied a place in the
machinery of Providence ; especially, in multiplying the
copies of the Bible, and that in over 300 languages and
dialects ; this Divine revelation, as we have seen, being
the means, in the hands of the Holy Spirit and the
Church, of renovating our corrupt being, and so mak-

ill

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122

GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

ing God's people a monument to the principalities and
powers, of His manifold wisdom. The pi ess has wonder-
fully aided in disseminating the truths of Christianity
by which erro»- is everywhere tottering and falling.
The Bible, and other books and religous periodicals,
as far as they embody the sentiments and doctrines of
the scriptures, are scattering the leaves of the Tree of
Life for the healing of the moral maladies of mankind ;
and so, in our missionary magazines, we have a con-
tinued history of the work of redemption, as we have
the commencement of it in the Acts of the Apostles.
All the resources of the universe are at the command of
Christ, and are employed in carrying out His design,
and teaching the rational intelligence of it that He is
the invisible actor in the government of this as well as
all worlds.

Satan and his company of fallen spirits, tliopc
wicked principalities and powers that we have to wrestle
with, Eph. 6 : 12, no doubt pervert the press in accom-
plishing their base designs, yet an untold amount of
good is continually being effected by the dissemination
of wholesome religious literature ; and although Vol-
taire expected to destroy Christianity by his " Age of
Reason " and other literary productions, the Bible is
now being printed in a building where his printing
establishment stood and he has failed as Julian the
Apostate did when he attempted to falsify the words
of Jesus Christ by attempting to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem, his workman being foiled in the undertaking
by balls of fire issuing from the ground. The Lord
Jesus will reign.

"Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,
Tbe eternal years of God are her's ;

But error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies amid her worshippers."

It is conjectured by some that these fallen spirits
once occupied this planet, from which they were expelled
for misconduct. Milton supposed they were occupants

god's eternal PURPOvSE.

123

•of heaven, which one he does not say ; and that man
was created to fill the positions from which they were
hurled on account of pride. Hence one cause of their
inveterate hatred of mankind, and especially to Jesus
Christ the seed of the woman who is bruising his head.
Can we reconcile these views by supposing the new
heaven and earth will be the old one renewed ; John
Milton believed so ?

CHAPTER Xni.
The means of Grace . Institutmi of the Sabbath.

In accomplishing His eternal purpose God has in-
separably united the means and the end ; an^l very
unwise is the individual who will not unite them.
What He has joined together let not man put asun^ler.
The same laws obtain in the spiritual realm as in the
material, in this respect ; although both have been
suspended in the performance of miracles ; we mean
that, as the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, etc.,
-were miracles in the material, so the conversion of Paul,
etc., were miracles in the .spiritual world — that is
without the ordinary means :; but in the general conduct
of God in these things, He has man to till the soil in
providing His bread, He causing it to bring forth ; and
to attend to the means of grace He blesses in the
regeneration of human hearts, and so in effecting His
gracious design . Usually God has employed preaching,
praying and praising, as means in the renovation of
man 's nature to each of which we will address ourselves
briefly.

I. Preaching, "Go ye unto all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature " is the Divine
•order. Preaching \vas instrumental in ushering in
Pentecost ; Peter at hat time using one of the keys of
the kingdom of heav; n, and opening it to 3000 Jews ;
and shortly afterwards employing the other and ad-
mitting the Gentile^ ; hut it was by preaching on both
occasions. The kingdom is open now.

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124

god'vS eternal purpose.

Preaching is of ancient date. Enoch, the seventh from
Adam was a preacher. Jude 14. Noah was a preacher
of righteousness. The prophets weie more or less all
engaged in this work. The Apostles were principally
engaged in preaching. The Reformers did so in their
day. Geo. Whitfteld was the prince, and C. H. Spur-
geon the king, of preachers in modern times. By the
labors of all of these God has been carrying on His
great work. Indeed piety has abounded in the different
ages of the church's history just in proportion as God's
Word was faithfully preached. Christ Himself is the
Great Preacher who makes other fishers of men. Re-
ligion has always been at a low ebb when this most
important duty has been neglected ; so much is it one
of God's methods of doing His work. The dark ages
was a resiilt of the neglect of preaching the gospel.
Heathendom is what it is to-day for the want of the
light of Divine truth ; and those in ChrivStian lands who
do not avail themselves of the privilege of hearing the
word of God as preached, are kept from sinking into
heathenism only by the influence of those who give it
attention. God uses human tongues and human ears
in effecting His purpose. He does not ignore means.
He gives character and life by regeneration and that
character is exemplified by preaching and practice.
There is no surer sign that we aie saved than of activity
in the service of God.

" They that be wise vShall shine as the brightness
of the firmament and they that turn many to righteous-
ness as the stars forever and ever." Dan. 12 : 3. Let
us be encouraged ; preaching is sewing the seeds of
eternal life ; let us water them with prayers and tears,
and God shall shine upon the means of His own ap-
pointment and a harvest of souls be gathered. " ,^e
shall not labor in vain in the Lord." The commission
shall not have been repealed till the nations of earth are
at the feet of Jesus. "His word will not return unto
Him void."

Our text would lead us to conclude that we shall

GOD'S ETERNAIv PURPOSE.

125

t
If

preach forever, and we do not avSk for any better employ.
Mr. Spurp:eon thought so, and that there is sufficient
in the Word of God to do so. May be he is now thus
enj^aged.

Let i,the Church, then, for it is dy /icr that the
manifokl wivSdom of God is made known to the princi-
palities and powers in heavenly places ; and let us
remember that we r^ay nozu have them for part of our
congregation ; let the Church, then, we say, proclaim
Christ to the race.

" He, he is the God we adore,
Our faithful unchangeable friend ;

Whose love is as great as His power,
And neither knows measure nor end."

II. I'raycr. This is one of the Divinely appointed
means that (iod uses in carrying on His work of grace
in thovSe who really pray, as well as in blessing others,
and so carrying on his design. A portion of the ten
days that elap.sed between the ascension of the Lord
and the coming of the Holy Spirit, was spent in im-
portunately pleading for His efmsion. God purpo.sed,
predicted and promised His coming, yet prayer was
necessary in order to His reception. It appears that
prayer prepares us to receive the Divine blCvSsings — the
change is in its, not iu (lod. May be one thing, per-
haps the first thing, we should ask ior is : Lord prepare
us to J'tYi'ivt' thy mercies ; and possibly it is doing this,
preparing us that diiavs the atiswer more than rm\thing
else. The Lord m;iy havtr great ITiessings in store for
us, even in this life ; but it takes i:incli prayer to fit us
to have and use thcin. Tlie dicij'ies, then, prayed in
view of the promise, and the jirouiise was in view of the
purpose. In answer to believing, faithful prayer, the}'
received power from on high, the great qualification for
their life-work ; in short the Third Person in the God-
head came to abide with His Church forever, carrying
on the work where Christ left it off, and will complete
tlie Divine intention.

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126

god's eternal purpose.

•V. ■.

-n

A soul dead in sin does not realize its spiritual need,
nor that of others ; but when quickened by the word
and Spirit of God, and animated by the love to God and
man that Christianity inspires, we plead with Him for
ourselves and others

" Prayer is the breath of God in man,

Returning whence it came ;
Love is the sacred fire within,

And prayer the rising flame."

God is love, and He hears and answers faithful,
fervent prayer. He has made ample provision in Christ
to supply all our wants out of His riches in glory.
"Faithful praj^er moves the arm of Him that moves
the universe."

** Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,

And looks to that alone ;
Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries it shall be done."

Although no merit, there is might, in prayer ; it
is a part of His plan, we cog ourselves into the wheels
of His providence by it, and so work with Him. We
offer the prayer. He supplies the power. It is a most
healthy exercise for the soul. Wind it up by prayer in
the morning, and it will run all day. Use the life God
gives us — we have praying life if we are born from
above.

I have no doubt that as soon as a sinner begins
to pray, the Holy Spirit begins to teach him, although
it may not be perceived at first. That is one object in
erecting a throne of grace ; and it was done at a great
cost. That is what Jesus continually intercedes for —
that we may continually offer prayer. May be prayer
is always ascending to God.

*' Nor prayer is made on earth alone.

The Holy Spirit pleads ;
And Jesus on the eternal throne,

For sinners intercedes. ' '

god's eternal purpose.

127

Our lives are entirelj- different Irom what they
would be had we not been praj'ing people — indeed the
world is very different. Prayerless souls are not acting
philosophically. The blessings God gives are worth
asking for, and it is a princelj' privilege to do so. We
appreciate Jesus Christ as a priest just in proportion as
we pray. One of the great wonders of grace in the
government of heaven is the erection of a throne of
mercy, the invitations to it, and the answers to guilty
sinners from it, it can only be so through the merit
and intercession of Christ.

We have the words in Gen. 4 : 26 : "Then began
men to call i.pon the name of the Lord. " Man realized
the loss and woes entailed upon Him by the fall, and
looked to his Maker for deliverance — and it is a wonder
to be wondered at that all mankind do not ; they would,
if they knew God as some of us do. Come to Him.

• ' What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear ;
What a privilege to carry,

Everything to God in prayer."

All our wants in time and eternity are provided for
in the covenant of grace, and the Lord "will be en-
quired of by the house of Israel to do these things for
them." Every blessing has been forfeited by original
sin and continued transgression, as well as the Divine
displeasure incurred ; but God has provided more in
Christ than Adam and we lost ; we receive it by faith
and prayer. Pray without ceasing, for Christ does so.

' ' The sons of Adam boast
Of more than they in Adam lost."

We will invite your attention to a few instances,
quoting from sacred and profane history, demonstrating
by them that prayer has been extensively instrumental
in effectirg the Divine purpose, and so to be employed
by all who will coincide with it. It has been a mighty
agency in effecting the greatest moral revolutions that

'ill

'< PI

128

god's eternal purpose.

V I

have been wrought amongst mankind. What wonders
were wrought in Egypt, by the God of Israel, when He
would destroy idolatry and establish His own worship,
in answer to the prayers of Moses. And when idolatry
had again become rampant in the days of Elijah what
a glorious spiritual reformation followed his prayer in
Mount Carmel.

" Let Moses or Elijah groan,
And God cries out, " Let me alone."

Think of Daniel, a captive in Bab3'lon, pleading
with the God of his people till he obtained the promise
of the almost immediate deliverance of the Jews from
their exile. Hezekiah's prayer was followed by the
destruction of 185,000 A.ssyrians in one night, and the
preservation of Jerusalem in consequence. The selec-
tion of the Apostles of our Lord was preceded by a
night of prayer on His part. This was a matter of
paramount importance, in connection with the Divine
purpOvSe. The Pentecostal revolution, the greatest the
world has known, was prefaced by ten da3\s prayer ; a
1 evolution that overthrew satan's kingdom from found-
ation to apex. Prayer was a secret, not only of the
formation ot the Church of Christ at that pciiod, but of
the notable ^'formation of it in the sixteenth century.
See Luther on many occasions, but especialh- the night
preceding the meeting of the Diet at Worms, and we
will not marvel so much at the success attending the
caUvSe of truth, for by prayer he harnessed himself on to
the chariot of God. John Knox says in prayer : "Give
me vScotland or I die ' ' and he got Scotland ; and Queen
Mary declared she was more afraid of his praj-ers than
an army of 10,000 men. One day he ha.stily rose from
his knees and told his friends that deliverance had come,
shortly after they heard of her death. "There is
nothing impossible with God and them that believe."
Spurgeon attributed his emnient success to the prayers
of his Church ; and we know that his own w^ere often
immediately answered in almost, if not altogether

GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE.

129

miraculous ways. We can learn lessons from these
things.

Many instances, equallj- demonstrative, could be
furnished, which will occur to the mind of the reader.
These r.re sufficient to prove that prayer is one of the
means (employed by the Governor of the world in carr}--
ing on His work . Suffice is to say : We fully believe
that all true prayer is answered in one of two ways.
God our Father either gives us what we ask for, or grace
to endure the want of it ; we have examples in the Bible
of both methods of answering praj-er. In all our
prayers, we must especially remember that, " Thy will
be done, " " Is the prayer of pra5'ers. "

The new birth is what constitutes us Christians,
and the spirit of prayer is alwa3''S an accompanying gilt.
We may be confident we afe not Christians if we do not
possess the spirit of praj'er.

' * Restraining prayer we cease to fight ;

Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright ;
Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees ;
And all the powers of hell would boast,

If but one praying soul were lost."

Tf a church, or even an individual, is earnestlv
pleading with God, you may expect a rich blessing. It
is also an end as well as a means ; it operates subjec-
tively as w^ell as objectivel}'.

Do we feel sufficiently interested in the cause of
Christ to pray in secret, at our family and church
altars ? Let us be encouraged for God's promises are
in accord w4th His eternal purpose ; and it is accom-
plished in His ruling and over-ruling providence. ' ' Let
men then pray everywhere, " for the Almighty uses us,
in this way, in effecting that design. The promises
already fulfilled prove this, and God is unchangeable
and true. Many things occur that would not but for
prayer.

Let us wind the soul up in the aiorning by prayer,

130

r.OD'vS KTERNAI, PURPOSE.

'UM

Hi -'

ilfi

'!• i

that it may run all day for Ciod ; and atniglitby praise
for the mercies of the day ; for sleep is vSo much like
death th<at we ought to fear to lie down without com-
mending ourselves to His mercy in Christ.

III. Praise. Thi.sjis an important feature in the
worship of God. It is frequently preaching, prayer and
praise all in one. Good music animates the heart of
the preacher and opens the avenue of the heart to receive
truth that otherwise might be unheeded. Many souls
have been convicted by the .sweet strains of the gospel
as .sung by (rod's .servants. "Music hath charms.'*
It is akin to the worship of heaven, and does much,
when arising from hearts fired by love to God, to prepare
for the employments of the Church triumphant. A
little girl when hearing Jenny Lind sing asked her
mother " If it was heaven." Mu.sic has a great influ-
ence on human minds. It has been said, in view of
this fact, " I care not who legislates for a country, if I
am allowed to compo.se its songs." The songs of our
native land fill us with patriotism, tho.se of a spiritual
nature with love to God and our future home. In
preaching, our hearts go out to the people ; in prayer,
to God for His blessings on His creatures ; and in praise,
al.so to Him for what He has done for us.

" In every joy that crowns my days,

In every pain I bear ;
My heart shall find delight in praise,

Or seek relief in prayer."

T'le small amount of piety prevailing in Heathen-
dom, where little or no preaching, prayer and praise
are observed, proves how much as means, thej' have to
do with God's purpose, and how wise in us to give
attention to them. Let us be as wise in the spiritual
realm, in the use of means, as we are in the secular.
They are divinely appointed for the accomplishment of
the Divine purpose.

A good singer is a musical instrument God has
made ; and when the Holy Spirit touches the .strings

(lOD S ETERNAL ITRPOSE.

I.U

re
il

and causes them to vibrate with love to Mim, the person
is not far from heaven. Without Mini.

" In vain we tune our formal songs,

In vain we strive to rise ;
Hosannas language on our tor.gues,

And our devotion dies."

In speaking of human agency we do not forget that
(lod is the great architect of the Church, the palace He
is erecting for His own residence, but Me emplovs His
highly favored creature, man, after He creates him unto
good works, to co-operate with Him. dod performs
most of the great purpose Himself, such as the creation
of the angels, of the heavens and earth, the new creation
of the soul unto holiness, and will the body at the
resurrection, and also form the new heavens and earth .
but man, as God works in him, preaches, pra>'s, gives '
etc., and thus God's manifold wisdom is made known'
by as well as through the Church. Are we thus endea-
voring to make it known to the celestial intelligences ?
Eternal life is the gift of God, but rewards await our
labors.

Institiitio7i of the Sabbath . This is the day devoted to
preaching, prayer, praise and the appropriation of our
means to the spread of the gospel, and so especiallj' to
carry on the sublime work of human salvation, and to
answer the other great end spoken of in the text. More
is done, in this respect, probably, than in the other six
days of the week. It is the day on which God .said :
" Let light be, and light was. " It is the day on which
He shines, through His read, taught and preached Word,
into thousands of benighted souls, giving them "The
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Je.sus Christ." The mind, in a moral sense, is
similar to the chaotic condition of this earth before God
said : "Let there be light. " It is the day our Lord rose
from the grave, the day on which millions have had a
spiritual resurrection to eternal life, and will probably
be the day on which the general resurrection will occur.

132

GOD'vS ETERNAIy PURPOSE.

It is the day on which the Holy Spirit, came to carr}'
out the Divine intention, Jesus completing the external
part of the scheme on that d?y, and He beginning the
internal work ; the day on which thousands are born
from above. It is the day observed by the Christian
Church, in all ages of her history, as the daj' of rest
and worship ; a comparatively few nave kept the
seventh. Ezekiel appears to have foretold the change
from the seventh to the eighth, and thus to the first
as there are only seven daj's in the week, in the 43rd
chapter of his prophecy and 27th vense. The apOvStles
observed the first day of the week. It is, thus, visible
at a glance, that God in His wisdom purposed the
seventh part of our time to be devoted to His service,
and so the accomplishment of His design. It is re-
quired for spirit and body. Mr. Moody says : "If we
are careless about the one we will be about the other. "
In France, when anarchj' and infidelity were rampart,
and the inhabitants seemed determined to destroy the
last vestige of Christianity, they abolished the obser-
vation of the seventh part of time and substituted the
tenth for rest ; but they soon discovered, that neither
man nor beast could endure nine days labor, and so were
forced to return to the Divine appointment. Let us
remember then that we have a year of Sabbaths every
.seven years. We could, or ought to do, much, for the
salvation of souls in a year ; we could offer much
prayer ; we could read much of the Word of God ; we
could attend Divine ^,'orship a great deal ; and in these
ways fall in line with God's plan. I hope we will not
act as the beggar, who, on receiving t>ix dollars from a
gentleman, knocked nim down and robbed him of a
seventh he had. We act like this when we do not
observe the Lord 's day. ' ' Remember the Sabbath day,
to keep it holy."

The Holy Spirit le^enerated 3000 the first Sabbath
kept on the first day of the week. Let us place our-
selves in a position to receive the blessings of salvation
l)y attending to the duties of that day. God gives us

god's eternal PURPOvSE.

133

a
a

six days for ourselves, and we frequently rob Him of
the seventh. How will we spend the year of Sabbaths
in the next seven yecv.s if we live ? Let us acquire and
impart an amount of instruction, as well as attend to
other duties. ' ' We cannot grind with the water past
the mill;" God help us to improve the Sabbaths to
come.

" A Sabbath well spent, brings a week of content
And strength for the toils of the morrow ;

But a Sabbath profaned, whalsoe'er may be gained.
Is a certain forerunner of sorrow."

vSunday was the first day of the week when (lod
began the old creation. For if we reckon from Sati;rday
the seventh day of the week, the Jewish vSabbath, we
will see that Friday w^as the sixth, Thursday the fifth,
Wednesday tlie fourth, Tuesda}- the third, Monday the
second, and so Sunday, the day God said : " Let there
be light, " was the first. Now Jesus had not completed
the wcrk of redemption hy His death, but did so by
His resurrection, and rested from His toil the Jirs/ day
of the week. Thus as far as /I'me is concerned, we have
the first da}^ of the week for rest when being S'dved/ro;n
sin as it was the first day of the week before sin. He
did rest on the Jewish Sabbath from His work of
ercation, but not from that of redemption, but did on
the first day of the week after its completion, showing
that the Jewish Sabbatli was no longer to be considered
as the day of rest, and that bj- the same authority ts at
first instituted the observation of the seventh. The
work ',f redemption coutinued till the end oiWxe seventh
day or Jewish Sabbath, then Jesus rested from it on the
first.

Let us improve the remainder of the year we have
in ever3' seven in mental and spiritual improvment that
we may, enjoy the eternal Sabbath of the saints. It is
a good indication that we have a qualification for heaven
when we enjoy spiritual employments on the Sabbath
day.

■Hi

134

god's eternal purpose.

'' Then will I set my lieart to find,
Inward adornings of the niind ;

Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
These are the robes of richest dress.

In these on earth would I appear,

Then go heaven and wear them there.'

The

CHAPTER XIV.
Lord's Second Coming.

This is the great and final event in the h-'stor}' of
this planet, when the eternal destinies of its inhabitants
will be fixed ; the last until the endless state which the
completion of the eternal purpose will usher in,
Acts I : II, Heb. 9 : 28. The prophecies of the Old
Testament concerning His first ad/ent have become
history; His second coming is still in prophec}- — is
yet in the future. Time, however, does not stop, and
the period is approaching as fast as its w^heels revolve.
A great part of it is gone ; maybe we are much nearer
its end than its beginning. The history of this world
will soon be an event of the past. We tremble at what
is nearing. Worlds that were once visible to the
telescope are now not to be seen ; their end may have
come. It will soon be so with this one, ?\\ ]east iu it.s
present form. Indeed the end of mi
inhabitants has already come.

iiL.LiiJes of ito

" All levelled by the hand of death

Ivie sleeping in the tomb,
Till. God in judgment calls them fcAi;

To meet their final doom."

And we soon vsliall join "the silent majorit}-, "
enter " the cit}- of the dead, " have our small space in
" God's acre."

Sin blasted, demoralized and blighted God's fair
creation, and in order to its annihilation, and that of
its coUvSequences, an entire, radical change is indispen-
sible, even new -heavens, earth, body and spirit.
" Behold, I make all things new, " Rev. 21 : 5. Christ's

GOD SETERNAIv PURPOSE.

135

first coming was to take awaj- sin ; none but Ciod
Almighty could do it ; otherwise sin would have taken
us away. His second coming will be to complete the
glorious design, to usher in a better and an eternal
order of things, where sin shall not be known.

The curtain has dropped for a short time between
His first and second advents. The one different very
much from the other. His uncreated excellence was
veiled in a tent of cla}^ when He first appeared ; the
.second time it will be in all the glory of His Father,
and that of the holy angels, first as a man of sorrows,
then as the God of glory — He is the God-man, Saviour
and Judge — Mediator to transact business between
God and man.

At His second advent there are four things in
particular that He is to do in order to complete the
eternal purpose of God, and bring in the golden age :
To raise the dead from earth and sea, to change those
living in .such a way as shall be equivalent to the
death and resurrection of those who yhall have passed
away, to judge all the inhabitants that shall have ever
lived on this glolje, -according to their deeds, good or
bad, and sentence them to a state and place suited to
the character their deeds reveal, and to create new
heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness,
where :

" God's soft hand shall wipe the tears
From every weeping eye,

And pains and groans and griefs and fears
And death itself shall die."

When we speak of the coining of the Lord, we do
not mean that He is not here, but a different manifes-
tation of Himself; " lyO I am with you alway, even to
the end of the world," Matt. 28 : 20. He manifests
Himself to His people now and makes His abode with
them, although not to nor with the world ; but then it
will be to all, " Every e3'e shall see Him," Rev. i : 7.
He is here. He is with His people in spirit — He will
come in human nature as God incarnate.

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136

god's eternai^ purpose.

I. He will raise the dead. God's purpose in
making known His manitold wisdom to the principal-
ities and powers in heavenly places in the work of
man's redemption included the body as well as the
spirit. But for this purpose no doubt Adam and Eve
would have suffered the penalty of their sin without
any separation of body and vSpirit, just as the vSecond
Adam bare our sins in His oivn body on the tree, and
just as those who neglect this great salvation shall be
punished after their bodies and spirits .shall have been
re-united by the resurrection. Separation of body and
spirit is not part and parcel of the penalty of .sin ; it is
part of the process of man's redemption. At the separ-
ation of body and spirit, the regenerated or new created
and partially sanctified .spirit leases all its sinful
polution in the body, it being consigned to the tomb to
await its regeneration or new creation, when at the
resurrection it will forever leave all its sinful corruption
behind and be fa.shioned like unto Christ's glorious
bod\'. As the tabernacle gave way to Solomon's
temple, and as the new heavens and earth will super-
cede the old, .so the glorified body wnll that of clay.
We say then that death and resurrection are a part of
the process of redemption, and that Christ is coming
again to complete our salvation by raising the dead ;
and it is as easy for Him to do so as to raise Adam 's
body from dust when he was first formed. If, then,
we are truly born from above, that is, if our .spirits
have been born of the Holy Spirit we need not fear
death ; f Dr although named the King of Terrors, Christ
has enlisted him as a servant to help in the work of
man's salvation. The resurrection of the bod\' will be
its regeneration, as the new birth of the human spirit
is its regeneration ; and it will be performed in the
same way, for, "If the spirit of Him who raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up
Chri.st from the dead shall also quicken yoyxx mortal
bodies by His spirit that dwelleth in you, " Rom. 8:11.
In other words, regeneration of the whole man will be

^..

god's eternal PLfRPUSE.

137

completed when soul and body arc g^.orified. Christ's
body, It appears, redeenied our bodit-s. His spirit our
spirit ; or, God and man to^j^etlier accomplished it.

But for God's purpose to redeera, Adam aud Eve
would not have been allowed to remain on earth, or
they would have been ])unished forever on it ; as it is,
they were driven from ICden. Our trials in this life
are a source of comfort too ; for ir virLue of Christ's
redemptive work, and throuj^'h the a.:jency of the H0I3'
Spirit, "our lij^ht afllictions, which endure for a
moment, work for us a fu* more exceeding and eternal
weight of glor}' ; for if tlie e.irthly house of this taber-
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands eternal in the heavens."
Diseases invade the ch.y house and the soul quits it as"
an unfit abode. " Dust thou art to dust thou vshalt
return. " " Yet in my flesh shall I see God " " As in
Adam all die, sc in Christ shall all be made alive."
And here the body is meant instead of the spirit, i
Cor. 15 : 22.

" Few are thy duys and full of woe,

O man of woman born ;
Thy doom is written, dust thou art,

And shalt to dust return."

" And why should the spirit of mortals be proud. "
The worms shall soon devour us.

These tents shall .soon be taken down, but they
vShall be pitched beyond the river of death, to stand
forever. Yet,

" Timerous mortals start and shrink,

To cross this narrow sea ;
And linger, shivering on the brink,

And fear to launch away,"

We may see the first resurrection, if it means of the
body instead of the spirit — that is the resurrection
before the Millennium — those alive at Christ's second
coming will .see the general resurrection. Christ raised
one newly dead, the nobleman's daughter ; one on the

138

god'vS eternal purpose.

way to the cemeter\', the widow \<5 son ; and one buried,
Lazaru.s. Many bodies of the saints arose at the time
of His own resurrection — first fruits of His victory.
" He abolished death and brought life and immortality
to ligh'tby the gospel," 2 Tim. i : 9. Paul informs us
that the gospel is, Christ's death, burial and resurrec-
tion. God has propovsed to raise our bodies. " As in
Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. ' ' The
old friends, bod}- and Lpirit, shall be re-united. They
labored and suffered as one, they shall be rewarded as
such. "Our bodies shall shine like the sun in the
kingdom of our Father. ' ' These mortals shall put on
immortality ; then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written. " Death is swallowed up in victory."
I Cor. 15 : 54. .

" Let faith exalt her joyful voice,

?'•^d thus begin to sing ;
O grace where is th}^ triumph now ?

And where O death thy sting ?"

In order then to finish God's gracious design, the
spirit and body will be glorified by Christ and His
Spirit at His second coming. The resurrection will be
the first great event that shall take place at that solemn,
yet joy nil, time.

n . Ne will change the living at His coming. Fkoh
and blood camtot inherit the kingdom of God." i Cor.
15 : 20. The change will be similar to that wrought
on Enoch and Elijah, which was equivalent to death
and resurrection. Our I^ord, then, has effected already
things as difficult to accomplish as v^-hat is iiecessaiy
in order to complete the Divine purpose. vSin will be
as efiectually destroyed by this cliange as in the other
case by death and resurrection. What a vshock this
mighty change will be to the human system. "In a
moment, in the twinkling of an e3e, we, or those alive
at Christ's .second advent, shall be changed." i Cor.
15 ; 51, 52. The life emanating from the dying (lod-
man on Calvary, like the shock of an omnipotent gal-

god's eternal I'UKPOSE

139

vanic batter}-, shall have communicated immortality to
the spirits of the innumerable multitude of the redeemed
and shall be felt in the caverns of the tomb, and arouse
the sleepers there, and change the living. God's heart
is visible on the Cross, and its almighty pulsations have
revivified the spirits of myriads of a dead race, and will
their l^odies too. The work of the Mediator, and the
proclamation of it to a world dead in sin by God's ser-
vants under the influence of an unction from the Holy
One, has been a mighty engine carrying the Church to
glory.

We shall all soon experience death or this change ;
which depends upon whether the Lord comes before our
appointed time to die or alter.

III. He luill judge the world ichen He 'comes.
When the dead are raivSed and the living changed, all
the luman race shall stand before the (jod-man to be
judged according to the deeds done in the bod_v ; and
when the sentences are passed, they shall enter upon
their eternal ^vState, and God's eternal purpose shall have
been accomplished in connection with the history of
this sinful world and its inhabitants.

The day of grace, lasting from the time Christ
began His intercession in the Garden of fulen till He
ceases it at the end of time, shall then be landed. This
world shall not always continue as now, vice encouraged
and virtue di.scountenanced ; (xod shall not always be
grieved with sin, nor allow His saints to be oppressed.
Rebellion against His government shall not be per-
petual. It is passing strange that those who have been
the greatest persecutors have boasted that they were,
at the time, the people of God — .the Jews, Romanists,
etc. There is a day coming in which they will ascertain
that it was because the}' were not the children of God
that they did vSo. Persons often fought against God
when they supposed they were fighting for Him ; so
easily are we deceived and so much is the carnal mind at
enmity against Him. " The heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked," Jer. 17 : 9. We love

I40

god's eternal purpose.

da'-kness better than light and do not know it. If
those persecutors had turned to Dan. 7; 21-25 and
Rev. 13:7, the}' would have known who the vSaints
were ; but like many of us now, they were compara-
tively ig:norant of the Word of God. God has a prison
in His (ioniiiiicn ; and if we do not repent of sin, and
-wash it away by faith in the blood of the Lamb, it vShall
be our eternal abode. This world is a penitentiary -— a
reformatory — may grace make us reformed penitents.
His Divine being intends a day of separation — the holy
and the sinful shall not always live together. Our
character will decide our destiny, and our conduct our
character. Two sentences shall be pronounced b\- Jesus
Christ the Judge ; for when a Saviour was born
so was a Judge, when we celebrate Christmas we do
well to remember this. His first visit to this earth was
in the capacity of a Saviour, His second will be that
of a Judge as well. " Before Him shall be gathered all
nations, and He shall separate them one from another
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. ' ' Matt.
25 : 32. To those on His right hand, the place of
honor, He will sa}' : " Come ye blessed of my Fa ler,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda-
tion of the world." vSome divines think that the
righteous will be taken up from the earth into the air,
the first heaven ; while the wicked will be left on the
earth ; Christ and His throne intervening. Edwards,
BOvSton, etc., thought thus.

The place was prepared, although, apparentU', not '
finished, from the foundation of the world ; thus read}'
for Abel and all of the spirits of the just made perfect,
till they re-enter the body, and in its glorified condition
occupy it forever. It does not appear to have been
finished for Jesus says: "I go to prepare a place for
you." Is it the new heavens and earth, which indeed
are not yet finished, if the old ones, in a remodeled state ,
are to be the new ?

" Come ye bles.sed, etc." As penitents you came
to me on a throne of grace ; as worshippers you came

GODS ETERNAL PURPOSE.

141

to the earthly temple ; as ignorant you came to my
word for instruction ; now come and occupy the throne
with me ; now come and worship in the heavenly
temple ; now come and I will teach you forever ; come
to ni}' home and my heart and enjoy everlasting com-
munion, nearer ard<lejirer fellowship, eternally ; come
and be the admiration of principalities and powers in
heavenly places to tlie endless end of the ages.

"Ye ble.s.sed ( f niy Father " Blest of the Father
indeed ! He gave His only begotten Son to them ; and
shall He not with Him freelj- give us all things ? He
gave them to His only begotten Son, and so put them
in safe-keeping.

'* I know that .safe with Him remains,

Protected b}' His power ;
What I've committed to His trust,

Till the decisive hour."

I %^

" lie is able to save to the uttermost all that come
unto God b}^ Hhn ;" " and him that cometh He will bj-
no means cavSt out. " Then I will go. The Father also
blesses them by drawing them to His Son; " For no
man come unto me," saith Chri.st, " except the Father
draw him." The Father also blesses them with His
Spirit. In .short Paul did, and we may, and ought to
say. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ zcho hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places, according as He
hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we vshould be hoh' and without blame
before Him in love, not because we were so but that we
might be made so b}- those blessings, Eph. 1:3, 4.
And vSo these spiritual ble.ssings c^ualif}' us to be on the
right hand of the Judge in that great day, and nothing
else can ; the doing part of salvation is over, now i t is
asking and receiving ; Christ did the work, we receive
the blessing.

142

god's eternal purpose.

" There's nothing to do"for being born dead,
We must have another to work in our stead ;
No nothing to do till saved from our sins,

When the power of doing good only begins."

" All things are yours. " " Heirs of (Vod and joint
heirs with Christ. " "Who loved us and gave Himself
for us that He might purif}- unto Himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works ;" and it is by works we
shall be judged, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me,"
Let us do all the good we can and thus coincide with
(lod's ])urpose, and

" Tlien He will own His servants name.

Before His Father's face,
And in the new Jerusalem,

Appoint our souls a place."

The second sentence will be, "Depart \e cursed
into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels," Matt. 25 : 41. God cannot encourage vSin in
His creation by showing any less than the amount of
displeavSure His hoi}- nature entertains against it. God
is love, and delights in the communication of happiness
to His creatures ; and whatever stands in the way of
this. Pie ignores in terms equivalent to His perfections.
Say not then that the sentence is severe.

" Depart , " viaybe with the burning world. " The
earth and the heaven fled av;ay, and there was found
no place for them, " Rev. 20 : 11. Maybe this old earth
and heaven will be the new.

Ye did not come to me for the mercy I procured
for you with ni}' blood ; ye would not come that ye
might have life ; for love of sin ye neglected the great'
salvation ; now vengeance will overtake 5-011. It is
well we know this now that we may flee to Christ. It
is love on God's part to reveal it.

"Ye cursed." "Cursed is ever}' one that con-
tinueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them ," 3-011 were born under that cunse, and ye

Ci()l> S KTICUXAI, ITKPOSIv.

143

would not crir.e fn r.i beneath it 1 y lejxntiince towards
(iod and faith in nie ; nay, noiwitlistandin;;- 1 was
made a curse for you; for it is written, "Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree." Depart into ever-
lastino- punishircnt. Thie sairts v, ill s i\- Amen when
they Jehold the jv.^tice of tie Mnteic, anun to the
damnation of an<.!^els and men, 1 Cor. 6 : 2. 3.

We will emploN- an illustnitiou in order to j-crasp
the idea of the jus-tice of t!ie j ei :iUy attached to the
violation of the Divine law. li a soldier insults an
equal iti the rank.'-, the crime is lu t considered a serious
one ; if he oflends a superior ofi"i(-er it is looked ui)on as
a graver offence ; if lie does so to the commander-in-chief
it is still more heinous ; but if he ir.sults Her Majesty,
tlie Queen, onl}- her clen^ei-c}' would ])revent the
execution of the c,ilj)rit. Thus we see that the guilt,
the criminality, the turpitude of an act is enhanced j/.st
in proportion to tlie dignity of the per.sou ofiended.
Apply this to the infinite excelltncy, honor and glory
of Jehovah, and we can see, to some extent, the fearlul
demerit of sin. Ti e day of accoiiiits th-.t is hastening
apace, and what w.il ])e transacted on tliat memorable
occasion, are necessary in order to the proper adminis-
tration of the government of Ciod. () how necessary
that we secure Christ to become our Adv<^cate. J-'tand
up against sin now and He will tl-eii stand up for us.

Probably what now most re'-embles the second
coming of the lyord Jesus Christ !s (me of tliose terrific
storms wb.eii the he.'U'cns seem on tire with vix'id flashes
of forked lightening, and tl:e .'-(lid eaith treniLles as
the l:eavens are rent with, the \h\ rider bolts ; for He is
to come in the clouds and in IlaDiiiig fires, luuc'.i as it
was at the giving of the Law to M.-.'-es on Sir.ai, only
on a more stupendous scale, Tvlntt. 24 • 30, 2 Tlics. i : 7, 8,
and Exod. 19 : t6.

144

(.CDS LTKINAL llElCfE.

' Diy of Judgment, day <if wonders,
Hiirk ! the trumpet's awful sound,
I.«n.der tl-an a thousand thunders,
Sliaki s the earth and cleaves the ground ;

How the summons
Will the sinner's heart coufoutid.

Sh;ill we, when examined, matriculate into heiveii
and teach the inhabitants of another world ? Tiie
examination will be on condact and character — the
former deciding- the latter.

IV. He will create neiv heavens and earth. It is
conceivable that the new heavens and earth shall be
prepared before the Judgment, or l^etween it and
raising the dead and changing the living and so be in
readiness for their glorified inhabitants ; but the //w^'
when this wonderful event transpires will be of minor
importance. The Judgment may be first, and then, by
the fiat of omnipotence, the old heavens and earth ma}'
be renewed, or new ones formed. will be a very

solemn epoch in the history of th matures on this
planet. We shall be present.

We believe that grace provided a heaven for man if
he had not sinned ; and that, in time, he would have
been translated to it as Enoch and Elijah were ; and we
are sure that exceeding rich grace is going to provide
one for penitent, obedient believers, although he did
sin. Isaiah. Peter and John make us acquainted with
this part of the Divine purpo.se ; it, of course, like
the second coming of Chri.st, is in the future.

We should like to have been with tl:e morning
stars when the}- sang together, and all the sons rf God
when the\' shotited for jo}- as the}' beheld Jehovah lay
the foundation of this old earth ; bttt let us not be
disappointed too much, we may see Him forming the
new one ; and the heavens too. In anticipation of this
what are the sights earth affords ? It matters little
whether He will form a new earth out of the refined
materials of the old, or create it, we do not say which —
we do not know which. Judging from analogy, we
think it will be the old one, redeemed from the Divine

ctl

ail
a(l

OOD'S i/n-;uNAi. i^uuposk.

'45

curse by the blood of the Ciocl-man shed on its surface,
and pureed by the refining fires of the hist day, and
adorned with more than the pristine l)eauties of Kden,

be the futi

)ode of

_hteou.'

the <?/^ spirit of man is created anew in Christ Jesus
unto good works by regeneration, and the o/d \Hv]y will
be by resurrection. "One generation passeth away,
and another generation comcth, but the ((/r/// al)i(leth
forever." Heel, i: 4. " IMessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. " Matt. 5; 5. Does our Lord
mean the new earth ? or only the temporary occupalion
of it now — even should that now include the Milieu nial
age? What does Daniel mean when saying: 'The
kingdom, /^//r/^v the whole heaven, shall be given to the
people of the saints of the Most High, and they shall
possess it forever and ever ? " Dan. 7: iS, 27. ".Ill
things are the Christians, things to come as well as
present " — r Cor. 3 : 21, 22 ; heirs but not inheritors.
"He formed the earth to be inhabited, " Isa. 45: iS.
Only till the end of time ? Cieologists say that this
glo])e has been the a1)ode of sentient beings twenty-,
seven different times, each race having been swe])t at
different epochs in its hi.story. The events of the flood
are reckoned the twent\'-seventh. Shall the resurrected,
glorified spirits and bodies of the redeemed be its
inhabitants the twenty-eighth time ? Vet it may bean
entirely new heaven and earth. Psalm 102 : 25, 26,
quoted in Heb. 1 : 9-12, appears, however, as if they
would only be changed.

The earth, and possibly the first heaven, were ])uri-
fied to some degree by water in Noah's day ; they will
be entirely by fire in the last day. " 2 Peter 3 : 5-10.

A glance satisfies the believer that the creation of a
new heaven and earth forms a very important link in
the chain of sacred wonders comprising the Divine
purpose. The Eden of the old eartl^ would have been
good enough tor a sinless creature, but a new earth
and heaven will be the eternal portion of these same
creatures, made God's children by the grace of the

146

god'vS eternal purpose.

gospel, even after their rebellion against Him. (This
grace gives no encouragement to sin, when we consider
the penalty paid b}- Jesus Chri.st before it could be
exercised toward us.) The chief glory of the new earth
will not consi.st of the material of which it is composed,
nor of what part of space it luw occupy ; but in the
presence and manifestation of the Divine Essence as
revealed by the incarnate Son of God. It is as eas}^ for
Omnipotence to refine and remodel the old earth or
make a new one as to do so
Gen. 1:1.

in the be<2:inning.

" Then fail this earth, let stars decline.
And sun and moon refu.se to shine ;

All nature sink and cease to be.
That heavenly mansion is for me."

How Paradise will be restored.

The old, or fir.st heaven, contaminated b}- the un-
grateful rebellion of earth's inhabitants, shall be
thoroughh' purified from all the corrupting effects of
sin, or a new one erected. We cannot yet know which
God intended when He created the heaven and the
earth. They have been the workshop ?.r.d theatre of as
great, if not greater wonders, than that the}- be the
future throne of God, the abode of the saints — the
home of the glorified — where the endless future will be
enjoyed in the eniplo3'ments adapted to (rod's purpose
and man 's capacit}-. What wonders are before, as well
as behind, us.

It is supposed that the tarth and its surrounding
atmosphere contains the elements of their own destruc-
tion ; or shall we say purification ? The boiling
springs, earthquakes and volcanoes, are proofs of the
existence of powerful latent forces within ; and if the
God who formed the air, or first heaven, would separate
the component parts of it — nitrogen and oxygen —
from one another -*- the fire from within, meeting that
from without, would soon produce the terrihc conflag-
ration Peter speaks of. A.t the time of the flood, the

god's fternaIv purpose.

-47

waters came from the fountains of the great deep, as
well as from heaven ; it may be so with the fire.

Two philosophers, who came to the conclusion that
the earth would be burned up, root and branch, were
aeked b}- a little giil where they would put the ashes.
The}' were silent.

If one creation is injured b}' satan and sin, God
will have two.

Where the bodies of Christ and those of our fellow's
who have been translated, and possibly some vrho have
arisen from the dead, and the vSpirits of the just made
perfect, (if spirits need a place) now are, whether in the
linst, second, third, or any other heaven that W(7j' exist,
matters little ; it will be bvit a brief period till the spirits
and bodies of all the saved vShall inhabit and inherit a
new heaven and earth. Time is on the wing ; and
since " we cannot grind with the water pajst the mill,"
let us improve the future ; our eternity is begun — we
shall always exist — and whether it will be a miserable
or a happy one depends upon what is done in time —
the first part of our eternit}- ; thorough repentance will
ensure our eternal fclicit}-. In the new heaven and
earth,

" God's soft hand shall wipe the tears

From every weeping eye,
And pains and groans and griefs and fears,
And death itself shall die,"

No doubt but our solar sj'stem has been so adjusted
bj' infinite wisdom and power, that its equilibrium will
be perfectly sustained, v.hatever changes nmy take
place, unless the whole of the sj'stem will be changed ;
and so no need of such adjustment. It will, however,
be wiser to work as God works in us, and so fall in line
with His purpose, than to speculate. For our good,
man}' things aie hidden from us.

" It is good, it is kind in the wise one above,
To fling destiny's veil o'er the face of our years ;

That we see not the blow that shall strike at our love,
And expect not the beams that vShall dry up oar tears."

148

iod's eternal purpose.

CHAPTER XV.

The completed, perfected, eternal state.

God's purpose, as far as its execution is concerned,
has been in course of accomplishment from the period
when lie created the angels, till now ; and will con-
tinue till consumated in the creation of new heavens
and earth, and their joyful inhabitants will be engaged
in their eternal employ. The Church, through the
redemption, and by the services, of which, the manifold
wivsdom of God, is being, and shall be eternally made
known to the principalities and powers in heavenly
places, shall be the royal palace of the Divine Being
forever; while all the redeemed inhabitants of this
planet, together with the unfallen hosts of the universe
shall be filled with, and give expression to, their
admiration of their INIaker's works of creation and
providence ; and while confirmed forever in virtue, shall
render perfef^t obedience to His holy law, finding end-
less felicity in so doing. The evidence we have of these
facts ought to stimulate tlie saints to practice and the
sinners to penitence. The providential government of
this globe, in the salvation of a numberless host of its
inhabitants, shall doubtless form a subject of praise
and likely of preaching forever, each saint having a
different story to tell ; and may be none but the com-
paratively few angels who fell, and, we hope the few
lost inhabitants of this one world but what .shall be
preserved sinless forever through the exhibition Jehovah
shall have made of Himself in redeeming fallen men ;
they too, as well as mankind, having every rea.son to
praise Him for the executed scheme of salvation, as
well as doing so sponstaneously in their sinless condi-
tion on account of His infinite perfections. The
cherubic, seraphic and angelic hosts of heaven shall
have learned the love, justice and power, as well as
manifold wisdom of their Maker, and shall serve and
glorify Him according to their several capacities.

GOD'S ETERNAI. PURPOSE.

149

Those of the human family made righteous in heart
and life, by the implanted righteousuess «^f the Holy
Spirit, and the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ,
shall be as God, and they want to be forever ; while
those who live and die in sin, must be wretched etern-
ally, as they have sin still in, and on, them ; as it is
the cause of all human and angelic woe. The saints
bore the cross on the old earth ; they shall wear the
crown in the new.

' * Poor and afflicted Lord are thine,
Amongst the great not fit to shine ;

And though the world may think it strange,
They would not with the world exchange,"

The Godhead, through the medium of humanity,
for His infinite glory unveiled would be unbearable,
shall shine forth in new beauties forever and we shall
be like Him lor we shall see Him as He is ; and the
saints can, and probably will be, growing in the know-
ledge and glory forever and yet never be Divine.

* ' There we shall see His face,

And never, never sin ;
There from the rivers of His grace,

Drink endless pleasures in."

We hope and think there will be a language in
heaven, by which we will be better able to describe the
love of God, than we now use.

The attitude of the Triune God, all harmonizing
in the performance of the stupendous plan, and in
accord with His eternal purpose, shall then be seen in
all their Divine perfection. To suppose a repetition of
the display of His moral characteristics as has been
made to the occupants of this planet, and we can not
guess to how many other intelligent creatures through-
out the universe, is to suppose that other worlds are
inhabited, (which indeed is very probable) that the
inhabitants of at least, one of them have rebelled against
their Creator, and that he has enacted the same won-

f5o

'^iOD'vS RTERNAL PITRPOSK.

flerful drama to redeem them, as was performed here.
We much rather endorse the opinion already stated,
that all the sinless intelligences God has made, or may
form, shall be preserved from sinning against the Most
High by the displays of wisdom, love and justice vSeen
in connection with the history of this planet ; and that,
may be, among other reasons, is why the principalities
and powers in heavenly places are having made known
to them, and scanning the manifold wisdom of God
displaj^ed therein. And it probably will be the delight-
ful employ of the saints in a future vState to do so ; for
what theme is of so much importance to them ? What
fills them with such joy ? Thus the Church makes
known God's manifold wisdom ; we try to do so now.

The evil that may have spread ovei the universe
has been nipped in the bud by the displays God has
made to the inhabitants of heaven and earth of the
turpitude of sin ; especially in the exquisite sufferings
of His vSon ; but also in the calamities that have over-
taken the creatures inhabiting this dependency of His
empire, as well as in the prison prepared for the devil
and his angels, and for impenitent human beings.
' ' God is Love ; ' ' and we fully believe that what shall
have transpired on this planet in achieving the Divine
purpose is amply sufficient to produce such glorious
results. Glory be to God.

We cannot see the full splendour of these things
now as we shall, noi- as principalities and powers view
them. We limit the effects of God's greatest work too
much, we believe.

Jehovah, by positive and permissive decrees, is
now completing this great undertaking as He admin-
isters His providential government through Christ, the
brightness of the Father's glory, and the prophet, priest
and king of His people. Preaching, prayer, praise and
the use of the wealth God gives His people, are em-
ployed as means for its accomplishment, and are part
of the plan. The pen, press and pulpit are utilized with
this object in view. The Holy Ghost, through the

^ I

Ui ■ •■■

god's KTttRNAL PURPOSE.

151

(

eternal life He infuses into dead souls, originating in
the Father's grace and flowing through the sufferings
and intercession of Jesus Christ, enables God's children
to coincide with their Creator and Redeemer in the
glorious design. ICniployed in this way while on earth,
because actuated by a principle of love to God and man,
doubtless the palace of God and eternal peace shall be
our portion ; and

•' Grace nil the work shall crown.

Through everlasting days ;
It lies in heaven the topmost stone,

And well deserves the praise."

Thus we have briefly viewed the Purpose of God
in its gradual development, in the creation of Angels,
the heavens and earth, man, the redemption and re-
generation of an innumerable company of the race after
falling into sin, by the Father Son and Holy Spirit, and
the various means employed in doing so. Through all,
it is also seen that it is now in course of accomplish-
ment ; and will, "according to the sure word of
prophecy," meet with entire completion in the course
of the few years that are to end the history of our world.

We ought to love, worship and adore forever, the
God of such a purpose.

We thank Hiia for sparing our unprofitable life to
complete this little book and we,iwiilwo hope the people
God, will pray the Father's blessing for the Son's sake,
and dy the Holy Spirit, may follow it ; and

To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,

The God whom saints adore ;
Be glory as it was and is,

And shrill be evermore. Amen.