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system, and it has its philosophy, is another affair. Every christian must have sometimes been sensible of an indescribable majesty and authority in the preacher who proclaims the gospel, solely as the word of God; commanding submission in his name. This I presume is what is meant by preaching it, not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit and with power.

I beg the readers acceptance of the following anecdote, from Cave's Life of Athanasius.

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"The bishops, before they formally met in the solemn council,* spent some days in preliminary discourses and disputations;† wherein they were attacked by certain philosophers; men versed in subtilties, and the arts of reasoning, whom either curiosity had drawn thither, or, as some suspect, Arius had brought along with him, to plead his cause, and to retard and entan gle the proceedings of the Synod. One of which, priding himself, in the neatness and elegancy of his dis courses, reflected with scorn upon the fathers of the council. A piece of insolence so intolerable, that an ancient confessor, then in the company, a man plain, and unskilled in the tricks and methods of disputing, not being able to bear it, offered himself to undertake him. For which he was laughed at by some, while others more modest and serious, feared what would be the success of his entering the lists with so able and famed a disputant. The good man, however, went on with his resolution, and bluntly accosted his adversary in this manner. "In the name of Jesus Christ, philo

* Council of Nice.

+ Even in the olden time, grave bishops could find leisure to trifle, when they had very weighty business on hand.

born of a woman, to dwell amongst men, and to die for them; who shall come again to sit as judge upon whatever we do in this life. These things we plainly believe. Strive not, therefore, to no purpose, to endeavour the confutation of what we entertain by faith, or to find out how these things may, or may not be; but answer me if thou dost believe.' The philosopher, astonished and thunderstruck with the zeal and plainness of the old man's discourse, answered that he did believe; and thanking that conqueror that overcame him, yielded up himself to his sentiments and opinions, persuading his companions to do the like; solemnly affirming, that it was by an unspeakable power, and not without immediate direction from heaven, that he was brought over to be a christian."

2. The authority of Jesus to give such a commission, was the commandment of his Father, who gave his Son power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as were given him for as he says himself, (this commandment received I of my Father). For I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that

sent me.

3. And now the question comes up, where was the candour, where was the truth, where was the justice of Jehovah, in calling on all mankind to believe on his Son.

SECTION VIII.

Gospel Call.

Let us now examine if the new system justifies the moral attributes of Jehovah, and of Jesus Christ, in commanding all men to believe.

And here we meet with something so extraordinary, that I am afraid I shall be accused of employing one of the artifices of controversy in mentioning it. But certain it is, that this is the only system that ever was broached on the subject, which does not authorize the Lord Jesus Christ to command a single sinner to believe on him. Reader, such is the fact; and thou shalt he convinced of it.

The hypothesis is, that Jesus Christ is at the head of a system, which consists of himself, and all those who are vitally united to him by the Holy Ghost. Now, such a system does authorize him to display all his grace to exercise all his authority over all those who are thus united to him. But does it authorize him to go beyond the limits of his own kingdom; and beat up for recruits in other lands, under other governments? It does not.

Let me use an illustration which Mr. M'C. has employed for another purpose. The government of the United States has a right to govern its own citizens; admit also, that it has a right to naturalize; admit farther, that keeping within its own territory, it has a right to invite the citizens of other governments to come and enjoy the blessings of this nation. And I believe this is the extent of its rights in the case. But

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has it a right to send out agents into other lands, to preach rebellion against other governments-to command all men in every country to forsake all that they have, and to remove into the United States; threatening that if this command is disobeyed, the United States will send a great army, cut them all to pieces, and reduce all they have to ashes. Is this totally unwarrant. ed by the essential principles of government? Then I ask if Jesus Christ be only the head of actual believers, what is there in such a system, to authorize him to command all sinners, under pain of eternal death, to accept his salvation? If he has such authority, it is not provided for in Mr. M'Chord's system.

There is a great difference in many respects, between the covenants of works and grace: there is an analogy between them; but analogies do not prevent great and essential differences. The covenant of works covers the whole ground of our animal nature; so that wherever it finds men, it finds subjects. Not so with the covenant of grace: all its subjects are enlisted at the dram head of the captain of their salvation. Now I want to know what authority the new system gives to the Lord Jesus to beat up for such recruits?

Perhaps the answer may be, that regeneration in the new covenant, is the point which analogizes with generation in the old, and that Jesus Christ has a right to assume authority over all that are born of the spirittrue! But what authority had he over them before they were born of the spirit? And what authority can he have over those who are never born of the spirit. Some systems have made no provision for preaching the gospel to the unelected; but this system has made no provision for preaching it to the unconverted, whether elected or not. Thus at every test it fails!

SECTION IX.

Of the Capaciousness of the Two Covenants.

Mr. M'C. has, for some cause or other, found it necessary to prove, in considerable detail, that the covenant of works, in its own nature, and without any respect to the limiting will of God, is capable of comprehending millions of millions of men, for every individual of the human family destined to exist by the sovereign decree of God. And that the covenant of grace, in its own nature, and without reference to any limiting decree of God, would be capable of granting salvation to the whole of all these millions, supposing them all to have fallen from innocence as we have. He also argues out the same principle in relation to human laws and constitutions. And he might, if he chose, have added, that this is essential to the nature of all laws of every kind. The proportionality of four numbers remains the same, though you should multiply each of them by millions. A triangle which you could cover with your thumb, has the same parts, laws and proportions, with a similar triangle, which could take the solar system in its bosom. Were our globe ten times as large as it is, the principle of attraction would keep its particles together; its revolutions on its axis would give us day and night; and were every orb in the solar system, ten times as large as it is, there would be no alteration in the astronomy of the system. And new editions of the abstract principles of the astronomers of our little world, would be published for the use of schools, in the mammoth world we are speaking of.

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