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Chapter 38. It Should Be Openly Preached – Part 12
VIII.—Unless predestination be preached, we shall want one great inducement to the exercise of brotherly kindness and charity. When a converted person is assured, on one hand, that all whom God hath predestinated to eternal life shall infallibly enjoy that eternal life to which they are chosen, and, on the other hand, when he discerns the signs of election, not only in himself, but also in the rest of his fellow-believers, and concludes from thence (as in a judgment of charity he ought) that they are as really elected as himself, how must his heart glow with love to his Christian brethren! How feelingly will he sympathise with them in their distresses! How tenderly will he bear with their infirmities! How readily will he relieve…
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Chapter 39. It Should Be Openly Preached – Part 13
IX.—Lastly, without a due sense of predestination, we shall want the surest and the most powerful inducement to patience, resignation and dependence on God under every spiritual and temporal affliction. How sweet must the following considerations be to a distressed believer! (1) There most certainly exists an almighty, all-wise and infinitely gracious God. (2) He has given me in times past, and is giving me at present (if I had but eyes to see it), many and signal intimations of His love to me, both in a way of providence and grace. (3) This love of His is immutable; He never repents of it nor withdraws it. (4) Whatever comes to pass in time is the result of His will from everlasting, consequently (5) my…
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Appendix (1): The “Fate” Of The Ancients From The Latin Justus Lipsius.
Concerning The “Fate” Of The Ancients From The Latin Justus Lipsius.[1] Fate (says Apuleius), according to Plato, is that, whereby the purposes and designs of God are accomplished. Hence the Platonics considered providence under a threefold distinction: (1) The providentia prima, or that which gave birth to all effects, and is defined, by them, to be the intention or will of the supreme God. (2) The providentia secunda, or actual agency of the secondary or inferior beings, who were supposed to pervade the heavens, and from thence, by their influence, to regulate and dispose of all sublunary things, and especially to prevent the extinction of any one species below. (3) The providentia tertia, supposed to be exerted by the genii, whose office it was to…
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Appendix (2): The Predestination of the Muslims
Concerning the Predestination of the Muslims. The reader may, if he pleases, consider himself as entered, at present, on a kind of historical voyage. Some people pretend to think that we are in full sail for Constantinople, and that predestination is at once the compass by which we steer, and the breeze by which we are carried plump into the Grand Seignior's harbour. Predestination and the ineluctabilis ordo rerum are, according to these sage Arminian geographers, situate only in the latitude of Muhammad, and every man who believes with Scripture that God "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will," and, with our Church, that all things, both in heaven and earth, are ordered by a never-failing providence—every man who thus believes is,…
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Appendix (3): The Predestination of the Roman Catholics
Concerning the Predestination of the Papists. It is asserted that Augustine and Aquinas were ''two champions for predestination," and "their names have much weight in the Church of Rome." I am apt to think that such acquaintance, either with St. Augustine's writings or with those of Aquinas, is, at best, extremely slender. Whatever may be said for the truly admirable Bishop of Hippo, it is certain that the ingenious native of Aquino was by no means a consistent predestinarian. He had, indeed, his lucid intervals, but if the Arminians should find themselves at a loss for quibbles, I would recommend to them a diligent perusal of that laborious hair-splitter, who will furnish them, in their own way, with many useful and necessary quirks, without the…
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A Five Pointer: Calvinism Explained
This article[1] is designed to provide an overview of The Doctrines of Grace. Not only will each point be stated as clearly and concisely as possible, but the points will be interconnected in order to demonstrate the essential teaching of the "system" as a whole. The following sketch is offered as a guide: I. The Doctrine of Man. The first and last points stand in contrast to each other, highlighting the nature of man and his relationship to God. 1. Total Depravity is the condition of man before he becomes a Christian. He is born the first time with a body and soul (Jn 3:6). However, his soul is dead (Eph 2:1), having been conceived in sin (Ps 51:5). There are serious implications of this…
