man, who art thou that repliest against God! Shall the thing formed fay to him that formed it, Why haft thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the fame lump to make one veffel unto honour, and another unto difhonour ?" Upon these words the following obfervations may be made.

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"1. The objection here introduced by the Apoftle has reference to his affertion in the preceding verfe, and is grounded upon it, "And whom he will he hardeneth." And this fame objection is made now, and always has been made by men, against the truth here afferted; which is, that it is the will of God, that all the hardness and obftinacy of heart which is found amongst men, fhould exist jult as it does; and therefore he has foreordained, according to the counsel of his own will, that it fhall take place. So much, at leaft, is expreffed in these words of the Apoftle; and indeed no more than what is implied in this: For whatever God wills to take place, has a cause of its certain exiftence; and this can be found no where but in the divine will. The objection is, "If all the fins of men take place by the will of God, and according to this will; then there can be no crime in fin; and men cannot be justly blamed for that, the existence of which sagreeable to his will.

2. It is obfervable, that the Apostle in his answer to this objection, does not say that the objector had mistaken his meaning; and that he had not faid that it was agreeable to the will of God that the hardness of men's hearts, and every inftance of obftinacy and fin, fhould take place juft as it does; and therefore the divine purpose and agency was concerned in all this; but implicitly grants that this is a truth, and that he had afferted it; by not only not denying it; but proceeding to vindicate it, in his anfwer; by which the meaning of his words is fixed beyond a doubt.

↑ Rom. ix. 19, 20, 21.

3. In his answer he is fo far from palliating what he had said, or softening down his expreffion, to which the objection is made, that he rather heightens it, and expresses himself in a stronger manner, if possible. "Shall the thing formed fay to him that formed it, Why haft thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the fame lump to make one veffel unto hon our, and another unto difhonour ?" The potter makes one veffel as really and as much as another; that which is made to dishonour, and that which is made unto honour. Therefore, if the fimilitude is any thing to the purpose, and does not give a very wrong idea of the matter, which it is defigned to illuftrate, all finners, whofe hearts are hardened; who are reprefented by the veffels made un to dishonour; are as really formed and made fuch a they are, hardened finners, as the veffel unto dishonour i made a dishonourable vessel, by the potter: And God' fovereign right to do this is here afferted; and he who objects to this, the Apoftle fays, fpeaks against God. Be fides, the Apostle exprefsly afferts that the hardened fin ner is formed and made fo by God. "Shall the thin formed fay to him that formed it, Why haft thou mad me thus ?" Thus the Apoftle speaks this out, and re peats it in the most express and pointed language, with out fear of hurting any one by it; and with affuranc that he is espousing the cause of God, and vindicating hi rights and honour, in oppofition to an apoftate world

The Apostle, having afferted the fovereign right o God to form his creatures as he pleases, in the next word gives the reason of this, and mentions the important en he has in view, and answers, by making the wicked fo the day of evil. "What if God, willing (or determined to show his wrath and make his power known, enduret with much long fuffering the veffels of wrath, fitted t deftruction: And that he might make known the riche

of

of his glory on the veffels of mercy, which he had afore

prepared unto glory ?"

The following things are fuggefted by these words.

1. That God does not harden finners, or punish them, for the fake of hardening and making them miferable, or because he has any delight or pleasure in their fin and punishment, confidered in themselves, and unconnected with the end to be answered by them: But he. does this to answer a wife and important end, which could not be answered in any other way; and to produce a good, which infinitely overbalances the evil, which is neceffary in order to it.

1

. We are here told what this great all important end is, which God defigns to effect; the good which is produc-, ed by the perfevering fin, and destruction of men, who are the veffels of wrath. It is the manifeftation and difplay of his own perfection; "To fhow his wrath, and make his power known: And to make known the riches of his glory." That is, he does this for himself, for his own glory. This perfectly coincides with the words of Solomon, which have been mentioned, and ferves to fix the fenfe of them. "The Lord hath made all things for himself: Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

3. It is here fuppofed, that what God does in hardening finners, and making them veffels unto difhonour, and enduring with much long suffering these veffels of wrath, fitted for destruction, is confiftent with their being blameable for their hardness, and every thing which renders them dishonourable: and with his being highly difpleaf ed with them for it; and that he may justly destroy them forever, for their hardness and obftinacy in fin. This is fuppofed, and really afferted, in the words; for, in any other view, they would be inconfiftent and abfurd; as otherwise, finners could not be vessels of wrath, led to deftruction. Whatever men have thought, and

may think and affert, St. Paul, and he by whom he was inspired, knew that both these are perfectly confiftent. How these things are confiftent, does appear, it is hoped, from what has been faid above, and may be yet farther offered, on this head.

HAVING thus confidered what is the language of fcripture on this point, and made particular remarks on the paffages which have been adduced; fome more general obfervations on the whole, in one general view of them, must now be made, hoping they may ferve to throw farther light on the fubject, and confirm the truth exhibited refpecting it in divine revelation, which has been fo difficult and intricate to many.

1. It appears from these paffages of fcripture, that God has foreordained all the moral evil which does take place; and is, in fuch a sense, and so far, the origin and cause of it, that he is faid to bring it to pafs, by his own agency. Therefore it is not bold or dangerous to believe and affert this; but it is for the honour of God, and tends to promote the good of men! And to believe and affert the contrary, is directly the reverfe, bold, dangerous, dishonourable to God, and hurtful to man. It is safe to speak according to the scriptures; and fo far as any man does not, it is because, in that inftance, there is no light in him.*

2. Ifthefe fcriptures be understood, as many have chofen to understand them, as importing only that God permits fin, and fo orders every thing refpecting the event, that, he permitting, it will certainly take place juft as it does; this really comes to the fame thing, or if not, does not obviate any difficulty, which has been thought to attend the reprefentation which has now been made

of

• "Beza well expresses it, Qui fequitur Deum, emendate fane loquitur. We need not fear falling into any impropriety of fpeech, when we use the language which God has taught." Doddridge's Note on Luk, xxii. 22.

of this matter. For they who chuse this way of speak ing do reprefent God as willing that fin should take place; or on the whole, prefering and chufing that it fhould exill, rather than not. And this, as has been shown, implies all that is intended by his being the origin and caufe of fin; and ordering and doing every thing, that was neceffary to be ordered and done, previous to the existence of fin, in order to render it certain, in every infance where it does take place. His decree turns the point in favour of the exiftence of fin: And his agency makes it certain, without which it could have no existence.

And if God determined to permit all the fin which does take place; and by his agency orders things fo,that, he permitting, it will be done, this is liable to all the ob jections that have been, or can be made against the affertion, that all the finful volitions of men are the effect of the divine agency. For the former makes fin as certain: and neceffary as the latter; and it is no more confiftent with the holiness of God, and his hatred of fin, to will the existence of it, and lay a plan to have it take place, upon his permiffion, than it is, directly to cause it to exift in the creature, by any agency or exertion whatever, which is previously necessary to the existence of finful vo litions. And the former is not only liable to all the objections that can be made against the latter; but, fo far as it differs from the latter, fuppofes an effect without

any

real origin or cause, and therefore involves the greateft difficulty and abfurdity imaginable, as has been shown above. Why then is it not moft reasonable, safe and beft, to understand thefe fcriptures in their most plain and obvious meaning, fince by a trained or forced interpretation, no difficulty is removed, and nothing is obtained; and by explaining away the most easy and