happy there, for to share in heaven's enjoyments, one must be born again.

Thus, not arbitrary is this radical saying of Jesus. The whole tenor of Scripture; the lost condition of man; the nature of the work of regeneration; the imperative necessity of a holy character; the nature of the heavenly world-all combine to give emphasis to this saying of Jesus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

PREDESTINATION.

BY REV. RICHARD FULLER, D. d.

MORE, MD.1

LATE OF BALTI

"And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar; and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.". -ACTS xxvii: 22, 23, 24, 30, 31.

It was Mr. Pitt, I believe, who, after reading Butler's Analogy, remarked that "it suggested more doubts than it answered." In removing one difficulty, we ought to be careful lest we create others which are greater. However, in speaking of the deep things of God, all we can do is to show how far the human understanding can go, when it ceases to obey reason, and debases itself to mere scholastic logic.

You are all familiar with the narrative of Paul's shipwreck. In spite of some plausible objections,

1 Taken from Fuller's Sermons, published by J. F. WEISHAMPEL, JR., Baltimore, Md., in three volumes. $1.00 each.

it is certain almost to demonstration that the vessel was lost upon the island now known as Malta. The whole description is very graphic; the impending danger; the commanding attitude of the Apostle during that fearful night; his inspiring address as the dim morning light reveals the terrified, haggard company-two hundred and seventy-six in allshivering on the deck of the sinking ship; the effect of his exhortation; and the rescue of all on board.

As you read the account, you feel that, if the sailors believed Paul's declaration as to a revelation from heaven, it would put fresh heart in them to work, as it really did. Nor does it strike you that there is any contradiction between this positive assurance of safety to all and the subsequent warning as to the impossibility of saving the passengers unless the crew remained in the stranded bark.

Our philosophers, however, are astonished at your simplicity, and, of course, at the simplicity of the Apostle and the inspired historian. For if God had determined that all should reach the land in safety, how could it be affirmed that in any case some would be lost?

The Roman centurion had, I dare say, quite as much sagacity as these cavillers, yet he urged no objection, but at once complied with Paul's counsels. And just so now. When in earnest, no man ever pretends that predestination has anything to do with his free agency. No farmer-though in theology the