he undertakes; the other shall meet with repeated losses and become poor.

Some persons enjoy a constant and confirmed state of health; others are always sick, knowing scarcely one day in which they are free from pain, though equally virtuous and temperate. One passes through the most imminent dangers, and escapes uninjured; another loses his life by the most trifling occurrence. One lives to a good old age; another is cut down from the birth. One continues till he becomes a burden to himself and friends; another in the bloom and vigour of his days is arrested by the last enemy.

The Deity hath made a difference among mankind with respect to the means of knowledge. Some people remain in the savage state; while others, favoured with every advantage of information both divine and human, have arrived at a surprising height of knowledge and refinement. Yet they all belong to the same great family, and are under the government of the same infinite God, who, for wise reasons, makes these distinctions among them. He could easily have placed all men in circumstances equally agreeable, had it been his will; or have made an entire reverse of condition. He might have ordered your soul or mine to have animated the body of a Laplander, a Hottentot, or an American savage; but he hath been pleased, as a sovereign God, to place us in a more pleasing condition.

These are some of the distinctions which God hath made in the course of his moral government; and who shall say unto him, what doest thou?

The sovereignty of God is equally apparent in his conduct towards sinners. He hath passed by the fallen angels; "and the angels which kept not their first estate, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Their nature the Son of God did not assume, because their salvation was not the end he designed to accomplish: accordingly we are told, that hell is "prepared for the devil and his angels." Whence it appears that they are passed by.

God hath made a very important difference among mankind, by sending the gospel to some of them, and withholding it from others. Those persons who are disposed to raise objections either against the benevolence of the Deity, or the truth of divine revelation on this account, would do well to consider that God himself hath made this distinction, and that he can do no wrong. He is a rock, his way is perfect; nor doth he give account of his matters to any.

Besides, it is evident that there is a striking analogy in all his conduct in creation, providence and redemption. He hath not in either case distributed his blessings on all men alike. This hath been proved already in the preceding observations. If it is necessary therefore to vindicate his conduct in this instance, it is no less necessary in the others : "But who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus ?"

Among those persons who are favoured with the gospel, there is also a difference. He takes one of a city, and two of a family, and brings them to Zion. "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will

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have compassion on whom I will have compas sion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth," not by positive influence, but by leaving the sinner to act out his own character, or follow the wickedness of his own heart. And as mankind universally have by sin subjected themselves to everlasting condemnation, they that are lost will have no just cause of complaint against God, but will be obliged to acknowledge his justice; and they who are saved will ascribe their salvation wholly to his sovereign grace. God condemns none but the guilty, nor will he save any that had any claim upon him; otherwise salvation would not be by grace.

In the chapter in which the text is, this distinction is most clearly declared. The same gospel that was the wisdom and power of God to some, was a stumbling-block and foolishness to others: hence Paul thus addressed himself to the Corinthians; "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are : that no flesh might glory in his presence." Remark, my brethren, God is here said to choose some and to leave others. Some persons were

brought to receive the gospel, while others were left in their unbelief.

Paul always ascribes his conversion to the grace of God. "When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace." In another place he says, "By the grace of God I am what I am." If so, it follows as an undeniable truth, that God made a difference between him and many of his countrymen, the Jews. He was converted to Christianity by divine power, while crowds of other sinners were passed by. God could as easily have converted the whole nation as one man, had it been his sovereign pleasure; but you all know he did not; therefore he made a difference.

We see in our own day, when the Lord revives his work among us, that one is taken and another left. The same sermon that is the means of awakening or comforting one person, leaves others in a secure condition. Under the same religious advantages, some are hopefully wrought upon, while others maintain their opposition to Jesus Christ.

That the success of the gospel, or the conversion of sinners, is owing to divine influence, is proved by the current language of scripture. They who believe in Christ, are said to be "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Paul says, " I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." We may safely conclude then, that under the dispensation of the gospel, God confers a favour on some, that he does not. confer on all.

Our blessed Lord teaches us this doctrine of divine sovereignty in the following passage, as well as in others that might be mentioned. “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."

9. The nature and necessity of faith and repentance were important parts of the preaching of the apostles. They assure us, that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;" "the belief of the truth," or, a giving credit to the record God gave of his Son. And that we may be capable of distinguishing between living and dead faith, they inform us, that the faith of God's elect works by love, purifies the heart, esteems Christ precious, and produces good works. "Faith without works is dead, being alone."

The importance of faith appears from various circumstances, such as, that without it we cannot please God, enjoy the consolations of the gospel, nor enter into the kingdom of heaven. "If ye believe not that I am he," said Christ to the Jews, "ye shall die in your sins;" that is, under the curse of the law, and perish forever. The language of the commission needs no comment; "He that believeth shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned." According to this commission, the apostles constantly urged on sinners the necessity of believing in the Lord Jesus Chist, whom God had set forth to be a propitiation though faith in his blood.