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dels cannot be altered by it, for they already hate the doctrines which Arminians oppose. Between the two poles, from the centre to the sun, there never was such a thing heard of, as an infidel of any class or description, who did not favor Arminianism, and hate its opposite. And so it is with all who deny the foundation doctrines of the New Testament-with all the notoriously wicked.And if the man who starts out to oppose the doctrine of election, &c. has any message--that is, if it is needed by any one in this world, I do not know who it is.

I was to consider, in the last place, those who professed to be Calvinists, and were yet in their sins, and opposers of God, or indifferent on the subject of religion.

Amongst the world of ungodly men, there is not perhaps one out three hundred, that does not contend against Calvinism—and of those few, the following facts are true. Some contend in words for that form of doctrine, because it was the belief of their family.And of these, if they should ever engage seriously in religion, ask them and they will tell you they felt, or still feel, a rising opposition to that very system they once advocated-for all men are born Arminians.

Others may occasionally be found, who, merely for the sake of taking sides, or perhaps the desire of argument, or a conceited wish to appear singular from those they are with-may profess a belief in the Calvinistic system and others may, when reproved for their crimes, pretend to offer such a creed by way of excuse. But converse with them, and you will always find, that so far from being sincere, they do not understand the doctrines; or perhaps are found on the next day opposing their former pretences.

Or if none of these, then certainly nothing more than fatalists, instead of Calvinists-arguing that the fate of men will at last be decided without regard to character--a sentiment which not even the (enlightened) enemies of Calvinism would say we hold.

And now in conclusion, is it not a strange supposition to speak of a doctrine of the gospel which, when received, has no tendency to convert the soul? If the doctrine of a self-determining power, or the opposite of election, is true-strange that the millions of the ebe mies of Christ (who all strenuously contend for it) are not benefited by it. Have they been in possession of the truth for ages, and will it not cause them to draw near to God? Preaching to ten thousand of them what they already believe, cannot be expected to convert them. And O should not those who preach, be startled to find they give as message to those who are farthest from God, which is inļa

bitably the case with every opposer of Calvinism, so long as his address has reference to that subject.

If the opposite of election is light, the haters of God love that light with unwavering affection.

THE MILLENNIUM.

A SERMON.

BY JAMES GALLAHER.

ISAIAH XI. 9.

N.

«They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shal be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." The church of God in our world has for many ages passed through the deep waters, and through fiery trials. Satan has, for a long season, led the nations at his will. Barefaced impiety has stalked undaunted through the earth, and flung defiance at heaven. To support and cheer the hearts of his children during this season of spiritual desolation and darkness, God was pleased at an early day to pledge his word to the church, that he would grant her a brighter day; that a period should come when Satan should be bound, and the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

This was clearly implied in that notable promise, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." The head is the seat of intelligence, and as such, the seat of council. By bruising the serpent's head,' is evidently meant, giving an entire defeat to the councils of the old serpent.

The promise to Abraham more fully announced God's design to make his church triumphant. "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Abraham believed God. Wonderful instance of the power of faith! He stood in the midst of a revolted world. He looked around-he saw the nations on every hand casting off the fear of God, and sinking down fast into idolatry. He looked back on the past history of the world. He saw that in all former ages the impetuous current of depravity had swept the children of men away from God and from heaven. He saw that the flame of piety which was kindled at first among the children of Seth, had dwindled to a spark-the spark that glimmered in the house of Noah, while the whole earth was covered with darkness. The earth had now been peopled anew from that one pious family. Abraham had lived till he was an hundred years old among them. The mournful fact was now notorious, that all the terror of God's wrath, dis

played in the destruction of the old world, was forgotten. He saw the children of pious Noah in crowds and nations turning away from the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and worshipping serpents, and four footed beasts, and fowls, and fishes. He saw that such wa their predilection for idolatry, that they would take their hammer and chissel, and make themselves gods of gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and then fall down and worship them. They would take their knife and their saw, and make gods of logs and stumps, and then prostrate themselves and pay divine honors. Such were the cir cumstances when the Lord comes to Abraham and tells him, that aged and childless as he now is, he shall be the father of many nations, and that among his descendants a deliverer shall arise, who shall turn away ungodliness from the earth, and all nations shall forsake their idolatry, and worship the living and true God. Such were the words of the Almighty; and dark as prospects were, Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith.”

Is any one ready to say, "the Lord is slack concerning his promise, and the day that Abraham expected will never come?" I reply:-The Lord has made good his word, when to the view of man it appeared altogether as unlikely, as in the present case. On the last clear day that preceded the deluge, it appeared as unlikely to scoffers of that age, that the huge vessel Noal. had built, should float fifteen cubits above the top of the tallest mountains, as it can appear te infidels now, that the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth is the waters cover the sea. Such a thing had never been heard of since the day that God created man upon the earth, and the finger of derision was pointed, and the lip of scorn was curled, while Noah, "warned of God and moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of himself and house." But on the same day that Noah entered into the ark, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the scream of a drowning world was unheeded by an insulted God; and at this day the infidel who would deny the Bible, is constrained by the science of geology to acknowledge, that for some cause, this earth has been overwhelmed with a universal deluge.

That the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall yet triumph in every nation, is not more unlikely now, than the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and their settlement in Canaan, was on that day when Moses turned aside to gaze on the burning bush. Egypt was at this time, perhaps, the most powerful monarchy on earth. Israel was trodden into the very mire of the streets. So completely dispirited and heart-broken were they, that officers and men of note among

them were broken without resistance, and tamely submitted to the unreasonable demands of Pharaoh's taskmasters. The land of their fathers, the graves of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, seem to have been forgotten. How unlikely that such a people would burst the chain that bound them, and march forth in all the majesty of freedom. But granting they were freed from the grasp of Egypt, how shall they obtain possession of Canaan? That land is possessed by seven nations, 'greater and mightier' than Israel, Deut. vii. 1.-nations that dwelt in cities that were walled, and strongly fortified-nations terrible in battle, and trained in all the arts of war, of which the brick makers of Egypt were utterly ignorant. Could any thing have been proposed that in the view of short-sighted man would have appeared more egregiously fanciful and extravagant, than an attempt by this people, to shake off the fetters of this gigantic monarchy, and conquer and take possession of the land of seven warlike and powerful nations? Pharaoh and his courtiers laughed at it, and pronounced the whole scheme a mere whim of idleness and folly. But the hand of God is made bare. Egypt is shaken with judgment after judgment. Pharaoh and his Lords rebel and blaspheme. But the hand of God is heavier and heavier upon them. It was midnight-the laborers had sunk in deep repose. But "He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps." At his bidding the angel of death goes abroad. Every family is visited. The king and all his servants spring from their couches in the night. "There is a great cry in Egypt." In every house the first born is dead. Moses and Aaron are called. "Rise up, get you forth from among my people." The Egyptians were urgent, that they might send them out in haste, for they said, 'We be all dead men." Israel is thrust out of Egypt in the night. But how shall they know amidst the darkness the way they must go? A sudden gleam of new created light flashes around them. And behold, flaming high in mid air, is a pillar of fire to di rect their steps! They gaze on the heavenly signal and bless the God of their fathers. It begins to move off from Egypt, and takes the direction of the promised land. Judah unfurls his banner, and calls his thousands to follow. The standard of Reuben, and Ephraim, and Dan, rise in front of their tribes. The whole assembly is in motion. The sun rose upon the earth and beheld the march of the ransomed armies of God. On and still on they move. The Red Sea rolls its dark waves before them, but Moses stretches forth his rod, and they march through on dry ground. Their provisions are spent, but the heavens supply them with bread. The wilderness is parched and dry, but the smitten rook sends out a stream, Jordan VOL, II 34

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divides at their approach. The walls of Jericho fall. Terror seizes the inhabitants of Canaan. Host after host is routed. The war horse is cut down. The chariot of iron is broken. The sun pauses in the heavens, and the moon is stayed, but the cause of God goes forward, till all the land promised to Abraham is divided among his children. God had promised it, and God made good his word.

That the whole earth shall be filled with the triumphs of the gospel, is not, in the view of man, more unlikely now, than the victories of the gospel in the first ages of the christian church were, when Jesus hung by nails to the cross on Calvary.-What were the circumstances? An obscure personage had arisen in Judea, so plain in appearance that he wore a seamless garment. A few tentmakers and fishermen constitute his train. The wealthy and the powerful of the Jewish nation hold him in unqualified abhorrence. At lenth he is betrayed by one disciple, denied by another, and forsaken by all. By the most influential men in the country he is accused of high treason before the Roman governor, and pronounced worthy of death. He is led from the hall of judgment to the place of execution, followed by the imprecations of that immense crowd which the passover had brought to Jerusalem. Thus he dies in circumstances of the most aggravated infamy. What rejecter of the gospel that witnessed this scene, believed that in a few days Jerusalem would be filled with worshippers of Jesus? Whe that disregarded the promise of God, believed that in that age his religion would overrun the Roman empire, and his disciples, then living, would salute the saints in Cæsar's household? What infidel then imagined that in a few ages the emperor of Rome would be baptised, and publicly avow himself a disciple of that Jesus who was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem?

That the church shall enjoy a day of millennial glory, is scarcely more unlikely now, than her present condition was thirty years ago. Many now living remember well the haughty brow, and lofty step of infidelity at that time. And many a prediction was then uttered, that in ten years there would not be a christian in America, nor a Bible acknowledged as the Word of God. Had it been alleged at that time, that in thirty years, thousands of Bible Societies should be in vigorous operation, to put the sacred Book into the hands of every human being-that the Cherokee Indian and the Greenlander, and the Chinese, should be reading the Word of God in their own language that the song of salvation should be heard on the mountains of Asia, and on the plains of Africa-that the islands of the sea should be seen stretching forth their hands to God-that thousands

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