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THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA BAPTI8TB-DBV0TED TO BIBLE RELIGION, EDUCATION LITERATURE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. Volume 88. Number 00. Ther Biblical Recorder. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY, ' - , , - OFFICE : , ' , v ; il3 (op stairs), Fayettovllle Street, Raleigh, 17. C - X.Tebms of BuBBCRimoir: . Om copy, ono year , '. f 8.00 One eopy, tlx months 1.00 Clabs of ten (copy extra to gydBr) ...... 20.00 1 Annnvmoua oommnnlcAtdom will alwava find their way to the waste basket,. No exceptions. ' In sending letters of business, it is absolutely nec essary that you give your poetotfloe address in fall, The date on the label of your paper indicates when your subscription expires, ana also serves as a receipt for your money, - . Obituaries, sixty words lone;, are inserted free of charge. When they exceed this length, one cent for each word must oe paid In advance. When writing: to have your paper changed, please state the postotuce at which you receive the paper, as well as the one to which you wish it changed. Remtttances niurt be sent by Registered better, Postoffloe Order, Postal Note, Express or Draft, payable to the order of the Publisher. Do not send stamps. , r : . :t ' ; ; 'yf v, . Oar Boards for 1892 93. BOARD Or MIFSIOKS AITO BtrjJDAT-BCHOOLS LOCATED AT RALEIGH. J C Scarborough, Chairman; C Durbam, Cor .Becretary; N B lirouehton, W II race. O M Al len, C T Bailey, T H Briggt, J M Heck, J N Hold ing, W N Jones, J D Boush&U,G W Bahderlln. K R Overby, J M Brougbton. J I Hufham. J C Birdaong. A L Ferrall, L O Louge, W O Up church.T W Blake. J H AJford, W H Hollowav, JW Carter, C B Edwards, T E Bkinner, E JicK ,(loodwin, J J Hall, W R Gwaltney, N B Cobb, M T Norris, J B Boone,-J B Martin, J C Caddell, F I Hobgood, 1 C Ellington, C J Hunter, CW Car ter.! M Holloman, T II riitebard. Anson and Richmond Association, J W Wild- - man mrA T. Jnttneftn Anhn and AllmrliAnv. JitmM Eiler; Atlantic. J II Edwards and J C Whitly; I Alexander, V W Pool; Beulah, C A Rominger ; I Brier Uretk, w a Myers: urusny .Mountain, n a Sjvdnhour; Caldwell, J V VoCall; Cedar Creek, J U Fisher; Central, P A Dunn; Catawba River. Annuel Huffman; Cape Fear and Columbus, E w Wooten snd Dr A W Kmnon; Chowan, E F Ayd lett; Eastern, L ft Carroll and O F Meeks; Elkin, J 8 Kilby; Flat Iilrer, R 11 Marb: Green River, C B Justice; King's Mountain, H FSchenck; Lib erty. James 8mithj Little River, J A Campbell; Mecklenburg atid Cbarrus, C (ireham; Mt Zion, WO Tyree:Tilot Mountain, H A Brown: Raleigh, O L Stringdeld; Robeson, E K Proctor, Jr; Bandy Creek. O T Edwards; South Fork, J Bridges; Houta Yadkin, J B lifbnan; fetanly, E F Ed dings; South --Atlantic, J M Longr Tar River, C M Cooke, R D Fleming and R T Venn;. Three Forks, E F Jones; Lulon, A O Davis; West Chowan, J B Brewer; Yadkin, J O Bnrrusj Mont gomery, W M Boetick; Bladen, W 8 Meekinv . BOARD OF XDCCATIOS LOCATED AT WAKS v FOREST. W L Potent, President; W R Gwaltney, Cor Pcoretary: W B Royal, It W Allen, R Brewer, J M Brewer, J B Carlyle, L Chapelt P A Dunn, w B Dunn, W H Edwards, P W Johnson, W O Lank ford, L R Mills, J B Powers, F M Purefoy, Wm Royal, C E Taylor, J F Lanneau, Elder John MitobeU, II E Royal. W J Ferrell. Dr J C Fowlor, E W Bikes and J O Maske. B0A1U) OF KIXISTERS' MUKF -LOCATED AT ' DURHAM. W A Albright. President; C A WotKlsonCor Secretary; W O Tyree, II A Reams, T E Cheek. J L Markham, T H i"ritchard, F P Hobgood and W N Jones. ' - - CATXD AT TBOMAiSVILLlS. John Mitchell, President; A O McManaway, Secretary: J C Scarborough, C Durham, W R Gwaltney, Thomas Carrick, F P Hobgood, Noah Biggs, E Frot, K D Fleming, J L Markbam, T H Pntchard, W.T Faircloth, J H Laswiter. A J Mon tague, U F Schenck, John Brewer and J D Bre- vard, , - , ; TRUSTEES OF WAKE KORIBT COLLEGE--1.0CATED AT W AKE FOREST. , R H Marsh, Preident; R E Royall, Secretary: C T Bailey. Noah Bigg", ' J wBj0unt,;JhB B Brewer, HA Brown, SB Cobb, C M Cooke, W E Daniels, H C Dockery, P A Dunn, C Durham. W R Gwaltney, J M Heck, F P Hobgood. J D Huf ham, R McBrayer, John Mitchell, W H Mitchell, B S Moore, R It Overby, W H Pace, L L Polk, T II Pritchard, J B Richardson, J WF Rogers, G W Sanderlin, 3 C Scarborough, T E Skinner, i H Tucker, A R Vann, W J Ferrell, A R Fousbee, W, W Vass, W G Ufchurch, W T Faircloth. Predestinatlo. " BY REV, ARCHIBALD CBEE. , Preached by request; in Simdy Run church in Ber tie county, May 88th, 1803. Text, Rom. 8: 28-30-" And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love Godfto them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foretoow, he jbJso did predeBtinate to be conformed to the image of his .Son, that he might be the firstborn among many ' brethren. - Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them Be also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified,. - " ' ' J ' The doctrine of predestination .has been the occasion of much difficulty and perplex ity to many sincere and hamble believers. These difficulties, I believe, have been inten sified by some men's crude, contradictory . and mistaken conceptions of the subject, as it is presented in the Word of God. 5 r Having been requested by some or my ' brethren here to preach to-you on these verses, I will endeavor, as far. as I am able, to expound the Apostle's words, though I am far from arrogating to myself the ability to do full justice to the subject. 1 doubt not the Apostle Peter had special reference to this, its kindred group of doctrines, when he tells in his second epistie now nia ociotcv brother Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, had written in his epistles of these things, "in which are some things hard to be, understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, onto their own destruction." The subject of the divine predestination of souls is no subject for ignorant and un learned handling, . It is pre eminently a sub- Itcb for the religious thinker and scholar; ut as the Apostle Peter in the same epistle says , no prophecy of Scripture Is tf private interpretation,". we are not forbidden to en ter this sphere of the great realm of divine truth with our feeble rushlight to scan what t ortion of it may be available to us. . There is abundance of truth in the Word of God suited to all minds and to every degree of intelligence- As Roland Hill said long ago; "There are, shallows for the lambs to wade in, as well as great deeps for the strong and the learned to swim in." There is perhaps no portion of Scripture more full of theological importance than the three verses before .us, and none therefore which demands a more careful exposition at our hands. The grand questions around vhiih so many controversies have gathered throughout the history of the church of Christ, bub to which all sections of the church are ever more nearly approximating to agreement, is here presented. Do these passages teach unconditional pre-? destination! Do they teach the predestina tion by God of certain ; souls to eternal life and the consequent passing- by of others, without the least reference-to the State, or character, or actions of those so ordained, and those passed by l or do they teach con ditional predestination the predestination of certain souls to a certain glorious destiny, because of certain foreknown conditions, upon which salvation is ' granted, having been supplied by them, and thus implying the free will co operation of these souls in the attainment of that state of salvation and of glory. That is no question of barren con troversy, but one of the most momentous importance to men as moral and immortal beings. Eternal issues hang upon the ques tion, and the entire procedure and plan of God in the scheme of redemption aremvolv ed in it also. To the greatest and deepest natures such questions have ever had a pro found attraction. Not only their sympathy with human beings in their wondrous im. mortal nature and destiny have drawn them to such questions, but the deeper interest still which Milton expresses in his Paradise Lost, of ' Justifying the ways of God to men," has filled them with the intense de sire to feel into the depths of such subjects and scan their limits if possible. -The very border-land of mystery, to which some, after all their investigations, have been led, has only increased the attraction. So far all was made plain to them ; they felt themselves on 6rm grouad, but beyond they gazed into the illimitable, and while it heightened their awe, it did not diminish their interest. It Would be easy to dispose of the quts tion presented in this place by appealing only to the plainer declarations and com mands of Scripture, and passing by the more d fficult texts but that would be a cowardly process, manifesting fear of fiuch passages as that before 9. It would be a cut' nj the gordian knot, not an untying of it The geueral who should beat the armies of an enemy in the field andJoyerrun his country, but who left, here and there in his progress, great menacing fortresses behind him, which he did not attempt to reduce, or was not able to reduce, would not likely prove a tuc cessful conqueror In the end. While the more difficult texts of Scripture have to be interpreted in accordance with the plainer declarations, as the Word of God cannot contradict Itself, and the Divine Spirit, who inspired it, is the Spirit of Truth, and was given to lead us into all truth, and therefore each part must harmonize with the other, though aome parts may reach away into the regions of the mysterious and the illimitable where our poor vision cannot penetrate, yet to dispose of all difficulties and answer all objections by appealing only to the plainer declarations is no true solution of those diffi culties, and is tot allowable, except iii any doubtful cases, and after all other means of interpretation have been exhausted. It is well, therefore, for the minister of the gospel who aims to be a workman who rightly divides the word of truth," to vary the ordinary and simpler ministrations of the Word by an occasional exposition of one or other of the deeper, and more difficult texts. ' t . ' , Lat us follow these verses clause by clause, and see what light we may extract from them, on the important subject of which they treat. , , ' ' . . The Apostle says, And we know that all things work together lor good to them that love God," &C. The very first word, the Greek particle which is translated " And," is not without special significance in the connection In which it stands. In the thirtieth-verse the same particle is translated "Moreover." Either translation is quite correct; but as the twenty-eighth versejis like the thirtieth, the beginning of a paragraph, or the statement of an additional truth In advance of those laid down in the preceding verses, there is great propriety in translat ing it by the word " Moreover' The Apos tle has been dwelling on the fact that the sufferings -which believers endure in "this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in them." He describes: the whole creation along : with believers groaning and sighing for the falnea of redemption, and the glori ous liberty of the' children of God. Ad vancing injthe same consoling strain, the Apostle adds, " Moreover, we know that all things' work together for good to them that - ... .. .-. .. .. .... , A ,,. , love God, to them who are the called ac cording to bis pnrpose." j : v "Moreover, we knowjl says the Apostle. He speaks of that which was no mere matter of conjecture, but of certain knowledge to himself and his fellow Christians. " Because they were Christians, and therefore taught of God, the thing of which the Apostle speaks was an accepted matter with them. Hence Paul, as the mouthpiece .of his brethren, give utterance to this common assurance "that all things work together for good." But to whom I "To those who love God, and who are the called according to his pur pose."; Mark these two distinguishing char acteristics. The , first describes their rela tion to Godthey ." love God"; the second describes God's relation ' to them they " are the called according to his purpose." These favored persons, then, are not here regarded merely as human creatures, which they of course are in common with other human creatures, nor as sinners, which they are in common with others. It is not in any aspect of their being or their state, which they have in common with others, .that they are regarded and described by the Apostle; but by something distinguishing them from others they love Ood. Now in that descrip tion we find certain conditions of salvation supplied by those who are spoken of. They "love God," that itself is a condition, and it is backed by others; for in order to love God, they must first have believed in God's love to them, as revealed in the gospel of his fjrace. , " We . love him, because" he first oved us." Therefore behind their love there was faith, and all those other aspects of that state which consists In tne penitent and sin cere return of the soul to God. Here, then, to begin with, we have certain conditions on the part of man co operating with the attitude and the action of God towards them in securing their eternal good. Thus far, then, we have got so much that is plain and evident from the light of the passage. Let um plant our feet firmly on what we have gained, it may be helpful in what is to fol low. - . Not only do these persons "love God," they are also . as regards God's relation to them, " the called according to his pur pose." It is by Gcd they are called. The thirtieth verse explicitly eays so. "More over, whom he did predestinate them he also called' Now let us enquire what is the nature of this calling, which is applica ble only to believers. This is a crucial point, Djubtles3.it is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is evident that it is not the Universal call given to tinners to come to the Saviour and-believe the gcfpeL That call is issued indiscriminately to all sinners, to ev ery son of Adam. They are all summoned to repent and believe to the saving of , the souL It v is with respect to that universal call it is said, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Now it cannot ba that call to the beginning of the Christian life that is re ferred to here, because there is. nothing dis tinguishing or peculiar to Christians in that call. It is a .gracious Invitation to every one as well as to them. But the Apostle is here speaking of something peculiar to Chris tians... "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called," "Justified? "glorified." The call is as peculiar as the other distinguish ing characteristics predestinated, justified, glorified. Moreover, the expression "the called " is exclusively applied to Christians wherever it occurs in the epistles of the New Testament, ; It is not applied to any others. Besides, seeing that believers have already responded to the gospel call, we would nat urally expect that this distinguishing call will be something different from that to which unbelievers are called. Some would insidiously say to us, at this point, that the call Is the same as that given to unbelievers, but that believers are more effectually called than others, an irresistible ; influence r is brought to bear upon them so as to make them obedient to the call. But this is sim ple necessitation, and such invincible sway ing of the Will has in it nothing of the na ture of a call. The call, I should say, must be a real appeal to the intelligence, and through ' the intelligence to the . heart and thewill.' ' "' ;.. ' Let it be observed that there are other calls besides the call to repentance and faith. We find Christians 6poken of in the Word as " called to liberty," 4 called to holiness," 'called to suffering," to peace also, "Lst the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called." Some, too, we find called to preach the gospel, and to under take certain missions amongst men. - Bat the highest calling of all, sometimes called the "heavenly calling," is the call to glory, the call to the other end of the Christian life. Paul says to Timothy, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called." s Here is a call to eter nal life. ; Peter savs. " But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered awhile, make you perfect,!' Here Is a call to eternal glory. 'How beautifully tbia hiirhefit call ia nut In the hierodvnhical languages of the bookof Revelation, ''Bless ed are they who are called unto the marriage supper : of the Lamb." Peter exhorts his fellow believers to "make their calling and election sure." ! How .were they to do It t Evidently it ia a very , distinguishing call this, a call to something higher than the be ginning of the Christian life, to which all are called, to which all are urged. We are here in a more chosen region, where spirit ual qualities are the passport. So it is intlrl mated oy our Aposue eisewnere, -rot yo see your calling, .brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called." Jude speaks of them that are "sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." Strange that the calling should be mentioned after the sanctification by God the Father, and the preservation toy Jesus Christ. It isv explainable 'only by under standing the call as that of the higher char acter I have been quoting the call to glory, to eternal life, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The expression, 4Uhe called'! applied to believers can In many places mean only this, v And it is evident from the context that this part of our text furnishes ns with an instance in the clause " to those who are the called according to his purpose." ? Has the Apostle been pointing forward to ." the glory that shall be revealed!' in believers, to the full redemption, the future manifesta tion of the sons of God f And In the verses succeeding our text he goes on' to point to the transformation of believers into the im age of God's Son, to their final justification and glorification, and at length In the same strain, and pointing still to the glorious end,' or prize of the high calling, he bursts into that glowing peroration, " Who shall sepa rate us from the love cf Christ? Shall trib ulation, or distress, or persecution, or fam ine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword t" Nay, in the thought of the Apostle, every hin drance is swept aside, and glory and victory would appear very plain from all these considerations that the expression HhecaH ed of God" refers to -the call to the higher end of the Christian life, the call to glory, the cell to the marriage supper of the Lamb, njrfgjjafrwhich, while it is related to the uni versal cau oi me gospel, is yei an very many daces in Scripture revealed as distinct from t, a higher and ' more distinguishing call, applicable only to those who have, obeyed the first. And further, let us beware lest w stray into any mere imaginations respecting the essence of this calling; let us beware of being misled by phrases'of men, such as effectual calling, phrases which, in this connection, find no place in the Word of God. The word calling or called has its own meaning, and does not need to have one invented for it. To be called is to be summoned, to be in vited. - All those ideas of welcome, invita tion, desire that we should avail ourselves of the blessing offered, are contained in the Word. - 'Even urgent pleading and authori tative command and every helpful influ ence to enable Us to avail ourselves of the blessing offered,"ara found in the Word; but such ideas as necessitation or irresistible in fluence to compel our obedience are as wide apart from the native import of the Word as the poles are asunder from each others On the contrary, we are reminded that the deep est resDonsibilitv rests noon us as to whether JKZPSfcall yield to the divine moral influenca, whether we snail . become obedient to tne heavenly summons, and pwss'on toward the mark for the prize of our high calling. Is is further stated that believe1 8 are the called "tc:ording to his purpose " According to God's holy purpose, or resolution, or plan in a i mote t ternity, believers are now callei to this glory, i It was God's fixed purpose or plan from the beginning that all who believe in his Sjn, and by him in advance in the love of God, should be called to everlasting life and glory to the incorruptible inher itance that fadeth not away. This is God's fixed plan, his changeless decree, his immu table purpose. . It'cannot be . altered to suit any one, however great or exalted. Men must conform to it if they would be saved. All who have faith in the Redeemer, all those who love God, are the called to theheavenly inheritance: the:e shall bo the ultimately glorified ; these, and none others. Such is God's purpose, his plan from all eternity, ... In the case of those who love God, we have God's calling of them and God's par pose to save all such, and we have further this in addition, that he causeth all things to work together for good to them. No doubt the 'all things" contemplated by the Apos tle are all things that happen to believers. The .universality of things he has ih view embraces whatever events and circumstances ia this life touch any point of their being. They are all made subservient and contrib utory to the lasting good of those that love God. :. Nay more, it would appear from the context that the Apostle has specially and prominently in view all the afflictive events and trying dispensations which happen to them. He speaks much throughout of the sufferings to which his fellow believers were subject, and even goes so far as to summon up and anticipate all the most, trying cir cumstances, and the most formidable forces which could afflict and oppose them. And withal, he proclaims them more than con- L querors through him that loved them. How often do tne scriptures teacn us tnat tne greater the sufferings pf believers on earth for righteousness' sake, the higher will be their exaltation in glory. "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven." -We know not the unseen good which the sufferings of life may be working but for those who love God. God, only knows. The Apostle's words may have a wider compass still, and may Include in their range the universal order of things, which is all under the management and control of God. Could we survey all the hearings of things upon each other in this universe, all the interrelated Jaws and ramifying influ ences, we might be astonished to find how slight a touch will move the whole net-work to given ends and uses. And it Is no incred ible doctrine even in these scientific days, but a truth quite apparent to whoever w ill try to discern in the matter, that God is managing this universe, to the extent that is visible to ns at least, in the interest of those who love him, who serve him, who are his loyal and dutiful children. To others there may be temporary benefit ; but lasting and everlasting good to these only. Thus far then we seem to apprehend the teaching of the Apostle, that to those who love, and whom he has called to glory, in accordance with his purpose or plan, in a past eternity, all things work together for good. .Let us advance to farther proof of this truth given in the following verse : " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predes tinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." The Apostle's words are a further de velopment in the revelation of the divine in tention and plan. It is worthy of observa tion, however, that, the verbs in these two verses did foreknow, did predestinate, called, justified, glorified, are in the indefinite tense, L e they express the thing abstractly, with out any strict reference to time, whether past, present, or future. The tense that was used, in Greek-for the indefinite tense was the aorist tense. In our language, it is the present tense that is used for the indefinite tense. " Therefore those passages might with great propriety have been put in the present tense iriou translation. Moreover,- whom he predestinates, them he also calls ; and whom he calls, them hft also justifies ; and whom he justifies, them he also glorifies." Some brethren here may not understand the process, but you may see at least from the last of these verbs that the Apostle means to express indefiniteness as jto time. "And whom he justified them he also glo- rifled." Now it is not true that all whom God hath foreknown and called, he hath al ready glorified. Nay, it is not true of any of them, if the glorification referred to is the final glorification of body and soul which ; seems evident. Bat the Apostle means to express himself indefinitely, stating the fact without reference to time. The same tense which the Apostle here employs is in many other parts of Scripture translated by our present tense. To take only one example, Jesus says, "If a man abide not in me, ha is cast forth as a branch and Is withered." In stead of the expression, " he was cast forth as a branch, and was withered," we have here our present tense to translate what Je sus meant to express as an abstract truth without reference to time, sit is well to re member that the verbs in our text are in the original. Of course, as to the divine acts themselves, it was in the past God foreknew, and did predestinate, it is in. the present be calls, and it is in the future he will justify and glorify. They are put in the one unva rying tense by the Apostle because it is the action of God Paul means to assert, not the time. . But let cs pneeed to the clause, "For whom he did for knovR." You see how this verse hangs on to the preceding by the word Uor,'! which introduces a reason for what has been stated. -The word "whom," then, " whom he old foreknow," evidently refers back to those the Apottle has been speaking of, those who Jove God, and are the called according to his purpose. It is the lovers of God .whom God ? foreknew and whom he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son.". There is nothing unequal in that doctrine after all, is there ? Nothing to deter us, nothing to darken the character of our God. Besides, do not mis take the import of the word foreknow. Some would almost confound it in meaning with the word predestinate which follows, and say that it is the foreknowledge of God which makes everything necessary, and brings everything to pass. Now, the fore- knowledge of God does net make ox cause; it is perceptive ; it apprehends. God's fore knowledge is his all-apprehending, and all comprehending intelligence of everything Jiast, present and to come, directed to the uture. God foreknew the sins men would commit; does his foreknowledge therefore bring these sins about f Is he the author of sin? God forbid. It is man ia the free -agency with which God endowed him who is their author. If we might argue from the finite up to the Infinite, as we sometimes do, if it were possible for you to foresee with absolute certainty any event which would transpire in the political future of your country, or of any other nation, would there be" any sense in saying that your foreknowl edge brought it about. r If I throw a ball up into the air I may be said at the moment to foreknow that it will come down again. Bat does my foreknowledge bring it down. No, sir, it is brought down by a force outside of myself by the law . of gravitation. So, though God foreknew every sin and every transgression of my life, his foreknowledge did not bring them to pass. I, in the vol untary misuse of my God given powers freedom and responsibility which broM them aboutI am the guilty party. It would be to introduce the deepest error into our thinking out of this subject, and villi' Our entire mental processes if we cor.fo 1 things that differ so widely as God's f -knowledge and his acts of predestinatic i. 1 the exercise of his absolute prescience, 1 infinite omniscience, God foreknew 1 favored persons" referred to in our l. xt . what did he foreknow about t'. - ? - " is the simple sense of tha pnr t was something peculiar abo" 1 1 tinguished them ia hi3 fore others. God foreknew r.11 c : " them; but about them to .CONTINUED TO TH3 I
The Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, N.C.)
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June 14, 1893, edition 1
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