The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation

UploadLog

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:23:55 GMT

date	user	location	storeUrl	uploadDir	toFilename	backupdir	origin
9/4/2007 8:19:31	RobBoss	gospelworthy.html	store.cgi	.	index.html	.	Ok
9/4/2007 8:20:39	RobBoss	gospelworthy.html	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:26:19	YourName	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:32:45	YourName	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:38:46	YourName	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:44:55	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:47:9	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 8:50:11	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 9:5:55	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.	Ok
9/4/2007 9:7:28	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 9:19:20	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 9:22:45	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
9/4/2007 9:23:55	RobBoss	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.

TimelinePlugin

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:23:51 GMT

window.TwTimeline=function(elementDom, timelineXML){
return this.init(elementDom, timelineXML);
}

TwTimeline.config = {
elementDom: "mytimeline",
timelineXML:"events.xml"
}

Timeline class
TwTimeline.prototype.init=function(elementDom, timelineXML) {
this.elementDom=elementDom||TwTimeline.config.elementDom;
this.timelineXML=timelineXML||TwTimeline.config.timelineXML;
this.tl=null;
this.resizeTimerID=null;
this.onLoad();
return this;
}

TwTimeline.prototype.onLoad= function() {
var eventSource = new Timeline.DefaultEventSource();
var bandInfos = [
Timeline.createBandInfo({
eventSource: eventSource,
date: "Jan 31 1754 00:00:00 GMT",
width: "70%",
intervalUnit: Timeline.DateTime.MONTH,
intervalPixels: 35
}),
Timeline.createBandInfo({
showEventText: false,
trackHeight: 0.5,
trackGap: 0.2,
eventSource: eventSource,
date: "Jan 31 1754 00:00:00 GMT",
width: "30%",
intervalUnit: Timeline.DateTime.YEAR,
intervalPixels: 70
})
];
bandInfos[1].syncWith = 0;
bandInfos[1].highlight = true;
bandInfos[1].eventPainter.setLayout(bandInfos[0].eventPainter.getLayout());

this.tl = Timeline.create(document.getElementById(this.elementDom), bandInfos);
Timeline.loadXML(this.timelineXML, function(xml, url) { eventSource.loadXML(xml, url); });
}

TwTimeline.prototype.onResize=function() {
if (resizeTimerID == null) {
resizeTimerID = window.setTimeout(function() {
resizeTimerID = null;
this.tl.layout();
}, 500);
}
}

Timeline macro
version.extensions.twtimeline={
major: 0,
minor: 1,
revision: 0,
date: new Date("Feb 25, 2007"),
code: "http://project.dahukanna.net/tiddlywiki/twextensions.htm#_timeline",
doc: "http://project.dahukanna.net/tiddlywiki/twextensions.htm#_timelineDoc",
author:"DawnAhukanna dawn[at]dahukanna[dot]net",
summary:"_timeline for TiddlyWiki version 2.1.3 or above.",
description: "timeline plugin.",
coreVersion: "2.1.0"
}

config.macros.twtimeline={
label:{saveXML:"Save Timeline XML"},
prompt:{saveXML:"Save Timeline XML for current TiddlyWiki"},
messages:{XMLError:"XML error%0- select xml file", XMLSaved:"Saved xml file",XMLSavedError:"Failed to save xml file"},
handler: function(place,macroName,params) {
/*
params[0] - function to run.
params[1] - the name of the xml file to load/save.
params[2] - the name of the DOM element.
*/
Execute instruction in params[0]
switch (params[0]) {
case "saveXML":
if(!readOnly) {
prompt = this.prompt.saveXML.format();
label = this.label.saveXML.format();
createTiddlyButton(place,label,prompt,function(){saveXML(); return false;});
}
break;

default:
var elementDom,timelineXML;
if (params[1]== undefined|| params[1]== null || params[1].trim()==""){
timelineXML=TwTimeline.config.timelineXML;
}else{
timelineXML=params[1];
}
if (params[2]== undefined|| params[2]== null || params[2].trim()==""){
elementDom=TwTimeline.config.elementDom;
}else{
elementDom=params[2];
}
var mytimeline = createTiddlyElement(place,"div",elementDom,"twtimeline","This should display the timeline. Doesn't seem to work in this browser.");
var twtimeline = new TwTimeline(elementDom,timelineXML);
}

function saveXML() {
}
}
}

About

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:22:00 GMT

This is a TiddlyWiki version of The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation.

To read this wiki as a book

Check Single Page Display
Navigation links below each page
(Pagination matches The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, Vol. II.)

Text is fully searchable.

(Uncheck Single Page Display)

Click here to read a very brief introduction to Fuller (and Jonathan Edwards) which I have written.

Click portrait to enlarge image

CLICK HERE to start reading The Gospel Worthy.

Click the All tab to the right for an ordered Table of Contents.

TiddlyLightBoxPlugin

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:19:00 GMT

Name:	TiddlyLightBox
Date:	Jan 1, 2006
Version:	1.0 beta
Author:	Saq Imtiaz
Location:	http://tw.lewcid.org/#TiddlyLightBoxPlugin
Documentation:	http://tw.lewcid.org/#TiddlyLightBoxDoc
License:	Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License
Based on:	DC3.LightBox Light Box Gone Wild Ibox

Code

config.macros.imagebox ={};
config.macros.imagebox.handler = function (place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler)
{
    var e = place.lastChild;
    e.onclick = function(){TiddlyLightBox.initBox('image',this,params[1],params[2],params[0]);return false;};
}

config.macros.divbox ={};
config.macros.divbox.handler = function (place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler)
{
    if (params[0]!=".")
        createTiddlyButton(place,params[0],params[0],function(){TiddlyLightBox.initBox('html',params[1],params[3],params[4],params[2]);return false;});
    else
        {
        var e = place.lastChild;
        e.onclick = function(){TiddlyLightBox.initBox('html',params[1],params[3],params[4],params[2]);return false;};
        }
}

config.macros.tiddlerbox ={}
config.macros.tiddlerbox.handler = function (place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler)
{
    config.macros.divbox.handler(place,macroName,[params[0],"tiddler:"+params[1],params[2],params[3],params[4]]);
    return false;
}

store.addNotification("TiddlyLightBoxStyles",refreshStyles);

if (!window.TiddlyLightBox)
    window.TiddlyLightBox = {};
    var loadingImage = "http://robandstephboss.googlepages.com/indicator.gif";
    window.TiddlyLightBox =
    {
    _curBox: null, // [sentinel]

    lightBoxHtml : '<div id="lightBoxOverlay" onclick="TiddlyLightBox.hideBox()" style="display:none"></div><div id="lightboxprogress" style="display:none;"><img src=\''+loadingImage+'\' alt=\'loading\' style="width:128px;height:128px;"></div><div class="lightBox" id="lightBox" style="display:none"><div id="lightBoxContent"></div><div id="lightBoxTitle">This is a title</div><div id="lightBoxClose"><a href:"#" onclick="TiddlyLightBox.hideBox();return false;">Click to close</a></div></div>',

    createBoxWrapper : function()
        {
        var wrapper = createTiddlyElement(document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0],"div","tiddlyLightBoxWrapper");
        wrapper.innerHTML = this.lightBoxHtml;
        },

    initBox : function(contentType,url,w,h,text)
        {
        if (this._curBox)
            return;
        this.showProgress();
        this.hideSelects("hidden");
        this.showBg();
        this._curBox = true;
        this.sizeTheBox(contentType,w,h);
        if (contentType == 'image')
            this.showImage(url,text);
        else if (contentType == 'html')
            this.showHtml(url,text);
        return false;
        },
        
    sizeTheBox : function(contentType,w,h)
        {
        var box = document.getElementById("lightBoxContent");
        if (w && isNaN(parseInt(w)))
            {
            addClass(box,w);
            }
        else if (w ||h || contentType == 'html')
            {
            box.style.width = w? w+ "px" : "450px";
            box.style.height = h? h+ "px" : "280px";
            if (contentType=='image')
                setStylesheet("#lightBoxContent img{height:100%;width:100%;}","lightBoxImageSizeHack");
            }
        },

    showProgress : function()
        {
        var progress = document.getElementById("lightboxprogress");
        progress.style.display='';
        this._center(progress);
        },
    
    hideProgress: function()
        {
        var progress = document.getElementById("lightboxprogress");
        progress.style.display='none';
        },

    //this function lifted from Lightbox Gone Wild
    hideSelects: function(visibility)
        {
        var selects = document.getElementsByTagName('select');
        for(i = 0; i < selects.length; i++)
            {
            selects[i].style.visibility = visibility;
            }
        },

    showBg: function()
        {
        var overlay = document.getElementById('lightBoxOverlay');
        if (config.browser.isIE)
            {
            overlay.style.height = Math.max(document.documentElement.scrollHeight,document.documentElement.offsetHeight);
            overlay.style.width = document.documentElement.scrollWidth;
            }
        overlay.style.display = 'block';
        },

    showImage: function (url,text)
        {
        imgPreloader = new Image();
        imgPreloader.onload = function ()
            {
            var lb = document.getElementById("lightBoxContent");
            lb.innerHTML = "<img src="+url+">";
            lb.onclick = function(){TiddlyLightBox.hideBox();return false;};
            TiddlyLightBox.posBox(text);
            };
        imgPreloader.src = url;
        },
        
    showHtml : function(theID,text)
        {
        var lb = document.getElementById("lightBoxContent");
        if (theID.indexOf("tiddler:")==-1)
             lb.innerHTML = document.getElementById(theID).innerHTML;
        else
            { 
             wikify(store.getTiddlerText(theID.replace("tiddler:","")),lb);
             lb.className='tiddler';
            }
        lb.style.overflow = "auto";
        this.posBox(text);
        },

    posBox: function(text)
       {
       this.setTitle(text);
       this.hideProgress();
       var lb = document.getElementById("lightBox");
       lb.style.display = "";
       lb.style.visibilty = "hidden";
       lb.style.position = "absolute";
       this._center(lb);
       if(!TiddlyLightBox._curBox) return;
       lb.style.visibility = "visible";
       lb.style.display = "block";
       },

     setTitle: function(text)
        {
        document.getElementById("lightBoxTitle").innerHTML=  (text==undefined)? '': text;
        },

    _center: function(lb)
       {
       var lbSize = new TiddlyLightBox.getElementSize(lb);
       lb.style.left = (Math.round(findWindowWidth()/2) - (lbSize.width /2) + findScrollX())+'px';
       lb.style.top = (Math.round(findWindowHeight()/2) - (lbSize.height /2) + findScrollY())+'px';
       },

    //this function lifted from Ibox
    getElementSize : function(elem)
       {
       this.width = elem.offsetWidth || elem.style.pixelWidth;
       this.height = elem.offsetHeight || elem.style.pixelHeight;
       },

     hideBox: function()
         {
         if(!this._curBox)
             return;
         document.getElementById("tiddlyLightBoxWrapper").innerHTML= this.lightBoxHtml;
         setStylesheet("","lightBoxImageSizeHack");
         this._curBox = null;
         return false;
         }
}

TiddlyLightBox.createBoxWrapper();

Story.prototype.findContainingTiddler = function(e)
{
    while(e && (!hasClass(e,"tiddler") || !e.getAttribute("tiddler")))
        e = e.parentNode;
    return(e);
}

config.shadowTiddlers.TiddlyLightBoxStyles="/*{{{*/\n#lightBoxOverlay {\n position:absolute;\n top: 0;\n left: 0;\n width: 100%;\n height: 100%;\n z-index: 90; \n background-color: #000;\n -moz-opacity: 0.75;\n opacity: .75;\n filter: alpha(opacity=75);\n}\n#lightBoxOverlay[id]{ \n position: fixed;\n}\n\n#lightboxprogress { \n margin:0;padding:0;\n position: absolute;\n z-index:95;\n}\n\ndiv.lightBox {\n background: #fff;\n color: #fff;\n border: 4px solid #525252;\npadding:20px 20px 25px 20px; position:absolute; z-index:99;\n}\n\n#lightBoxClose {text-align:right; color:#000; font-size:1.0em; position:absolute; bottom:6px; right:20px;}\n#lightBoxClose a{color:#666; border-bottom:1px solid #666;cursor:pointer;}\n#lightBoxClose a:hover {color:#111; border-bottom:1px solid #666; cursor:pointer; background:transparent;}\n\n#lightBoxContent {border:1px solid #525252;color:#000; background:#fff;}\n#lightBox .tiddler {background:#fff;}\n\n#lightBoxContent img {border:0;margin:0;padding:0;display:block;cursor:pointer;}\n\n#lightBoxTitle {padding:0px; font-weight:bold; position:absolute; left:20px;bottom:6px; font-size:1.1em; color:#000;}\n\n/*}}}*/";

Jonathan Edwards and Andrew Fuller

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:40:00 GMT

One of the perennial debates in Southern Baptist life is the question of Calvinism. In certain circles the label “Calvinist” carries as much stigma as “moderate” or “liberal.” It is a debate that continues to be fueled by an ignorance of Baptist heritage. Two key figures in the heritage of Baptists can do much to liberate the denomination from the debate over Divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Those two individuals are Jonathan Edwards and Andrew Fuller.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) has been considered by many to be the greatest philospher and theologian ever to grace the American scene. As a pastor and theologian he was in many ways the spiritual father of the First Great Awakening which swept the colonies in the first half of the eighteenth century. Edwards wrote a number of treatises and sermons which analyzed the fruit of these spiritual awakenings. His Treatise on Religious Affections was a masterful treatment of religious psychology. Edwards was an advocate of true and vital religion, in contrast to other ministers and theologians who opted for a cooler and calmer approach to God that was more in keeping with the Enlightenment thinking of the era. Though a champion of undiluted Calvinism, Jonathan Edwards had no use for a sterile religion. His vision was of flames of glory, sweeping across his town of Northampton to the uttermost parts of the world. Though introverted by nature, and not the most dynamic of preachers, he entertained a great desire to see the lost saved. This is evident not only through his treatises and sermons such as Pressing into the Kingdom, but also by his involvement in missions to and education of the Indian community at the frontier town of Stockbridge, MA.

Edwards’ literary accomplishments included an edited version of The Diary of David Brainerd. This single work alone birthed a fire for world missions in the heart of many Christians. What is interesting about Jonathan Edwards is not merely his great effectiveness in ministry and his continuing ability to inspire. Rather it is his theology that has come to light in recent years as the result of the tireless labors of editors at Yale University who have provided Christendom with his previously unpublished notebooks and manuscripts. Through these newly published materials, Edwards is revealed as a theologian who wrestled mightily with the nature of free will, natural revelation, and the responsibility of depraved humans before a holy God.

Jonathan Edwards was a Calvinist, but not a Baptist. Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) was both Calvinist and Baptist. Fuller served as pastor in Kettering, England, beginning as a high or strict Calvinist, unable or unwilling to offer the invitation of the Gospel freely. As a self-educated man with an independent spirit and real concern for the lost, Fuller found himself questing for an answer for the dilema which plagued his soul. He was confident, as were all hyper-Calvinists, that God would surely call His elect to salvation, but he was not convinced that the role of minister could properly be fulfilled without issuing a call of repentence to the lost. Fuller’s quest for the truth led him to Jonathan Edwards via a recommendation from his friend, John Ryland.[1] Fuller discerned that Edwards was a rare individual who combined orthodox Calvinism with fervent evangelistic preaching. Upon his immersion in the writings of Edwards, Fuller became a lifelong adherent of Edwardsean theology. In 1781 Fuller made an abrupt turn-around in his theological stance “with the publication of The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, a book that became the manual of Baptist foreign missions.”[2] Leon McBeth noted of this volume

It must be reckoned one of the most influential Baptist books of the century. It turned Particular Baptist around, brought a new style of preaching, helped stave off the paralysis of hyper-Calvinism, developed a theology of moderate conservatism which made possible the missionary movement embodied in William Carey, and laid the groundwork for Baptist advance in the nineteenth century.[3]

Timothy George also traces the revival of Particular Baptists and the advent of world missions back the influence of Jonathan Edwards.

In many respects the writings of Jonathan Edwards were the single most important theological influence on Fuller, Carey, and the English Baptists who launched the modern missionary movement. We have noted already the great impact his edition of David Brainerd’s life had on Carey and others. . .Edwards’s ability to balance the sovereignty of God and human responsibility made possible a fresh interpretation of Calvinistic theology, with historic implications for missions.[4]

Notes

Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1987), 180.
E. Brooks Holifield, Theology in America: Christian Thought from the Age of the Puritans to the Civil War (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2003), 280,281.
McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, 182.
Timothy George, Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey (Birmingham, AL: Christian History Institute, 1998), 49.

Must Read: John Piper recently gave a masterful address on Fuller.
(audio and video are also available)

TspotSidebar

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:23:00 GMT

To Do List

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:43:00 GMT

Switch to Fuller timeline

adjust appearance parameters
adjust height in stylesheet

Put timeline into pagetemplate
Continue to study http://project.dahukanna.net/tiddlywiki/timeline/sampletimeline213.html

SideBarTabs

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:37:00 GMT

Timeline All Tags More

7 April 2007
ViewTemplate

22 March 2007
TspotSetupPlugin

19 March 2007
UploadPlugin

timeline

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:00:00 GMT

1754

MarkupPostHead

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:35:00 GMT

ViewTemplate

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:38:00 GMT

<div class='toolbar'>
<span style="padding-right:2.45em;" macro='tagger'></span>
<span macro='toolbar closeTiddler closeOthers +editTiddler permalink references jump'></span></div>
<div class='title' macro='view title'></div>
<div class='subtitle'><span macro='view modifier link'></span>, <span macro='view modified date [[DD MMM YYYY]]'></span> (<span macro='message views.wikified.createdPrompt'></span> <span macro='view created date [[DD MMM YYYY]]'></span>)</div>
<div class='viewer' macro='view text wikified'></div>
<div class='tagClear'></div>

TaggerPluginDocumentation

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:42:00 GMT

If you want this documentation available offline, copy this tiddler to your TW.

Description:

The tagger plugin is a result of combining key features from the dropTags and tagAdder macro's. However, since it departs somewhat from the interface tagAdder users will be familiar with, I'm making this available as a new plugin alongside tagAdder.

Tagger provides a dropdown list of the current tiddler tags, along with the ability to toggle them. Further it can optionally display a list of tags in the dropdown, which can be addded to the tiddler.

Clicking on [x] and [ ] removes and adds the tag respectively.
Clicking on the tag text displays the tag dropdown for that tag, listing tiddlers tagged with it.
The Create new tag lets you quickly type in a new tag not in the list.
Click on this button to see the dropdown: Tags: ▾

Further note that each tag dropdown has a Rename tag option. This can be used to quickly rename a tag in the entire TW, also rename it's tiddler if it exists.

tagAdder, dropTags and the future
- tagAdder will no longer will be developed, but will remain available. I encourage all tagAdder users to upgrade to tagger.
- dropTags will still be developed for those users that dont want the 'tag editing' features.

Examples & Usage:

At it's simplest, using tagger is as simple as <<tagger>> Tags: ▾

This gives a dropdown with the current tiddler tags, followed by all the tags in the TW.

You can also use a list of specified tags instead of all tags in the TW, by specifying a source tiddler.

<<tagger source:TagsDB>>

You can also display ONLY the current tiddler tags

<<tagger taglist:false>> Tags: ▾

To exclude tags from the list: <<tagger exclude:"excludeLists Tag2 [[Tag with spaces]]">> Tags: ▾

For a custom button label: <<tagger label:"custom label">> custom label▾
For a custom tooltip: <<tagger tooltip:"custom tooltip">> Tags: ▾

CSS and Styling:

For those wishing to customize the popup appearance:

the main popup has a class and id of popup has with all other popups.
the nested tag popups have an id of nestedpopup

Advanced Users:

You can change the global defaults for tagger, like the button label, the tags to exclude or whether to display the taglist or not, by editing the config.tagger.defaults section in the code.

To Do:

code optimization
possibly a 'delete this tag' option.

History

version 1.0.1 (2006-06-01): fixed conflicts with QuickOpenTag (TagglyTagging) and AutoTagger.

TaggerPlugin

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:41:00 GMT

Name:	TaggerPlugin
Version:	1.0.1 (2006-06-01)
Source:	http://tw.lewcid.org//#TaggerPlugin
Author:	SaqImtiaz
Description:	Provides a drop down listing current tiddler tags, and allowing toggling of tags.
Documentation:	TaggerPluginDocumentation
Source Code:	TaggerPluginSource
TiddlyWiki:	Version 2.0.8 or better

331

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:09:00 GMT

are chosen of God from eternity. The question does not turn upon what are the causes of salvation, but rather upon what are the causes of damnation. "No man," as Mr. Charnock happily expresses it, "is an unbeliever, but because he will be so; and every man is not an unbeliever, because the grace of God conquers some, changeth their wills, and bends them to Christ."*

Secondly, Neither is there any dispute concerning who ought to be encouraged to consider themselves as entitled to the blessings of the gospel. Though sinners be freely invited to the participation of spiritual blessings; yet they have no interest in them, according to God's revealed will, while they continue in unbelief; nor is it any part of the design of these pages to persuade them to believe that they have. On the contrary, the writer is fully convinced that, whatever be the secret purpose of God concerning them, they are at present under the curse.

Thirdly, The question is not whether men are bound to do any thing more than the law requires, but whether the law, as the invariable standard of right and wrong, does not require every man cordially to embrace whatever God reveals; in other words, whether love to God, with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, does not include a cordial reception of whatever plan he shall at any period of time disclose.

Fourthly, The question is not whether men are required to believe any more than is reported in the gospel, or any thing that is not true; but whether that which is reported ought not to be believed with all the heart, and whether this be not saving faith.

Fifthly, It is no part of the controversy whether unconverted sinners be able to turn to God, and to embrace the gospel; but what kind of inability they lie under with respect to these exercises; whether it consists in the want of natural powers and advantages, or merely in the want of a heart to make a right use of them. If the former, obligation, it is granted, would be set aside; but if the latter, it remains in full force. They that are in the flesh cannot please God; but it does not follow that they are not obliged to do so; and this their obligation requires to be clearly insisted on, that they maybe convinced of their sin, and so induced to embrace the gospel remedy.

Sixthly, The question is not whether faith be required of sinners as a virtue, which, if complied with, shall be the ground of their acceptance with God, or that on account of which they may be justified in his sight; but whether it be not required as the appointed means of salvation. The righteousness of Jesus believed in is the only ground of justification, but faith in him is necessary to our being interested in it. We remember the fatal example of the Jews, which the apostle Paul holds up to our view. "The Gentiles," saith he, "who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: but Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but, as it were, by the works of the law; for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone." Though we had not been elsewhere told (1 Pet. ii. 8) that in doing this they were disobedient, yet our judgments must be strangely warped by system if we did not conclude it to be their sin, and that by which they fell and perished. And we dare not but charge our hearers, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, to beware of stumbling upon the same stone, and of falling after the same example of unbelief.

Finally, The question is not whether unconverted sinners be the subjects
—
* Discourses, Vol. II. p. 473.

<< BACK | NEXT >>

332 PART I

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:09:00 GMT

of exhortation, but whether they ought to be exhorted to perform spiritual duties. It is beyond all dispute that the Scriptures do exhort them to many things. If, therefore, there be any professors of Christianity who question the propriety of this, and who would have nothing said to them, except that, "if they be elected they will be called," they are not to be reasoned with, but rebuked, as setting themselves in direct opposition to the word of God. The greater part of those who may differ from the author on these subjects, it is presumed, will admit the propriety of sinners being exhorted to duty; only this duty must, as they suppose, be confined to merely natural exercises, or such as may be complied with by a carnal heart, destitute of the love of God. It is one design of the following pages to show that God requires the heart, the whole heart, and nothing but the heart; that all the precepts of the Bible are only the different modes in which we are required to express our love to him; that, instead of its being true that sinners are obliged to perform duties which have no spirituality in them, there are no such duties to be performed; and that, so far from their being exhorted to every thing excepting what is spiritually good, they are exhorted to nothing else. The Scriptures undoubtedly require them to read, to hear, to repent, and to pray, that their sins may be forgiven them. It is not, however, in the exercise of a carnal, but of a spiritual state of mind, that these duties are performed.

Part I

The Subject Shown to be Important, Stated and Explained.

GOD, having blessed mankind with the glorious gospel of his Son, hath spoken much in his word, as it might be supposed he would, of the treatment which it should receive from those to whom it was addressed. A cordial reception of it is called, in Scripture, receiving Christ, allowing him, believing in him, &c, and the contrary, refusing, disallowing, and rejecting him; and those who thus reject him are, in so doing, said to judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life.* These are things on which the New Testament largely insists: great stress is there laid on the reception which the truth shall meet with. The same lips which commissioned the apostles to go and "preach the gospel to every creature," added, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God;" but to them "who received him not," but refused him, and rejected his way of salvation, he became a stumbling-stone, and a rock of offence, that they might stumble, and fall, and perish. Thus the gospel, according to the different reception it meets with, becomes a "savour of life unto life, or of death unto death."

The controversies which have arisen concerning faith in Jesus Christ are not so much an object of surprise as the conduct of those who, professing to be Christians, affect to decry the subject as a matter of little or no importance. There is not any principle or exercise of the human mind of which the New Testament speaks so frequently, and on which so great a stress is laid. And with regard to the inquiry whether faith be required of all men who hear, or have opportunity to hear, the word, it cannot be uninteresting. If it be not, to inculcate it would be unwarrantable and cruel to
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* John i.12; iii. 16; Psal. cxviii. 22; 1 Pet. ii. 7; Platt. xxi.42; Acts xiii. 46.

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spiritual exercise, would be followed with forgiveness. Those who seek the Lord must be exhorted to seek him in the way in which he is to be found; those that call upon him must do so in the name of Jesus; the way and thoughts to be forsaken respect not merely a course of outward crimes, but the self-righteous schemes of the heart; and returning to the Lord is nothing less than is nothing less than returning home to God by Jesus Christ. But this does not prove that the exhortation, unless it be to teach them what they must do to be justified by a covenant of works, is improperly addressed to the unconverted. It is manifestly intended for no such purpose, but as a direction to obtain salvation.

The Scriptures sometimes give directions as to the way of our obtaining the remission of sins, and acceptance with God; and sometimes of being saved in general, or of obtaining everlasting life; and we ought to give the same. If they direct us to seek for pardon, it is by repentance;* if for justification, it is by believing;+ and if for eternal salvation, it is by a life of evangelical obedience.x When they speak of pardon, justification is supposed;# and when they exhort to repentance in order to it, believing in the name of Jesus is supposed.= On the other hand, when they speak of justification, they include forgiveness;$ and when they exhort to believing in order to it, it is to such a believing as comprehends repentance.^

Many of these directions, on the principle I oppose, must be omitted; but if they be, some of the most essential branches of the Christian ministry will be neglected.

* Isa. Iv. 6, 7; Acts viii. 22.
+ Acts xiii. 39; Rom. iv. 4, 5; ix. 32.
x Rom. ii. 7; Heb. xi. 14.
# Psal. xxxii. 1, 2, compared with Rom. iv. 6, 7.
= Luke xv. 4. 7; Acts xiii. 38; Eph. i.7; Col. i. 14.
$ Rom. iv. 6, 7.
^ Mark i. 15; Matt. xxi. 32; Acts xvi.31, compared with xx. 21; Luke xiii. 3.

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also that a belief of the doctrine of Christ precedes our coming to him for life, as much so as believing that God is, and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, precedes coming to him. But it were as easy to produce a number of declarations and promises which express the safety of those who know Christ and believe his doctrine, as of those who are regenerate: and it might with equal propriety be said, There is but little, if any, occasion for those who know Christ to believe in him; or for those who believe his doctrine to come to him for eternal life, seeing they are already in a state of salvation. — The truth appears to be, these things are inseparable; and when promises are made to one, it is as connected with the other. The priority contended for is rather in order of nature than of time; or if it be the latter, it may be owing to the disadvantages under which the party may be placed as to the means of understanding the gospel. No sooner is the heart turned towards Christ than Christ is embraced. It is necessary that, the evil humours of a jaundiced eye should be removed, before we can see things as they are; but no sooner are they removed than we see. And if there he a priority in order of time owing to the want of opportunity of knowing the truth; yet where a person embraces Christ so far as he has the means of knowing him, he is in effect a believer. The Bereans "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so: therefore," it is said, "many of them believed." And had they died while engaged in this noble pursuit, they would not have been treated as unbelievers. This principle, therefore, does not involve the absurdity of a godly unbeliever. But if its opposite be true, the absurdity of an ungodly believer must undoubtedly be admitted. Indeed, those who plead for it avow this consequence; for though they allow that none but believers are justified, yet they contend that at the time of justification the party is absolutely and in every sense ungodly; that is, he is at the same instant both a believer and an enemy of God!

I shall conclude with a reflection or two on the consequences of the principle I oppose, with respect to addressing the unconverted.

First, If the necessity of repentance in order to forgiveness be given up, we shall not be in the practice of urging it on the unconverted. We shall imagine it will be leading souls astray to press it before and in order to believing; and afterwards it will be thought unnecessary; as all that is wanted will come of itself. Thus it will in effect. he left out of our ministry; but whether in this case we can acquit ourselves of having deserted the examples, and of course the doctrine, of John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, deserves our serious consideration.

Secondly, For the same reason that we give up the necessity of repentance in order to forgiveness, we may give up all exhortations to things spiritually good as means of salvation. Instead of uniting with the sacred writers in calling upon the wicked to forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and to return to the Lord, that he may have mercy upon him, we shall consider it as tending to make them Pharisees. Indeed, Mr. M'L. seems prepared for this consequence. If I understand him, he does not approve of unconverted sinners being exhorted to any thing spiritually good, any otherwise than as holding up to them the language of the law for convincing them of sin. It is thus he answers the question, "Are unbelievers to be exhorted to obedience to God's commandments?" referring us to the answer of our Lord to the young ruler, which directed him to keep the commandments if he would enter into life."* It is easy to perceive that his scheme requires this construction of the exhortations of the Bible; for if he
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* Simple Truth, p. 21. Second Edition.

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allow that sinners are called to the exercise of any thing spiritually good, in order to their partaking of spiritual blessings, he must give up his favourite notion of God's justifying men while in a state of enmity against him. True it is that all duty in some sort belongs to the law; considering it as the eternal standard of right and wrong, it requires the heart in every modification. Repentance, faith, and all holy exercises of the mind are in this sense required by it. But as a covenant of life it does not admit of repentance, and much less hold up the promise of forgiveness. When God says, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin," this is not the language of the law as a covenant of life. Mr. M'L. tells us, in the same page, that "there is no promise of life to the doing of any good thing, except all the commandments be kept." How then can the law as a covenant of life so much as admit of repentance, and much less hold up a hope that in case of it iniquity shall not he our ruin? The Scriptures exhort on this wise: "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." — "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found: call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for be will abundantly pardon." — "Labour not for the meat that perisheth; but for that which endureth unto everlasting life." — "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Is this the mere language of the law, and designed to suggest what they must do if they would he justified by the works of it?

It should seem that, if Mr. M'L. was called to visit a dying sinner, he would be careful not to use any such language as this; or if he did, it must be ironically, teaching him what he must do, on his own self justifying principles, to gain eternal life. If he be serious, he has only to state to him what Christ has done upon the cross, and assure him that if he believes it, he is happy. Far be it from me that I should disapprove of an exhibition of the Saviour as the only foundation of hope to a dying sinner, or plead for such directions as fall short of believing in him. In both these particulars I am persuaded Mr. M'L. is in the right, and that all those counsels to sinners which are adapted only to turn their attention to the workings of their own hearts, to their prayers, or their tears, and not to the blood of the cross, are delusive and dangerous. But does it follow that they are to be exhorted to nothing spiritually good unless it be for their conviction? Mr. M'L., to be consistent, must not seriously exhort a sinner to come offrenounce all dependence on his prayers and tears, and to rely upon Christ alone as necessary to justification, lest he make him a Pharisee; for this would be the same thing as exhorting him to humble himself, and submit himself to the righteousness of God; exercises in which the mind is active, and which are spiritually good.

Why should we be wise above what is written? why scruple to address such a character in the language of inspiration? “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” The sacred writers warn and exhort as well as teach. While they exhibit the Saviour, they expostulate, entreat, and persuade men to embrace him with all their hearts; and this without any apparent apprehensions of undermining the doctrine of free justification.

If it be said, The exercises included in the foregoing exhortations imply faith, I grant it. Without faith in Christ, neither repentance, nor any other

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the term is introduced as a cause of faith, or as that of which believing in Jesus is a proof, (as it is in John i. 12, 13, and 1 John v. 1,) we may be certain it stands distinguished from it; but when the same things are ascribed to it which peculiarly pertain to faith, we maybe equally certain that it includes it. Thus we read of "the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." If regeneration did not here include faith in Jesus Christ, it would not I conceive stand connected as it does with justification, which is peculiarly ascribed to faith.

Regeneration, taken in this large sense of the term, is undoubtedly “by the word of God.” It is by means of this that a sinner is first convinced of sin, and by this, as exhibiting mercy through Jesus Christ, he is kept from despair. It is by this only that he can become acquainted with the character of the Being he has offended, the nature and demerit of sin, and the way in which he must be saved from it. These important truths, viewed with the eye of an enlightened conscience, frequently produce great effects upon the soul even previously to its yielding itself up to Christ. And the impartation of spiritual life, or a susceptibility of heart to receive the truth, may generally, if not always, accompany the representation of truth to the mind. It was while Paul was speaking that the Lord opened the heart of Lydia. It is also allowed that when the word is received into the soul, and finds place there, it "worketh effectually," and becomes a principle of holy action, "a well of water springing up to everlasting life." All I contend for is that it is not by means of a spiritual perception, or belief of the gospel, that the heart is for the first time effectually influenced towards God; for spiritual perception and belief are represented as the effects, and not the causes, of such influence.

A spiritual perception of the glory of Divine things appears to be the first sensation of which the mind is conscious; but it is not the first operation of God upon it. Spiritual perception is that which the Scriptures call aivsQhvsis, judgment, or sense, or the judgment arising from holy sensibility, Phil. i. 9. It is that in spiritual things which a delicate sense of propriety is in natural things, in which the mind judges as it were instinctively from a feeling of what is proper. It is by this "unction from the Holy One" that we perceive the glory of the Divine character, the evil of sin, and the lovely fitness of the Saviour; neither of which can be properly known by mere intellect, any more than the sweetness of honey or the bitterness of wormwood can be ascertained by the sight of the eye. Nor can one be perceived but in connexion with the other. Without a sense of the glory of the object offended, it is impossible to have any just perception of the evil nature of the offence; and without a sense of the evil nature of the offence, it is equally impossible to discern either the necessity or the fitness of a Saviour: but with such a sense of things, each naturally, and perhaps instantaneously, follows the other. Hence arise the exercises of "repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ;" and in the order in which the Scriptures represent them.

Much has been said of this statement of things, as involving the absurdity of a godly unbeliever. Scripture declarations and promises, expressive of the safety of the regenerate, have been urged, and a conclusion drawn, that if regeneration precede believing, men may be in a safe state without coming to Christ.* It will be allowed I suppose that spiritual perception necessarily precedes believing, or that seeing the Son goes before believing in him;
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* Mr. Booth's Glad Tidings, &c., pp. 176. 189.

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– “They say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.” – “The ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness,” obduracy, or callousness of the heart, Eph. iv. 18. The obstinacy and aversion of heart is the film to the mental eye, preventing all spiritual glory entering into it. The natural man, therefore, “receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them.” Hence it will follow, that unless the Holy Spirit effect that which he has declared to be impossible, his influence must consist, not in causing the mind to see notwithstanding the obstruction, but in removing the obstruction itself out of the way. If it be said, though it be impossible with men, yet it may be possible with God, I answer, those things which are impossible with men, but possible with God, are not such as are impossible in their own nature. Where this is the case, the power of God is never introduced as accomplishing them, any more than the power of man. We should not, for instance, think of affirming that the heart while carnal, and in a state of “enmity against God,” can by his almighty power be made to love him, and be “subject to his law;” for this is in itself impossible. But the impossibility of the natural man receiving the things of the Spirit of God, while they appear “foolishness” to him, is manifestly of the same nature as this, and is described in the same language.398 God does not cause the mind while carnal to be subject to his law, but imparts that which removes the obstruction, “taking away the stony heart out of our flesh, and giving us a heart of flesh.” And thus it is supposed to be in respect of spiritual discernment: God does not cause the natural man to receive spiritual things, and thereby render him spiritual; but removes the obstructing film by imparting a spiritual relish for those things. Thus it is that “spiritual things are spiritually discerned.” Secondly, Though holiness is frequently ascribed in the Scriptures to a spiritual perception of the truth, yet that spiritual perception itself, in the first instance, is ascribed to the influence of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. “The Lord opened the heart of Lydia, and she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul.” – “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” – “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you; and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things.” – “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” Finally, Every thing which proves that spiritual blindness and unbelief have their origin in the depravity of the heart, proves that whatever may be said of particular volitions being caused by ideas received into the mind, original biasses are not so;399 and every thing which proves spiritual perception

Compare 1 Cor. ii. 14, with Rom. viii. 7.

+ President Edwards (than whom no man will be allowed to bare possessed a clearer insight into these difficult subjects) speaks with great caution on the will being determined by the understanding. He denies that it is so, if by the understanding be meant what is called reason or judgment; and only allows it 'in a large sense, as including the whole faculties of perception or apprehension." And even when taken in this large sense, he rather chooses to say, that "the will always is as the greatest apparent good, or as what appears most agreeable, is, than to say that the will is determined by the greatest apparent good, or by what seems most agreeable; because an appearing most agreeable or pleasing to the mind, and the mind's preferring and choosing, seem hardly to he properly and perfectly distinct." — On the Will, pp. 11. 17. London Ed. Thus also he writes in his : — "Spiritual understanding consists, primarily, in a sense of heart of spiritual beauty. I say in a sense of heart; for it is not speculation mercy that is concerned in this kind of understanding; nor can there be a clear distinction made between the true faculties of understanding and will, as acting distinctly and separately in this matter. When the mind is sensible of the sweet beauty and amiableness of a thing, that implies a sensibteness of sweetness and delight in the presence of the idea of it; and this sensibleness of the amiableness or delightfulness

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