Let us notice another eternal purpose of God. He foresaw that it was necessary or fit that this chosen people should suffer a cruel bondage, and then to be brought out of it with an outstretched hand, in order to impress most forcibly his glorious attributes upon their minds and memories to the latest generation. Foreseeing this, he determines or purposes it. We He declares this purpose,-this is his decree. read it in Gen. xv. 13: "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a strange land, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation whom they serve will I judge; and afterwards they shall come out with great substance." Now this was God's decree, made known hundreds of years before its accomplishment, and it must needs come to pass just as he determined it. He accordingly elects or chooses the means,—that is, time, persons, nations and circumstances. In due time Joseph is sold into Egypt,-God preserves and raises him to the second place in the kingdom. Famine is brought upon the land. This ultimately brings Jacob and his family into Egypt, where he is finally enslaved. At the expiration of the four hundred years, Moses is born, preserved, raised and educated a prince. God reveals his purpose to him-and finally redeems Israel, overthrowing Pharaoh in the sea. The descendants of the twelve sons become a great nation, divided into twelve tribes, from one of these tribes is the Messiah to be born. Judah is chosen. From all the families of Judah, Jesse's family is selected; of all his sons, David; of all David's sons, Solomon ;-and when the time had fully come when Christ should appear, of all the villages of Judea, Bethlehem is chosen; and of all the virgins of the line of Jesse, Mary alone found grace in the sight of the Lord to be the mother of Immanuel. Thus have we seen, by simply citing one event, eternal, absolute, particular, unconditional, personal election, which no one can deny. God determining to bring it about, none could "stay his hand"-He governed and controlled the circumstances which brought it all forward, just as he willed it. It all pertained to his sovereignty, and he accomplished it Christ died by the determinate will and purpose of God-to bring in a new and better covenant, which God decreed from the beginning; and is it not rational to suppose that he, from the beginning, also fixed, determined, or decreed the conditions of that covenant, in and through which lost man might be saved? We have thus seen that God can act the part of a sovereign, rule and direct his own affairs, without infringing upon the moral will of the creature, that is, compel the creature to love or hate him. -DOCTRINE OF SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. 6. A. M. POINDEXTER. THE providence of God, it is sometimes said, is general, respecting only great events and distinguished persons. It is thought beneath the Great God to notice trivial matters. To this, in the language of a heathen philosopher, we might reply, "great things cannot be taken care of without taking care of small; and in all cases, the greater any artist is, the more his skill and care appear in little as well as in great things." Let us not, then, conceive of God as less than even mortal artists. This objection to a particular providence, originates in low and contracted views of the divine character. It implies, that providential government requires an effort of attention. It supposes a defect of knowledge in the Omniscient. It presumes, that to God, some beings and events are more important than others—a supposition entirely inapplicable to him to whom all things are infinitely important. It is as great conde scension in God to notice an archangel as the mite that floats upon the breeze of summer. He "humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth." And after all, what events are unimportant? Who does not know that the greatest revolutions have arisen from causes, seemingly, the most trivial? How often, in ancient times, did the appearance of the entrails of a beast decide the march of armies and the fate of empires? The life of Mahommed was preserved by a spider's web. By preventing Oliver Cromwell, then an obscure individual, from embarking, an exile from his native land, for America, Charles I. lost his crown and his head. And to the same act may be traced the mighty Revolution which placed the Protector on the throne of England, and affected the condition of the whole civilized world. There is, perhaps, nothing unimportant; nothing, but is concerned, remotely or immediately, in the production of everything important. And were the smallest link in the great chain of cause and effect taken away, or in the slightest degree altered, it may be, that consequences would follow, at which all intelligent creatures would be struck with horror. Each being in this vast world, is the centre of an influence ramifying throughout the whole range of connected being. He is what he is through the influence of other, and to those yet to come, he shall be the medium of union with all that is past. Any man who will reflect, must be convinced, that whatever he may now be, his character and condition have been materially shaped by those of his progenitors, and others with whom he has been connected. A difference in these would have made a difference in him. Nor is this obvious connection the only one of which we have plain indications. To what Christian has not the history of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, been an incentive to faith, to prayer, to steadfast integrity? To the end of time, and for ever, many a heart will glow with pious emo tion over the simple annals of the poor. Angels are interested in the concerns of earth. The conversion of a sinner imparts new melody to the harps of heaven. To use the language of a distinguished writer, "the same law of interminable connection, a law of moral gravitation, stretches far beyond the limits of the human family, and actually holds in unison the great community of intelligent beings." Now this universality of influence makes it indispensable that there be a particular providence, shaping the course of each individual with a view to the whole. Let us illustrate by a single The greatest event which ever transpired in this world, the manifestations of the Messiah, depended upon the marriage of Boaz to Ruth! Upon the determination, so beautifully expressed by the affectionate Moabitess, "whither thou goest, I will go; where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people, shall be my people, and thy God, my God;" depended the salvation of the world! and this again, upon the education of Ruth. case. Every argument which can be adduced, sustains the doctrine of a particular providence. The character of God establishes it. We can conceive of no reason why he should exercise a providence, which does not equally involve its extension to all things. An imperfect government is inconsistent with the perfection of his nature; but a partial government, one that overlooked some things and excluded others, would be imperfect. The constant representations of Scripture, prophecy, prayer, each of these requires a particular providence. "A An observation of the course of events may strengthen our convictions of the truth of this doctrine. man's heart deviseth his ways, but the Lord directeth his steps." Who is in just the condition he would choose? How many are constantly struggling in vain against what they deem adverse fortune? How often, too, have we known instances of preservation from danger, and deliverance from peril, where all hope of escape had fled. There is not, perhaps, a reflecting person but has exclaimed: "There is a Providence that shapes our ends, Instances, too, are not wanting, in which somewhat of retributive justice is manifest in the course of human affairs. We speak not now of such punishment of crime, nor rewarding of virtue, as is common. These are under the divine supervision, but they occur as matters of course. This, we know, is not the state of retribution. But there are instances in which the greatly-wicked have been stricken down in the height of their daring impiety, like the oak scathed and blighted by heaven's bolt, and we have felt "the Lord hath done it." There are cases in which distinguished piety has been specially rewarded in such a manner as to show the hand of God. As an example of the former, may be mentioned the horrible death of Herod; of the latter, the preservation of Paul amidst all the dangers of his perilous voyage. 7.-RESTRAINING PROVIDENCES. C. F. STURGIS. UNDER this head of restraining providences we arrange all those instances wherein the Almighty, for wise and gracious purposes, pleases to interfere in the conduct of human affairs, so that the disastrous consequences which would have resulted as the legitimate fruits of the errors, or sins of men, are overruled in such a way as not to produce those results which would naturally belong to them. In the examination of this large class, we see that some of the richest blessings we enjoy have been conferred upon us through the good providence of God, making "the wrath of |