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Hone
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Patrick Henry
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
be prescribed by law.
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FREE GRACE
-By John Wesley
1703-1791
“He that spareth not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
· HOW FREELY DOES GOD LOVE THE WORLD?
While we were yet dead sinners, “Christ died for the ungodly.” While
we were ‘dead in sin,” God, “spared not His own Son, but delivered him
up for us all.” And how free with Him does he “give us all things!”
Verily, free grace is all in all!
· The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is
free in all, and free for all.
· First: it is free in all to who, it is given
It does not depend on any power or merit in man; no, not in any
degree, neither in whole, nor in part. It does not in any case depend
either on the good works or righteousness of the receiver; not on any
thing he has done, or anything he is. It does not depend on his
endeavors. It does not on his good temper, or good desires, or good
purposes and intentions; for all these flow from the grace of God; they
are the streams only, not the fountain. They are the fruits of grace,
and not the root. They are not the cause, but the effects of it.
Whatsoever good is in man, or is done by man, God is the author and doer
of it. Thus is His grace free in all; that is, no way depending on any
power or merits in man, but in God alone, who freely gave us His own Son
“with him freely giveth us all things.”
· But is it free for all, as well as in all?
To this some have answered, “No: it is free for only those whom God
hath ordained to life; and they are but a little flock. The greater part
of mankind hath been ordained to death; and it is not free for them.
Them God hateth; and therefore, before they were born, decreed they
should die eternally. And this He absolutely decreed; because so was His
good pleasure; because it was his sovereign will. Accordingly they are
born for this, to be destroyed body and soul in Hell. And they grow up
under the irrevocable curse of God, without any possibility of
redemption; for what grace God gives, He gives only for this, to
increase, not prevent, their damnation.”
· This is that degree of predestination.
But methinks I hear one say, “This is not the predestination which I
hold: I hold only, the election of grace. What I believe is no more than
this that God, before the foundation of the world, did elect a certain
number of men to be justified, sanctified, and glorified. Now all these
will be saved, and none else: for the rest of mankind God leaves to
themselves; so they follow the imaginations of their own hearts, which
are only continually, and, waxing worse and worse, are at length justly
punished with everlasting destruction.”
· Is this all the predestination, which you hold?
Consider: perhaps this is not all. Do not you believe, God
ordained them to this very thing? If so, you believe the whole degree;
you hold predestination in the full scene, which has been above
described. But it may be, you think you do not. Do not you then believe,
God hardens the hearts of them that perish> Do not you believe, He
(literally) hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and that for this end he raised
him up, or created Him? Why this amounts to just the same thing. If you
believe Pharaoh, or any one man upon earth, was created for this end, to
be damned, you hold all that has been said of predestination. And there
is no need you should add, and God seconds His degree, which is supposed
unchangeable and irresistible, by hardening the hearts of those vessels
of wrath, whom that decree had before fitted for destruction.
· Well; but it may be you do not believe even this.
You do not hold any degree of reprobation: you do not think God
decrees any man to be damned, nor hardens, irresistibly fits him for
damnation: you only say, that all being dead in sin, He would say to
some of the dry bones, Live, and to others He would not; that,
consequently, these should be made alive, and those abide in death,
these should glorify God in their salvation, and those by their
destruction.”
· Is not this what you mean by the election of grace?
If it be, I would ask one or two questions: Are any who are not thus
elected, saved? Or, were any, from the foundation of the world? Is it
possible any man should be saved, unless he be thus elected? If you say,
No; you are but where you was: you are not got one hair’s breath
further: you still believe, that in consequence of an unchangeable,
Irresistible degree of God, the greater part of mankind abide in death,
without any possibility of redemption; inasmuch as none can saved but
God, and He will not save them. You believe he hath absolutely decreed
not to save them; and what is this, but decreeing to damn them? It is,
in effect, neither more nor less: it comes to the same thing: for if you
are dead, and altogether unable to make yourself alive; then, if God has
absolutely decreed He will make only others alive, and not you, He hath
absolutely decreed your everlasting death; you are absolutely consigned
to damnation. So then, though you use softer words than some, you mean
the self same thing; And God’s decree concerning the election of grace,
according to your own account of it, amounts to neither more nor less
than what others call, “God’s decree of reprobation.”
· Call it therefore by whatever name you please, election,
preterition, predestination, or reprobation, it comes in the end to the
same thing.
The sense of all is plainly this: by virtue of an eternal,
unchangeable, irresistible decree of God, one part of mankind are
infallibly saved, and the rest infallibly damned; it being impossible
that any of the former should be damned, or that any of the latter
should be saved.
· But if this be so, then is all preaching vain?
It is needless to them that are elected; for they, whether with
preaching or without will infallibly be saved. Therefore the end of
preaching, to save souls, is void with regard to them. And it is useless
to them that are not elected, for they cannot possible be saved. They:
whether with preaching or without will infallibly be damned. The end of
preaching is therefore void with regard to them likewise, so that in
either case, our preaching is vain, as your hearing is also vain.
· This, then, is a plain proof that the doctrine of
predestination is not a doctrine of God, because it makes void the
ordinance of God:
And God is not divided against himself. A second is, that it
directly tends to destroy that holiness, which is the end of all the
ordinances of God. I do not say, none who hold it are holy; (for God is
of tender mercy to those who are unavoidably entangled in errors of any
kind;) but that the doctrine itself: that every man is either elected or
not elected from eternity, and that the one must inevitable be saved,
and the other inevitably damned, has a manifested tendency to destroy
holiness in general. For it wholly takes away those first motives to
follow after it, so frequently proposed in Scripture, the hope of future
reward and fear of punishment, the hope of Heaven and fear of Hell. That
these shall go away into everlasting punishment, and those into life
eternal, is no motive to him to struggle for life, who believes his lot
is cast already: It is not reasonable for him so to do, if he thinks he
is unalterably adjudged either to life or death. You will say, “But he
knows not whether it is life or death.” What then? This helps not the
matter: for if a sick man knows that he must avoidably die, or
unavoidably recover, though he knows not which, it is unreasonable for
him to take any physic at all. He might just say, (and so I have heard
him speak, both in bodily and in spiritual,) “If I am ordained to life,
I shall live; if to death, I shall die: so I need not trouble myself
about it.” So directly does this doctrine tend to shut the very gate of
holiness in general, to hinder unholy men from ever approaching thereto,
or striving to enter in thereat.
· As directly does this doctrine tend to destroy several
particular branches of holiness.
Such as meekness and love; love, I mean, of our enemies; of the evil
and unthankful. I say not, that none who hold it have meekness and love;
(for as is the power of God, so is his mercy;) but that it naturally
tends to inspire, or increase, a sharpness or eagerness of temper, which
is quite contrary to the meekness of Christ; as then especially appears,
when they are opposed on this head. And it as naturally inspires
contempt or coldness towards those whom we suppose outcast from God. “Oh
but,” you say, “I suppose no particular man a reprobate.” You mean, you
would not if you could help it. But you cannot help sometimes applying
your general doctrine to particular persons: the enemy of souls will
apply it for you. You know how often he has done so. But you reject the
thought with abhorrence. True: so as soon as you could: but how did it
sour and sharpen your spirit in the mean time? You well know it was not
the spirit of love, which you then felt towards that poor sinner, who,
you supposed or suspected, whether you would or no, to have been hated
of God from eternity.
· Thirdly, This doctrine tends to destroy the comfort of
religion, the happiness of Christianity.
This is evident as to all those who believe themselves to be
reprobated; or who only suspect or fear it. All the great precious
promises are lost to them; they afford them no ray of comfort: for they
are not the elect of God; therefore they have neither lot nor portion in
them. This is an effectual bar to their finding any comfort or
happiness, even in that religion whose ways are designed to be “ways of
pleasantness, and all her paths peace.”
· And as to you who believe yourselves to be the elect of
God, what is your happiness?
I hope not a notion; a speculative belief; a bare opinion of any
kind; but a felling possession of God in your heart, wrought in you by
the Holy Spirit, or the witness of God’s Spirit with your spirit that
you are a child of God. This, otherwise termed “the full assurance of
faith,” is the true ground of Christian happiness. And it does indeed
imply a full assurance that all past sins are forgiven, and that you are
now a child of God. But it does not necessarily imply a full assurance
of our future perseverance. I do not say this is never joined to it, but
that it is necessarily implied therein; for many have one, who have not
the other.
· Now this witness of the Spirit.
Experience shows to be much obstructed by this doctrine; and not
only in those who, believing themselves reprobated, by this belief
thrust it far from them, but even in them that have tasted of that good
gift, who yet have soon lost it again, and fallen back into doubts,
fears, and darkness, horrible darkness, that might be felt! And I appeal
to any of you that hold this doctrine, to say, between God and your own
hearts, whether you have not often a return doubts and fears concerning
your election or perseverance? If you ask, who was not? I answer, very
few of those that hold this doctrine, but many, very many of those that
hold it not, in all parts of the earth, many of those who know and feel
they are in Christ today, and “take no thought for the tomorrow,” who
“abide in him” by faith from hour to hour, or rather from moment to
moment, many of these have enjoyed the uninterrupted witness of the
Spirit, the continual light of His countenances, from the moment wherein
they first believed, for many months or years, to this day.
· That assurance of faith, which these enjoy, excludes all
doubt and fear.
It excludes all kinds of doubt and fear concerning their future
perseverance; though it is not properly, as was said before, an
assurance of what is future, but only of what now is. And this needs not
for its support a speculative belief that whoever is ordained to life
must live; for it is wrought, from hour to hour, by the mighty power of
God, “by the Holy Spirit which is given them.” And therefore that
doctrine is not of God, because it tends to obstruct, if not destroy,
this great work of the Holy Spirit, whence flows the chief comfort of
religion, the happiness of Christianity.
· Again, how uncomfortable a thought is this, that thousands
and millions of men, without any preceding offence or faults of theirs,
were unchangeable doomed to everlasting burnings!
How peculiarly uncomfortable must it be to those who have put on
Christ! To those who, being filled with the bowels of mercy, tenderness,
and compassion, could even “wish themselves accursed for their
brethren’s sake!
· Fourthly: This uncomfortable doctrine directly tends to
destroy our zeal for good works.
And this it does, first, as it naturally tends, according to what
was observed before, to destroy our love to the greater part of mankind,
namely, the evil and unthankful. For whatever lessens our love, must so
far lessen our desire to do them good. This it does, secondly, as it
cuts off one of the strongest motives to all acts of bodily mercy, such
as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and the like; viz. the hope
of saving their souls from death. For what avails it to relieve their
temporal wants, who are just dropping into eternal life? “Well: but run
and snatch them as brands out of the fire.” Nay, this you suppose
impossible. They were appointed thereunto, you say, from eternity,
before they had done either good or evil. You believe it is the will of
God they should die. And “who hath resisted his will?” But you say, you
do not know whether these are elected or not. What then? If you know
they are the one or the other, that they are either elected, or not
elected, all your labor is void and vain. In either case, your advice,
reproof, or exhortation, is as needless and useless as our preaching. It
is needless to them that are elected; for they will infallibly be saved
without it. It is useless to them that are not elected; for with or
without it they will infallibly be damned: therefore you cannot,
consistently with your principles, take any pains about their salvation.
Consequently those principles directly tend to destroy your zeal for
good works; for all good works; but, but particularly for the greatest
of all, the savings of souls from death.
· But, fifthly, this doctrine not only tends to destroy
Christian holiness, happiness, and good works, but hath also a direct
and manifest tendency to overthrow the whole Christian revelation.
The point, which the wisest of the modern unbelievers most
industriously labor to prove, is that the Christian revelation is not
necessary. They well know, could they once show this, the conclusion
would be too plain to be denied, “If it be not necessary, it is not
true.” Now this fundamental point you give up. For supposing that
eternal, unchangeable decree, once part of mankind must be saved though
the Christian revelation were not in being, and the other part of
mankind must be damned, notwithstanding that revelation. And what would
an infidel desire more? You allow him all he asks. In making the Gospel
unnecessary to all sorts of men, you give up the whole Christian cause.
“Oh tell it not in Gath!
Publish it not in the streets of Askelon! Lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised rejoice;” lest the sons of unbelief triumph!
· And as this doctrine manifestly and directly tends to
overthrow the whole Christian revelation, so it does the same thing, by
plain consequence, in making that revelation contradict itself.
For it is grounded on such an interpretation of some text, more or
fewer it matters not, as flatly contradicts all the other texts, and
indeed the whole scope and tenor of Scripture. For instance: the
assertors of this doctrine interpret that text of Scripture, “Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated,” as implying, that God in a literal
sense hate Esau, and all the reprobated from eternity. Now what can
possibly be a more flat contradiction than this, not only do the whole
scope and tenor of Scripture, but also to all those particular texts,
which expressly declare, “God is love? Again: they infer from that text,
“ I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” RO.9: 15, that God is
love only to some men, viz, the elect, and that He hath mercy for those
only; flatly contrary to which is the whole tenor of Scripture, as is
that expressed declaration in particular, “The Lord is loving unto every
man, and his mercy is over all his works,” PS.145: 9. Again: they infer
from that and the like text, “It is not him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but God that showeth mercy,” that he showeth mercy only to
those to whom He had respect from all eternity. Nay, but who replieth
against God now? You now contradict the whole oracles of God, which
declare throughout, “God is no respecter of persons” AC.10: 34. “There
is no respect of persons with him” RO.2: 11. Again: from the text, “The
children not being yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth; it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the
younger;” you infer, that our being predestinated, or elect, no way
depends on the foreknowledge of God: flatly contrary to this are all the
Scriptures; and those in particular, “Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God” 1 PE.1: 2; “Whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate” RO.8:29.
· And, “the same Lord over all is rich in mercy to all that
call upon him” RO.10: 12: But you say, no; He is such only to those for
whom Christ died.
And those are not all, but only a few, whom God hath chosen out of
the world; for He died not for all, but for those who were “chosen in
him before the foundation of the world” EP.1: 4. Flatly contrary to your
interpretation of these Scripture, also, is the whole tenor of the New
Testament; as are in particular those texts; “Destroy not him with thy
meat, for whom Christ died” RO.14: 15. A clear proof that Christ died,
not only for those that are saved, but also for them that perish; he is
“The Saviour of the world” JN.4: 42; He is “The Lamb of God that taketh
away the sins of the world” JN.1:29. “He is the propitiation, not for
our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” 1 JN.2: 2. “He
(the living God) is the Saviour of all men” 1 TIM.4: 10; “He gave
himself a ransom for all” 1 TIM.2:6; “He tasted death for every man”
HE.2:9.
· If you ask. Why then are not all men saved?
The whole law and the testimony answer, first, not because of any
decree of God; not because it is His pleasure they should die; for, “as
I live, saith the Lord God,” “I have no pleasure in the death of him
that dieth” EZ.18: 32. Whatever be the cause of their perishing, it
cannot be His will if the oracles of God are true; for they declare, “He
is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance” 2 PE.3: 9 “He willeth that all men should be saved.” And
they, secondly, declare what is the cause why all men are not saved,
namely, that they will not be saved: so our Lord expressly; “Ye will not
come unto me that ye, may have life” JN.5: 40. “The power of the Lord is
present to heal” them, but they will not be healed. “They reject the
counsel of God “against themselves,” as did their stiff necked fathers.
And therefore are they without excuse; because God would save them, but
they will not be saved: this is the condemnation, “How often would I
have gathered you together, and ye would not” MT.23: 37.
· Thus manifestly does this doctrine tend to overthrow the
Christian revelation, by making it contradict itself.
By giving such an interpretation of some text, as flatly contradicts
all the other texts, and indeed the whole scope and tenor of Scripture;
an abundant proof that it is not of God. But neither is this all: for,
seventhly, it is a doctrine full of blasphemy; of such blasphemy as I
should dread to mention, but that the honor of our gracious God, and the
cause of His truth, will not suffer to be silent. In the cause of God,
then, and from a sincere concern for the glory of His great name, I will
mention a few of the horrible blasphemes, contained in this horrible
doctrine. But first, I must warn every one of you that hears, as ye will
answer it at the great day, not to charge, as some have done, with
blaspheming, because I mention the blasphemy of others. And the more you
are grieved with them that do this blaspheme, see that ye, “confirm your
love towards them, the more, and that your hearts’ desire, and continual
prayer to God, be, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do.”
· This premised, let it be observed, that this doctrine
represents our blessed Lord, “Jesus Christ, the righteous,” “the only
begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth,” as a hypocrite, a
deceiver of the people, a man void of common sincerity.
For it cannot be denied, that He everywhere speaks as if He was
willing that all men should be saved. Therefore, to say that He was not
willing that all men should be saved, is to represent him as a mere
hypocrite and dissembler. It cannot be denied that the gracious words
that came out of His mouth are full of invitations to all sinners. To
say then, He did not intend to save all sinners, is to represent Him as
a gross deceiver of the people. You cannot deny that he says, “Come unto
me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden.” If, then, you say He calls
those that cannot come; those whom he knows to be unable to come; those
whom he can make able to come, but will not; how is it possible to
describe greater insincerity? You represent him as mocking his helpless
creatures, but offering what He never intends to give. You describe His
as saying one thing, and meaning another; as pretending the love, which
He had not. Him, in “whose mouth was no guile,” you make full of deceit,
void of common sincerity; then especially, when drawing nigh the city,
He wept over it, and said, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would
I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not;” Now if you
say, would, but He would not, you represent Him, which who could hear?
As weeping crocodile tears; weeping over the prey, which Himself had
doomed to destruction!
· Such blasphemy this, as one would think might make the ears
of a Christian to tingle!
But there is yet more behind; for just as it honors the Son, so
doth this doctrine honor the Father. It destroys all His attributes at
once: it over turns His justice, His mercy, and truth: yea, it
represents the most holy God as worse than the devil, as more false,
crueler, and more unjust. More false; because the devil, liar as he is,
hath never said, “He willeth all men to be saved:” more unjust; because
the devil cannot, if he would, be guilty of such injustice as you
ascribe to God, when you say, that God condemned millions of souls to
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, for continuing
in sin, which, for want of that grace he will not give them, they cannot
avoid: and more cruel; because that unhappy spirit “seeketh rest and
findeth none;” so that his own restless misery is a kind of temptation
to him to tempt others. But God resteth in His high and holy place; so
that to suppose Him, of His own mere wisdom, of His pure will and
pleasure, happy as he is, to doom His creatures, whether they will or
no, to endless misery, is to impute such cruelty to Him, as we cannot
impute even to the great enemy of God and man. It is to represent the
Most High God, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, as more cruel,
false, and unjust than the devil!
· This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible
decree of predestination! And here I fix my foot.
On this I join issue with every asserter of it. You represent God as
worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust. But you say,
you will prove it by Scripture HOLD! What will you prove by Scripture?
That God is worse than the devil? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture
proves, it never can prove this; whatever it’s true meaning be, this
cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, what is its true meaning then?
If I say, I know not, you have gained nothing; for there are many
Scriptures, the true sense whereof neither you nor I shall know, till
death is swallowed up in victory. But this I know, better it were to say
it had no sense at all, than to say it had such sense as this. It cannot
mean, whatever it means besides, that the God of truth is a liar. Let it
mean what it will, it cannot mean that the judge of the entire world is
unjust. No Scripture can mean that God is not love, or that His mercy is
not over all His works: that is, whatever it proves besides, no
Scripture can prove predestination.
· This is the blasphemy for which, however I love the persons
who assert it, I abhor the doctrine of predestination.
A doctrine, upon the supposition of which, if one could possibly
suppose it for a moment, call it election, reprobation, or what you
please, for all comes to the same thing, one might say to our adversary
the devil, ‘Thou fool, why dost thou roar about any longer? Thy lying in
wait for souls is as needless and useless as our preaching. Hearest thou
not, that God hath taken thy work out of thy hands; and that He doth it
much more effectually? Thou, with all thy principalities and powers,
canst only assault that we may resist thee; but He can irresistibly
destroy both body and soul in Hell! Thou canst only entice; BUT His
unchangeable decree, to leave thousands of souls in death, compels them
to continue in sin, till they drop into everlasting burnings. Thou
temptest; he forceth us to be damned: for we cannot resist His will.
Thou fool, why goest thou about any longer, seeking whom thou mayest
devour? Hearest thou not that God is the devouring lion, the destroyer
of souls, the murderer of men? Moloch caused only children to pass
through the fire, and that fire was soon quenched; or, the corruptible
body being consumed, its torment was at an end: but God, thou art told,
by His eternal decree, fixed before they had done good or evil, causes
not only children of a span long, but the parents also to pass through
the fire of Hell, the ‘fire, which never shall be quenched:’ and the
body, which is cast thereinto, being incorruptible and immortal, will be
ever consuming and never consumed, but ‘the smoke of their torment,’
because it is God’s good pleasure, ‘ascendeth up for ever and ever.’”
· Oh how would the enemy of God and man rejoice to hear these
things so!
How would he cry aloud and spare not! How would he lift up his voice
and spare not, “To your tents, oh
Israel! Flee from the face of God, or
ye shall utterly perish! But whither will ye flee? He is there. Down to
Hell. He is there also. Ye cannot flee from an omnipresent, almighty
tyrant. And whether ye flee or stay, I call Heaven His throne, and earth
His footstool, to witness against you, ye shall perish, ye shall die
eternally, Sing, oh Hell, and rejoice, ye that are under the earth! For
God, even the almighty God, hath spoken, and devoted to death thousands
of souls, from the rising of the sun, unto the going down thereof! Here,
oh death is thy sting! There shall not, cannot escape, for the mouth of
the Lord hath spoken it. Here, oh grave, is thy victory! Nations yet
unborn, or ever they have done good or evil, are doomed never to see the
light of life, but thou shalt gnaw upon them for ever and ever: Let all
those morning stars sing together, who fell with Lucifer, son of the
morning! Let all the sons of Hell shout for joy! For the decree is past,
and who can disannul it?
· Yea, the decree is past: and so it was before the
foundation of the world. But what decree?
Even this; “I will set before the sons of men, ‘life and death,
blessing and cursing.’ And the soul that chooseth life shall live, as
the soul that chooseth death shall die.” This decree, whereby “whom God
did foreknow, He did predestinate,” was indeed from everlasting to
everlasting: this, whereby all who suffer Christ to make them alive are
“elect, according to the foreknowledge of God,” now standeth fast, even
as the moon, and as the faithful witnesses in Heaven; and when Heaven
and earth shall pass away, yet this shall not pass away, for it is as
unchangeable and eternal, as is the being of God that gave it. This
decree yields the strongest encouragement to abound in all good works,
and in all holiness; and it is wellspring of joy, of happiness also, to
our great and endless comfort. This is worthy of God: it is every way
consistent with all the perfections of His nature. It gives us the
noblest view both of His justice, mercy, and truth. To this agrees the
whole scope of the Christian revelation, as well as all the parts
thereof. To this Moses and all the prophets bare witness, and our
blessed Lord and all His apostles. Thus Moses, in the name of his Lord,
“I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
that thou and thy seed may live free.” Thus Ezekiel: (to cite one
prophet for all:) “The soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall
not bear, eternally, the iniquity of the father. The righteousness of
the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall
be upon him,” chapter 18:20. Thus our blessed Lord: “If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink,” JN.7: 37. Thus His great
apostle, Paul, AC.17: 30, “God commandeth all men everywhere to
repent;”-“all men, everywhere;” every man in every place, without any
exception, either of place or person. Thus James: ”If any of you lack
wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not, and it shall be given him” JA.1:5. Thus Peter 2 PE.3:9,
“The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. ”Thus John: “If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father: and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for
ours only, but for the sins of the whole world” 1 JN.2: 1,2.
· Oh hear ye this, ye that forget God!
Ye cannot charge your death upon Him! “Have I any pleasure at all,
that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God? EZ.18: 23, &c. Repent,
and turn from all your transgressions” so iniquity shall not be your
ruin. Cast away from all your transgressions whereby ye have
transgressed, for why will ye die, oh house of
Israel? For I have no pleasure in the
death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore turn yourselves,
and live ye.” “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked. Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil way; for why will
ye die, oh house of Israel? EZ.33: 11.
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