almost universal consent of believers in the divine existence, that the Wisdom of the Creator is infinite, and that under the promptings of his impartial love, he formed the human race with a deliberate purpose to have their existence result in the endless blessedness of all, the conclusion that all will eventually participate in this blessedness, is clear, distinct, and unavoidable; and no skill or sophistry can avoid it. Reason must become foolishness, and the whole current of rational logic must be reversed, before the premises and the conclusion at which we have arrived, can be dissevered from each other. And the great truth to which this course of reasoning leads, reveals the highest possible glory of God in securing the holiness and bliss of his intelligent creation, and accords not only with the reason of man, but with the purest and holiest desires that can be entertained in the heart of a Christian. What more solid and secure basis can be required for belief?

"Here then we rest. The Universal Cause

Acts to one end, but acts by various laws.".

ARGUMENT III.

THE POWER OF GOD.

"Thou hast built,

With means that were not, till by thee employed,
Worlds that had never been, hadst thou in Strength
Been less, or less Benevolent than Strong.

They are thy witnesses, who speak thy Power
And Goodness infinite."

EFFECT OF LOSING SIGHT OF THE POWER OF GOD.

IN meditating upon the Attributes of the Deity, it is vitally important that his Power be not overlooked. It is one of the primary and essential perfections of the Most High; and a misunderstanding of its capability, or of its office in the providence of God, is fatal to those right conceptions of the Creator, which are necessary to give peace and resignation to the believer. In losing sight, or in underrating the Power of Jehovah, the efficacy and usefulness of all his other attributes are destroyed. Of what avail to believe that he is infinite in Goodness and boundless and impartial in his Love, or that he is actuated by the most kind and benevolent regard for his creatures; of what avail to believe that his Wisdom is infinitely capable of originating and arranging plans perfectly adapted to carry out into successful execution, all the holy promptings of his love for his earthly offspring-of what avail, these just con

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ceptions, if connected with them is the belief that he is deficient in the Power, whether physical or moral, of executing the promptings of his Goodness, or of carrying his wise plans into a practical consummation? A ruler may enact the most wise and wholesome laws for the regulation of his kingdom, and be animated with a desire to do for his subjects the utmost good their circumstances can require at his hands; yet, if he is deficient in the requisite power to execute his laws, and accomplish his desires, all his wise and good intentions will be of no avail. So far as any real and practical benefit to his subjects is concerned, his wise laws might as well have not been enacted, and his benevolent intentions have not been cherished. A similar conclusion will apply to the Supreme Being. So far as man's interest and happiness are involved, he might as well have been a God of Evil as of Love, if he possesses no ability to accomplish the promptings of that Love; he might as well have been a God of Foolishness as of Wisdom, if he has no Power to carry into execution the plans which his Wisdom has devised.

GOD'S POWER CO-EXTENSIVE WITH HIS WISDOM.

We have seen, in previous Arguments, that the Goodness of the Creator is impartial and immutable, and that his Wisdom is infinite and unerring. Is his Power co-extensive with his Goodness and Wisdom? In other words, does he possess sufficient ability successfully to execute the purposes and

plans his Goodness has prompted and his Wisdom has arranged for the final salvation and reconciliation of all mankind? This is a vital inquiry, and one that affects materially the very foundation of human hope.

"Hope is earth's most estimable prize."

"Hope thou in God,"1 exclaims the Psalmist. St. Paul prays, "Now, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."2 And the same Apostle speaks of fleeing to the hope of the gospel, and laying hold upon it, as a "refuge"-and declares this hope is "as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." But how can a man comply with the requisition of the Psalmist, or experience the benefits of that hope in God which is described by St. Paul, who distrusts the Creator's ability to accomplish his purposes?-who doubts whether he really has Power to fulfil all his promises, and complete all his plans? Such a doubt, such a distrust, most clearly undermines all consistent hope in the human soul, and sets it afloat on a boundless and troubled sea of uncertainty.

PRACTICAL DENIAL OF THE ATTRIBUTES.

It is not unfrequently the case, that people will acknowledge the existence of the attributes of God, theoretically, but at the same time, practically deny them. Thus while it is an admitted point in every 2 Rom. xv. 13. 3 Heb. vi. 18, 19.

1 Ps. xlii. 5.

system of theology among Christian sects, that Jehovah is omnipotent in Power, there are not a few who, in the practical application of this Power to the purposes of God, view it as weak, inefficient and imperfect. So that although the Love of the Creator yearns over the whole of humanity, with an infinite desire to bless them all with boundless felicity-and although his infinite Wisdom has enabled him to form plans in all things fully adapted to the complete accomplishment of this holy desire-yet he must be forever disappointed and ungratified in this respect, in consequence of a lack of ability to carry these plans into perfect execution! This is the great defect in the popular systems of the present day. Theory and practice-which is but cause and effect-are, according to these systems, disconnected in the character of God-and while he is omnipotent in Power, is not able to fulfil his purposes. A most marked and startling contradiction in terms! To remedy this defect, it is only necessary for the mind to understand that Jehovah's Power is not only omnipotent in name, but is omnipotent in practice.

THE SCRIPTURES ASSERT GOD'S POWER.

The Scriptures emphatically declare that Power is one of the attributes of the Deity. "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power and the glory. *** Thou reignest over all: and in thy hand is power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all." "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this, that power

11 Chron. xxix. 11, 12.