eping of Jesus certain elect
spirits having an affinity to His nature, and who should stand in the
inner circle to Him because associated with Him from high redemptive
purpose. All souls are God's by right of creation, and all are
included in the redemption wrought on the cross; but not all had been
included in the Divine gift of which Jesus speaks, "Thine they were,
and Thou gavest them Me." We conclude that in the eternity of the
past, as the Father beheld all future things as though they were
present, and surveyed the vast multitudes of the human family, He
discerned those who would be attracted by indissoluble union with His
Son, manifest in the flesh; and whom He did foreknow, these also He did
predestinate to be His flock, His brethren and sisters, His chosen band
of associates in His redemptive purpose. These were the subjects of
His powerful solicitude, "I make request, not for the world, but for
those whom Thou hast given Me."

What then? Did not God care for the world? Certainly. He so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

How then can we reconcile the love of God to the world with the
selection of some as the flock of the Lamb, whilst the great world
seems expressly excluded from His prayer? That question is fitly put.
The emphasis is on the word seems. It is only to the superficial view
that the world is excluded. Are the planets excluded from the law of
gravitation because suns are filled with fire and light? Are the lower
orders of creation excluded from the circle of enjoyment because man
with his high organization is more richly endowed than they? Are
sufferers excluded from the healing virtues of nature because a
comparative few are specially qualified as surgeons and physicians?
Can a missionary be charged with neglecting a dark continent because he
concentrates thought and care on a few elect spirits gathered around
him? For instance, could Columba be held guilty of neglecting the
Picts and Scots when on Iona's lone isle he focused his care upon the
handful of followers who assembled around the ancient pile, whose ruins
are his lasting memorial? There is but one answer to these questions.
Election is not exclusive, but inclusive. Its purpose is not primarily
the salvation or delectation of the few, but their equipment to become
the apostles to the many. And if Jesus thought, cared, and prayed so
much for those whom the Father had given Him, His ulterior thought was
that