unbelievers. But the elect shall sooner, or later,
all be brought to believe.

We will examine the foundation on which this statement rests. To bring
it clearly before you, we will take an example. Suppose there is a
congregation of one hundred persons. Fifty of them were elected to
everlasting life before the foundation of the world--were secured by a
Saviour, and the rest were reprobated to endless wo. For them no
Saviour was designed, and no eternal life ever has, or ever will be
given them in him. Suppose a sermon is preached to those one hundred;
and the fifty, who are elected, believe the record of their eternal
life, are brought to the obedience of faith, while the other fifty
remain unmoved. The preacher turns upon them and pronounces them
_unbelievers_. But In what sense are they unbelievers? There has been
no truth presented to them, which they disbelieve. Must they believe
that Christ is their Saviour, or that they have an eternal life in
him? But they would in such case believe a lie. If they believed right
the reverse of the elect,--_believed_ that God was their enemy and
that Christ was not their Saviour, they would be _believers_. But if
they believed what the fifty converts did, they would be
_unbelievers_. We here repeat one premise laid down in our last
discourse--viz. In order for any man to be styled a _believer or
unbeliever_, there must first be presented some truth for him to
embrace or reject.

Now either God has given us eternal life in Christ before the world
began, or he has not. If he has, then we are _unbelievers_ if we
reject it. If he has not given it, and should we still believe that he
has, we would then believe a lie. But neither our _belief, or
unbelief_ can ever alter the fact.

God has "chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will." * * * "Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together, in one, all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in
him." Some apply the above to the elect. But it embraces all things in
heaven and earth, which are to be gathered together in Christ, and be
new creatures. In addition to this