eir own use_."

What strange confusion and self-contradiction! The wills of men may be,
and often are, swayed by the mighty, irresistible hand of God, and in a
way _agreeable to their nature_; and yet this is not done in all cases,
lest men should be governed as _mere machines_! The laws, promises, and
threatenings of God, are not to be rendered vain and useless in all cases,
but only in some cases! Indeed, if we would escape such inconsistencies
and self-contradictions, we must return to the position that a necessary
holiness is a contradiction in terms,--that no power can cause it. From
this position we may clearly see, that the laws, promises, and
comminations; the counsels, exhortations, and influences of God, which are
employed to prevent sin, are not a system of grand impertinences,--are not
a vast and complicated machinery to accomplish what might be more
perfectly, easily, and directly accomplished without them. We may see,
that God really desires the holiness and happiness of all men, although
some may be finally lost; that he is in earnest in the great work of
salvation; and when he so solemnly declares that he has no pleasure in the
death of the sinner, but would rather he should turn and live, he means
precisely what he says, without the least equivocation or mental
reservation. This position it is, then, which shows the goodness of God in
unclouded glory, and reconciles his sincerity with the final result of his
labours.

But we have not yet got rid of every shade of difficulty. For it may still
be asked, why God uses means to save those who he foresees will be lost?
why he should labour when he foresees his labour will be in vain? To this
we answer, that it does not follow his labour will be in vain, because
some may be pleased to rebel and perish. This would be the case in regard
to such persons, provided his only object in what he does be to save them;
but although this is one great end and aim of his agency, it does not
follow that it is his only object. For if any perish, it is certainly
desirable that it be from their own fault, and not from the neglect of God
to provide them with the means of salvation. It is his object, as he tells
us, to vindicate his own character, and to stop every mouth in regard to
the lost, as well as to save the greatest possible number. But this object
could not be accomplished, if some should be permitted to perish without
even a possibility of salvation. Hence he gives to