The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-03-06
THE POTTER
and THE CLAY
SERMON BY THE REV.
JOHN SHAPE.
(COnclulcd)

is forbidden by the nature of the clay.
In the case Of man 1t is forbidden by
the nature OF God" Vessels q. mcr-
cy and vessels Of wrath are after all
vessels Of divine sovereignty.
Vessels of wrath lifted for destruc.
ton are not 50 fitted by the hand of
God. 1t is not said God SO fitted
them. Paul does not not declare (nor
does the Bible anywlere) that God
ever pre1estinated any man to perdi-
ton. The wrath Of this 22nd verse
indicates result rather thril purpose.
In the case of ESau Gods bate began
after Gods choice, and not until af-
ter Pharaoh had had six chances TO
repent, did God raise him up TO hard
en- lin. Now this hardening does
not mean 'to treat harshly' Gas in job
80 lI6) nor does it mean that God In
any sense makes it easy for man to
do wrong. Indeed Scripture is ex-
plicitly against this (James ]: 13)
Woe to the man who feels himself
growing hardened. Let him listen
now to the warning voice of Scripture
"To.day if ye hear His voice harden
not yolr hearts as in the provocation. ,
God harclens with much long suller-
ing. Jerusalem killed the Chrst but
God endured it. Stephen is stoned
and the writer of this Epistle was
himself Il party to his murder, but
Cod endured it. Had Gods wrath
fallen at the death Of Stephen, 1t
would have meant the death Of Paul,
An, my brethren! We do not deserve
Gods great endurance. There are
people. young people. sitting within
the sound of my voice Tonight that
would be utterly and irrevocab!y lost.
if Gods wrath were now to fall. DO
not tempt God. Remember, He Is
Sovereign. The waters OF his re-
strained wrath may flow on again,
who knows how suun. and enyulf you
all as the Red Sea dd the Egyptian
Hosts OF old. Harden not your hearts
but open them now to his sovereign
grace.
Again Paul speaks Of vessels of mer-
cy prepared before for glory on whom
God made known the riches Of his
own gloly. All! this is it. 1t IS all
the mercy Of God. You and | are
saved to-day by Gods great mercy.
Moses may not boa /: 1t is Gods mer-
cy that has made him what lie is. Let
Jacob trcmble. Gods mercy is the
secret Of his success. II Is all Of God.
Ye aged saints fresh courage take.
God s mercy will not fail at the twl-
light, if it has supported in the morn
ing. At evening time there shall be
light and beyond that light forever
Is the clay then responsible and
punishable? Yes, certainly. The
potter hath power over the clay, but
| the clay is not inacnSltc. Man is not
iaiaIist. Nor can tie clay left I'M
honorcd in earth IS great pottery, COM
plain. 1T was al. one great simple
lump, and none deserved God s favor.
All would have been lost, yea! all WAS
lost until Gods mercy reached it.
None deserved Gods mercy: some re-
ceivcd it. Vessels Of wrath got what
they deserved; vessels Of mercy got
more. Vino questions the divine
right or tho divine Justica in the
whole procedure? Who art thou that
repliest against God?
| SOME PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON
THIS WHOLE DOCTRINE OF
ELECTION.
III. 1t Is tn, than, OF sharply
conflicting theories. The Arminian
theooyian says: Predestinatlon III its
widest sense is simply God IS free and
perfect fore planning OF creation and
providence. 1t was objectivcly abso-
| lutte, bntsnblectively conditioned An
absolute irrcverSibe decree. he argues,
clecting an individua to eternal life
or dooming him to everlasting death,
| would be inconsistent with the divine
! pcrfectiuns on the one hand, and ir.
rcroncllab!e with the known deter
mlnatiun Of God on the other. The
/ Arminian insists that If any nun Is
! individually eie;tsd or Reproduced |, he
/ must have been elected or reproDa ted
| vita referGnc. to TIL. loreseen use he
would make Of his moral agency. lie
| quotes srch passages as Matt LES:
Eev. 81: II; John 3: Is; etc.
The calvanst on the othel hand de-
clareS that the divine will is the
ground OF all moral and rational dis
tinctions. What God docs is absolute
w right. What He wills 10 he right,
is right, no matter how it may seem
to US. Men considered in thsnse Ives
are Incapable OF ANYTHING snpernaJnr-
al. Without tine eleeting grace Of God
all men would be lost. To ilustrlle
Ills grace God elected certain men; to
show his sovereign free Ion he pissed
by others. All men arc personally
! guilty before God. All might justly
! have been damned and all would have
been damned; but for the sovereign
grace or God. The Cal9anist quotes
! such passages as Eph ]: As: II Tim i;
8: Rom. 8: l8, Is; III Thess2: l3; Eph.
| 2: 8 etc.
i, myself, maintain the uncondi-
tionabiiity OF election without at
4; tempting to reconcile it with the NOR
al freedom OF man. The Scriptures
do not attempt to reconcile its State
ments, and We need not. Bel ewing,
receiving and acting upon both Coo $
sOvereignity aud man S free agency, Is
at once our duty, our privilege and
our wisdom.
2. Only because God IS sovereign
can any man be saved. This will Cor.
rect the weak notion that man may
, put otY indefinitely the matter ofsai-