the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man

28 The one predestined way to glory lies through death. therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." 2 Tim. ii. 5-21'.

The meaning of the passage is evident; no man can arrive at the end, without travelling the road; no man can obtain the crown of life, except by striving according to God's way, and that way is set forth thus-"Jesus Christ was raised from the dead according to my gospel :" that is, He entered into Hist glory through death; and He is the way, no man entereth into glory by any other way. If we die with Him, we shall live with Him, if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him. This is the foundation of the Lord which standeth sure, notwithstanding the vain babblings of men who would teach that there is an easier way to glory, like Hymeneus and Philetus, who say that, because Christ is dead and risen, we may save ourselves the pain of this daily dying, and may enter at once into the privilege of the resurrection state, in which, as no temptIation will then be able to reach the inner man through the spiritual body, so there will be no need for self-denial or watchfulness against the flesh and the influence of seen

The one predestined way to glory lies through death. 29

things. These vain babblings, which are the suggestions of the flesh, prevent or destroy the faith of many, and it is the poison proceeding from them which, by infecting the soul and eating it as doth a canker, makes it and keeps it a vessel unto dishonour. But if any man will purge himself from these vain babblings, and will yield himself to be a partaker of Christ's death and sufferings, he shall be a vessel unto honour, he shall live with Him and reign with Him. Every vessel unto dishonour is thus invited and instructed to become a vessel unto honour, and that by the process of purging himself from the vain babblings of the flesh, the first Adam, and following the voice of the second Adam, who says, "Take up thy cross and follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be." So that to live in the spirit of the first Adam, is to be a vessel unto dishonour, as the first Adam is; and to live in the spirit of the second Adam, is to be a vessel unto honour, as the second Adam is.

The importance of this passage, in its bearing on the subject of election, is more fully seen if it is read in connection with a passage from the preceding chapter, which ought to be considered as a part of the same

context; I quote from the 8th verse, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began; but is now made manifest, through the appearing of Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light, through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." 2 Tim. 8—11. Mark especially what is contained in the 9th and 10th verses. The apostle says, God "hath called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace." It is evident that the purpose and grace here mean one and the same thing, even that eternal purpose which God has purposed in Christ, and which is so much spoken of in the Bible, and specially in the Epistle to the Ephesians i. 11; iii. 11; and Rom. viii. 28, &c; it is a purpose, for it is the mind of Him who changeth not, and it is grace, for it is purposed in order that

sinners may be saved. It would perhaps be truer to the sense, and more according to our language, to read the phrase thus, "according to His own purpose, even the grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death," &c. Here then it is plainly declared, that, the πρόθεσις τῶν αιώνων, or the eternal purpose of God's grace, which had been hid for us in Christ before the ages, was actually opened up and made manifest through the appearing of Jesus Christ. It is something which is already made manifest; it is something which could be, and which was shown out in the history of Jesus Christ on this earth; it cannot therefore relate to the personal salvation of a certain number of individuals, for such a purpose is not already manifested, and certainly was not made manifest through the appearing of Jesus Christ, and indeed cannot be made manifest by any thing else than the manifested salvation of these individuals. It must also be something which is preached when the gospel is preached, for it is "made manifest through the appearing of Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light,