R. H. Crozier

“ The lost soul, cast out into the illimitable regions of uninhabited space, away beyond the last star that glitters on the outskirts of visible creation, will go wandering round and round, or if too weary to make an effort, it will begin falling, like a bird with folded wings, and keep on falling, falling, down and down, forever down—no company but your own thoughts—no sound heard but your own breathing—no sweet music—no voice of friend—no light—nothing but the horrors of eternal, impenetrable darkness. You may suppose you will have companions—but what will be their character? ”

“ Why does God choose some men to salvation, and pass by others, when all are guilty alike?”
“Ah! there’s the difficulty,” said Mr. Hillston. “The good Lord has not informed us on what principle He makes the choice. If we knew that, there would be an end of all discussion. All we know about it is, that it is ‘according to the good pleasure of His will.’ Is not that a sufficient reason?”
“Somehow, this doctrine of predestination appears to me to be unjust,” said Ernest, looking confused. “You say that God passes by some men without giving them an opportunity to be saved.” ”

“ But there is something in Jackson which is more than courage. It is his sublime, inflexible faith. There are numbers of men who will go unflinchingly into any of the dangers of battle, but they are animated by a spirit of desperation, by human feelings, such as pride, ambition, and the like. But Jackson puts himself unreservedly in the hands of God, and accepts whatever comes without a murmur. He knows that he can never be killed till God speaks the word, and it is this firm belief that gives such adamantine solidity to his grand and exalted character. ”

“ The intense, consuming thirst paralyzes the mental energies. The wretched victim will risk life itself to gratify his raging appetite. Poor Comston had not descended to such a depth of moral degradation that he had no disposition to free himself from the shackles of his terrible foe. In his sober moments he most earnestly wished that he could free himself from the vicious demon which clung to him with the tenacity of Sinbad’s Old Man of the Sea. But the saloon was like a load-stone—a cynosure which drew Comston with an attraction that he had not the moral nerve to resist. ”

“ Now seek that happiness which the world can neither give nor take away.”
“I don’t know how to begin, even if I had the disposition,” replied Clara sulkily. “I once was happy. I enjoyed myself, and never thought of religion. If God is so good and so kind, as you say, why does He not give me that sort of happiness—the sort that I really crave?”
“How long would it last?” asked Ernest. “Only a few years. The time will come when you can no longer enjoy these pleasures of sense. You will lose the ardor of youth. Age will steal upon you, and you will lose all relish for temporal things. ”

“ Mildred well knew what she had to expect, but strange to say, the dark prospect excited no alarm. Probably she could not make a reality of the impending danger. This is what the world would say. We are creatures of hope, and we do not yield to despair till the last chance is gone. But the Christian is sustained in the most awful calamities by something higher than any human hope of deliverance. In the darkest hours of trial, a mysterious influence pervades the Christian’s breast, produces a holy calm, a sacred joy, and elevates the soul in triumph above earthly sufferings and sorrows. ”

“ Clara left the parlor, as Ernest did, and Comston fell asleep upon a sofa. When he awoke, he had partly emerged from his state of intoxication. Arising, and going into Clara’s room, he said:
“Had a nice time with the preacher, dear? I think, though, you might have treated me with a little more respect. You wouldn’t speak to me. What is the matter?”
“You have made a fool of yourself,” cried Clara, in anger and vexation. “I have told you I wanted you to keep away from me when you are drunk. You make a brute of yourself.” ”

“ That is the case with your masters; they love your treachery, but they hate you. Every honest man heartily execrates a cold-blooded, villainous informer,” cried the enraged Mildred.
“Nevertheless, young lady,” coolly said the clerk, “it is our duty to arrest you as a spy.”
“I am no spy,” exclaimed Mildred. “I have not come to Washington to find out anything of a military character. I call God to witness that I have not come here for any such purpose.”
“Why, don’t you know the contents of this document?” asked the clerk. ”

“ Here I would observe that the objection is without foundation that, if predestination be true, it is in vain for men to make any effort to be saved. This is a gross perversion of the doctrine. God does not decree that any one shall be doomed to eternal torment who desires to enjoy heaven, and who is willing to accept the terms of salvation. Show me the sinner who is thirsting for the waters of Life, and I will show you one whose name is written in the Book of Heaven as an heir of God. ”

“ The smoke of battle has dissolved into the darkness of the Past. The blood-spots have been washed out by the rains and dews of heaven. Blessed Peace spreads out her snow-white pinions, dripping balm for wounded hearts, from the granite hills of New England to the smiling prairies of the Lone Star State. The little hillocks of earth that rise up all over the South mark the gory fields where the enraged warriors met in the death-struggle. ”

“ Whatever I do, then, good or bad, God ordained it. How am I responsible? If that clause does not destroy man’s free agency, I cannot understand the meaning of words. Surely, Doctor, you do not endorse this book? You do not believe that God is the author of sin?”
The Doctor looked at Ernest in astonishment, smiled, and said:
“Are you certain it says just exactly that?”
“If I can read, it says that.”
“You are like a great many other people,” said the Doctor, “who find fault with the Confession, and jump to conclusions, without really knowing what it does say. ”

“ To-day, at all these, and many other places, we can take the torch of history, and relight the terrible scenes enacted in the now silent past. We see long lines of soldiers start up in battle array, grasping the deadly musket, and solemnly preparing to die, in that ominous lull which always precedes the mighty shock of battle. There is a strange silence. The very forests seem to be holding their breath in expectation of a storm more awful than the cyclone of nature. ”

“ Suppose his intended union, after all, with Mildred should not be in accord with the Divine purpose? Could he give her up? Would he not rebel, and murmur against God’s will? Alas! how hard it is for a human being to tread the appointed path of destiny with his will in complete subjection to that of the Heavenly Father! At times, man cannot but think that his own chosen way is best. The retrospective view convinces him of his folly and infirmity.
“While I mused, the fire burned,” said the Psalmist. While the train rattled along, Ernest thought and mused. ”

“ Why does He not accomplish His own will? He, undoubtedly, has the power.”
“We might answer,” replied Ernest, “that God will not destroy their free agency.”
“Is it so important and necessary to preserve free agency that men must suffer eternal torment for it?” asked the Lieutenant. “Would it not be better to destroy their free agency than to permit men to use it to their own destruction? We cannot deny that God could save every man if He really desired and willed to do so. ”

“ We agreed to let the Bible settle it,” said Mr. Hillston. “I have already called your attention to several passages which undoubtedly teach it. I can refer to instances and passages almost without number in the Scriptures. The Bible certainly is not silent on the subject, whether we can understand it or not.”
“I cannot understand,” said Ernest, “how a man can be a free agent, and yet his destiny is already fixed.”
“And yet, the Bible is full of instances which prove clearly that predestination and free agency operate in perfect harmony.” ”

“ His lips worked and twitched convulsively. O, it is pitiable to see a strong man suddenly hurled from his normal tranquillity down to the dust of abject despair, at the feet of an unworthy woman!
Clara gazed at him with feelings of mingled compassion and alarm. She was still more astonished, when he suddenly rose to his feet, and, without appearing to see her, walked out of the parlor. She noticed that his face was bloodless, and his lips were firmly compressed as though he were holding back some terrible thought which was struggling to find egress. ”

“ God does not prevent their salvation. It is nothing but their own wicked hearts—their own perverse will. No man ever was lost simply on account of predestination.”
“But why don’t they have the will?” asked father Grimshaw.
“I do not know, but that is the truth,” replied the elder. “Their lack of the will is not to be attributed to any eternal decree, and if that be so, I am sure the sinner can charge the loss of his soul to nobody but himself. We naturally hold every man responsible for his own character. If a man is a thief, it is not natural for us to think that God made him so. ”

“ All through God’s word the two classes, the lost and the saved, are spoken of. You may account for the damnation of sinners on any principle you please; you may say that God has nothing to do with it, if you will; you may say that men are perfectly free agents; that there is no such doctrine as election in the Scriptures; you may blot out predestination, but nevertheless the fact stares you in the face that there are the Saved and the Lost. We must judge of God’s purpose by what takes place. Men are saved every day. Men are lost every day. ”

“ If it required a miracle to convince Paul, and it would require a miracle to convince me, God would be bound to perform it. So all must be saved. The only safe position is to take God’s Word at what it says. It speaks of the elect as individuals, and not mere characters, and it speaks of them as chosen before the foundation of the world, because of God’s good will and pleasure. Now let us notice the other class whom God has not chosen—the class of reprobates. The idea of reprobation is necessarily implied in the idea of election. ”

“ If election is such a ‘hard’ doctrine, what would have been the result, if God had not made [Pg 163] any choice at all, but left men to follow the bent of their own wills, how many do you suppose would have been saved? The carnal heart is enmity against God. Could men, then have chosen God? Verily not. Christ Himself declares, ‘No man can come unto me, except the Father, which sent me, draw him.’ Do you not see clearly, then, that, without this much-abused doctrine of election, no human being could possibly be saved? ”

“ But money, my dear Ernest, does not always bring happiness.”
“Do you suppose I am base enough to marry for money?” interrupted Ernest with an angry flush.
“No, no,” hastily answered Mr. Hillston. “I have a better opinion of you than that. But the world judges of marriages by outward circumstances. If both parties start out in [Pg 23] life with great wealth, people generally think they are happy matches. But there are other things to be considered in a woman besides wealth, beauty and external accomplishments. A good, solid moral character is of far more value than a great fortune. ”

“ Hillston, as they both seated themselves, “tell me what is so horrible?”
“Why, that God should condemn men to eternal torment even before they are born. What can be more cruel and unjust?”
“That would be ‘horrible’ if God were blind, as men are. But let us look at this ‘horrible doctrine’ from other standpoints. You probably know that some people, in order to avoid the difficulties of Divine sovereignty, strip God of one of His attributes by saying that the Lord does not choose to fore-know human destiny, that is, individual destiny. ”

“ She could say no more for several [Pg 322] moments, and Ernest waited till she became more tranquil.
“You seem to be the only friend I have in the world,” she continued presently. “I once had plenty of friends, but when misfortunes overtook me, they deserted me, and I have met with nothing but rebukes and insults. I have got so I hate people. I didn’t know the world was so full of mean wretches. People used to envy me, because I had money, but they seemed to me to rejoice when I was brought down to poverty and social degradation. If I wished to be good, I don’t see how I could.” ”

“ If we allow ourselves to do violence to God’s Word, in order to support a theory, we shall run into serious error. Men, impelled more by feeling than reason, have embraced the doctrine of universalism. I am sure I could have no objection to the doctrine of universalism, if it could be established from God’s written Word. I want no [Pg 352] one to go to hell, and I would be glad to think that all of Adam’s race will be saved at last. I, for one, hold to the doctrine of predestination, not only because it is agreeable to my feelings, but because I believe it to be taught in God’s Word. ”

“ Ernest read:
“Without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto.”
“The meaning,” said the Doctor, “is that God did not choose His people on account of their faith and good works. Faith itself is the gift of God. All men are in a state of guilt by nature. How, then, could the Lord fore-see faith and good works in any of them, growing out of their evil natures? How could they possibly perform good works without a regenerated heart?” ”

“ So these two young people, with that pure affection, glowing in their hearts, which is sanctioned by the Allwise God, standing under the broad-spreading oaks, agreed to enter into the sacred relation which constitutes the very foundation of human society. Why should older persons, who have lost the ardor, aspirations and hopes of youth, sneer at what they are pleased to call “sickly love stories?” God implanted these sacred affections in the human heart to bind society together, and it is these which make man a gregarious animal. ”

“ But Ernest truly loved Clara, though he might not himself have been able to explain the source of attraction, as love is not a passion subject to the human will. Mr. Hillston at an early period of the courtship, perceived his infatuation, and as he took a deep interest in the welfare of his ward, he could not but feel some misgivings as to the propriety of the union. One day Ernest informed him of his engagement, and the old man shook his head unconsciously in an ominous manner, which did not escape Ernest’s observation. ”

“ Why, you see, a preacher is not the sort of man, the sort of man, that would suit my purposes. A preacher is no business man, Ernest—no business man. This thing of going over the country, with your ward-robe in a pair of saddle-bags—yes, in a pair of saddle-bags, and living from hand to mouth—well, I can’t see the necessity of it in this case, in this case. Although Clara gave me a hint, I didn’t much believe it—I didn’t much believe it—because, Ernest, there is no necessity for it, no earthly necessity for it. You will not be forced to go into that poor business—that poor business ”

“ But it can never be destroyed. You may revise the Confession of Faith till every vestige of it disappears, but that does not blot it out from the pages of God’s Word. To get rid of that doctrine, the whole Bible must be revised from Genesis to Revelation. Strike out from the Scriptures every thing that is said in regard to predestination; expunge every passage from which the doctrine may be deduced by plain inference, and there is nothing left but Universalism.
Predestination and man’s free agency are both taught in the Holy Scriptures. ”

“ This is the kind of predestination to which the Presbyterian Church holds. Whatever objections may be urged against it, we believe it to be taught in God’s Word. There are questions in regard to it which no human being can answer. We are confronted with the question, how fore-ordination and man’s free agency can be reconciled. It is certainly no good reason for the rejection of a doctrine that we cannot fully understand it. Who can understand the Trinity? Who can comprehend the dual existence of our Lord Jesus? Such truths we receive on faith, and not because they are in harmony with reason. ”