Mr. Hume's Last Speech, on the Second Proposition.
GENTLEMEN MODERATOR - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
I have now arisen for the purpose of closing the discussion upon the second proposition. All the arguments and Scripture proofs are now introduced; at least, we are not allowed to introduce any new argument in our present speech. We shall briefly notice the arguments of or friend in his last speech, and devote the remainder of our time in recapitulation.
Elder Franklin seems to think that we are out of ammunition, but he will find himself very much mistaken before he is done with us. For our artillery is increasing, the mouth of our cannon is enlarging, our magazine is full to overflowing, and already has the deafening roar of the same been heard by the gentleman, which appears to have very much alarmed him. But the worst has not yet come, for soon, very soon, will he hear heaven's artillery burst upon him in peals of loudest thunder, and the very stronghold in which he seems to rest securely, shake to its very center -- when it will be made to appear to this audience that his strength is perfect weakness. And for the gentleman's special benefit we will inform him, that we have plenty in store to render him very uncomfortable until the close of this discussion. This, however, he will ascertain in due time. We freely confess that we do not know what our friend was trying to do in his last speech; whether he was endeavoring to prove Universalism, Arminianism, or some other ism -- perhaps he knew, but surely no one else did. There is one thing, however, we know, and that is, he did not attempt to introduce any Scripture to prove that any man of adult years and sane mind could repent, believe, confess the Lord Jesus, turn to God, and be finally saved. Well, this is what he has undertaken to prove, and you see, my audience, how he has undertaken to do it, which was by continually burlesquing the doctrine of sovereign-reigning and all-conquering grace, and those who believed it charging them with believing and practising almost every thing that is wicked, immoral, and irreligious, while he has been as cautious in approaching the Bible, as if it contained some deadly thing. And why? Because he well knew that the doctrine of his proposition could not be sustained by the Scriptures of eternal truth, and as such the least he had to do with them, the better for him. We wish it now distinctly understood, and we hope it will be remembered, that there has not been one text introduced this day to sustain the affirmative of his proposition. There is one thing more we know, and that is, there has been no effort made on the part of Mr. Franklin to explain the passages of Scripture introduced by us, differently from what we have explained them, thereby evidently admitting our interpretation to be true, which is equivalent to an acknowledgement that he is wrong in his views upon this subject. Indeed, the gentleman has been sufficiently honest to acknowledge himself wrong in one instance, at least. You will doubtless recollect that in replying to the text in John, where it said, "therefore they could not believe," the gentleman said, these were reprobate Jews whose minds had been blinded so that they could not believe. This is acknowledging the truth like a man. But in this concession he evidently contradicts the language of his proposition, and not only so, but he contradicts everything he has said today in support of the proposition. We now appeal to the audience to know, in what way the gentleman replied to the text in the 1st chapter of Matthew, 21st verse: "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people." You know, my audience, that he has not so much as named it. We told you the text did not say, he should devise means or make a way possible, but said positively he shall save his people. To this he made no reply. We also referred you to chapter 18, 9th verse, which reads: "For the Son of Man is come to save that which is lost." Not to provide a remedy for the lost -- no, but to save them. We proceeded to show you who the lost in the text were, and that the mission of Jesus Christ into the world was to save them, and we maintained that the adorable Redeemer did accomplish that for which he came, and that was to save the lost. To this, also, he made no reply. Well, why did he not? Simply because he nor any other man who believes as he does, can make a Scriptural reply without destroying their own system, and rather than do this, he was disposed to pass those pointed Scripture proofs by in silence. We next referred you to the gospel by John, chapter 6, 37th, 38th, 39th, 44th, and 45th verses. Here we will show the gentleman whether we have been out of ammunition. The roar of our cannon he shall hear. Let us now read, beginning at the 37th verse: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out; for I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." Here we have the doctrine of election or specialty taught, to which we called your attention in a former speech. Jesus himself here declares, that all that the Father giveth him shall come to him -- not can or may come, but shall come. The idea is also clearly taught, that there are some that are not given to the Savior. We have already inquired if the gentleman's CAN will embrace those who are not given to Christ, and to all this we have had no reply.
We think our friend has pursued a very wise course, in not attempting to reply to such passages as these, for well does he know that he can never make them fit his system. But the dear Redeemer still goes further, and remarks: "For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Now we have already shown you what Jesus said that will was, and it was not to make all men see, neither was it to make salvation possible to all men, but for a very different purpose. Hence Jesus says, "and this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all He hath given me I should lose nothing." Now we have shown you, that if the Father has given the race of men to Christ the Savior, that all the race shall come, and they that come shall in nowise be cast out. Hence, upon my friend's hypothesis, Universalism is true, and he cannot possibly get out of it. But hear the Savior in the 44th verse -- "No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day." Now we told you the gentleman's theory received a fatal stab, for he says any man of adult years and sane mind can come; Jesus says, "no man can come to me except the Father draw him." Now we have already shown you, that if the gentleman contends that the Father draws all the race of men, then all the race come and consequently are all saved. Hence the language of the 45th verse -- "It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God; every man, therefore, that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me." Not some of them, no, but every man. Here, my audience, is a salvation sure and certain, and the people who are to be saved clearly defined to be those whom the Father gave to the Son. Those drawn by the Father, every one that hath heard and learned of the Father, and no more. Now, my audience, what reply did the gentleman make to this whole connection? You know that he did not so much as allude to it, consequently, we are drawn to the irresistible conclusion that he knew he could not, and as such passed it by, as he did others, in dead silence.
We next referred you to John 8: 43, 44, where the Savior propounded a question to the Jews. Hear it: "Why do ye not understand my speech; even because ye cannot hear." Hear my words: "Ye are of your father, the devil," &c. Again, in the forty-seventh verse, Jesus says, "He that is of God heareth God's words; ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God." How any sane man can contend for the doctrine of universal conditional salvation, in the face of such plain pointed Scripture testimony to the contrary, is a profound mystery to us. Here the Savior says, in plain words, that there are some who cannot hear his words. Well, who are they? Let Jesus answer the question. He says they are the children of the devil, and the reason why they do not hear God's words is because they are not of God. And yet, in the face of all this, and much that has been introduced equally pertinent to the point, we find a learned and talented gentleman contending that any man can hear the word of the Lord, repent, believe, turn to God, &c., and not one word of reply made to the above quotation. We sincerely hope that the audience will bear this in mind, and remember that if a successful reply could have been made, doubtless my learned opponent would have made it.
We next referred you to John 10, verse 26, where Jesus said to certain people, "Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." You will perhaps remember that we remarked, when we quoted this passage, that if wold ask Mr. Franklin why sinners did not believe, he would answer, Because they will not, for they can repent, &c. Now the Redeemer and my friend would answer very differently, for the Lord Jesus said it was because they were not of his sheep. We have had no reply to this passage.
Once more. We in the next place directed your attention to Acts 2, verse 39, where the Apostle says, "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Here we wished you to bear in mind the peculiar language of the Apostle, "even as many as the Lord our God shall call," evidently presenting the idea that there were some that the Lord our God did not call. We have told you in a former speech, and we reiterate it now again, that this fact is too self-evident to be denied. We also told you that Elder Franklin himself would not deny it, and truly he has not, for he has said nothing about it.
We then introduced Acts 13:18, which reads: "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord." Well, what was the result? Hear it: "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." We inquired, when we read this passage, what the gentleman would do with his "can" along here. We wished to know whether his "can" would embrace those that were not ordained to eternal life. But we have not heard a word from him on the subject. We hope the audience will remember that none believed but such as were ordained to eternal life. This text most clearly conveys the idea that there are some who were not ordained to eternal life, and as such my friend's "can" will not embrace them.
We next called your attention to the divine sovereignty of God in the great work of man' salvation, as revealed in Romans 9, verses 15-24. To that part of this connection that speaks of the potter and the clay, the gentleman made some reply. You perhaps remember the manner in which this subject was disposed of, but we ask you what reply was made to the text that reads, "Therefore it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." My friend appeared to have no time to attend to this passage, or he had no disposition to do so. Perhaps the latter was true, and why? Because he had been laboring for at least two hours to make this audience believe what the Apostle here says is not true, and what is that? Why, has he not done his best to make you believe that man must will, that he must run, or, in other words, to make you believe that the salvation of sinners was in their own hands. Surely he has, and he will not now deny it. But Paul says, "it is NOT of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Hence, as we showed you, Paul ascribes the salvation of sinners to one cause, and my friend Franklin, to another. But the Apostle, in this connection, adds, "Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Now, my friends, can you recollect the gentleman's reply to this text. We do not really believe you can, for the very best of reasons -- he made none. Well, we do not blame him for his request failures to reply, for what reply could any man make that occupies the ground my friend does. We presume all his friends would do just as he has done -- pass them by in silence, without even an attempt to reply to them. Now the true sense of this text, as we told you, is this: the great and omnipotent Jehovah has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth. We have no doubt but this is a bitter pill for our learned friend to swallow, but he has to take it. We hope it will do him good, as truth does the upright in heart.
But the Apostle goes still further in this connection, and speaks of vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Now we told you, in a former speech, that we were not careful at this time about who or what fitted them for destruction. We only wished our friend to tell us whether his "can" embraced them. This, however, he did not think proper to do.
But the Apostle goes still another step farther, and says something about vessels of mercy which He (God) had afore prepared unto glory. Ah, my friends, as I said to you before, here lies the great scarecrow -- the idea of God having chosen his people in Christ before the world began, or having afore prepared certain vessels unto glory, is more than my worthy friend is willing to bear; indeed he is not willing to say anything at all about it, notwithstanding it is so clearly taught throughout the Bible.
Well, you know, my friends, he has not touched one of these passages, notwithstanding they have been before him since our first speech. We now ask this intelligent audience if his perfect silence upon all those passages has not convinced them thoroughly that even Mr. Franklin, with all his talents and learning, is wholly unable to show you the error of our interpretation of those passages, if indeed we have committed errors. We think every candid mind is now satisfied that Elder Franklin is wrong in his views with regard to the great system of salvation. But we are not done recapitulating yet.
You were next invited to notice 1st Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 10-14. You will there learn of hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Now, we asked the audience if they could believe that Jehovah had, in his wisdom, before the world ordained certain people unto glory, and would fail to bring them into the enjoyment of that glory. We hope this will not be forgotten. The Apostle also says, in this connection, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Upon this subject we remarked that one of two things was true - there was no such thing a natural men now in the world, or the gentleman's proposition was false, for most assuredly the gospel is one of the things of the Spirit of God, and so also is the written word, and the Apostle says, in positive terms, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them, and as such, the doctrine of the proposition is untrue. We also referred you to Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8, 9, and 10 -- "For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." We told you that this text alone was sufficient to convince every unprejudiced mind that the gentleman was wrong.
He has often remarked, during this discussion, that if men got to heaven, they had to work; hence, it is evident that this working class are of a different family from the apostle, the saints at Ephesus, or the faithful in Christ Jesus. We told you these were nothing more or less than the ancient Pharisees, who taught that except the people were circumcised and kept the whole law, they could not be saved. The principle is the same, but clothed in a different dress. But the apostle further adds --"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." We remarked upon this text, that the Christian was both the workmanship and the creation of God. We called upon the gentleman to know whether he professed to have power to create; to this we received no answer. Well, there cannot be a Christian without a creation -- hence, God alone has the power to create in Christ Jesus. But we also told you that the gentleman would have to prove the apostle to be a liar, before he could sustain his affirmative. This we more fully proved from the text in chapter 4 of Galatians, which reads -- "Cast out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." Hence, we said to you, that if the doctrine of the gentleman's proposition was true, then the apostle was wrong, because the son of the bondwoman could be an heir if he would, according to my friend's theory. But my time is nearly out, and we must hasten. We now inquire of you, my audience, what more do you want to convince you that Elder Franklin is wrong in his views on this subject, and that salvation flows to poor sinners alone upon the principles of sovereign, free, and reigning grace? We have most clearly proved from the Bible that he is wrong. We tell you, in plan language, he is wrong, and Mr. Franklin himself acknowledge that he was wrong, for there were some in the days of the Savior that could not believe. Now if you believe the Bible, if you believe me, nay more, if you believe my worthy friend himself, he has most signally failed to sustain the affirmative of the present proposition. We therefore still maintain that poor ungodly sinners are saved by grace alone, without works; yes, unconditionally saved, through the righteous merits of our ever blessed Redeemer, who gave himself for us. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all the powers within me, praise His holy name, for rich, free, and unmerited grace, which has been so freely bestowed upon the chief of sinners.
My dear, dying audience, suffer me in conclusion to say to you, that this glorious grace must save you, or you are gone forever. Yes, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. O, what a glorious theme, to contemplate the fullness, the freeness, and the richness of this grace treasured in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, before all worlds, which began to be manifested in the promise made to the woman that her seed should bruise the serpent's head, but which was more gloriously manifested in the birth, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension and glorious intercession of Him who died that sinners might live. This exalted grace was still more fully manifested on the day of Pentecost, when thousands were pierced in their hearts and made to cry out. It is the grace, my dear friends, that has been poured out abundantly upon poor sinners in every age, from then till now, by the power of which they are quickened into divine life, made partakers of the divine nature, translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son. Yes more, by its heavenly influence poor sinners are made to all out with themselves, to hate sin, to love God and holiness, and to desire to walk in humble obedience to all the commandments of the Lord, blameless. And finally, dear friends, it is this grace that will bring the whole redeemed family into the enjoyment of that blessed inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, where the wicked cease from troubling and where the weary will forever be at rest. Beloved friends, may you and I be among that happy throng, to praise Jesus for the riches of his grace so freely bestowed upon objects so very unworthy.
Time expired.
