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to justify my statement of his doctrine : but let us hear M . Malan further on this subject : The blood of Christ has not flowed for a soul , that it should only be washed for a few hours . The sacrifice offered is
eternal and perfect 5 whoever has had a part in it , can never lose this good part ; it will never be taken from him . How consoling is this doctrine , yet how few believe it ! Some regard it as dangerous . Take care ( say they ) how
you sow such a doctrine ; it would soon be productive of crimes . Good God , pardon their blasphemy 1 " In the following 'page he adds , * But perhaps some one of you , my dear friends , may make this natural objection to himself : Will it never HAPPEN THAT A CHRISTIAN SHAL . L
fall so heavily as to break the tie of love which unites him to God , and thus the sinner shall lose g race ? " * This question ( he replies ) has been already answered by
the Holy Spirit : c < Neither death nor life , ( and it is in the life of a Christian that the sin of which we are speaking will be found , ) neither angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , ( but the sin will be among present things , ) neither height , nor depth , nor any other creature , can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord . " Lest , however , the doctrine that no crimes can separate the elect from God , should not be announced with sufficient strength , M . Malan delivers it in an allegory . A
benighted traveller on a desert heath , overcome with dread and fatigue , lies down and attempts to sleep : suddenly a flaming sword , held by a mysterious hand , approaches to pierce him : he
* Mais peut-fetre , quelqu ' un de vous , mer chers amis , fait-il en lui-m ^ me cette objection si naturelle , Ne pourra-t-il point arrivcr que le Chretien faase une chute si lourde , que le lien d ' amour qui T unit * Dieu se ronipc et qu ' ainsi le p £ cheur perde ia grace ? Le saint esprit a de * j&
jepondu—Que m la mort , &c . " P . 46 . I am aware that the translation does not 8 lve sufficient force to the meaning of the French epithet lourde , but had I departed from a literal version I should P obdbly have been accused of misrepresentation .
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fl , ees away with all his remaining force , until he falls down exhausted and nearly senseless : the same sword still menaces him : at length he cries out , " Lord , have mercy upon me ! " Suddenly his eyed are opened , and he sees before him a vast and splendent edifice , from which he hears a voice
cry , " Knock , and it shall be opened : The traveller believes it ; he stretches forth his arm and knocks— . " the gate is immediately opened , and an irresistible force draws him within the edifice : then the brazen gate closes , and against this gate he supports
himself to bfeathe in peace , to say with certainty , that he is safe for ever from the dreadful sword ; the brazen gate rises between himself and the world , and all the united efforts of the world shall never force it . " Then M .
Malan describes a concert of angels which for brevity I omit . The sword is changed into a lamp , and moves before the traveller up a flight of steps j on the top is a cross , to which , he is directed to look steadfastly : but , alas ! who can know all the
inconstancy of the human heart , all its levity , all its ingratitude ? Seduced by some other object or fantasy , he turns away his eyes , his feet trip up , and he rolls down , bruising himself , to the very bottom of the steps ; he is even thrown against the brazen gate . What would become of the wretched soul
if this gate were not that , against which the gates of hell shall not prevail ? " But fear not ; thy fall has happened within the house ; thy fall cannot in any way affect the surety of thy asylum ; thou hast dashed thyself against the rock , but it is this rock itself which supports thee , " &c * The traveller , strengthened by these gentle words , which descend from the cross , is raised up , and feels some one at his side who supports and consoles him , and says , ** It is thy friend , thy faithful friend ; repose upon me ; do not fear ; thou canst not tire me ; I
am almighty . " The traveller recognizes the voice of the Friend of
Sin-* " Mais ne craigns point ; c ' est dans la maison que ta chute s ' cst faite ; ta chute ne change rien & la suret 6 de ton asyle , Tut ' estheurU * e contre le iocher , mais ce rocher inline , c ' est celui sur lequel tu t ' apmues . " i \ 49 .
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of the Elect ? ' us held by the Modern Swiss Calvinists . 64 $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1825, page 643, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2542/page/3/
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