As it is the part of bad divinity to make as little as possible of the Lord Jesus Christ, so it is the province of bad philosophy to leave God out of its favorite systems. In the latter case recourse is had to the doctrine of second causes, and to what are called the laws of nature. Upon this principle, vain man would attempt to account for every thing, and to exclude all mystery from the natural and spiritual world; although, in both respects, the phenomena exhibited evince the vanity and danger of the effort, and prove that, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts.” But, still proud man cannot bear that his reason should be confounded, or his understanding limited; and sooner than confess his ignorance, will explore depths, which angels cannot fathom, and soar so high into the regions of speculation, as to drop into materialism, and lose sight of his God. Thus it appears, that from pride springs every atheistical hypothesis, that produces a contempt of God and a denial of his sovereign interposition; but that the very first step in that heavenly science, which revelation styles “the wisdom from above,” is humility, which makes a man submit to be taught by his Maker, and not dispute away the existence of what he cannot comprehend.
The system of nature, it is allowed, is a chain of second causes, concatenated in such a manner, as to make one link depend upon another by a necessary coherence. But second causes must have a first, and laws must originate in some law-giver. So that, admitting that nature is regulated by certain laws interwoven with its existence and constitution, still the contrivance and execution of the wondrous plan force us to acknowledge, that an infinite mind must have tied together at first every link in the golden chain; and that what heathenism called the anima mundi, is in reality the all-pervading, all-supporting, and all-comprehending presence and power of Deity. But what shall we say, when the laws of nature suffer a temporary infringement? When the regularity of her course is diverted, and broken in upon? Do the convulsions of the earth, and the rage of elements, form any part of her laws, or any link in the concatenation of her parts? Was it by any inherent law, that the ocean once burst its barriers and overspread the earth? that the ground opened and swallowed Korah and his sacrilegious associates? that Sinai’s base shook, while its summit was enveloped with “blackness, and darkness, and tempest?” that the sun was eclipsed without any intervening sphere, and the rocks were rent, when Jesus expired on the cross? Or upon what principle will philosophy account for that final conflagration, which shall, in the destined period, burn up the earth and the works that are therein? when
“The cloud-capp’d tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great Globe itself
Shall dissolve; and, like the baseless fabric
Of a vision, leave not a wreck behind!”
Are these nature’s laws? No; they are the disruption of them—the rending, not the order of the system. Who breaks in upon this harmony? The God of nature. The Creator is the dissolver of the world. He who spoke it from chaos into light and arrangement, speaks it into ruin. And those who insinuate, that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the world,” an inspired apostle calls, “scoffers, who walk after their own lusts. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But, the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word, kept in store, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment.” 2 Pet. iii. 4, 7.
As, therefore, there is a Supreme Being, that made and now supporteth the world, so there is a God that judgeth the earth. And as the world could not have existed in the beginning without his fiat, so neither can the course of nature be disturbed without his interposition. And they who are so ready upon every occasion to ascribe to second causes merely, what must be the effect of the great First Cause, indirectly strike at the existence of sin, and the being of God. Leaving, therefore, the vain philosopher and cavilling sceptic to speculate about the natural causes of earthquakes, tempests, pestilences, famine, sword; come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth. For thus saith Jehovah, “I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.” Isa. xlv. 7. If the earth be convulsed, Jehovah shakes it. If the sword rages, He “gives it its charge.” If the tempest lours, and the heavens are clothed with black, He guides the storm, and rides upon the wings of the wind. If the artillery of the skies send out their voice, and shoot their arrows, it is He, who maketh the thunder and darts the lightening. If Jerusalem is to be buried in ruins, it is because He saith, “This is the city to be visited.” Jer. vi. 6.
Let all the earth stand in awe of Him, and all its inhabitants revere his majesty and dread his indignation. “He measured the waters in the hollow of his hand; he meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.” Isa. xl. 12, 15, 17. “Behold the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy; his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire.” Isa. xxx. 27. “If he whet his glittering sword, and his hand take hold on judgment, he will render vengeance to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him.” Deut. xxxii. 41. “Fear ye not ME? saith the Lord. Will ye not tremble at my presence?” Jer. v. 22. “Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence, yea the world, and all that dwell therein.” Nah. i. 5, 6.
“He frowns, and darkness veils the moon,
The fainting sun grows dim at noon;
The pillars of heav’n’s starry roof
Tremble and start at his reproof!”
These sublime passages taken from the inspired writings, and descriptive of the wisdom, majesty, grandeur, and indignation of God, are written, that we might form a due estimate of the littleness and impotence of that reptile man, when contending with Omnipotence? and learn from the desolations of the earth, to tremble at his presence. But where are the people that have learned this lesson? If a veneration for the institutions of Heaven, a delight in the ways of God, a reverent mention of his sacred name, a conscientious observation of the Sabbath, and a hatred of sin, be characteristics of God’s peculiar people, I fear the number will be found very small, when compared with the bulk of the profane. And here I cannot paint in stronger colors the prevalence of immorality in the present day, than by adopting the words of good Bishop Sherlock, in his description of the predominant wickedness of his own times. In a sermon delivered at Salisbury, the good bishop says, “Surely the Gospel of Jesus Christ was never treated with greater malice and contempt by Jews or Heathens, than it has been in this Christian country.—Is not Sunday become a day of diversion to great ones, and a day of idleness to little ones? And has not this been followed by a great increase of great wickedness among the lower sort of people?” And, when speaking of the licentiousness of that period, which succeeded the Restoration, and opened flood-gates of iniquity, which have continued through similar channels ever since; he says, “The sense of religion decayed, and the very appearances of it were suspected as a remnant of hypocrisy. And, if we may judge by the performances of the stage, which are formed to the taste of the people, there never was a time when lewdness, irreligion, and profaneness, were heard with more patience.” No wonder that, from a contempt of the gospel, and a love of dissipation, should spring what the good Bishop asserts in his Pastoral Letter, p. 7, “Blasphemy and horrid imprecations domineer in our streets; and poor wretches are every hour wantonly and wickedly calling for damnation on themselves and others, which may be, it is to be feared, too near them already. Add to this, the lewdness and debauchery that prevail among the lowest people; which keep them idle, poor, and miserable, and the number of lewd houses which trade in their vices, and must be paid for making sin convenient to them; and it will account for villanies of other kinds. For where is the wonder, that persons so abandoned should be ready to commit all sorts of outrage and violence. A CITY WITHOUT RELIGION CAN NEVER BE A SAFE PLACE TO DWELL IN.” [234]
Thus the excellent prelate, like a faithful watchman, lifted up his voice like a trumpet, and dared to speak out. And should not the ministers of the present day copy the example? The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? O ye ambassadors of Christ, “cry aloud and spare not,” that sinners may take the alarm, and fly from impending judgments and imminent destruction, to that way of salvation revealed in the gospel. And this suggestion points to another improvement to be derived from a view of God’s desolating dispensations; namely,
3. The necessity and importance of an interest in the blessed Jesus, as the great antidote against every calamity, and the glorious security against sin and its consequences.