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I.

THE

Evening Devotion.

THE fun retires, the earth is wrapt in fhade,

The weary world feek fleep's recruiting aid,

Piering the fhades, high to the throne of grace,

Afend my foul and seek thy maker's face.

2. Jens invites and I with joy obey, And ry my feeble voice to praife and fray,

Whit the bleft fpirit, purchas'd with his blood,

Aid my weak powers to feek the father, God.

My foul begins, where heaven's creating will

First form'd her powers, and fhap'd with wondrous fkill,

This mortal body, view the curious

frame!

Through which she knows the Author, learns his name ;

4. Then gratefully reviews his guardi

an cares

Through helplefs infancy and riper years,

How he fecur'd where midnight arrows flew

And peftilential winds their poifon blew;

5. Guided my feet where dangers ftrew'd the way,

And eager death was arm'd to seize the prey,

Held in the hollow of his gracious hand

I'm still preferved, and still before him stand

6. Thy providential grace, parent of good,

Hath every day profufely round me flow'd,

I from thy bounty richly have been fed, And this frail body from thy veftry clad.

7. Still richer bleffings! O my foul adore,

That grace which opens heaven's eternal door

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Guide my unskilful feet, nor let me tread,

Where fatal fnares are by the tempter spread.

II. This faithlefs heart, to deep backflidings prone,

Implores thy prefence, here erect thy throne,

Here reign fupreme, beat every rival down,

And from thy throne each meaner paffion frown.

12. Kindle the fire of facred love within,

Whose flame fhall fcorch the bafe ufurper fin,

Whilft by its heav'nly glow my foul is warm'd,

From earthly chills to heavenly heat transform'd.

13. Then fhall the rife and found thy praifes high,

And join th' exalted chorus of the sky, Nor think the time too long this debt

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ON SIN.

IN radically confifts in partial affection in a being capable of knowing God; or rather, in his loving the creature more than the Creator. This affection of heart is, in its nature, hoftile to the universe, and involves in itself every thing that is vile and bafe; it is moft unjust, it is against reason and the fitness of things; and the fubject of it muft of neceffity be oppofed by the univerfe, as its enemy; and if the intereft of the whole is more important than the intereft of a part, fuch oppofition is fit and reasonable.

er efficient cause of his own finful nature and exercises it might be hard to fhew; but fuppose it were admitted, that he might be the caufe of his finful exercises, he muft certainly be fo by his own act; but it would not follow that the producing act must be a finful act, or if, in a given case, it should be, it would not follow, that its finfulness is neceffary to the finful nefs of the effect. To inftance in the first fin that exifted: The quef tion is, what was its caufe? And the anfwer, on the prefent fuppo fition is, the act of the finner : But certainly the act caufing the firft fin, being prior to it, and the ground of it, could not be a finful

Whatever be the cause of fin, its nature will be the fame; enmity to being; oppofition to the gen-act, because to fuppofe this would eral good. But as finful man, in order to justify himself, is difpofed to caft all the blame of fin on its caufe, and fo ultimately on God the firft caufe; let us fee, for a moment, whether there is any evidence that the caufe of fin is to blame.

be to fuppofe fin existed before the firft fin. It is clear then, that the firft fin was not produced by a blameable caufe in the finner; confequently, all the blame of the first fin lay in its nature, and not at allin its caufe, if, as is now fuppofed, the finner himself be the caufe. To the queftion what is the But if the blame of any one fin caufe of fin, if it have a pofitive may be wholly in its nature, and cause, the answer muft be, God, not at all in its cause, this may also or, the finner himself, is the caufe. be true of all fin; an attempt thereThat the finner himself is the prop-fore to caft the blame of any fin VOL. I. No. 6.

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upon its caufe, fuppofing the finner himself to be the caufe, would not only be irrelevant but unreafonable.

Again, it does not appear that the cause of fin is to blame, on the ground that God is the caufe; even the pofitive or efficient caufe; the conclufion that it is, is built on the hypothefis that there is all that in the caufe, which there is in the effect, but this hypothefis is fallacious. God created the material world, but God is not material, he has made creatures of oppofite natures, the harmlefs dove and the fpiteful ferpent, but he is not pof feffed of thefe oppofite natures in co-existence. God caufes natural evil, pain and mifery; but God is not miserable, but bleffed forever. If fin be a pofitive exiftence and require a pofitive caufe, fo is mat. ter a pofitive existence and requires a pofitive caufe, and the existence of the latter proves God to be material, as much as the existence of the former proves God to be finful. It may be faid that the other ef. fects which have been mentioned, as produced by the divine agency, are mere negations, the abfence of good, the want of perfection, and therefore they require no pofitive caufe of their existence, and that this may be the cafe of fin itself; but if this be true, it is ftill more evident that the cause, or more properly the occafion, of fin is not to blame or finful. If fin be that flate of a moral being which neceffarily takes place on the abfence or with drawment of the divine prefence and influence, its exiftence will be fo far from proving God to be finful, that it will prove his purity and holiness in the clearest manner; and on the fame evidence that natural darkness, being that flate which fucceeds on the abfence or withdrawment of the natural

| Sun, evinces that body to be bright and luminous.

Moral evil in the effect then does not prove moral evil in the cause ; God may be the cause of sin, in tither of the fenfes which have been mentioned, and yet be perfectly holy; as well as the caufe of matter and yet be perfectly fpiritual; or the caufe of pain and yet be perfectly happy. Confequently an attempt to caft the blame of fin upon its caufe, fuppofing God to be its caufe, is unreafonable, it is to charge God foolishly, for the charge cannot be proved from the the relation of an effect to its caufe.

But on the fuppofition that God is the caufe of fin, can he be righteous in taking vengeance? Anfwer; God's being the caufe of fin alters not its nature, it is still fin, enmity to being, opposed to the total of created and uncreated good, tending, in its whole nature, to fubvert general order, and to overturn even the throne of God himself; its existence then being fuppofed, God, as the guardian of the general good, muft oppofe and punish it. But why was it firft caufed? Suppofe we can affign no good reafons, it does not follow that there are none: There may be reafons for it refulting from the perfections of God, the imperfections of creatures, and the ends of the divine government, which lie beyond our fight, who are but of yesterday: But furely before we prefume to caft the blame of fin on God for caufing it, we ought to be very certain on good evidence, that, in caufing it, he acted without reafon, and when we can demonftrate that he did fo, and not till then, we shall have reafon to find fault; but if we withhold our cenfures till then, the divine government will, with refpect to the existence of fin, forever remain unimpeach

ed. God has not however left us | by the church he might make wholly uninformed on this import-known, to principalities and powant point, but has condefcended to give us two reafons, at leaft, of his agency in the exiflence of fin, or in hardening the hearts of finners, which ought to fatisfy us, (viz.) to fhew his wrath and make his power known; and to make known the riches of his glory, on the vef fels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory.

À Letter from a Gentleman to a friend.

I

DEAR SIR,

THINK you will not be difturbed at the length of this letter, when you are informed, that our Lord Jefus is the fubject of almost every sentence. You are not fingular in confidering him, as the distinguished character of the gofpel. The apostle Paul was determined to know nothing, among the Corinthian Chriftians, but Jefus Chrift, and him crucified. He is God manifeft in the flesh. He came to accomplish a work of infinite inportance to fave finners, and ultimately, by their falvation, and by his whole work, to glorify God. In his prayer, a little before his crucifixion, he expreffed this idea to the Father. "I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work, which thou gavest me to do." This was his errand, and this he accomplished. On this account he is called the "Brightnefs of the Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon." In this work, he promotes the public good. The happiness of all holy creatures is greatly increased by it. And to this end," All power in heaven and on earth is given unto him-the government is put upon his shoulders and he is made head over all things to the church-that

ers in heavenly places, the manifold wifdom of God." He caufes "all things to work together for the good of them, that love God." In the procefs of this work, he makes an immenfe advance, upon all former difcoveries of the divine character. This brings glory to God, and increases the public good. The declarative glory of God confifts in the manifeftation of his perfections. Thefe manifeftations are the riches of the univerfe. In this work, the glory of God, and the happiness of his kingdom are infeparably connected. The happiness of the holy Angels, as well as of thofe who are faved by his redemption, is unfpeakably increased, by the difcov eries which Chrift has made, of the infinite excellence of God. This is done in several particulars.

Chrift has made a wonderful manifestation of the juflice of God in punifhing finners. Something of this was done, when God cast out the apoftate angels from his blifsful prefence, and doomed them, for their firft revolt, to endlefs defpair. Their punishment, doubtless appeared juft, and neceffary for the fupport of his beneficent government. Their rebellion appeared to the elect angels an awful crime, and worthy of fignal wrath. The holy would naturally reflec on the importance of the divine law, the excellency of God, and the infinite obligations, which his creatures are under to him. And the tho'ts of rebellion would excite horror, and the punishment of rebels would meet with their approbation. In the condemnation of the revolters, God rendered his law refpectable in the fight of the holy angels. They faw it was not to be trifled with: and the

confiderations, which were natur- | neceffity of the divine law, and of exprefling the divine abhorrence of fin by punishments, will rife into view, with fuperior demonstration. You cannot but think, the juftice of God is difplayed, in more than fevenfold glory, in the latter cafe. It will doubtless be unspeakably more illustrious, and convincing in the eyes of his people.

The atonement of Chrift also
adds to the glory of punitive juf-
tice. Had not this taken place,
the enemies of God might have re-
proached him, by fuggefting, that

he had no benevolence for his crea-
tures, and acted more from paf-
fion and cruelty, than from princi-
ple. But when his only begotten.
Son freely took the finners place,
and became a curfe for them-
when creation heard the Father
fay, "Awake O fword against
the man, that is my fellow;"-
when he was left in the power of
earth and hell-when God would
not abate an iota in thofe fufferings,
which were neceffary to fupport the
law, and fully manifeft his abhor-
rence of fin-when he hid his face
from him in his laft extremity-
when the Creator of the world
bowed his head, and gave up the

ally fuggefted to their minds, on
this occafion, gave a fuller convic-
tion, and a more perfect fenfe of
the importance of law and juftice,
than it is reasonable to fuppofe,
they could have obtained, if fin
had never taken place, and the
punitive juftice of God had never
been exemplified. But under the
mediatorial government of Christ,
great advance has been made in
thefe things. The pernicious and
unyielding nature of fin, and the
irreclaimable perverfeness of the
finner, were not feen in the in-he punished them wantonly, that
ftance of the fallen angels. No
offers of mercy were made them.
It was not known, but that they
would have gladly accepted of a
pardon. They were immediately
given over by a judicial act, to the
power of fin. But under the gov-
ernment of Chrift, the obftinate
nature of fin is bro't into view. It
appears, that no offers of mercy,
no acts of kindness, and no facri-
fices which God can make, to pro-
vide for their acceptance into fa-
vor, can perfuade the finner, to re-
turn to duty. He will perfift in
his rebellion, in defiance of all the
threatnings which can be denoun-
ced, and all the arguments which
can be offered to reclaim him.ghoft, then, then it was evident,
This gives an impreffive evidence
of the juftice of God in the con-
demnation of impenitent finners.
The apoftate angels committed
but one fin, before their doom be-
came irreversible, and that, not
against redeeming mercy. Sinful
men have the offers of mercy, and
the means of grace, and continue
in rebellion and unbelief, thro' their
whole lives. They deliberately
treat with contempt divine authority
and grace. In their condemnation,
the punitive juftice of God will be
difplayed to advantage. And the
importance of fpotless purity, the

that he punishes from principle, that
Chrift condemns the wicked, not
thro' wanton indifference to their
fufferings; but with a facred re-
gard to juftice. This glorified
juftice, magnified the law, and
made it honorable.

Chrift in his mediatorial govern-
ment, makes an infinite advance,
upon all former difplays of the
goodness of God. He gives an il-
luftrious evidence, that his good.
nefs is real, and will endure for-
ever. In his dealings with the elect
angels, no one could have reason to
entertain any fufpicions of his good-

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