Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death; or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." That there is one Almighty Being, the light of nature will teach us; and that he made and governs the world, the heathen, in all ages, have acknowledged; but unassisted reason has drawn sentiments of the Deity from his power and vengeance; and men, in their blind attempts to propitiate him, have shown that their wisdom is folly, and that their tender mercies are cruel. Revelation has been given to exalt our reason; to place man upon an eminence, where, in the province of faith, the Almighty might be surrounded by a brightness and a grandeur which the light of nature could not bestow. The immutability of Jehovah is an attribute of the most exalted nature, and of the purest excellence. In a peculiar manner it distinguishes him from all the creatures he hath made. Man, his fairest work, fell, because he was mutable; the angels, who kept not their first estate, were mutable; and those who remained faithful stood not by their own power, but because they were elect, and because they were sustained by him who had chosen them; whose prerogative it is, to be the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. That the works of God, without his word, cannot sufficiently inform our minds of the unchangeableness of God, is clear from this circumstance-all his works are ordained to mutability. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handywork; but soon, the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the world, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up. Then shall the sun start from his place, and the stars shall fall like falling leaves from off a fig-tree; then shall the hills melt like wax before the presence of the Lord, and the mountains flee from their station like chaff before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind; then it shall appear, that all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the field; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever; and this is the word, which by the Gospel is preached unto you. Jehovah's immutability is the ground of security to the church of God. He who is unchangeable in his nature, is unchangeable in his purposes, and unchangeable in his covenant promises in Christ, to a thousand generations. Though worldly policy may sneer at such expressions, it is to be feared that the same philosophy, falsely so-called, will lead to the denial that one being or essence subsists in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who are co-eternal, and co-equal, in all the properties and perfections of the Godhead; or, at least, to the keeping back of such truths of the Bible, as too antiquated for the popular taste; till on their revival, for revival there must be, they will be so far forgotten that, like the philosophers at Athens, Christian congregations will say " May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest strange things to our ears: we would know, therefore, what these things mean." 2.-JEHOVAH SEEN IN HIS WORKS. J. MAXCY. WELL indeed is it said that the heavens declare the glory of God. This Great Being is everywhere present. He exists all around us. He is not, as we are apt to imagine, at a great distance. Wherever we turn, his image meets our view. We see him in the earth, in the air, in the sun, moon, and stars. We feel him in ourselves. He is always working around us; he performs the greatest operations, produces the noblest effects, discovers himself in a thousand different ways, and yet the real God remains unseen. All parts of creation are equally under his inspection. Though he warms the breast of the highest angel in heaven, yet he breathes life into the meanest insect on earth. He lives through all his works, supporting all by the word of his power. He shines in the verdure that clothes the plains, in the lily that delights the vale, and in the forest that waves on the mountain. He supports the slender reed that trembles in the breeze, and the sturdy oak that defies the tempest. His presence cheers the inanimate creation. Far in the wilderness, where human eye never saw, where the savage foot never trod, there he bids the blooming forest smile, and the blushing rose open its leaves to the morning sun. There he causes the feathered inhabitants to whistle their wild notes to the listening trees and echoing mountains. There nature lives in all her wanton wildness. There the ravished eye, hurrying from scene to scene, is lost in a blush of beauty. From the dark stream that rolls through the forest, the silver-scaled fish leap up, and humbly mean the praise of God. Though man remains silent, yet God will have praise. He regards, observes, upholds, connects, and equals all. 3.-DIVINE BENEVOLENCE TO MAN. M. R. SUARES. THE formation of man was the result of benevolence. The sources of his enjoyment are infinite; and the obligation consequent upon this gift is equivalent to his supreme affection for God. Men, however, looking at the evils of life, and regarding them as the absolute condition of our existence, have questioned the benevolence of man's creation. In their estimation, they can trace but few features in the whole relation of man, which they regard as benevolent. The sufferings perceptible in every department of human life, preponderate so much in comparison with the few blessings common to it, that they would do violence to their judgment to suppose life any other than a curse. This assertion is in opposition to truth, and derogatory to God. How poor soever a man may be; a subject of the severest affliction; destitute of friends; not having where to lay his head; yet his existence is a treasure which he values too highly to barter for the cessation of his sufferings. The pleasures of a conscious existence; the satisfaction of having lived; of knowing there is such a world as earth; peopled with such an order of beings, is a blessing with which all the sufferings of life, when contrasted, seem like an atom, compared with the immensity of infinity. Man is always partial to himself; and hence his conclusions are frequently erroneous. He looks at objects, not in their natural position. The rays of selfishness are too numerous and rapid in their convergency to admit those of truth; for this reason, and no other, he regards human existence a curse; and therefore feels himself under no obligation to love God with all his strength, and his neighbor as himself. A little reflection will convince us, that the unavoidable sufferings of life are essential ingredients to the right enjoyment of it. A poet, unknown to me, has no less beautifully than philosophically said: "And if life's joy had no alloy, We'd but half enjoy it; We prize it now, because we know Those who have reflected upon the laws of physical nature, cannot fail to perceive the utility of those changes peculiar to it. They seem like so many bloodvessels, carrying the principle of life to every part of the system. The mountain torrent, rushing to the ocean, is again supplied by the principle of evapora tion. The ocean is agitated by the silent, yet powerful influence of the moon. The clouds are constantly moving, and purifying the atmosphere by the explosion of their electric properties. The embowelled materials of the earth are silently gathering strength, and displaying their power in the eruption of volcanoes. All nature is active; and its activity is essential to its healthy existence. By a careful investigation into the philosophy of that moral system under which we live, we cannot fail to perceive that the necessary ills of life are essential to the production of reaction, on which depends the right enjoyment of life; for the action of one moral quality on another, is as requisite to the vital condition of the moral universe, as the action of one particle of matter on another. The ills which arise from the violation of moral laws, are injurious in themselves, as well as to others. The horrors of war; the inconveniences of idleness; the sufferings of drunkenness; and the pain consequent upon many offences too numerous to be mentioned, are the effects of our folly. To ascribe them to God, and say He made us miserable, when we have made ourselves so, is an act of injustice. A faithful observance of those laws under which we are placed, will conduct us to happiness; and we are to form our estimate of things, not by what they are, but by their obvious intention and design; by what they are capable of becoming. Hence we attach so much importance to man, because of the elements of greatness that are in him. God having made man susceptible of the highest degree of improvementshould man, through negligence or carelessness, plunge himself into misery, no fault can be ascribed to God and man is under just as much obligation to love God supremely, as though he had arrived at that point of happiness of which his nature is susceptible. ; The powers of man can never fully comprehend the nature and character of God. His works are the best representatives of him. They speak with a tongue too |