who is a worm, and the son of man, who is but a worm, that from the character and actions of men we may safely conclude concerning his character and actions, or determine, from what men might be expected to do, what will be done by him? Can we suppose the plans and the designs of a being, who sees from the beginning to the end, whose plans are formed for the interests of one immense and eternal empire, can resemble the views and purposes of beings who are of yesterday? We are prone to recline upon the divine mercy, very loosely examined, and very imperfectly understood. Look at the events of this world; at the providence, and at the actions of God himself. Certainly it is safer to derive our analogies from his actions than from our own. That he should act like himself is rationally believed; that he should act as we do is impossible. Look at the ravages of the pestilence, of the famine, the earthquake, and the volcano. Look at the far more terrible ravages of war. All these exist during our day of trial. Do they furnish us with a single hope of mercy from the same God in our day of reward? Will not he, who does such terrible things in righteousness here, prove a consuming fire to sinners beyond the grave? Is there not unanswerable reasoning contained in that text, " If these things are done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry ?" 66 When we apply our analogical reasoning to the great universe and to a future state, is it not equally lame? What is there in this world, which we know to be resembled by any thing in that? What in eternity similar to that which now exists? Who can tell, by the force of his own reason, what will be the conditions of his acceptance, and the proper preparation for happiness in the world unseen? Who can satisfy himself what will be the influence of a single doctrine believed, a disposition fixed, a habit formed, a course of conduct pursued? Every action of ours, of course every principle, and much more, every hope may plainly be connected with an endless chain of consequences. A single volition may make all these consequences widely different from what they otherwise would be. The determination of Washington to accept the command of the revolutionary army has materially changed the world, not only throughout the present, but throughout all succeeding generations. The cordial determination of a Christian to believe and obey will, according to the Scriptures, make an incomprehensible change in him and his destination throughout eternity. The change, wrought by a single act, may at first be small; yet it may gradually become greater and greater, until it shall become immeasurable. But we know not God; we know not ourselves; we know not another state of existence, in any such manner, as to establish one rational expectation of future good. We have no premises on which we can rest, and can come to no safe conclusions. The soul is here ventured in the dark, and is not able even to grope its way. It knows not whither it is going. If it did, it could not possibly find the path which leads to the place of its destination. What rational man can possibly be willing to live and die, in such uncertainty, in a case incomprehensibly momentous ? Who can be willing to hazard eternity upon the toss of a die? Who, much more deliriously, can venture this immense object upon the casual conclusions of infidel philosophy? SERMON V. SERMONS ON REVELATION. SERMON III. MAN CANNOT FIND OUT A RELIGION WHICH WILL MICAH VI. 5-7. "O my people, remember, now, what Balak, King of Moab, consulted, and what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression; the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" In this singular passage of Scripture, God calls upon the Israelites to remember a solemn and most interesting consultation of Balak, king of Moab, directed to Balaam, the son of Beor, concerning the means of worshipping God in an acceptable manner, and of making an expiation for his sins. The consultation itself is recited in the text, and respects a subject of the highest possible importance to man. It is also given in terms unusually affecting. "Wherewith shall I come before "the Lord, and bow myself before the most high God?" With what worship shall I appear? What testimonies of reverence, submission, and adoration, shall I exhibit, that I may be accepted?" Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with "calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thou"sands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall "I give my first-born for my transgressions; the fruit of my "body for the sin of my soul ?” In these most pathetic inquiries, we cannot but discern an anxiety intense, a distress extreme, about a subject of infinite moment. At the same time, we are presented with a total ignorance on the part of the inquirer concerning the proper answer to be given,—a state of absolute perplexity,—of terrible suspense ! The answer of Balaam is not less remarkable. Instead of referring Balak, as a modern infidel would have done, to the light of nature, and the decisions of philosophy, he directs him immediately to revelation. "He hath showed thee, O man, "what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but "to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with "thy God ?" This conversation between Balak and Balaam seems evidently to have taken place after his attempts to curse Israel were finished, and, of course, after he had received the several revelations recorded in the book of Numbers. When Balaam had come to Balak, and attempted to curse the tribes of Israel, they were encamped on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, near Jericho; but the prophet Micah declares, that this consultation was holden from Shittim, the place of their last encampment, before they crossed the Jordan, and began to take possession of Canaan, unto Gilgal, the first encampment on the other side of that river. In other words, it was on the way from Shittim to Gilgal that the conversation in the text was holden. It was, therefore, subsequent to these revelations. As the revelations were known to Balak as well as to Balaam, the prophet knew that the language which he here uses would See Numbers xxii. 1. and 33-48. + Ibid. xxxiii. xlix. and Joshua v. 9. be perfectly understood by him; since it was exactly equivalent to phraseology which he had often used before ;—such as, "God shall speak ;" and "The words which he shall put into 66 my mouth." Nay, he had used the same phraseology with that adopted in the text. "Peradventure the Lord will come "to meet me; and whatsoever he showeth me I will tell thee." This, in his subsequent apology, he explains by the phrase, "All that the Lord speaketh."* For God to show, therefore, Balaam being his own expositor, is the same as for God to speak. 66 In a similar manner Job, when declaring a revelation from God concerning the nature of wisdom, Chap. xxviii. 27 and 28, says, "Then he did see it and declare it; yea, he prepared it and searched it out." And unto man he said, "The "fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is "understanding." Without a reasonable question, therefore, Balaam declared these duties of man to have been immediately revealed by his Maker. The revelation to which Balak was here referred, was not improbably found in that series of communications whence Abimelech, Laban, Pharaoh, Melchisedek, Job, his three friends, and others derived the knowledge of their duty, and the means of their salvation. As this prince was the descendant of Lot, he could not well be entirely ignorant of the revelations made to him, nor of those so often made to Abraham, while Lot was a member of his family. In the text thus explained, are clearly taught the following doctrines: I. Mankind, without revelation, know not what worship God will accept, or whether he will accept any. sin. II. They are unacquainted with any means of expiating I. Mankind, without revelation, know not what worship God will accept, or whether he will accept any. All mankind, without revelation, are precisely in the condi See Numbers xxiii. 3. and xxvi. |