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النشر الإلكتروني

SERMON XXII.

DIVINE AGENCY.

ISAIAH. XLV. 7.-I, the Lord, do all these things.

In this chapter God foretells the character and conduct of Cyrus, whom he designed to employ as the prin cipal instrument of restoring his people from their long captivity in Babylon to their native country. And to give more weight and solemnity to his prediction, he asserts, in the strongest terms, his own divinity, unity, supremacy and universal agency. "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings; to open before him the two leaved gates and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron : & I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden treasures of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, who call thee by name, am the God of Israel: For Jacob my servant's sake and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God besides me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me; that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside me. Lam the Lord and there is none else, I form the light and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things." This is the connection of the text, which in this connection contains a truth, which it equally concerns all mankind to understand and believe. The truth is this; The agency of God is universal,

To set this important truth in as clear a light as I am able, I shall endeavor to show,

1. In what the agency of God consists; And,

il That his agency is universal.

All, who acknowledge the existence of God, are agreed, that he brought this world out of nothing by his own proper agency. But they are not so well agreed in what his agency consists. The variety of opinions on this subject has been a source of many great and dangerous errors respecting the doctrines of the gospel. A misapprehension of divine agency has been the occasion of involving some important subjects in great darkness and obscurity. It is, therefore, much to be desired, that the agency of the first and supreme cause should be exhibited in a clear and intelligible manner. There can be no agency, where there is no choice, or design. An agent is one, who exerts his power to produce some effect. Accordingly God, to convince mankind of his great and powerful agency, mentions the great and important effects he has produced. He says, he held the hand of Cyrus, subdued nations before him, loosed the loins of kings, opened before him the two leaved gates, brake in pieces the gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And after mentioning these great effects, he adds, "I form the light and create darkness: 1 make peace and create evil: I, the Lord, do all these things" That is, I produce all these great and marvellous effects, of choice or design. Hence we may safely say, that the agency of God consists in his will, his choice or volition; and in nothing, which is either the cause, or consequence of his willing, or choosing to produce any effect, or bring about any event. It is plain that his bare knowledge cannot produce any effect. Our knowledge of any thing present, or to come, has no tendency to produce any effect. And though God's knowledge be infinite, or unlimited, yet his knowledge never did and never can produce any effect. His knowledge, that he should create the world, had no tendency to create it; and his knowledge of any future event never had the least tendency to bring it to pass. So that his agen

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cy does not in the least degree, consist in his knowledge. Nor does his agency consist in his wisdom, which enables him to form the most extensive and perfect designs. His forming the great plan of creation, of providence and redemption, had no tendency to produce those great and glorious effects. That plan existed completely in his own mind, before he took one step, or made one exertion, to accomplish it. His wisdom in forming any design has no tendency to carry it into execution. So that his agency does not consist in his wisdom. Nor does his agency consist in his power, which is always prior to it. power to create the world, before he created it. er may exist without any exercise or exertion. have power, which we do not exercise. power to do a thousand things, which we never do. Action and the power of action are very different. The agency of God, therefore, does not consist in his power to act, or in his omnipotence. Now, if his agency does not consist in his knowledge, nor in his wisdom, nor in his omnipotence, nor in any of his natural perfections, the inference is plain, that it must consist in his will, or choice, or volition and in nothing else. None of his natural perfections can produce any effect without his willing it; and after he has willed it, his agency is no further concerned in its production. His agency consists in nothing before his choice, nor after his choice, nor beside his choice. It does not consist in the cause of his choice, any more than in the effect of his choice. We can form as clear ideas of the agency of God, as we can of his existence, or of any one of his natural attributes. And the clear idea we have of his natural attributes contrains us to believe, that his agency cannot consist in any one. or all of them, but solely in his will, choice, or volition. We cannot conceive, that his acting is any thing, but his willing or choosing to produce an effect. His willing or choosing a thing to exist is all, that, he does in causing it to exist. This is the dictate of reason respecting the nature of divine agency; and reason in this case entirely harmonizes with scripture. Mo

ses represents creation as produced merely by a divine volition. "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." And David represents God as producing the world in precisely the same manner. "He spake and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made : and all the hosts of them, by the breath of his mouth." Thus it appears from both scripture and reason, that the divine agency consists in the divine will or choice and not in the cause, or consequence of the divine will or volition.

We may now safely proceed a step further and observe, that God is a perfectly free agent. Voluntary agency is complete free agency. We cannot conceive of any agents acting more freely than his acting of choice. So far as God acts voluntarily, he must of course act freely. But we have seen that he is perfectly voluntary in acting; and indeed, that his whole agency consists in choice. Choice always implies a motive, or an object chosen. We cannot choose without choosing somet ing; and that something, which we choose, is the motive of choice: of consequence we always act from motive, when we act of choice. This holds true with respect to the Deity. As he acts of choice, so he acts from motive; and as he acts from motive, so he acts freely. He is a free agent just so far as he is a voluntary agent; and as he is a perfectly voluntary agent, so he is a perfectly free agent. God was as free, as he was voluntary, in creating the world. This all the heavenly hosts solemnly and gratefully acknowledge. We read, "the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sitteth on the throne and worship him, that liveth forever and ever; and cast their erowns before his throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things; and for thy pleasure they are and were created." God was perfectly free to create, or not to create the world; and so his creating it was a perfectly free and voluntary act. He is also just as free and voluntary in upholding and governing the world, as he was in creating it.

This leads us to observe still further, that God is a moral, as well as a free and voluntary agent. There is a wide difference between merely free and voluntary agency and moral agency. Any creature is a free agent, that acts of choice in the view of motives. The animal creation are free agents, because they act of choice; but they are not moral agents, because they cannot distinguish between right and wrong, or moral good and moral evil. But God has the most perfect discernment of the difference between moral good and evil. He perfectly knows and loves moral good; and as perfectly knows and hates moral evil." "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness;" but sin, iniquity, and every species of moral evil is the abominable thing, which he hates. He has made mankind capable of knowing what is right and what is wrong; and he calls upon them to judge of the rectitude of his own conduct towards them. "O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal ?" God always acts, not only voluntarily and freely, but benevolently. All his volitions are virtuous and holy. He always chooses to act perfectly right, or to do what is wisest and best to be done. It is morally impossible for him to have a selfish or sinful volition. "He is the rock, his work

is perfect for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." There is no more difficulty in forming clear and just conceptions of the free, voluntary, and moral agency of God, than in forming clear and just conceptions of his power, wisdom and goodness. Nor is there any more difficulty in forming clear & just conceptions of his power, wisdom, goodness and agency, than in forming clear and just conceptions of human power, wisdom, goodness and agency. Power in God is of the same nature as power in man. Wisdom in God is of the same nature as wisdom in man. Goodness in God is of the same nature as goodness in man. And free, voluntary, moral agency in God is of the same nature as free, voluntary, moral agency in man. If this be not true, we can form no right conceptions of our Creator and can never know that he is a wise, powerful, benevolent and ac

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