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Lea diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^hode. rata 3 elure, J 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 f THE ALL-SEEIN(; EYE OF GOD. A NEW YEAR'S ADDRESS TO THE YorXG CONNECTED WITH KNOX CHURCH, TORONTO, BY THE PAST OB, THE REY. ALEXANDER TOPP, D.D. 1S7S. TORONTO : GLOBE PRINTING CC>MPANy, 20 & 28 KING ST. EAST. My Dear Yorx(j Fiuknds, We have, in the mercy and goodness of (rod, been spared tliroiigh the year that has just passed away. And I am permitted to have the privih^ge of tlius addressing you at your entrance on another of tlie great i)eriods by whicli our existence upon the earth is measured. This is now the twentieth a(hh-ess wliich I have had the pleasure of writing for the young people of the (Congregation. Since the tiuie of the first address, most of those for whom this one is now being written, have been ])orn ; whilst many of those who received addresses from year to year have been called away out of this world. We are tlnis re- minded how many and great changes take place as years roll on. " One generation pass- etli away, and another generation cometh." My earnest prayer for all of you is, that you may, by the j^rrace of God, learn to serve the Lord from your earliest days, and then, whether you live for a lon*]rer or shorter period, you will be the Lord's — His on earth and His in heaven. 4 ADDKKSS. The siil)j('ct wliicli I iiilciid to l)iin^^ Itcf'orc^ yon this new year, is ono wliicli oui^lit never to Ix; aljseiit Iroiii \()ur tliouulits l)v dav or l)V iii;U'ht, \vliere\ei' \(iu ;ire, or wlierever voii ^•o, or wliatevei' ycai ;ir<' doin^. Were it ever [)res('iit to your minds, it would warn you against siu on the one hand, and on th(; other, it Vvouhl eonlirni and eneour;tge you, it* vou are setdvinii' to do what is riij'ht and li'ood. The I'eiui'Uilu'anee ot" it has l>een the i^Tcat eousohition of th(3 <»"in:ss. Messeiii^cr or Ani^'cl of" the Covoujint, who Wits with the ( •hiHch in ohl tiinos), iiiul ad- (IrcHsiiijL; her us to the; rciisoii of her heiiiL? m this solitary spot, asks, "Jlagar, Sarai's maid, whence comest thon, and whithi^r wilt thou oo I " She does not say, whither shc^ w^•ls (roinir, for she did not know herself. She was here without any tixed puri)Ose as to tla; end of her journey. She luul been ill-tieated by Sarai. She was angry on that account, and all sh(5 wanted was to be away fron^ that hard treatment. This was natural, and though at first sight we might be inclined to justify her in her conduct, yet when we remember that the Lord said unto her, '' lleturn to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands," we can- not but feel that there was something wrong in her thus resenting the matter of herself, and in fleeing from trouble, when she ought to have entreated the Lord either for deliver- ance out of it, or for strength to bear it. However that may be, the Lord so revealed himself to her,rthat she discerned who it was that spake to her. He had graciously found ADDKKSS. her out, when hwiv from tlu^ pjitli of duty ; and now she {ickuowlcdgod Him asdod whoso hiw she oui(ht to obey. Accord in^jfly, when lie lijid not only oiven her the command to return, hut luid h(!l(] out encourarove tliis to vou ; for, if God is everywhere present. He must see and know everything. He is always be- holding us. ^^o human being may oljserve us ; we may take the greatest pains that none should ; we may be in the depths of the forest ; we may be in a barred-up room ; we 8 ADDRESS. may be shruuvled in j)itoliy darkness ; but there is One, and One aboA^e aJl others, whom we shouhl fear to olfend, and strive to please, who is beside ns, belioklincj all our wavs. Actually, we liave not been alone for a half- second of our lives. He is invisible to us, but we are naked and open in His sight. Any attempt to hide ourselves from Him, is like the silly ostrich attempting to hide her- self from her pursuers by thrusting her head into a bush. You might think that no eye could see into the depths of the ocean. No human being can do so ; but when Jonah thought to flee away from the presence of the J jord, and had been thrown overboard by the sailors in a stoim, God saw and spoke to him in the belly of the fish which swallowed him up. •'There is no darkness or sliadow of death where the workers of iniquity nuv, hide them- selves." Oehazi stole out at the back door after Xaaman, who had been cured of his leprosy, and asked for the change of raiment and the ^aients of silver, whicli Eli.sha, his master, ADDUi:S8. 9 ier. had declined to accept. And when he had stowed them awav so noiselessly, and re- covered his composure, he went in and stood before Elislia, as he was wont to do. He said to himself no doubt, '' This is done cleverly." But God had been witness ; and quick as an electric message, the dishonesty of his ser- vant darted into the prophet's mind, and as he entered the chamber and took his place, as we have said,Elisha challenged him, ''Whence comest thou, Gehazi % " Gehazi felt at once the truth, '' Thou, God, seest me," when Elisha thus addressed him : ^' The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever." Nathanael, as you read in the first cha})ter of John's Gospel, was engaged in prayer under his favourite fig-tree. He crept among the thick foliage on purpose to escape observation. There he felt that he could speak and act as he pleased, and he would not hear of it again. But when in reply to the cordial welcome of Christ, he enquired, *' Whence knowest thou me T the Lord sent the truth of His omniscience into his heart, when he answered, 10 ADDRESS. " Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." He knew not or had not reflected on the omni- science of the Son of God, " Thou, God, seest me. ?> Paul was tossini]^ al^out in a water-locrefed slii}) iu the Mediterranean Sea. She had lost her reckonings, and was drifting at the mercy of the w4nds and waves. It was dead of night, and not even a lantern glimmered in the tempest-tossed vessel. But all at once a heavenly messenger stood by his berth, as he vainly tried to sleep, and assured him from God of the safety of all in the ship. With what power could Paul then have [)reached from the words, "Thou, God, seest me." I have read about a man who was in the habit of going to his neighbours' corn-fields to steal the grain. One day ho took his son with him, a boy eiirht years of age. They crept through a wood; they sto})i)ed to listen ; all was favourable : they went to woi'k ; the boy was stitiened and tired ; and now for the result: "Johnny, lad, hold the bag, wdiilst I look rouud, and .see if the coast is clear." He ADDRESS. 11 got on the wall, and looked north, south, east and west, and then dropped down, saying with a laugh: "Not the tip of a nose — now's our time!" "Father," said Johnny, in a solemn undertone, "you forgot to look up there," pointing to the sky. The man, sup- posing he had seen some one, let go the bag, as if it were on lire, and cried : " Where, child, where? " "Father, you forgot to look up, and see if God was watching us." It is said that the father was so affected by this reproof that he shook the corn out of the bag, returned home, and never ventured to steal again. There was a young man, who was a hypo- crite. He had been highly educated, nour- ished, and brought up for Grod. He had the counsels and prayers of godly parents, and strange to say, his own tastes seemed to in- cline to what was internally religious. He taught in a Habbath School, had none but Christian companions, attended and spoke at missionary meetings. All this rendered his case more hopeless. Ho was in t'le midst of what was good, and yet was secretly led 12 ADDHE.^S. captive by Satan at his will. Sermons passed over liini Sabbath after Sabbath, but no arrow pierced his heart ; he was gosj)el- hardened. He was spending a night in the country ; at bed-time they put a candle into his hand, and directed him to his bed-room. As he entered the apartment, his eye fixed on a [)icture of the prodigal son. There he was, burying his face in that loving bosom which he had so grieved, but which still was travail- ing with tenderest compassion for him. As he looked at it, a voice seemed to sav within him : "Thou art the man," and he stood, as it were, before God. He felt that Goo has his sins pardoned, is a child of God ; he who is unpardoned, is still a child of wrath and of hell. There is no greater blessing, then, than that of forgiveness. You remember that when a paralytic man was brought into the presence ot" Jesus, lying upon his couch, Jesus tirst of all said unto him : ''Son, thy sins be forgiven tJiee," indicating that this was a far more valuable beneht than the healing of his bodily intirmity. And so David says in one of his Psalms, " Blessed is the man whose trans- gressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered." Now, God sees that you are all sinners, and that you need i'orgiveness. I have known and heard i)eople denying that they were 14 ADDRESS. <,nulty of such and sucli a thing, because they thought tliat others did not know it, or tliat it couhl not be proved against them. But when it was proved, and made clear, or when they felt that it couhl not be concealed, they would confess that thev had done that thinii- which formerly they denied. ]jut there is no use of tryinc: to hide any- tiling from Clod. Y"ou recollect reading in the Bible, that when Achan stole the Babv- ' I. lonish i^jarment and the wedi^^e of i>'old. no human eye saw him do the deed. He went and put them in some secret i)lace, imagining that no one knew what he had done. But Clod saw him, and, as you knovv, made him stand before all Israel as the guilty man, who had bi'ought the curse, for a time, u[)on the whole camp or congregation. Cain thought, when he killed his brother Abel, that because he had taken hiui away into a retired solitary spot, no one would know that he had committed such a crime. But God saw it, and said to him, '• What hast thou done I The voice of thy brotlier's blood crieth unto me fi'om the iri'ound." ADDHKSS. 15 a le. s There is sometliin^^, too, witliin yourselves, which tells voii that vou have sinned, and which often warns the guilty so strongly, that tliev are forced to make confession of wron^fs and evils which thev have committed. You all know what conscience is. Have not you felt it many a time I Yes ; vou all have. Every man, woman, and child have felt the existence and the power of it. You have a heart within you, fiom which your ))lood comes and goes through all your veins, and returns a^ain, and ijoes on this way contin- ually from day to day. How do you know that i If you ])ut youv' hand upon your heart vou will feel it beatini^, and thus vou know it. Now, how do you know that you have con- science I Did you ever tell a lie to any one ( When you spoke that false word, was there not something' within, that told you, you had done wromx. This is conscience. When vou have been asked al)out anything' that had taken ])lace, and you have heard a boy or girl telling what was not true, then, if you spoke the truth, was thei'e not somethin^^ in you which s;>id. vou did rii>ht / That is conscience. If) ADDUKSS. It Mcciiwes you, when yuu sin — il a})ja'Oves and commends, wlien yon do i^ood. God im- ]il5inted it in us for tliis end. And tliere is this, too, about conscience. It kee[)S a record of all that you do wi'on«j^. Vou ])ut your linger upon |)itcli or tar ; it at once leaves a black mark upon it. So it is with conscience. EviM-y sin makes a spot or stain upon it. ^Vnd how many such spots, or how much guilt there is upon all of us, (rod alone can tell, /or He sees and knows all' I'here was a very bad Ijoy bv the name of Amos. He had a verv good father. This father was ijrieved and troubled at the wick- edness of his son. He had tried in vain to convince him of his sin, and to induce him to make efforts to refoini. One day the father said to Amos, •• Here is a hammer, and a keg of nails. I wish you, every time you do a wrong action, to drive one of these nails into this w.dl." Amossaid, -Well, father, 1 will 1" l]e- for(^ long, Amos came to his father, and said, " The keg is em])ty, 1 have used all the nails. Come and see." The father went to th(i spot, and found the wall black with nails. ADDHKSS. 1 of Ho said to his son, ^' Amos I have yo'.i com- mitted a wrong action for every one of these nails I '' Yes, father," said Amos. The father said sorrowfully, " What a bad boy you mnst be, Amos ! Why will you not tui-n a})out and try to be a good boy V Amos remained thouixhtful for a few moments, and then said, " Father, I will try; I have been altogether too bad; I will try to be a better boy 1" His father said, " Take the hammer, and for every irood act vou do, draw out a nail, and put it into your keg." In a few weeks the boy came again to his father, and said, " Come, father, and see the nails in the keg again. For every good act I have done, I have pulled out a nail. See, the keg is full again." " I am glad of it, my son. But Amos ! the holes are left ; the holes are left." What did he mean, my young friends ? Why, he just meant this, that the holes were the marks, or the stains of his sms, and that they remained, notwithstanding all his good actions, to attest his guilt, and to speak ai^ainst him. You can never, by all your good Jeeds— what you may consider good, but (lod IS ADDKKSS. iiiav r(3giir(l thcnn Jis dead works — you can never, by any good deeds, wipe away tlie stains of voiir sins. The lioles remain in s})ite of Jill you can do. The guilt stands there to condemn you, as Ijaving broktai the hiw of (lod. Your sins, then, are all naked, and open before God, and as He sees them all, and as they will bring you to eternal death if they ar(; not taken aAvay, it is of the greatest con- sequence for you to know how they are to be removed. What are vou told about this in the Word of (lod I What is it that takes awav guilt, and purges the conscience ? There is only one thing. The pro'phet Micah asks, '• Will the Lord be pleased with tliousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oill Shall I give my tirst-born for my trangres- sion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul r Xo, n')thing but the one sacritice of atonement will (^od accept as elhcacious, to l)uri'e awav guilt. This is the testimonv of Scripture. '' The blood of Jesus (lirist, God's Son, cleanseth us from ;ill sin." It is the foun- tain opened uj> for sii^ and for uncleanness, ADDHKSS. 19 and if you wash in tiiat fountain, your guilt will be all removed, and the promise of (fod will be fulfilled : ''I will cast all your trans, gressions into the depths of the sea : If thev should be sought fur, they would not br» found." 2. The second lesson to be hvarned from the omniscience of Uod, is, thjit it should make you afraid to conniiit sin. Uod liateth sin, and He is angry with the wicked every day. Now, you cannot get out of the sight of (lod, so as to sin with impunity. You may sin in the dark, or out of the sight of men, or in your heart, but there is the eye of God that never sleeps over everv sin. I have read of one who was a great friend of General Washington, of America — I mean General Lafayette. He tells us that he was once shut uj) in a little room in a gloomy pri- son for a great while. In the door of his little cell was a small, verv small hole cut. At that hole a soldier was placed, day and night, to watch him. All he could see was the soldier's ef/e; but that e^t' was always there ! Day and night, oxQvy moment when 20 xDimiiss. lie l(M)k(Ml II j). li(» ill ways saw tliat Cj'p ! Oli ' he says, it was dread t'lil ! 'I'licM'e was no es- eaj)e, no liidinn- : wlicii lie lay down and wlien he I'oso np. that <'i/<' was watching him ! flow dreadful will i\\i\ eye of (lod he upon the sin- ner, as it watches him for c^ver in the world to come 1 \Vh o won Id i)(^ sucn a sinner ? I iop(i that none of you will Ix* such a one. And reiiHunher, it is not only the siniul action that (»od sees, hut the sinful thought and th(» sinful purj)ose also The last two h^ad to the other, and all are hat(»fui in the sij^'ht of ( rod You have all, I doul)t not. read the historv of Joseph in the lUhle. It illustrates each of these three kinds of sins — wrong thoughts oi- feelings, wrong plans and wrong det^ds. 1, Wrong tc(dings. Joseph's hrotluM's, you know, were em'ious of him. Tliev were jealous of theii- father's partiality for him, and ami;d)l(; as he was. we are told "' tlnn' hated him and could not speak ]K}aceably unto him." 'J'herc* might still have ])een kind treatmt-nt at home, and no one might have seen bv their mannei' the feeiinur that lurked ADDIIKSH. '2\ I. V o 1(1 I ill tlu'ir lur-jii'ts ; l)ut thrir liejii ts luul gone astniy, imd on tlic piiiu'iph^ of (tcxTs law, ihoy lijid c'oiuiiiittiHl sin. Tlicro was guilt, not of action iiidiMMl, hut of f(*('lin^^ And tlie worst of it is, that tho wroni; does not usually stop hero. Tliis is tin? dan«,f(*r. 2. It takes the second steji, piannini,' to do wroni^s nieaniui;- tod()wrt)ng. A great many things niny hinder' a [)erst set u]>," The king, in his wratli, ordered the furnace to Ix; lieated seven times more than usual, and that these three voun^- men should \h) cast into it, bound hands and feet. They were so cast into the funuice, and the heat was so great that the men who took them u[) to cast them into the fire, were con- sumed by the Hames of fire that issued from the mouth of the furnace. '' Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was as- tonied, and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counsellors. Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire 1 They answered and said unto the king, True, king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the tire, and they have no hurt ; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Jesus w^as with them in the furnace. And so will He be with all those who serve God. And is not that the highest honour they can ADDRESS. 29 have? If you ai-e trusting Him, He knows and ap}>roves the faith which Ho hatli given you. If you are striving in the midst of dif- ticnlty and oi)i)Osition to do His will, He will be with you, to succour, and comfort and guide you. Some of you may attain to places of honour and usefulness and influence among your fellow-men, if God is pleased to spare you, But the portion which you will find the best, and most consoling and satisfying at all times, is that of God in Jesus Christ, as your Father and Friend, to feel that He is yours, and that you are under His omniscient eye, doing His will, and working His work, and striving to do good to all around you. Jesus says for youi* encouragement : "If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will My Father honour." That this may be the experience of all of you is the earnest prayer of, My dear young Friends, Your very affectionate Pastor, Alexander Topp. Knox Church, Toronto, 1st Januarv, 1878.