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 THE 
 
 INCOMPREHENSIBILITY 
 
 GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS 
 
 BY REV. WM. S /PLUME R, D. D 
 
 [FIRST PUBLISHED L\ THE AMERICAN NATIONAL PREACHER.] 
 
 " Canst thou by searching find out God ? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto 
 perfection ? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do ? Deeper than hell, what canst 
 thou know ? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the 
 sea."— Job xi. 1— 9. 
 
 The nature of God is the foundation of all true religion, and 
 the will of God is the rule of all acceptable worship. There- 
 fore the knowledge of God is of the greatest importance. With- 
 out it the people perish. Total ignorance here is total ruin. 
 But to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, is eternal 
 life. To see and acknowledge God in all our ways is an essen- 
 tial part of genuine piety. To fail in so doing is no small part 
 of human wickedness. Our thoughts cannot be too much turned 
 to Him, who is in all, and through all, and above all, and over 
 all, God blessed for ever. 
 
 Nor is the mysteriousness of the divine nature and govern- 
 ment any reason why we should not seek to know what may 
 be known concerning them. To the carnal and unbelieving 
 the darkness around the nature and ways of God is an occasion 
 of stumbling ; but to those who are taught from above it brings 
 pious confidence, deep humility, and adoring reverence. Give 
 one the spirit of adoption and self-renunciation, and he cannot 
 be frightened from the presence of his Maker either by the lustre 
 or the darkness round about his throne. Sages have explored 
 23 
 
2 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD's NATURE AND WATS. 
 
 this subject till wisdom fell asleep over her lesson and pride 
 rose up and uttered great swelling words of vanity and blas- 
 phemy ; but the humble child of God, thirsting for divine 
 knowledge and sitting at the feet of Jesus, has learned more 
 than the ancients, and has become wise unto salvation. 
 
 The doctrine of the text and of this discourse is that there is 
 
 IN THE NATURE AND WAYS OF GoD MUCH THAT IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE 
 
 to us. In dwelling on this truth it may be stated : 
 
 I. That it is agreed on all hands that the adorable first person 
 of the Trinity, the Father, is, and must ever be, beyond the 
 grasp of our senses and faculties. He is the King eternal, 
 immortal, and invisible. No man hath seen Grod at any time. 
 No man can see his face and live. He maketh darkness his 
 pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the 
 skies. 
 
 It is no less generally agreed that the third person of the 
 Trinity, the Holy Ghost, is, and ever will be, beyond the direct 
 and immediate notice of all creatures. " The wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst 
 not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every 
 one that is born of the Spirit." He broods over the face of 
 nature ; garnishes the heavens ; converts the soul ; opens our 
 eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of God's word ; 
 sanctifies our affections ; fills the saints with joy ; fits God's 
 people for glory ; divides his gifts severally as He will, and 
 yet " we know not the way of the Spirit." We never saw him, 
 and we never shall see him as disembodied spirits see each 
 other. We may know him by his word and works, by his 
 enlightening, sanctifying, and comforting influences, but never 
 by sight. He is far beyond the grasp of both our bodily and 
 mental faculties. 
 
 The brightest manifestation of the Godhead ever yet made, or 
 ever to be made, is in the incarnation of the Son of God, the 
 second person in the Trinity. We may behold his glory, the 
 glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
 truth ; but we can go no further. This manifestation is for all 
 practical purposes sufficient. It is clear and glorious, yet not 
 intolerable by reason of excessive brightness. Christ said, " He 
 that hath seen me hath seen the Father." He thus taught us 
 that the best possible discovery we could make of the Godhead 
 was through the veil of his own flesh. But even in Christ 
 divinity shone forth under great obscuration. The transfigura- 
 tion, the ascension in a bright cloud, the appearance to Saul of 
 Tarsus after his ascension, and the glory in which John, the 
 divine, saw him, may give us some faint conception of the efful- 
 gence of his everlasting person. But we know him chiefly by 
 his works, and teachings, and sufferings. Thousands saw him 
 with their bodily eyes, and knew no more of God than before. 
 So that we may safely say that God is, and for ever shall be, 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 3 
 
 wholly unperceivable by any of our senses or faculties. If any 
 object that it is promised that the pure in heart "shall see God," 
 the answer is that all God's word shall be fulfilled ; but the 
 meaning- of that language evidently is, not that they shall meet 
 God face to lace and behold his unveiled divinity, but that they 
 shall enjoy God as revealed in his word, and works, and ordi- 
 nances, in the person of his Son, and by the influences of his 
 Spirit. Now whatever eludes all our senses and faculties is to us 
 necessarily clad with mysteriousness. Whatever is concealed 
 from every perceptive power excludes the possibility of original 
 knowledge. In such a case, learning without instruction is 
 impossible. The difficulty is heightened by every step we take 
 towards that which is in its nature boundless. But when our 
 thoughts go out after Him, who is absolutely infinite, we are 
 soon enveloped in a profound obscurity, which no created facul- 
 ties can penetrate, 
 
 II. The incomprehensibility of God's nature and ways is often 
 asserted in.- his word. To cite all the texts pertinent to the 
 proof would be tedious. Take a short selection of them. The 
 book of Job is probably the oldest inspired record. In it we 
 find these words: "Canst thou by searching find out God? 
 Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high 
 as heaven, what canst thou do ? deeper than hell, what canst 
 thou know ? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, 
 and broader than the sea :" " God doeth great things and un- 
 searchable, marvellous things without number :" " He is wise 
 in heart and mighty in strength. * * He doeth great things past 
 finding out, yea, and wonders without number." " Lo these are 
 parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him :" 
 " God is greater than man. Why dost thou strive with him ? 
 for he giveth not account of any of his matters :" " We cannot 
 order our speech by reason of darkness. * * With God is 
 terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him 
 out : he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty 
 of justice. * * He respecteth not any that are wise in 
 heart." "Behold God is great, and we know him not :" "God 
 thundereth marvellously with his voice : great things doeth he, 
 which we cannot comprehend." The same doctrine is taught 
 by Moses in the Pentateuch, " Secret things belong unto the 
 Lord our God :" by David, " Thy judgments are a great deep :" 
 " Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised ; his greatness is 
 unsearchable :" by Asaph, " Thy way is in the sea, and thy 
 path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known :" by 
 a later Psalmist, " Great is our Lord, and of great power : his 
 understanding is infinite :" by Solomon, "No man can find out 
 the work that God doeth from the beginning to the end :" 
 " Thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all :" " The 
 heaven of heavens cannot contain thee :" " It is the glory of 
 God to conceal a thing:" by Isaiah, "Verily thou art a God that 
 
4 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour :" " There is no 
 searching of his understanding :" by Jeremiah, " Who hath 
 stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard 
 his word ?" by Jesus Christ, " No man knoweth the Son, but 
 the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the 
 Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him ;" " 
 righteous Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have 
 known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me :" 
 by Paul, " The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things 
 of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the 
 spirit of man which is in him ? even so the things of God 
 knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God:" "Who hath known 
 the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor?" and 
 by John, " Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God 
 Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." 
 
 Here are the words of Moses, who wrote the oldest books of 
 inspiration, and of other men, who spake as they were moved 
 by the Holy Ghost, down to the last surviving apostle, whose 
 writings closed the canon of Scripture. The doctnne of the 
 Old and New Testaments, of the prophets, of Jesus Christ, and 
 of his apostles on this subject, is precisely the same. The 
 corning of Christ did not remove the mysteriousness of Jehovah's 
 nature and ways, but rather established it. By opening to our 
 vision amazing fields of thought respecting God's love in Christ, 
 it gave us new and everlasting themes of adoring wonder. 
 God manifest in the flesh was, and is, and ever shall be, itself 
 the sublimest of all mysteries. "Nothing but itself is its pa- 
 rallel." And no where is the incomprehensibility of God spoken 
 of in Scripture as cause of sorrow to the pious. On the con- 
 trary, inspired men exult in it and give thanks. Nor can the 
 doctrine be either alarming or distressing to one, whose hope 
 is set on high, and whose mind has learned to bow in true 
 humility before the majesty of God. It is also clear from one 
 of the texts quoted from Paul, that our inability to find out the 
 Almighty to perfection is not merely moral, but natural. The 
 same would have been true if man had never sinned at ail. 
 The same shall still be true when the heavens shall be no more. 
 The passage quoted from John is part of a song sung in heaven. 
 This proves that even heavenly bliss does not require in order 
 to its perfection the understanding of all God's nature and ways. 
 A part of celestial happiness consists in worshipping Him, 
 whose counsels are of old, faithfulness and truth, and who 
 maketh darkness his secret place. 
 
 III. So very wonderful are the perfections of God, compared 
 with the attributes of the most exalted creature, that his nature 
 and ways must always be mysterious just in proportion to our 
 knowledge of their extent. God is infinite, eternal, and un- 
 changeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, good- 
 ness, and truth. All men and angels are finite, the creatures of 
 
 / t 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OP GOD 7 S NATURE AND WAYS. O 
 
 yesterday, liable to change, and of themselves — without God 
 — have neither wisdom nor virtue. Man is the very lowest 
 order of rational beings, and has by sin greatly debased himself. 
 He is blinded by many passions and prejudices. * Every man 
 is brutish in his knowledge." How then should man, as com- 
 pared with God, have knowledge either extensive or accurate ? 
 This is no surprising thing. Our elder and nobler brethren, the 
 elect angels, who have, ever since they were created, stood 
 around the throne of the Eternal, and drunk of the river of 
 truth as it flows forth fresh from its fountain, are yet, as com- 
 pared with God, foolish and ignorant. "He chargeth his angels 
 with folly." " Though glorious and holy creatures, they are 
 fallible and mutable, except as upheld and confirmed by the 
 Lord. They execute his wise and righteous counsels ; but 
 would soon show their want of wisdom, if trusted to manage 
 any part of the government of the world, according to their 
 own mind. Nay, compared with the infinite knowledge and 
 wisdom of God, they are chargeable with ignorance, being 
 utterly unable to comprehend the vast designs of the great 
 Creator and Lord of the universe ; except as 'he pleases to 
 unfold them. How much less then may man be trusted !" God's 
 plans embrace all creatures and all worlds. They comprehend 
 the whole universe. The greatest stretch of the human mind 
 never extended to all the affairs of an empire, a province, a 
 city, a family, or even of a person. God's plans are founded on 
 the most perfect knowledge of all things. Man's information is 
 very imperfect both in scope and in degree. It would be mar- 
 vellous if a little child should understand all the measures of a 
 wise ruler. Yet that would be but one finite being compre- 
 hending the measures of another. But for a creature to know 
 God's plans would be for finite to grasp infinite. Until man 
 can hold the sea in the hollow of his hand, measure the azure 
 vault of heaven with a carpenter's rule, sweep the outskirts of 
 creation with a compass of his own construction, and tell all 
 worlds, and give their number, weight, and measure, let not his 
 arrogance swell to the monstrous bloating of imagining that he 
 can comprehend God. Jf he does not know all things formed, 
 how can he search out him that formed them? 
 
 Man may follow Methuselah through his long career, but at 
 last he dies. Man may compute the number of seconds in a 
 myriad of millions of centuries, but that is not eternity. God's 
 life-time has neither beginning nor end. " The number of his 
 years cannot be searched out." "Before the mountains were 
 brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the 
 world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." 
 " Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou 
 laid the foundation of the earth : and the heavens are the work 
 of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure : yea, 
 all of them shall wax old like a garment ; as a vesture shalt 
 thou change them, and they shall be changed ; but thou art the 
 
6 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD's NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 same, and thy years shall have no end." "One day is with the 
 Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 
 A late writer says : " While the spirituality of God's nature 
 places Him beyond the reach of our direct cognizance, there 
 are certain other essential properties of his nature, which place 
 Him beyond the reach of our possible comprehension. Let me 
 instance the past eternity of the Godhead. One might figure a 
 futurity that never ceases to flow, and which has no termination, 
 but who can climb his ascending way among the obscurities of 
 that infinite which is behind him ? Who can travel in thought 
 along the track of generations gone by till he has overtaken the 
 Eternity, which lies in that direction ? Who can look across 
 the millions of ages which have elapsed, and from an ulterior 
 post of observation look again to another and another succession 
 of centuries ; and at each further extremity in this series of 
 retrospects, stretch backward his regards on an antiquity as 
 remote and indefinite as ever ? Could we by any number of 
 successive strides over these mighty intervals, at length reach 
 the fountain-head of duration, our spirits might be at rest. But 
 to think of duration as having no fountain-head ; to think of 
 time with no beginning ; to uplift the imagination along the 
 heights of an antiquity, which hath positively no summit ; to 
 soar these upward steeps till, dizzied by the altitude, we can 
 keep no longer on the wing ; for the mind to make these re- 
 peated flights from one pinnacle to another ; and, instead of 
 scaling the mysterious elevation, to lie baffled at its feet, or lose 
 itself among the far, the long withdrawing recesses of that 
 primeval distance, which at length merges away into a fathom- 
 less unknown, this is an exercise utterly discomfiting to the 
 puny faculties of man. We are called on to stir ourselves up 
 that we may take hold of God, but the clouds and darkness, 
 which are round about him, seem to repel the enterprise as 
 hopeless, and man, as if overborne by a sense of littleness, feels 
 as if nothing can be done but to make prostrate obeisance of 
 all his faculties before him." If man cannot compute the life- 
 time of God, how can he comprehend his plans ? Tf he cannot 
 take the dimensions of that Eternity, which is Jehovah's habi- 
 tation, how can he search out Him who dwelleth therein ? 
 " An eternity past puzzles all human comprehension." Yet an 
 eternity to come, if duly considered, no less completely eludes 
 our grasp. It is an important truth that " though we cannot 
 comprehend eternity, yet we can comprehend that there is an 
 eternity." At this plain truth we must stop. 
 
 Think, too, of God's omnipresence. He is everywhere. He 
 fills immensity. He is a spirit, and so cannot be divided ; yet 
 he is always present in every part of the universe with the 
 whole of his being and nature. He is an infinite spirit, and so 
 no limits can bound him. " He is not far from every one of us ; 
 for in him we live, and move, and have our being." " He is 
 a very present help in time of trouble." " Am I a God at hand, 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 7 
 
 saith the Lord, and not a God afar off ? * * Do not I fill 
 heaven and earth, saith the Lord ?" " Whither shall I go from 
 thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I 
 ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in 
 hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, 
 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall 
 thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." The sun 
 is distant from the earth ninety-five millions of miles ; but ninety- 
 five millions of times ninety-five millions of miles beyond the 
 sun, and in every other direction, God is as truly present as in 
 heaven itself. Light travels at the rate of more than one hun- 
 dred and ninety-two thousand miles every second ; yet there are 
 stars so distant that if a ray of light had left them on the 
 morning that the Israelites went out of Egypt, it would not yet 
 have reached our world. Over the vast blazing universe above 
 us and around us Jehovah presides. There may be points, 
 beyond which there are no inhabited worlds, yet who dare 
 assert even that ? But space has no limits. Immensity has no 
 walls, outside of which non-entity has her kingdom. "Who is 
 like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who hum- 
 bleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the 
 earth ?" The other natural perfections of God are no less ad- 
 mirable and incomprehensible than those already noticed. 
 
 But the moral character of God presents, if possible, still 
 greater wonders. At the close of a long and lucid argument 
 respecting it, even blessed Paul could do no more than say, " O 
 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of 
 God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
 finding out." Jesus Christ, when on earth, was actuated by 
 very similar sentiments. "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, 
 and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
 hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight." Now, if the contemplation of God's moral 
 character produced such exclamations from the man Christ 
 Jesus, and from his servant Paul, it must be a theme of the 
 most exalted nature. It is while speaking of his own moral 
 character, and, especially of his amazing mercy, that God says: 
 *' My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my 
 ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the 
 earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts 
 than your thoughts." The same remark is as true of God's 
 holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and faithfulness. Indeed, all 
 God's moral character is presented to our admiration, in the 
 person and work of Jesus Christ, in such a glorious manner, as 
 to have filled heaven and earth with joy ever since the plan of 
 redemption was known. The angels have long desired to look 
 into these things. The regenerate on earth are delighted with 
 them, and the redeemed in glory celebrate them for ever 
 and ever. God's love is as unfathomable as his understanding. 
 
8 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 Nothing is more unsearchable than the riches of Christ. None 
 but divinity can comprehend them. There is often a pleasing 
 harmony in music. There is always an admirable harmony in 
 the plans and works of God. But the most delightful and won- 
 derful harmony is that of the divine attributes in man's salva- 
 tion. Inflexible justice and incomparable mercy, terrible severity 
 and infinite goodness, eternal truth and everlasting kindness, 
 spotless holiness and undying faithfulness, all meet around the 
 cross of Christ, and kiss and embrace each other. No such glo- 
 rious concord is seen elsewhere but in Jehovah himself. 
 
 IV. God has shown himself to be incomprehensible in his 
 works of creation. He doubtless might have made more worlds 
 and more orders of being than he has ; yet who knows all the 
 works that God has made ? There are known to be more than 
 eight thousand species of the beetle alone. The tribes of crea- 
 tures in our world, which are invisible to the naked eye, are 
 said to be far more numerous than all those which we can see. 
 If the tribes are more numerous, the individuals are probably 
 as hundreds of millions to one. There are supposed to be per- 
 ceptible by powerful glasses as many as three or four hundred 
 millions of fixed stars. If each of these is a sun and the centre 
 of a system of worlds like our own, how vast is the universe ! 
 It consists of matter organized and unorganized, and of spirit 
 mortal and immortal. The Bible does not deny that brutes 
 have something in their nature which may be called spirit. 
 But then it teaches that the spirit of a beast goeth downward 
 to the earth, and the spirit of man goeth upward. At death it 
 returns to God, who gave it. All these organisms, animate and 
 inanimate, and all these spirits, mortal and immortal, were 
 called out of non-entity by the Almighty. It is impossible to 
 conceive of any exertion of power greater than that, by which 
 something is made out of nothing. Yet out of nothing God 
 made all things, our bodies and our souls, all we are, all we see, 
 all that is within us, above us, beneath us, around us. Nor did 
 any part of the work of creation cost him any labor. " He 
 spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast." He 
 said, " Let there be light, and there was light." " He stretcheth 
 out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon 
 nothing." " He bindeth up the water in his thick clouds, and 
 the cloud is not rent under them." "The pillars of heaven 
 tremble and are astonished at his reproof." Nothing is too hard 
 for him. He neither groweth faint nor is weary. 
 
 Indeed so inscrutable is God in all his ways that perhaps no 
 heathen ever spoke so wisely concerning the divine nature as 
 Simonides, who being asked by Hiero, " What is God ?" de- 
 manded one day for deliberation. When again asked the same 
 question, he desired two days. As often as the question was re- 
 peated he doubled the time. When asked the reason of his 
 conduct, he replied, " The longer I consider the question, the 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 9 
 
 greater is the darkness in which I am enveloped." Most of our 
 knowledge of God is negative. Our positive knowledge of him 
 is very limited. Each of his perfections may well be a study 
 for life. We shall never rise to the full elevation of this theme, 
 neither in this life nor in that which is to come. There will 
 ever be topless heights of divine knowledge, to which we will 
 look up with inquiring awe. 
 
 V. In God's government and providence are several things 
 which must ever make them incomprehensible to us. How 
 noiseless are most of his doings. When in spring Jehovah would 
 reanimate all nature, bring into activity myriads of insects, give 
 growth to millions of seeds, and clothe mountains and valleys 
 in living green, it is all a silent work. When he would subvert 
 a universal monarchy, long before the time set for that purpose, 
 he puts it into the heart of a great ruler to build a bridge, and 
 for that purpose to change the channel of a river for a season. 
 This is all done without signs in heaven, or war in the elements. 
 In the fulness of time the same river is, by means the simplest, 
 diverted from its channel, Belshazzar is slain, Babylon is a prey 
 to the invader, and a universal empire is dissolved. Commonly 
 when God depopulates cities and kingdoms, his messengers pass 
 silently along, and do their work ere men are aware. There 
 was no noise of preparation for the destruction of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah. The morning* of their eternal overthrow was 
 as calm as any on which the sun had risen upon them. The 
 destroying angel, who slew the first-born of Egypt, spread his 
 mighty wings over the land, and from them dropped down death 
 on every habitation of man and beast. Yet all was quiet as 
 the grave, till the wail of bereavement filled the land with ter- 
 ror. God makes a world with less noise than that produced by 
 man when he makes a coffin. When Jehovah spread out the 
 heavens and set up their unshaken pillars, there was not so 
 much as the sound of a hammer. When on our best railroads 
 we travel at the rate of sixty miles an hour, the rumbling noise 
 is heard afar, the sight of our speed is startling to every specta- 
 tor, and we cannot divest ourselves of apprehension. But ever 
 since we were born we have been riding on a world moved by 
 God at the rate of more than sixty-two thousand miles every 
 hour. And yet who has been afraid ? who has heard any start- 
 ling sound ? This is the more wonderful because the motion of 
 the earth is not simple but compound. Yet in the midst of all 
 this motion we can hear the chirping of a bird, or the dropping 
 of a pin. 
 
 But when God chooses he can make our ears to tingle. By 
 the shaking of a leaf he can startle us, or make us rise up with 
 strange sounds. " The thunder of his power who can under- 
 stand ?" When he shall destroy the world it shall be with sounds 
 that shall awake the dead. " The heavens shall pass away 
 with a great noise." When God chooses to be heard, even the 
 24 
 
10 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD's NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 mountains give ear, and obey his voice. At his rebuke he dries 
 up the sea, and makes the rivers a wilderness. Yet, ordinarily, 
 his footsteps are not heard, and his voice is but the silent going 
 forth of his almighty energy. 
 
 In his mysterious providence God also hides his works and 
 ways from man by commonly removing results far from human 
 view. In autumn the husbandman scatters his wheat and buries 
 it under the ground. It dies. Search and you shall find it rot- 
 ten. The rigors of a long winter are approaching. The un- 
 skilled would say this sowing of seed was madness. But wait 
 till summer, and that husbandman shall shout his harvest 
 home. What thus occurs in the natural world is a type of 
 spiritual things. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He 
 that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubt- 
 less come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." 
 Much as the result is hoped for, it is not perceived by any mor- 
 tal. None but God sees the end from the beginning. Whom 
 he would bless he first puts to the test of patient waiting. If 
 the righteous should see the happy issue of all that befalls them, 
 as it lies open before God, their afflictions would be no trials. 
 Had Abraham known that all God would require of him would 
 be to bind Isaac and lay him on the altar, we never should have 
 heard of the illustrious faith of the father of believers. Jacob 
 once cried out, "Joseph is not. and Simeon is not, and ye will 
 take Benjamin away. All these things are against me." He 
 lived to see that all these things were for him. But at the time 
 of his bereavement he saw not the blessed end, and so his virtue 
 was severely tested. If on the day of crucifixion, as on the day 
 of Pentecost, the disciples had clearly perceived the results of 
 thrtt scene of terror, the Shepherd might have been smitten, but 
 the sheep would hardly have been scattered. The language of 
 God's providence well coincides with that of his promise to all 
 his people, " What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know 
 hereafter." 
 
 And it is as true of the wicked as of the righteous that they 
 cannot foresee results, and that " whatsoever a man soweth, 
 that shall he also reap." None are more surprised than the 
 wicked at the conclusion of things under God's control. The 
 sinner intends, but God superintends. The creature appoints, 
 but God disappoints. Man proposes, but God disposes. Lazarus 
 was filled with wonder to find himself in Abraham's bosom, but 
 Dives was sore amazed to find himself in hell. Neither Pharaoh, 
 nor Belshazzar, nor Herod, nor Pilate, nor Judas, expected such 
 results to themselves as their wickedness wrought out. As they 
 loved cursing, so it came unto them ; as they delighted not in 
 blessing, so it was far from them. "Sin, when it is finished, 
 bringeth forth death." But the wicked promise themselves life 
 in the midst of all iniquity and unbelief. How sorely will their 
 souls be vexed when they find themselves eternally, hopelessly 
 disappointed* 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 11 
 
 God's ways respecting means are very remarkable. So far as 
 we can see, he often works without means. Perceiving no causes 
 in operation, we expect no effects. Seeing no disease, we ex- 
 pect no death. Not looking ft)** a casualty, it finds us unpro- 
 vided with remedies, and we are ready to be swallowed up. As 
 we begin to give up all hope, God steps in and relieves us. 
 When he chooses, he dispenses with all means. He did so when 
 he made the world. Again, God often works by means, which 
 seem to us insignificant. " The death of a man at a critical 
 juncture, his disgust, his retreat, his disgrace, have brought innu- 
 merable evils on a whole nation. A common soldier, a child, a 
 girl at the door of an inn, have changed the face of fortune, and 
 almost the face of nature." Will God save Rome from pillage? 
 It shall be done by the cackling of geese. Has a man's appointed 
 time upon earth expired ? The sting of a bee, the scratch of a 
 pin, a crumb of bread, or a vernal zephyr shall be the means of 
 his death. Will God prolong the life of Hezekiah? A lump of 
 figs shall have healing efficacy. Moreover, God often works 
 contrary to means. How much malpractice in medicine does 
 he provide against, and thus restore the patient. How many 
 blunders in his ministers does he overrule for good. Christ 
 would give sight to a blind man. He makes clay, puts it on his 
 eyes as if to make him more blind, but he is healed. A terrible 
 fall dislocates a joint. The bone is not put fairly back into its 
 place. Years of lameness and suffering succeed. A second 
 fall, worse than the first, jars the frame, jeopards life, but restores 
 the bone to its socket, and soon the man walks and leaps and 
 praises God. By death, God destroyed him that had the power 
 of death. God often works contrary to the natural tendency 
 of means. 
 
 God also employs such instruments as greatly confound us. 
 Our ignorance and unbelief would choose those whom God re- 
 jects, and reject those whom he selects. Will he cure Naaman's 
 leprosy? A little captive maid shall tell him of the prophet of 
 the Lord. Will he lead forth Israel from Egyptian bondage ? 
 That little infant in a basket among the rushes, by edict doomed 
 to death as soon as born, shall come to be the deliverer. Will 
 he make Joseph premier of Egypt ? His brethren envy and sell 
 him, the Ishmaelites carry him far from all loved ones, Potiphar 
 imprisons him, the iron enters into his flesh ; yet in God's provi- 
 dence every step is onward. How often are those whom we 
 never befriended made to minister to our aid and comfort. Must 
 God's people be brought out of Babylon ? Cyrus shall send forth 
 the binding decree. This worshipper of the sun dealt as ten- 
 derly with God's people as a nurse with her child. It would not 
 have been more wonderful to see the wolf nourishing and pro- 
 tecting the lamb and the kid. Who would have supposed that 
 God would choose a raven to feed Elijah, the boy Samuel to 
 bear heavy tidings to Eli, or the youth Jeremiah to pull down, 
 destroy and build up kingdoms? God would exalt his Son and 
 
12 
 
 give him a name, which is above every name. He is made flesh, 
 born in a manger, is subject to his parents, is tempted, mocked, 
 spit upon, betrayed, denied, condemned, crucified, dead and buried, 
 yet all ends in his exaltation. He, who had made swaddling- 
 bands for the sea, was laid in swaddling clothes that he might 
 be the first-born among many brethren. By falling he arose 
 above all his enemies, above all the creatures of God. 
 
 Will God regenerate a world ? It shall not be^done by the 
 ministry of angels, but to the poor, condemned, and dying, the 
 riches of his mercy shall be borne in earthen vessels. Will God 
 subdue the world to knowledge, to peace, and righteousness ? 
 Humble men shall be his ambassadors. Will he make of his 
 people a glorious church ? " Not many wise men after the flesh, 
 not many mighty, not many noble are called : but God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; 
 and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
 the things that are mighty ; and base things of the word and 
 things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things 
 which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh 
 should glory in his presence." Look at that good man surrounded 
 by an infuriated throng. Each one gnashes with his teeth, and 
 is keen for his prey. At the giving of the signal, stone follows 
 stone. Gash after gash is made on the pious sufferer. The 
 blood streams from his head and body. Hard by him stands a 
 small young man, drinking in with malignant joy the groans 
 that fall from the martyr's lips. Like a young tiger, hitherto 
 fed on milk, but now tasting blood, he becomes furious against 
 all who call on the name of Jesus. He breathes out threaten- 
 ings and slaughter. He sheds innocent blood without remorse 
 and without cessation. Who would believe that this persecutor 
 was the chosen of God, and should yet, with unparalleled zeal 
 and incredible success, preach Jesus, call sinners to repentance, 
 and give joy and courage to the trembling disciples ? Yet such 
 was God's plan, and it was all executed. God is a sovereign. 
 His counsel shall stand. He will do all his pleasure. He re- 
 jected all the seven elder sons of Jesse, and chose the little boy, 
 David, who had been left with the sheep, and made him king of 
 his people, and the sweet singer of Israel. " Man looketh on 
 the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 
 Most of the great, useful, and honored men of the next genera- 
 tion are now poor boys, unnoticed by the proud, buffeting diffi- 
 culties, and forming vigorous characters under the influence of 
 neglect and adversity. 
 
 We often tremble to see God pursuing a course which, to our 
 short sight, seems quite contrary to the end to be gained. This 
 is for two purposes. The first is to humble us, and thus prepare 
 us for the reception of his great blessings. The other is to prove 
 that " besides him there is no Saviour." The thorn in Paul's 
 flesh was sharp and painful, and brought from him very bitter 
 cries. Then came the assurance, " My grace is sufficient for 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 13 
 
 thee." When mountains and waters and cruel Egyptians hedged 
 in the Israelites on every side, and it was manifest that " in vain 
 was the help of man," then came the word, "Stand still and see 
 the salvation of God," and the sea was cleft in twain, and its 
 waves became walls. " In the mount, it shall be seen," is for a 
 saying in Israel. Even the gospel was not sent till men had 
 racked their inventions, and were at their wits' end. " After 
 that the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God, by 
 the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." Every- 
 thing in its order. When wit has shown its weakness, then 
 God's word comes in and speaks wisdom. When human powers 
 fall prostrate, divine energy produces the desired results. When 
 man gives up, God does the work. 
 
 Men are so ignorant of their own hearts that they are inca- 
 pable of determining what is best for them. Even regenerate 
 men are but partially sanctified and enlightened. But God 
 searches the heart. He understands our whole case. He knows 
 what is most for our good. He sees our strong corruptions and 
 sad deficiencies. When, in mercy to the creature, he comes to 
 heal his spiritual maladies, he does not take counsel of human 
 error and passion. It is right, it is best that he should act ac- 
 cording to the wisdom which is infallible. He employs the re- 
 quisite remedies, and man, in his ignorance, too often says, " If 
 God loved me he would not give me so bitter a cup to drink." 
 But this is man's folly. Shall not the judge of all the earth do 
 right? Shall human weakness control divine power? Shall 
 finite knowledge prescribe to omniscience? It is the height of 
 wickedness for a worm of the dust to revise the decisions, or 
 rejudge the justice of the Almighty. We should expect God to 
 deal with us in a way, to us incomprehensible, if we did but re- 
 member how low, sordid, and narrow, are our views and plans, 
 and how holy, glorious, and eternal are his purposes and designs. 
 We are quite prone to magnify both the good and evil things of 
 time to the disparagement of those of eternity. But when God 
 crosses, afflicts, and mortifies us, he makes us look at the things 
 which are unseen and eternal. If he racks this body with pain, 
 it is that we may think of our house, not made with hands, eter- 
 nal, and in the heavens. The shaking of this clay tabernacle 
 forces upon us the recollection that this is not our rest, and that 
 we ought to be seeking a heavenly country. If the best man 
 on earth had his own way without divine guidance, he would 
 soon be in full march towards destruction. And how kind is 
 God in wisely and mercifully deciding so many things for us. 
 The man who fears God and loves his little daughter would 
 esteem it a greater affliction to be called on to say when his 
 child should be sick, than he now finds it to nurse her through 
 weeks of disease, close her eyes in death, and then carry her to 
 the grave. God very mercifully bears the heaviest part of all 
 our trials, by marking out our course for us. God is governor. 
 
14 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 We are servants. To us belong obedience, submission, ac- 
 quiescence. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. The Christian lives and walks by faith, not by sight. Even 
 apostles and prophets did but see through a glass darkly. Paul 
 himself says, "The life, which I now live, I live by the faith of 
 the Son of God." As, " without faith, it is impossible to please 
 God," so, without faith, it is impossible to be pleased with God. 
 Every approved act of the Christian's life is, in some sense, a 
 committing of his afFairs to the Almighty. One inspired apostle, 
 speaking of faith, calls it "precious faith." Another says that 
 the trial of it is " much more precious than gold." No marvel 
 that such commendations are bestowed on this great virtue. It 
 is of rare excellence. Gold perisheth. But faith shall be changed 
 into the beatific vision. Gold is held alike by God's friends and 
 enemies. Faith is a gift bestowed on none but the elect. Gold 
 is gathered from the earth. Faith is a gift descending from 
 heaven. Gold stands us instead only when it is well with us. 
 Faith enables us to walk in darkness, having no light, and yet 
 to trust in the Lord. " I had fainted unless I had believed." 
 There is a sense in which " gold answers all things, so faith gives 
 the soul propriety in all the rich consolations of the gospel, in 
 all the promises of life and salvation, in all needful blessings ; 
 it draws virtue from Christ to strengthen itself, and all other 
 graces." Behold the man of faith pressed by temporal and spi- 
 ritual distresses. See him in the furnace made seveu times hotter 
 than it is wont. They, who stand round about, are scorched by 
 the intensity of the heat. Cry to him and say, Brother, how is 
 it with thee now? If faith is in lively exercise, he replies, 
 " When I am tried I shall come forth as gold seven times purified. 
 I know who it is that has said, I have chosen thee in the furnace 
 of affliction." With gold we can buy what we need, if it is in 
 the market ; but faith supplies all our lack when universal want 
 prevails. When earth does not own what we need, the man 
 with his bags of gold is on a level with the beggar ; but at such 
 a time the believer sings, " Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, 
 neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall 
 fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off 
 from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will 
 rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Our 
 faith is often sorely tried, but God's word says, " The trial of 
 your faith is found unto praise and honor and glory at the ap- 
 pearance of Jesus Christ." What we need is not less labor or 
 less suffering, burdens less heavy or less numerous, trials less 
 sharp or less lasting. No. What we need is stronger faith. 
 The disciples never offered a better prayer than this : " Lord, 
 increase our faith." Faith, like the club of Hercules, beats 
 down all before it. " Faith makes all evil good to us, and all 
 good better." " All the precepts in the law and in the gospel do 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD's NATURE AND WAYS. 15 
 
 hang upon this, Believe." All the comforts and supports of the 
 Christian life depend upon faith. Faint believing produces doubt- 
 ful walking. Be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Never 
 question his truth, nor doubt his f aithfulness. "It is better to 
 trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to 
 trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." " Have 
 faith in God." 
 
 2. As the object of God in all his dealings with his people is 
 his own glory and their eternal good, so they ought heartily to 
 concur in these ends, and labor to promote them. God's glory 
 is more important than the lives of all his creatures. He has 
 made all things for himself. Not an event occurs but for his 
 glory. The death of Lazarus, of Bethany, was to that end. 
 To the same intent is every pang of his suffering people. Nor 
 does he less surely propose the welfare of his hidden ones in 
 their greatest afflictions. " We know that all things work toge- 
 ther for good to them that love God, to them, who are the called 
 according to his purpose." Let us then concur and co-operate 
 with God in seeking our good and his glory. We ought to be 
 more anxious to get good out of an affliction than to get rid of 
 it. The kindest wish that any can indulge respecting their 
 grieving brethren, is, not that they be tempted no more, but that 
 in all their trials they may not sin, nor charge God foolishly. 
 With these views predominant in us, how many powerful tempta- 
 tions would become powerless. Sometimes the afflicted look 
 upon their trials merely as tokens of God's displeasure against 
 them for their sins. No doubt God has good ground of contro- 
 versy with us all. But hear the voice from heaven, " As many 
 as I love I rebuke and chasten." As God did not give us friends, 
 or health, or property, or reputation, chiefly to please us, so neither 
 does he take them away chiefly to afflict or punish us. His 
 ends are high and holy, wise and benevolent. We should re- 
 member that what is loss to us is often gain to others. This is 
 always true when one of our friends dies in the Lord. Where- 
 fore let us gird up the loins of our minds and seek, above all 
 things, to glorify God in every visitation, whether grievous or 
 joyous. Let us rejoice in all that he does. " As an eagle stirreth 
 up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her 
 wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord 
 alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him." 
 The pious Mr. Jay has explained the allusions here made to na- 
 tural history. The eaglets are fond of the nest ; they love just 
 to eat and sleep, and are reluctant to exert themselves till their 
 dam renders the nest so uncomfortable that they can occupy it 
 no longer. Then they go out upon the rocks or the branches of 
 the trees, and learn to walk. By example, she teaches them to 
 exercise their wings, fluttering over them. Then she bears them 
 on her back to great heights, darts from under them, and com- 
 pels them to use their wings. Then she makes short circuits in 
 the air, and they follow her. She enlarges the range of her 
 
16 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 flight, and still they imitate her till they can rival her, soaring 
 high in the heavens. Sir Humphrey Davy describes the com- 
 pletion of this training: "I once saw a very interesting sight, 
 above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I was going on the 20th 
 of August, in the pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles 
 were teaching their offspring — two young birds — the manoeuvres 
 of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain, in 
 the eye of the sun ; it was about mid-day, and bright for this 
 climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds 
 imitated them ; they paused on their wings, waiting till they 
 had made their first flight, and then took a second and larger 
 gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their cir- 
 cle of flight, so as to make a gradual extended spiral. The 
 young ones still slowly followed, apparently flying better as 
 they mounted ; and they continued this sublime kind of exercise, 
 always rising, till they became mere points in the air, and the 
 young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching 
 sight." So u they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall 
 run and not be weary ; they shall walk and not faint." 
 
 3. Let us put a watch upon our hearts and lips, lest we should 
 think or say more about God's nature and ways than befits our 
 ignorance and our selfishness. Shall not God do what he will 
 with his own 1 To us he is not accountable, and it is fearful 
 wickedness to think or speak as if he were. If our reasonings 
 concerning his nature or ways perplex us, it is proof that we 
 have gone too far, and uttered things too wonderful for us. Let 
 us not wade beyond our depth. " Fools rush in where angels 
 fear to tread." There is much wickedness in indulging in bold 
 speculations and confident reasonings on the nature and govern- 
 ment of God. On such subjects, preconceived and rash opinions 
 are too often allowed to set aside the teachings of Scripture. 
 This is always sinful. To every student of divine things God 
 seems to say : " Take off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the 
 place where thou standest is holy ground." There is too much 
 occasion given by men for the challenge, " Who art thou that 
 repliest against God V In the book of Job we see to what fear- 
 ful lengths even good men may go in proud reasonings on Jeho- 
 vah's ways. For indulging in this sin God gave a terrible rebuke 
 even to the great patriarch. Would that the folly had ended 
 with the man of Uz. Let us take heed to our ways, that we 
 sin not with our tongues. Yea, let us keep our hearts with all 
 diligence, for out of them are the issues of life. " Pride is in- 
 creased by ignorance ; those assume the most, who know the 
 least." And " to be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance." 
 " Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a 
 fall." "With the lowly is wisdom." Have docility. "Most 
 men take least notice of what is plain, as if that were of no 
 use ; but puzzle their thoughts, and lose themselves in those vast 
 depths and abysses, which no human understanding can fathom." 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOd's NATURE AND WAYS. 17 
 
 Utter not words without knowledge. Think not as the fools. 
 " Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to 
 utter anything before God : for God is in heaven and thou upon 
 earth." 
 
 4. How excellent are divine things. One says : " Divinity is 
 the haven and Sabbath of all man's contemplations." The sub- 
 jects, of which it treats, surpass all others in dignity and practi- 
 cal usefulness. It opens to us the glorious fountain of all being 
 and of all blessedness. It tells us whence all creatures came. 
 It gives the true theory of human nature, and teaches man cor- 
 rect views of himself and of his neighbors. It settles the doc- 
 trine of an endless life beyond the bounds of time. Its truths 
 have a sovereign efficacy to cheer, guide, and cleanse the soul. 
 For purity, for power, for sublimity, for refreshment, nothing 
 can compare with them. They humble without debasing. They 
 elevate without puffing up. They beget modesty without cow- 
 ardice. They embolden without impudence. They inspire 
 salutary fear and animating confidence. They give joy without 
 levity. They make men to sorrow after a godly sort, and yet 
 greatly increase their happiness. 
 
 To these ends they have a fitness in themselves. Truth is in 
 its very nature excellent. Religious truth is as far above all 
 other verity as mind is above matter, as eternity is more lasting 
 than time, as God is superior to his works. The words of God 
 are spirit and life. They are wisdom. Their entrance gives 
 light. To those who seek him with all the heart, God makes 
 his truth efficacious by special divine influences. Even a heart 
 dead in sin will revive under the energies of truth in the hands 
 of the great sanctifier. " The first creature of God, in the work 
 of the days, was the light of the sense ; the last was the light 
 of reason ; and his Sabbath work ever since is the illumination 
 of his Spirit." 
 
 If the study of divine things is not a blessing to any, it is be- 
 cause they are " sensual, having not the Spirit." They are blind 
 and cannot see afar off*, and yet are too proud to seek the unc- 
 tion that teacheth all things. They do not in their hearts believe 
 what they know to be true. They restrain prayer before God, 
 even when they hear his servant saying, " If any man lack wis- 
 dom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, and upbraideth 
 not." They obey not, though Christ says, " If any man will do 
 his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." 
 They resist not their passions, though the promise is, M The meek 
 will he guide in judgment." Nor do such make proof of the 
 principle — " The hand of the diligent maketh rich." If in this 
 land any man shall not become wise unto salvation, the fault 
 will be his own. 
 
 If these things are so, every honest effort to spread the know- 
 ledge of God is praiseworthy. A good religious book is worth 
 all it ever costs. To give such a volume is often the noblest 
 charity. To read it with eagerness is to dig after hid treasure. 
 The two great sources of light on divine things are God's works 
 25 
 
18 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 and God's word. Some err by rejecting the volume of nature, 
 and some by rejecting the volume of inspiration. He who re- 
 jects either plays the fool. A pious mind loves to learn lessons 
 concerning God from any source. He who asserts that God 
 teaches nothing by what he does, is as blind and perverse as he 
 who holds that God teaches nothing by what he says. For " The 
 heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament showeth 
 his handy- work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
 night showeth knowledge." 
 
 Yet the highest source of divine knowledge is revelation. In 
 it are found all the saving truths of religion. That speaks clearly 
 of the most vital things. How glorious, and yet how free, is the 
 truth : " Things which are revealed belong unto us and unto our 
 children." Of himself, how excellent the revelation God has 
 made: "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
 suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy 
 for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that 
 will by no means clear the guilty." These few words give us 
 more true knowledge of God's moral character than all the wise 
 men of old acquired from the whole volume of nature. Revela- 
 tion is no less clear concerning man's sin and guilt, misery 
 and helplessness. It leaves no doubt respecting either of these. 
 By scores of types, prophecies and promises, it points to the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. It assures 
 the conscience of peace by atoning blood. It explains the mys- 
 tery of sanctification. It pours floods of light on all that needs 
 to be known in order that we may do our duty or maintain solid 
 peace of mind. On the whole subject of God's moral govern- 
 ment it is luminous. It goes still further. "Some things, which 
 could not otherwise be read in the book of nature, are legible 
 enough when the lamp of revelation is held up to it." Thus it 
 makes all plain concerning the death both of good and bad men. 
 In the phrase, death by sin, we have the cause of all death. In 
 the words, / am the resurrection and the life, we have opened to 
 all the pious, a door of hope which shall never be shut. God's 
 word is complete as to our duty and destiny, our privileges and 
 prospects. " The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : 
 the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The 
 statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the com- 
 mandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear 
 of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the 
 Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are 
 they than gold, yea, than much fine gold : sweeter also than 
 honey and the honey-comb." 
 
 5. We ought not to be offended with the doctrine of the di- 
 vinity of Christ, nor with the doctrine of the Trinity, nor with 
 any other truth of the gospel, on account of its mysteriousness. 
 It is not more incomprehensible that Christ should have two dis- 
 tinct natures united in one person for ever, than that God should 
 have life in himself. He, who can explain the latter, will never 
 be confounded by the former. How existence can be without 
 production is a knot which no creature can untie. To deny the 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD 7 S NATURE AND WAYS. 19 
 
 self-existence of God is atheism. To doubt it is to tremble over 
 the darkest gulf that ever yawned. Yet who can understand 
 its nature ? But the fact is beyond a question. So the divinity 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ is clearly revealed in every possible 
 form of speech. He is repeatedly called God and Jehovah. He 
 is said to do divine works, to receive, by God's command, divine 
 honors, and to exercise divine prerogatives. He created all 
 things. He upholds all things. He forgives sins. He made 
 the worlds. He is worshipped by all holy angels and redeemed 
 men. He shall judge the world. These things are so clearly 
 revealed of him that it is perverseness to deny them. Let no 
 man be offended in Christ because of his glory, or the mystery 
 that surrounds him. Were there nothing incomprehensible 
 about him, he would not be able to save to the uttermost all 
 that come unto God by him. If God teaches this doctrine, it is 
 true, whether you comprehend it or not. We know not how the 
 grass grows. It is all mystery to us how soil, and air, and wa- 
 ter, are converted into vegetable substances. It is all mystery 
 to us how bread, and honey, and milk, and meat, are converted 
 into blood, and made to nourish our frames. It is indeed a mys- 
 tery to us how Christ may be both God and man. But, unless 
 we honor the Son as we honor the Father, we shall be found in 
 open rebellion against God. Jesus himself said : H If ye believe 
 not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
 
 Nor is the glorious mystery of a Trinity of persons in the 
 Godhead offensive to pious minds. It is for a rejoicing that He, 
 who made us, He, who redeemed us, and He, who sanctifies us, 
 is the one eternal, unchangeable, indivisible Jehovah, subsisting 
 in three persons. The favorite objection urged against this doc- 
 trine, from the days of Celsus and Lucian, down to this hour is, 
 its mysteriousness. Lucian's " One three, three one " is repeated 
 in our day by persons who would be very unwilling to enrol 
 their names with his, though they take up the ribaldry, and sit 
 in the seat of that ancient scorner. That everything pertaining 
 to God is, in some points, inscrutable, is not denied. Were it 
 otherwise, who could adore him ? When I perfectly understand 
 all about a being, I know that he is either my inferior, or my 
 equal, and so I cannot pay him religious worship. The pious 
 Hervey well says : " I am no more surprised that some revealed 
 truths should amaze my understanding, than that the blazing 
 sun should dazzle my eyes." Robert Hall, speaking of inscru- 
 table things in religion, says : " We rejoice that they are myste- 
 rious, so far from being ashamed of them on that account ; since 
 the principal reason why they are, and must ever continue such, 
 is derived from their elevation, from their unsearchable riches 
 and undefinable grandeur." Dr. Leonard Woods, of Andover, 
 says : " The end of our being does not require that we should 
 completely comprehend either the Creator, or the creation. Were 
 we called to exercise dominion over the universe, it would in- 
 deed be necessary that we should be omniscient. But for those, 
 whose business it is to obey and submit, omniscience is not ne- 
 cessary. * * * On inquiry, it will appear that all the most 
 
20 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 momentous and useful truths relate to objects which are pre- 
 eminently incomprehensible." Bishop Waterland says: "No 
 just objection can be made against the importance of any doc- 
 trine, from its mysterious nature. The most mysterious of all 
 are, in reality, the most important ; not because they are myste- 
 rious, but because they relate to things divine, which must, of 
 course, be mysterious to weak mortals, and, perhaps, to all crea- 
 tures whatever. But even mysterious doctrines have a bright 
 side, as well as a dark one ; and they are clear to look upon, 
 though too deep to be seen through." Richard Baxter says : 
 * The mystery of the incarnation alone may find you work to 
 search and admire many ages." John Newton says: "If I did 
 not find many things in the Bible proposed rather to my faith 
 than to my reason, I could not receive it as a revelation from 
 God, because it would want the grand characteristic of his ma- 
 jesty." Dr. Scott says: "The mystery of godliness continued a 
 great mystery after the fullest revelation of it. The revelation 
 and belief of it have always been, and are, the beginning and 
 spring of all pious dispositions and affections in the hearts of 
 fallen men, and of all the spiritual worship of God in the world." 
 Bishop Sherlock, no less pertinently observes, that " So far is it 
 from being an objection against the Gospel of Christ, that it con- 
 tains many wonderful mysteries of the hidden wisdom of God, 
 that, as our case stands, without a mystery, it is impossible for 
 us to be saved : for, since reason and nature cannot find the 
 means of rescuing sinners from punishment, and of making 
 atonement to the justice of God ; since they cannot prescribe a 
 proper satisfaction for sin. in which the honor of God and the 
 salvation of men shall be at once consulted ; since they cannot 
 remedy the corruption that has spread through the race of man- 
 kind, or infuse new principles of virtue and holiness into the 
 souls already subdued to the lust and power of sin ; since, if 
 they could procure our pardon for what is past, they cannot se- 
 cure us for the future from the same temptations, which by fatal 
 experience we know we cannot withstand : since, I say, these 
 things cannot be done by the means of reason and nature, they 
 must be done by such means as reason and nature know nothing 
 of; that is, in other words, they must be done by mysterious 
 means, of the propriety of which we can have no adequate no- 
 tion or conception. 
 
 " If you stand in need of no new favor, if you aim not so high 
 as eternal life, religion without mysteries may well serve your 
 turn. The principles of natural religion tend to procure the 
 peace and tranquillity of this life ; and the not distinguishing be- 
 tween religion as a rule of life for our present use and well- 
 being here, and as the means of obtaining pardon for sin and 
 eternal life hereafter, may have in some measure occasioned the 
 great complaint against the mysteries of the gospel : for mys- 
 teries are not indeed the necessary parts of religion, considered 
 only as a rule of action ; but most necessary they are to it, when 
 considered as a means of obtaining pardon and eternal glory. 
 
THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 21 
 
 And this farther shows, how unreasonably men object against 
 the mysterious wisdom of the gospel, since all that the gospel 
 prescribes to us as our duty is plain and evident ; all that is 
 mysterious is on God's part, and relates entirely to the surprising 
 acts of divine wisdom and mercy in the redemption of the world. 
 Consider the gospel then as a rule of action, no religion was 
 ever so plain, so calculated upon the principles of reason and 
 nature ; so that natural religion itself had never more natural 
 religion in it. If we consider the end proposed to us, and the 
 means used to entitle us to the benefit of it, it grows mysterious, 
 and soars above the reach of human reason ; for God has done 
 more for us than reason could teach us to expect, or can now 
 teach us to comprehend. Let us then do our part, which we 
 plainly understand, and let us trust in God that he will do his ; 
 though it exceeds the strength of human wisdom to comprehend 
 the length and depth and breadth of that wisdom and mercy, 
 which God has manifested to the world through his Son Christ 
 Jesus our Lord." Nor does God's word teach any different doc- 
 trine. In fact, it fully supports these views. Paul said: "With- 
 out controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was 
 manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached 
 unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into 
 glory." Let us love all that God has spoken. If it fills us 
 with reverence and godly fear, if it humbles us in the dust, if it 
 awakens pious wonder, if it stirs us up to diligence in looking 
 into these things, it must be of excellent use. But to carp at 
 God's word, or any portion thereof, is both criminal and danger- 
 ous. Let every man beware, lest Christ and his salvation, be to 
 him for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence ; for a gin 
 and for a snare ; for many among men shall stumble and fall, 
 and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 
 
 6. What madness it is for any creature to be found fighting 
 against God. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. He 
 hides himself, and all nature stands aghast. He passes by, and 
 a great and strong wind rends the mountains, and breaks in 
 pieces the rocks. He utters his voice, and the earth melts. He 
 wills it, and a world arises. He frowns, and the pillars of hea- 
 ven tremble. " Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, 
 and are counted as the small dust of the balance ; behold, he 
 taketh up the isles as a very little thing. * * All nations are 
 before him as nothing." "He bringeth princes to nothing." 
 " He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity." Before 
 him, the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers. Who 
 can resist such a God ? Some have fought against him, but 
 who ever conquered him or escaped a certain overthrow? Was 
 there ever a company of more consummate fools than Pha- 
 raoh and his great men, although they thought to " deal wisely." 
 Behold the horse and his rider, the warrior and the chariot, sunk 
 like lead in the mighty waters. " The Lord is a man of war. 
 
 * * * He hath triumphed gloriously. * * * Who is 
 like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ? Who is like thee, glo- 
 rious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?" Let every 
 
22 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 man know that the Lord, he is God, and that to put one's self in 
 array against him is to advertise the whole universe that he is a 
 fool, bent on his own eternal undoing. A feather can never re- 
 sist the fires of a furnace, the elements cannot withstand the in- 
 tense heat of the last day ; neither can a worm of the dust stand 
 out against God. Sin is as foolish as it is criminal. If, in tem- 
 poral affairs, any man violated the laws of his existence, as in 
 spiritual affairs every wicked man does, any court would pro- 
 nounce him a madman, and subject him to the restraints of a 
 lunatic asylum. Wisdom says : " Whoso findeth me findeth life, 
 and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against 
 me wrongeth his own soul : all they that hate me love death." 
 To think of God's wrath is fearful. To taste it is worse than a 
 potion of wormwood and gall. To endure it is intolerable. A 
 drop of it fell into the conscience of Belshazzar, and his knees 
 smote together ; of Herod, and he gave up the ghost ; of Judas, 
 and he turned suicide. A few drops of it have sent the voice of 
 wailing along every valley and over every mountain in a great 
 nation. A sprinkle of it fell on sinning angels, and, in a moment, 
 they shrivelled into devils. A vial of it broken on our globe will 
 yet send it blazing through the universe. The fierceness of that 
 wrath will cow the spirit of devils, and make sinners of our race 
 wish they had never been born. " Who knoweth the power of 
 thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." 
 
 7. With so great a God, great sinners may hope to find great 
 mercy. He punishes, but He also pardons, like a God. He shows 
 compassion to the chief of sinners. His loving-kindness reaches 
 to the heavens. If any of us shall not be saved, it will not be 
 because God is not merciful ; but because we are proud, rebel- 
 lious, and self-righteous. Sometimes we think our sins too great 
 to be pardoned by the Lord. But this is because of our wicked 
 unbelief. Hear his own words of love ; " Seek ye the Lord 
 while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near ; let 
 the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; 
 and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
 him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Such offers 
 ought to silence all our cavils, and put to shame all our unbelief. 
 If we knew more of God, we should be less apt to distrust him. 
 He, who has spent all his days among the mountains which lift 
 their brows above the clouds, and has never seen any body of 
 water greater than the mountain torrent, may naturally doubt 
 whether there is water enough on earth to cover the peaks of his 
 native land. But let him once cross the Atlantic, let him put 
 down his lead thousands of fathoms, let him find that it is three 
 thousand miles wide and yet greater in length, and he will see 
 how all his native mountains could be buried in the sea. So our 
 sins are great, truly as great as we ever thought them to be. 
 But God's mercy is greater than we have ever imagined. Let 
 us explore it and meditate upon it, till we see how He can par- 
 don iniquity, pass by transgression, delight in mercy, have com- 
 passion on us, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 
 
 8. The true glory of churches is the presence and blessing of 
 
THE lJMU3il'K£HEJNSl.UlJLiTX U* UUU S JNATUKfc AJXU WAX». 40 
 
 Jehovah. The great difference between the two houses that 
 Solomon built was, that one was his own domicil, while the other 
 was an habitation for the Lord. The great difference between 
 a saint and a sinner is, that one is the temple of Belial, and the 
 other the temple of the Lord. In monarchical governments, it is 
 esteemed a great honor to live or to worship in the same house 
 with the king. But wherever churches are animated with real 
 love to God, the King of kings blesses the place of their meeting 
 with his presence. This is honor indeed. What a glorious 
 promise is that, " Where two or three are gathered together in 
 my name, there am I in the midst of them." The fulfilment is 
 as certain as the blessing promised is inestimable. How foolish 
 are we when we put our confidence in means and men, in sing- 
 ers and preachers, to make the sanctuary a delight. They may 
 provide for the proprieties of things. Even a corpse may be de- 
 cently arrayed. But if the place of meeting is to be made to our 
 souls the house of God, and the gate of heaven, if we, who are 
 naturally dead in trespasses and sins, are to be made alive unto 
 God, it must be by the gracious presence of Him whose we are, 
 and whom we serve. Let God's people never weary of looking 
 to Him, who is the glory of his people Israel. Let them 
 never vainly imagine that they are anything, or can do anything 
 as of themselves. Without him they can do nothing. That was 
 a wise prayer of Moses, " If thy presence go not with me, carry 
 us not up hence." If God go before us, our enemies shall be scat- 
 tered. If he be our rereward, our enemies shall not overtake us. 
 If he be our portion, we shall not want. If he be our glory, we 
 shall be eternally illustrious. 
 
 9. What a capital error is that which teaches that God can be 
 fitly represented or worshipped by images. To bow down to the 
 sun, moon, and stars, and worship all the host of heaven, or to 
 " change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made 
 like to corruptible men, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
 creeping things," ought to be by all people held and declared 
 idolatry. In his being, perfections, works, and ways, God is in- 
 comparable. "Among the gods, there is none like thee, O Lord ; 
 neither are there any works like unto thy works." " Who in the 
 heavens can be compared unto the Lord ; who among the sons 
 of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord ?" "To whom will 
 ye liken God ? or what likeness will ye compare unto him ?" 
 The greatness of the sin of worshipping images, or of worshipping 
 God by images, arises from these facts : It is positively forbid- 
 den in many portions of Scripture ; it is contrary to God's spirit- 
 uality ; it degrades all our conceptions of Jehovah to a depth of 
 debasement intolerable to God. " We ought not to think that 
 the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and 
 man's device." The spirit of the first and the letter of the second 
 commandment forbid such worship. " Thou shalt have no other 
 gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or 
 that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the 
 earth ; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them : 
 for I the Lord L thy God am a jealous God, visiting the ini- 
 
24 THE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY OF GOD'S NATURE AND WAYS. 
 
 quity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth 
 generation of them that hate me ; and showing mercy unto thou- 
 sands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." In 
 his address to Israel given us in the fourth chapter of Deuteron- 
 omy, Moses greatly insists upon the exclusion of images from re- 
 ligious worship. Besides, " God is a Spirit, and they that wor- 
 ship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth." God is not 
 in any way personally connected with matter. He is an uncre- 
 ated, immaterial substance. He is an active, intelligent, infinite 
 spirit. The Belgic confession well says : " We believe in 
 heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only and 
 simple spiritual essence, which we call God, eternal, incompre- 
 hensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, who is wholly wise, and 
 a most plentiful well-spring of all good things." We cannot too 
 carefully guard God's worship against all corruptions, all admix- 
 tures of human inventions. Image worship is abominable idola- 
 try. The Most High is not like the gods of the heathen. He 
 dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Because he fills hea- 
 ven and earth he cannot be placed in a niche or on the altar of any 
 house. Nor can any true image of him be made or conceived. 
 The most exquisite piece of art is no more like God, and is no 
 more suited to give us just ideas of him, than the most unsightly 
 daub, or the rudest block of w T ood or stone. 
 
 10. How amiable is the whole character of God. Love to 
 him is as reasonable as it is obligatory. When a scoffing infidel 
 thought to perplex a pious little girl, by asking, " How big is 
 your God V she replied, " He is so great that the heaven 
 of heavens cannot contain him, yet he is so kind as to dwell 
 in this little heart of mine." He dwells with all his peo- 
 ple. He walks in them. "Thus saith the high and lofty One 
 that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy : I dwell in the 
 high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and hum- 
 ble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the 
 heart of the contrite ones." What matchless love is here ! He 
 who is over all God blessed forever, condescends to take up his 
 abode in our hearts. " The tabernacle of God is with men." He 
 that is higher than the highest, does not despise our low estate. 
 How hateful is the arrogant littleness of man, compared with 
 the condescending greatness of God. Our God is in the heavens, 
 and yet he is the great comforter of man. If this is so, how we 
 should love and fear, serve and obey, praise and adore him. 
 " We should give him the same place in our hearts that he holds 
 in the universe." We shall never be able to pay the debt we 
 owe him. Let us give him all. Even that is but little ; yet he 
 will receive it. 
 
 Maker ! Preserver ! my Redeemer ! God ! 
 
 Whom have I in the heavens but Thee alone ? 
 
 On earth, but thee, whom should I praise, whom love ? 
 
 For thou hast brought me hitherto, upheld 
 
 By thy Omnipotence ; and from thy grace 
 
 Unbought, unmerited, though not unsought — 
 
 The wells of thy salvation, hast refreshed 
 
 My spirit, watering it at morn and eve. 
 
 Glory to God in the highest. 
 

 
 J 
 
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