01 - The Principles of Religion

CHAP. I. The Principles of Religion.

RELIGION consists of three parts: proper principles, proper dispositions, and proper conduct. The union of these three, forms the character of a religious person; and if anyone of them be wanting, the other two must be greatly deficient; for the principles you imbibe will give a direction to the affec­tions of your heart; and both of these, when uniting their influence, will determine the general tenor of your conduct.

It will therefore be necessary to lay be­fore you a plain account of those sacred principles, or doctrines, which real Christians regard as essential to their hopes and happiness; which are clearly revealed in the word of God; and which therefore, it greatly concerns yon rightly to understand, firmly to believe, and constantly to remember. The essential doctrines of Scripture re­late chiefly to the following particulars: The character and providence of God;­-the original and present circumstances of mankind;-the love of Christ, as exhibit­ed in his incarnation, sufferings, death, and resurrection; and still displayed in his un­remitting care of his church and people:-­the application of this love through the in­fluences of the Holy Spirit;-and the state of existence beyond the grave.

Let us attend a little to what the sacred Scriptures have revealed concerning each of these articles.

1. The foundation of all religious know­ledge is laid in just conceptions of the Di­vine Being. That there is a God, all nature loudly proclaims, and almost all nations have readilly admitted. Assuming, therefore, the Being of God as an allowed principle, the interesting inquiry naturally follows, What is God? what are his attributes? what no­tice doth he take of his rational creatures here below? and what is the extent of his dominion and providence. If they who arrogantly boast that unenlightened reason can guide men to happiness, are unable to solve these inquiries with satisfaction to themselves or others; if they can only conjecture: and if their conjectures are liable to be controverted: then let them not think more highly than they ought of the light of nature, but let them listen to the dictates of revelation, and learn from thence what human reason never could have discovered. From the Scriptures we learn, that the God with whom we have to do, is over all, and before all; infinitely, and independently, blessed in himself; from everlasting to ever­lasting, without any variableness, or even shadow of change. As none can resist his power, so all things are possible with him, for he is the Lord God omnipotent, which was, and is, and is to come. He is glorious in holiness; and cannot look upon iniquity without abhorrence. Before him all things are open and manifest; for the darkness hideth not from him, but is as the light: nay, he searcheth the heart of the chil­dren of men, and knoweth all their secret doings.

Great and marvellous are his works. He made the heavens, and all their hosts, the world and all its inhabitants. He upholdeth them by the word of his power, and doth all his pleasure amongst the children of men. His kingdom ruleth over all, and his eyes behold the nations. He wounds and he heals; pulleth down, and raiseth up; and none can deliver out of his hands. What he hath purposed, he will accomplish; for the counsel of the Lord shall stand for ever, and the thoughts of his heart to all genera­tions. Therefore it shall be well with the righteous; for verily there is a God that ruleth in the earth; but he will punish the wicked with everlasting destruction. The language of the sacred volume, when describing the character of God, is inimita­bly sublime; and to direct your attention to some of these descriptions, is surely the properest method of imparting just views of his greatness and glory. Psalm cxlv. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. The Lord is gra­cious, and full of compassion; slow to an­ger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are overall his other works. All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth to all generations. The eyes of all wait on thee, and thou givest them their meat in due sea­son. Thou openest thine hand, and satis­fiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. Let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever." To the same purpose you read in Psalm civ. "0 Lord my God, thou art very great, thou art clothed with honour and with majesty: who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; who maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh on the wings of the wind; who causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man. 0 Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches. All thy creatures wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. What thou givest them they gather: thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord shall rejoice in his works." No less plain, and no less sublime, is the description of the most high God in the prophecies of Isaiah, the fortieth chapter: " He measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the moun­tains in scales, and the hills in a balance. 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 as nothing before him; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? and what likeness will ye compare to him? Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grass­hoppers: it is he that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; that bringeth the princes to nothing, that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth. Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."

Every thing relating to the divine nature, character, and dominion, revealed in Scrip­ture, far exceeds what natural reason ever did discover. Reason tells us, that God is the Maker of all things; but it never disco­vered, that he created all things from no­thing, and arranged and established them merely by his sovereign word. Reason can tell us that God is wise and powerful; but it knew not, till taught by revelation, that he inherits these, and every property of Deity, independent of every being, in an infinite degree, through everlasting ages. Reason supposes, that there is a general providence governing the nations; but it never suggested, that this providence of our God extends to the concerns of every man, to his most secret purposes, and seemingly most accidental mercies. But the insufficient information which unassisted reason imparts concerning God, is peculiarly manifested by the discoveries given us in Scripture of the adorable Trini­ty.* There we learn, that the Lord our God is one Lord; that in this unity of God­head there are three persons; that the Fa­ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, possess the same nature, and attributes, and es­sence; that therefore, in perfect consistency with reason, as well as Scripture, we can affirm, that the glorious object of our wor­ship, is the one living and true JEHOVAH. These are truths, which, while they baffle human wisdom to fathom, are essentially connected with every part of the great scheme of our redemption; and are well calculated to silence all human arrogance, to exalt our ideas of the divine nature, and to make us say, with adoring hosts above, "Who can find out the Almighty to per­fection!"

* 1 John 5:7. Matthew 28:19. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

2. As the Scriptures have favoured us with satisfying information on the most sublime and important of all subjects, the nature and character of God; they, in like manner, equally satisfy our inquiries con­cerning a subject intimately connected with the former, and highly interesting to all:­-What is man? for what purpose did he receive existence? and what prospects as to futurity, is he permitted to entertain? That man, in many respects, resembles the beasts which perish, is undeniable; like them he eats, and sleeps, and sickens, and dies; is of few days, and these uncertain and full of trouble. But that man is also more excellent than the animal creation, is abundantly evident, from the far nobler capacities which he possesses; a capacity of adoring and worshipping the supreme Being, of contemplating things unseen and spiri­tual, of holding rational conversation with fellow-creatures, and of acting such a part in life as his understanding and reflection unite to dictate.

These various powers, which mark man’s superior dignity above the beasts of the field, are derived from the Father of our spirits; and are entirely dependent for their preservation, on his sovereign pleasure. It remained therefore with him to reveal, whether or not he hath made man immortal. No philosophic reasonings could have fully determined this question; but the sacred page hath put this matter beyond all doubt, and clearly testifies, that as man possesses a living spirit wholly distinct from his mate­rial body, so God hath been pleased to stamp immortality on the rational soul, and hath said concerning man, he shall exist for ever.

Nay, Scripture further informs us, that God created man in his own image; adorned him with all the beauties of perfect know­ledge, righteousness and holiness; invested him with the dignity of being lord of this lower creation, and rendered him completely blessed, by the knowledge and enjoyment, the contemplation and imitation of his God. But alas! this original state of innocence, dignity, and happiness, was of short dura­tion: mankind soon violated their almighty Maker’s most righteous laws, and departed from the living God. Most justly, therefore, were they punished as rebels against his government; banished paradise, driven from the fellowship of once kindred angels, and doomed to pain, to death, and everlasting wretchedness.

Such is the present state of man; a state of apostacy from holiness, and from God; a state of ignorance and dissatisfaction, of de­generacy and guilt, of uncertainty and fears. Such we feel it to be, and such the Scriptures describe it. They also reveal the melancholy cause: that in Adam all have fallen; that by this man’s disobedience man­kind were made sinners; and that condem­nation hath passed upon all men, because all have come short of the glory of God. No longer doth the heart of man remain upright or uncorrupted; nor is supreme re­gard to the will of God now natural to men: for their carnal mind is enmity against him, and refuses subjection to his law; their heart is deceitful and wicked; they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and followed vain imaginations, and turned everyone to his own ways. The temper, pursuits, and conduct of every man, from the days of Adam to the present hour; the experience of every na­tion, whether barbarous or civilized; daily evidences of headstrong depravity, in oppo­sition to all the influences of education, threatenings and rewards; and the universal prevalence of ingratitude, distrust, and dis­obedience towards God, unite their evidence with the testimony of Scripture, that all are by nature children of wrath, and that it is of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.

3. As the word of God makes manifest the origin, the nature, and evidences of hu­man depravity, so it graciously reveals the Remedy which God himself hath provided: it is, therefore, proper, in the next place, to remind you, that another distinguishing doc­trine of revelation, is the Redemption of Mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture informs us, that from the be­ginning, the omniscient JEHOVAH foresaw the apostacy of mankind; and, with tender­est pity, beheld them involved in circum­stances of misery, from which no human power could redeem: that, in richest mercy, he laid their help on one able to deliver; and gave up his only begotten Son to suf­ferings and death; that the Son of God readily engaged to save men from ruin, by dying as their surety; and that what he freely undertook, he fully accomplished; for when the fulness of time arrived, he was manifested in the flesh, was numbered with transgressors, and died for the unjust; to redeem the lost, to atone for guilt, and bring many sons and daughters to glory. To aid our conceptions of this Redeemer’s love, Scripture assures us, that the guilt of sin could not be expiated, nor men redeem­ed, without a sacrifice of infinite value; and that he who humbled himself to the death of the cross for us, was none other than the Lord of glory, Immanuel, God with us, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the God­head, and who thought it no robbery to be declared the equal of the Father! This is he who bowed his head on Calvary, and said it was finished: the Messiah cut off, though not for himself; but to make an end of sin-­offerings, to make reconciliation for trans­gressors, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Need we then wonder that the in­spired writers speak in the language of rap­ture on this glorious theme; and that they seem to labour for expressions when attempt­ing to extol the love of the eternal Father, in giving his only begotten Son to the death for sinners; and the love of the adored Redeemer, in shedding his precious blood for the remission of the sins of many?

They further inform us, that the same unparalleled love, which led the Son of God to suffer and to die, remains to this day as ardent as ever, and shall remain unaltered and undiminished through everlasting ages. Having, by his own blood, atoned for the sins of his people, he rose in triumph from the grave for their justification, ascended to the mansions on high as their representative, and sat down at the right hand of the Fa­ther; there he sustains the endearing cha­racter of his people’s compassionate High-­Priest, and righteous Advocate; intercedes with success in their behalf; renders their services acceptable through the merit of his own mediation; gives them grace to help in every time of need; chooses out the lot of their inheritance; makes goodness and mer­cy to follow them through life; and brings them at last to his heavenly kingdom, to be for ever with the Lord. These are parts of the exceeding great love wherewith he loves his redeemed: but the height and depth, and breadth and length of redeeming love far exceed all the powers of description, and all the conceptions of men or angels.

Under this article, the love of Christ, are included all the amazing discoveries made to us in Scripture, of what the Re­deemer hath done, and is now transacting, and will yet do for his people’s felicity; his early and compassionate undertaking for their redemption; his constant condescend­ing care of his church in Old Testament periods, the number, and unutterable variety of his sufferings, when he deigned to dwell with man on earth; the inestimable value of the blessings which his meritorious death procured; the manifestations of his grace to all his chosen, in their conversion, estab­lishment and comfort; the events he is ac­complishing through the nations, for con­veying his great salvation to men of all lan­guages; his uniting into one family, the glorified saints above, the regenerated on earth, and the innumerable company of an­gels; his communicating to that family all spiritual blessings, as their glorious Lord and head; and his preparing for all his re­deemed, a state of unutterable, uninterrupted, and endless glory. But no language or conception is adequate to this noblest of themes, the love of Christ to fallen men.

4. Another distinguishing doctrine of our holy religion is the agency of the Di­vine Spirit, in preparing men for the king­dom of heaven. The glorious subject of this branch of divine revelation, is styled in Scripture the Spirit of God, the Eternal Spirit, the Third in the sacred Trinity who bear record in heaven, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, the Spirit of glory-in his name we are baptized; and to him, with the Fa­ther and the Son, supreme worship is paid in heaven and on earth. The operations of the Holy Spirit, on the mind of those men who are chosen to salvation, are these: He convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; he quickens those who are dead in sins, and makes them alive unto God; he cleanses them from all their idols, and purifies their hearts through faith in Christ; he sheds abroad the love of Christ, working to will and do what is well pleasing in the sight of God; he teaches them what to pray for, and makes intercession for them; he seals to the day of redemption, and keeps them through his own power; he witnesses with their spirits that they are the children of God, and abides with them as a Comforter; he fills them with hope and patience, strengthens them with all might, and leads them to the land of uprightness. So necessary are the influences of the Spirit to constitute us real Christians, that Scripture frequently assures us, that if any have not the Spirit of Christ, they are none of his; and that they only who are led by the Spirit are the children of God. The evidence of being so led, is progress in grace; for the fruits of the Spirit, saith the apostle, are faith, peace, love, joy, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and temperance.

I have expressed these sentiments con­cerning the Spirit’s influence on the minds of believers, in the precise words of Scrip­ture, that it may be seen what an important place this doctrine holds in the Christian scheme; and how far mistaken those men are, who confine the Spirit’s operations to the first Christians, and to the inspired pen­men of the sacred writings. By consider­ing these united testimonies of Scripture as they relate to the agency of the Spirit, you will be able to trace the gradual progress of the divine life, from the first saving convic­tions of the Holy Ghost, through his future enlightening, renewing, sanctifying and comforting operations. But this subject you will find more largely illustrated in the following chapter, under the head of Ex­perience in Religion.

5. The last distinguishing doctrine of our holy religion which I proposed to men­tion, is the State of Retribution beyond the Grave. This may justly be termed, a doctrine peculiar to the gospel: for though wise men, in different ages and nations, have longed for future joys; and have con­jectured, that surely a future state of bliss or of woe is prepared for men, according to their character and conduct on earth; yet it is only by the revelation which God hath made in his word, that immortality hath been brought clearly to light. As the Old Testament and the New are parts of one gradual revelation made to mankind; as they both testify of one God, and one Saviour, and one gospel; so they unite in discovering the future and the eter­nal state of things, though with very dif­ferent degrees of clearness. They show us what shall be hereafter; and solemn and sublime are the scenes which they represent -the opening of the clouds of heaven; the descending of the great God, our Saviour, to judge the quick and dead; the grandeur of his manifestation, in his own and his Father’s glory, with ten thousands of his angels; the resurrection of the dead, at the sounding of the trump of God ; the appear­ing of assembled worlds before the judg­ment-seat of Christ; the separation of the wicked from the righteous; the irreversible sentence on the ungodly, denouncing ever­lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord; the changing of the bodies of the saints in a moment, and rendering them spiritual and immortal; the raptures of the redeemed, when acknowledged, acquitted, and honoured, before the whole intelligent creation; the general conflagration, at the command of the sovereign Judge, and the dissolution of these stupendous works which he now upholds; the opening of the ever­lasting gates of glory, to admit the ransomed of the Lord; their bowing before the throne; their being presented to the Father with exceeding great joy; their celestial songs to him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb that was slain; their seeing God as he is; their remembering all the way by which he led them; their being with Jesus, to behold his glory; their being made kings and priests unto our God for ever and ever! These are the future realities which revela­tion hath unfolded; these are thy glorious hopes, 0 believer in Jesus! and these glo­rious hopes we owe to thine atoning sacri­fice, 0 blessed, blessed Immanuel!