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SERMON III.

ON THE DIVINE GOODNESS.

1 JOHN IV. 8.

He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.

WHAT is God? is the first question in religion, natural and revealed. Until this is rightly answered and understood, nothing can be known, as it ought to be, respecting the duty or happiness of man. We can neither know when we please God, nor why we are under obligation to fear and serve him, nor the ground we have to hope and trust in him, unless we first know what we are to believe concerning him. And yet this is a question on which, more than almost any other, men have always been bewildered in ignorance and error.

The heathen nations of old, who groped in the dim light of nature, even the most learned of them, had gods many; and strange gods. They worshipped stocks and stones, birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping thing. And to their celestial divinities the greatest and best of them, they ascribed weaknesses and vices, animosities and contentions, similar to those among miserable and depraved mortals. After a fair and full trial of human reason, in matters of religion, "The world by wisdom knew not God."

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SERMON III.

ON THE DIVINE GOODNESS.

1 JOHN IV. 8.

that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.

WHAT is God? is the first question in

on, natural and revealed. Until this is rightly ered and understood, nothing can be known, as tht to be, respecting the duty or happiness of We can neither know when we please God, hy we are under obligation to fear and serve ..or the ground we have to hope and trust in him, we first know what we are to believe concernm. And yet this is a question on which, more Imost any other, men have always been bewilin ignorance and error.

ne heathen nations of old, who groped in the dim of nature, even the most learned of them, had many; and strange gods. They worshipped s and stones, birds, and four-footed beasts, and ing thing. And to their celestial divinities reatest and best of them, they ascribed weaknessdvices, animosities and contentions, similar to d depraved mortals. After an reason, in matters of isdom knew not God."

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And among those favored with the light of Revelation, there have ever been, and still are, extremely different opinions, concerning the nature and attributes of the Supreme Being: Some seem to think that God is so all-mercy, as to have no justice for men to fear while others are thought to hold, that, toward multitudes of the noblest orders of his creatures, he is altogether unmerciful.

Now, amidst such diversity of sentiments, on this fundamental article of our theological creed, it surely concerns us to improve with carefulness, the means of information afforded us upon it, lest we should be "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

That God is a being of infinite justice, faithfulness, and mercy; as well as an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and immutable Being, we are abundantly taught in the holy scriptures. But the most concise, the most comprehensive, and, I apprehend, the most determinate idea of the divine nature, any where given us, is this in our text: God is love.

I shall inquire how this is to be understood; and the grounds we have to believe that it is true: after which, some attention will be paid to the former part of the verse.

I. How we are to understand this, That God is love, I shall inquire, and endeavor briefly to explain.

By love, must here be meant benevolence; as no one will be at any loss, who attends to the connection. This is the kind of love, no doubt, to which christians are exhorted in the verse before; "Beloved, let us love one another." And this, certainly, is the kind of love which God manifested towards us, in sending his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him, spoken of in the verse after our More particularly, then,

text.

1. By its being said, God is love, unquestionably, we are to understand, that he is a being of most perfect universal benevolence. This is a doctrine plainly taught in other places of scripture. That the benevolence of God extends to every living creature, see Psal. cxlv. 9, "The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works." That he is kind to the unthankful, and the evil, is observed by our Saviour, Luke vi. 35. See also the words of the apostle, Rom. v. 8, " But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And ver. 10,-" When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." That the divine goodness takes care of the most inconsiderable creatures, see Luke xii. 6, "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God."

Perfect benevolence of nature, is a disposition to promote every real good, of every one, in proportion to its importance, as far as will consist with the rights of others, and with the greatest general good. And that such is the benevolence of God, the scriptures plainly teach us to believe. But,

2. By its being said, "God is love," seems to be meant, that all his moral perfections are comprehended in benevolence. The manner of expression is singular. It is not asserted merely that God is loving, kind, or good; as elsewhere he is said to be. just, true and merciful; but that he is love itself-love in the abstract. The most obvious meaning of which appears to be, that his nature is all benevolence. That every feeling of his heart arises from this; and that all his works and ways are resolvable into this, as their source and centre; their first cause, and last end.

II. We will now consider, the ground there is to believe, that God is thus love. F

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