Daniel 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of heaven… Principles are elementary and constant truths. They are the ground-work, the beginnings, in accordance with which all things exist and have their course. In a series of facts, they are its rules, its original causes, its ultimate ends. In a course of arguments, they are its boundaries, and determine its methods. In a system of doctrines, they are its axioms, its postulates that cannot be denied. Of some principles we have an intuitive knowledge. They are written in our hearts, the law of our instinctive nature. We do not learn them. They do not come into our minds through the avenues of sense. But we know them, so as to act upon them, from the first. Of other principles we gain knowledge through an induction of facts more or less extensive. We compare various facts with each other, and designate the points in which they all agree, or the causes which have operated alike to produce them, or the issues to which they invariably tend. The greatest part of human study is to discover the principles of the innumerable events and movements that make up so much of the present and the past. But there are other principles than those with which we become acquainted either intuitively or inductively. They are revealed to our faith. We accept them, we act upon them, we know them because we believe in God and in the gospel of His Son. They are not, indeed, inconsistent in any particular with truths of which we become cognizant in other ways; but they are above such truths. At the present period, and especially in communities where the gospel has been preached with power, and many churches of the faithful are gathered, the principles of revelation have been stated so often and so explicitly as to have commanded in general the nominal assent of unconverted men. Many of these men have in consequence applied to them their methods of reasoning and their rules of faith. The result has been that the teachings of the Holy Ghost have been subjected to the tests of mere carnal philosophy, and the life has been burnt out of them in that ordeal. The inductive understanding and the intuitive reason — to adopt a modern distinction — have usurped the place of faith. In the text, God is declared to be the ruler and governor of the universe. His government is a moral government, because He, a Spirit, is infinitely right; because His law is holy, just, and good; because all beings to whom it applies directly are free, moral agents; and because the whole inferior creation, animate and inanimate, actually and prospectively, stands related to His moral system. I. I remark in the first place, THAT IT IS A PRINCIPLE, OF MORAL GOVERNMENT THAT THERE IS NO APPEAL FROM THE AUTHORITY OF THE SOVEREIGN. That is supreme and final. There was no God before God, there is none beside Him, and there will be none after Him. His sole supremacy is declared over and over again in the Scriptures. It is asserted in the first commandment of the law given on Sinai. In the whole course of the Jewish Theocracy it was the theme of prophet, psalmist, and all holy men. Even the kings of the Gentiles were forced to assent to it. Said Nebuchadnezzar upon his recovery, "I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" This authority of God is supreme in respect of His commands. That He has commanded is warrant enough in all cases for obedience. No being on whom His commands are laid has any right, on any pretence, to question their justice, or to hesitate in his own obedience. If He commands all men everywhere to repent, then no sinner has any excuse for an instant's impenitence. Whatever may be the reasons that influence God to give the command, the command itself is reason enough for our obedience. No being in the universe could justify himself in his neglect to obey a single precept of the Almighty. Again, God's authority is supreme in respect of His own purposes. Whatever they are, He had a right to conceive, and He has a right to execute them. He has a right to make His Divine purpose and energy paramount to the will and activity of any free agents angelic or human, working in them accordingly to will and to do of His good pleasure. The creation cannot complain that it was created; the church cannot complain of its salvation; the wicked world cannot complain of its destruction. Once more, God's authority is supreme in respect of our faith. As whatever of preceptive truth He has revealed is entitled to our unquestioning obedience, so whatever of doctrinal truth He has revealed is entitled to be held by us as an axiom in all our reasonings. But it should be remembered that in none of these particulars is God's authority arbitrary. That is not implied by its supremacy. God never commands, never purposes, never reveals anything against reason, or without reason, however it may be altogether above and beyond reason. His supremacy pertains to His infinite perfections, and because they are infinite. II. It is a principle of moral government THAT ITS METHODS CORRESPOND PERFECTLY WITH THE CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, AND ARE PRECISELY ADAPTED TO THE NATURE OF THE BEINGS SUBJECT TO IT. In the whole administration of the universe, the wisdom, holiness and goodness of God are displayed. There is not a movement throughout the entire economy of creation and providence which does not attest the excellent glory of God. Any contradiction between the nature and' the works of the Supreme Being would confound the whole system of the universe. If there is a God, Jehovah, His government must be in all particulars accordant with His character. Such as He is, it must be. But it is also adapted to the nature of its subjects. It is adapted to them in its general idea and chief element. That is holiness, absolute and entire rectitude. All rational beings naturally respond to this idea. They cannot help doing it. It is a necessity of their nature. They may respond negatively as well as affirmatively; by hating as well as by loving; by disobedience as well as by submission; but respond one way or the other they must, just as surely as they exist, and think, and feel. This is a fact without exception in Heaven, earth, or hell. Again, God's government is adapted to its subjects in its requirements. It requires them in the first instance to be right, to be holy. Is not this a suitable requirement for every rational creature that God has made? Is it not proper for him, in view of all his faculties and all their relations, to be holy, to be conformed to the will of God? Whenever God makes specific requisitions upon men, are these requisitions ever contrary to our nature as that nature was originally constituted? Because we are wrong, is it improper that we should be required to be right? Because our fathers were sinners, is that a reason why we should be free from moral obligation? Because Adam sinned, and so brought the curse upon us and all his descendants, are they justified in sin? Will any man's conscience excuse him on that ground? Again, God's government is adapted to its subjects in its sanctions. Does not the connection between holiness and happiness, and between sin and misery strike the mind as most appropriate? Would it not be doing violence to rational natures to reverse this order, and make holiness productive of misery as its genuine result, and sin productive of happiness? If then God's government is precisely adapted to the nature of all its subjects, it may be asked where is the fault that so much disorder and misery exist in a world that He governs? I repeat the question, where is the fault? Is it in God? What in Him is at fault? Shall He be less holy, less wise, less good; for more holy, wise, and good He cannot be? If He were other than He is, would you, a rational being, trust Him any longer, and in your joy give Him praise, or in your despair cry out to Him for help? Is the fault in His law; admitting, for the instant, that the law of a perfect being could be imperfect? What provision of that law will you change? What principle of His government will you modify? Shall the idea, the element of holiness be struck out of it? Do the experiments which Satan made in Heaven, and Adam made in Paradise, give much encouragement to such a change? Shall the requirements of the law be annulled or qualified? If you would like this for yourself, would you like it for your neighbour? Is the law any too stringent for him? Would you be willing to live in this world, do you suppose you could live in it, if the restraint imposed upon the conscience of mankind by the stringency of the law were removed? And shall the sanctions of law be abrogated? Do you think it best for fire not to burn you, vice not to sting you, crime not to blast you, sin not to destroy you? Where then is the fault? Is it not in you; is it not in your father; is it not in Adam; is it not in man? "By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Sin is the fault, the first sin and all consequent sins; the last sin, and all preceding sins. And no man may think to shift the blame of his sin, or of any sin, upon the law which is broken, or the God who is offended. III. It is a principle of moral government THAT NONE OF ITS SUBJECTS CAN ESCAPE FROM IT. It controls the infinitude of space, the extent of eternity, and every creature whom God has made. Nowhere, nowhen, and nohow can a moral agent pass without its scope. You cannot escape from it by reason of the feebleness of your powers and the fewness of your talents. If you have but one talent, or half a talent, or the infinitesimal fraction of one, if you are not verily a brute whose spirit goeth downward, then are you a subject of moral government, you ought to be right, you are guilty for being wrong, you can be saved only through the blood of atonement and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. You cannot escape from it by reason of the might of your intellect, and the multiplicity of your endowments. They will not enable you to set up against God and in distinction from Him. Nor can you escape from God's government by reason of your circumstances and relations. It would be needless to say anything on this point, if it were not for the practical infidelity of so many persons in regard to it. No man can be so situated as to avoid responsibility to God. The subject is responsible to God, however related he may be to the magistrate. The soldier is responsible to God, however his superior officer may say to him, "Do this," or "Do that." The office-holder is responsible to God, however his movements may be directed by higher authorities. The man of business is responsible to God, however he may be connected with his associates. The son is responsible to God, however he may have inherited his father's disposition and been controlled by his influence. Wherever a moral being is, the law is, and there does moral government extend. If he be in Heaven, God is there; if he make his bed in hell, God is there; and if he fly on the wings of the morning as fast and as far as light can travel, still God will be with him, and God's law rest upon him. IV. It is a principle of moral government THAT THE SIN OF ONE INDIVIDUAL ENTAILS INJURIOUS CONSEQUENCES UPON THOSE WHO ARE RELATED TO HIM, even if they had not concurred in his particular sin. God treats mankind as a unity; if one sins, others suffer. A vicious man will bring sorrow upon all connected with him. Very few, if any persons, have not experienced some inconvenience if not positive suffering on account of another's transgression. Let us notice another class of illustrations. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram offered strange fire before the Lord, the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. When Achan commited trespass in the matter of the accursed thing, the army of Israel was smitten before the king of Ai. Let us glance at another class of illustrative facts. A man is pointed out to your notice in the midst of a crowd. There is nothing peculiar in his appearance, and you can hear of nothing disreputable in his character, and of nothing good or bad of and in himself that should mark him for observation. Why, then, is he pointed out, and gazed at with curious eyes, as if he were a monster? He is a murderer's son. V. It is a principle of moral government THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE INDIVIDUAL, ENTAILS BLESSINGS UPON THOSE WHO ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HIM. By reason of a virtuous and holy man, his parents, his wife, his children, his friends, his neighbours, and his country are blessed of God. God would have spared Sodom, had ten righteous men been found therein. But the chief instance illustrating this truth is the blessing that comes upon the believer through his connection with Christ. VI. Lastly, it is a principle of moral government THAT THE WHOLE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE TENDS TOWARDS THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD. God's government dues not consist in meeting emergencies as they arise. There is to God no emergency, no contingency, that calls for new combinations and unexpected exertion on His part. Nor does any event occur out of place, and devoid of relation to other events, and to the general plan of the universe. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He will yet maintain the integrity of His administration. He will yet rectify the disorders that prevail, and set up amid more than earthly splendours, and with demonstrations of almighty power and holiness, the throne of Him, before whom "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord." Not one sinner in all this multitude can escape the wrath to come, but by faith in the sacrifice of atonement. The earth is filled with wars and rumours of wars. But all is coming right now. The judgment is hastening on, and the hosts of earth and hell are marshalling therefor. Ere long the ends of moral government will all be answered, and "The kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High God." (J. K. Lord.) Parallel Verses KJV: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? |
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