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The Lord's Course in the Moral Government of the World.
We will now enquire, What part the Lord has ever taken in the moral
government of the world. In the last chapter I shewed that man has a
moral agency; acting under the Lord, and is, consequently, responsible
to him for his acts, as a moral agent. But does he leave him alone and
unassisted to carry out his designs? No. Looking upon man as his son,
he has from time to time offered his services and instructions, as a
father. He has given revelations, instructing and warning his people.
He has given promises to the obedient, and threatened the disobedient.
He has instructed kings, rulers, and prophets. He has also protected
the righteous, and punished, by judgments, the wicked. He has promised
to Abraham and others lands and possessions. He has held out promises
of eternal life to the faithful; but has never coerced or forced the
human mind. He destroyed the inhabitants of the old world because they
had corrupted themselves. He did not govern their minds; they might
forget God, "and every thought of their hearts be only evil, and that
continually;" but the earth was the Lord's, and he was the Father of
our spirits; and although man had an agency to propagate his species,
it was given him by God; and if he was so blind as to corrupt himself,
and entail misery upon millions of unborn beings, the God of the
universe, "the Father of Spirits," had a right to prevent him. And if
he was prostituting the use of those faculties given him by God, to
the service of Satan, and abusing the liberty which his Creator had so
liberally given, although the Lord could not control the free action
of his will, he could destroy his body, and thus prevent him from
cursing posterity. Hence, if a man transgresses the laws of the land,
he is considered a bad member of society, and is punished accordingly;
sometimes imprisoned; sometimes banished; and sometimes put to death.
Legislators assign as a reason for these things, that such persons are
injurious to society; that if crime was not punished, the virtuous and
good would be abused; the wicked would triumph; character, life, and
property would be insecure; and anarchy, confusion, and desolation
would inevitably ensue.
I would here ask, If man acts upon this principle, has not God a right
to do so with the affairs of his government? Or should we arrogate
to ourselves privileges that we will not allow the Lord to possess?
Upon this principle the Devil and his angels were cast out of heaven.
The devil having his agency, as well as man, came here, and sought
to destroy the works of God; and succeeded so far as to obtain an
influence over man's spirit, and bring his body into subjection to
his agency; and if man was so ungrateful and corrupt as to yield to
his influence, and obey his agency, God had as much right to punish
him as he had the Devil; and as he cast the Devil and his angels out
of heaven, he also cut man off from the earth, and thus punished
the "spirits that were disobedient in the days of Noah." Satan, in
heaven, had no power over those spirits; but when they came to earth,
he gained an ascendency over them, and not having a body himself,
made use of their bodies to corrupt the world, and thus thwart the
designs of Jehovah; they must therefore bear the consequences of
their disobedience. And if I am asked by a sceptic why God destroyed
so many human beings, I answer, this was God's government, they had
transgressed his laws, were traitors to him, and he had a right to
punish them, as I before stated, to prevent them from bringing ruin
upon others, and perpetuating this misery of the human family, in time,
and in eternity.
The Lord has given laws, and although he has not forced man to keep
them, nor coerced his will, yet he has punished him for disobedience,
as a father would a son. A father of a child can teach that child
correct principles; but unless he controls or confines the body,
he cannot force that child to observe them; he can punish him for
disobedience, however, and thus exert a moral or physical influence
over him. Our Father does the same. He punished the inhabitants of
Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon, Ninevah, Jerusalem, and many other cities,
and will punish the world on the same principle.
Again: he has offered rewards, and given them to the faithful, such as
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he protected the Children of Israel,
and blessed them with temporal and national prosperity, when they
served him, and punished their enemies; and he would have extended his
blessings to the world, if they would have been obedient to him. The
Lord has used these influences; but never coerced the will. Hence Jesus
said to the Jews, "How often _would I_ have gathered you together as a
hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and _ye would_ not." God
would have benefitted them, but they would not be benefited. Again,
the Prophet says, "Because _I have called_, and ye _refused_, I have
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought
all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your
calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." Prov. i. 24-26. These
things clearly prove that man is a free, moral agent, and that God
never has controlled the human mind, and that, consequently, if man is
found in a state of wretchedness, degradation, and ruin, he has himself
to blame for it, and not the Lord. The Lord would have given him his
counsel if he had sought it; for he _did_ instruct men of God formerly,
and gave them laws, and ordinances; and he told his people that if
they called upon him "in the day of trouble, he would hear them;" and
James says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."
i. 5. When the Children of Israel served God and obeyed him, they
acknowledged his authority, and said, "The Lord is our judge; the Lord
is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us." Isaiah xxxiii.
22. If the Children of Israel had been obedient, and this principle
had extended over the earth, we should have had the Kingdom of God
established on the earth, and universal peace and happiness would have
prevailed. But man's corruption and degeneracy have destroyed the
world, and nothing but the wisdom, power, and blessings of God can
restore it.