By REV. JOHN WESLEY.
And as there is one God, so there is one religion, and one happiness
for all men. God never intended there should be any more; and it
is not possible there should. Indeed, in another sense, as the
apostle observes, “There are gods many, and lords many.” All the
heathen nations had their gods, and many whole shoals of them. And
generally, the more polished they were, the more gods they heaped up
to themselves; but to us, to all that are favored with the Christian
revelation, “There is but one God;” who declares of himself, “Is there
any God, beside me? There is none; I know not any.”
[Footnote H: “There is one God.”—Mark xii:32.]
But who can search out this God to perfection? None of the creatures
that he has made. Only some of his attributes he hath been pleased
to reveal to us in his Word. Hence we learn that God is an eternal
being. “His goings forth are from everlasting,” and will continue
to everlasting. As he ever was, so he ever will be; as there was
no beginning of his existence, so there will be no end. This is
universally allowed to be contained in his very name, Jehovah; which
the Apostle John accordingly renders, “He that was, and that is, and
that is to come.” Perhaps it would be as proper to say, “He is from
everlasting to everlasting.”
Nearly allied to the eternity of God is his omnipresence. As he exists
through infinite duration, so he can not but exist through infinite
space; according to his own question, equivalent to the strongest
assertion; “Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” (heaven
and earth, in the Hebrew idiom, implying the whole universe) which,
therefore, according to his own declaration, is filled with his
presence.
This one, eternal, omnipresent being is likewise all perfect. He has
from eternity to eternity, all the perfections and infinitely more
than it ever did, or ever can enter into the heart of man to conceive;
yea, infinitely more than the angels in heaven can conceive: these
perfections we usually term the attributes of God.
And he is omnipotent, as well as omnipresent: there can be no more
bounds to his power than to his presence. He “hath a mighty arm: strong
is his hand, and high is his right hand.” He doeth whatsoever pleaseth
him, in the heavens, the earth, the sea, and in all deep places. With
men, we know, many things are impossible; “but not with God: with him
all things are possible.” Whensoever he willeth, to do is present with
him.
The omniscience of God is a clear and necessary consequence of his
omnipresence. If he is present in every part of the universe, he can
not but know whatever is, or is done there: according to the word of
St. James, “Known unto God are all his works,” and the works of every
creature, “from the beginning” of the world; or rather, as the phrase
literally implies, “from eternity.” His eyes are not only “over all
the earth, beholding the evil and the good,” but likewise over the
whole creation; yea, and the paths of uncreated night. Is there any
difference between his knowledge and his wisdom? If there be, is not
his knowledge the more general term, (at least according to our weak
conceptions), and his wisdom a particular branch of it? namely, the
knowing the end of everything that exists, and the means of applying it
to that end?
Holiness is another of the attributes of the Almighty, All-wise God.
He is infinitely distant from every touch of evil. He “is light; and
in him is no darkness at all.” He is a God of unblemished justice and
truth: but above all is his mercy. This we may easily learn from that
beautiful passage in the thirty-third and thirty-fourth chapters of
Exodus: “And Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And the
Lord descended in the cloud, and proclaimed the name of the Lord, the
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant
in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving
iniquity, and transgression, and sin.”
This God is a spirit; not having such a body, such parts, or passions,
as men have. It was the opinion both of the ancient Jews and the
ancient Christians, that he alone is a pure spirit, totally separate
from all matter: whereas, they supposed all other spirits, even the
highest angels, even cherubim and seraphim, to dwell in material
vehicles, though of an exceeding light and subtile substance. At
that point of duration, which the infinite wisdom of God saw to
be most proper, for reasons which lie hid in the abyss of his own
understanding, not to be fathomed by any finite mind, God “called into
being all that is;” created the heavens and the earth, together with
all that they contain. “All things were created by him, and without him
was not anything made that was made.” He created man, in particular,
after his own image, to be “a picture of his own eternity.” When he had
raised man from the dust of the earth, he breathed into him an immortal
spirit. Hence he is peculiarly called, “The Father of our spirits;”
yea, “The Father of the spirits of all flesh.”
“He made all things,” as the wise man observes, “for himself.” “For his
glory they were created.” Not “as if he needed anything,” seeing “He
giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” He made all things
to be happy. He made man to be happy in himself. He is the proper
center of spirits; for whom every created spirit was made. So true is
that well-known saying of the ancient fathers: _fecisti nos ad te: et
irrequietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te_. “Thou hast made
us for thyself; and our heart can not rest till it resteth in thee.”
This observation gives us a clear answer to that question in the
Assembly’s catechism: “For what end did God create man?” The answer is,
“to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” This is undoubtedly true:
but is it quite clear, especially to men of ordinary capacities? Do the
generality of common people understand that expression,—“to glorify
God?” No; no more than they understand Greek. And it is altogether
above the capacity of children; to whom we can scarce ever speak plain
enough. Now is not this the very principle that should be inculcated
upon every human creature,—“you are made to be happy in God,” as soon
as ever reason dawns? Should not every parent, as soon as a child
begins to talk, or to run alone, say something of this kind; “see! what
is that which shines so over your head? that we call the sun. See, how
bright it is! feel how it warms you! it makes the grass to spring, and
everything to grow. But God made the sun. The sun could not shine,
nor warm, nor do any good without him.” In this plain and familiar
way a wise parent might, many times in a day, say something of God;
particularly insisting, “he made you; and he made you to be happy in
him; and nothing else can make you happy.” We cannot press this too
soon. If you say, “nay, but they can not understand you when they are
so young,” I answer, no, nor when they are fifty years old, unless God
opens their understanding. And can he not do this at any age?
Indeed this should be pressed on every human creature, young and old,
the more earnestly and diligently, because so exceedingly few, even of
those that are called Christians, seem to know anything about it. Many
indeed think of being happy with God in heaven; but the being happy in
God on earth never entered into their thoughts.
Let all that desire to please God, condescend to be taught of God,
and take care to walk in that path which God hath himself appointed.
Beware of taking half of this religion for the whole, but take both
parts of it together. And see that you begin where God himself begins:
“Thou shalt have no other God before me.” Is not this the first, our
Lord himself being the judge, as well as the great commandment? First,
therefore, see that ye love God! next, your neighbor, every child
of man. From this fountain let every temper, every affection, every
passion flow. So shall that “mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus.” Let all your thoughts, words, and actions, spring from this! So
shall you “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of
the world.”
[_May 27._]