God was the King of Israel. Departure from His laws was a national
revolt. Man's revolt from God consists in--1. +Disaffection.+ When
love to the sovereign departs, the way is prepared for any act of
hostility circumstances may favour. The disaffection of man to God is
inbred. From the original fall man derives a mysterious tendency to
depart from God (H. E. I., 3390-3397). Human nature dislikes the
Divine holiness; dislike of the Divine holiness is the root from
which grow men's evil deeds. So deep is the revolt that man has no
desire to return. 2. +Disobedience.+ You may say it is natural to
sin, and we cannot be held responsible for it. Do you judge of, and
deal with your fellow-man in that way as to their conduct to you? If
they injure, defraud you, do you say they have a natural inclination
to fraud and wrongdoing, and therefore are not responsible? When a
son who has been carefully trained develops tendencies and
inclinations to evil, attaches himself to bad companions, &c., do you
exonerate him from blame because it is his nature? You say he ought
to have resisted the evil inclinations and cultivated such as were
good. You are right. But why should there be a difference when the
object of the wrongdoing is God? The dislike of God's holiness
inherent in human nature develops itself in the indulgence of sinful
passions and disobedience to God's commands. Does the fact that it
was your nature free you from responsibility? Are you not possessed
of reason and conscience? Do not these constitute responsibility? Is
not the fact that you decline the help God offers for the subjugation
of evil sufficient to throw on you the entire blame of your continued
revolt? 3. +Distrust.+ A large part of the revolt of ancient Israel
from God consisted in distrust. When man withdraws his love from God
and abandons himself to disobedience, he is sure to lose faith. You
will soon cease to trust the friend whom you persistently wrong and
disregard. Is not this the explanation of much of the unbelief among
men? They are unhappy in their severance from God, yet unwilling to
return. Then they expunge from their beliefs His declarations
concerning sin and its punishment. Truth after truth disappears. Then
He disappears. They persuade themselves that there is no need of Him,
then that He does not exist. The wish is father to the thought.
Because the heart and life have revolted from Him, the intellect
labours to sweep Him out of the world which He has made.