SERMON III. THE SAME SUBJECT CARRIED ON AND CONCLUDED. 1 CHRONICLES, XXIX. 11, 12. "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all: Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.” MAGNIFICENT and glorious as is the truth brought under notice in our previous contemplations, we are not permitted as yet to announce its dismission. If the supreme dominion and authority of the ever-blessed God be neither deputed nor delegated, neither assumed nor usurped, neither arbitrary nor fickle; and if it be universal and equitable; then we must perceive that 6. It is irresistible. Nothing can arrest its progress, or defeat its design; nay, everything shall be made to subserve this authority and facilitate its execution. "The counsel of the Lord shall endure for ever, and the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation." This was the very confession to which Babylon's once haughty monarch was brought, who before ascribed the glory to himself. "And at the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and 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?"* What a glorious description of the irresistible sovereignty of the blessed God! See it in practical detail. Did the angels rebel? He cast them down from their thrones into the dark abyss below! Would he make the worlds? He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood forth! Would he deluge the earth for the sins of men? At his command the windows Dan. iv. 34, 35. of heaven are opened, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, and all are swept away in one general devastation! Would he bring forth his people from the bondage and tyranny of their oppressors? The counsels of Pharaoh are defeated, all creatures obey his mighty order, the heart of the cruel tyrant is hardened in its own hardness and taken in its own devices, and at length, with one great deliverance, the victory is gained, the horse and the rider are overthrown in the waters, and the Lord is proclaimed supreme over all! Would he afterwards protect them from their enemies, and lead them to the promised possession? All nature conspires together for that purpose. The waters of Jordan open a way for the ransomed to pass over; the walls of Jericho fall flat to the ground; the heavens are arrested in their progress; the sun stands still in Gibeon, and hastens not to go down for a whole day; the moon is suspended over the valley of Ajalon; and the stars in their courses fight against Sisera! And so, sooner or later, shall "all thine enemies perish, O Lord; but let those that love thee be as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength." See again the irresistible sovereignty of God in the case of others, as well the nations here de VOL. I. . Ꭰ scribed. Where is Nineveh,-Babylon,-Tyre and Sidon,-Greece and Rome,-and others of modern date, whose history and doom are known and read of all? Gone, crushed, swept away as though they had never been! "The hammer of the whole earth hath been again and again broken to pieces;" and the very beasts have sung and rejoiced that the mighty are fallen, and are no more! Look again at the inward state of men's minds, and the internal order and management of kingdoms. "When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation or a man only."* "In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away; and the mighty shall be taken away without hand. For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he seeth all their goings."+ But in all this "he will not lay upon man more than is right; that he should enter into judgment with God."‡ Behold the manner in which the Lord will effect the conversion and salvation of his people! "Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather them from the * Job, xxxiv. 29. ↑ Ver. 20,21. Ver. 23. west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory; I have formed him, yea, I have made him.”* And how will this glorious sovereignty of God be seen at last when the earth and the heavens shall flee away from his presence; when he will wrap them together as a scroll, and fold them up, and lay them aside (having accomplished their purpose) as worn-out garments; when he will consign the wicked to hell, and introduce his redeemed into the worlds of bliss and glory! In every point of view the dominion of our God is irresistible. None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? Our remarks are merely of a cursory character; the subject is too vast and too extensive to be handled in a single discourse, and other considerations are yet to be adduced. notice that We cannot omit, however, to 7. It is everlasting. There never can be the time when such dominion may cease in the person of the great God. He can no more be divested of such an authority, or lay aside its *Is. xliii. 5-7. |