Daniel 4:35

He doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven.

The Unconquerable King

I. Consider THE DOCTRINAL INSTRUCTION here given to us.

1. We have here plainly stated the doctrine of the eternal self-existence of God. “I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever.” “We,” as a venerable Puritan observes, “have more of nothing than of being,” but it is God’s prerogative to be. He alone can say, “I am God, and beside me there is none else.” He declares “I lift up my hand to heaven, and say I live for ever.” He is the one only underived, self-existent, self-sustained Being. Let us know of a surety that the Lord God whom we worship is the only Being who necessarily and from His own nature exists. No other being could have been but for His sovereign will, nor could it continue were that will suspended. He is the only light of life, all others are reflections of His beams. There must be God, but there was no such necessity that there should be any other intelligences. God is independent--the only being who is so. We must find food with which to repair thedaily wastes of the body; we are dependent upon light and heat, and innumerable external agencies, and above all and primarily dependent upon the outgoings of the Divine power towards us. But the I am is self-sufficient and all-sufficient. He was as glorious before He made the world as He is now; He was as great, as blessed, as Divine in all His attributes before sun and moon and stars leaped into existence as He is now and if He should blot all but as a man erases the writing of his pen, or as a potter breaks the vessel he has made, He would be none the less the supreme and ever-blessed God. Nothing of God’s being is derived from another, but all that exists is derived from Him. God over liveth in this respect, that He undergoes no sort of change; all His creatures must from their constitution undergo more or less of mutation. That He lives for ever is the result, not only of His essential and necessary self-existence, of His independence, and of His unchangeableness, but of the fact that there is no conceivable force that can ever wound, injure, or destroy Him.

2. In our text we next find Nebuchadnezzar asserting the everlasting dominion of God. He saith, “Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.” The God whom we serve not only exists, but reigns. “The most high God, possessor of heaven and earth hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all.” As David said so also say we, “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.” “The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.” The Lord is naturally the ruler of all, but who shall pretend to rule over Him? He is not to be judged of man’s finite reason, for He doeth great things which we cannot comprehend. Events appear to fly at random like the dust in the whirlwind, but it is not so. The rule of the Omnipotent extends over all things at all times, Nothing is left to its own chance hap, but in wisdom all things are governed. Glory be unto the omnipresent and invisible Lord of all. This Divine kingdom appeared very plainly to the once proud monarch of Babylon to be an everlasting one. The reign of the Everliving extends as other kingdoms cannot, “from generation to generation.” The mightiest’ king inherits power and soon yields his sceptre to his successor; the Lord hath no beginning of days nor end of years; predecessor or successor are words inapplicable to Him. Other monarchies stand while their power is unsubdued, but in an evil hour a greater power may crush them down. There is no greater power than God; yea, there is no other power but that which proceeds from God, for “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God”; hence His monarchy cannot be subdued, and must be everlasting. All the elements of His kingdom are most conservative, because radically right. Oh, happy subjects, who have such a throne to look to! Oh, blessed children, who have such a King to be your Father!

3. Nebuchadnezzar, humbled before God, uses, in the third place, extraordinary language with regard to the nothingness of mankind. “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.” This is Nebuchadnezzar, but his words are confirmed by Isaiah, “Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket,” the unnoticed drop which remains in the bucket after it has been emptied into the trough, or the drip which falls from it as it is uplifted from the well, a thing too inconsiderable to be worthy of notice. “And are counted as the small dust of the balance”; as the dust which falls upon scales, but is not sufficient to affect the balance in any degree whatever. “Behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Whole archipelagos He uplifts as unconsidered trifles; This triple kingdom of ours He reckons not only to be little, but “a very little thing.” Of what account at this day are all the antediluvian millions? What are the hosts of Nimrod, of Shishak, of Sennacherib, of Cyrus? What recks the world of the myriads who followed the march of Nebuchadnezzar, who obeyed the beck of Cyrus, who passed away before the eyes of Xerxes? The nations are nothing in comparison with God. As you may place as many ciphers as you like together, and they all make nothing, so you may add up as many men, with all their, supposed force and wisdom, as you please, and they are all nothing in comparison with God. He is the unit. He stands for all in an, and comprehendeth all; and all the rest are but so many valueless ciphers till His unity makes them of account. We shall, when we get to Heaven, make it part of our adoration to confess that we are less than nothing and vanity, but that God is all in all; therefore shall we cast our crown at His feet, and give Him all the praise for ever and ever. Herein is His greatness, that it comprehends all littlenesses without a strain; the glory of His wisdom is as astonishing as the majesty of His power, and the splendours of His love and of His grace are as amazing as the terror of His sovereignty. He may do what He wills, for none can stay him; but He never wills to do in any case aught that is unjust, unholy, unmerciful, or in anyway inconsistent with the perfection of His matchless character. We turn now to the next sentence, which reveals the Divine power at work sovereignly. “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.” This is easy to understand in reference to the celestial host, for we know that God’s will is done in Heaven; we devoutly pray that it may yet be done on earth after the same fashion. The angels find it their heaven to be obedient to the God of Heaven. If God does not rule everywhere, then something rules where He does not, and so He is not omnipresently supreme. If God does not have His will, someone else does, and so far that someone is a rival to God. I dare not believe even sin itself to be exempted from the control of Providence, or from the overruling dominion of the Judge of all the earth. Let us now consider the fifth part of the text--“None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” I gather from this that God’s fiat is irresistible and unimpeachable. We are told by some annotators that the original has in it an allusion to a blow given to a child’s hand to make him cease from some forbidden action. None can treat the Lord in that manner. None can hinder Him, or cause Him to pause. He has might to do what He wills. So also says Isaiah: “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?” Man is powerless, then, to resist the flat of God. Usually he dues not know God’s design, although he blunderingly thinks he does; often in opposing that apparent design he fulfils the secret design of God against his will.

II. Now consider its PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION.

1. I think the first lesson is, how wise to be at one with Him!

2. How encouraging this is to those who are at one with God! If He be on our side, who shall be against us? “The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

3. How joyful this thought ought to be to all holy workers!

4. How this should help you that suffer! If God does it all, and nothing happens apart from God, even the wickedness and cruelty of man being still over-ruled by Him, you readily may submit.

II. What is THE RIGHT SPIRIT in which to contemplate all this?

1. The first is humble adoration. We do not worship enough. Worship Him with lowliest reverence, for you are nothing, and He is all in all.

2. Next let the spirit of your hearts be that of unquestioning acquiescence. He wills it! I will do it or I will bear it. God help you to live in perfect resignation.

3. Next to that, exercise the spirit of reverent love.

4. Lastly, let our spirit be that of profound delight. I believe there is no doctrine to the advanced Christian which contains such a deep sea of delight as this. The Lord reigns! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Majesty and Government of God

I. THE MAJESTY OF THE ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD. He is here styled “Most High,” is said’ to “live for ever,” and “all the inhabitants of the earth” are declared to be a reputed as nothing” before Him. He is the Most High; that is, He is exalted, not only in authority and power, of which I shall speak afterwards, but in the perfections of his nature, above every other being in the universe. I need not say, no man, but no angel, no archangel, no being whatever, can vie with Him in any perfection Isaiah 40:25). In Him they are absolute. In them they are a merestream, derived, and that from Him. In Him they exist as in their fountain, underived. In them they are dependent, and that on Him; in Him independent. In them they are mutable; in Him immutable. In them they are finite; in Him infinite. In them they are temporal; in Him eternal. For, to pass from the consideration of these perfections to His existence; He “liveth for ever.” This implies--His strict and proper Eternity. His existence is from everlasting, as well as to everlasting. He is without beginning, as well as without end. How mysterious! Therefore, “all the inhabitants of the earth,” nay, and the highest creatures, “are reputed as nothing.”

1. They are as nothing compared to Him. Dead and unorganised matter is as nothing compared with the vegetable creation, the herbs, plants, flowers, fruits. One vegetable is as nothing compared to another; suppose the moss on a building to a cedar in Lebanon. All vegetables are as nothing compared with animals which are endued with sensation, voluntary motion, perception, instinct, or discretion. One animal, suppose a worm, or mite, is as nothing compared to another, suppose to an eagle, a lion, an elephant, a whale. One man far exceeds another; Sir Isaac Newton far exceeded an uninstructed peasant, or the Apostle Paul a wicked profligate. Men in their present state are as nothing compared to angels, or to what they themselves shall be in a future state. But all are as nothing to God. For, what is a shadow to the substance? What is a candle to the sun; a drop to the ocean; a grain of sand to the globe of earth? What is a finite being, however exalted, to an Infinite? especially a being so limited as man, a worm, a blast, a shade, a clod of clay, a speck of dust? What is a created and dependent being to one uncreated and independent? What is the work to the workman? the creature to the Creator? the clay to the potter?

2. They are as nothing without Him. They are as nothing to help. Favoured, befriended, and surrounded by the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God, we need not fear the ignorance or weakness of man.

3. They are nothing in themselves. They are nothing in duration. “As for man his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth” Psalms 39:5; Psalms 90:4; Psalms 103:15).

II. HIS GOVERNMENT.

1. It is everlasting. As He liveth for ever, so His dominion is, if not from eternity (for a king supposes subjects) yet to eternity. As He is the Most High above every other being in the excellencies of His nature, so His authority and empire are unlimited over every other.

2. HIS SOVEREIGNTY is absolute and unconfined, and His power irresistible. His will is His law. None can resist His purpose.

3. His government is wise, just, and good, yea, infinitely so.

III. THE USE WE SHOULD MAKE OF THIS DOCTRINE. We should make the same use of it which Nebuchadnezzar did. We should “bless the Most High, and praise, and honour him that liveth for ever,” etc. To be more particular--we should learn to admire and adore His infinite condescension and love in so peculiarly noticing and regarding us Psalms 8:4; Job 7:17). We should observe the ground afforded us for trusting in Him at all times, and in all situations and circumstances. (J. Benson.)

Of God, as the Governor and Judge of the Moral World, Angels, and Men

I. God is the sovereign lord and governor of angels, who are described by the Apostle to the Hebrews as ministering spirits. They are spirits, that is, rational and intelligent agents, perfectly free from the gross incumbrance of matter; though upon occasion capable of assuming bodies, and appearing in human shape, as they frequently did under the Old Testament. The angels are endued with greater and more excellent perfections than man, as they not only discern between good and evil, but know all things that are in the earth (2 Samuel 14:17; 2 Samuel 14:20). They excel in strength, and on account of their great activity and swiftness of motion are represented with wings flying through the midst of Heaven (Jeremiah 8:13). The angels are divided into the good and the evil.

II. We proceed to consider the government of God over MANKIND, or the inhabitants of the earth. Man is a free agent, endued with a power of determining hi own actions; not a machine, or piece of clockwork moved by weights and pulleys, but so far free as to be accountable for all his actions, and consequently the subject of moral government. The government of God over men may be divided into providential and rectoral.

1. The providential government of God is His directing and influencing the actions of men and the occurrences of the world, so as to make them subservient to the purposes of his own pleasure. It is absurd to suppose a creature to act independently of his Creator. We are to act upon the stage of life, are lively demonstrations of the wisdom of the Creator; but when God has furnished us with these qualifications it is not to be supposed that He turns us loose to act at random, but like a skilful mariner at the helm of the ship, influences and directs our conduct to serve the purposes of His government. The fortuitous actions of men are managed and overruled by an infinitely wise God; the archer draws his bow at a venture, but the arrow is directed by a higher hand between the joints of the harness. The Divine influence extends over the whole universe, from the highest angel to the smallest and most inconsiderable insect. No second cause, though never so powerful, can act independently on the first. Though God is not visible to our bodily senses, He is present in all places, and interests Himself in all human affairs.

2. We are to enquire into God’s rectoral government, and to consider Him as the sovereign lawgiver and judge of His rational creatures; and:

1. What laws has God established and settled for the government of mankind?

(1) God has appointed the moral law, or the light of nature, as a rule of duty to his reasonable creatures (Romans 2:14). Every man’s conscience is a law to himself, and will accuse or excuse him according as he acts agreeably or disagreeably to its dictates; and though it must be confessed that the light of nature is dim and imperfect, yet it remains a rule still. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, and is divided by our Saviour into these two branches: the love of God and of our neighbour (Matthew 22:37). These two capital precepts are obligatory upon all mankind, because they are the result of that Light which enlightens every man that comes into the world. Everyone’s conscience must condemn him if he hates God, or does to another that which he would be unwilling to have done to himself in the like circumstances, whether he has his Bible to consult or not. They are also unchangeable, because founded not only in the will of God but in the nature of things no change of circumstances or force of human laws can dispense with our observation of them.

(2) There are laws of a mixed nature, which, though not evident by the light of reason, yet when revealed appear most consonant and agreeable to it. They are an improvement of the moral law, and render it more beautiful and perfect; such are those precepts of our blessed Saviour (Mat 15:44). Natural reason, in its highest improvements, did not dictate these things to the wise and learned philosophers of ancient times; but being taught, and commanded by our blessed Saviour, they appear highly deserving of our regard, and are binding upon all Christians, not only as part of our Master’s will, but from their own intrinsic fitness and excellence.

(3) There are also positive and ritual laws, which depend entirely upon the will of God, and are obligatory only because He enjoined them; such were the rites and ceremonies of the Old Testament as circumcision, the paperer, sacrifices, purifications, the distinction of meats, etc., which had their uses, not from any inherent virtue, but from the appointment of God.

2. We are to consider in what manner God has provided for the due observation of His laws.

(1) God has provided for the honour of His laws by extraordinary rewards and punishments.

(2) God has further promised all necessary assistance to these who sincerely endeavour the discharge of their duty; for since the fall of our first parents no man is of himself able perfectly to fulfil the law of God.

(3) Besides the necessary assistance to duty, God has promised to subdue our indwelling corruptions, and to check the malice and rage of Satan. The seeds of wickedness in the hearts of men would produce most direful effects in the world if they were not under a Divine restraint. If our blessed Saviour spoiled principalities and powers when He hung upon the Cross, much more now He is upon the throne will He reign, till He has put all His enemies under His feet.

(4) God is pleased further to excite in His people’s hearts such good motions and dispositions as make the ways of religion appear both reasonable and pleasant. For which purpose He not only enlightens their minds and awakens their consciences by His Holy Spirit, but makes them willing in the day of His power, which is the primary cause of their conversion to God.

3. We are to consider the account to be given of our obedience to the Divine laws.

Practical remarks on this discourse:

1. This view of the Divine government may lead us to a contemplation of the infinite perfections of that Being who does whatsoever He pleases in both worlds. If the most consummate human wisdom and policy is requisite to govern a small kingdom among men, how much surpassing ours must that wisdom be that conducts the affairs of the whole universe, and whose providential influence extends equally to the meanest insect and the noblest seraph! How great must be His power who reigns sovereign over all the worlds, and whose government is without limit, or control.

2. We may learn from hence the nature of the Divine government over the rational world; which, though absolute, is nevertheless directed by the other perfections of His nature, and suited to the different capacities of His creatures. It is not fit that sovereign and irresistible power should be lodged in the hands of earthly governors. All God’s determinations and acts of government are under the direction of infinite wisdom, justice, and goodness; He cannot do an unwise, an unreasonable, or an unkind thing, but is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. He governs His creatures by laws suited to their moral natures.

3. The consideration of the Divine direction and influence over all human affairs may administer some relief to good men under the afflictions and troubles of the present life; “Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.” Chance and fortune is the language of atheists; but if there is a God, there must certainly be a Providence, which had the direction of everything that comes to pass.

4. We may observe from hence the excellency and perfection of those laws by which God governs His reasonable creatures (Psalms 19:7). Every part of our conduct is under a law; our very thoughts, as well as our words and actions; the law of God forbids concupiscence, or committing adultery in the heart; it forbids evil-speaking, and assures us that every work will be brought into judgment.

5. Since we are to pass under so strict and impartial a trial, what obligations are we under to the Lord Jesus for the covenant of grace, by which penitent sinners are assured of pardon and acceptance through the merits of His death. How hopeless would our condition be if our happiness depended on our perfect obedience.

6. Though the law of works is no longer a covenant of life, it will always remain a rule of duty. “Think not that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil it.” And again, Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the Romans 3:31). (Daniel Neal.)

Principles of Moral Government

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.)

The Government of the World

I. GOD’S GOVERNMENT IS HIMSELF. “He doeth.” Human governments are not men, but systems. Men govern by institutes or laws. Not so with God.

He is the essence of all forms, the spring of all movements, the force of all forces.

1. The science that comes between us and God is a false science. That is the truest science that brings God nearest to our reason, our consciousness, our soul.

2. The science that comes between us and God is a baneful science. A constant conscious contact with God is essential to our spiritual life, development, perfection, and blessedness.

II. GOD’S GOVERNMENT IS IRRESPONSIBLE. “He doeth according to His will.” He has no one to counsel, to persuade, to restrain, or to stimulate Him. He is absolutely free..

1. The righteousness of His procedure. Men are often bound to do the right, not for the fight’s sake, but because they are answerable to higher authorities. But God does the right because it is agreeable to His nature. The fact of His irresponsibility reveals in the strongest light

2. The benevolence of His heart. Were He a malevolent Being, being absolutely irresponsible as He is, He would make the universe one great hell; but the whole universe overflows with happiness. How glorious is God!

III. GOD’S GOVERNMENT IS UNIVERSAL. “In the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”

1. He controls all the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. Men are more disposed to see Him in the unusual and the strange, than in what is common and uniform. Men see Him in the manna, but not in the cornfields; they hear Him in the booming thunder, but not in the whispering breeze; they feel His touch in the forked lightning, but not in the solar floods. Albeit He is in all common objects and events.

2. He controls the spiritual as well as the material. “The army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”

3. He controls the evil as well as the good. (Homilist.)

The Providence of God Elucidated

These words were spoken by a very extraordinary character, on a very remarkable occasion. They are the confession or testimony of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, when his reason, which for a length of time had been judicially suspended, was restored to him by Almighty God.

I. The first point which the text virtually presents to our attention is UNLIMITED RECOGNITION. It is one of the leadings principles of Deism that the great Creator, having furnished mankind with a code of laws written on the conscience, and tending, if faithfully obeyed, to ensure general happiness, retired from the scene of human actions into the solitude of His own being, or perhaps to hold converse with other intelligences more lofty and more dignified than man. With the Deist, however, as we have no feeling in common, so have we no point to discuss. Having a better light than his wintry moon-gleams to guide us, we go immediately to the volume of revelation, and there we learn that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place”; that the attribute of omniscience is not, as the Deist would persuade us, a sleeping attribute, but that it is exercised in all the plenitude of its waking cognizance, in connection with the affairs of this our world. “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord?” He holds the aspect and the attitude of kings and potentates; He looks upon the proceedings of statesmen and governors. In the unwearied exercise of the same glorious attribute, the same Holy One walks in the midst of the churches, taking cognizance of what is passing among them; surveying ministers and people; noting how far the spiritualities of the kingdom of grace are infused into their several constitutions. The thought of God’s recognition of all things and all events is at once simple and sublime. It is a source of terror to the sinner, and a ground of consolation to the saint.

II. The doctrine set forth in the text comprehends UNIVERSAL AGENCY. Jehovah is not a mere looker on. The piercing glance of His omniscient eye is accompanied with the active and incessant workings of His Divine hand. Hence the prophet exclaims, “Is there evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” And the passage under consideration speaks of God “as doing according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.” This branch of the subject is much too copious to be discussed at large. If followed out, it would lead us through the whole range of creation, natural and moral, and would scarcely afford a resting place for the sole of the foot, while the physical powers of discussion remained. I shall, therefore, confine the few remarks I have to offer to Divine agency as it stands immediately associated with the general concerns of the church, and with the private interests of those individuals who compose its members. When God would lead His ancient people through the windings of that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, His promise was, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” And hence the history of the Israelites, during their memorable journey to the promised land, is, from first to last, an exemplification of His protecting and interposing agency. The infidel scoffs, and the sceptic sneers, when we affirm that the world exists for the sake of the church, and that all human affairs are bearing upon the consummation of the Divine purposes in behalf of an elect people. And yet, to an enlightened, reader of the Scriptures, no truth can be plainer than this. Trace the history of the four great empires, the Chaldean, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian or Grecian, and the Roman. The plans and the purposes of the Great Eternal are ripening amidst all the distraction of a fallen world. His master-design runs, like a golden thread, through the mazy intricacies of human infatuation. It flows on, like a pure and peaceful stream, which neither mixes with the muddled waters through which it passes nor is disturbed by their commotions. Again, the agency of which we are speaking is particular as well as general. The contemplative mind will, at once, perceive that it must be so of necessity, inasmuch as the most important and the greatest events are, in numberless instances, suspended upon the insulated movements of individuals; and, therefore, if God does not attend, to their concerns, He must cease to attend to the concerns of empires and to the destiny of worlds. The Christian is no more at his own disposal, or subject to the caprice of his fellow-mortals, in regard to the occurrences of life, than he is in connection with his future and final destiny. He is as much the child of Providence as he is the child of grace. His history, like the spangled heavens, is studded with bright indications of the Divine presence. He looks backward with gratitude, and he looks forward with confidence. Here, however, we must again remember that the great principles which actuate our heavenly Friend, in His dealings with His people, are enshrouded in the impenetrable darkness of His incomprehensible nature. The “why” and the “wherefore” are not made known as a matter of course; neither, on the other hand, do they return upon us like a rebounding echo, to be lost in eternal silence, and wasted in a dreary vacuity. Do I ask why? A voice from Heaven replies, “What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” Do I say, wherefore? The answer is: “Be patient, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” One of the finest views which revelation affords us of the greatness of God, is that which represents Him as bringing light out of darkness, order out of confusion, and holiness out of sin.

III. The third point which our subject leads us to notice is SOVEREIGN VOLITION. Not only are chance and fatality excluded from any share in the concerns of mankind, but every other power is likewise excluded, save what may be employed, or permitted to operate, in subordination to Him who is alone independent and almighty. “None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Connected with this point, in its moral bearing, I am aware of a gigantic difficulty. How, it may be asked, is it to be accounted for, seeing that God is at once infinite in power; in holiness, and in compassion, that He permits the world to exhibit its present aspect of moral irregularity? Why does He not, at once, exert His sovereign sway in crushing the monster sin, and reducing the whole of His intelligent creation to the obedience of His eternal truth? True it is that omnipotence could, in a moment, hush the groans of nature, and stay the march of iniquity, and heal the desolations which overspread the earth. But it is equally true that, inasmuch as omnipotence does not thus exert itself, there is a reason amply sufficient, though hid in the impenetrable recesses of unbounded wisdom, why it should be otherwise. The view, however, which Scripture affords of sovereign volition, as an active and operative principle, demands our closest attention. Where God’s will resolves itself into the form of a determination, it has all the force of an irresistible law, and all the certainty of an unalterable decree. “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” God permitted the children of Abraham to be carried captive into Babylon; but He willed that, after a period of seventy years, they should return to their own land; and for that simple reason they did return. Need I add that volition is certainty, as it bears upon the circumstances and prospects of individual believers?

IV. On the last point proposed to be noticed, viz., UNIMPEACHABLE RECTITUDE, I add’ but avery few words. “The ways of the Lord are equal.” He never violates one attribute in order to exalt another; perfect equity runs through all His proceedings, and pervades the whole system of His moral government. In each particular dispensation, whether it affects empires, churches, families, or individuals, all is right. Not a single mistake nor a single defect finds admission into the administration of His providence. In His sovereignty there is nothing that is arbitrary; in His vengeance there is nothing that is unjust; in the afflictive visitations with which He tries His people there is nothing that is unkind.

1. It is calculated to pacify fear. Why art thou cast down, O believer, and why art thou disquieted within thee? Is it because evil men abound, and because apostate spirits walk up and down in the earth? Is it because the church is assailed by the weapons of an unhallowed warfare? or is it because some family comfort is placed in jeopardy, or some favourite interest threatened? Remember, “the Lord reigneth”; this is enough for thee to know.

2. The subject is calculated to suppress rebellion. “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Hear ye, then, the voice which says, “Glorify ye me in the fires.”

3. The subject of God’s directing and overruling providence is abundantly calculated to cherish Christian confidence. The covenant of grace is “ordered in all things and sure,” and the whole system of providence grows out of its perfect and unalterable arrangements. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things.” (W. Knight, M.A.)

The Providence of God

The text asserts the absolute control and superintending providence of Almighty God over the universe He has made; a momentous truth, demanding the fixed and devout attention of every individual in this assembly.

I. In the first instance, it may be necessary to consider THE EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE, OF A WISE, GOOD, AND EFFICIENT PROVIDENCE OVER HUMAN AFFAIRS.

1. The proof that Jehovah superintends and governs the world is equal to the proof that He made it; creation and providence must stand or fall together. That the system of things which surrounds us--so beautiful, so stupendous--is the production of an all-wise, all-powerful, and all-benevolent hand, must be evident to an observer, even comparatively ignorant and defective. The argument from a Creator to a providence is simple and conclusive; not intricate and metaphysical, but obvious to the plainest capacity. Could it be worth Jehovah’s while to create what it is not worth His while to survey and govern? Every unprejudiced mind must answer, No.

2. The proof of a superintending and gracious providence, over human affairs at least, is equal to the proof of human redemption. This is the memorable argument used by an inspired apostle; hear the happy principle he assumes, and the delightful consequences he deduces: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Has He exhibited such prodigies of compassion and power to raise us to His Heaven, and will He leave us unguided, unprotected, while we sojourn on earth?

3. This momentous and pleasing truth is a constant doctrine in the word of life. In God “we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that” (James 4:15). But nowhere is it expressed with such beauty and power as in our blessed Lord’s discourse on the mount.

4. That Almighty God inspects, controls, and governs the world is a truth not left to be discovered by a process of difficult ratiocination; not founded on the teachings of revelation merely; it is a truth attested by the bright, bold, unquestioned, and unquestionable seal of fact. We may instance this:

(1) In the detection of secret crime.

(2) We may adduce as a second instance that character of retribution which marks so many of this world’s events.

(3) The good hand of our God is no less visibly, no less affectingly seen in those surprising escapes, those wonderful deliverances which many in this audience have doubtless experienced. These are proofs of a Divine providence,, immediate, direct, and personal; to forget, or to dispute them, were as ungrateful and wicked as it were unreasonable and absurd.

II. Although the evidence of the existence of a wise, good, and efficient Providence is so full and satisfactory, IT MUST BE ADMITTED THAT ITS DISPENSATIONS ARE OFTEN INSCRUTABLY, and to the feelings of our nature, painfully mysterious. Sometimes they are found in sad collision with the most tender and virtuous of our affections; as for example in the death of children. Sometimes they are opposed to what seems the truest interest and welfare of a family; as in the death of some parents. Sometimes the dispensations of Providence clash with the purposes and exertions of our most Christian benevolence, at least in appearance. What shall we say to the early death of some Christian missionaries? In some cases the superficial observer would be ready to conclude that there exists no superintendency or control over passing events; that either there is no God, or that God has abandoned the world to the caprice and misery of a blind chance. As, when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

III. Though mysterious, THE MOVEMENTS OF PROVIDENCE ARE EVER WISE, AND EVER GOOD.

1. Let it then be seriously reflected upon that the providence of God is a system, and a system of which we see, and can see, but a small part. In this respect it is like every other work of the infinitely wise Jehovah; nothing is wrought in confusion, nothing is left in disorder; harmony, order, and system pervade the whole. But then it is a system whose deep principles, whose stupendous objects, whose manifold operations, defy the puny comprehension of mortals. In a word, the provisions and workings of this system reach to moral things as well as natural, to angels as well as men, to the stupendous and ever-during realities of eternity as well as the transitory affairs of time. A plan like this must needs lie beyond the grasp of the human mind; the mighty whole is surveyed, is understood by the Infinite Mind alone. It becomes us, therefore, not to arraign the proceedings of Providence at the bar of our limited reason: not to question its wisdom in one event, or its goodness in another. Could we comprehend the whole, we should perceive the fitness and kindness of every part.

2. When surveying the more dark and afflictive dispensations of Providence, it should ever be kept in mind that all the dealings of God with men have a connection with religion, and are designed, in some way or other, to promote the spiritual kingdom of Messiah. This observation applies to those great events which involve the rise, revolutions, or fall of states and empires. This observation applies no less to events of a more partial and local description. We may go further and apply the remark to those events which concern us as families and as individuals.

3. The providence of God is indeed often mysterious; but it is that mystery which, sooner or later, will explain and develop itself. Like children, we are impatient to come at once to the close and catastrophe of events. Let us correct this folly; let us calmly wait until it shall please God to become the interpreter of His own proceedings. As the flower, when it first puts forth, appears wrapt in a close and unsightly cover, but warmed by the sun and freshened by the breeze, its leaves at length open, its beauties unfold, and its fragrance is wide diffused, so to the submissive and patient soul, the wisdom and goodness of the severest and most unpromising of the Divine dispensations shall sooner or later appear. In eternity, if not before, the ways of God to men shall be fully justified.

Conclusion:

1. Take from it a lesson of gratitude. This Providence has ever been kind to you; and of its dealings you cannot, dare not complain.

2. Learn from this subject to exercise confidence, Let anxious, corroding, distressful care be driven from your soul; honour the providence of our God by a simple, childlike, affectionate confidence.

3. From the views of Providence we have been endeavouring to inculcate, learn submission. The ways of Heaven are laid before us for our admiration, and not for our animadversion. Finally, from all that we have said, learn that holy and happy art, which turns every occurrence to your religious, to your eternal advantage. In reality, nothing is a good to you but what brings you nearer to God, and makes you more meet for Heaven; and in reality, everything which so advances your soul’s interest is a good, however otherwise it may be regarded. (J. Bromley.)

Irresistible Sovereignty

In times of discouragement and trial, the church itself is not free from distressing doubts and anxieties respecting the overruling hand of God. The Psalmist could say, under the impulse of bewildering temptations, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” and Zion, in the hour of calamity, could pour forth the doubting and the doleful waft, “Surely God hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me!” The mind, buried in the depths of its present cares, and bowed down by the burden of oppressive and painful thoughts, is unfitted for taking those large views of the Divine character and works, which are alone just in themselves, and able to give calm and quiet to the soul. Who is there among the sons of the mighty, angel or archangel, cherubim or seraphim, that can understand the mind of the Lord? They see His works, they wonder, they adore, but they confess that He is “past finding out.” And “canst thou,” a creature lower than angels, lower by creation, lower still by the fall, “canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?” No. Show thyself a man, and acknowledge, with one whom you need not be ashamed to follow, “when I thought to know this, it was too hard for me.”

I. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TEXT. It embraces the Divine sovereignty and the Divine working. Much as men dislike the sovereignty of God, it may be argued from His very existence. Is He a self-existent, omnipotent, eternal Being, then absolute sovereignty is His essential and inalienable right We see this in the work of nature. Who created the earth? who preserves it and all that it contains? Do we not in Him live and move and have our being? Are we not dependent upon Him every day and at every moment? And is He not, then, the Supreme Governor? We see His sovereignty in the kingdom of grace. If we are now His people, what was there in any of us to merit His esteem? But the words also set forth the Divine working. Yet it is a doctrine which not a few have openly denied and many secretly disbelieve. That God has been at work in the world of which we are inhabitants, and in the mighty fields of space which spread around us, is too evident for most men to deny. And I must pass on to say that he who would exclude God from the world of providence might as well exclude Him from the world of nature. He who can attribute the events which are continually coming to pass to human agent, is not less an unbeliever than the man who ascribes the birth and being of the universe to the dance of atoms or an unknown chance. The Divine attributes of truth, righteousness, and holiness are just as clear in the arrangements of the moral world as the characters of His eternal power and Godhead are graven in strong and striking lines upon the natural world. The path of Divine Providence may be often trackless, yet here and there justice or mercy has raised a monument to mark its course. From a humble consideration of the mysterious method in which God is pleased to carry out His vast designs, we may learn many a valuable lesson; it may deepen our humility, it may call faith into more vigorous play, it may increase our admiration of a Being who, whilst wonderful in counsel, is excellent in working. Are we willing to stand by and see our hopes frustrated, our notions contradicted, and our views thwarted? Then have we learned what human wisdom could not teach, and what human pride would never stoop to learn. He works by means of His own choosing, and yet He works effectually. The process may be so slow that unbelievers shall take occasion to triumph, the means be so weak that the world shall laugh them to scorn; the mode in which He works shall be so His own that no ingenuity of man can comprehend it, and yet the issue of the whole is errs, “I will perform all My pleasure.”

II. Let us now consider the declaration of the text. “None can stay His hand or say, what doest Thou?” The declaration supposes opposition, and we ought to be prepared to witness a conflict. Doubtless, so far as power is concerned, this opposition might have been crushed in the bud by the omnipotence of Him against whom it is arrayed. But omnipotence has no need thus to anticipate the designs of its enemies. The throne and authority of God are not to be endangered by the collective force of all created beings, and, therefore, He can afford, shall I say, to let wickedness run its course, exert all its violence, to rise and swell to the utmost limits of its strength, to proceed for ages in its bold and impious career, and then with a word or with a look rebuke its arrogance, expose its native weakness, and lay its power in the dust “none can stay His hand.” The very opposition of men and devils shall but serve more abundantly to illustrate His omnipotence and wisdom. “Let Satan tear up the whole fabric of human happiness and virtue to its foundation; let man become the foolish ally of this his bitterest foe; let all nature be moved from its course; still I will counteract the mischief, will repair the ruin, will restore all things, will gain to Myself a glorious name, and ‘who shall hinder it?’” It is not to be denied that the whole history of the world, to the present time, is but the history of one continued effort to resist and thwart the purpose of the Most High. But this resistance, fierce as it has proved, has only served to unfold more clearly the nature of that purpose against which it has been turned. Truly, God foresaw how dreadfully the children of men would set themselves against Him when He sent forth His Son, His only Son, to seek and to save the long (S. Bridge, M.A.)