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SERMON XII.

God the only Object of Fear.

PART II.

JEREMIAH X. 7.

Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain.

GOD is the only being who hath a supreme dominion over the operations of a spiritual and immortal soul. The discussion of this article would lead us into observations too abstract for this place; and therefore we make it a law to abridge our reflections. We must beg leave to remark, however, that we ought to think so highly of the nature of man as to admit this principle: God alone is able to exercise an absolute dominion over a spiritual and immortal soul. From this principle we conclude, that God alone hath the happiness and misery of man in his power. God alone merits the supreme homage of fear. God alone not only in opposition to all the imaginary gods of paganism, but also in opposition to every being that really exists, is worthy of this part of the adoration of a spiritual and immortal creature. "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?"

all opposition: before which all is nothing, or rather, which is itself all in all, because its efficiency communicates efficiency to all! Who would not fear thee, O king of nations? Doth not fear appertain to thee alone?

Perhaps the proving of a self-efficient will may be more than is necessary to the exhibiting of an object of human fear. Must such a grand spring move to destroy such a contemptible creature as man? He is only a vapour, a particle of air is sufficient to dissipate it: he is only a flower, a blast of wind is sufficient to make it fade. This is undeniable in regard to the material and visible man, in which we too often place all our glory. It is not only, then, to the infinite God, it is not only to him whose will is self-efficient, that man owes the homage of fear: it may be said that he owes it, in a sense, to all those creatures, to which Providence hath given a presidency over his happiness or his misery. He ought not only to say, "Who would not fear thee, O king of nations? for to thee doth it appertain !” But he ought also to say, Who would not fear thee, O particle of air? Who would not fear thee, O blast of wind? Who would not fear thee, O crushing of a moth? Job iv. 15. Because there needs only a particle of air, there needs only a puff of wind, there needs only the crushing of a moth, to subvert his happiness, and to destroy his life. But ye would entertain very different notions of human happiness and misery, were ye to consider man in a nobler light; and to attend to our second notion of God, as an object of fear.

moves the soul beyond the reach of the most powerful monarch. After death the soul becomes invisible, and a tyrant's eye searcheth for it in vain it ceaseth to be tangible, his chains and his fetters can hold it no more: it is no more divisible, his gibbets and his racks, his pincers and his wheels can rend it no more: none of his fires can burn it, for it is not combustible; nor can any of his dungeons confine it, for it is immaterial.

Would to God, my brethren, that we were well acquainted with our real grandeur, and, perceiving our own excellence, were above trembling at those contemptible worms of the earth, who fancy that they know how to terrify us, only because they have acquired the audacity of addressing us with insolence and pride. There is no extravagance, there is not even a shadow of extravagance, in what we have advanced on the grandeur of an immaterial spirit. We have not said enough. It is not enough to say that a soul can neither be disordered by chains, nor racks, nor gibbets, nor pincers, nor fires; it defies the united power of universal nature. Yea, were all the waters that hang in the clouds, and all that roll in the sea, were every drop collected into one prodigious deluge to overwhelm it, it would not be drowned. Were mountains the most huge, were masses the most enormous, were all matter to compose, if I may speak so, one vast ponderous weight to fall on and to crush it, it would not be bruised, yea, it would not be moved. Were all the cedars of Lebanon, with all the brimstone of Asphaltites, and with every other inflammable matter, kindled in one blaze to

consume it, it would not be burnt. Yea, when "the heavens pass away with a great noise, when the constellations of heaven fall, when the elements melt with fervent heat, when the earth, and all the works that are therein, are burnt up," 2 Pet. iii. 10. when all these things are dissolved, thou human soul! shalt surmount all these vicissitudes and rise above all their ruins! Who art thou? Immaterial spirit! Who art thou to be afraid of a man?

But if the soul, considered in its nature; if the soul as a spiritual being, be superior to human tyranny; what homage, on this very account, what submission and abasement, or to confine ourselves to the text, what fear ought we not to exercise toward the Supreme Being? "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations?" God alone hath the power of destroying an immaterial soul; God alone hath the power of preserving it. God is the only father of spirits. "Fear not them which kill the body: but fear him which is able to destroy the soul. Yea, I say unto you, fear him," Heb. xii. 9. God alone can act immediately on a spiritual creature. He needs neither the fragrance of flowers, nor the savour of foods, nor any of the mediums of matter, to communicate agreeable sensations to the soul. He needs neither the action of fire, the rigour of racks, nor the galling of chains, to produce sensations of pain. He acts immediately on the soul. It is he, human soul! It is he, who, by leaving thee to revolve in the dark void of thine unenlightened mind, can deliver thee up to all the torments that usually follow ignorance, uncertainty, and doubt. But the same God can expand

thine intelligence just when he pleaseth, and enable it to lay down principles, to infer consequences, to establish conclusions. It is he, who can impart new ideas to thee, teach thee to combine those which thou hast already acquired, enable thee to multiply numbers, shew thee how to conceive the infinitely various arrangements of matter, acquaint thee with the essence of thy thought, its different modifications and its endless operations. It is he, who can grant thee new revelations, develope those which he hath already given thee, but which have hitherto lain in obscurity; he can inform thee of his purposes, his counsels and decrees, and lay before thee, if I may venture to say so, the whole history of time and eternity: For nothing either hath subsisted in time, or will subsist in eternity, but what was preconceived in the counsels of his infinite intelligence. It is he, who alone, and for ever, can excite infinite sensations of pleasure or pain within thee. It is he, who can apprehend the soul of a tyrant, amidst the most gay and festive objects, among the most servile flatteries of a court, and, in spite of a concourse of pleasures, produce such horrors and fears, and exquisite torments, as shall change even a Belshazzar's "countenance, trouble his thoughts, loosen the joints of his loins, and smite his knees one against another," Dan. v. 6. And it is he also, who is able to divert a sensation of pain, amidst the greatest torments, yea, to absorb a strong sensation of pain in a stronger sensation of pleasure. He can make a martyr triumph, all involved in fire and flame, by shedding abroad effusions of love in

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