Theology Explained
Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817
A. Doctrines of Natural Religion
B. Attributes of God
1. Eternity of God and Immutability of God
ETERNITY and IMMUTABILITY of God
Psalm 102:24-27.
"Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on
through all generations. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish—but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and
they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."
In the preceding discourses, I have evinced, by such arguments as appear to me conclusive, the existence of God. I have considered the objections and schemes of Atheism and the influence of those schemes on the understanding, heart, and life, of Man—compared with that of the Christian System.
I shall now proceed to consider such ATTRIBUTES of this great and glorious being, as demand a particular discussion. Those attributes, which naturally claim our first attention, are his Eternity and Immutability. They are subjects so intimately connected, as to be most advantageously considered together, in the manner in which we find them in the text.
After a series of discouraging and distressing thoughts on his own troubles, and repeated supplications to God for deliverance; and after various hopes, and predictions, of the kindness of God to himself, and to the Church, recited in the context—the Psalmist takes up his final consolation in the perfections—in the power, wisdom, goodness, eternity, and immutability of his Creator.
In the text, these are exhibited, as certain proof that the believing children of God shall endure forever, and their seed be established before him. In the sublime language of this divine writer, the foundation of the Earth and the formation of the Heavens are presented to us, as the handiwork of Jehovah; who is considered as building the Universe, as a man erects his own habitation.
With no less magnificence is the same wonderful Agent represented, as taking these Heavens and folding them up as a decayed garment is folded by its owner; and laying them aside, as useless to any future purpose. In this imagery there is obviously a direct reference to the consummation of all things; when the present Heavens and Earth, being set on fire, shall be dissolved, and flee away; and no place be found for them any more. Mutable in their own nature, and destined to temporary purposes only, they will be continued while their use continues, and then perish forever.
To this changing character of even these great and splendid works of his hands—the Psalmist studiously contrasts the character of God. They shall perish—but you shall endure; yes, all of them shall wax old as does a garment, and as a vesture shall you change them, and they shall be changed. But you are the same, and your years shall have no end.
In these words is presented to us, not only a direct assertion, but a highly poetic, sublime, and glorious exhibition of the Eternity and Immutability of God; strongly impressed on the mind by the contrast, which it forms to the vanishing character of these great works of his hands.
The passage is indeed declared by the Apostle Paul, to be a description of the character, and agency, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person in the divine Trinity. But to us, who regard Christ as being unquestionably God, it has exactly the same import, as if applied to the Father, or to the Godhead at large. In this light I shall, therefore, consider it; and proceed, under its guidance, to examine these illustrious attributes of the Creator.
I. God is ETERNAL
. Or, in other words, his existence is without beginning, or end.Of this doctrine the text is a direct assertion, and therefore a complete proof of God's eternality—yet it is only one among a vast multitude of such assertions in the Scriptures. No attribute of God is perhaps more frequently declared, more variously recited, or more universally diffused, throughout the sacred pages.
In the very first verse of Genesis it is said, "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth." He existed, therefore, before the beginning of created things; or, in other words, from everlasting.
In the last chapter of the Apocalypse, Christ solemnly declares this character of himself: "I am Alpha and Omega," says he, "the beginning and the ending, the first and the last." In Psalm 90:1-6, the divine writer exclaims, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men." For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning— though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.
"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. I live forever!" Deuteronomy 32:39-40.
"I am"—that is, I exist alike in all times and places, in Eternity and Immensity.
"Jehovah and Jah"—that is, Existence illimitable by space or duration. You well know the peculiar and incommunicable names of the Godhead; in accordance with which the Eternal God, and the Everlasting God, are current Phraseology of the Scriptures.
From this source, then, it cannot be necessary to adduce any further proofs of the doctrine.
To this full evidence from the Scriptures, Reason subjoins her fullest attestations. That God existed before all things, has been heretofore, as I trust, sufficiently proved. The Universe was plainly derived from him, the first or original Cause. Consequently he was uncaused, underived, and, of course, from Eternity, or without beginning. That God will forever exist is plain, also, from Reason, beyond dispute. He cannot be supposed to terminate his own existence. Without insisting on the natural impossibility of this fact, it may be safely asserted to be morally impossible.
The Being, who has all good in his power, possession, and enjoyment—must be infinitely delighted with perpetual life, or existence. The contemplation of his perfections, designs, and works—the purpose of accomplishing eternally the supreme good of the Universe, the manifestation of his infinite beauty, glory, and loveliness, to the intelligent system, forever rising, enlarging, and improving, and the complete assurance that his pleasure will be accomplished, constitute at once an aggregate of happiness, which must be regarded by him with immense delight, and render his existence infinitely desirable in his own eyes.
It is scarcely necessary to observe, that creatures can in no way affect the existence, or the happiness, of God; for, being absolutely dependent on him, they can be, and do, nothing, but what he permits. From these considerations it is plain, that God must continue to exist forever.
II. God is IMMUTABLE.
By this I intend, that he is subject to no change in his manner of being, his perfections, thoughts, desires, purposes, or determinations.This doctrine, also, is directly asserted in the text. "They shall be changed—but you are the same!" It is also declared in various other passages of the Scriptures: "I am the Lord; I change not." Malachi 3:6. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8.
In these passages we are taught, not only that there is no change in God; but no variableness; no capacity or possibility of change.
Of this doctrine, also, Reason furnishes to him who admits the existence of an Intelligent Cause of all things—an absolute demonstration. God gave being to all things. Of course he contrived them all. Every being, and every event, which has been, is, or will be, together with all their qualities and operations, existed in his mind. Or, in the beautiful language of David, all were written in his book, and what day they should be fashioned, when, as yet, there was none of them.
They can, therefore, furnish to him not a single new thought, or idea. His thoughts were the cause of these beings and events. They, therefore, cannot be the cause of his thoughts. Hence it is manifest, that neither from himself, nor from his creatures, can God receive a single new thought. But, if no change can exist in his thoughts, it is obvious, that none can exist in his desires, designs, or determinations. New desires must be originated, and new designs and determinations formed, if they should exist at all, in consequence of some new views of the Mind, in which they exist; some change in the object viewed; or in the manner, in which the mind regards the object.
As all the works of God are thus proved to have been, according to the declaration of James, Acts 15.18, "known unto him from the beginning;" it is evident, that no such change is possible to him. His desires, designs, and determinations, must, therefore, be precisely the same forever.
From these considerations it follows, that the Eternity of God is a totally different thing from that which is ascribed to created, particularly to Intelligent beings. The Scriptures attribute Eternity in a certain sense to Angels and men—but this is totally unlike the Eternity of God. All creatures change incessantly; and no idea can be formed of their duration, but that of a continual succession of changes. Their thoughts, desires, purposes, and determinations, together with their existence, are, and can be, no other than a continued series of changes.
God, on the contrary, is not, and cannot be, the subject of the least possible change. His Eternity is, of course, all one present time. To him there is no past, and no future. To him there is nothing old, and nothing new. To him there is nothing gone, and nothing to come. Past and future are modes of created existence only; and have no application, no possible reference, to the Creator.
This glorious and sublime truth, though thus demonstrated by Reason, seems to have been first and solely communicated by Revelation. "One day," says Peter, "is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." The Apostle does not before speak, as he has sometimes been supposed to speak, in comparative, but in absolute, language. He does not declare that the Eternity of God is such an amazing duration, a thousand years will be so lost in this abyss, as to be comparatively the same thing with one day. On the contrary, he intended to declare what he actually declares: that a thousand years are to God exactly the same thing with one day.
In God's existence there is no long, nor short, duration; nothing fleeting; nothing successive. His duration is simply an eternal Now. In our own existence, the clearest resemblance to the duration of God is found in the contemplation of a single, present moment of our being; without taking at all into view the succession even of that which immediately follows.
This doctrine is, also, most sublimely exhibited in that singular declaration of Isaiah, "Thus says the High and Lofty One, who inhabits Eternity"—that is, He, who fills Eternity at once; who inhabits it, just as he also inhabits Immensity. As he is present in all the regions of Immensity at once; and does not come from the West, pass by the present place of our existence, and go to the East—so he fills Eternity at once; and does not come from the Past, go by the Present, and enter the Future. The same transcendently glorious mode of existence is also sublimely indicated in the incommunicable names of God: I AM, and Jehovah; that is, existence, present in every place, and through every period of duration, alike.
REMARKS.
1st.
How great and glorious a character of God is presented to us by these perfections."Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God!" Psalm 90:2
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth!" Psalm 33:6
"The heavens are Yours, and Yours also the earth; You founded the world and all that is in it." Psalm 89:11
"Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God!" Psalm 90:2
"In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them and they will be discarded. But You remain the same, and Your years will never end!" Psalm 102:25-27
How great and glorious is the character of God as seen in His Creation!
Possessed of perfect excellence, contemplating with infinite delight His glorious attributes, and containing in Himself a boundless sufficiency for the accomplishment of everything great and desirable—God saw that it was befitting to His character to unfold His perfections and communicate His goodness to an endless and innumerable race of beings.
From an infinite height, He took a survey of the limitless range of possible beings; and in a cosmos without limits, but desolate and wild, where nothing was—He called into existence with a word, the countless multitude of worlds, with all their various furnishings. With His own hand He lighted up at once innumerable stars, and rolled around them innumerable worlds! All these He perfectly dispersed and arranged—and all, at the same time, He stored and adorned with a rich and unceasing variety of beauty and magnificence.
Throughout His vast empire, He surrounded His throne with rational creatures, to fill the immense and perfect scheme of being which originally existed with infinite splendor in His own incomprehensible mind. Independent of all possible beings and events—He sits at the head of His universe unchanged, and incapable of change—amid all the vicissitudes, tossings, and tumults, by which it is agitated.
When empires are overthrown, or angels fall; when stars are extinguished, and solar systems return to their original nothingness—He is as equally unmoved as when a sparrow expires, or when a hair falls from a head. Nothing can happen, nothing can be done, beyond His expectation, or without his permission. Nothing can frustrate His designs—and nothing hinder or vary His purposes.
All things, beside Him—change and fluctuate without ceasing. Events exist—and vanish. Beings rise—and expire. But His own existence, the thoughts which He entertains, the desires which He has, the purposes which He forms—are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Throughout the coming limitless Eternity, also, and the boundless tracts of Immensity—He sees with serene delight His own perfect purposes daily and invariably advancing with a regular fulfillment towards their absolute completion. In its own place, in its own time, and in its own manner—each exists in exact obedience to His immutable will, and in exact accordance with His choice.
Nothing lingers, nothing hastens—but His counsel exactly stands, and all His good pleasure will be precisely accomplished.
"For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods! In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care!" Psalm 95:3-7
2dly.
How necessary are these attributes to the character of God, as the Ruler of all things. By his Eternity this glorious Being is always in existence—to know and to bring to pass, to approve, or to condemn, to reward, or to punish, whatever he pleases, and whatever is done by his rational creatures.As an Eternal Being, he alone can form plans of existence and administration, which shall extend through Eternity, and propose designs, invested with boundless perfection.
As an Eternal Being, he alone is he qualified to execute those designs in an everlasting progress, and to complete forever the Infinite good, which he has begun.
As an Eternal Being, he alone is he able to offer to his creatures eternal rewards, and place before them infinite motives to obedience and virtue: rewards and motives, in their nature, differing immensely from all others.
Without this attribute of Eternity, with whatever wisdom the system of his works was planned, however bright and benevolent the designs which he formed, however just and excellent his administrations, while they continued; still at a period comparatively near—the splendor and the promise of this dayspring would set in darkness; and the Sun of glory and of good, be extinguished forever. The Universe of matter and of minds, held in being by his hand, would at an untimely day, find that hand withdrawn, and itself, with all the prospects formed, the hopes indulged, and the blessings enjoyed, by the unnumbered hosts of rational beings, sink at once into the Abyss of Annihilation!
By his Immutability, God is possessed of immeasurable dignity and greatness; and fitted to be entirely feared, loved, and obeyed, by all his rational creatures. The humble and imperfect dignity of created beings is entirely dependent for its existence on the stability of its character. Infinite dignity cannot belong to a character which is not literally unchangeable. Created dignity is completely destroyed by fickleness—the least mutability would destroy that which is uncreated.
The least possible change in God, could only be a change from perfection to imperfection; a change infinite in itself, and infinitely for the worse. God, if changed at all, would cease to be God, and sink down from his infinite exaltation of being and character, towards the humble level of imperfect creatures. How differently, in this case, would his nature, his laws, his designs, and his government, appear to us! Were the least change to commence, who could foretell its consequences, or foresee their progress, and their end? Who can conjecture what would be its influence on his character, his designs, or his conduct? Who can foretell the effects which it would produce on the empire which he has created, and on the innumerable beings by which it is inhabited? Who does not see, at a glance, that God could no longer be regarded with that voluntary and supreme veneration, now so confessedly his due—because he had descended from his own infinite dignity, and was no longer decked with majesty and excellency, nor arrayed in glory and beauty? Who does not feel, that a serious apprehension of such a change would diffuse an alarm through all virtuous beings, and carry terror and amazement to the most distant regions of the Universe?
By his Immutability, God is able to form and to pursue, one great plan of Creation and Providence; one harmonious scheme of boundless good; and to carry on a perfect system, in a perfect manner, without variableness or shadow of turning.
An Immutable God alone, can be expected to do that, and nothing but that, which is supremely right and desirable: to make every part of his great work exactly what it ought to be; and to constitute of all the parts a perfect whole.
In this immense work, one character is thus everywhere displayed: one God, one Ruler, one Sun of Righteousness—enlightening, warming, and quickening, the innumerable beings, of which it is composed. Diversities, indeed, endless diversities, of his agency, exist throughout the different parts of this work; but they are mere changes of the same light; the varying colors and splendors of the same glorious Sun. Without this uniformity, this oneness of His character, supreme dignity could not exist in the great Agent. Without this consistency, safety could not be found, nor could reliance be exercised by his creatures.
God is the ultimate object of appeal to Intelligent beings; the ultimate object of confidence and hope. However injured, deceived, or destroyed, by his fellow-creatures, every rational being still finds a refuge in his Creator. To Him, ultimately, he refers all his needs, distresses, and interests. Whoever else may be deaf to his complaints—he still is assured that God will hear. Whoever else withholds the necessary relief of his sufferings, or the necessary supplies of his needs—still he knows that God will give. This consideration, which supports the soul in every extremity—is its last resort, its final refuge.
Could God change—this refuge would be finally shut; confidence would expire; and hope would be buried in the grave. Nay, the immortal Mind itself, unless prevented by an impossibility inherent in its nature, would languish away its existence, and return to its original nothing. It ought, here, by no means to be forgotten, that this glorious attribute, so absolutely indispensable to the government of all things, is in an illustrious degree manifested in that government.
The laws of Nature, as they are customarily called; or, as they are, in much better language styled in the Scriptures—the ordinances of God; are eminent and affecting displays of the Immutability of God. These laws are no other than rules or methods which God has formed for the guidance of all things, and in conformity to which he is pleased to act.
Thus, by the force of gravity—all the atoms are united into Worlds, and Worlds into Systems. By this law, Moons perform their revolutions round the Planets; and Planets and Comets round the Sun. By this law, Summer and Winter, seed-time and harvest, so useful and so necessary to Mankind—regularly perform their successions. In the same regular manner the Planets revolve around their axes; and furnish us with the delightful and indispensable vicissitudes of day and night.
By other ordinances of God, equally uniform, the vegetable world is regulated from its first implantation in the soil to its full growth, and thence to its final decay.
By others ordinances of God, animals are born; arrive at maturity; decline; and die.
The human mind, also, with all its faculties and operations, is by similar laws governed, and conducted towards a future Immortality.
Thus, independently of the few miraculous events, originally woven into God's great world, as useful, indubitable, and intentional proofs of the immediate agency of God for particular, important purposes—all things are directed, each in its own manner, by fixed uniform ordinances of God. These, like their Author, have been unchanged from their commencement.
In the language of the scoffers in the last days, mentioned by Peter, "All things have continued as they were from the beginning of the Creation." And instead of proving, according to their Atheistic suggestions, the failure of the promise of his coming—they clearly display the immutability of the Creator. This divine Attribute we are thus enabled to trace in the regularity manifested by the progress of the vegetable, animal, and mineral kingdoms; in the steady confinement of the Ocean within its bounds; in the permanency of the mountains; and in the stability of the Earth.
We read God's immutability in lines which cannot be mistaken—in the exact and wonderful revolutions of the planets; in the unaltered position, aspect, influence, and glory of the Sun; and in the uniform stations and brilliancy of the Stars. In all, one immutable purpose, one uniform agency, is everywhere seen; and must, if Reason is permitted to decide, be everywhere acknowledged.
This agency of God is remarkable in all cases, where we are able to understand its nature, for its extensive efficacy; producing at the same time, and by the same thing, many important and necessary consequences.
In this respect it is in a great measure a contrast to our agency; which usually employs many things to bring to pass a single consequence.
Thus the uniformity of God's agency, together with the regularity and stability which it gives to the Universe at large, is the foundation of almost all our knowledge. From this source are derived the two great principles: that the same causes produce the same effects; and that similar causes produce similar effects. These principles are the basis of all our reasoning, and of the analogy from which we reason. This analogy runs through Creation and Providence; and is the source, whence we derive almost all the knowledge which we possess, of the works of God. It extends alike to the natural and the moral world; and without it we could hardly be said to know anything.
In this manner, therefore, is displayed, not only the Immutability of God, but also in a glorious manner the Wisdom of God.
3dly.
By these attributes, the character of God is peculiarly rendered solemn in the sight of wicked beings. By his Eternity he will exist forever—and they cannot but know, that he will exist forever to execute his threatenings against all the impenitent workers of iniquity. By his immutability every hope is forbidden, that he will change any purpose which he has formed, or fail to accomplish any declaration which he has made. If he has ever been infinitely opposed to sin and to sinners; this opposition cannot but be always, and unchangeably, the same.Of course, impenitence cannot rationally indulge a single hope of escaping from the punishment which he has denounced. All rational beings are, from this source, presented continually with the inconceivably solemn character of God. Dreadful indeed, will God be in this character, to the finally impenitent. How will they abide in the day of his anger? How will they stand in the fierceness of his eternal indignation? A fearful looking for of judgment must that be, which is derived from a full conviction that all the threatenings denounced by God in the Scriptures, against sinners dying without repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus, will be fully and exactly executed.
At the same time, this solemn character of God, will contribute as much perhaps, if not more than anything else in the divine kingdom—to preserve righteous beings in a state of unchanging obedience. Obedience cannot be the result of constraint or coercion. The number and nature, the power and presence, of motives, alone can produce, or continue, in the minds of moral beings, a disposition to obey.
Among these motives, the immutable hatred of God to sin, and his immutable determination to execute vengeance on obstinate sinners—are pre-eminently potent. And, united with his unchangeable love to holiness, and his unchangeable determination to reward it—may be regarded as the chief means of retaining virtuous beings in their allegiance and duty. At the same time, these motives have a primary and commanding influence in the present world, to produce the awakening, conviction, and conversion, of wicked men.
Knowing the terrors of the Lord, says the Apostle Paul, we persuade men. Knowing the terrors of the Lord, Men are actually persuaded to turn from the error of their ways, and save their souls alive.
4thly.
These attributes, especially, render God the object of supreme confidence to virtuous beings. Confidence, every man knows, can never, though chiefly an emotion of the heart, exist rationally, or permanently—unless firmly founded in the conviction of the understanding. Of course, the Being who is rationally confided in, must be seen, with solid conviction, to possess those qualities, on which confidence may safely repose.Immutability of character, and the immutability of purpose and conduct resulting from it—are undoubtedly the only objects in which rational beings can ultimately confide. A Being possessing these attributes must, if he loves holiness at all, love it invariably and forever. That which he loves, he will bless, of course. All his designs to reward those who possess it, must be unchangeable; all his declarations must be true; and all his promises must be exactly fulfilled.
That faithfulness, by which they are fulfilled, is no other than the Moral Immutability of God, and an essential part of his infinite glory. On this character, every virtuous being places an entire and safe reliance—a hope, which can never make him ashamed.
However vast, however rich, however incredible in appearance, the promises of future happiness may seem to such minds as ours; we know that they are the promises of Him who can neither deceive, nor change; and that, therefore, every one of them will be carried into complete execution.
According to these observations, the immutability of God is directly asserted in the Scriptures to be the only foundation of safety to righteous men. "I am Jehovah," says God in the passage already quoted from Malachi; "I change not; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed."
The backslidings and provocations even of the best men in this world are, in all probability, great enough to shake any purposes of kindness in any mind, which is not absolutely incapable of change. The eternal God is the true and final refuge of his children—only because he cannot change. Amid all their wanderings, their unbelief, their hardness of heart, and their multiplied transgressions—they have hope and security, because his truth is as the great mountains, steadfast and immovable; and his promises endure forever. Were God, contrary to this glorious character, to begin to change—then what a mighty difference would be introduced into his being, his attributes, and his conduct!
As he is possessed of all power, knowledge, and goodness, it is intuitively certain, that he cannot have more. Of course, any change must be a diminution of one or other of these attributes; and God must, in the case supposed, become less powerful, less knowing, or less good. How fearful to all virtuous beings in the universe, must such a change be! How plain is it, that it might, for anything that appears, be the beginning of a course of mutability, endless in its progress—that God would ever after exist as a changeable being, have no fixed purposes, and be divested of that unalterable faithfulness, on which, now, his rational creatures rest with confidence and safety. What might not in this case be dreaded, in the everlasting change of his administrations—by all who love good, either in the Creator, or in his creatures!
5thly.
How great encouragements do these attributes to God furnish to Prayer? All encouragement to Prayer is derived from these two considerations; that God has required it of us as a duty, and that he has promised blessings in answer to our prayers. Were he a mutable God, it would be impossible for us to know, that what was his pleasure yesterday—would be his pleasure today; that what he had required yesterday—he would not prohibit today; or that what he promised yesterday—he would be willing to perform at any future period.It is impossible to determine, that a mutable God would not alter, not his conduct only, but his views, his principles of action, and the rules by which he governed his Creation. What he now loved—he might hereafter hate. What he now approved—he might hereafter condemn. What he now rewarded—he might hereafter punish. Virtuous beings, now loved, approved, and rewarded, by Him—might one day be hated, condemned, and punished. Wicked beings, on the contrary, now the objects of his hatred, and declared to be hereafter the objects of his punishment—might one day become the objects of his friendship and favor; and they would then triumph over the good in a manner equally unreasonable and dreadful.
Of these changes we could gain no possible knowledge, unless he should choose to communicate them to us by an immediate Revelation. From his mode of being, so diverse from ours—we could learn and conjecture nothing. From his past designs and administrations—we could never argue at all, to those which were future. Equally barren of instruction would be the nature of things—for we could never be assured, that he would, or would not, regard this subject; or in what manner he would regard it at any period to come.
Even if he should reveal his designs and his pleasure—we could never be certain, that he had revealed them truly. And if we were assured of this fact, the Revelation could be of no material use, except for the moment. What is disclosed, he might at any time revoke: and nothing could be known to be acceptable to him any longer, than during the moment in which the disclosure was made.
In the mean time, his power and his knowledge would still be such, that no hope could be indulged of either resistance or escape. Existence would in this case be, therefore, a dreadful succession of suspense; and immortal being, so far as we can discern, undeserving of a wish.
In such a situation of things, what encouragement would remain for prayer? The humble and faithful suppliant, coming to God with a firm belief that he exists, and that he is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek him—might find the manner of his praying, the spirit with which he prayed, and his prayers themselves, unacceptable and odious to God. The things heretofore most proper to be urged, might hereafter be the least proper. The considerations, which once ensured success, might at another time ensure rejection. The prime, the only, motives to prayer would, therefore, be taken away.
In the same manner the whole use of this duty, as it is intended to affect advantageously the character of the suppliant, would be finally removed. The great use of prayer, in this view, is to establish in the heart a humble dependence on God, and a firm confidence in him. Confidence, as I have already observed, would, in the case supposed, be shaken and destroyed—and without confidence, dependence would possess neither use nor worth.
In the present state of things, these attributes constitute the proper, and the only proper, temper of the soul for the reception of blessings; the spirit which is eminently beautiful and lovely in the sight of God, and which is accordingly chosen by him as the proper object of his unchangeable favor. In the case supposed, these attributes could not be united; because confidence could not exist—since the mind could not but perceive, that a changing God might, and probably would, in the infinite progress of things, become the subject of infinite change.
If, therefore, the holy mind could feel satisfied or safe, for a hundred or a thousand years—it would still rationally fear that at some unknown and more distant period of Eternity, the order of all things would be inverted; and its former obedience and former prayers rise up at this dreaded season in the character of crimes, and prove the cause of its future suffering. Dependence, therefore, existing solitarily, would degenerate into anxiety and alarm; and, instead of being the means of union between the soul and its Maker, would become a wall of dreadful separation.
The Immutability of God has often, but erroneously, been imagined to involve inflexibleness in God's character. The Scriptural Account of this great Being is, on the contrary, that he is immutably merciful; or, in other words, that he is immutably disposed to hear and answer Prayer. His own words are, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8
This and this only, is his true character, agreeably to which the system of his dispensations is immutably established. In this system, infinite encouragement is held out to every suppliant, and to every faithful prayer. Here the petitioner knows, that what is once acceptable to God, will always be acceptable; and that the things, which he has once required, he will require forever. His faith, therefore, is built on the Rock of Ages; and, with whatever violence the rains may descend, the winds drive, or the floods beat—their rage and fury will assault him in vain!