114. PSA 86:8. THE GOD OF THE CHRISTIAN AND THE GOD OF THE INFIDEL
Psa_86:8. The God of the Christian and the God of the Infidel
By the Rev. W. B. Sprague, D. D., of Albany, N. Y.
"Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord."’97Psa_86:8.
The existence of a God is a fundamental principle of all religion. The mind, wherever this doctrine is presented to it, instantly perceives that it is grasping an idea of immense importance, and that, before it has paused to survey its momentous and infinitely extended bearings. But when considered in its relations to the material and immaterial world, to every object in the wide range of thought, it gathers an interest which the mind, in its loftiest aspirings, is inadequate to comprehend; being a sort of dividing-line between the territories of light and the territories of darkness; between a region illumined by the acknowledgment of the active presence of a God, and a region over which hang the clouds and shadows and curses of atheism Laying out of view the gods of the heathen, to which the text refers, I purpose to bring before you, I. The God of the Infidel, and the God of the Christian; and to inquire, II. Which is most likely to exalt the Character of Man; which best adapted to meet his Necessities.
Let us,
I. Compare the God of the Infidel, and the God of the Christian.
1. The infidel’s God is a being of uncertain attributes; the character of the Christian’s God is fixed and certain.
In the records of deism there are scarcely two individuals who acknowledge the same God. Some have entertained imperfect, yet in some degree just views of him; and some have seemed to feel some lofty aspirations in contemplating his character. Others, whose conceptions are more inadequate and gross. The infidel’s God is a being to whom no fixed character belongs.
Not so with the Being whom the Christian worships. Whether we look at each of the various attributes of which his character is composed, or at the whole in glorious combination, we see the indubitable impress of certainty. Hence we find, that in every clime, and in every age, the God whom Christians adore is the same; "the same yesterday, today, and forever."
2. The God of the infidel is little more than a mere distant spectator of events; the God of the Christian is everywhere, in the exercise of a sustaining, controlling, and all-gracious energy.
The infidel’s God is represented as reposing in a kind of indolent majesty, exercising but little regard to the works of his hands. He takes some cognizance of the grander events which occur in the physical and moral world; but with the lesser and every-day concerns of life, it is supposed that he has little to do. His providence is a sort of indefinite superintendence of his works, which may leave man to become the sport of accident.
The Christian’s God, on the other hand not only fills all space, but fills it with an active controlling energy. He is present in all worlds to control the events of each and while the whole system of things moves on exactly in accordance with the dictates of his will and of his wisdom, his regards are as intensely fixed upon the destiny of the obscurest individual, or even upon the unfolding of a flower or the motion of an atom, as if it were the only object to engross his infinite mind. As nothing is too grand, so nothing is too insignificant for his eye and providence to reach. The worm that creeps upon his footstool, and the angel that burns before his throne, are alike within the range of his vision’97within the control of his arm’97within the circle of his regard.
3. The God of the infidel we can contemplate only in his abstract perfections; the attributes of the Christian’s God are embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
The infidel may inspect the elements of his own intellectual and moral nature, and may find in them some faint resemblance to some of the divine perfections. Or else, he looks abroad upon the divine works, &c., &c. But I maintain, that the attributes of God, viewed merely in this light, are clothed with a sort of abstraction, which is fitted rather to make the mind pause and reflect upon its own littleness, than to bring its powers into exercise in acts of intense and grateful homage.
But Christianity entirely relieves this difficulty. The Christian’s God comes out, as it were, from behind the veil of his abstract perfections, and brings himself directly in contact with our thoughts and feelings, I had almost said, with our very senses, in the person of Jesus Christ. Here God is manifested in the flesh; the divine glory, as it shines in the person of his Son, is so softened, that we can gaze upon it, without being overpowered by the vision. The actions of a God we can here view, the attributes of a God we can here contemplate, the authoritative declarations of a God we can here listen to, through the medium of a nature like our own.
4. The God of the infidel is, at best, only the God of nature and providence; the God of the Christian is also the God of redemption.
To the former let as much perfection be attributed as reason can possibly conceive’97say, that he made the heavens, &c., rules the world, &c., yet it is not even claimed for him, that he is a redeeming The Christian’s God possesses every perfection, and performs every work attributed to the infidel’s God. But in addition to all this, and beyond all this, he is the God of redemption. In this character there is a new and more magnificent display of his attributes; a softening of those which appeared stern; a blending of those which seemed opposite; justice, holiness, faithfulness, and mercy, all beaming forth in man’s salvation. Here, then, is the difference; the one is, and the other is not, encircled with the glory of a Redeemer. Keeping this contrast in view, let us proceed to inquire,
II. Whether the Infidel’s or the Christian’s God is best adapted to exalt the character of man, and to meet his necessities.
Which is best adapted,
1. To exalt the human character?
That a belief in the Christian’s God is the more influential God is evident from the fact,
(1) That he is a Being with whom man is brought into more immediate contact. The Christian’s God meets him everywhere. He observes all his actions, &c. He manifests himself through the medium of man’s own nature, &c.
(2) There is far more in his character to make an appeal to the active principles of our nature. Take, for instance, the principle of gratitude; how much more is there to waken this into exercise in the character of the Christian’s God, than of the God of the infidel! Same will apply to confidence, fear, &c.
(3) From the very constitution of our nature our characters become assimilated to the object of our supreme homage. The only question then is, if indeed it be a question: Whether the infidel’s God, or the Christian’s God, is the more excellent and glorious? It is manifest, the Christian’s God, then, does possess a more exalted character than the God of the infidel, it follows, therefore, from the law of our nature, to which we just adverted, that a belief in the former exerts the nobler influence.
(4) We appeal to facts. I challenge you to point me to one character formed under belief in the infidel’s God, which exhibits a high degree of moral virtue You may find some who are inoffensive, or who are not stained with open vice; but never will you find one of lofty virtuous aspirations, or elevated to a high standard of moral excellence. Where will you find characters formed by faith in the infidel’s God like those of Howard, Wilberforce, Thornton, and Edwards, and a multitude of others, whose names illumine the record of Christianity?
Our second inquiry is,
2. Whether the God of the infidel, or of the Christian, is best adapted to meet man’s necessities?
Man needs,
(1) A guide. (2) A protector. (3) A Saviour.
Will the God of the infidel, or the Christian’s God, best meet these exigencies? The reply is and must be obvious, The Christian’s God is the surest guide, the safest guard, and the only Saviour.
Application
1. Who dare trust to the infidel’s God? Who trust him as a refuge’97as a Saviour? Who seek pardon from him’97sanctification from him? Dare you trust him in the hour of extremity’97on the bed of death’97and throw that deathless spirit of yours on his protection for eternity? Above all, who dare do this, when thousands have died reproaching themselves for their wretched infatuation?
2. Remember, that in order that the Christian’s God may become your portion, you must yield your hearts and lives to his service; you must love him, trust him, obey him. Then, I repeat, you may be fearless in adversity; fearless in death’97fearless amid the funeral fires of the world.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS