DISCOURSE XIII.

PART II.

I

T having been said, that the miracles of Christ were not only wonders to establish his character as a divine person sent of God, and to give authority to what he declared; but that they were signs also, and pointed to something beyond the present action; and that one thing signified by them was, that as Christ had power over all nature, and was able to heal the diseases of the body; so he had the power to heal the maladies of the soul also, and to take away the guilt of sin; and goodness enough to do both, when he saw it proper.

A question will arise which deserves our attention; namely, whether the power of Christ, or of God, for the power is the same, be as absolute over the soul as over the body? In other words; can he expel sin and opposition to God's will, and all evil tempers and dispositions from the soul, with the same absolute power with which he cured the diseases of the body?

With regard to what God can or cannot do, we ought always to think and speak with the greatest humility, with a due sense of our own ignorance, and of the infinite perfections of the divine nature. God is almighty, that is, he can do every thing: and yet he can do nothing, the doing of which implies a contradiction in itself, or to his own holy nature. We hesitate not to say, that God cannot make a thing to be and not to be, at the same time; or to be both true and false under the same circumstances; because, being and not being, truth and falseVOL. I.

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hood contradict and mutually destroy each other. gain; we say without scruple, that God cannot deny himself, or speak, or act falsely; because, to do so would be against the truth and holiness of his own nature.~ However almighty and absolute, therefore, the power of God over his creatures may be, it will always be exerted according to their nature; because their nature is his gift; and his having given a particular nature to certain creatures is an implied promise and assurance, as strong as words could make it, that he will deal with them according to that particular nature which he hath given them, and not according to another nature which belongs not to them.

If we look to the clements and material objects of the world, we shall find the power of God exerted over them according to their nature; they continue to accomplish the end, and to answer the purpose for which he designed and fitted them by the nature which he gave them. And though a miraculous interposition may be said to suspend their nature for that time and on that occasion, yet it is attended with no violence to them, because they have no will. Nor is their nature thereby destroyed, but returns again to its usual course. body of man must be reckoned among material objects. Its natural state is health. A disease, therefore, is the absence or want of health; and the curing of a disease by a miracle is only restoring the body to its natural state by supernatural power. This does no violence to the creature, however absolutely and unconditionally it be done.

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But with rational, intelligent creatures, the case is different. They have a will of their own, given to them by their Creator; and the gift is an assurance from him, that he will treat them as creatures having such a will. To this class man evidently belongs. And though his mind and will may be supposed to act from the intimate union of spirit and matter, yet they who deny liberty to his will, speak absurdly, because will without liberty is no will. Now, how power over such creatures can be

absolutely exerted, to change their affections and hearts against their will, or to change their will, otherwise than by motives and arguments, does not appear.. To do so, would not be to deal with them according to their nature, but would reduce them from the class of intelligent beings, to that of necessary agents: their nature would be destroyed and as their actions would not be according to their own will, but his who acts upon them, he, and not they, must be accountable for them.

From hence appears the absurd conduct of wicked people, who continuing impenitent, still trust to the mercy of God. Suppose it possible for God to extend mercy to them without acting contrary to his own nature, and the nature he hath given them; and suppose his mercy should exempt them from actual suffering for their sins; can it confer that happiness which depends on their own will and temper? The happiness of every created being must come from its Creator. That God will do every thing possible to make his creatures happy, and will confer happiness on all who are capable of enjoying it with him, there can be no reason to doubt. He hath told us, that holiness will qualify us for happiness with him; and also, that without holiness no man shall see, that is, be happy with him. For this reason, he hath given his Holy Spirit to be with us, that through his operation we may obtain that holiness which he requires. But, if a man's will be to continue in sin and to be unholy, to remain in separation from God, and in opposition to him, it does not appear that omnipotency itself can save him. For if his will be changed by absolute power, his nature must be destroyed, and he will cease to be accountable for his actions, because they will be no longer his. This indeed would cut off all occasion of punishment, and so it would of reward; for it would leave no room for the judgment of God. On this ground, too, God becomes the agent of every thing that is done, whether good or bad.

It appears, then, that God does not act on the human mind by force. And by attending to that revelation of

his will which he hath made, it will appear that he does act on it by persuasion; by the influence of fear, and love, and hope; and by the excitements of his Holy Spirit. In this stile, his exhortations to repentance are generally expressed. And when he speaks more absolutely, it is not that he exercises an arbitrary power over men, but to shew the necessity and certainty of his presence with them in all the works of repentance and holiness because, being the origin and fountain of all goodness; the beginning, and progress, and perfection of holiness must be from his Spirit.

Through the whole Bible, man is considered as a reasonable creature; having ability to regard the motions of God's Spirit, or to reject them; to turn himself to them, or from them; to comply with them, or to quench them; that is, as having a Will of his own, and the pow er of determining his own actions; and not as being the subject of irresistible compulsion. On no other ground can we reconcile it with the goodness or justice of God, that men should be left to live in error and delusion, corrupting one another, and perverting the plain doctrines of the Gospel; or in vice and villany, in opposition to the laws of God and man. For if God can, con- . sistently with his own nature and the nature of man, change the human heart by his absolute over-ruling power, it might be done for all men, and then all men might be made good, whenever God pleased. In this way, error and delusion, sin and wickedness, vice and villany, and every thing that is evil in man, might be taken away. God is infinite in goodness and holiness : Why then is not this done? Because man has a will of his own, and cannot be made good, or holy, or happy in opposition to it.

Let it be remarked, that our Saviour forced none of his instructions or miracles on any one; but always addressed men as beings who had an own will and the power of receiving or rejecting what he taught. Preaching to the multitude, he said, "He that hath ears to hear, jet him hear." They all had ears to hear his words;

but they all had not the will and disposition to understand and apply what he said; and they only who had, would do so. And with regard to his miracles; his general practice was, when an application was made to him, to inquire into the reason on which it was made-Whether they believed him to be able to do what they requested of him? In other words, whether they had a will and disposition to be benefitted by the miracle? He sometimes told them their faith had saved them— their faith had made them whole. It is absurd to suppose, that their believing they were healed, or should be healed, could have wrought their cure. The power of Christ healed them; and their faith made them proper objects of his healing power. But did not Christ in

quire concerning their faith, because it had a further tendency than bare health of body? Would it not convince them, that he who healed the body, because their faith made them capable of receiving the benefit, was able also to heal the soul of all its maladies, if they looked to him with the same stedfast faith for that divine blessing? Would it not incline the will to listen to his instructions, to believe his doctrines, and to follow his directions, and to look to him for all things necessary to the salvation of the soul, as well as to the health of the body? Can we, for instance, suppose that the Canaanitish woman, upon whose faith her daughter was relieved from diabolical possession, would ever consider Christ in any other light than as the Son of David, the Messiah of God, the Saviour of men? or that she would not have been disposed to believe all he said, and do all he commanded? Now, this disposition is that very state of heart which all men ought to have towards God; that very faith, to which so much is ascribed in the Bible; namely, an absolute trust and confidence in God, which believes all he says, and endeavours to do all that he commands. When the heart and will are thus disposed, the soul is prepared for the power of Christ to operate on it, and free it from all the habits and defilements of sin; even as the faith of the blind and lame, that Christ could