II. GOD WORKS RIGHTEOUSLY IN HUMAN HISTORY. Abraham meant either that God ought to do right, or that He will do right. Both are true. (Homilist.)
The Judge of all the earth doth right
I. THE LORD IS JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH.
1. The Lord is a judge.
(1) He sees and knows all things (Pro_15:3).
(2) He weighs human actions in the balances of justice (1Sa_2:3).
(3) He rewards the good and punishes the bad, in some instances even in this world.
2. He is the Judge of all the earth.
3. He will finally judge the world in the last great day (Act_17:31). That judgment will be solemn, grand, awful, equitable, and final.
II. IT IS CERTAIN THAT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DOTH RIGHT,
1. There is nothing wrong in any voluntary action, but what may be traced up to the following principles: it proceeds, in all instances, either from ignorance or from wickedness.
2. He cannot do wrong for want of knowing better. Speaking after the manner of men, all things, whether past, present, or future, are fully known to Him.
3. He is perfectly holy, and cannot do wrong from any evil principle. “Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with Psa_5:4). Viewing His infinite wisdom, and His transcendent purity, we are constrained to say, He cannot do wrong.
4. He doth what is right to men, in all their temporal affairs.
5. He doth right to men in all their spiritual concerns. All men fell in Adam, and all have been redeemed by Christ.
6. He will do right in the eternal rewards and punishments of men.
III. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THIS IMPORTANT SUBJECT.
1. Pious men, of widely different sentiments on the purposes and decrees of God, meet on this ground, and, while they sincerely acknowledge that the Judge of all the earth doth right, may cordially embrace each other in the arms of Christian love.
2. While we are piously impressed with the great truth, that the Judge of all the earth doth right, we shall submit ourselves to Him, in all the varying circumstances of life.
3. We should walk before the Judge of all the earth with circumspection, carefully avoiding everything that is offensive in His sight, and steadily pursuing those things which He approves.
4. While we conduct ourselves on this plan, and at the same time rely on the merits of Christ for salvation, we may safely leave all our affairs in the hands of our Judge.
5. This is matter of great joy to holy men. They may be accused and slandered, hut God will vindicate their character; and they may suffer with Christ, but they shall also reign with Him.
6. But this subject is truly awful and alarming to the wicked. They may be suffered to prosper in this world. There are weighty reasons for this in the
Divine mind; but they stand in slippery places, and ere long will be cast down into destruction. (Sketches of Sermons.)
The moral rectitude of God
I. GOD IS A BEING OF MORAL RECTITUDE.
1. God ought to be a Being of moral rectitude. He knows what is right and wrong respecting His own conduct, and respecting the conduct of all other moral beings in- the universe. He ought therefore to feel and act according to His moral discernment of what is right in the nature of things. And as He feels much more sensibly His obligation to moral rectitude than any other being, so we have far more reason to believe that He possesses moral rectitude, than that any other being in the universe does.
2. God claims to be a Being of moral rectitude. “When Moses requested Him to show him His glory, The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.”
3. God has made His rational creatures capable of discerning His moral as well as natural attributes. He has implanted in their minds a moral sense, by which they can distinguish moral beauty from moral deformity in moral characters. But can we suppose that He would have done this, if He knew that His own moral character would not bear examination?
4. God has not only made us capable of judging of His moral rectitude, but commanded us to do it. “Judge, I pray thee, between Me and My vineyard.” “Are not My ways equal? are not your ways unequal? saith the Lord.” His knowledge of His own moral perfections is the only ground upon which He can, with propriety, or even safety, appeal to us in respect to His moral rectitude.
5. God has not only commanded His intelligent creatures to judge of His moral rectitude, but has placed them under the best advantages to judge. He has placed them all in a state of trial, and in different parts of the universe, where they have had great opportunities and strong inclinations to examine His conduct with the strictest scrutiny. Now, if the greatest and best of God’s intelligent creatures, after their strictest scrutiny of His conduct in the various parts of the universe, have not been able to discover the least moral defect or imperfection in His character and conduct, we may confidently believe that He possesses the perfection of moral rectitude. And to close this connected train of reasoning, I would observe--
6. That God has appointed a day for the very purpose of giving all His intelligent creatures the best possible opportunity of judging of His moral rectitude. The day of judgment is called the day of “the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
II. How ABRAHAM COULD KNOW THAT GOD IS A BEING OF MORAL RECTITUDE.
1. Abraham could not know the moral rectitude of God by knowing what God would do to promote the highest happiness of the universe.
2. Abraham could not know the moral rectitude of God by knowing that the punishing of the innocent would not promote the highest good of the universe.
3. Though Abraham could not know what would be right or wrong for God to do, either by knowing what had a direct tendency to promote the highest good of the universe, or what had an indirect tendency to promote that great and important object, yet he could know what was right or wrong for God to do to answer any purpose whatever, by knowing that right or wrong or moral good and evil are founded in the nature of things. Moral good, which consists in true benevolence, is morally right in its own nature. And moral evil, which consists in selfishness, is morally wrong in its own nature.
IMPROVEMENT.
1. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then He can never do evil that good may come.
2. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then He can never approve of His creatures’ doing evil that good may come.
3. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then He will not punish the finally impenitent the less, on account of the good they have done in the world.
4. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then it is morally impossible that He should ever injure any of His creatures.
5. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then all the objections which have been made or can be made against His conduct are altogether groundless. For He has always acted agreeably to the moral rectitude of His nature.
6. Since God is a Being of perfect moral rectitude, all His works will eventually praise Him. They will deserve and receive the approbation and praise of all His holy creatures.
7. If God be a Being of moral rectitude, then the weight of His wrath will be insupportable to the finally miserable. They will know that He does not punish them from malice, revenge, or malevolence, but from true, pure, disinterested benevolence and justice. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Justice
I. Notice the grand fundamental truth that the ways of God are ways of righteousness.
II. That the impartiality of God’s dispensations is evident from the fact that the entire field of judgment is subject to His control, “all the earth.”
III. That God’s dealings with men are not partial in this life; i.e., they do not involve injustice here to be counterbalanced and rectified by the judgment which is to be hereafter.
IV. That while justice must be tempered with mercy, every appeal for mercy should be grounded on an underlying principle of justice. (The Lay Preacher.)
The moral government of God
I. By the moral government of God is meant His GOVERNMENT OF INTELLIGENT AND ACCOUNTABLE CREATURES ACCORDING TO PRINCIPLES OF MORAL RECTITUDE. It implies a government similar to that which a civil magistrate exercises over his subjects. All government supposes a law, together with an obligation on the part of the governed to obey it, and power lodged with the magistrate to enforce the obligation. In moral governments it is essential that the law should be righteous, and its administration just. An arbitrary and lawless government may inflict punishment where it is undeserved, and confer rewards where they are unmerited; but a righteous governor will regulate his conduct towards his subjects by the moral quality of their characters. He will reward the good; he will punish the wicked. The law of his empire will have its foundation in righteousness, and his subjects will know that instead of being liable to the effects of misrule and caprice, they will be treated with a uniform regard to truth and justice. Such is the notion we form of the moral government of God.
II. And now, having thus explained what is meant by His moral government, I may proceed to point out to you SOME OF THOSE PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF ITS EXISTENCE AND ADMINISTRATION WHICH MAY SERVE THE PURPOSES OF GENERAL IMPROVEMENT.
1. Man is a moral agent. A moral agent is a being capable of those actions which are properly the subjects of commendation or of censure, which are either laudable or worthy of blame. He is endowed with intellectual and moral powers. He can distinguish between good and evil. He has a capacity of choice, guided by understanding and reason; a will governed by moral motives and inducements; and a power of acting according to his determination and pleasure. These are some of the most essential and distinguishing attributes of moral agency. Such a being is man. Since, then, the natural constitution of man is so framed--since there is obviously everything in his mental character to render him a fit subject for moral government, it is reasonable to conclude that such a government is actually established over him.
2. The same thing is to be inferred from the supremacy of conscience. It is the office of conscience to preside over and control all the other faculties of our moral nature. To direct the will, to curb the passions, and to regulate the conduct, belongs to conscience. To conscience also it belongs to judge what propensities may be indulged, and in what degree, and which ought to be restrained. Conscience is set up within us as the arbiter of our actions, the superintendent of our senses, affections, and appetites; and the judge who shall bestow commendation or censure on all our principles and motives.
3. The tendency of mankind to institute moral governments among themselves is an argument in favour of the moral government of God. Such a tendency, from its almost universal development, may be considered as among the original properties of our nature. It seems to fall in with man’s natural perceptions of the fitness of things, not only that he should live in society with his fellow-men, but that society should be so framed as to involve moral subordination and supremacy--that, in other words, there should be governors and the governed.
4. The course of events in the present dispensation of Providence, is upon the whole so ordered as to indicate on the part of the Supreme Disposer a preference for virtue in distinction from vice. In this constitution of things, therefore, we have a declaration from Him who orders all the arrangements of providence, and presides over the course of natural events, which side He is of, and what part He takes in the great conflict between moral good and evil. In the struggle which is carrying on between these opposite and contending principles, He determines to give no countenance to vice. The worker of iniquity shall have no sanction from Him; but if a man will be true to virtue, to veracity and judgment, to equity and charity, and to the right of the case in whatever he is concerned, he shall have the righteous God to be the Protector of his integrity, and the whole weight of His moral administration to countenance and uphold it. For the voice of nature, and the events of providence, concur to proclaim aloud that “the Lord loveth the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked He turneth upside down.”
5. The moral government of God is the only proper basis upon which religion can be made to rest with security. If men can once discard from their minds the fact of their responsibility to their Creator, nothing will remain upon which to build any sense of piety, or by which to enforce the claims of religious faith and duty.
6. The moral government of God has received its grand proof and establishment in the scheme of human redemption. True it is, that the prevailing character in the mediatorial economy is mercy. It is a dispensation of grace. Its design is to pardon the guilty, to save the lost. But, in making its wonderful provision for the spiritual exigencies of man, it does no violence to the righteous claims of God. If it had, such a circumstance would have been conclusive against it. It would then have been a method of salvation upon which no satisfactory or enlightened dependence could be placed. But it is now “ worthy of all acceptation,” being alike honourable to justice and mercy. “If grace reigns,” “it reigns through righteousness.” (E. Steane.)
The principles of God’s government
I. In the first place, THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD PROCEEDS ON PRINCIPLES OF PURE COMPASSION AND LOVE.
II. THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD IS NOT LESS MARKED BY PRINCIPLES OF PURITY AND JUSTICE THAN BY THOSE OF COMPASSION.
III. THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT GOES ON THE PRINCIPLE OF PREVENTION.
IV. Observe THE SPIRIT OF REFORMATION AND AMENDMENT WHICH PREVAILS THROUGHOUT THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. (J. W.Cunningham, M. A.)
Abraham’s intercession, or, doubt and confidence
Observe the great honour which the Lord conferred upon His faithful servant. Surely this signal recognition of personal worth and faithful service speaks volumes of the esteem in which the Lord holds His servants. Observe, again, the unselfish use which Abraham made of the wonderful interview with which he was honoured. Men of the world, when ushered into the presence of royalty, only think of their own interest; they consider well how such an opportunity may be improved for their own personal advantage. How very different the conduct of Abraham! Observe, again, the nature of the plea which Abraham sets up for the preservation of the city. He points out the claims of righteousness, which the Lord, as a righteous judge, could not less than respect. “Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” And the Lord readily admitted the validity of his plea, for He said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then will I spare all the place for their sakes.” Thus the only thing which God values in man is righteousness, purity of character; compared with this, the accidents of birth, possessions, attainments, are utterly insignificant in His eyes. In the conversation which followed, Abraham not only showed his intimate knowledge of God’s merciful disposition, but showed also that this intimate knowledge was far from being perfect. Let us contemplate the words--
I. As AN EXPRESSION OF DOUBT. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” With regard to what the Judge of all the earth ought to do, there can be but one opinion. The position of any judge is one of dignity, authority, and responsibility; he cannot, therefore, maintain his position for a single day unless he do right, and execute justice, and act impartially. Nevertheless, a superficial view of the condition of this world--a world so full of confusion, disorder, and lawlessness--have led some to doubt the righteousness of its great Judge and Governor. Let us now glance, for a moment, at some of the circumstances which give rise to these distressing thoughts.
1. When right is defeated, and wrong is triumphant. In this world, it is might that triumphs, and not right. Read the records of the past, and see how empires grew, waxed strong, and acquired wealth. In very many instances it was the work of the sword, the result of military skill, valour, and power. What was Alexander the Great? What was Julius Caesar? What was Napoleon Buonaparte? What was the nature of the work which they severally accomplished? They were neither more nor less than conquerors; men who established the dominion of might. They may have sometimes been the champions of right, and used their splendid victories for the best purposes. Look at individuals. The mighty, the powerful, the strong, have it all their own way; while the weak are ruthlessly trampled under foot. And many a down-trodden weak one, knowing the righteousness of his cause, whispers in the bitterness of his soul, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
2. When wickedness prospers and virtue fails. There can be no dispute whatever as to which ought to prosper, and which ought to fail. It is only reasonable to suppose that the order of things established by a Creator who is infinitely wise and good, should discountenance vice and favour virtue.
3. When what we conceive to be strict order is displaced by what seems to be utter confusion. Can you look back upon the experience of a single day, and say that all things have been conformable to your own notions of propriety? Does not the most superficial review suggest many improvements? It was strange to see King Edward the Sixth, under whose beneficent reign England began to enjoy the blessings of freedom, enlightenment, and true religion, cut off a tender youth, to make room for the tyrannical and bloodthirsty Mary, who brought upon the land darkness, oppression, and despair. The only child of rich parents, who have more possessions than they can possibly use, is carried away by death, while their poor neighbour, who finds it a difficult matter to earn the bare means of existence, is allowed to rear a numerous family. Is this the way we should have arranged matters?
II. As AN EXPRESSION OF CONFIDENCE. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” There can be no doubt whatever that Abraham used them in this sense--to express his unlimited confidence in the wisdom and righteousness of God. Having trusted God, he trusted Him altogether; and never allowed even the shadow of a doubt to darken the brightness of his faith. Many considerations might be suggested here which are adapted in the highest degree to hush our doubts, and to inspire our confidence. Consider--
1. That in this world we know God’s ways only in part. What may be the entire bearing, or the ultimate issue of any event, we have no means of ascertaining.
2. That whenever we have understood the whole bearing of mysterious events, we have been compelled to admit their wisdom.
3. That things which are apparently evil and unnecessary, may be really good and necessary. (D. Rowlands, B. A.)
God makes no mistakes
There is here a young man of about thirty, of fine talents and capabilities for active life, but for years a cripple, paralytic and helpless. He would starve if left alone, A friend was commiserating his condition, when, with deep earnestness, he exclaimed, as he slowly raised his withered hand, “God makes no mistakes?” How noble the sentiment! “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” This is piety. Only a heart divinely taught could thus speak. (Dr. Talmage.)
