The Christian System - Chapter 5

THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

I. As there is man and the spirit of man, so there is God and the spirit of God. They are capable of a separate and distinct existence. "What man knoweth the things of a man," says Paul, "but the spirit of man that is in him; even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." There is in this case an image of God in man--not, indeed, an exact image, but an image; for as Paul says of the law, so say we of man; "For the law had a shadow, (a resemblance) of good things to come, and not the very (or exact) image of the things." So man was made an image of God, though not the exact image--the active power of man is in his spirit: so John the Baptist came in the power of Elijah, because he came in his spirit. The spirit of God is therefore often used for his power; though it is not an impersonal power, but a living, energizing, active, personal existence. Hence, in all the works of God, the spirit of God is the active, operating agent. Thus in the old creation, while ancient chaos yet remained--when "the earth was without form, and void, and darkness brooded on the bosom of the vast abyss," "the spirit of God moved"--(incubated and energized)--"upon the face of the waters." "The hand of the Lord has made me, and the spirit of the Almighty has given me life." "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the [24] power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;" and thus was chaos subdued, man vitalized, "the heavens garnished," and the body of Jesus made by the spirit of God.



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The Christian System - Chapter 4

THE SON OF GOD.

I. "The holy progeny (or thing) which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." "This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I delight." "This is my Son, the beloved, hear him." "No person has ascended into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven," or whose abode is in heaven. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son; the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son who is the bosom of the Father has declared him." "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel." "Glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." "In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead1 bodily," or substantially. "He is the first and the last." "All things were created by him and for him." "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." "The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory: the glory as of an only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."


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The Christian System - Chapter 3

GOD.

I. "I AM THAT I AM." "I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live for ever." "The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding." "His understanding is infinite." "Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" "For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." "I beseech thee, show me thy glory, and he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." "And the Lord passed by before him1 and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and sin, and that by no means aquits the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation"--"and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." "O Lord God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, thou hast made heaven and earth. Hear, O Israel--Jehovah our Aleim is one Jehovah2--the Lord our God is one Lord." "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which wast, and art, and art to come." "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints." "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy," "He is the Rock, his work is perfect; [19] for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." "Glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders."

II. Such are a few--a specimen of the Divine declarations concerning himself; repeated and re-echoed by the purest and most intellectual beings in heaven and earth. It is from his word and his works we learn the being and perfections of God. As we form a character of man from what he says and what he does, so learn we the Divine character. "The heavens declare his glory, and the firmament showeth forth his handy work: day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Creation reveals the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God. Providence proclaims also his justice, truth, and holiness. Redemption develops his mercy, condescension, and love; and all these are again characterized by infinity, eternity, immutability. Nature, then, attests and displays the knowledge, wisdom, power, and goodness of God. The law and the providence of God especially declare his justice, truth, and holiness--while the gospel unfolds his mercy, condescension, and love; and all these proclaim that God is infinite, eternal, and immutable. God appears before the universe of intellectuals, in the threefold attitude of Creator, Lawgiver, and Redeemer; and although each of these involves and reveals many of his excellencies, still in each department three are most conspicuous. As Creator, knowledge, wisdom, power, and goodness; as Lawgiver, justice, truth, and holiness; as Redeemer, mercy, condescension, and love. In each and all of which departments, he is infinite, immutable, and eternal.

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The Christian System - Chapter 2

THE BIBLE

I. One God, one moral system, one Bible. If nature be a system, religion is no less so. God is "a God of order," and that is the same as to say he is a God of system. Nature and religion, the offspring of the same supreme intelligence, bear the image of one father; twin sisters of the same Divine parentage. There is an intellectual and a moral universe as clearly bounded as the system of material nature. Man belongs to the whole three. He is an animal, intellectual, and moral being. Sense is his guide in nature, faith in religion, reason in both. The Bible contemplates man primarily in his spiritual and eternal relations. It is the history of nature, so far only as is necessary to show man his origin and destiny; for it contemplates nature, the universe, only in relation to man's body, soul, and spirit.

II. The Bible is to the intellectual and moral world of man, what the sun is to the planets in our system;--the fountain and source of light and life, spiritual and eternal. There is not a spiritual idea in the whole human race, that is not drawn from the Bible. As soon will the philosopher find an independent sunbeam in nature, as the theologian a spiritual conception in man, independent of THE ONE BEST BOOK.

III. The Bible, or the Old and New Testaments, in Hebrew and Greek, contains a full and perfect revelation of God and his will, adapted to man as he now is. It speaks of man as he was, and also as he will hereafter be; but it dwells on man as he is, and as he ought to be, as its peculiar and appropriate theme. It is not, then, a treatise on man as he was, nor on man as he will be, but on man as he is, and as he ought to be; not as he is physically, astronomically, geologically, politically, or metaphysically; but as he is and ought to be morally and religiously.

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The Christian System - Chapter 1

THE UNIVERSE.

I. ONE God, one system of nature, one universe. That universe is composed of innumerable systems, which, in perfect concert move forward in subordination to one supreme end. That one end of all things is the sovereign and infinite pleasure of Him who inhabits eternity and animates the universe with his presence. So worship and adore the heavenly hierarchies, saying:--"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

II. The universe is a system of systems, not only as respects the seventy-five millions of suns and their attendant planets, which fill up the already discovered fields of ethereal space; but in reference to the various systems, separate, though united; distinct, though amalgamated; heterogeneous, though homogeneous; which are but component parts of every solar system--of every planet in that system, and of every organic, and every inorganic mass on each planet. Thus in the person of a single individual man, we have an animal system, an intellectual system, a moral system, running into each other, and connecting themselves with every thing of a kindred nature in the whole universe of God: just as we have in the human body itself a system of solids, and a system of fluids; and these again forming themselves into a system of bones, a system of nerves, a system of arteries, a system of veins, &c.

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