That they without us should not be made perfect.] Believers before the flood, after the flood, under the law, and since the law, make but one Church. The Gospel dispensation is the last, and the Church cannot be considered as complete till the believers under all dispensations are gathered together. As the Gospel is the last dispensation, the preceding believers cannot be consummated even in glory till the Gospel Church arrive in the heaven of heavens.

There are a great variety of meanings put on this place, but the above seems the most simple and consistent. See Revelation vi. 11. "White robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." This time, and its blessings, are now upon the wing.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE BEING OF A GOD.

DEDUCED FROM A CONSIDERATION of ver. 6: He that cometh unto God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them who diligently seek him.

I. METAPHYSICIANS and philosophers, in order to prove the existence of God, have used two modes of argumentation:- 1. A priori, proofs drawn from the necessity that such a being as God is, must exist: arguments of this kind do not produce any thing in evidence which is derived from his works.

2. A posteriori, proofs of the being and perfections of God, drawn from his own works.

PROPOSITIONS A PRIORI.

PROP I. If there be no one being in the universe but such as might possibly not have existed, it would follow that there might possibly have been no existence at all; and if that could be so, it would be also possible that the present existence might have arisen from total nonexistence, which is absurd: therefore it is not possible that there might have been no existence at all. Consequently, an impossibility of not existing must be found somewhere; there must have been a being whose nonexistence is impossible.

II. The whole nature of an unoriginated being, or aggregate of his attributes, must be unoriginated, and necessarily what it is. A being cannot produce its own attributes; for this would suppose it acted before it existed. There is nothing in the nature of this being that is contingent, or could have been otherwise than it is; for whatever is contingent, must have a cause to determine its mode of existence.

III. The attributes of an unoriginated being must be possessed by it unlimitedly; for to possess an attribute imperfectly, or only in a certain degree, must suppose some cause to have modified this being so as to make him incapable of having that attribute in any other than an imperfect degree. But no cause can be admitted in this case, because this is the First of all beings, and the Cause of all things. Farther, an imperfect attribute, or any one that is not in its highest degree, must be capable of improvement by exercise and experience; which would imply that the unoriginated being must be originally imperfect, and that he was deriving farther degrees of perfection from the exercise of his own powers, and acquaintance with his own works.

IV. The unoriginated being must exist everywhere, in the same manner he does anywhere; for if he did not, it would suppose some cause by which his presence was limited; but there can be no cause to limit that presence. See above.

V. This unoriginated being must be a simple uncompounded substance, identically the same everywhere; not consisting of parts, for these must be distinct and independent; nor of whole, for this is the aggregate of parts; nor of magnitude or quantity, for these signify a composition of parts.

This being must be as truly one and omnipresent, as the present moment of time is indivisibly one in all places at once; and can no more be limited or measured by time, than the present moment can by duration.

Hence this being cannot be matter or body, because to these belong extension, divisibility, figurability, and mobility, which imply limitation.

God and matter have essentially contrary properties.

God is not material. It has already been shown that there necessarily must exist one infinite, unoriginated, and eternal being. Now this being must be a thinking being; for it is as impossible to conceive that unthinking matter could produce a thinking intelligent being, as it is to conceive that nothing could produce matter.

Let us suppose any parcel of matter to be eternal, we shall find it, in itself, unable to produce any thing. Let us suppose its parts firmly at rest together; if there were no other being in the world, must it not eternally remain so, a dead, inactive lump? Is it possible to conceive that it can add motion to itself, or produce it in other portions of matter? Matter, therefore, by its own strength, cannot produce in itself so much as motion.

The motion it has must also be from eternity, or else added to matter by some other being more powerful than itself.

But let us suppose motion eternal too; yet matter, unthinking matter, and motion, could never produce thought. Knowledge will still be as far beyond the power of motion and matter to produce, as matter is beyond the power of nothing to produce. Divide matter into as minute parts as you will, vary the figure and motion of it as much as you please, it will operate no other ways upon other bodies of proportionate bulk than it did before this division. The minutest particles of matter strike, impel, and resist one another, just as the greater do; and that is all that they can do. So that if we will suppose nothing eternal, matter can never begin to be. If we suppose bare matter, without motion, eternal, then motion can never begin to be. If we suppose only matter and motion eternal, then thought can never begin to be. For it is impossible to conceive that matter, either with or without motion, could have originally, in and from itself, sense, perception, and knowledge, as is evident from hence, that sense, perception, and knowledge, must be properties eternally separate from matter, and every particle of it.

Since, therefore, whatsoever is the first eternal being must necessarily be a thinking being, and whatsoever is first of all things must necessarily contain in it and actually have, at least, all the perfections that can ever after exist, it necessarily follows that the first eternal being cannot be matter.

VI. This being must possess intelligence and power unlimited, and all other attributes that are in themselves absolute perfections.

Attributes are divided into natural and moral, or primary and secondary.

The first are those which essentially belong to the nature of a being considered in itself; the second in its manner of acting toward others. All the attributes of God, being uncontingent, must be unlimited; and therefore his knowledge must extend to every thing that can be known, and his power to every thing that can be done.

VII. There cannot be in the universe more than one unoriginated being; for as this being is possessed of infinite attributes, let us suppose a second unoriginated being; he must possess the same: for both these beings are eternal, and necessarily the same, every where alike present, without any possible difference or distinction, and therefore one and the same. Two such cannot subsist; and the supposition of a second such being is only a mental repetition of the being and attributes of the first.

VIII. All things owe their existence to their first cause, operating according to its own free will. Absolute power does not act of necessity, but freely: the power may exist without exertion; if it did not, then it acts by necessity; and if so, necessity is the agent, and not the free power, of the independent God. He can do what he will, but he will do only what is right, &c.

The like may be said of his omniscience. He knows himself, and what he has formed, and what he can do; but is not necessitated to know as certain what himself has made contingent. If God must continually act because he is omnipotent, and know because he is omniscient, then he must be constantly employed in doing or undoing whatever is possible to be done or undone, and knowing all that is, and all that can be, and what cannot be; which is absurd.

IX. God is a being of infinite goodness, wisdom, mercy, justice, and truth, and all other perfections which become the Framer and Governor of the universe.

GOODNESS consists in being pleased with communicating happiness to others.

WISDOM, in making a right or beneficent use of knowledge or power; for no being, howsoever intelligent or powerful, is said to act wisely, but that which makes a good or beneficent use of knowledge and power. Hence wisdom and goodness must be ever conjoined to make any act of power perfect. As he is wise, he knows what is best to be done; powerful, he can do it; good, he will do it. Justice, mercy, truth, or faithfulness, are not distinct attributes, but denominations given to his power and wisdom, in their various operations on different occasions, in reference to his creatures.

God's liberty of acting. His power and wisdom being infinite, he cannot be prevented by any outward cause; his nature being essentially good, he can have no opposition from within. His power and all his other attributes, being infinite, eternal, and consequently unlimited, can have no opposition from without. And his liberty consists in his being free to act or not act, or infinitely or limitedly to vary his operations according to his own wisdom, goodness, and truth. See also the late bishop of Ossory, Chevalier Ramsay, Dr. S. Clarke, and others, on this subject.

SKETCHES OF PROOFS A POSTERIORI.

Recapitulation of the preceding Propositions II. In the argument a priori, in order to demonstrate the being of a GOD, it was attempted to prove that there must have been a being whose nonexistence is impossible. In arguing on this subject it has been shown:- 1. That this being was unoriginated.

2. That all his attributes must also be unoriginated.

3. That these attributes must be unlimited and absolutely perfect.

4. That this being must exist everywhere in the same manner he does anywhere.

5. That he is simple and uncompounded, not consisting of parts, nor of whole, nor of magnitude, nor of quantity.

6. That he must possess intelligence and power unlimited, and all other attributes that are in themselves absolute perfections.

7. That there cannot be in the universe any more than one such unoriginated, simple, and infinite being.

8. That all things owe their existence to this first cause, operating, not according to any kind of necessity, but according to its own free will.

9. That as, in all his operations, all his attributes must concur and combine, so all the works of his hands must bear the impress of wisdom and goodness; of that wisdom which consists in making a right use of knowledge and power, i.e. using both beneficially; of that goodness which consists in being pleased with communicating happiness to others.

Hence may be deduced CREATION, the plan of which proceeded from his wisdom, the execution from his power, and the result a proof of his goodness.

From these data we might proceed to prove the being of a God, and his beneficence and moral government of the world, a posteriori, i.e. arguing from the effects to the cause.

And first, a being of infinite wisdom must be expected to form his works so as to evidence that wisdom in their multiplicity, variety, internal structure, arrangement, connections, and dependencies; and, consequently, that these works must be in many respects inscrutable to man. And this, as they are his works, must be one of their characteristics.

Whether there be any other kind of beings than spiritual and material, and such as are of a mixed nature, we cannot tell; but we have no ideas of any other kinds, nor can we conceive the possibility of the existence of any other; as we have no ideas of any figure that is not formed of straight or curved lines, or a mixture of both.

God, the uncreated Spirit, manifests himself by material substances.

Created spirits must be manifested in the same way; and though matter may exist without spirit, and spirit without matter, yet without the latter, spirit cannot become manifest. Hence matter appears to have been created for the use of spirit or intellectual beings.

Creation in general demonstrates the being of a God.

The SOLAR SYSTEM and plurality of worlds, magnitude, distances, velocity and gravity, of the celestial bodies, projectile and centripetal forces, center of gravity, ellipsis, double and treble motion, attraction, all demonstrate the wisdom, power, and goodness of God.

VEGETATION. Plants, trees, circulation of nutritious juices, composition of ligneous fibres, dissolution and regeneration of terrestrial productions.

PRESERVATION of genera and species, demonstrations of infinite skill, and of the wisest and most beneficent providence MAN. Life, nutrition, sleep, the senses, particularly vision and muscular motion; each furnishes a series of irresistible arguments.

The HEART and the circulation of the blood afford the most striking proofs; and on this point let the reader particularly fix his attention.

In a healthy state the heart makes eighty pulsations in a minute, and it is calculated that from two ounces to two ounces and a half of blood are expelled into the aorta at each pulsation; consequently at least nine thousand six hundred ounces will be thrown into the aorta in an hour, which would amount to one thousand four hundred and forty pounds in one day! At each pulsation this quantum of blood is propelled eight inches, which amounts to fifty feet in a minute! The quantity of blood in a human body is, on an average, about thirty pounds, and passes through the heart about twenty-three times in the space of one hour! A weight of fifty pounds hung to the foot, the leg laid across the opposite knee, was raised by the action of the popliteal artery. Allowing for the distance from the center of motion, this proves that the heart must possess a power of at least four hundred pounds! The blood circulates by pressure from behind, occasioned by the action of the heart, which pressure having propelled it, according to the laws of gravity to the extremities, reconducts it, contrary to those laws, back to the heart. How is this effected? It has been supposed that the ARTERIES contribute much to the circulation of the blood; were it even so, it would be comparatively useless, as they cease where such an auxiliary power is most wanting, at the extremities, where their anastomosis with the veins takes place, and the veins are not supposed to possess any such propelling power.

But that the arteries possess no such power Bichat has proved by the following experiment: he took the arm of a dead man, placed it in warm water, inserted one end of a tube in the brachial artery, and the other end in the carotid artery of a living dog; the blood circulated in the dead arm, the pulse of which beat regularly by the action of the heart of the living animal.

Is there not a wondrous and especial providence of God by which this is effected? Others have attributed the pulsation of the heart itself to the stimulating nature of the blood. Bichat has disproved this by the following experiments:- 1. Expose the heart of an animal and empty it, apply a stimulus to its muscles, and it will dilate, and contract, as if it were full.

2. Puncture all the large vessels connected with the heart, so as to empty it entirely, and the alternate contractions and dilations will continue for some time, notwithstanding the total absence of the blood.

3. Remove two hearts of equal bulk from two living animals, place the fingers in the ventricles of the one, and grasp the other in the opposite hand, and it will be found that the effort of the latter in its dilation is as forcible as the other in its contraction.

Incessant action of the heart. Its unweariedness. What exhausts all other muscles appears to increase its action and its force! Can any person conceive how it is possible that a muscle can be in incessant action for threescore, fourscore, or a hundred years, without any kind of weariness? There is nothing in nature that can well explain this. Over its motion the mind has no power. This is wisely ordered, as many, in momentary fits of caprice, despair, and passion, would suspend the circulation, and thus put an end to their lives.

Providence, or the economical government of GOD in the provision for men and animals. Never too much, never too little; the produce of the earth being ever in proportion to the consumers, and the consumers to that produce.

Redemption. 1. As all things are intimately known to God, he must know wherein their happiness consists, and may from his goodness be expected to make every provision for that happiness.

2. Every sentient creature is capable of happiness or misery.

3. No creature can choose a state of misery for itself, because no creature can desire to be unhappy.

4. If any being could choose that state for another, he must be led to it by some motive which may make it eligible or desirable; and this must spring from his envy, jealousy, fear, or a conviction that the wretchedness of the other will contribute to his own happiness. None of these can exist in God the Creator, consequently he must be supposed to have made man for happiness. His counsels never change, and therefore when man had fallen he provided him a saviour; this might be naturally expected from his infinite benevolence.

The moral changes made in sinners, proofs of the being, agency, goodness, and presence of God.

Man's existence is a proof of the being of God; he feels himself to be the effect of a cause, and that cause to be wise, powerful, and good. There is evidently no cause in nature capable of producing such an effect, for no operation of nature can produce mind or intellect; the wonderful structure of the body, and the astonishing powers of the mind, equally prove that God is our Maker, and that in him we live, move, and have our being.

III. Astronomical phenomena very difficult to be accounted for upon natural principles, which are strong evidences of the being and continual agency of God.

PHENOMENON I.

The motion of a planet in an elliptic orbit is truly wonderful, and incapable of a physical demonstration in all its particulars. From its aphelion, or greatest distance from the sun or body round which it revolves, to its perihelion or least distance, its motion is continually accelerated; and from its perihelion to its aphelion is constantly retarded. From what source has the planet derived that power which it opposes to the solar attraction, in such a manner that, when passing from aphelion to perihelion by a continued acceleration, it is prevented from making a nearer approach to the sun? And on the other hand, what prevents the planet, after it has passed by a continued retardation from perihelion to aphelion, from going altogether out of the solar attraction, and causes it to return again to perihelion?

John Gill's Bible Commentary

Greek Textus Receptus