Lecture IX
LECTURE IX.
ON GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS.
See JoB xxxviii. 2, 3.
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man: for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.
Incr.
1, Wits the eyes of the flesh it is impossible to behold — God; for the incorporeal cannot be subject to fleshly sight, and the Only-begotten Son of God Himself hath testified, oe 1, saying, No man hath seen God at any time.
Should however any one, from a passage in Ezekiel, understand, that Ezekiel saw Him, let him inquire what that Scripture says ;
Ezek.1, He saw the likeness of the glory of the Lord, not the Lord Himself; nay, the likeness of His glory, not the glory itself, as it is in truth; and beholding only the likeness of the glory, he fell to the earth with fear.
But if the sight of the likeness of the glory, and not of the glory itself, wrought fear and distress in the prophets, any one who should attempt to behold God Himself, would to a certainty lose his life, es according to the text, There shall no man see Me and live.
>" Wherefore, of His exceeding loving-kindness, God has spread out the heaven to be the veil of His proper Godhead,
1s-64,1. lest we perish: this is not my word, but the prophet's, If P' thou shouldest open the heavens, trembling would take hold oY the mountains from thee, and they would melt away.
And what wonder if Ezekiel, seeing the similitude of the Ah glory, fell down? since Daniel, when Gabriel the servant of 5—is.'the Lord appeared, straightway shuddered and fell on his face, and, prophet as he was, dared not answer him, untii the Angel turned himself into the likeness of a son of man.
For if the sight of Gabriel wrought trembling in the prophets,
God seen only in His works, according to the measure of each. 91 had God Himself appeared according as He is, would they not all have perished ?
2. The Divine Nature then with the eyes of the flesh we (2.) cannot see, but from the Divine works we may obtain some idea of His power; according to the saying of Solomon, For Wied. by the greatness and beauty of the creatures, proportionably od a the Maker of them is seen.
For he says not that from the creatures, the Maker is seen, but hath added, " proportionably ;" for so much the greater does God appear to each, as the man hath attained a large survey of the creatures; and when by that large survey his soul is raised aloft, he gains a more excellent conception of God.
3. Wouldest thou know that the nature of God is incomprehensible? The Three Children, singing praises to God in the fiery furnace, say, Blessed art Thou that beholdest the Song depths, and sittest upon the Cherubim.
Tell me the nature ney of the Cherubim, and then look upon Him who sitteth upon them.
And yet Ezekiel the prophet has made a description of them, as far as could be; saying, that every one had four Via. faces, the face of a man, and of a lion, and of an eagle, and 6; 10, " of a calf; and that every one had six wings, and eyes on &c. every side, and under each a wheel with four parts; yet though the prophet has so described, we are not yet able, even if we read it, to comprehend it.
But if we cannot comprehend the throne which the prophet has declared, how shall we be able to comprehend Him who sits upon it, the Invisible and Ineffable God?
Curiously to scan the nature of God is impossible; but we are able to offer glory to Him from His works that aré seen.
4, These things I say to you because of what comes next in the Creed, and because we say, " We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things both Visible and Invisible ;" that we may remember that the same is both the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Maker of heaven and earth, and thus secure ourselves against the bye paths of ungodly heretics, who have dared to speak evil of the All-wise Artificer of all this world, and who, though they see with the eyes of the flesh, are blinded in the eyes of their mind.
5. For what fault have they to find in this, the greatest of
Wonders of the heaven, stars, and sun. the works of God?
Truly they ought to have been struck dumb, when they viewed the vaultings of the heavens, and worshipped Him who has reared the sky as an arch, who out of the fluid waters has made the immoveable substance of the heavens.
For God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.
God spake once, and it stood fast, and does not fall.
The sky is water, and those orbs in it, sun, moon, and stars are of fire; and how run those fiery bodies in the water?
But if any one is perplexed, from fire and water being of such opposite natures, let him remember the Lecr.
Gen. 1, 6. fire which in Egypt in the time of Moses flamed in the hail.
Let him also behold the all-wise workmanship of God; for since there would be need of water, for tilling the earth,
He made the heaven above of water, that when the region of the earth should require watering by means of showers, the heaven from its own nature might be ready for this purpose.
6. What? is there not much to wonder at in the sun, which being small to look on, contains in it an intensity of power, appearing from the east, and shooting his light even to the west.
The Psalmist describes his rising at dawn, when he Ps.19,5.8ays, Which ts as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.
This is a description of his pleasant and comely array on first appearing to men; for when he rides at high noon we are wont to flee from his blaze; but at his rising he is welcome to all, as a bridegroom to look on.
Behold also how he proceeds; (or rather not he, but one who has by his bidding determined his course;) how in summer time aloft in the heavens, he finishes off longer days, giving men due time for their works; while in winter he straitens his course, lest the day's cold last too long, and that the nights lengthening, may conduce both to the rest of men, and to the fruitfulness
. of the earth's productions.
And see likewise in what order the days correspond to each other, in summer increasing, in winter diminishing, but in spring and autumn affording one another an uniform length; and the nights again in like
Pe.19,2.manner.
And as the Psalmist saith concerning them, Day unto day utiereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
For to the heretics, who have no ears, they ' almost shout aloud, and by their order say, that there is no
Wonders of the day and night.
other God save their Maker and the appointer of their bounds, Him who laid out the universe.
7. No one must tolerate such as say, that the Maker of (4.) light is different from the Maker of darkness; for let a man remember Isaiah's words, J the Lord form the light and \s.45,7. create darkness.
Why, O man, art thou offended with these?
Why so annoyed at the time of rest given thee?
The servant would not have gained it from his masters, but for the darkness bringing a necessary respite.
And often, after toiling in the day, how are we refreshed by nights; and he who was yesterday amid labours, starts in the morning vigorous from a night's rest? And what more conduces to religious wisdom than the night, when oftentimes we bring before us the things of God, and read and contemplate the Divine
Oracles? when too is our mind more alive for Psalmody and Prayer than at night? When does a recollection oftener come over us of our sins than at night?
Let us not then be perverse enough to entertain the notion, that another besides God is the Maker of darkness; for experience shews that darkness is good and most useful.
8. Those persons ought to have felt astonishment and admiration, not only at the sun and moon, but also at the well-ordered choirs of the stars, their unimpeded courses, their respective risings in due season; and how some are the signs of summer, others of winter, and how some mark the time of sowing, others introduce the season of sailing.
And man sitting in his ship, and sailing on the boundless waves, looks at the stars and steers his vessel.
Well says Scripture concerning these bodies, Let them befor signs, and for seasons, Gen. 1, and for days, and for years; not for star-gazings, and vain 1s tales of nativities.
Observe, too, how considerately He imparts the daylight by a gradual growth ; for the sun does not rise upon us, while we gaze, all at once, but a little light runs up before him, that by previous trial our eye-ball may bear his stronger ray: and again, how He has cheered the darkness of night by the gleam of moonlight.
9. Who is the father of the rain: and who hath given (5.) birth to the drops of dew? Who hath condensed the air into se.Soct clouds, and bid them carry the fluid mass of showers, at one time bringing from the north golden clouds, at another, aed
94 Wonders of the clouds, rain and snow, of flowers and trees.
Lecr. giving these a uniform appearance, and then again curling them q = up into festoons and other figures manifold? Who can number ae? 88) the clouds in wisdom? of which Job saith, He knoweth the Job 87, balancings of the clouds, and hath bent down the heaven to 1650 the earth; and, He who numbereth the clouds in wisdom ; ob 38, 87.Sept. and, The cloud is not rent under them.
Yor though measures Ibid. of water ever so many weigh upon the clouds, yet they are not a vit rent; but with all order come down upon the earth.
Who Ps. 135, brings the winds out of His treasuries?
Who, as just now gai ee, said, hath given birth to the drops of dew?
Out of whose Sept: womb cometh forth the ice, watery in its substance, but like grary stone in properties.
And at one time the water becomes dinesnow like wool, at another, it ministers to Him who scaton 147, ters the hoarfrost like ashes; at another it is changed into 16: ,, Strong substance, since He fashions the water as He will.
'Its nature is uniform, its properties manifold.
Water, in the Ps. 104, Vines is wine, which maketh glad the heart of man; and 15. in the olives oil, to make his face to shine; and is further transformed into bread, which strengtheneth man's heart, and into all kinds of fruits.
10. For such wonders was the great Artificer to be blasphemed? or rather to be worshipped?
And after all I have not yet spoken of that part of His wisdom which is not seen.
Contemplate the spring, and the flowers of all kinds, in all their likeness still diverse from one another: the deep crimson of the rose, and the exceeding whiteness of the lily. They come of one and the same rain, one and the same earth; who has distinguished, who has formed them? Now do consider this attentively:—the substance of the tree is one,—part is for shelter, part for this or that kind of fruit; and the Artificer is
One.
The vine is one, and part of it is for fuel, part for shoots, and part for leaves, and part for tendrils, part for clusters.
Again, how wondrously thick are the knots which run round the reeds, as the Artificer hath made them!
Out of the one earth come creeping things, and wild beasts, and cattle, and trees, and food, and gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and stone.
Water was but one nature; yet of it comes the life of things that swim, and of birds; and as the one swim in the waters, so also the birds fly in the air.
Wonders of fishes, birds, beasts, and insects,
11. And thts great and wide sea, in it are things creeping (6.) tnnumerable.
Who can tell the beauty of the fishes that are Ps19, therein?
Who can describe the greatness of the whales; and ae the nature of its amphibious animals? how they live both on ew d«sdry land and in the waters?
Who can tell the depth and" breadth of the sea, or the force of its enormous waves? Yet it stays within its boundaries, because of Him who said, Hitherto Job 38, shalt thou come and no further; and here shall thy proud
|*waves be stayed.
And to shew the decree imposed on it, when it runs up on the land, it leaves a plain line on the sands by its waves; declaring, as it were, to those who see it, that it has not passed its appointed bounds,
12. Who can understand the nature of the fowls of the air? how some have with them a voice of melody; and others have their wings enriched with all manner of painting; and others soaring on high, stay motionless in the midst of the sky, as the hawk.
For by the Divine command the hawk Job 39, having spread out her wings, stays motionless, looking down ?®-Sert. towards the south. Who of men can behold the eagle?
But if thou canst not read the mystery of birds when soaring on high, how wouldest thou read the Maker of all things ?
13. Who among men knows even the names of all wild beasts? or who can accurately classify their natures?
But if we know not even their bare names, how shall we comprehend their Maker? The command of God was but one, which said, Let the earth bring forth wild beasts and catile and Ge: a creeping things after their kinds; and distinct natures sprung
: from one voice at one command,—the gentle sheep, and the carnivorous lion,—also the various instincts of irrational creatures, as representations of the various characters of men. gedees
The fox is an emblem of men's craftiness, and the snake of a 7)" friend's envenomed treachery, and the neighing horse of wanton Jer.5,8. young men, and that busy ant, to arouse the sluggish and the dull; for when a man passes his youth idly, then he is instructed by the irrational creatures, being reproved by that Scripture which saith, Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider Bre 6, her ways and be wise; for when thou beholdest her in due season treasuring up food for herself, do thou copy her, and treasure up for thyself the fruits of good works for the world tocome.
And again, Goto the bee, and learn how industrious He
Wonders of man's nature.
Lact. she is; how hovering about all kinds of flowers, she culls IX. the honey for thy use, that thou also ranging over Holy
Scripture mayest lay hold on thy salvation, and being satisPs. 119, fied with it mayest say, How sweet are thy words unto my
0S ee taste, yea sweeter than honey and the honeycomb to my neycomb, i in] mh 14. Is not the Artificer then rather worthy to be glorified? sia For what if thou know not the nature of every thing? are
.) the things therefore, which He has made, without their use ?
For canst thou know the efficacy of all herbs? or canst thou learn all the advantage which comes of every anima]?
Even from poisonous adders have come antidotes for the preservation of men.
But thou wilt say to me, " The snake is terrible," fear thou the Lord, and it shall not be able to hurt thee; '"' The scorpion stings," fear thou the Lord, and it shall not sting thee; " The lion is blood-thirsty," fear thou the Lord, and he shall lie down beside thee, as by Daniel.
And, truly, there is whereat to wonder, in the power even of the creatures; how some, as the scorpion, have their weapon in a sting, while the power of others is in their teeth, and others again get the better by means of hoofs, and the basilisk's might is his gaze.
Thus from this varied workmanship, think of the Artificer's power.
15. But these things perchance thou art not acquainted with; thou hast nothing in common with the creatures which are without thee.
Now then enter into thyself, and consider the Artificer of thine own nature.
What is there to find fault with in the framing of thy body ? Master thine own self, and there shall nothing evil proceed from any of thy members.
At the first, Adam in paradise was without clothing, as was eo Eve, but it was not because of aught that he was, that he piag, Was cast out; nought that we are then is the cause of sin, icé wsbut they who abuse what they are: but the Maker is wise. am 7"a° Who hath prepared the recesses of the womb for childbearing? Who hath giyen life to the lifeless thing within it?
Job 10, Who hath fenced us with sinews and bones, and clothed us i. with skin and flesh, and soon as the babe is born, brings forth fountains of milk out of the breasts?
And how doth the babe grow to be a child, and the child to be a youth, and then to be a man; and is again changed into an old man, no
Lesson taught tn these wonders.
one the while discerning exactly each day's change? How also does part of our food become blood, while another part is separated for the draught, and another is changed into flesh? Who is it who gives its never ceasing motion to the heart? Who hath wisely guarded the tenderness of the eyes with the fence of the eyelids? for concerning the complicated and wonderful contrivance of the eyes scarcely do the ample rolls of physicians sufficiently inform us. Who also hath sent each breath we draw, through the whole body? Thou seest,
O man, the Artificer; thou seest the wise Contriver.
16. These things has my discourse dwelt on now, passing (8.) over many, yea innumerable, other matters, and especially things incorporeal and invisible, that on the one hand thou mayest abhor those who blaspheme that good and wise
Artificer; and that on the other, from what has been spoken and read, and from what thou canst thyself find out or think of, thou mayest proportionably see the Creator by the greatWis.13, ness and beauty of the creations: and that bending the knee
© with godly reverence to the Maker of all things, things of sense and things of mind, visible and invisible, thou mayest with an honest and holy tongue, and with unwearied lips and heart, sing praises to God, saying, O Lord, how manifold Ps. 104, are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: for toon
Thee belongeth honour and glory and greatness, both now and for ever and ever.
Amen.