SERMON IV.

On the UNCHANGEABLENESS of the

DIVINE NATure.

James, i. 17.

Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

THE divine nature, in some views, SERMON

attracts our love; in others, commands our reverence; in all, is entitled to the highest attention from the human mind. We never elevate our thoughts, in a proper manner, towards the Supreme Being, without returning to our own sphere with sentiments more improved; and if at any time, his greatness oppresses our thoughts, his moral perfections always afford us relief. His almighty power, his infinite

wisdom,

IV.

SERMON wisdom, and supreme goodness, are sounds IV. familiar to our ears. In his immutability

we are less accustomed to consider him; and yet it is this perfection which, perhaps, more than any other, distinguishes the divine nature from the human; gives complete energy to all its other attributes, and entitles it to the highest adoration. For, hence are derived the regular order of nature, and the stedfastness of the universe. Hence flows the unchanging tenour of those laws which, from age to age, regulate the conduct of mankind. Hence the uniformity of that government, and the certainty of those promises, which are the ground of our trust and security. Goodness could produce no more than feeble and wavering hopes, and power would command very imperfect reverence, if we were left to suspect that the plans which goodness had framed might alter, or that the power of carrying them into execution might de

crease.

The contemplation of God, therefore, as unchangeable in his nature and in all his perfections, must undoubtedly be fruitful both of instruction and of consolation to man. I fhall first endeavour to

illustrate,

IV.

illustrate, in some degree, the nature of the SERMON divine immutability; and then make application of it to our own conduct.

EVERY good and every perfect gift, cometh down from the Father of Lights. The title which in the text is given to the Deity, carries an elegant allusion to the Sun, the source of light, the most universal benefactor of nature, the most regular and constant of all the great bodies with which we are acquainted in the universe. Yet even with the Sun there are certain degrees of variableness. He apparently rises and sets; he seems to approach nearer to us in summer, and to retire farther off in winter; his influence is varied by the seasons, and his lustre is affected by the clouds. Whereas with him who is the Father of Lights, of whose everlasting brightness the glory of the Sun is but a faint image, there is no shadow of turning, nor the most distant approach to change. In his being or essence it is plain that alteration can never take place. For as his existence is derived from no prior cause, nor dependant on any thing without himself, his nature VOL. II.

G

can

IV.

SERMON can be influenced by no power, can be affected by no accident, can be impaired by no time. From everlasting to everlasting, he continues the same.

Hence it is said, that he only hath immortality; that is he possesses it in a manner incommunicable to all other beings. Eternity is described as the high and holy place in which he dwelleth; it is a habitation in which none but the

The name which

Father of Lights can enter.
he taketh to himself is, I am. Of other
things, some have been and others shall be;
but this is he, which is, which was, and
which is to come. All time is his; it is mea-
sured out by him in limited portions to the
various orders of created beings; but his own
existance fills equally every point of duration;
the first and the last, the beginning and the end,
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.

As in his essence, so in his attributes and perfections, it is impossible there can be any change. To imperfect natures only it belongs to improve and to decay. Every alteration which they undergo in their abili ties or dispositions, flows either from internal defect, or from the influence of a superiour cause: But as no higher cause can bring from

IV.

from without any accession to the divine SERMON nature, so within itself it contains no principle of decay. For the same reason that the self-exiftent Being was from the beginning powerful and wise, just and good, he must' continue unalterably so for ever. Hence, with much propriety, the divine perfections are described in Scripture by allusions to those objects to which we ascribe the most permanent stability. His righteousness is like the strong mountains. His mercy is in the heavens; and his faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. These perfections of the divine nature differ widely from the human virtues, which are their faint shadows. The justice of men is at one time severe, at another time relenting; their goodness is sometimes confined to a partial fondness for a few, sometimes runs out into a blind indulgence towards all. But goodness and justice are in the Supreme Being calm and steady principles of action, which, enlightened by perfect wisdom, and never either warped by partiality, or disturbed by passion, persevere in one regular and constant tenour. Among men, they may sometimes break forth with transient splendour, like those