[April 3d, 1859.]
I. Sovereignty—What it is.
It is the right of absolute dominion. The right to act in reference to ourself and others according to the dictate of our own will. It is thus among men. An absolute sovereign is an autocrat; a ruler whose will is law, which no one has a right to dispute or to disobey. This does not imply that any ruler has a right to do wrong; to violate the eternal principles of justice and mercy. But it implies that the ruler is responsible for the wisdom and justice of his acts to no one on earth.
So when we speak of the sovereignty of God, we mean his right to work all things after the counsel of his own will; to do what he wills with his own; that he has in reference to the whole universe the most absolute dominion and right to deal with his creatures just as seems good in his sight; to allow them to sin or to prevent their sinning; and when they have sinned, to allow them to perish or to provide salvation; and, if salvation be provided, to reveal it to one nation and not to another; to apply it to one person and not to another. Of course he has an equal right to determine their destiny on earth, whether it shall be civilized or savage, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, healthy or infirm, happy or miserable.
The sovereignty of God supposes that the whole plan of creation, providence and redemption, was adopted on the ground of God’s good pleasure; that the carrying out of that plan in all its infinitude of details is determined by his absolute will. So that if it be asked why Adam fell; why salvation was provided for man and not angels; why that salvation was revealed at first to Jews and not to the Gentiles; why now it is made known to us and not to the Chinese; why you and not others are made partakers of this redemption; why one man is a noble and another a peasant; one sick and another well; one happy and another miserable; we have nothing to say but: “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.”
This sovereignty of God is not what the schoolmen meant by absolute power; which supposes that God could make sin, holiness, and holiness, sin. For although there is no being above God to whom he is responsible, and no eternal principle to which he is subject, yet it is involved, in the idea of God as a rational and holy being that his acts are subject to his reason. Infinite reason cannot be unreasonable, nor can infinite holiness be unholy.
II. The ground of this sovereignty.
The only legitimate ground of authority is superiority on the one hand and dependence on the other. So it is in the relation of parents and children; so, in theory, is it in human society. The sovereign is assumed to have more power and resources, and the people for this reason to be dependent. Or, according to another theory, the magistrate represents the state which is superior to any of its members. So the ground of God’s sovereignty is, on the one hand his infinite superiority to his creatures, not only as their creator and proprietor, but in all his attributes. He is entitled, in virtue of this infinite superiority of wisdom, power and goodness, to do his pleasure among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. On the other hand it rests on the absolute dependence of his creatures on his power, and of sinners on his grace. They have no claim upon him.
III. Proof of this sovereignty.
Three sources of proof apart from the à priori reasonableness of the claim.
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The express and innumerable declarations of the Scriptures on the subject.
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The actual administration of the providence of God, and the actual dispensations of his grace.
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The consciousness and experience of all believers.
IV. The practical importance of this great doctrine is plain.
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Because it determines our relation to God which determines our religion. If a man misconceives his relation to God, of course his religion will be perverted. If he regards himself as a mere machine, a manifestation of God’s agency, then all responsibility, sense of guilt, and all religion disappear. If he considers himself independent of God, deciding his own character and destiny, then again he is in a false position. But if he conceives of God as infinitely good, his rightful sovereign, and himself as dependent and as unworthy, then all is right.
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It is only on this ground that we can have any security for our personal well being or salvation.
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This is the ground of our confidence as to the issue of all things. It is well that infinite wisdom, power and goodness, and not fate or chance control the world.
V. How this doctrine lies in the Scriptures, and how it should be preached.
It is to all other doctrines of Scripture what the granite formation is to the other strata of the earth. It underlies and sustains them, but it crops out only here and there. So this doctrine should underlie all our preaching, and should be definitely presented and asserted only now and then.
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