Faith of Our Fathers

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 14, 12 April 1923, Page 41

Faith of Our Fathers

- [A Weekly Instruction fob Young and Old.] THE SUPREME DOMINION OF GOD OVER US, AND : HOW MUCH AVE ARE BOUND IN JUSTICE TO /; SERVE HIM. ...-> -% Q. 1. Is it necessary to have a proper knowledge of the supreme dominion of God, before we enter ■ upon the explication of His commandments? A. It is highly proper, and in some degree, necessary, considering the corruption of our heart, and its backwardness .to obey Him for by having a just sense of His authority and power over us, and being convinced how much it is our indispensable duty to obey Him, we shall be stirred up to greater fervor and a stronger resolution to comply with our duty, and yield to our sovereign Lord the obedience we owe Him. And hence, when He first published His law, He began by putting His people in mind of His great power and supreme dominion, saying, "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 1 ' Now in order to form a proper idea of His supreme dominion over -us and over all creatures/ we must both consider His Almighty power in itself, and then. His authority over us. I. Of the Almighty Power of God. Q. 2. By what means can we acquire a proper knowledge of the Almighty power of God? A. By considering the innumerable and stupendous effects which His power has produced and can produce, and the admirable and inconceivable manner in which He acts in producing them.

Q. 3. What, are we chiefly to consider in the effects produced by the power of God? A. (1) Their stupendous greatness, of which the Scripture saith, fie doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful, of which there is no number” (Job ix. 10). Take a view of the globe of this earth ; what an amazing fabric it is! what immense power must that he which could first create it! what Almighty strength, that could establish it on its solid foundation, adorn it with such a wonderful variety of mountains and valleys, draw out from its bowels those surprising aqueducts which everywhere flow through it, and dig that immense and fathomless basin which contains the- ocean? What are all the most celebrated works of human power, if compared to this single work of the power of God? and yet this is but a mite to the whole. Raise up your thoughts to the heavenly bodies; consider the sun, that amazing globe of fire, many hundred times larger than the earth itself; take a view of the planets that surround him, of the blazing comets that from time to time approach him; consider the immense regions which these traverse in the course of their rotation, and the inconceivable velocity with which they run their course! beyond these behold the firmament of heaven, amazing sphere! boundless circumference! adorned with innumerable stars, worlds upon worlds! what a stupendous work is all this! what amazing strength that could create it! what unbounded power that continues to preserve and govern it! Such is the power of the great God whom wo serve. He it is “that prepared the earth for evermore, and filled it. with cattle and four-footed" beasts He that sendeth forth light, and it goeth; and hath called it, and it obeyeth Him with trembling: and the stars have given light in their watches and rejoiced; they were called and they said, here we are; and with cheerfulness they have shined forth to Him that made them This is pur. God, and there shall no other be accounted of in comparison of Him.” (Bar. iii. 32.) “He is thy praise and thy God, that hath done, these great and , terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.” (Dent, x. 21.) “The firmament on high* is His - beauty, the beauty of heaven with its glorious show; the sun when He appeareth showing forth at His rising, an admirable instrument the work of the Most High. . . Great is the Lord that - made him ! , . - . The glory of the stars is the beauty, of heaven, the Lord enlighteneth the world from on high. By the words of the Holy One they shall stand in judgment, ..and shall never • fail in , their watches. Look,upon ;• the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; it is very beautiful in its brightness. ..It. encompasseth the heaven about with the circle of its glory. The hands of the Most High

have displayed it. . . What shall we be able to do to glorify Him? For the Almighty Himself is above all His works. The Lord is terrible and exceeding great, and His power is admirable !” (Eccles. xliii.) - • () Their amazing multitude and variety Who can conceive or form an idea of the immense variety of the works of God in the creation? The royal prophet acknowledges with astonishment, that they are beyond all computation. Thou hast multiplied Thy wonderful works, 0 Lord my God says he, “and in Thy thoughts there is no the? to 1 Thee: I have declared, and I. have spoken, they are multiplied above number.” • (P s . xxxix. 6.) “Look up to heaven,” says Almighty God Himself to Abraham; and number the stars if thou const.” (Gen. xv. o ) It is God .. lone “who can tell the number of the stars’ and calleth them all by their names.” (Ps. cxlvi 4) Take a view of this earth on which we dwell; what an amazing b the do we find there of beasts on the earth, of birds trees « of fishes m the waters, of plants and herbs and tice. it if bout number, of insects and creeping things, beyond all comprehension? The same royal prophet, astomshed at the sight, cries out with surprise, “How great aie , Thy works, 0 Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with Thy riches; so is this great sea which stretches wide its arms; in it there are creep things without number; creatures little and groat. Is. cm. 24.) “There,” says the wise man, “are great and wonderful works, variety of beasts and of all Jiving things, and the monstrous creatures of whales 11.r0,.g1, Him is established the end of their journey, and bv His word all things are regulated.” (Eccles. xliii. 27.) But what shall we say of the numbers beyond number of those spiritual beings, of those holy angels, who assist continually before the throne of God? “Is there any numbering, „f His soldiers?” says one of Job’s friends (Job xxv. .1.) Oh! no, says Daniel, “Thousands of thousands minister to Him, and ten hundred times a hundred thousand stand before Him.” (Dan. vii, 10.) And who «as it that created such a vast variety of beings? “Look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them, and eonsider, that God made them out of nothing, and mankind dP* 2 | J /° h ' VU \ 2B - “ Ask now the bcasts and they hall teach thee : and the birds of the air, and they shall tel thee: speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee • and the fishes of the sea shall tell; who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord made all these things? In whose hand „ the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man.” (Job xii. 7.) But what amazing power must that be which could produce such numberless beings and bestow upon each their various powers, faculties, properties and natures? How are we lost in astonishment at the thought? How is our mind bewildered and confounded. “Great are the works of Our Lord, sought out according to all His will; His work is praise and magnificence ” (Ps. ex. 2.) “Sing ye a Psalm to His name; give glory to His praise, say unto God, , how terrible are Ihy works, 0 Lord! . . . Come and see the works of God, who is terrible in His counsels..” (Ps. Ixv. 2.) “The Lord is terrible and exceeding great, and His power is admirable.” (Eccles. xliii. 31.)