1. - 4thH. 80807 1. - 4thH. A.B. { 2. - 269thH 2. - 321stH. } O.B. 3. - 404thH 3. - 398thH. "They limited the Holy One of Israel." _ Psalm 78:41 The Sacred writer is giving an animated recital in this psalm of all the dealings of the God of Israel with His unbelieving and wayward people in their entire history up to the period of which he was writing. In the narrative he had reached that point where on the return of the Spies One from each tribe, sent over Jordan to the promised land to view the country, [had returned and reported] the result of their examination, was given to the people. It will be remembered that of all these spies only two made an encouraging and favorable report. Caleb and Joshua, men of heroic courage, men who feared & trusted God also, and who had at heart the good of country and people, boldly denied all the false statements of the other spies, and 121 represented to the Elders and the people that the country was beautiful, fertile and attractive, and that the difficulties and perils had been greatly exaggerated, and that the land of Canaan would be of easy conquest to the armies of Israel going forward under the guidance of Jehovah. On the other hand, their colleagues came back with terrific statements of the huge stature of the giants who held the land in possession, and the impregnable fortresses in which they had intrenched themselves, and the consequent impossibility of the Israelites succeeding in the conquest of the land. Such was the influence exerted over the minds of the mass of the people as to discourage them very greatly insomuch that they lifted up their voice and wept and said: "Would God 131 that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness;" and they proposed to select a Captain and return to the land of their bondage, rather than encounter the perils reported. As the inspired Psalmist presents this case as one illustrating the conduct which he characterizes by the words "Limiting the Holy One of Israel;" -- we may consider it in all its bearings so as to make a practical application of it to our own experience, and endeavor to derive from it the proper lessons. 1. We define this thing of "limiting God" as that [operation] act of our minds whereby we set bounds to His operations; circumscribing and confining Him either in His ability or in His Willingness to effect certain purposes of works". Now whenever men undertake to set [???] bounds to God in any way they [transgress] go violently beyond their own rights, and trench upon ground wholly forbidden, bordering upon blasphemy. God may set whatsoever bounds or limits He may please to His own nature, or will, or power, and of course He may lift the creature; but no other Being in the Universe may. A practical benefit to be obtained from such a discussion is to inquire I. What evils are implied in limiting God? & to point out II. How we may be guilty of this offence. 1. The Evils. They are 1. Degrading God to the level of a created Being There are known to us only two general orders of ?? Being, and they are the created, and created. The subdivisions of the ??order (the created,) are vastly multiplied, including all things in Heaven & Earth and in the waters under the earth, and all beyond this sphere of ours, -- & all in the multiplied worlds, & spheres of all the Universe. In the Second (The uncreased) there is but one Being that is God. Take all that constituted the first Order beginning with the lowest & ascending to the Highest, & in their varied succession there is one fast true of them all, i.e, they are all limited; -- they have certain bounds beyond which they cannot pass; their powers are all limited; their sphere of action is limited; all their nature is limited, no matter how vastly extended the most exalted of these created orders may be still it is true of even these though they may denominated "Thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, Angels, Archangel, Seraphim, or Cheribum," there is a point of attainment at which when they have arrived the law of their nature meets them and declares "Hitherto shalt Thou come & no further' " "Thou hast fixed his bounds that He cannot pass" X But of God, it may be said and of Him alone, He is infinite eternal & unchangeable in His Being, Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness, and Truth." This being true, it followers that whenever we attempt to limit this unlimited, this Infinite Being we degrade Him to the level of a Creature. And that this is an evil deeply offensive to Him, who says My Glory will I not give 7 to another." But it is an evil. 2. Because it is discredit cast upon His own declarations; in other words it is the Sin of Unbelief. Not to mention that the entire Bible is a declaration from God, look to three actual statements made to men by God; (1) To confirm the faith of Abraham in the marvelous promise God was making to Him. God prefaces it by saying "I am the Almighty." (2) On the occasion of XT.'s statement to his disciples that it was "easier for a camel to go through"[?] & the bewildering & staggering question of amazement by his disciples "Who then," text says "With men it is impossible but with God all things are possible" (3) Paul in rapturous recognition of this truth exclaims that God " is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." He therefore that limits God's operations in any way, is guilty of this great and crying Sin of Unbelief; the crowning curse of this Sin smitten Earth. But it is an evil 3. Because it evinces ingratitude to God for His past mercies; and forgetfulness of His benefits. In the past of our lives there have been periods when Paul's experience was reproduced in us; when we were troubled & perplexed and cast down, & persecuted; without were fightings, within were fears," and yet we were not permitted to be overmuch "distressed, nor in despair, nor forsaking nor destroyed" -- & nevertheless, God that comforteth those that are cast down, "comforted us" also. Now is it nothing that after all our experiences 9. of His infinite, undeserved, and unexpected [?] in the past, when He has so often done more, & vastly [more] better than our fears; When light & guidance has come to us in our darkness, -- when in our perils guardian care & protection has come; -- when in our sickness, & imminent prospect of death health & vigor has again come to us from God; -- is it nothing that we should forget all this and again limit this Infinitely Good & Gracious God? And lastly is it an evil to us personally since it 4. Limits God's mercies to ourselves, and it limits our enjoyments even here below. "Be it unto you according to your faith" is the rule. He has established in the imparting of His blessings to His people. Our Savior never 10 performed a miracle of beneficence, -- healing [?] without requiring faith in the recipient in advance. If thou canst believe all things are possible";-- & great is thy faith be it unto then even as thou will." Observe how this truth is illustrated in Scripture History, and how the same truth is set forth by James who after giving us the consoling statement that "if any may lack wisdom tc." proceeds to say by way of caution to us "But let him ask in faith nothing wavering." so also he adds "let not that man" (i.e. the wavering of faithless man,) "think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." "Unbelief" says one, "shuts up God's hand, and turns away His face from us." Of all the 3,000000, of the [?] of Is. that left Egypt Only two entered the promised Land;_ Caleb & Joshua 11 the rest being excluded by reason of their unbelief, rebellion and ingratitude. Even Moses and Aaron were so dealt with by God. When therefore we limit God in any of these ways 1. Degrading Him to the level of the creature; 2. By disbelief of His own declarations; 3. By ingratitude & forgetfulness of His past favors; or, 4. By want of trust and confidence in the future, We are guilty of great & offensive evil in the sight of God. But let us now II. Specify more particularly how we may in various ways be guilty of this great evil. And I remark (1.) It is done when we limit the full extent, and absolute freeness of God's mercy. There is a tendency to selfishness in most of us 12 which would induce us, if not affected, to indulge the idea that God's mercy is limited to us, If those of our class, or connection, and it seems one of the most difficult of eradication of all the errors of the human heart that men will hold the [doctrine] notion that there is something we can do to purchase, or merit God's mercy. It occurs inseparable from our nature to be proud & conceited, and the humiliating doctrine that the Salvation of Jesus Christ is for the vilest sinner; -- that "God is no respector of persons"; -- and that His mercy is infinitely free, -- without money and without price, cannot be read into the unrenewed heart, and the notion of human merit pushes itself even into the conceptions of many who profess to be the Children of God, & the followers of 13 the Lord Jesus Christ This tendency of human nature was manifested in the Jewish Church. "Salvation is of the Jews." Thus they excluded all other Nations, and it was in existence even among the early members of the Christian [?] until seven years after the Ascension. This proud and haughty feeling & narrow conception also gave rise to the Sect of the Pharises who felt that publicans & sinners were beyond the reach of salvation, and it was in their estimation a reproach to our Savior that "he receiveth sinners & eateth with them"; hence the self praising address of the Pharisees in the temple to God, & his contempt of the Publican;-- hence the elder brother of the Prodigal. The promise [??] Ch. also limited God's power to save, when 14 they refused to believe that Saul of Tarsus was truly converted. Whenever we [???] indulge therefore [?????} any of these [two] notions - 1. That we, or our Church, constitute the only recipients of God's grace & mercy; that if any others are saved, it is only on the "uncovenanted mercy" of God; or 2. Whenever we in our unbelief, deem any case of a hardened sinner so vile and deeply dyed in guilt as to be beyond the reach of the mercy of God; Or, 3. Whenever we suppose it possible for a poor creature to deserve salvation, or to have it in his power to buy it by anything he can say, think, or do, we limit the extent, and deny the absolute freeness of the Gosepl Ogger. When we do this we forget 15 the cases of Manasseh & of Saul of Tarsus; we forget the cases of Bunyan, the swearer, and Muller the thief. we forget our own cases as "sinners saved by Grace," if saved at all. e forget the initiation of the prophet [??] every one" tc. -- the closing declaration of God's Book: "The Spirit & the Bride say come! tc. But we limit God 2. In dictating to God how to [bless] relieve us, when in trouble. We have fallen it may be under sore trials; deep waters of affliction come over us; friends fail; some dear object of affection in our circle is in perilous sickness, -- a wife a husband, a child; [pe????ry] embarrassments have fallen upon us. How the removal of the trial & the affliction; the sparing of the lives of those who are likely to die; the direct relief of our [p??iary] 16 difficulties, are the only answers we expect in our prayers, under such circumstances, and our poor rebellions, shortsighted hearts ship up God to this form of deliverance, and our feeling is, (if we do not utter the sentiment,) that if God does not send the relief exactly as we wish it, it will not be any relief at all, and God cannot answer our prayer in any other way. Mary & Marth both said this, "Lord if thou hadn't been here" tc. Now they were limiting God, & the result showed this in a marvelous way. Paul's thorn tc. We may not discuss this point;-- but we warn you my XT brethren, that when you dictate to God how He shall answer your prayers in trouble & think He has no other way to answer you, you are guilty 17 of limiting the Lord in a way very offensive to Him. He has 1000 ways of answering [??]. "Set thy mercy be upon us, OS., according as we hope Let me say here that this dictating to God leads men not infrequently to wicked attempts to help themselves, when they do not accept God's way of relief. But we limit God not only by dictating prayer, but (3.) by narrow & contracted prayers. "Open thy mouth wide & I will fill it;" is God's command to us. "Prove me now herewith faith the Lord of Noah, if I will not open you. The window of Heaven "t.c. "Ask & ye shall receive" & When we confine our prayers to our personal wants, or those of our families we limit God, & He abhors selfish prayers. When our desires for spiritual blessings are feeble, When our requests are bounded by selfish limits; 18 When our faith is weak and wavering, when we think of God as "altogether such as one as ourselves," we lift God [Him] in this essential Nature; in His Omnipoteness; in His Infinite good will toward us all, & especially towards His own people. How great an offence this is, in His sight, can be made to appear by recollecting that His promises are exceeding great, precious and absolute "Yea, & Amen in Christ Jesus our Lord." But I remark 4 & Lastly. That the Holy One of Israel is often limited by the sinner under conviction for Sin, when he doubts either the Ability or Willingness of Jesus Christ to save him. Often he feels an earnest wish 19 to be saved, but there is upon his mind much doubt, and much vagueness of apprehension as to the manner in which the work is effected. He feels as did the father whose son had a dumb spirit, and after detailing to Christ all the symptoms & all the sufferings of the child & his ineffectual efforts for relief, he added "if thou cann't do anything, have compassion on us, and help us' " Doubting His power; willing to have Him try, but having little confidence in His success. He supposed the case too hard. But Xt. laid down the condition "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe". This cured his doubts- "Lord I believe - help thou mine unbelief!" 20 Or he comes as did the Leper; "Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean!" Not doubting the Saviors power, but His willingness. But Jesus showed him that His will to heal was as great as His Power, by putting forth His hand & touching him saying "I will; be thou clean!" The Sinner may think when he comes in this way doubting either Xt's Will or His power, that it is humility; but he must be told that in coming for salvation he approaches one mighty and able to save unto the uttermost all who come, that "There is nothing too hard for the Lord," that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world to save 21 sinners, even the Thief" If He came for this purpose He certainly shows by that fact that He promises the good will to do it. And all the record of God's Revelation abounds with declarations of this same truth. Every invitation to the sinner; every warning to flee from the wrath to come; every promise of salvation; every threatening against the finally [impe??tent]; every description of Heaven; every picture of Hell given in the word of God, constitute just such a cumulative mass of proff of the will of God that He delighteth not in the death of any; not willing that any should die, but that all should turn to Him & live. 22 This is the revelation of what He desires to do. You cannot doubt it; and if you say that you doubt not His willingness but you do doubt even God's power to save one so guilty as yourself, that your guilt exceeds the mercy of God in its greatness & power, then although you consider this as no disparagement to God, you must be warned against it as a direct contradiction of the declaration of God Himself that "I am the Almighty;" and beware how you doubt God's power to do all His Holy Will. My brethren, to this I will [only] add, that the only safe, and unerring method of securing a calm, peaceful, and happy life in this world, is to have 23 faith in God." You must trust in some one. It is not criminal to trust in your fellow man to a certain extent; indeed were all confidence in others around us destroyed Society would be an unmitigated evil, and its bonds social and relative would be sundered, and its entire structure would be dissolved. Nor is a certain amount of self trust improper. There is a principle of independence that all men should cultivate and self-reliance in regard to being aided which is but another name for Christian manliness. But be it known to you that God your Savior is the Only Being in all the Universe in whom your trust may be placed with implicit and understanding faith. Men are weak, and self predominates, and you 24 may find that few will [go] accompany you on the path of your difficulty, doubt, peril, trouble, beyond the point where their safety & their interest is found. Even those few, who may have all the good will that is needful to help you, often find themselves impotent. So you may limit men,-- you may limit yourselves, because you are weak and finite. But he who makes God's Word "the man of his Counsel," the [light to his feet&, the lamp to his path,"] lamp unto my feet & light unto my path;" he who relies for salvation upon Christ alone; he who lives a life of prayer,-- a life of Communion with God, trusting him for guidance, guardianship, direction, and protection, will find that God is infinite in His Mercy Love, Compassion, and Power; that this God is his God forever & ever; that He will be His guide even unto death; & When flesh & heart shall fail that He will be the strength of his heart & his [?ortion] forever! "