, 1877-04-07
principles, which greatly modify the is

principles, which greatly modify the is.
sue"
am delighted to find such high or
thodox authority for the common sense,
reasonable idea OF miracles which have
long entertained and more than once
propoundrd during my ministerial ca
Irer 1t ahates not one 'iota from the, to
us, practically, supernatural power of the
Great Administrator Of all law. 1t still
leaves Him the Great Miracle Worker :;
and it pays Him all honor as the con
stant obrycr and never the violator OF
His own dccrecs. Speaking of our legis.
lators we sometimes say that Law max.
ers are law breakers'-but this can never
be truly said Of the Great Legislator.
He always honors himself by honoring
his laws-ncver once running counter to
them in any particular; though in the
matter Of miracles many good people
seem very anxious to prove Him guilty
Of this crime.
1t may he profitable, in this connec-
tion, to notice that the Divine Admins
traitor Of law never resorts to the super
human in His intercourse with mankind
where the merely human will accomplish
His design. 1t is therefore by no means
II profitable exercise, that of prospect
ing" for miracles among the rich mines
of Gods Holy Word-.especial!y if we
have predetermined to discover them.
whether they he there or not. BE not
Phorisees in this or any other particular.
Always remember that
Deep in uniuthOmablc mines
Of nGver.iailing skill,
God treasures up His bright deslgns
And works His sovereign will
And He generally works through the
operation of laws that are movable, and
frequently well known to man, though
many of them are still unknown to us,
and only to be discovered by patient re
search and earnest thought. Thus sin
that is, ANY want of conformity unto or
trNngrcssion Of the laws OF God, the
| physical no less than the moral-always
brings evil, and evil is ever associated
with suffering. They are like Siamesc
twins, always ipseperabe Gods pun.
ishments for SIN are no arbitrary DEGREES
Of whimsical despotisH; they always
follow according to the decrees of mex.
orable law--law which, like its Divine
and Almighty promugator is unchange,
able forever. II is degrading idea
which many earnest Christians entertain
about Gods mode of dealing with trans.
gression against His moral law; the idea
which regards Him as inficting punish
ments for sins that are inseparable from
their procuring cause. No; if men are
punished, it is always by just and holy
laws; ii they are redeemed and saved.
in the Gospel meaning of those terms. 1t
is by the law of grace And neither
event can happen to any man independ
cnt of his own voluntary attitude towards
the Great Law-giver. We see this truth
illustrated every day. The poor drunk
ard must walk the streets with that shv-
cring frame and blOatcd countcnancr
which proclaim to every passcr.by the
deep degradation to which he has fallen.
The iCentious lbertine must carry
through this worl, the diseased and fcs-
tering poison Of a carcass rotten as his
own moral character. These physical
results are closely associated with moral
tmnsgres'ions, and therefore donot differ
from the Pbarisee idea except in the pos
session of visible link connecting cause
with effect.
But when plague or famine sweep
over the land, carrying black death and
ten thousand mscries in their train, the
good and the bad, the provident and the
improyidcnt, the vicious and the yirtu.
Gus. fall victims to the desohting power;
though even in such eases the general
rule is that suffering pursues the vicious
and lets the yirtuous oil more easily.
But when IN earthquake swallows up a
whole city, taking down all its mhabit.
ants to the dark and terrible cavcrns OF
the underworld, the good suffer equally
with the bad The lighlungs flash
makes no discrimination between the
barns Of sinners and saints. In those
terrible railway culnmltics which are so