He that prolongs his meals, and sacrifices his time, as well as his other conveniences, to his luxury, how quickly does he outsit his pleasure; and then, how is all the following time bestowed upon ceremony and surfeit! until at length, after a long fatigue of eating and drinking and babbling, he concludes the great work of dining genteelly, and so makes a shift to rise from table, that he may lie down upon his bed; where, after he has slept himself into some use of himself, by much ado, he staggers to his table again, and there acts over the same brutish scene: so that he passes his whole life in a dozed condition, between sleeping and waking, with a kind of drowsiness and confusion upon his senses, with what pleasure it can be, is hard to conceive. that is of it dwells upon the tip of his tongue, and within the compass of his palate. worthy prize for a man to purchase with the loss of his time, his reason, and himself. South. All A As houses well stored with provisions are likely to be full of mice; so the bodies of those that eat much are full of diseases. Diogenes. Gluttony and drunkenness have two evils attendant on them; they make the carcass smart, as well as the pocket. Antoninus. GLUTTONY-Physical Evils of. Gluttony is the source of all our infirmities, and the fountain of all our diseases. As a tamp is choked by a superabundance of oil, a fire extinguished by excess of fuel, so is the natural heat of the body destroyed by intemperate diet. Burton. GLUTTONY-a disgusting Propensity. Swinish gluttony GOD-Adoration of. While earthly objects are exhausted by familiarity, the thought of God becomes to the devout man continually brighter, richer, vaster; derives fresh lustre from all that he observes of nature and Providence, and attracts to itself all the glories of the universe. The devout man, especially in moments of strong religious sensibility, feels distinctly that he has found the true happiness of man. He has found a Being for his veneration and love, whose character is inexhaustible, who, after ages shall have passed, will still be uncomprehended in the extent of his perfections, and will still communicate to the pure mind stronger proofs of His excellence, and more intimate signs of His approval. Channing. GOD-All in all. It is a poor philosophy and a narrow religion, which does not recognise God as all in all. Every moment of our lives, we breathe, stand, or move in the temple of the Most High; for the whole universe is that temple. Wherever we go, the testimony to His power, the impress of His hand, are there. Ask of the bright worlds around us, as they roll in the everlasting harmony of their circles; and they shall tell you of Him, whose power launched them on their courses. Ask of the mountains, that lift their heads among and above the clouds; and the bleak summit of one shall seem to call aloud to the snow-clad top of another, in proclaiming their testimony to the Agency which has laid their deep foundations. Ask of ocean's waters; and the roar of their boundless waves shall chant from shore to shore a hymn of ascription to that Being, who hath said, Hitherto shall ye come and no further.' Ask of the rivers; and, as they roll onward to the sea, do they not bear along their ceaseless tribute to the ever-working Energy, which struck open their fountains and poured them down through the valleys? Ask of every region of the earth, from the burning equator to the icy pole, from the rock-bound coast to the plain covered with its luxuriant vegetation; and you will not find on them all the record of the Creator's presence; Ask of the countless tribes of plants and animals: and shall they not testify to the action of the great Source of Life? Yes, from every portion, from every department of nature, comes the same voice: everywhere we hear Thy name, O God; everywhere we see Thy love. Creation, in all its length and breadth, in all its depth and height, is the manifestation of Thy Spirit, Ne'er looks to Heav'n amidst his gorgeous feast, and without Thee the world were dark and But with besotted, base ingratitude, Crams, and blasphemes his feeder. dead. The universe is to us as the burning Milton. bush which the Hebrew leader saw: God is GOD. ever present in it, for it burns with His glory, and the ground on which we stand is always holy. How then can we speak of that Presence as peculiarly in the sanctuary, which is abroad through all space and time? Francis. GOD-Appeal to. Give me, O Father, to Thy throne access, GOD-the Fountain of Beatitude. And with Thee rich; take what Thou wilt away. GOD-An Indian's Conceptions of. Who is it that causes the rain to rise in the high mountains, and to empty itself into the ocean? Who is it that causes to blow the loud winds of winter, and that calms them again in the summer? Who is it that rears up the shade of those lofty forests, and blasts them with the quick lightning at His pleasure? The same Being who gave to you a country on the other side of the waters, and gave ours to us; and by this title we will defend it. Quoted by Lord Erskine. GOD-Confidence in. How calmly may we commit ourselves to the hands of Him who bears up the world-of Him who has created, and who provides for the joys even of insects, as carefully as if He were their father! Richter. GOD-Clemency of. God! who is the Father of spirits, is the most tolerant. Man! who is the first of animals, is the most oppressive-yet he calls himself the shadow of the Almighty. Man becomes angry, and punishes for every little affront; God bears with all the insults and vices of man, who daily and hourly is employed in endeavouring to offend Him. Man pretends to admire the benign nature of the Deity; yet when he sees another imitate His Of His unrivall'd pencil. He inspires Of flavour or of scent in fruit or flower, Cowper GOD-in Everything. There is no creature in the world, wherein we may not see enough to wonder at: for there is no worm of the earth, no spire of grass, no leaf, no twig, wherein we see not the footsteps of a Deity: the best visible creature is man; now what man is he that can make but an hair, or a straw, much less any sensitive creature, so as no less than an infinite power is seen in every object that presents itself to our eyes: if, therefore, we look only on the outside of these bodily substances, and we do not see God in everything, we are no better than brutish; make use merely of our sense without the least improvement of our faith or our reason. Contrary, then, to the opinion of those men, who hold that a wise man should admire nothing, I say that a truly wise and good man should admire everything, or rather that infiniteness of wisdom and omnipotence which shows itself in every visible object. GOD-Existence of. discovers itself in the make and constitution, the order and disposition, the ends and uses, of all the parts and members of this stately fabric of heaven and earth. For if in the works of art, as for example a curious edifice or machine, counsel, design, and direction to an end, appearing in the whole frame, and in all the several pieces of it, do necessarily infer the being and operation of some intelligent architect or engineer, why shall not also in the works of nature, that grandeur and magnificence, that excellent contrivance for beauty, order, use, &c., which is observable in them, wherein they do as much transcend the effects of human art as infinite power and wisdom exceeds finite, infer the existence and efficiency of an Omnipotent and All-wise Creator. Ray. GOD-Nature demonstrating the Existence of. Little facts and circumstances, in the economy of Almighty God, have irresistible Bishop Hall. charms for me, and serve, like others more And can there be who doubt there is a God, Of matter or of mind; though you produce Doom'd by some tyrant's hard decree to starve, exclaim That some kind hand hath oped his prison And brought this bounty? Will he not invoke Abuse his ear, nor wound his swelling soul prominent, to show the perfect and beautiful manner in and for which, every thing has been created. In contemplating them, what a delightful lesson may we not learn! We may find in them the strongest testimonies of the truth of revelation, and the superintendence of an all-wise and benevolent Creator. It has been well said, that in the book of Nature is written in the plainest characters the existence of a God which Revelation takes for granted; of a God how full of contrivanco! how fertile in expedients! how benevolent in His ends! At work everywhere, everywhere too, with equal diligence; leaving nothing incomplete; finishing "the hinge in the wing of an insect," as perfectly as if it were all He had to do; unconfounded by the multiplicity of objects, undistracted by their dispersion, unwearied by their incessant demands on Him, fresh as on that day when the morning-stars first sang together, and all nature shouted for joy. Jesse. GOD-Necessity for the Existence of. Notwithstanding the consequences which may justly be dreaded by sinful and incorrigible beings, it is certainly of all things most desirable that there should be a God. Social order, and civil government, with all the sublime contemplations of religion, its dignifying effect, and powerful consolations, clearly depend on the grand principle, that there is a Being who made and who governs the universe. Such a Being must be infinitely worthy of the adoration of His rational creatures; He must have a claim on their implicit obedience; and to Him they must all be accountable. Here lie the foundations of human happiness, and GOD. particularly of that moral excellence, which even in this life approximates the rational creature to its highest attainable perfection; bere too are the securities, and the only effective securities, of every constitution calculated to promote the present or the future felicities of man. Duncan. GOD-Creation Glorifies. Every created thing glorifies God in its place, by fulfilling His will, and the great purpose of His providence: but man alone can give tongue to every creature, and pronounce for all a general doxology. Kirby. GOD-Holiness of. Had not the covenant of mercy been infinitely holy, man could never have been saved. We stand in need of holiness as well as mercy. The grace of God in the child of God is infinitely more glorifying to God than the sun which shines by day, or the moon and stars which govern the night. Holiness raises man more highly above his fellow-men, than reason elevates him above the brute creation. The holiness of God reigns in hell, and ever will reign there: nor is the holiness of God less glorified in the condemnation of the wicked than in the salvation of the righteous. The law which executes the criminal is just as holy as the law which declares, "Thou shalt not kill." Howels. GOD. GOD-Living Without. The high and the low, the young and the old, the busy and the idle, alike shun acquaintance with God, as if His very name brought uneasiness, and disturbed our comfort and repose. If we mention God to the young, we too often seem to be troubling them with what they had rather forget in such early days: while the aged dislike to be reminded of their misfortune, that their time on earth is drawing near to an end. If we mention God to the gay and happy, we appear to be interfering with their pleasures. If we mention Him to the great and to the learned, they will intimate that such subjects belong rather to a humbler class and station. But the poor and laborious, on their part, refer us to those who have more information and more leisure. Thus a large portion of mankind, in all classes, strive to keep God out of their thoughts, and to live, so far as in them lies, without Him in the world. Yes, without Him, who, as the Apostle says, is not far from any one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and have our being. Why should they act so strangely and unreasonably, if they believed that acquaintance with God would give them peace. Bishop Sumner. GOD-the Creator of Light. GOD-Love of. It is the nature of every artificer to tender and esteem his own work; and if God should not love His creature, it would reflect some disparagement upon His workmanship, that He should make anything that He could not own. God's power never produces what His goodness cannot embrace. God oftentimes, in the same man, distinguishes between the sinner and the creature; as a creature, He can love him, while as a sinner He does afflict him. South GOD-Celestial Love of. Celestial love, with the affections of good and truth, and the perceptions thence derived, and at the same time with the delights of these affections and the thoughts thence derived, may be compared to a tree with beautiful branches, leaves, and fruits; the life's love is that tree; the branches, with the leaves, are the affections of good and truth, with their perceptions; and the fruits are the delights of the affections, with their thoughts. GOD-Universal Love of. Swedenborg. Canst thou believe the vast eternal mind That He would choose this waste, this barren and brought them forth at His first call: thus, Power is that glorious attribute of God Almighty, which furnishes the rest of His perfections. "Tis His omnipotence that makes His wisdom and goodness effectual, and succeed to the length of His will. Thus, His decrees are immutable, and His counsels stand; this secures His prerogative, and guards the sovereignty of His being; 'twas His power which made His ideas fruitful, and struck the world out of His thought. Twas this which answered the model of the creation, gave birth to time and nature, He spake the word, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created. "Tis the divine power which is the basis of all things; which continues the vigour of the second causes, and keeps the sun and moon in repair. This holds everything constant to appointment, and true to the first plan; thus, the revolutions of the seasons, the support of animals, the perpetuity of species, is carried on and maintained. Without this, things would soon run riot, and ramble out of distinction; the succours of life would be cut off, and nature drop into decay. Omniscience and goodness without a correspondent power would be strangely short of satisfaction; to know everything without being able to supply defects, and remedy disorders, must prove an unpleasant speculation; to see so many noble schemes languish in the mind and prove abortive; to see the most consummate wisdom, the most generous temper, fettered and disarmed, must be a grievance; but when omnipotence comes into the notion, the grandeur is perfect and the pleasure entire. Jeremy Collier. GOD-Omnipresence of. me. O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in If I take the hell, behold Thou art there. wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. David. |