But time has former, and dis

And every new

foretold by prophecy shall be accomplished. We know not when the Jews, God's ancient people, shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn; when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in; when the glorious millennium shall commence. One enthusiast after another has arisen, who pretended to announce to mankind the date of these grand changes; and many good and learned men have hazarded calculations and opinions on the same points. repeatedly falsified the assertions of the appointed the expectations of the latter. attempt to explain the exact period, or the manner, in which the predictions of Scripture shall be fulfilled, has only served to convince thinking men that, whatever conjectures may be formed, no certainty can at present be attained; since these also are secret things which belong unto the Lord our God. Some have even gone so far as to fix the time of the general Judgment; but their reveries have ended in that way which might have been expected. We are equally ignorant (to mention only one other class of subjects) as to many interesting particulars which respect the future world. How little do we know concerning the state of the dead! conceptions can we form of the sit employments of separate spirits! How very partial is our information respecting the precise nature of heavenly felicities and hellish torments! How unable are we to compute the number of those who shall be finally saved; or of those unhappy beings, on the other hand, who, having rejected the offers of mercy through Christ, shall be ultimately doomed. to experience the damnation of hell!

What scanty n, feelings, and

It would be easy to exemplify, in yet a thousand instances more, the assertion suggested by our text, that there are many things which by Divine appointment are locked up in silence and obscurity, so as to be impenetrable to mankind in the present state. The lapse of time and the light of eternity will dissipate all these clouds; and we shall know as we are known. In the mean time, we shall perpetually experience

the truth of the remark of Locke: "He that knows anything knows this in the first place, that he need not seek long for instances of his ignorance.......The intellectual and sensible world are in this perfectly alike: that part which we see of either of them holds no proportion with what we see not; and whatsoever we can reach with our eyes or our thoughts, of either of them, is but a point, almost nothing, in comparison of the rest."* Thus this great reasoner makes the sum of human science to consist in discovering that we know almost nothing. How wisely calculated is this ignorance to hide pride from man, and to confine our attention to those things which are of the greatest practical importance! But observe, 2. The admonition of our text, that the secret things. belong unto the Lord our God. To illustrate this assertion,

consider,

(1.) That God has a right to conceal these secret things. He is under no obligation to make us acquainted with them. We have no claim on Him for the revelation of them. No man, no angel, has a right to say to Him, "What doest Thou ?" Nor is it reasonable for us finite beings, worms of the earth, to expect or require that the Infinite should give any account of His matters. For our information as to those things which He has been pleased to reveal, we owe Him our ceaseless thanks; and, though there be many which He has hid from our eyes, we should submit to His sovereignty with unqualified acquiescence,-assured that in the concealment of some things, no less than in the revelation of others, His wisdom and goodness are unitedly exercised. For, consider,

(2.) The knowledge of these secret things is not at all necessary to our salvation. They are matters of abstract consideration and speculation only, not of practical utility. Neither the comfort of Christian experience nor the extent of Christian obedience is concerned in them, or affected by

Essay concerning Human Understanding; book iv., chap. iii., sect. 22, 23.

them. To know all mysteries would not, of itself, render us either more holy or more happy. Nay, it might make us less so, by filling us with proud ideas of our own wisdom, and making us think less soberly of ourselves than we ought to think; for "knowledge," when unaccompanied by a proportionate degree of piety, "puffeth up," and so tends not to the use of edifying. Satan and his angels perhaps know much more than the wisest of men, concerning the works of creation, providence, and redemption. Many of those things which are unfathomable mysteries to us may be well understood by them. But, with all this speculative wisdom, they are still unholy and unhappy. That wisdom which is connected with present and final salvation has for its objects, not the secrets of the Lord, but the truths of revelation. It consists in the consideration of our latter end, and the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If, then, our acquaintance with things that are hidden be only curious, not practical, let us be satisfied to remain ignorant of them till that day of eternity shall commence which shall harmonize all, reconcile all, clear up all; till we attain to the kingdom of light, where "we shall be equal all in knowledge, who were equal here in virtue.”*

(3.) This is, you will observe, the lesson of duty intimated in our text. Since secret things belong unto the Lord our God, since God possesses and has exercised a sovereign and indisputable right to conceal them from our view,-since the knowledge of them is not at all necessary to our happiness, let us not be anxious in our inquiries concerning them. "Seek not out," says the wise son of Sirach, "the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength. Be not curious in unnecessary matters."+ Our great epic poet is, perhaps, right in the view he gives of the employment of fallen spirits. A relish for useless and unhallowed speculation is found only in those who are more or less fallen from the

*John Wesley.

Wisdom iii. 21, 23.

simplicity of holy love to God and childlike confidence in Him. Such a disposition is sinful, as well as foolish. It occasions a sinful waste of time, a sinful diversion of our faculties and attention from profitable to unedifying inquiries. We all perceive and blame the folly of Archimedes, who is said to have employed himself in drawing geometrical figures on the sands of Syracuse at the time when the city was stormed by the army of Marcellus; and so perished, though the soldiers had received special directions to spare him, in consequence of his unseasonable and inordinate attention to his favourite study. Equally great is the folly of those who, instead of working out their salvation with fear and trembling, unnecessarily busy themselves in the pursuit of those things which, however innocent or even excellent in themselves, have no tendency to promote the present or everlasting welfare of themselves or others. All studies, all pursuits of knowledge, which do not directly or indirectly contribute to these ends, are, in dying creatures like us, impertinent and vain, unsanctified and sinful. Let me quote the advice which the angel in Milton gives to Adam before his fall :—

"Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid;

Leave them to God above; Him serve and fear.

Of other creatures, as Him pleases best,

Wherever placed, let Him dispose; joy thou

In what He gives to thee.

Is the prime wisdom: what is more is fume,
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence,

And renders us, in things that most concern,
Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek."*

II. But what are these things that most concern us? The second clause of our text will supply the answer: "Those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."

1. We may observe, in general, that there are three books in which the things that are revealed may be found. The first is the book of creation. For, though this immense volume be full of profound mysteries, there are some grand truths which it clearly reveals to the attentive reader. The existence of the world demonstrates the existence of God, its Author; the marks of exquisite contrivance which it exhibits proclaim His wisdom; and its order, regularity, beauty, and harmony declare His power and goodness. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead."+-The second book is that of providence. True, that many, yea, most of the pages of this volume are utterly illegible to mortal eyes: yet there are some which may be profitably perused by those who are accustomed to discern the operations of Jehovah's hand. The preservation of this vast machine of nature, the constant recurrence of the seasons, the shining sun and descending rains, admirably illustrate the power, skill, and goodness of the Lord; and there are many events of providence in which we cannot but see indications. that the Governor of the world is holy and just, and that He sometimes renders to men, even here, a portion according to their works. But it is to the third book, the book of holy

*Paradise Lost, book viii.

+ Psalm xix. 1, 2; Romans i. 20.