SERMON XVII.

GOD IS TO BE REGARDED IN THE SUCCESSION OF THE SEASONS.

"NEITHER say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."-Jeremiah, v. 24.

THOUGH men are unmindful of God, yet he is not unmindful of them; and though men disregard the operations of his hand, yet he regards the operation of their hearts. He keeps his eye fixed upon them, to discover their views and feelings under his smiles, as well as under his frowns; and when they appear to be insensible of either, he views their stupidity with peculiar displeasure. His people of old were very prone to disregard the displays of himself in his providence. Of this he complains in several of the preceding verses. "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes and see not; which have ears and hear not: fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted, and gone." It follows, "Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season; he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest." Here God claims to be the governor of the natural world, and blames his ancient people for not properly discerning and regarding the hand of his providence in the regular succession of the seasons, which visibly display the glorious perfections of his nature. And he ascribes their unreasonable conduct, not to a want of capacity, but to a want of dis

position, to see and acknowledge his constant and supreme agency in the government of this material world. We may, therefore, justly conclude,

That God is highly displeased with those who disregard the displays of himself, in bringing about the appointed weeks of harvest. I shall show,

I. That God does bring about the weeks of harvest according to appointment.

II. That he gives peculiar displays of himself in bringing about this event.

III. That he is highly displeased with those who disregard such displays of himself.

I. Let us consider that God brings about the season of harvest according to appointment. It requires the same hand to govern the world, which first brought it into existence. The earth is hung upon nothing but the almighty hand of the Creator. He never has given, and never could give it an independent existence. He upholds and governs it by a constant exertion of his power. Should he withdraw from it his supporting influence a single moment, it would instantly cease to exist; or should he cease to move it, all motion would immediately stop, and everything become torpid and inactive. This demonstrably proves that he governs the sun, moon, and stars, and all the material creation. He causes the sun to rise and set, the clouds to gather and distil in dews, in showers, and in storms, and the seasons to follow one another in a regular succession. This regular succession of the seasons is necessary to bring about the weeks of harvest. All the seasons of the year have their influence in producing the various fruits of harvest. The cold, and frosts, and snows of winter, the genial warmth of spring, and the fervid heat of summer, are all necessary to bring every species of grain to maturity. God therefore governs all the elements as well as all the seasons in reference to harvest, which crowns the year. And now it is easy to see, that the regular succession of the seasons must be owing to a divine appointment. When we see any of our fellow-men act in a uniform, regular manner, from time to time, we naturally conclude that their regularity of action is owing to a previous, fixed design. And we naturally expect that they will continue the same mode of conduct, unless some unforeseen and unexpected cause incline, or compel them to vary their course. According to analogy, we have a much stronger reason to suppose that God brings about the regular season of harvest agreeably to a fixed and permanent law of his own operations. He has, so far as we know, for nearly six thousand years,

brought about this important season, without failing in a single instance. Though he has varied in respect to the plenty or scarcity of the fruits of harvest, yet he has never varied in respect to the annual succession of the season. And now we as naturally expect the continuance of harvest from year to year as we do the rising and setting of the sun from day to day. But we are not left to the bare conjecture of reason upon this subject. God himself has told us that he has actually appointed the weeks of harvest, and will never fail to execute his purpose. "While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. The promise of God, that he will cause the succession of the seasons affords, us absolute certainty, that they will continue their course till the final consummation of all things. Though there may be ten thousand changes and revolutions in the moral world, yet the divine promise renders it certain that the natural world shall move on in its regular course. Though the imagination of man's heart be evil from his youth, and though the human race should become tenfold more corrupt than they ever have been, and should more justly deserve to be swept from the earth than any former generation, yet God has promised that the regular succession of the seasons shall not cease. And he has assured us, that whatever other judgments he may inflict upon the nations for their ingratitude, disobedience, and rebellion, he will not deny them the benefits of the seasons, but will continue to exert his power in causing the regular succession of day and night, winter and summer, seed-time and harvest, until this lower world shall cease to exist. I proceed to show,

II. That God gives peculiar displays of himself in thus bringing about the appointed season of harvest. And,

1. He hereby gives an incontestable evidence of his eternal existence to all mankind. It is impossible to account for the regular succession of the seasons, and the annual return of harvest, without acknowledging the existence of some self-existent, all-wise, and all-powerful Being. Admitting the world were eternal, and all matter self-existent, still we could not account for its regular motion and action, without a wise and powerful agent to arrange, direct, and move all material bodies. What God does, therefore, in causing the sun to rise, the rain to fall, the seas to ebb and flow, the grass to spring up, and the grain to ripen in harvest, demonstrates that there is some invisible, intelligent, and powerful agent, who orders and directs all these things. Accordingly, the apostle argues the existence of God from his governing the seasons; and charges idolaters

with criminal blindness for not seeing this visible evidence. When they were about to offer sacrifices to him and Barnabas, they cried out, "Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." This argument silenced the pagans, and diverted them from their idolatrous purpose. And the Jews in Jeremiah's day acknowledged before God this evidence of his divinity and superiority to all false gods. "Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou he, O Lord our God? Therefore we will wait upon thee for thou hast made all these things." God manifests his eternal power and Godhead in every spire of grass, in every kernel of grain, and in every tree, and plant, and fruit that grows, as clearly as he does in the heavens and the earth. The regular succession of the seasons and of the weeks of harvest, gives as clear and visible evidence of the existence of the Deity as the angels saw when he created the world. They saw nothing but the effects of the divine operation; and we see the same in the revolution of every day, and especially in the revolution of every season of the year.

2. God not only manifests his existence, but displays his perfections, in governing the seasons in reference to harvest. In bringing about this fruitful and joyful season, he governs the heat and the cold, the winds, the clouds, and the showers; and in ordering these, he acts as an absolute sovereign, without the least control. He reserves the times and the seasons in his own power. There is nothing more out of the reach of human agency and influence, than the seasons of the year, and the productions of the earth. These are constantly and absolutely in the hand of God, who governs them according to his own laws and appointment. He determines when each season of the year shall begin, and how it shall begin; whether favorably or unfavorably to the fruits of the earth. He determines whether there shall be extreme heat or extreme cold, or a more mild and moderate temperature of the air, in summer and winter; and whether seed-time and harvest shall be extremely wet or extremely dry, or whether both shall be such as to produce a plenty or a scarcity of sustenance for man and beast. And as he determines, so it must be; for none but he can gov

ern the elements, and bring the fruits of the earth to their proper growth and maturity. We can neither stand before his heat or his cold; we can neither raise a cloud, nor direct its course, nor cause it to distil in gentle showers on one place or another. We can only stand and see the sovereignty of God, in causing it to rain, or not to rain; in causing the sun to shine, or not to shine; and in causing the fruits of the earth to flourish, or to wither or die. Thus God every day and every season gives us a clear, and often a very sensible manifestation of his sovereignty; and teaches us that our lives, and health, and everything respecting our temporal concerns, are entirely at his disposal. Again,

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He reads us an instructive lesson on his wisdom, in the lation of the seasons, and their various productions. He displays his wise purposes in dividing the year into four such various and beautiful seasons. This diversity of seasons is found necessary to produce a vast variety of very useful and delicious fruits. Some of these cannot be produced without one season, some without another, and some without the influence of all the seasons united. Indeed, the production of ten thousand things extremely useful for food, and raiment, and medicine, results from the variety of the seasons. God displays his wisdom in appointing a uniformity, as well as a variety, of seasons in different parts of the world. In some parts of the earth there is constant heat, in others constant cold, in others a variation of heat and cold. In all these different places, different things are produced; so that the world is vastly enriched with good things, by means of heat and cold, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest. The wisdom of God is beautifully displayed in the different productions of the different seasons of the year. When we look at the trees of the forest, the flowers of the field, and the vegetables that grow out of the earth, we discover the superlative wisdom of Him who has given them so much uniformity amidst such a vast variety. The construction of a plant, or a flower, or a blade of wheat, surpasses the art of man, and displays a wisdom of contrivance which no human understanding can comprehend. How manifold are the works of God! In wisdom he has made, and in wisdom he governs them all. And this wisdom shines with peculiar lustre in the time of harvest, when the earth puts on her beautiful garments.

In this season of the year, God also displays his goodness to all the world. He opens his hand, and satisfies the desires of every living thing. The fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the meanest creatures on earth, feast upon the bounties of