IMAGE WORSHIP. 



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tion of such objects we are directed by God 

 himself, in order to acquire an impressive view 

 of his character and operations. &quot; Lift up your 

 eyes on high, and behold who hath created these 

 orbs, that bringeth out their host by number: he 

 calleth them all by names, by the greatness of 

 his might, for that he is strong in power.&quot; 

 And, the prophets, when reasoning against idol 

 atry, present us with a train of thought similar 

 lo that to which I have now adverted. They 

 describe the Almighty as &quot;sitting on the circle 

 of the heavens, and the inhabitants of the earth 

 as grasshoppers in his sight.&quot; They represent 

 him as &quot; measuring the waters in the hollow of 

 his hand, weighing the mountains in scales, and 

 meting out the heavens with a span before whom 

 all nations are as the drop of a bucket, and are 

 counted to him less than nothing and vanity.&quot; 



It is strange, indeed, that the duty of contem 

 plating the image of God as impressed upon his 

 works, should be so much overlooked by the 

 great body of the Christian world, notwithstand 

 ing the obvious reasonableness of this duty, and 

 the pointed injunctions in relation to it which 

 are reiterated in every department of the word of 

 God. It is still more strange, that the instruc 

 tions of many religious teachers have a tendency 

 to dissuade Christians from engaging in this duty, 

 by the foolish contrasts they attempt to draw be 

 tween the word and the works of God ; so that 

 the great mass of Christians are left to remain 

 half idolaters for want of those expansive concep 

 tions of God which a knowledge of his works is 

 calculated to produce. 



It is also most unaccountable, on every prin 

 ciple of reason, and of Revelation, that the wil 

 ful neglect of this duty should never be account 

 ed either as a sin, or as a want of that respect 

 which is due to the Majesty of heaven. We 

 have known persons rebuked,,and even excluded 

 from a Christian Church, foi holding a metaphy 

 sical sentiment different from their brethren re 

 specting the divine plans and decrees ; but we 

 never heard of an individual being either re 

 proved or admonished by a Christian society, 

 for neglecting to contemplate tho character of 

 God as displayed in his works, although he had 

 lived fifty years amidst the magnificence of 

 creation, and had acquired little more knowledge 

 of his Creator, from this source, than the ox 

 which browses on the grass. Yet, to this neglect 

 is to be imputed a great proportion of those gro 

 velling conceptions, superstitious notions, and 

 distorted views of the doctrines of religion which 

 still disgrace the Christian world. This fact is 

 still more unaccountable, when we consider that 

 a knowledge of the abstrusities and technicali 

 ties of science is not requisite in order to the 

 performance of this duty. It requires only the 

 eye of sense, of reason, and of devotion to be di 

 rected to the scene of divine operation within us, 

 and around us, and to be occasionally fixed on the 



object we contemplate, in order to appreciate 

 the perfections and the glory of the ever present 

 Deity. Although there were no other striking 

 objects around us, the single fact of the apparent 

 revolution of the celestial concave, with all its 

 magnificent orbs, around the earth every twenty- 

 four hours, is sufficient to overpower the mind of 

 every rational observer with admiration and 

 wonder, if his attention were seriously directed 

 to it only for a single hour. The ideas of ma 

 jesty, of grandeur, and of omnipotent energy 

 which this single circumstance is calculated to 

 inspire, are such as irresistibly to lead the mind 

 to the contemplation of a Being whose perfections 

 are incomprehensible, and whose ways are past 

 finding out. Yet, I believe, it may be affirmed 

 with truth, that more than one half of the Chris 

 tian world are ignorant that such a fact exists ;* 

 such is the indifference and the apathy with which 

 many religionists view the wonderful works of 

 God. 



It was chiefly owing to such criminal inatten 

 tion to the displays of the Divine Character in 

 the works of creation, that the inhabitants of the 

 Pagan world plunged themselves into all the 

 absurdities and abominations of idolatry. &quot; For 

 the invisible things of God, even his eternal power 

 and godhead, are clearly seen in the things that 

 are made,&quot; if men would but open their eyes, 

 and exercise their powers of intelligence. &quot; The 

 heavens declare the glory of Jehovah ,&quot; they de 

 clare it to all the inhabitants of the earth. 

 &quot; There is no speech nor language where their 

 voice is not heard : their line is gone out through 

 all the earth, and their words to the end of the 

 world.&quot; 



&quot; In reason s ear they all rejoice, 

 And utter forth a glorious voice ; 

 Forever singing, as they shine, 

 The hand that made us is divine. 1 &quot; 



But the Heathen world did not listen to the in 

 structions thus conveyed, nor did they apply 

 their understandings, as they ought to have done, 

 to trace the invisible things of God, from the visi 

 ble displays of his character and perfections, in 

 the universe around them. &quot; They became vain 

 in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts 

 were darkened ; and professing themselves to be 

 wise, they became fools.&quot; While &quot; the harp 

 and the viol, the tabret, the pipe, and the wine 

 were in their feasts, they regarded not the works 

 of the Lord, nor considered the operations of his 

 hands.&quot; &quot;Wherefore they were given up by God 

 to indulge&quot; in vile affections, and &quot; to worship 

 and serve the creature rather than the Creator, 

 who is blessed for ever.&quot; And, even under the 



Here I refer simply to the apparent motion of 

 the heavens leaving every one to form his own 

 opinion as to the other alternative the motion of the 

 earth. In either case the mind is overpowered with 

 ideas of grandeur and of Almighty power. See this 

 topic more particularly illustrated in &quot; Christ. Philo 

 sopher,&quot; 



