applications. The appeal, as made by him, carries conviction to the mind. But the argument itself must not be pressed too far. We cannot, in all cases, infer from what man would do, that God will do the same: no, in truth; such a mode of arguing as that would lead, and often does actually lead, to the most fatal errors. I will therefore make the necessary dis- tinctions on this subject ; and shew,
I. In what cases this argument is valid —
Certainly it is an argument much used in Holy Writ—
[Our blessed Lord states it distinctly in the words follow- ing my text : " If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your hea- venly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask himb?" To the same effect he speaks in the parable of the unjust judge : " Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them ? I tell you, that he will avenge them speedily0." From these and many other passages it is clear, that the argument, if properly used, is weighty and conclusive.]
But it is an argument much abused by ungodly men —
[Nothing is more common than for ungodly men to state what they themselves would do, and to conclude from thence what they are authorized to believe respecting God. And, in fact, this is the strong-hold of atheism itself: for there is not a perfection of the Deity which is not practically denied upon this very ground. Hear how God himself represents this matter : for he who knows the heart, and can interpret infal- libly its most secret motions, thus declares, respecting the atheistical and ungodly world : " Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the House of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery ? For they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth d." What is here, but a plain denial both of the omnipresence and omni- science of God ? His justice also, and his truth, are alike questioned by them upon the same grounds. St. Paul thus states the objections of an unbelieving Jew : " But if our
b ver. 11 — 13. c Luke xviii. 2 — 8.
ri Ezek. viii. 12. and ix. 9. See also Ps. x. 11. and Job xxii. 13, 14.