Man's Dislike of a
Present God
By Horatius Bonar
"They
say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of your
ways." - Job 21:14
Yet they
say to God, "Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways." -
Job 21:14
The men
who speak thus are not atheists. They do not say there is no God. They may be
scoffers, blasphemers, ungodly, but they are not atheists. They whom Job
describes are worldly men. The world, with its riches, its possessions, its
pleasures, its friendships, is their all. They have nothing beyond it, and they
do not wish anything beyond it. They are satisfied. They love the world, and
are resolved to make the best of it that they can. When anything comes in
between it and them, or threatens to prevent their enjoying it, such as pain,
or sickness, or death, they thrust it away. They do not ask whether the
intervention by God may not, after all, be true and important; it mars their
enjoyment of the world, and so must not be for a moment entertained.
How since
the days that Bonar spoke these words has the church sunk? So that today
Evengelicals, Fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and Charismatics are now steeped
in, are mired by the sin, the lusts, and corruptions of this world. Loving the riches and things of this world more than God.
And so have come to a dislike of a persent God who would seek to convict, and
drive these to repentence and seperation from the world. How
these despeise the seach light of God illuninating their sin and corruption,
rather pretending as actors to be upright and having a close relationship with
God. Compare and look at Bonars words here and the symptoms he
describes.
In our
text we have WORLDLINESS VERSUS GOD. For it is worldliness that is here
speaking out. It is not man contending against man because of injury or
encroachment, it is not man protesting against pain, or mortality, or life's
brevity, it is man protesting against God. God seems
to him as a dark shadow overclouding all his joy. How is this?
I. Not
because God has injured him. He does not pretend that any wrong has been done
or threatened to be done. He does not speak as an injured man, nor plead
against God because of injustice.
II. Not
because God hates him. He has no reason to conclude such a thing, either from
what God has said or done. He cannot point to any mark of hatred.
III. Not
because God has interfered with his prosperity. He is evidently a prosperous
man, mighty in power; neither is the rod of God upon him (verses 7 and 9). It
is not because of these things that he says to God, Depart from us. Indeed, he
does not hide his reason altogether, "we desire not the knowledge of your
ways." He has no liking for God or his ways, he looks on him as an
obstruction, an unpleasant visitor, a dark cloud, a spoiler of his pleasure.
But
these worldly men in Job's time were but a specimen of the men of many ages-
our own as well as others. In these different ages we find a variation in the
feeling and in its expression. Sometimes there is more of infidelity in it, or
even direct atheism, sometimes less. But in all there is a desi1re to get rid
of God, God personally, though perhaps not God abstractly; to thrust him into a
corner of his universe, where he will least disturb the children of men. In the
present day we find this state of feeling widely spread and working, not only
in the world but in the church. Men who call themselves Christians lend
themselves to the outcry, "Depart from us." At the bottom of all this
feeling is the love of the world. It is this that prompts men to seek to get
rid of God.
I.
They try to get rid of GOD HIMSELF. They tolerate Him afar off, but not near. (Even as the Children of Israel viewed the
mount of God afar when God was made manifest to them) They tolerate a religion of uncertainty, (Where essentially one has to do little
of nothing to “Please God”) but not one of certainty, (Making
known God’s demands and the eternal Judgment of hell and ultimately the lake of
fire for all eternity upon sinners, upon the disobedient) or fellowship, (A
deep abiding personal relationship with Jesus Christ even as Christ had such a
relationship with the Father) or
conscious nearness. (Knowing and experiencing the conscious
presence of God) They would let Him
alone, if He would let them alone; but if not, they raise the cry, "Depart."
An abstraction, a creed, a system of theology, they bear with, because it does
not interfere with their worldliness; but God Himself can only be tolerated as
a shadowy, impalpable, far distant being. To anything else they say, "depart."
II. They
try to get rid of CHRIST. Some superhuman being, such as Paganism delighted in,
they tolerate; but not the Christ of Scripture, the Word made flesh. A Christ
that will assist them in their great endeavor to keep God at a distance they
will admire and sing of; but the Christ that brings God near, that makes His
love a reality, and His favor and forgiveness a certainty, they cannot away
with.
III. They try to get rid
of the HOLY SPIRIT. They dislike the supernatural, and do not
wish to hear of a world outside their own, from which influences and operations
are continually coming to modify things here, or transform men, or protest
against sin. The Holy Spirit, as the
special expression and representative of the supernatural and divine, in
connection with man's nature and soul, they either refuse to believe in, or
treat him as a mere afflatus, a breath, an influence.
IV. They
try to get rid of God's BOOK. The Bible is God's visible representative and
commissioner here. It is the silent protest in every house in favor of God. And
hence it is set aside by many, or only read for its poetry, its morality, its
antiquity. To believe as little of it as possible is the object of multitudes;
to cast doubt upon its authenticity; to reject its inspiration- to treat it as
not a book for this advanced age- these are the ways in which men are seeking
to get rid of God's book.
V. They
try to get rid of God's LAW. They say it was not for us but for the Jews; they
tell us that the morality of Socrates was higher than that of Moses; they (in a
more refined fashion) speak of it as buried in the grave of Christ; so that we
have got past its exactions and sanctions. No restraint on us; the law is dead!
Thus the
age tries to get rid of God. It does so, because it dreads Him; it has no
relish for Him; His presence is a gloomy shadow; His nearness would interfere
with all worldly schemes and pleasures. Therefore men say, "Depart."
The old Pagans never said to Jupiter, Depart; for they looked on him as in
sympathy with their sins, and lusts, and pleasure. But to the living and true
God men say, "Depart", because they feel that they cannot have both
Him and their sins. They cannot clothe Him with the robes of their own
worldliness.
Yet He has not departed. In love He
lingers, seeking to bless. He knows the blank His departure makes, and that
nothing can fill it. Therefore He lingers; yearning over the sons of men;
entreating them to take Him for their portion and all.