Genesis 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. The world itself is a dreadful place. I. Because the visible things that are made display an eternal power and Godhead. II. Because the world evidences a design rising above, and superior to, the exhibition of a power capable of producing a mere physical universe. III. Because of its occupancy by an intellectual being. Intellect employs itself in a variety of ways, but these may all be classed under — 1. Regard of the external or physical world. 2. The intellectual or spiritual. 3. The author of both. Under one of these may be placed all the subjects which have engaged man from the commencement of the world. IV. Because man is a moral being. I cannot think of an intellectual being as other than a moral one, because I cannot well conceive how a mind free and unconstrained can, while investigating the works of God, fail to have awakened some of those moral views and feelings, which to any mind are the legitimate concomitants. I have therefore adopted the distinction merely for the sake of the different position from which it enables us to regard man. V. Because man is a fallen being. VI. Because of the forbearance of God and man's consequent increased criminality. VII. Because of God's amazing condescension in seeking man's restoration. VIII. Because of the enormous expense at which the means of reconciliation were secured. IX. Because of the awful consequences resulting from the neglect of these means. (F. Wright.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. |
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