go hence, let us go hence." My brethren, | God hath put such a voice addresses you. We ground our exhortations to-day, not on the destruction of one people only; we preach (if I may be allowed to say so) in the sight of the ruins of this whole universe: yes, from the centre of the trembling world and crashing elements, a voice sounds, Let us go hence; let us quit the world; give our hopes more solid bases than enkindled worlds, which will shortly be burnt up. And then, pass away heavens with a great noise, consume elements, burn earth with all thy works, perish universe, perish nature, our felicity is above all such catastrophes, we cleave to the God of ages, to God who is the source of existence and duration, to God before whom " a thousand years are as one day, and one day as a thousand years." "O Lord, of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee," Ps. cii. 26, &c. God grant we may experience these great promises! To him be honour and glory. Amen. SERMON III. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. PSALM CXXXix. 7—12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the dark ness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. COULD I have one wish, to answer my proposed end of preaching to-day with efficacy, Christians, it should be to show you God in this assembly. Moses had such an advantage, no man, therefore, ever spoke with greater success. He gave the law to the people in God the legislator's presence. He could say, This law which I give you proceeds from God; here is his throne, there is his lightning, yonder is his thunder. Accordingly, never were a people more struck with a legislator's voice. Moses had hardly begun to speak, but at least for that moment, all hearts were united, and all Sinai echoed with one voice, crying, "All that thou hast spoken we will do," Exod. xix. 8. But in vain are our sermons drawn from the sacred sources; in vain do we say to you, "Thus saith the Lord:" ye see only a man; ye hear only a mortal voice in this pulpit; *Josephus de Bell. Jud. lib. vi. сар. 31. 'treasure into earthen ves sels," 2 Cor. iv. 7.; and our auditors, estimating the treasure by the meanness of the vessel, instead of supporting the meanness of the vessel for the sake of the treasure, hear us without respect, and generally, derive no advantage from the ministry. But were God present in this assembly, could we show you the Deity amongst you, authorizing our voice by his approbation and presence, and examining with what dispositions ye hear his word, which of you, which of you, my brethren, could resist so eminent and so noble a motive? Christians, this idea is not destitute of reality: God is every where; he is in this church. Veils of flesh and blood prevent your sig him; these must fall, and ye must open the eyes of your spirits, if ye would see a God who is a spirit, John iv. 24. Hear our prophet; hear his magnificent description of the immensity and omnipresence of God. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." In a text less abundant in riches, we might make some remarks on the terms Spirit and presence; but we will content ourselves at present with indicating what ideas we affix to them, by observing, that by the Spirit and I know, some divines discover great mysteries presence of God, we understand God himself. in these terms, and tell us that there are some passages in Scripture where the word-presence means the second person in the most holy Trinity, and where the term Spirit is certainly to be understood of the third. But as there are some passages where these terms have not this signification, it is beyond all doubt, that this, which we are explaining, is precisely of the latter kind. But however, if any dispute our comment, we shall leave them to dispute it; for it would be unjust to consume that time which is dedicated to the edification of a whole congregation, in refuting a particular opinion. The other expressions in our text, heaven, hell; the wings of the morning, a figurative expression denoting the rapidity of the light in communicating itself from one end of the world to the other; these expressions, I say, need no comment. The presence of God, the Spirit of God, signify then the divine essence: and this assemblage of ideas, "whither shall I go from thy Spirit? whither shall I flee from thy presence?" means, that God is immense, and that he is present in every place. But wherein consists, this immensity and omnipresence? If ever a question required developing, this certainly does; not only because it presents to the mind an abstract subject, which does not fall under the observation of the senses, but because many who have treated this matter, (pardon an opinion which does The mess not proceed from a desire of opposing any in- | how should it be the subject of those attributes dividual, but only from a love to the truth,) which make the essence of God himself? of many who have handled the subject, have contributed more to perplex than to explain it. We may observe in general, that unless we be wholly unacquainted with the history of the sciences, it is impossible not to acknowledge, that all questions about the nature of spirits, all that are any way related to metaphysics, were very little understood before the time of that celebrated philosopher, whom God seems to have bestowed on the world to purify reason, as he had some time before raised up others to purify religion.* at & you, 20 โฮ What heaps of crude and indigested notions do we find among the schoolmen of the immensity of God! One said that God was a point, indivisible indeed, but a point, however, that had the peculiar property of occupying every part of the universe. Another, that God was the place of all beings, the immense extent in which his power had placed them. Another, that his essence was really in heaven, but yet, repletively, as they express it, in every part of the universe. In short, this truth has been obscured by the grossest ignorance. Whatever aversion we have to the decisive tone, we will venture to affirm, that people who talked in this manner of God, had no ideas themselves of what they advanced. Do not be afraid of our conducting you into these wild mazes; do not imagine that we will busy ourselves in exposing all these notions for the sake of labouring to refute them. We will content ourselves with giving you some light Te into the omnipresence of God: I. By removing those false ideas, which at first seem to present t themselves to the imagination; II. By assigning the true. I. Let us remove the false ideas, which at first present themselves to the imagination; as if, when we say that God is present in any place, we mean that he is actually contained there; as if, when we say that God is in every place, we mean to assign to him a real and proper extension. Neither of these is designbed; and to remove these ideas, my brethren, two reflections are sufficient. a Spirit. A spirit cannot be in a at least in the manner in which we conve of place. God is a Spirit. What relation can ye find between wisdom, power, mercy, and all the other attributes which enter into your notion of the Divinity, and the nature of bodies? Pulverize matter, give it all the different forms of which it is susceptible, elevate it to its highest degree of attainment, make it vast, and immense; moderate, or small; luminGous, or obscure; opake, or transparent; there will never result any thing but figures, and never will ye be able, by all these combinations, or divisions, to produce one single sentiment, one single thought, like that of the meanest and most contracted of all mankind. If matter then cannot be the subject of one single operation of the soul of a mechanic, The philosopher intended by Mr. S. I suppose, is his Countryman Des Cartes, born in 1596. Vie de Desc. par Paillet. VOL. I.-8 But perhaps God, who is spiritual in one part of his essence, may be corporeal in another part, like man, who, although he hath a spiritual soul, is yet united to a portion of matter? No; for however admirable in man that union of spiritual and sensible may be, and those laws which unite his soul to his body, nothing more fully marks his weakness and dependence, and consequently nothing can less agree with the divine essence. Is it not a mark of the dependence of an immortal and intelligent soul, to be enveloped in a little flesh and blood, which, according to their different notions, determine his joy or sorrow, his happiness or misery? Is it not a mark of the weakness of our spirits to have the power of acting only on that little matter to which we are united, and to have no power over more? Who can imagine that God hath such limits? He hath no body; he is united to none; yet he is united to all. That celebrated philosopher, shall I call him? or atheist,* who said, that the assemblage of all existence constituted the divine essence, who would have us consider all corporeal beings as the body of the Divinity, published a great extravagance, if he meant that the divine essence consisted of this assemblage. But there is a very just sense in which it may be said, that the whole universe is the body of the Deity. In effect, as I call this portion of matter my body, which I move, act, and direct as I please, so God actuates by his will every part of the universe: he obscures the sun, he calms the winds, he commands the sea. But this very notion excludes all corporiety from God, and proves that God is a spirit. If God sometimes represents himself with feet, with hands, with eyes, he means, in these portraits, rather to give us emblems of his attributes, than images (properly speaking) of any parts which he possesseth. Therefore, when he attributes these to himself, he gives them so vast an extent, that we easily perceive, they are not to be grossly understood. Has he hands? they are hands which "weigh the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance, which measure the waters in the hollow of his hand, and mete out the heavens with a span," Isa. xl. 12. Has he eyes? they are eyes that penetrate the most unmeasurable distances. Has he feet? they are feet which reach from heaven to earth, for the "heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool," Isa. lxvi. 1. Has he a voice? it is as "the sound of many waters, breaking the cedars of Lebanon, making mount Sirion skip like a unicorn, and the hinds to calve," Ps. xxix. 3. 5, 6. 9. This reminds me of a beautiful passage in Plato. He says that the gods, particularly the chief good, the ineffable beauty, as he calls him, cannot be conceived of but by the understanding only, and by quitting sensible objects; that in order to contemplate the divinity, terrestial ideas must be surmounted; that the eyes cannot see him; that the ears cannot hear him. A thought which Julian the apostate, a * Mr. S. means, I should suppose, Spinoza: whose system of atheism, says a sensible writer, is more gross, and, therefore, less dangerous, than others; his poison carrying its antidote with it. t great admirer of that philosopher, so nobly | wisdom, but as the extent or infinity of many expresses in his satire on the Cesars. Thus others. The omnipresence of God is that every thing serves to establish our first principle, that God is a Spirit. 2. But to prove that God is a Spirit, and to prove that he occupies no place, at least as our imagination conceives, is, in our opinion, to establish the same thesis. I know how difficult it is to make this consequence intelligible and clear, not only to those who have never been accustomed to meditation, and who are therefore more excusable for having confused ideas; but even to such as, having cultivated the sciences, are most intent on refining their ideas. I freely acknowledge, that after we have used our utmost efforts to rise above sense and matter, it will be extremely difficult to conceive the existence of a spirit, without conceiving it in a certain place. Yet, I think, whatever difficulty there may be in the system of those who maintain that an immaterial being cannot be in a place, properly so called, there are greater difficulties still in the opposite opinion: for what is immaterial hath no parts; what hath no parts hath no form; what hath no form hath no extension; what hath no extension can have no situation in place, properly so called. For what is it to be in place? is it not to fill space? is it not to be adjusted with surrounding bodies? how adjust with surrounding bodies without parts? how consist of parts without being corporeal? But if ye ascribe a real and proper extension to a spirit, every thought of that spirit would be a separate portion of that extension, as every part of the body is a separate portion of the whole body; every operation of spirit would be a modification of that extension, as every operation of body is a modification of body; and, were this the case, there would be no absurdity in saying, that a thought is round, or square, or cubic, which is nothing less than the confounding of spirit with matter. Thus the idea which our imagination forms of the omnipresence of God, when it represents the essence of the Supreme Being filling infinite spaces, as we are lodged in our houses, is a false idea that ought to be carefully avoided. II. What notions then must we form of the immensity of God; in what sense do we conceive that the infinite Spirit is every where present? My brethren, the bounds of our knowledge are so straight, our sphere is so contracted, we have such imperfect ideas of spirits, even of our own spirits, and for a much stronger reason, of the Father of spirits, that no genius in the world, however exalted ye may suppose him, after his greatest efforts of meditation, can say to you, Thus far extend the attributes of God; behold a complete idea of his immensity and omnipresence. Yet, by the help of sound reason, above all, by the aid of revelation, we may give you, if not complete, at least distinct, ideas of the subject: it is possible, if not to indicate all the senses in which God is immense, at least to point out some; it is possible, if not to show you all the truth, at least to discover it in part. Let us not conceive the omnipresence of God as a particular attribute (if I may venture to say so) of the Deity, as goodness or universal property by which he communicates himself to all, diffuses himself through all, is the great director of all, or, to confine ourselves to more distinct ideas still, the infinite Spirit is present in every place. 1. By a boundless knowledge. God is every where, because he seeth all, because he influenceth all, because he directeth all. This we must prove and establish. But if ye would judge rightly of what ye have heard, and of what ye may still hear, ye must remember that this subject has no relation to your pleasure, nor to your policy, nor to any of those objects which occupy and fill your whole souls; and consequently, that if ye would follow us, ye must stretch your meditation, and go, as it were, out of yourselves. 1. The first idea of God's omnipresence is his omniscience. God is every where present, because he seeth all. This the prophet had principally in view. "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it," ver. 1-3, &c. Then follow the words of our text: "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" and so on. Let us then not consider the Deity, after the example of the schoolmen, as a point fixed in the universality of beings. Let us consider the universality of beings as a point, and the Deity as an immense eye, which sees all that passes in that point, all that can possibly pass there; and which, by an all-animating intelligence, makes an exact combination of all the effects of matter, and of all the dispositions of spirit. 1. God knows all the effects of matter. An expert workman takes a parcel of matter proportioned to a work which he meditates, he makes divers wheels, disposes them properly, and sees, by the rules of his art, what must result from their assemblage. Suppose a sublime, exact genius, knowing how to go from principle to principle, and from consequence to consequence, after foreseeing what must result from two wheels joined together, should imagine a third, he will as certainly know what must result from a third, as from a first and second; after imagining a third, he may imagine a fourth, and properly arrange it with the rest in his imagination; after a fourth, a fifth, and so on to an endless number. Such a man could mathematically demonstrate, in an exact and infallible manner, what must result from a work composed of all these different wheels. Suppose further, that this workman, having accurately considered the effects which would be produced on these wheels, by that subtile matter which in their whirlings continually surrounds them, and which, by its perpetual action and motion, chafes, wears, and dissolves all bodies; this workman would tell you, with the same exactness, how long each of these wheels would wear, and when the whole work would be consumed. Give this workman life and industry proportional to his imagination, furnish him with materials proportional to his ideas, and he will produce a vast, immense work, all the different motions of which he can exactly combine; all the different effects of which he can evidently foresee. He will see, in what time motion will be communicated from the first of these wheels to the second, at what time the second will move the third, and so of the rest: he will foretell all their different motions, and all the effects which must result from their different combinations. have made of his liberty, in resolving to sin, his love to holiness would have engaged him to prevent it. But to reason in this manner is, in attempting to solve a difficulty, to leave that difficulty in all its force. All that they say on this article proceeds from this principle, that a God, infinitely just, and infinitely powerful, ought to display (if it be allowable to say so) all the infinity of his attributes to prevent sin. But this principle is notoriously false. Witness that very permission of sin which is objected to us. Ye will not acknowledge that God foresaw man's fall into sin; acknowledge, at least, that he foresaw the possibility of men's falling, and that, in forming a creature free, he knew that such a creature might choose virtue or vice; Hitherto this is only supposition, my breth- acknowledge, at least, that God could have ren, but it is a supposition that conducts us created man with so much knowledge, and to the most certain of all facts. This work- could have afforded him so many succours; man is God. God is this sublime, exact, in- he could have presented such powerful motives finite genius. He calls into being matter, to holiness incessantly, and discovered to him without motion, and, in some sense, without the dreadful consequences of his rebellion so form. He gives this matter form and motion. effectually; he could have united obedience to He makes a certain number of wheels, or his commands with so many delights, and the rather he makes them without number. He most distant thought of disobedience with so disposes them as he thinks proper. He com- many disgusts; he could have banished from municates a certain degree of motion agree- man every temptation to sin, so that he would able to the laws of his wisdom. Thence arises never have been a sinner. Yet God created the world which strikes our eyes. By the fore- man in another manner; consequently it is not 01 mentioned example, I conceive, that God, by true, even in your system, that God hath exhis own intelligence, saw what must result erted all the power he could to prevent sin's from the arrangement of all the wheels that entrance into the world. Consequently it is compose this world, and knew, with the utmost false, that a being, who perfectly loves holiexactness, all their combinations. He saw ness, ought to display the whole extent of his that a certain degree of motion, imparted to a attributes to prevent sin, and to establish vircertain portion of matter, would produce water; tue. Consequently, the principle on which ye that another degree of motion, communicated ground your denial of God's comprehension of to another portion of matter, would produce all the dispositions of spirits, is an unwarrantfire; that another would produce earth, and so able principle, and to attempt to solve the of the rest. He foresaw, with the utmost pre-difficulty, in this manner, is to leave it in all cision, what would result from this water, its force. from this fire, from this earth, when joined together, and agitated by such a degree of motion as he should communicate. By the bare inspection of the laws of motion, he foresaw fires, he foresaw shipwrecks, he foresaw earthquakes, he foresaw all the vicissitudes of time, he foresaw those which must put a period to time, when "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the earth, with all the works that are in it, shall be burnt up," 3 ப் 2 Pet. iii. 10. 2. But, if God could combine all that would result from the laws of motion communicated to matter, he could also combine all that would result from intelligence, freedom of will, and all the faculties which make the essence of spirits; and, before he had formed all those spiritual beings which compose the intelligible world, he knew what all their ideas, all their projects, all their deliberations, would for ever be. But, if ye consult revelation, ye will find that God claims a universal knowledge of spirits. He says, that he "searcheth and knoweth them," Jer. xvii. 10.; Rev. ii. 23.; Gen. xv. 13.; Exod. iii. 19. He foresaw, he foretold, the afflictions which Abraham's posterity would endure in Egypt, the hardening of Pharaoh, the infidelity of the Jews, the faith of the Gentiles, the crucifixion of the Messiah, the coming of the prince or leader, that is of Vespasian, or Titus, who would "destroy the city and the sanctuary," Dan. ix. 25, 26. And consequently, we have a right to affirm, that God knows all the thoughts of the mind, and all the sentiments of the heart, as well as that he knows all the motions of matter. Perhaps ye wish, my brethren, that our speculations were carried further; perhaps ye would have us disentangle the subject from ail its difficulties; perhaps ye wish we could make you comprehend, in a clear and distinct manner, how it is possible that such immense obI am aware, that a particular consequence,jects can be always present to the Supreme which follows this doctrine, has made some Intelligence? but what mortal mouth can exdivines exclaim against this thesis, and, under press such sublime truths, or what capacity is the specious pretence of exculpating the Deity able to conceive them! On this article, we from the entrance of sin into this world, they are obliged with our prophet to exclaim, "Such have affirmed that God could not foresee the knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high: determinations of a free agent; for, say they, cannot attain unto it!" ver. 6. In general, had he foreseen the abuse which man would we conceive that the sphere of divine know I ledge is not contracted by any of the limits | 6.; "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone, thou that confine the spirits of mankind. The human spirit is united to a portion of matter. Man can perform no operation without the agitation of his brain, without the motion of his animal spirits, without the help of his senses. But the brain wearies, the spirits dissipate, the senses are blunted, and the minutest alteration of body clogs the most penetrating and active genius. But God, as we have represented him, thinks, understands, meditates, without brain, without spirits, without any need of senses; not participating their nature, he never participates their alteration, and thus hath intelligence immediately from the treasure of intelligence itself. The spirit of man owes its existence to a superior Spirit, to a foreign cause, to a Being who gives him only such ideas as he thinks proper, and who hath been pleased to conceal numberless mysteries from him. But God, God not only does not owe his existence to a foreign cause, but all that exist derive their existence from him. His ideas were the models of all beings, and he hath only to contemplate himself perfectly to know them. 66 hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of hea ven worshippeth thee. O Lord, I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well." Ps. cxxxix. 14-16.; 'My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews." Ps. xxxvi. 5, 6. When beings are preserved, he is there. He influences their preservation. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thou preservest man and beast. When thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good: thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renewest the face of the earth," Ps. civ. 28-30. When the world is disordered, he is there. He influenceth wars, pestilence, famines, and all the vicissitudes which disorder the world. If nature refuse her productions, it is because he has "made the heaven as iron, and the earth as brass," Lev. xxvi. 19. If peace succeed war, he makes both. If "lions slay the inhabitants of Samaria," it is "the Lord who sends them," 2 Kings xvii. 25. When tempestuous winds break down those immense banks which your industry has opposed to them, when a devouring fire reduceth your houses to ashes, it is he who "makes the winds his messengers, and his ministers flames of fire," Ps. civ. 4. The spirit of man is naturally a finite spirit; he can consider only one circle of objects at once, many ideas confound him; if he would see too much he sees nothing, he must successively contemplate what he cannot contemplate in one moment. But God is an infinite Spirit; with one single look he beholdeth the whole universe. This is the first idea of the omnipresence of God. As I am accounted present in this auditory, because I see the objects that are here, because I am witness of all that passes here, so God is every where, because he sees all, because veils the most impenetrable, darkness the most thick, distances the most immense, can conceal nothing from his knowledge. Soar to the utmost heights, fly into the remotest climates, wrap thyself in the blackest darkness, every where, every where, thou wilt be under his eye. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy pre- When every thing succeeds according to our sence?" wishes, he is there. He influenceth prosperity. But, 2. The knowledge of God is not a bare" Except the Lord build the house, they labour knowledge, his presence is not an idle presence; it is an active knowledge, it is a presence accompanied with action and motion. We said, just now, that God was every where, because he influenced all, as far as influence could agree with his perfections. Remark this restriction, for, as we are discussing a subject the most fertile in controversy, and, as in a discourse of an hour, it is impossible to answer all objections, which may be all answered elsewhere, we would give a general preservative against every mistake. We mean an influence which agrees with the divine perfections; and if, from any of our general propositions, ye infer any consequences injurious to those perfections, ye may conclude, for that very reason, that ye have stretched them beyond their due bounds. We repeat it then, God influenceth all things, as far as such influence agrees with his perfections. When new beings appear, he is there. He influences their production. He gives to all life, motion, and being, Acts xvii. 28. Neh. ix. in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is in vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows. It is God who giveth his beloved sleep," Ps. cxxvii. 1, 2. When our understanding is informed, he is there. He influenceth our knowledge. For "in his light we see light," Ps. xxxvi. 10. "He lighteth every man that cometh into the world," John i. 9. When our heart disposeth us to our duties, he is there. He influenceth our virtues. It is he who "worketh in us, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure," Phil. ii. 13. It is he who "giveth us not only to believe, but to suffer for his sake," Phil. i. 29. It is he who giveth to all that ask him liberally, and upbraideth not," James i. 5. When the grossest errors cover us, he is there. He influenceth errors. It is God who "sends strong delusions that men should believe a lie," 2 Thess. ii. 11. "Go make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears |