heavy, are 'but for a moment,' and are therefore really 'light;' and that they will work for him an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' In seasons of temptation, when his resolution to resist, his fortitude to endure, his patience to suffer, his wisdom to devise means of escape, and his diligence and faithfulness to use them, fail and decline; or even when, immersed in sloth and security, he ceases to watch over himself, and to guard against impending evil: God still is present, to supply all his wants, to renew his vigour, to support his yielding constancy, to awaken in him new vigilance, to quicken in him a contrite sense of his backsliding, to deliver him from the unequal contest, and to bless him with returning hope, peace and safety. When self-confidence, self-flattery, and self-righteousness inflate, deform, and betray him: when no Christian friend is near, to know, to pity, or to rescue him: God even then is present, to humble, to guide, and to restore him and to enable him to find a safe path over the otherwise insurmountable obstacles to his continuance in the way of life. Does he, with other humble followers of the Redeemer, 'mourn in Zion' the hidings of God's face, his own backslidings, or the depression and sufferings of his fellow-christians; and feel, as if both himself and the Church were deserted and forgotten? Let him remember, that although his heavenly Father ' hath smitten him for his sins with a rod, and for his iniquities with stripes; yet his covenant he will not take away, nor forget his mercy; that the walls of Zion are continually before him, and that she is graven on the palms of his hands; that although a woman may forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb; yet will her Redeemer not forget his Church; and that He will keep her in the hollow of his hand, and preserve her as the apple of his eye.' Let him remember, that Jehovah will soon lift up on him, and his fellow-saints, the light of his countenance; and will soon appoint unto them all, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.' Is he come to a dying bed? Is eternity, with all its amazing scenes, beginning to be unveiled? Is his final trial ready to commence? Is his account even now to be given, his sentence to be pronounced, and his endless allotment to be fixed? Behold on the throne of Judgment that glorious Person, who has promised that he will never leave him, nor forsake him.' He is the Judge by whom he is to be tried, the Rewarder by whom his destiny is to be fixed for ever. This divine Redeemer will now remember him as one of those for whom he died, as one of those for whom he has made unceasing intercession before the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. 8. What an affecting and amazing display will be made of the Omniscience of God, at the last Judgment. On this solemn day, all mankind will be judged according to the deeds done in the body.' That these may be the foundation of the righteous judgment of God,' it is indispensable that they should be known clearly and certainly: the sins, together with all their aggravations and palliations; the virtues, with all their diminutions and enhancements. To the same end it is equally necessary that the system of retribution should also be perfectly comprehended, so that every administration of reward, both to the righteous and the wicked, should, throughout eternity, be measured out to each individual exactly as his whole character demands. Of course, the knowledge which will here be indispensable, will be a perfect comprehension of this system, together with all the moral conduct, and all the circumstances, of the innumerable beings who will be judged. The display of this knowledge, it is evident, will be the greatest display announced by the Scriptures, and infinitely greater than any other, conceivable by the human mind. This display will be also far more affecting than any other, for on it will depend all the immortal concerns of the innumerable children of Adam. Yet such a display will certainly be made, to such an extent, as to exhibit God in the character of an upright judge, an impartial dispenser of good and evil to his creatures; as to stop every mouth, and force every heart to confess, that he is just when he judgeth, and clear when he condemneth.' What manifestations of the human character will then be made! How different will be the appearance, which pride, ambition and avarice, sloth, lust and intemperance, will wear in the sight of God, in the sight of the assembled universe, and in the sight of those who have yielded themselves up to these evil passions, from that which they have customarily worn 104 OMNIPRESENCE AND OMNISCIENCE OF GOD. SER. VI. in the present world. How low will the haughty man be bowed down. How will the splendour of power and conquest set in darkness! How will the golden mountains of opulence melt away, and leave the dreaming possessor poor, and naked, and miserable, and in want of all things. How will the sensualist awake out of his momentary vision of pleasure, and find it all changed to vanity and vexation of spirit.' How little, in innumerable instances, will the worldly great then appear! How contemptible the renowned: how weak the powerful: how foolish the wise men and disputers of this world!' On the contrary, with what confidence and joy will the poor, despised, humble Christian lift up his head,' and take his proper place in the great scale of being, because he beholds his redemption arrived.' Here, first, his character will be openly acknowledged, and his worth confessed. Last in the present world, he will be numbered among the first in the world to come. A feeble, faded, half-extinguished lamp on this side of the grave, he will shine forth as the Sun in the kingdom of his Father.' How differently will our own characters appear, from what we imagine them to be, during our present life. Here most of our sins are forgotten; there they are all recorded in the book of God's remembrance. Here vast multitudes of them are concealed; there they will all be displayed in the open day. Here they are often mistaken by self-flattery for virtues; there they will be irresistibly seen in all their native deformity. How delightful will it then be to find, that they have been 'blotted out' by the divine mercy as a thick cloud;' that they have been expiated by the blood of the Redeemer. What a consolation, what transport will it be to find, that numerous and great as our iniquities have been, yet our whole character was such in the eye of the heart-searching God as to entitle us, through the merits of Christ, to a reward of endless life and glory! SERMON VII. OMNIPOTENCE AND INDEPENDENCE I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD. GENESIS Xvii. 1. IN my last Discourse, I considered the Omnipresence and Om niscience of God. The next subject in the natural order of discussion is his Almighty Power. In the text, this attribute is asserted directly by God himself to Abraham, when he renewed with him the covenant of grace, and instituted the sacrament of circumcision. In a manner equally explicit are similar declarations made throughout every part of the Scriptures, The Omnipotence of God is also easily demonstrated by Reason; so easily, that no divine attribute has perhaps been so strongly realized, or generally acknowledged. So general is this acknowledgment, that a sober attempt to persuade a Christian audience of the truth of this doctrine would be scarcely considered as serious, or as compatible with the dictates of good sense. An attempt to impress this doctrine on the mind is not however liable to the same objections, nor indeed to any objection. It cannot but be a profitable employment to examine briefly several things, in which we find the most striking displays of this perfection. To such an examination I shall therefore proceed; and observe, I. That the power of God is gloriously manifested in the work of Creation. Creation may be defined, the production of existence where nothing was before. The power displayed in the act of creating, not only exceeds all finite comprehension, but is plainly so great as to exclude every rational limitation. It is impossible to believe that the power which originally gives existence, cannot do any thing, and every thing which in its own nature is capable of being done; or in other words, every thing, the doing of which involves not a contradiction. When we contemplate creative power, we neither attempt nor pretend to form any estimate of its extent, but are lost in wonder and amazement at the character of him who gives being wherever he pleases. On the simple act of creating, however, it is not easy for such minds as ours to dwell. A single glance of the mind makes us possessed of all which we know concerning this effort of Omnipotence, as it is in itself. But there are several things relative to the effects which it produces, capable of mightily enhancing our ideas concerning this astonishing exertion of power. Of this nature is, 1. The vastness and multitude of the things which were created. The world which we inhabit, is itself a vast and amazing work. The great divisions of land and water, the continents and oceans into which it is distributed; nay, the mountains and plains, the lakes and rivers, with which it is magnificently adorned; are, severally, sufficiently wonderful and affecting to fill our minds, and to engross all the power of contemplation. Nor are our thoughts less deeply interested by the vast multitude of plants, trees, and animals, with which every part of the globe is stored at every period of time. All these also rise and fall in an uninterrupted succession. When one perishes, another immediately succeeds. No blank is permitted, and no vacuity found: but creating energy, always operating, produces a continual renovation of that which is lost. When we lift up our eyes to the heavens, we are still more amazed at the sight of many such worlds, composing the planetary system. The comets which surround our sun, greatly increase our amazement by their numbers, the velocity of their motions, and the inconceivable extent of their circuits. It is still more enhanced by the union of these numerous worlds in |