VII.

SER M. tion made of it in the strongest terms. I shall only repeat some paffages, that are moft obvious. In the cxxxixth Pfalm, the Pfalmift expreffes his fentiments of it in very affecting language. O Lord, fays he, thou knoweft my down-fitting, and mine up-rifing; whither shall I go from thy fpirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I afcend into heaven thou art there, if I make my bed in hell thou art there allo; if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the fea, even there shall thy band lead me. If I fay, furely the darknefs fhall cover me, even the night shall be light about me, yea the darkness bideth not from thee. In like manner it is faid in the book of Job, xxxiv. 21. His eyes are upon the ways of man, and he feeth all his goings; there is no darkness, nor fhadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themfelves. So alfo Solomon expreffeth himfelf, 1 Kings viii. 27. But will God indeed dwell with men upon earth? bebold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. And St. Paul, Acts xvii. fays of God, that be is not far from every one of us; for in him we live, move, and have our being.

And

VII.

And as the fcriptures are thus clear S ER M. concerning this divine attribute, so our reason, when calmly confulted, teaches us the fame thing. And indeed, the declarations of the gospel have in general, fet men upon enquiring farther into religion by their reason, than otherwise, perhaps, they would ever have done. Now from reason we may argue thus.

If we allow, that all things whatsoever we observe in the universe, are the effects of God's power, and that they were created by him, it is plain, that he must have been present with the things when they were made; for where his power was exerted, there he must be. For no power of a being can act, in a natural way, where the being itself does not exist. Now we fee, that thefe works of God, are dispersed through boundless space, in great variety, and fome of them to an incomprehenfible diftance from others, though placed in an exact order or proportion; fo that their is a general defign carried on in all the parts of the universe, how far foever removed from one another, in the fame moment of time. Particularly in the heaven above, we obferve an infinite number of glorious bodies,

VII.

SER M. placed at immenfe diftances from one another, performing their motions with the greatest exactnefs and harmony, and having their distances, magnitudes, and figures, fitted in the jufteft proportion. Now the Creator, when he made them, must have been prefent with each of them, to form and poise them, and set them in motion, with fuch degree of movement, as fitted the orbs they were intended to defcribe. For how could he act and form things, where he was not? He must have been present at their immense distances, when he stationed those bodies; neither could they continue in that state any time, without his presence and affistance.-He must still be always prefent with each of them to preserve their motions, and to prevent them from ruin and confufion. A very fuperficial view of the works of nature, will fhew us an infinite power, exerted at all times, and in all places of the Universe. There is an infinity of new animals and vegetables conftantly produced, with an amazing fubtilty of parts, and with all the marks of wisdom and power impreffed upon them; and the operations of nature are inceffantly going on, in every

corner;

VII.

corner; while fome things are dying and SER M. diffolved, others are rifing into being and new formed. And as all things, we observe, are in a continual flux, ever altering their state, some paffing from a morë grofs and imperfect to a more perfect; and others, on the contrary, tending to a diffolution and vanishing; and all this without any power or activity of the things themselves; and still in fuch manner, that the beauty and order of the whole is preferved, and the general plan or design carried on: all this, I fay, fhews evidently, that the fame power which first brought things into being, is ftill employed at all times, in every corner of the univerfe; for it requires the fame degree of power, conftantly to maintain the fucceffion of such an infinity of fluctuating things, which it did in the beginning to make them. For how can all those infinitely various operations be carried on at the fame time, unless the Divine Architect is every where present to direct and enliven them? And this is more particularly visible, when we confider how animal life is preferved in a vast number of creatures, by a won derful circulation of fluids and juices in

SER M. their bodies, which feem every moment VII. to depend upon an invisible mover, and

are all of them fitted to the particular circumstances of their being; all this can never be understood, unless we suppose that the Divine power is every where prefent with them. For how is it poffible, that thofe fluids can be kept warm, and circulate in the bodies of animals, without this power continually exerting itself in them? We see how any other motion excited by art in fuch fluids, quickly ceases. And therefore, there appears plainly a Divine power continually prefent and acting in every animal. And, as there is fuch an infinite number of various animals difperfed through the univerfe, this power muft likewise be extended every where, and always with them. If then the fame power which made things, be continually exerted in all places where there is being, God must exist wherever his power is, and be prefent with the things where it produces effects. And therefore, if God must be prefent with his works, he must exist in every part of space in the universe, as they are scattered through the whole with

an