SERMON XII. The Immenfity of the Di- PSAL. CXXXIX. 7,8, 9, 10. Whither fhall I go from thy fpirit? or whither shall I flee from thy prefence? If I afcend 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 fea, even there fball thy hand lead me, and thy right hand fhall hold me. T HAT Attribute of God which I laft difcours'd of is moft Abfolute, and declares his Effence most immediately; the fpirituality of the Divine Nature. I fhall in the next place fpeak of thofe NA Vol. VII M those which relate to the manner of Vol.VII-his Being, Immenfity and Eternity, that is, the infiniteneß of his Effence, both in respect of space and duration; that the Divine Nature hath no limits of its Being, nor bounds of its duration. I fhall at the present speak to the first of thefe, his Immenfity, and that from thefe words which I here read to you,Whither fhall I go from thy fpirit, &c. The meaning of which is this, That God is a Spirit, infinitely diffufing himself, prefent in all places, fo that wherever I go, God is there; we cannot flee from his prefence. If I afcend into heaven, he is there; if I go down into the grave, the place of filence and obfcurity, he is there; (for that is the meaning of the Expreffion, If. I make my bed in hell.) If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the fea, even there fhall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand fhall hold me; that is, if my motion fhould be as fwift as that of the light, which when the Sun rifeth darts it felf in an inftant from one part of the World to another, over the Earth and the Sea, the re moteft moteft parts of the World which are unknown to us, yet would God be Vol. VII. present to me in the motion, and all along as I go muft I be led and upholden by him; fo that all these Expreffions do but fignifie to us the Immenfity of God's Effence, that his Being is infinitely diffused and prefent in all Places. In fpeaking to this Attribute of God's Immenfity, I fhall First explain it to you a little. Secondly, Prove that it doth belong to him. Thirdly, Anfwer an Objection or two that may be made against it. Fourthly, Draw fome doctrinal In ferences from it. Fifthly, Make fome use and improvement of it. First, For the explication of it. By the Immenfity of God, I mean that his Being hath no bounds or limits, but but doth every way spread and difVol. VII. fufe it felf beyond what we can imagine; fo that you cannot define the prefence of God by any certain place, fo as to fay here he is, but not there; nor by any limits, fo as to fay, thus far his Being reacheth, and no further ; but he is every where prefent after a most infinite manner, in the darkest corners and moft private receffes; the moft fecret Closet that is in the whole World, the Heart of Man, darkness and privacy cannot keep him out; the prefence of another Being, even of a Body, which is the groffeft fubftance, doth not exclude him; the whole World doth not confine him; but he fills all the fpace which we can imagine beyond this visible World, and infinitely more than we can imagine. Secondly, For the proof of it. I fhall attempt it, I. From the natural Notions and Dictates of our Minds. II. From |