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contain a full and plain Affertion of God's Omniscience, will lead us,

I. To a diftin&t Confideration of that
Attribute, and then,

II. IT will be obvious to reflect what
Influence fuch a Confideration ought
to have upon our Behaviour.

I. THEN, We are diftinctly to confider this Attribute of God: All things are naked and open unto the Eyes of Him with whom we have to do: All things are naked and open to his Eyes; i. e. Hẹ knoweth, He feeth all things. The Immenfity of the Divine Existence whereby He filleth all in all, and the Intelligence of his Nature, whereby He understandeth the Whole of every Accident, past, prefent, and future, are Circumftances which place us in the Fulness of God's Prefence, and subject us to his continual Notice.

As to the Ubiquity of the Divine Prefence, the Suffrages of Reason, but much more the Voice of Revelation, will inform us, that that vaft Being, which only has Immortality, which is at once diffufed thro' all Duration, is at once ex

tended

tended likewise thro' the wide Abyss of Space; Whither, fays the Royal Pfalmift, fhall I go from thy Spirit? or whither fhall I flee from thy Prefence? If I afcend up into Heaven, thou are there, if I make my Bed in Hell, behold thou art there. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermoft Parts of the Sea, even there fhall thy Hand lead me, and thy Right-hand hold me. Thus we fee no Place is fo high, none fo low, none fo remote, none fo obfcure, where the Divine Prefence does not pervade where his Providence is not exercised. Am I a God at hand, fays the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in fecret Places, that I fhould not fee Him? faith the Lord? Do not I fill Heaven and Earth?

LET then the Mind of Man, in the Strength and Quicknefs of Imagination, dart forth like the Light, and extend itfelf through the whole Sphere of the Univerfe; yet farther, let it convey itself far beyond the Limits of the material World, and diffuse itself through the wideft Expanfion, that any Conceffions

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can reach; yet infinitely fhort will all this fall of the Divine Immenfity; for God, who is all in all, is present at the same Time in every Part; and in the Fulness of his Existence, He takes up the infinite Tracts of Space. We are apt in our Conceptions to confine the Almighty to the highest Heavens, to esteem that the proper Seat of his Refidence, and to imagine Him prefent in other Places only by his Power and Influence; but this is a partial Account of the Divine Ubiquity: The blissful Mansions of Eternity are indeed enriched with the open Splendor of his glorious Prefence; but with refpect to his Effence, He equally fills his Throne, and his Footftool is equally present in every Place.

BUT God is likewife an infinitely intelligent Being, and his Infpection over us is as univerfal as his Prefence with us. God fearcheth us out, and knoweth us; He knoweth our down-fitting and our uprifing: He counteth our Steps, and Spieth out all our Ways. There is not a Word in our Tongue, nor an Imagination in our Soul, but He knoweth it altogether: No Action,

Action, no Thought can be with-holden from Him, who is the great Obferver of Mankind, the nice Difcerner of our Hearts. The Clouds of the moft fecret Obscurity cannot obftruct his all-piercing Sight; for the Darkness hideth not from Him; but the Night Shineth as the Day; the Darkness and Light to Him are both alike: The most specious Appearance of concealed Hypocrify cannot deceive his discriminating Eye; for God hath not Eyes of Flesh, be feeth not by Appearance, as Man feeth, but trieth the very Heart and Reins. Thus then, as well by the Ubiquity of God's Prefence, as by the Intelligence of his Nature, all things are naked and open to his Eyes. But in order to give this Attribute of God's Omniscience its due Weight, we must confider the Force of thefe Words, with whom we have to do.

If the Almighty was an idle Spectator only of Human Actions, difclaiming all manner of Concern for, and all future Relation to Mankind, the Notices of fuch an Intuition would affect us but little more than if he did not fee them at

all:

all: But fince his Eyes are every where beholding the Evil and the Good; beholding it as the Great Preferver to govern, as an impartial Judge to reward and punish the Sons of Men, we cannot fully fatisfy our prefent Enquiries without confidering Him yet farther under thefe two Relations.

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IT is the gracious Design of the Almighty by governing and regulating the Affairs of the World, to difpofe all things in fuch a Way as is moft conducive to his own Glory, and to our Happinefs. God therefore obferves all Actions and Motions of Mankind, that He may give them fuch advantageous Turns of Blessedness as may best answer the Ends of his Providence: It is even a Delight to the Holy One to do Good to them that fear Him; and in the Dispensations of his Government He does fo graciously and wifely improve every Circumstance of their Behaviour, that He makes all things work together for their Good. Thofe, whofe Thoughts are not according to God's Commandments, and whose Hands deal with Wickedness, the Lord

obferves

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