Hopkins - HP BR75 .H65 1710

Of God's Omniprt{cllcc. of l'\'l en , yet t hou art there, and obfcr veft every Duft how it molders and crumbles awl}' : My Bod y cannot be more in t he Grave than thou art there. If we ra ke Hell fo r t he place of the damned, Ged's prcfence is there likewife: One would t hin k, if from any place God would exclude himfelf, it Ihould be from H ell, fince his prcfem;e is fuf!i.cient to make an Heaven any where; but fo infinite is his unlimited Bci n[' , tbat when the Body is in the Grave, and the Soul in Hell yet then h; God prefent, both with the Seul, and with the Body. If 1 mAke my Bed in Hell t ha t is, If I cover my felf never fo clofe and draw the Curtains of the thickcft Darknefs round about me; If my Body fhould lie in the deepeft lntraHsof the Earth,' and my Soul be wrapt about with a Winding-lheet of 3nwak and Flames, yet thou art there, and thy prefence would foon find me ou~ 'Job 26. 6. Hell intaked before him, andDeftruCtionhathnocovering. Yea the.Apoftletells 11s, 2 The{{. 1. 9· That the Wiclled m Htll /hall be punijiJed, with everlafling deftruffion from the prefence of the Lord. and fr om t iJeglory of hU Power. That is, not only that their punifhment fhall be to he. fe1x:rated ·from the piefence of the Lord ; but look how they arc fa id to be punifhed fr om the ~lory of his Power, fo likewife are they to be punifhed from his Prefeoce, their DettruB:ion lball be fr(ltn the Glory of his Power; that is, his Power in i nfliCt ing moft: dreadful Punilhments upon them, and his Power in fuftaini ng them under thofe Punilhmcnts, when with one Hand the Lord fhall hold them up in Hell, and lift up the other as high Heaven, to give them redoubled Strokes of evcrlafting Vengeance. So likewifethey fhall be punifhed from the prefcncc of the Lord; that is, God himfelf will be prefent in Hell to torment and punifh them, that at the very fame time that he fhall be a cherilhing God in Heaven, he will be a tormentinr; God in Hell: Becaufe in them he hath eftabliilied his two great Thrones, the one of his Mercy, the other of his Juftice. But yet porribly there may be found fame neglettcd place here below, where God bath no fuch conccrnment to be prefent in it, as he hath to be prefent in Heavm and in Hell. No.w faith the Pfalmift, Verfe 9· If I take the i¥ings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermoft Par.ts of the Sea, ev.ep t~ere jl1all thine Hand lead me, and thy Right~hand/hall hold me. Wmgs of the Mormng IS an elegant Metaphor, and by them we may conjeelure is meant the Sun-beams, called Wings, becaufe of their fwift and fpeedy motion, making their paffage fo fudden and fo inftantaneous, as that they do prevent the obfervation of the Eye, called the Wi~~J of the Morning, betaufe the Dawn of the Morning comes flying in upon thtfe Wings of the Sun, and brings Light along with it, and by beating and fanning of thefc Wjngs fcatters the D.trknefs before it, Now, faith the PfaJmift, If I could pluck thefe Wings of the M oming , the Su11*beamJ; if 1 coUld imp my own Shoulders with them; if I fhould fly as far and as fwift as Lighr, even in an inftant, to the uttermoft paru of the Sea; yea, if in my flight 1 could fpy out fame Solitary Rock, fo formidable and difinal as if we might almoft call in queftion whether ever a Providence had be'en there; if I could pitch there on the top of it, whc:re never any. thing had made its abode~ but Coldnefs, Thunders and Tempefts, yet there {hall thy Hand lead me, and thy Righthand flMil hold me. Thus you fee the Text declares this Ubiquity and Omniprefence of God; both in Heaven aild Earth and Hell, and in all Places and in all Things. I fhall firfr handle this Point Dol'crinally, and then Pral'cically, obferving this Method: I fhaU, 1. Lay down fume Pofitions. 2. Dcmonftrate the Truth of them by fame cogent 3Dd convincing Arguments. 3· Anfwer fome Objections which may be made againft the Ornniprefence of God . 4· Make fame Improvement of this Point. The firfl: Pofition I Ihalllay down is ~his, That God is intimately and ejfmtilllly in PoftriQn z. ~>ll parts and places of the World; yea, this Prefence being elfential is alfo ne~cflitry, fo that it is fimply impoffible that God fhould not be wherefoever the Creature is. By the Wor1d, I mean whatfoever was at the beginning created by the Power of God, the Heavens, the Air, the Earth and Sea, and all things vifible and invifi· ble; God is with them and in them all. There are three things briefly to be touche.d upon here. · ( t.) Firft, That God iJ imimately prefint ;vi rh theCre.,tureJ. He palfeth through t heir very Beings and Inward Parts ; he is in the very Center of their Effence, and this flows from the Spirituality of his Effence. From hence it is that it is impoffiblo

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