756 The In'anenfity oftie Divine Nature. Vol. I, In fpeaking to this Attribute of God's Immenfty, I (hall .0/1 explain it to you a little. Secondly, Prove that it Both belong to him. Thirdly, Anfwer an Objeáion or two that may be made againft it. Fourthly, Draw fome Doárinal Inferences from it. Fifthly, Make fome ufe and improvement of it. Being atFh o o t hbe onds t ibt. Bdy ee ofpf sand diffufelitt elf 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 farther; bar he is every where prefent after a molt infinite manner, in the darkeft corners and molt private re- cafes ; the moft fecret Clofet that is in the whole World, the Heart of Man, darknefs and privacy cannot keep him out ; the prefence of another Being, even of a Body, which is the groffeft fubflance, doth not exclude him ; the whole World doth not confine him ; but he fills all the fpace which we can imagine beyond this vifible World, and infinitely more than we can imagine. Secondly, For the proof of it, I (hall attempt it, I. From the natural Notions and Diáates of our Minds. II. From Scripture and Divine Revelation. III. From the inconvenience of the contrary. I. From the natural Notions and Diáates of our Minds. We find that the Heathen, by the Light of Nature, did attribute this Perfeáion to God. Tully tells us, De Nat. dear. That Pythagoras thought, Deum effe animumper naturam re- fern omnem intentum yr commeantem, That God isas it were a Soul pajing through and infpiring all Nature. And in L. 2. de lt. that this was Thales his Opinion which he commends, Hombres exijlimare oportere deos amnia cernere, deorum amnia eijj plena, That Men ought to believe, that the Gods fee all things, that all things are full of them. So Sen. Epifl. 95. Ubique & omnibuspreejle eil ? He is every whereprefent and at hand, &de Benef. L. q. Quocunque to flexeris, ibi ilium videbis occurrentem tibi, nihil ab ilia vacat, opus faum ipfe implet ; Which way foever thou homey? thy felf, thou fbaltfind him meeting thee, nothing is without him, he fills his own work: Not much differing from the Expreffion of the Pfalmift here. II. From Scripture and Divine Revelation. I !hall inftance in fome remarka- ble places ; a Kings 8. 27. Behold, theheaven, andheaven of heavenscannot contain thee. Job t r. 7, 8, 9. Caryl thou by fearching findout God ? will thou findout the Almighty untoperfec`lion ? Ifa. 66. i. Thus faith the Lord, behold, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footffool : where is the houfe that ye buildunto me ? and where is theplace of my refi ? Jer. 23. 23, 24. Am I a Godat hand, faith the Lord, andnot a God afar of ? Can any hide himfelf in fecret places that I (hall not fee him, faith the Lord? do not Ifill heaven andearth, faith the Lord ? Amos 9. 2, 3. The' they dig into hell, thence fhall mine hand take them; though theyclimb up to heaven, thence willIbring them down. And though they hide themfelves in the top of Carmel, I will fearch and take them out thence : and the' they be hid from my fight in the bottom of the fea, thence will I command the ferpent andhe (hall bite them. Aás 17. 27, 28. rho' he be not far fromevery one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain alfo of your own Poets have Paid, for weare alfo his offering. III. From the inconveniences of the contrary. And this is the mot} proper way of proving any of God'sPerfeáions; for as Ihave told you formerly, there being nothing before God, nor any caufe ofhis Being, his Pereáions cannot be proved by way of demonJ/ration but of conviflion, by !hewing the abfurdity of the contrary. The firft and molt eafie Notion that we have of God, is, that he is a Being which bath all Perfeáion, and is free from all Imperfeáions ; now if I prove that the Immenjty ofGod's Effence is a Perfeáion, or which is the fame, that the contrary is an Imperfeáion, I do fu.fhciently prove the thing in- tended. Now
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