Serin. CI. 7"he Inmenfty ofthe Divine Nature. and irrefiftible Power, and will vindicate all Contempt of the Divine Majefty, and Violation of his Laws. If we believe God to be always prefent with us, Fear will continually take hold of us, and we lhall fay of every place, as ,/acobdid of Bethel, furelÿ God is in this place, how dreadful is this place? When we have at any time provoked God, if we believe the juft God is at hand to revengehim- felf, and ifwe believe the power of his anger, we fluff fay with David, Pfal. 76.7. Thou even thou art to be feared, andwho may flandbefore thee when thou art angry ? Pfal. r r 9. r zo. My flesh tremblethbecaufe ofthee, and I am afraid of thy yudgments. Sinners confider this, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living .God, and every time you fin, you are within his reach. Let then the confidera- xion of God's Prefence deter us from Sin, and quicken us to our Duty, The Eyeand Prefence of a Superior will lay a great restraint upon Men the Eye of our Prince, or our Matter, or our Father, will make us afraid or afham'd to do any thing that is foolish or unfeemly : And will we do that under the Eye of God, which we should blufh to do before a grave or wife Perron, yea before a Child or a Fool ? Did but Men live unier this apprehenfion, that God is prefent to them, that an holy and all -feeing Eye beholds them, they would be afraid tp do any thing that is vile and wicked, toprofane and pollute God's glorious name, by a trifling ufe of it in customary fwearing and curfing. Whenever you fin, you affront God to his Face ; and provoke the omnipotent juftice which isat the door, and ready to break in upon you. And the consideration of this should efpecially deter us from fecret Sins. This is the ufe the Pfalmiflheremakes of it. If we believe that Godfearchetb us and knows us, that heknows our down-fitting, and our up-rifng, andunderflands our thoughts afar of that he compaffeth our path, and our lying down, midis acquainted with all our ways, that there is not a word in our tongue, but he knows it altogether, that he hatb befit us behind andbefore, that the darknefs hideth not from him, but the night fhineth as the day, and the darknefs and light are both alike ; I fay, if we believe this, how should we live in an awful fenfe of the Majefty which is always above us, and before us, and about us, and within us, and isas infeparable from .us, as we are fromour felves, whole Eye is upon us from the beginning of our Lives to the end of our Days ! did Men believe that God is always with them, that his Eye pierceth the Darknefs, and fees through all thofe Clouds withwhich they hide and muffle themfelves, and pries into the molt fecret Receffes of their Hearts, how would this check and,reftrain them from deviling mifchief in their hearts, or in their Bed-chamber ? The holy. Prefence, and the pure Eye of God would be to us a thoufand times more than to have our Father, or our Matter, or our Prince, or him whomwe moil revere, to stand by us. Did but Men repre- fentare fbi Deum,, make Godprefent to them, by living under a continual fenfe of his Prefence, they would, as the Exprefiìon of the Wife Man is, be in the fear of the Lordall day. Magma fpes peccatorum tollitur, fr peccaturis teflis adfiflat : ali- quem habeat animus quern vereatur, capes authoritate etiam fecretum foam faniïias facit ; The main hope of Sinners is to remain undifcover'd, let but fomebody be privy to their deligns, and they are utterly difappointed ; 'Tis it for the Mind of a Man to have an awe of force Being, whole Authority may render even itsprivacy more folemn. This is. the CharaCer of wicked Men, Pfal. 86. 54. that they have not God before their Eyes. One great caufe of all the Wickednefs, and Violence, and Loofenefs that is upon the Earth, is, they do not believe that God is nearthem, and Rands by them. And as the confideration of God's Prefence should deter us from Sin, fo it fhould quicken and animate us to our Duty. It is ordinarily a great Encourage- ment to Men to acquit themfelves handfomely, to have the Eyes of Men upon them, especially of thole whole Applaufe and Approbation they value. God alone is amplum 7heatrum, he's agreater Theater than the World, and it should be more to us that he fands by us, than if the Eyes of all the World were fix'd up- on us. Sen. advifeth it as an excellent means to promote Virtue, to propound to our felves, and set before our Eyes force eminently virtuous Perlon, as Cato ©r Leelius, at f1c tanquam ildo fpeciante vivamus, & amnia tanquam illo videntefaci- amus 759
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