GRANDEUR OF THE DEITY. 



105 



&amp;lt;&amp;gt;arth in a measure.&quot; &quot; By the word of the Lord 

 were the heavens made, and all the host of them 

 ay the Spirit of his mouth.&quot; &quot; He spake, and 

 - twas dona ; He commanded, and it stood fast.&quot; 

 &quot;He stretched forth the heavens alone, and 

 bringeth forth their hosts by number.&quot; &quot; Lo 

 these are parts of his ways, but how little a por 

 tion is heard of him ; and the thunder of his power 

 who can understand ? Behold the heaven, and 

 the heaven of heavens cannot contain him!&quot; 

 &quot; The heavens declare the glory of God, and 

 the firmament showeth forth his handy-work.&quot; 

 &quot; Thine, O Lord ! is the greatness, and the glory, 

 and the majesty, for all in heaven and earth, is 

 thjne , and thou art exalted above all.&quot; &quot; Behold 

 the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the 

 Lord s.&quot; u Jehovah hath prepared hit throne in 

 the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all.&quot; &quot; I 

 will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, 

 and of thy wondrous works&quot; &quot; Blessed be thy 

 glorious name who art exalted above all blessing 

 and praise.&quot; &quot; Thou, even thou, artLord alone ; 

 thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, 

 with all their host, thou preservest them all, and 

 the host of heaven worshippeth thee.&quot; &quot; Who 

 can utter the mighty acts of the Lord ? who can 

 show forth all his praise ?&quot; &quot; Touching the Al 

 mighty, we cannot find him out.&quot; &quot;He is ex 

 cellent in power, and his glory is above the earth 

 and heavens.&quot; 



Such sublime descriptions of the Divine Being, 

 which are interspersed throughout various parts 

 of Revelation, lead us to form the most august 

 conceptions of his creative energy, and plainly 

 indicate, that it is impossible for the highest 

 created intellect to form a more magnificent idea 

 of his designs and operations than what in re 

 ality exists. 



In short, though some of the preceding views 

 may not precisely correspond to the facts which 

 shall ultimately be found to exist in the universe, 

 they ought, nevertheless, to be entertained and 

 rendered familiar to the mind, since they open 

 a sublime and interesting train of thinking ; and 

 since they cannot go beyond the magnificence 

 of Jehovah s kingdom, nor be very different from 

 what actually exists in the universe. They form 

 a kind of sensible substratum of thought for the 

 mind to fix upon, when it attempts to frame the 

 loftiest conceptions of the object of our adora 

 tion. It may be laid down as a principle which 

 ouht never to be overlooked in Theology, that, 

 our conceptions of the grandeur of God are pre 

 cisely, or, at least, nearly commensurate with our 

 conceptions of the grandeur and extent of his ope 

 rations throughout the universe. We all admit, 

 that the Deity is infinite, both in respect of space 

 and of duration. But, an infinity of empty space, 

 and an infinity of duration, abstractly considered, 

 convey no precise or tangible ideas to the mind, 

 to guide it in forming distinct conceptions of 

 thtf Deity or of any oilier beings. It is only 



when the immensity of space is considered as 

 diversified with an immense variety and multipli 

 city of objects, and when eternal duration is con 

 templated as connected with a constant succes 

 sion of glorious scenes and transactions, that 

 the soul of man can expand its views and ele 

 vate its conceptions of the incomprehensible Je 

 hovah. 



If these sentiments be admitted, it will follow, 

 that the man whose ideas are confined within 

 limits of a few hundred miles, or even within 

 the range of the globe we inhabit, must have 

 his views of Deity confined within nearly the 

 same sphere. For we have no sensible mea 

 sures of the attributes of God, but those which 

 are derived from the number and extent of his 

 actual operations. When we attempt to think 

 of Him, without the assistance of his visible 

 works, our thoughts instantly run into confusion, 

 and sink into inanity. And, since we find, that 

 the material works of God are so &quot; great above 

 all measure,&quot; so widely extended, and so mag 

 nificent in the scale of their operation, it is of 

 the utmost importance, in a religious point of 

 view, that the mind accustom itself to range at 

 large through the wide extent of creation to 

 trace, by analogy, from what is known, the pro 

 bable magnitude, arrangement, and grandeur of 

 what is removed beyond the limits of our vi 

 sion to add magnitude to magnitude, system to 

 system, and motion to motion, till our thoughts 

 are overwhelmed with the mighty idea. And, 

 though we may occasionally frattne some erro 

 neous or inadequate notions, when forming 

 our conceptions of certain subordinate particu 

 lars, yet, we need not fear, that in point of num 

 ber, magnitude, and variety, our conceptions can 

 ever go beyond the realities which exist within 

 the range of universal nature, unless we suppose, 

 that &quot; man can conceive beyond what God can 

 do.&quot; Such trains of thought will tend to expand 

 and elevate the mind, and give it a sublime 

 turn of thinking ; and will naturally produce 

 an ardent desire of beholding a brighter display 

 of the magnificence of the Creator in the eterna 1 

 world. 



From what has been now detailed respect 

 ing the numerous and august objects that may 

 be presented to the contemplation of celestial 

 intelligences, we may conclude, that the chief 

 subjects of study in the heavenly world will be 

 History and Philosophy. Under the department 

 of history, may be comprehended all the details 

 which will be exhibited to them respecting the 

 origin, progress, and consummation of the re 

 demption of man, and the information they may 

 receive respecting the natural and moral scenery, 

 and the prominent providential occurrences and 

 arrangements of other worlds. 



As it is evident, that matter exists chiefly for 

 the sake of sensitive and intelligent beings, so, 



