OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. 



press the foundation of moral action, because 

 our Saviour has arranged them under two dis 

 tinct heads, in the passage just now quoted ; 

 but strictly speaking, there is but one principle, 

 namely, Love, which divides itself, as it were, 

 into two great streams, one directing its course 

 towards the supreme Source of all felicity, and 

 the other towards all the subordinate intelligences 

 He has created. 



first Principle LOVE TO GOD. 



Love, considered in reference to the Supreme 

 Being, may be viewed as dividing itself into a 

 variety of streams or kindred emotions, all flow 

 ing from one source. The most prominent of 

 these emotions are the following Admiration, 

 which consists in a delightful emotion, arising 

 from a contemplation of the wonderful works of 

 God, and of the wisdom and goodness which they 

 unfold Reverence, which is nearly allied to ad 

 miration, is a solemn emotion, mingled with awe 

 and delight, excited in the mind, when it contem 

 plates the perfections, and the grand operations 

 of the Eternal Mind Gratitude, which consists 

 in affection to the Supreme Being, on account 

 of the various benefits he has conferred upon us 

 Humility, which consists in a just sense of our 

 own character and condition, especially when we 

 compare ourselves with the purity and perfection 

 of the divine character. To these emotions 

 may be added Complacency and delight in the 

 character and operations of God Adoration 

 of his excellencies, and an unlimited Dependence 

 upon him in reference to our present concerns, 

 and to our future destination. I have stated 

 these different modifications of tHfe first princi 

 ple of morality, because, in the following illus 

 trations, they may all occasionally be taken into 

 account, when an allusion is made to the affec 

 tions, which the character and operations of the 

 divine Being have a tendency to excite. 



Love is that noble affection which is excited by 

 amiable objects ; and therefore, in order to its 

 being rational, permanent, and delightful, it 

 must be founded on the perception of certain 

 amiable qualities or attributes connected wilh its 

 object. In order to demonstrate the reasonable 

 ness of this affection in reference to God, it is 

 only requisite to consider his character and per 

 fections, and the relation in which he stands to 

 us as the Author of our existence and enjoy 

 ments. But, as a comprehensive view of this 

 subject would require volumes for its illustration, 

 I shall confine myself to the illustration of only 

 two or three lineaments of the divine character. 



SECTION III. 



ON THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. 



We naturally venerate and admire a character 

 In which physical energy is combined with high 

 22 



intellectual powers, when these powers arc uni 

 formly exerted in the counteraction of vice and 

 misery, and in the promotion of happiness. On 

 this ground, the Omnipotence of God is calcula 

 ted to affect the mind with that particular modi 

 fication of love, which is designated by the term 

 Reverence. Were it possible that any human 

 being could construct a machine, by means of 

 which, in combination with his own physical 

 powers, he could transport himself and his trea 

 sures from one region of the globe to another, 

 at the rate of 200 miles in an hour, and were he, 

 at the same time, to devote his treasures, and his 

 moral and intellectual energies to the improve 

 ment and melioration of the various tribes of 

 mankind in every clime through which he pass 

 ed, such an object could not fail of exciting in 

 our minds a sentiment of admiration and reve 

 rence. Were one of the highest orders of cre 

 ated intelligences to descend from his celestial 

 mansion, and to display himself to our view in 

 all the bright radiance of his native heaven 

 were he to take his station over the regions of 

 Thibet or Hindostan, and, after having excited 

 the attention of a wondering populace, were he to 

 detach the huge masses of the Himalaya moun 

 tains from their foundations, and toss them into 

 the depths of the Indian Ocean, and, in the 

 course of a few hours, transform the barren 

 wastes of that dreary region into a scene of 

 beauty and luxuriant vegetation, and cause 

 splendid cities to arise, where formerly nothing 

 was presented to the view hut a bleak and fright 

 ful wilderness at such a display of physical 

 power, combined with benevolent design, wo 

 could not withhold a feeling of awe, and a senti 

 ment of reverence, almost approaching to reli 

 gious adoration. 



If, then, the contemplation of physical and 

 mental energies, with which even created beings 

 may possibly be invested, would excite our ad 

 miration and reverence, what powerful emotions 

 of this description must the energies of the Un 

 created Mind be calculated to produce, when 

 they are contemplated by the eye of enlightened 

 reason, and in the light of divine revelation! 

 When this huge globe on which we dwell existed 

 in the state of a shapeless and unformed mass ; 

 when land, and water, and air, were blended in 

 wild confusion, and chaos and darkness extended 

 their dominion over all its gloomy regions, at 

 His command &quot; light sprung out, of darkness, 

 and order out of confusion ;&quot; the mountains 

 reared their projecting summits, the valleys were 

 depressed, the caverns of the ocean were hol 

 lowed out, and the waters retired to the places 

 which He had appointed for them. The fields 

 were clothed with luxuriant verdure ; Eden ap 

 peared in all its beaut) the inferior tribes of 

 animated existence took possession of the nir, 

 the waters, and the earth, and man was fo. mod 

 in the image of his Maker, to complete Uiis 



