OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. 



19 



While, therefore, we contemplate the opera 

 tions of divine power, either in the earth or in 

 the heavens, we perceive every thing which is 

 calculated to inspire us with love, admiration, 

 and reverence. When we lie down on our pil 

 lows in the evening, how pleasing it is to reflect, 

 that the power of our Almighty Father will be 

 exerted in carrying us round in safety several 

 ihousands of mhes, during our repose in sleep, 

 in order that our eyes may be again cheered with 

 the morning light? When, amid the gloom and 

 storms of winter, we look forward to the reviving 

 scenes of spring, we know that we must be car 

 ried forward more than a hundred millions of 

 miles, before we can enjov the pleasures of that 

 delightful season ; and when spring arrives, we 

 must be carried through the voids of space a 

 hundred millions of miles farther, before we can 

 reap the fruits of summer and harvest. How de 

 lightful, then, is the thought, that the omnipotent 

 energy of our heavenly Father is incessantly 

 exerted in producing such a wonderful effect, 

 accompanied by such a variety of beneficent 

 changes, all contributing to our enjoyment!* 



What is the reason, then, why we feel so little 

 admiration and reverence at the beneficent ope 

 rations of divine power ? If we should be struck 

 with veneration and wonder at beholding a su 

 perior created intelligence tossing a range of 

 mountains into the sea, why do we behold, with 

 so much apathy, effects ten thousand times more 

 energetic and astonishing ? One general reason, 

 among others, undoubtedly is, that the moral 

 constitution of man ha? suffered a melancholy 

 derangement; in consequence of which, the train 

 of his thoughts and affections has been turned 

 out of its original channel. The Scriptures are 

 clear and explicit on this point ; they declare, in 

 the most positive terms, that &quot; the carnal mind 

 is enmity against God,&quot; and that, in consequence 

 of this depraved principle, the wicked &quot; walk in 

 the vanity of their minds, being alienated from 

 the life of God. They say to the Almighty, De 

 part from us, for we desire not the knowledge of 

 thy ways. God is not in all their thoughts, and 

 through pride of their countenances they will not 

 call upon God.&quot; Another reason is, that the 

 almighty Agent who produces so stupendous ef 

 fects remains invisible to mortal eyes. Were a 

 celestial intelligence to appear in a splendid and 

 definite form, and to produce such effects as I 



In this, and other places of this work, the truth 

 of the annual and diurnal motions of the earth is 

 taken for granted, because I conceive it is suscepti 

 ble of the clearest demonstration (See &quot; Chris 

 tian Philosopher &quot; PP . 2 3, 33, 147, 149.) But, 

 should the truth of this position be called in ques 

 tion or denied, it will not materially affect the pro 

 priety of such moral reflections as are here stated 

 for, in this case, a similar, or even a much greater 

 display of omnipotence must be admitted in refer 

 ence to the motions of the heavenly bodies in 

 bringing about the succession of day and night and 

 the changes of the seasons. 



have supposed, the connexion between the agent 

 and the effects produced, would forcibly strike 

 the senses and the imagination. But he who sits 

 on the throne of the universe, and conducts all 

 its movements, is a being &quot; who dwells in light 

 unapproachable, whom no man hath seen, orm 

 see. He can be contemplated only through the 

 sensible manifestations he gives of his perfections; 

 and, were the train of our thoughts properly di 

 rected, we would perceive him operating in every 

 object and in every movement. We would hear 

 his voice in the wind and the thunder, in the 

 earthquake, the storm, and the tempest ; we 

 would see him in the beauties and sublimities of 

 sublunary nature, in tbe splendours of the sun, 

 and the glories of the nocturnal sky ; and, in 

 whatever situation we might be placed, we would 

 feel ourselves surrounded with the omnipotent 

 energies of an ever-present Deity. 



The contemplation of God as an omnipotent 

 being, is calculated to inspire the mind with love 

 and confidence in the prospect of futurity. The 

 promises addressed to us by a wise and benevo- 

 ient being can excite in us trust and dependence, 

 only in so far as we are convinced of his ability 

 to secure their fulfilment. If almighty power 

 were not an attribute of the Eternal Mind, or 

 were we unable to trace its operations in visible 

 existing facts, then all the promises and delinea 

 tions of revelation, in reference to unseen and 

 eternal objects, might prove to be nothing more 

 than imaginary scenes, that could never be real 

 ized. But the good man, who perceives omnipo 

 tent energy in incessant operation throughout all 

 the scenes of the universe which surround him, 

 feels the most perfect security in looking forward 

 to the scene of his future destination, and to 

 those changes and revolutions which shall suc 

 ceed the period of his present existence. He 

 knows that, in a few years at most, that immor 

 tal principle which now animates his frame, will 

 take its flight from its earthly mansion to a world 

 unknown. To what regions it will direct its 

 course ; what scenes and prospects will be un 

 folded to its view ; what intercourse it may have 

 with the spirits of departed men, or with other 

 intelligences ; in what state it shall pass its ex 

 istence till the consummation of the present plan 

 of Providence whether it shall remain as a 

 naked spirit entirely disconnected with the visi 

 ble universe, or be clothed with some etherial 

 vehicle, to enable it to hold a correspondence 

 with other regions of the material creation he 

 is at present unable to determine. He knows 

 that his body, too, shall disappear from the living 

 world, and be reduced to corruption and ashes. 

 In what manner the essential particles of this 

 body shall be preserved distinct from those of all 

 other human bodies, after they have been tossed 

 about by the winds, and blended with the other 

 elements of nature ; by what means th*y shal] 

 be reunited into a more glorious form; and hov 



