

OMNIPOTENCE OF THE DEITY. 



ilUwrf. s no conceivable mode by which the in- 

 fiwfu grav.deur of Deity Could be exhibited to 

 fintt* intelligences, but through the medium of 

 those magnificent operations which are inces 

 santly going forward throughout the boundless 

 regions of space. Concealed from the gaze of 

 all the &quot; principalities and powers&quot; in heaven, 

 in the unfathomable depths of his Essence, he dis 

 plays his presence in the universe he has created, 

 and the glory of his power, by launching magni 

 ficent worlds into existence, by adorning them 

 with diversified splendours,by peopling them with 

 various ranks of intelligent existence, and by im 

 pelling them in their movements through the illi 

 mitable tracts of creation. 



It will readily be admitted by every enlighten 

 ed Christian, that it must be a highly desirable 

 attainment, to acquire the most glorious idea of 

 the Divine Being which the limited capacity of 

 our minds is capable of receiving. This is one of 

 the grand difficulties in religion. The idea of a 

 Being purely IMMATERIAL, yet pervading in 

 finite space, and possessed of nosensible qualities, 

 confounds and bewilders the human intellect, so 

 that its conceptions, on the one hand, are apt to 

 verge towards extravagancy, while, on the other, 

 they are apt to degenerate into something ap 

 proaching to inanity. Mere abstract ideas and 

 reasonings respecting infinity, eternity, and abso 

 lute perfection, however sublime we may con 

 ceive them to be, completely fail in arresting the 

 understanding, and affecting the heart; our con 

 ceptions become vague, empty, and confused, for 

 want of a material vehicle to give them order, sta 

 bility, and expansion. Something of the nature of 

 vast extension, of splendid and variegated objects, 

 and of mighty movements, is absolutely necessary, 

 in order to convey to spirits dwelling in bodies of 

 clay, a definite conception of the invisible glories 

 of the Eternal Mind ; and, therefore, in the im 

 mense variety of material existence with which 

 the universe is adorned, we find every requisite 

 assistance of this kind to direct and expand our 

 views of the great object of our adoration. When 

 the mind is perplexed and overwhelmed with its 

 conceptions, when it labours, as it were, to form 

 some well-defined conceptions of an Infinite Be 

 ing, it here finds some tangible objects on which 

 to fix, some sensible substratum for its thoughts 

 to rest upon for a little, while it attempts to pene 

 trate, in its excursions, into those distant regions 

 which eye hath not seen, and to connect the whole 

 of its mental survey with the energies of the 

 &quot; King, Eternal, Immortal, and Invisible. 



To such a train of thought we are uniformly 

 directed in the sacred oracles, where Jehovah is 

 represented as describing himself by the effects 

 which his power and wisdom have produced. 

 &quot; Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an ever 

 lasting salvatfc For thus saith Jehovah that 

 created the heavens ; God himself that formed 

 the earth and made it ; he hath established it, he 



created it not in vain, he furmed it to be inhabit 

 ed ; I am the Lord, and there is none else.&quot; &quot; 1 

 have made the earth and created man upon it, my 

 hands have stretched out the heavens, and all 

 their host have I commanded.&quot; &quot; Hearken unto 

 me, O Israel : [ am the first, I also am the last. 

 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the 

 earth, and my right hand hath spanned the 

 heavens : when I call unto them, they stand up 

 together.&quot; &quot; Who hath measured the waters in 

 the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with 

 the span, and weighed the mountains in scales? 

 He who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and 

 the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers ; that 

 stretched out the heavens as a curtain, that faint- 

 eth not, neither is weary.&quot; &quot; The Lord made 

 the heavens, the heaven of heavens, with all their 

 hosts ; honour and majesty are before him, and his 

 kingdom ruleth over all.&quot;* Such sublime descrip 

 tions of Jehovah, and references to his material 

 works, are reiterated in every portion of the sa 

 cred volume ; and the import and sublimity of such 

 expressions cannot be fully appreciated, unless 

 we take into view all the magnificent objects 

 which science has unveiled in the distant re 

 gions of creation. 



This subject ia calculated not merely to over 

 power the intellect with ideas of sublimity and 

 grandeur, but also to produce a deep moral im 

 pression upon the heart ; and a Christian philo 

 sopher would be deficient in his dutv, were he to 

 overlook this tendency of the objects of his 

 contemplation. 



One important moral effect which this subject 

 has a natural tendency to produce, is, profound 

 HUMILITY. What an insignificant being does 

 man appear, when he compares himself with the 

 magnificence of creation, and with the myriads 

 of exalted intelligences with which it is peopled ! 

 What are all the honours and splendours of this 

 earthly ball, of which mortals are so proud, when 

 placed in competition with the resplendent glo 

 ries of the skies ? Such a display as the Almighty 

 has given of himself, in the magnitude and va 

 riety of his works, was evidently intended &quot; to 

 stain the pride&quot; of all human grandeur, that &quot; no 

 flesh should glory in his presence.&quot; Yet, there is 

 no disposition that appears so prominent among 

 puny mortals, as pride, ambition, and vainglory 

 the very opposite of humility, and of all those 

 tempers which become those &quot; who dwell in 

 tabernacles of clay, and whose foundation is in 

 the dust.&quot; Even without taking into account 

 the state of man as a depraved intelligence, 

 what is there in his situation that should inspire 

 him with &quot; lofty looks,&quot; and induce him to look 

 down on his fellow-men with supercilious con 

 tempt ? He derived his origin from the dust, 

 he is allied with the beasts that perish, and he is 

 fast hastening to the grave, where his carcass 



* Isa. Xlv 18, 12. xlvill, 12, 13. Xl. 12, 2S, 4c. 



