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SER M. upon our fpirits? Where-ever we are God is with us, we always converfe with him, and live continually in his prefence; now a heathen could fay, cum Diis verecundè agendum, "We must behave ourselves "modeftly because we are in the prefence of God."

And it fhould awaken in us a fear to offend GOD, and a fear of the divine displeasure for having offended him. Fear is the most wakeful paffion in the foul of man, and is the first principle that is wrought upon in us from the apprehenfions of a deity; it flows immediately from the principle of self-prefervation which God hath planted in every man's nature; we have a natural dread and horror for every thing that can hurt us, and endanger our being or happiness; now the greateft danger is from the greatest power, for where we are clearly over-matched, we cannot hope to make oppofition nor refiftance with fecurity and fuccefs, to rebel with fafety; now he that apprehends GOD to be near him, and present to him, believes fuch a being to stand by him as is poffeft of an infinite and irrefiftible power, and will vindicate all contempt of the divine majesty, and violation of his laws. If we believe God to be always prefent with us, "Fear will continually take "hold of us," and we fhall fay of every place, as Jacob did of Bethel, "Surely 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 revenge himself, and if we believe "the power of his anger," we shall say with David, Pfal. lxxvi. 7. "Thou, even thou, art to be feared, "and who may ftand before thee when thou art "angry?" Pfal. cxix. 120. "My flesh trembleth "because of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments." Sinners confider this, "It is a fearful thing to "fall into the hands of the living GoD," and every

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time you fin, you are within his reach. Let then SER M. the confideration of GoD's prefence deter us from fin, and quicken us to our duty. The eye and prefence of a fuperior will lay a great restraint upon men; the eye of our prince, our master, or our father, will make us afraid or afhamed to do any thing that is foolish or unfeemly: And will we do that under the eye of God, which we should blush to do before a grave or a wife perfon, yea before a child or a fool? Did but men live under this apprehenfion, that GOD is prefent to them, that an holy and all-feeing eye beholds them, they would be afraid to do any thing that is vile and wicked to profane and pollute God's glorious name, by a trifling ufe of it in cuftomary fwearing and curfing. Whenever you fin, you affront GOD to his face; and provoke omnipotent juftice, which is at the door, and ready to break in upon you.

And the confideration of this fhould efpecially deterus from fecret fins. This is the use the Pfalmift here makes of it. If we believe that "GOD fearcheth "us and knows us, that he knows our down-fitting, "and our up-rifing, and understands our thoughts afar off, that he compaffeth our path, and our "lying down, and is acquainted with all our ways, that there is not a word in our tongue, but he "knows it altogether, that he hath befet us behind

and before, that the darkness hideth not from him, "but the night fhineth as the day, and the dark"nefs and light are both alike;" I fay, if we believe this, how should we live in an awful fense of the majefty which is always above us, and before.us, and about us, and within us, and is as infeparable from us, as we are from ourselves, whofe eye is upon us from the beginning of our lives to the end of our days! did men believe that God is always with

SER M. them, that his eye pierceth the darkness and fees CLIV. through all thofe clouds with which they hide and

muffle themselves, and pries into the moft fecret receffes of their hearts, how would this check and restrain them from "devifing mischief in their hearts, "or in their bed-chamber?" The holy prefence, and the pure eye of GOD would be to us a thousand times more than to have our father, or our master, or our prince, or him whom we most revere, to ftand by us. Did but men reprefentare fibi Deum, "make "GOD present to them," by living under a continual fense of his prefence, they would, as the expreffion of the wife man is, "be in the fear of the LORD all « day." Magna fpes peccatorum tollitur, fi peccaturis teftis adfiftat: aliquem habeat animus quem vereatur, cujus autoritate etiam fecretum fuum fan&tius facit; "The main hope of finners is to remain un"discovered, let but fomebody be privy to their defigns, and they are utterly difappointed; it is "fit for the mind of a man to have an awe of fome "being, whofe authority may render even it's pri66 vacy more folemn." This is the character of wicked men, Pfal. lxxxvi. 14. "that they have not "GOD before their eyes.' One great cause of all the wickedness, and violence, and loofenefs that is upon the earth, is, they do not believe that God is near them, and stands by them.

And as the confideration of God's prefence should deter us from fin, fo it fhould quicken and animate us to our duty. It is ordinarily a great encouragement to men to acquit themselves handfomly, to have the eyes of men upon them, especially of those whose applause and approbation they value. GOD alone is amplum theatrum, he is a greater theatre than the world, and it fhould be more to us that he ftands by us, than if the eyes of all the world were fixed upon us.

Seneca

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Seneca adviseth it as an excellent means to promote SERM. virtue, to propound to ourselves, and set before our eyes fome eminently virtuous perfon, as Cato or Lælius, ut fic tanquam illo fpectante vivamus, & omnia tanquam illo vidente faciamus: That we may live juft as if he were looking upon us, and "do all things just as if he beheld us." How much greater incitement will it be to us, to think that God looks upon us, and fees us, and really ftands by us, than faintly to imagine the prefence of Lælius or Cato?

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This should have an influence upon all the duties we perform, and the manner of performing them, that we do it to him who ftands by us, and is familiarly acquainted with us, and is more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. This Cic. in 1. 2. de leg. looks upon as a great principle of religion, fit igitur boc perfuafum civibus, & qualis quifque fit, quid agat, quid in fe admittat, quâ mente, quâ pietate religiones colat, deos intueri, & piorum impiorumque rationem babere: Let men be thoroughly perfuaded of this, "that the gods obferve, both the difpofition and "the actions of every particular man, what he con

fents to, what he allows himself in, particularly "with what meaning, with what degree of inward "devotion he performs his religious worship; and "that they diftinguish between the pious and the impious."

2. To encourage our faith and confidence in him. When we are in ftraits, and difficulties, and dangers, GOD is with us; when trouble is near to us, God is not far from us; where-ever we are, how remote foever from friends and companions, we cannot be banished from GOD's prefence; if we dwell "be"yond the utmoft parts of the fea, there his hand "leads us, and his right-hand holds us. Pfal. xvi.

SERM. " 8. I have fet the LORD always before me; beCLIV. "cause he is at my right-hand, I shall not be mov

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ed." The confideration of GoD's prefence is the great stay and fupport of our faith, Pfal. xlvi. 1, 2. "GOD is our refuge and ftrength, a very prefent "help in trouble; therefore will not we fear though "the earth be removed, and though the mountains "be carried into the midft of the fea." In the greatest commotions, and the most eminent and threatening dangers, this fhould charm and allay our fears, that "GOD is a prefent help."

This was the fupport of Mofes his faith in his fufferings, as the apoftle tells us, Heb. xi. 27. "He "endured, as feeing him who is invifible."

To conclude all, whenever we are under any preffure or trouble, we fhould rebuke our own fears, and challenge our anxious thoughts, with David, Pfal. xlii. 11. "Why art thou caft down, O my foul? "and why art thou fo difquieted within me? trust "ftill in GOD;" believe that GOD is with thee, and that omnipotent goodness stands by thee, who can and will support thee, and relieve thee, and deliver thee when it seems beft to his wisdom.

SERMON CLV.
The eternity of God.

PSA L. xc. 2.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou badft formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art GOD:

T

HE immensity and eternity of GoD are thofe attributes which relate to his nature, or manner of being. Having spoken of the former, I proceed to confider the latter, from thefe words.

The