upon account of their Unbelief or Dif obedience; we Chriftians ought to take more efpecial Heed, left after the fame Example of Unbelief or Difobedience, we alfo fall fhort of the Promise of a more glorious Reft, even of the heavenly Canaan; and to give this Motive its full Force, he does by a beautiful and expreffive Allufion recommend to us the Attainment of Chriftian Purity, the Neceffity of presenting ourselves an holy Sacrifice without Spot or Blemish to that God, who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity. The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged Sword, piercing even to the dividing afunder of Soul and Spirit, and of the Joints and Marrow, and is a Difcerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart: Neither is there any Creature, that is not manifeft in his Sight; but all things are naked and open unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do. The Terms which we tranflate naked and opened, are Metaphors taken from the Cuftom of the Priests in flaying and opening the Bodies of Beafts defigned for Sacrifices, in order

to

to view with Exactnefs every Part of their Infide, and to examine narrowly whether they came up to the Standard of legal Soundness; taking therefore along with us the Confideration of this Metaphor, the Paffage of Holy Scripture now before us will evidently make up this Argument, Vain is the Prefumption of finning fecretly against a God who knoweth our most hidden Thoughts and Intentions; for the Word of God, by which we are to be judged, is far more quick in penetrating and difcerning, far more exact in discriminating the, inmost Receffes of the Heart, than the sharpeft Inftruments which the Priefts make use of for diffecting the Bodies, for feparating and exploring the Entrails of their devoted Sacrifices. There is not any Man whose whole Conduct is not manifeft in his all-searching Sight; but all things, tho' of never fo clofe and recondite a Nature, are like the Infide of the Sacrifices before the Priefts, made bare and laid open in the Eyes of him with whom we have to do. Which Words, as they

contain a full and plain Affertion of God's Omniscience, will lead us,

I. To a diftinct Confideration of that Attribute, and then,

II. IT will be obvious to reflect what Influence fuch a Confideration ought to have upon our Behaviour.

I. THEN, We are diftinctly to confider this Attribute of God: All things are naked and open unto the Eyes of Him with whom we have to do: All things are naked and open to his Eyes; i. e. He knoweth, He feeth all things. The Immenfity of the Divine Existence whereby He filleth all in all, and the Intelligence of his Nature, whereby He understandeth the Whole of every Accident, past, prefent, and future, are Circumstances which place us in the Fulness of God's Prefence, and fubject us to his continual Notice.

As to the Ubiquity of the Divine Prefence, the Suffrages of Reason, but much more the Voice of Revelation, will inform us, that that vaft Being, which only has Immortality, which is at once diffused thro' all Duration, is at once ex

tended

tended likewise thro' the wide Abyss of Space; Whither, fays the Royal Pfalmist, shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy Prefence? If I afcend up into Heaven, thou are there, if I make my Bed in Hell, behold thou art there. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermoft Parts of the Sea, even there fhall thy Hand lead me, and thy Right-hand hold me. Thus we fee no Place is fo high, none fo low, none fo remote, none fo obfcure, where the Divine Prefence does not pervade where his Providence is not exercised. Am I a God at hand, fays the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in fecret Places, that I should not fee Him? faith the Lord? Do not I fill Heaven and Earth?

LET then the Mind of Man, in the Strength and Quickness of Imagination, dart forth like the Light, and extend itself through the whole Sphere of the Univerfe; yet farther, let it convey itfelf far beyond the Limits of the material World, and diffuse itself through the wideft Expanfion, that any Conceffions

can reach; yet infinitely fhort will all this fall of the Divine Immenfity; for God, who is all in all, is prefent at the fame Time in every Part; and in the Fulness of his Existence, He takes up the infinite Tracts of Space. We are apt in our Conceptions to confine the Almighty to the highest Heavens, to efteem that the proper Seat of his Refidence, and to imagine Him prefent in other Places only by his Power and Influence; but this is a partial Account of the Divine Ubiquity: The blissful Manfions of Eternity are indeed enriched with the open Splendor of his glorious Prefence; but with refpect to his Effence, He equally fills his Throne, and his Footstool is equally present in every Place.

BUT God is likewife an infinitely intelligent Being, and his Inspection over us is as univerfal as his Prefence with us. God fearcheth us out, and knoweth us; He knoweth our down-fitting and our uprifing: He counteth our Steps, and Spieth out all our Ways. There is not a Word in our Tongue, nor an Imagination in our Soul, but He knoweth it altogether: No

Action,