SERM. a contradiction; on the contrary, we have VIII. great reafon to believe that both our own fpirits, and the matter of the universe, were originally the productions of infinite Power, out of abfolute non-existence ;) yet creation, in this ftricteft fenfe, is not the principal and moft obvious manifeftation, whereby we underftand the invifible things of God, his eternal Power and Godhead. But that which may be alfo, and ufually is ftiled creation, and which by the cleareft evidence of reason we know to be the work of the Deity; namely, the difpofing all things in the world into the regular forms which we fee, and framing them into vaft and beautiful fyftems, which (comprehending an infinite variety of parts, all plac'd in the most exact order, and all confpiring to make one harmonious whole,) fhew not only the perfect intelligence, but the activity of the great Author, and that he has an unlimited command over univerfal nature. When we confider that he telleth the number of the flars, and calleth them all by their names 3 be covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; he giveth fnow like wool, and fcattereth the boar-froft like afbes*; be fretcheth out the north over the empty place, and bangeth the earth upon nothing; be bindeth up the waters in his thick cloud, and the cloud is not rent under them; he hath SERM. measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, VIII. and meted out the heaven with a span, and comprehended the duft of the earth in a meafure, and weighed the mountains in fcales, and the hills in a balance ;-when, I fay, we confider all this, we must conclude that great is our Lord and of great power, these are only a part of his ways, how little a portion is heard of him, but the thunder of his power who can understand? For it is to be obferv'd, that the power of a voluntary agent muft ftill be fuppofed fu.perior to all its effects; all his ftrength is not exhaufted in his works, but the virtue which produc'd them is fufficient to produce more. So that tho' we knew all the works of God, which we do not, we should not thereby be able to make a judgment concerning the utmost extent of his power, which remains one undecaying principle of operation, fufficent for new productions beyond what we can imagine. But the effects of Divine Omnipotence which actually exift, far furpafs our comprehenfion. It is one advantage not unworthy of our notice here, which we have by the modern improvements of natural philofophy, that thereby our idea of the works of God is greatly enlarged. Formerly men were ufed R 2 * Job xxvi. + Ifaiah xl. SERM.ufed to think that this earth is the only habiVIII. tation of living creatures, except that the an gels, pure fpirits, who require no fuch place of abode, stand in the immediate presence of God, and furround his throne in the heavens. But later and more accurate obfervation has given men reason to believe that other bodies of a vast magnitude, within the folar system, and of a conftitution not unlike that of our globe, are alfo inhabited, Why should it enter into our minds to imagine that fuch ftupendous orbs are made for nothing, but to be very imperfectly difcerned by mankind? Is it not much more rational to think, that fince they are fitted for beings of a conftitution like ours, they are poffefs'd by fuch; and that by their conftant rotations round their own axis, and by their periodical revolutions about the fun as their center, they are illuminated and warm'd by it in the fame manner as the earth is? Nor is it unlikely that the fixed stars, fhining by their own unborrowed light, at so prodigious a distance from us that no judgment can be made of it, are the centers of other fyftems, each of them perhaps as large as this; and how many there may be of them, and how remote from each other as well as from us, no one of mankind can pretend, with the leaft degree of probability, to conjecture. jecture. These speculations, which in the SER M. main feem to be juft, being founded on ob- VIII. servation of the magnitude and distance of the heavenly bodies, and their vifible variations, tend to give us a very magnificent idea of the works and the power of God. How wonderful are they? How great is He, worthy to receive glory and bonour, who has created all these things for his good pleasure; who has rais'd worlds above worlds, far beyond the reach of human knowledge, all of them stock'd with proper inhabitants, qualified to understand and admire his perfections displayed in them, and to fhew forth his praise? But the everlasting God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, fainteth not nor is wea→ ry, his hand is not shortned, nor has his strength suffer'd any abatement by all he has done. It is impoffible for us to imagine what works of the fame, or of different kinds, he is able to produce. One thing we are fure of, and it gives us a very awful idea of his Omnipotence, that he can destroy his own works; for the power which has made, is fufficient to unmake, and the beings which owe their existence originally to him, and continually depend upon him, must cease to be, at his pleasure. He can unhinge the whole frame of nature, and diffolve the great fyftems which his Power has raised. It is not fo eafy for human force SERM. to demolish the fabrics, which with great VIII. labour it has erected, as for Omnipotence to reduce the heavens and the earth to their original chaos; for they can none of them make the leaft refiftance to his will. Thus the Scripture elegantly defcribes the fovereign dominion of Almighty God over the world, and his power to remove those parts of it which feem to be built on the most stable foundation, He removeth the mountains and they know it not, be overturneth them in his anger, he shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble, he commandeth the fun and it rifeth not, and fealeth up the ftars*. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof; be divideth the fea with his power, and by his understanding he fmiteth through the proud †. He rebuketh the fea and maketh it dry, and drieth up the rivers. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his prefence ‡. So that if the whole world is not involved in confufion, and the frame of nature does not fuffer an univerfal diffolution, it does not proceed from any defect of power in God, but from the perfection of his wifdom and goodness. Which leads me to obferve, 2dly, The manifeftation of the power of God in preferving his creatures, as he originally *Job ix. |
