them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'

iii. The omnipresence and omniscience of God form a strong incentive to holiness of heart and of life. He who has a deep impression of the continual presence of God, has the most powerful motive to deter him from sin, to guard against temptation, and to aim, both in thought and in action, at conformity to the divine will. It was because Moses endured seeing him who is invisible, that he preferred suffering "afflic tion with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." It was because Job felt that all that he did was done in the immediate view of God, that he was enabled to preserve his integrity; "Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?" David was not moved, because he set the Lord always before him, and believed that he was at his right hand. Are we not sensible that our character is affected, either for the better or the worse, by the views we entertain of the character of those who habitually surround us? And is it possible for the man who has been trained up with the conviction that he is continually in the presence of a holy and righteous God, to whom he is accountable for all his actions, not to feel its influence in leading him to live soberly, righteously, and godly? If it be difficult to live long in immediate contact with piety without imbibing a portion of its spirit, can we pass the journey of life in the immediate view of the God of holiness, surrounded every moment by his nature and perfections, and not grow into his likeness? We stand in a peculiar relation to the Great and Holy Lord God, who is the witness of our conduct: we

know him not only as infinite in wisdom, and knowledge and power, but as our supreme Ruler and Judge,* requiring perfect love and obedience. He has prescribed the race we are to run; and as he is now the witness of the manner in which our course is accomplished, he is hereafter to judge us in righteousness.

Remember, besides, that He in whose presence you live and move, and have your being, is your father and your friend; who, in his love and in his pity, sent his Son to die the death of the cross for your salvation; and who has given so many great and precious promises to animate you in the way of holy obedience. With this impression engraven on your hearts, while you feel happy in contemplating the universality of the divine presence, and your enjoyment of life greatly increased by the pleasing contemplation, you cannot consider yourselves as if you were solitary in the world, and had no other check than the knowledge of your fellow-creatures to deter you from sin. Though you should be slow in reaching the heights to which you aspire, and are often intimidated by the feebleness of your efforts in rising to the glorious elevation of Christian holiness, still persevere, animated by the presence of the omnipotent God; and in your greatest weakness, when no eye sees your sorrow but his who will never leave you, lighten the burden of your affliction by appealing to his boundless compassion, and say, under the deepest impressions of unworthiness, "thou, God, seest me."

iv. The omnipresence and omniscience of God may awaken terror in the hearts of the impenitent and unbelieving. They are relieved in a great measure from

this misery by excluding God from their thoughts, and living as though he were not. But, in the moment of serious reflection, the consideration cannot but be alarming, that those actions which they are as anxious to hide from their own view as from the notice of others, are well-known to God; and that all their sins, with all their aggravations, are marked by the Omnipotent Being, whose arm they cannot resist, and whose judgment of their character will fix their state of unchanging existence. The sinner, indeed, is willing to forget, that while gratifying his desires, and pursuing the course of guilt and of crime which he has voluntarily chosen, there is a witness whom no art can elude-who is present with him in his most solitary hours-who sees his perversion of infinite goodness— who hears all his imprecations-whose eye is on his heart when polluted with thoughts of pride or envy, or malice, or deceit, or injustice, or impurity; who observes his opposition to his truth-his dishonour to his name-his reviling of his Son-his despite to his Spirit, and his profanation of his ordinances, and before whose awful tribunal he must give an account of all the deeds done in the body. What an affecting spectacle to behold a being, who was once formed after the image of God, beginning the exercise of his powers by frustrating the design for which they were bestowed-advancing through time regardless of his nearness to eternity-perverting the gifts of his Creator, slighting his holy presence, and flattering himself that God will not regard his conduct, and will not bring him to judgment !

K

The wilful sinner scarcely ever thinks about God; or, should he at any time happen to give to the thought a moment's consideration, his reflections are overpowered by the returning tide of iniquity, and he again runs in the way of disobedience. Though for the present he may avoid the punishment of his guilt he cannot shun its recollection; and this, like the presence of that God whose law he contemns, accompanies him to his most secret retirement, imbitters all the sources of his enjoyment, reminds him that he cannot be sinful, and far less persist in being so, with impunity, and when no human eye is upon him, forces him, through the agony of his conscience, to say "Thou, God, seest me." In the loneliness of the night, in the most retired recesses, ́in circumstances where detection from men is impossible, how little does he think that he is not alone, that there is beside him an invisible witness of all his thoughts and actions, who knows him far more intimately than he knows himself, who sees with abhorrence all his iniquity, and who is the only Being whose decisions can permanently affect his happiness! How soon, in the character of an impartial judge, will God display his perfect knowledge of the thoughts of the hearts of all men; while he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and fix in equity the everlasting condition of the righteous and the wicked. This omnipresence, and this omniscience, as they are necessary to judge the world, so will they be shewn by presenting to our view every thing in its reality, by bringing to remembrance what was forgotten, by unveiling what had been concealed, and

by forcing every heart to confess, in the several awards that are given, that God is just when he judgeth, and clear when he condemneth.

It is not merely to the openly profane or to the infidel that the doctrine of the omnipresence and omniscience of God is fraught with the most awful and arousing admonitions: it is not less alarming to the man, whatever be his profession, or his external conduct, who remains a stranger to the grace and to the holiness of the Gospel. The greatest sin is the scornful rejection of the greatest blessing; and he who has never with penitence and faith, sincerely embraced the gift of everlasting love, nor applied its holy influence to the renovation of his heart, however much he may succeed in imposing on himself, by the exterior semblance of devotion, is ranked in the estimation of Him whose view he cannot elude, with hypocrites and with unbelievers. Are they impressed with the sense that God sees them; that he is intimately acquainted with the thoughts of their hearts, who presume to offer the worship of the lip merely to their Creator and Judge!-whose conduct is at variance with the spirit and the precepts of the holy religion which they profess, and who are, towards their fellowcreatures, guilty of fraud, and injustice, and oppression? Do they recognise the universality of the divine presence, who can allow themselves to participate in all the gifts of providence without any thankful acknowledgment to their Author; who pass through life without ever once, in reality, addressing their supplications to the God from whom all that is holy in man can proceed; and who, with the name of Christians,