God is insufficient. He is able to do all things. To say that he could not begin nor cease to exist, or that he cannot make the same to be and not to be, is no detraction from his omnipotence; for these are not effects to which power, however great, is relevant. Omnipotence is just as unable to make three and two ten, or the half equal to the whole, as is the feeblest infancy. "With God all things are possible ;"* but these are not "things," they are absurdities.

In order to understand how God can be absolutely omnipotent over the universe, we must keep in mind that he is a pure Spirit. Were he material, he would of course be subject to the laws of matter. Instead of his giving laws to nature, she would give laws to him. A being ceases to be material, according to all our ideas and definitions of matter, the moment he ceases to be subject to the uniform modes of physical sequences. Seeing whatever is material is subject to the laws of attraction, gravitation, &c., we cannot conceive of almighty power over nature, excepting as it exists in a living Spirit. Spirit is then the source of all power. We have no evidence that matter has any power, not even that of obeying its own laws, excepting as it is energized by spirit. Hence the fact that God, and he alone, is an infinite Spirit, gives to him, and to him alone, almighty power over all nature. The omnipotence of God appears in his creating and controlling the material universe. The creation of the smallest mass of matter from nothing, is an astonishing

*Matt. xix. 26.

display of power. Indeed every mind instinctively feels, that nothing short of omnipotence is adequate to create even a particle of dust, or a drop of water. What then must that power be, which created the huge globe on which we tread, and all the globes in the heavens around us? It is computed that nearly a hundred millions of fixed stars might be seen with the strongest telescopes, and modern astronomy regards every one of these as a sun to a system of worlds. And all this is probably but the beginning of the entire creation—a mere drop in the ocean. How amazing

then the Power that created the universe!

But the same energy that created the universe, is also requisite to control it. Our earth contains a mass of matter equal at least to two hundred trillions of tons, and a power adequate to move it a single inch, were it fixed in a quiescent state, would be almost beyond the reach of numbers to express. But it is moved through space at the rate of sixty-eight thousand miles an hour, or one hundred and forty times swifter than a cannon ball. The planet Jupiter is more than a thousand times larger than the earth, and is wheeled through the heavens with the velocity of twenty-nine thousand miles an hour, requiring of course a power to impel it, a hundred and fifty times greater than that required to move the earth.

Proceeding thus in our calculations respecting the movements of planets, satellites, suns, and systems, our minds rise in their contemplations to a bewildering and dizzy height;—we are for a moment ready to tremble, lest that ENERGY which sustains and controls all these

spheres should at some instant falter, and the universe fall into ruins. But then when we reflect again that this immense machinery of worlds has already been for ages sustained, impelled and guided, by the power of God—that nothing has ever appeared evincing in him the least symptom of weariness-our confidence returns, and we joyfully exclaim, "In the LORD JeHOVAH IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH."*

Not less signally does the omnipotence of God appear in the creation of the moral universe. It would seem that the creation of a rational soul implies a higher exercise of power, than the creation of matter. Not only is it the creation of something from nothing, but the forming of that mysterious essence into a most wonderful piece of spiritual mechanism. There are among the works of God many splendid exhibitions of material mechanism, but the finest of these is coarse compared with a rational mind. Observe its amazing power of easy and intense action; its rapid, delicate, and silent motions! What specimen of material mechanism can vie with it? It is made to act with undiminished vigor, ages after the mechanism of the body, in which it resides for a season, is worn out and destroyed.

The human soul is also invested with a power, which no material substance possesses in any degree-that of perceiving, thinking, choosing; that of acquiring knowledge, of forming character, of sustaining an accountable relation to the eternal throne of God. In this

*Isaiah xxvi. 4.

view, it can scarcely fail to appear that the creation of a single rational soul is really a more illustrious display of power than the creation of a world.

Consider now that there are upon the earth more than eight hundred millions of such souls, and that one is conveyed into eternity, and another created in its place, every second. If then we ascend from this to other worlds, and contemplate the myriads of intelligent minds that rise in towering ranks above us towards the Supreme Intelligence-the armies of heaven, extending beyond the loftiest flights of imagination—we are overwhelmed and lost in admiration of the power of HIM who is the CREATOR of all, and in whose "hand is the soul of every living thing."*

The same omnipotence is displayed in the government of the moral universe. Intelligent beings are governed in a great measure by circumstances; they hence demand a power to govern them, which has entire control over all the laws, movements and contingencies of both the physical and the spiritual creation. Being also free agents, they have the power of voluntary resistance, which matter has not; they therefore demand the exercise of a power to govern them, over and above that required to control matter. To secure their obedience, God puts forth all the direct power which he sees to be most wise, in the administration of a moral government; and in every instance where obedience is not the result, he exerts his power to confine and imprison the rebellion, saying to it in

*Job xii. 10.

accents of thunder, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."*

Such, then, is the power of God. He is omnipotent to create, and omnipotent to control. And it is striking to observe with what apparent ease every thing is done. All is silent, calm, gentle ;-such is the "hiding of his power," that we scarcely know he is at work, ere the wonderful production stands forth in finished form and beauty before our eyes. This is the highest perfection of power;-imagination herself, with boldest wing, can rise to no higher conception. In the midst of such contemplations, the good man feels an instinctive emotion of wonder and joy, prompting the inspired exclamation," Alleluia; for the LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT reigneth."‡

4. OMNIPRESENCE. This implies that God is in every point of the universe, both of space and of matter, at the same moment and forever. This also is the exclusive attribute of a purely spiritual being. Matter is of necessity local ;—it must occupy space. And it is a known law of matter, that the same or equal portions of it cannot occupy the same space, at the same time. Hence if God were material, he could not be strictly omnipresent; unless we admit the pantheistic notion that every thing is a part of God. But such is the relation of spirit to matter, that both may exist at the same time in the same identical place. The one does not displace the other. Hence God, being a pure Spirit, can people all space with physical

*Job xxxviii. 11. † Hab. iii. 4. Rev. xix. 6.