1. First, There is a general presence of God, and thus he is pre- sent with all creatures: 'Whither shall I flee from thy presence?' 3 Ps. cxxxix. 7. Empedocles, the philosopher, said well. That God is a circle, whose centre is everywhere, and whose circumference is no- where. God is included in no place, and excluded from no place, saith another : Non est ubi, ubi non est Dens. They could tell us that God is the soul of the world ; and that as the soul is Tota in toio, et tola in qualibet parte, so is he ; his eye is in every corner, &c. To which purpose they so pourtrayed their goddess Minerva, that which
' Beza and A-Lapide. Vide Euseb. Hist., lib. ii. cap. 22. [Cf. Sibbes i. 315, and note h 334. — G] * Dedicator damnationis Christianorum. — Tertullian.
^ Nusquam est Deus, et ubique est.— Chrysost. in Col. ii. bom. v.
458 THE SIGNAL PRESENCE OF GOD
way soever one cast his eye, she always beheld him. Though heaven be God's palace, yet it is not his prison. Diana's temple was burned down when she was busy at Alexander's birth, and could not be at two places together, but God is present both in paradise and in the wilderness at the same time : 1 Kings viii. 27, ' But will God indeed dwell on the earth ? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this house that I have builded ?'i By the heaven of heavens is meant that which is by the learned called the empyreal heaven, where the angels and the saints departed do ■enjoy the glorious and beatifical vision of God; and it is called the heaven of heavens, both because it is the highest and doth contain the other heavens within its orb, and also by way of excellency, as the ' most holy place' in the temple is called the ' holy of holies,' because it far surpasseth all the rest in splendour and glory, Isa. Ixvi. 1 ; Prov. V. 21; Heb. iv. 13; Job xxvi. 6. Jer. xxiii. 24, ' Can any hide himself in secret places that I should not see him ? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord.' Prov. xv. 3, ' The €yes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.' God is '7Tav6(f)daXijLo<i, all eye. The poor heathen could say, Deus intimior nobis intimo nostra : God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves. Kepletively he is everywhere, though inclusively nowhere : Job xxxiv. 21, ' For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings ; ' ver, 22, ' There is no darkness, nor shadow of death "where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.' Sinners shall never be able to shroud themselves nor their actions from God's all- seeing eye. The Kabbins put 3fakom, which signifies place, among the names of God. By timer brings them in expounding that text in Esther iv. 14, ' Deliverance shall arise from another place ;' that is, from God. They called him Place, because he is in every place, though in the assemblies of his saints more eminently and gloriously. God is present with all his creatures — (1.) Via productionis, by rais- ing them up ; (2.) Via sustentationis, by staying of them up ; they are his family, and he feeds and clothes them. Mat. v. 45 ; Acts xvii. 27, 28 ; Ps. xxxiii. 13, 14 ; (3.) Via inclinationis, by giving unto them power of motion ; man could neither live nor move unless the Lord were with him ; (4.) Via ohservatioUis, by taking notice of them ; he observeth and marks both their persons and their actions — he sees who they are, and how they are employed ; (5.) Via ordinationis, by governing and ruling of them and all their actions, to the service of his glory and the good of his poor people. Acts iv. 25-29. But this is not that presence that we are to discourse of.
2. Secondly, There is a miraculous presence of Christ, and this some of the prophets of old had, and the apostles and others had in Christ's time; and by virtue of this miraculous presence of Christ with them, they cast out devils, healed diseases, and did many won- derful things, Mat. vii. 22 ; Mark iii. 15. But this is not the pre- sence that falls within the compass of that main point we purpose to speak to.
3. Thirdly, There is a relative presence of Christ, and that is his
^ God is higher than the heaven, deeper than hell, broader than the earth, and more diffuse than the sea..— Bernard.
WITH HIS PEOPLE IN THEIR GREATEST TROUBLES. 459
presence in his ordinances, and with his churches. ^ Of this presence the Scripture speaks very largely : Exod. xx. 24, ' In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee ; ' Exod. XXV. 8, ' And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell amongst them ; ' Exod. xxix. 45, ' And I will dwell among the chil- dren of Israel, and will be their God ; ' Lev. xxvi. 11, ' And I will set my tabernacle amongst you, and my soul shall not abhor you ; ' ver. 12, ' And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people ; ' Ps. Ixxvi. 1, ' In Judah is God known : his name is great in Israel ; ' ver. 2, ' In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion ; ' Isa. viii. 18, ' From the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion ; ' Ps. ix. 11, ' Sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion.' The churches are said to be the temples in which Ihe Lord doth dwell, and the house of the living God, and the golden candlesticks amongst which he doth walk.2 Oh, how much does it concern all the churches to prize their church state, and to keep close together, and to walk suitable to that gracious presence of God, that shines in the midst of them ! But this is not that presence that falls under our present consideration. But,
4. Fourthly, There is a majestical and glorious presence of Christ, and thus he is said to be in heaven : Ps. ii. 4, ' He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh ; the Lord shall have them in derision ; ' Heb. i. 13, ' But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool ? ' chap. ix. 24, ' For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figure of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' Not that heaven is circulus concludens, a place wherein Christ is shut up, but, palatium resplendens, the court, as it were, where his majesty, in acts of wisdom, and power, and mercy, and conjunction of grace and glory, doth most of all appear.^ As the soul of man, though it be in every part of man, yet it doth princi- pally appear and manifest itself in the heart and brain; so here, &c. Monica, Austin's mother, standing one day and seeing the sun shine, raised this meditation, ' Oh, if the sun be so bright, what is the light of Christ's presence in glory ! ' But this is not the presence we design now to discourse of.