Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God

1. He is Essentially present in all places^*. 'Tis as reasonable to think the Essence of God to be every where, as to be always; Immensity is as rational as Eternity; That indivisible Essence which reaches through all times, may as well reach through all places: 'Tis more excellent to be always, than to be every where; for to be always in duration is Intrinsical; to be every where is Extrinsic; If the greater belongs to God, why not the less? As all times are a Moment to his Eternity, so all places are as a Point to his Essence; As he is larger than all time, so he is vaster than all place: The Nations of the World are to him as the Dust of the Balance, or Drop of a Bucket^*. The Nations are accounted as the small Dust; the Essence of God may well be thought to be present every where with that which is no more than a grain of Dust to him, and in all those Isles, which if put together, are a very little thing in his hand: Therefore saith a Learned Jew^*, If a man were set in the ⟨p. 247⟩highest Heavens, he would not be nearer to the Essence of God than if he were in the Centre of the Earth. Why may not the Presence of God in the World be as noble as that of the Soul in the Body, which is generally granted to be essentially in every part of the body of man, which is but a little World, and animates every Member by its actual presence, though it exerts not the same operation in every part^*? the World is less to the Creator, than the Body to the Soul; and needs more the Presence of God, than the Body needs the presence of the Soul. That glorious body of the Sun visits every part of the Habitable Earth in 24 hours by its beams; which reaches the Troughs of the lowest Valleys, as well as the Pinnacles of the highest Mountains; must we not acknowledge in the Creator of this Sun an infinite greater proportion of Presence? Is it not as easy with the Essence of God to over-spread the whole body of Heaven and Earth, as it is for the Sun to pierce and diffuse its self through the whole Air between it and the Earth, and send up its light also as far to the Regions above? Do we not see something like it in Sounds and Voices? Is not the same Sound of a Trumpet, or any other Musical Instrument, at the first breaking out of a Blast, in several places within such a compass, at the same time? Doth not every Ear that hears it, receive alike the whole sound of it?