Prelate now in that Kingdom a great Admirer Follower and dear Brother of ours deceased in the Close of his excellent Sermon Preached in St. Mary Aldermanbury-Church upon Coloss 3.1 2 3 4 Verses June 24. 1690. in the Close whereof having Christ's and our Resurrection he proceeds saying This was the Doctrin of the Apostles and the Faith of the Primitive Christians And that this Faith did animate them against the Fears of Death and enable them to meet that King of Terrors with Undaunted Resolutions and it is this which still Buoys up the sinking Spirits of Believers it was this which comforted this Reverend and Learned Prelate whose Funerals was then solemnized This supported him in his late Troubles and Afflictions in his greatest Pains and sharpest Agonies He often discoursed with me on this Subject He fixed his Thoughts upon the Glorious Resurrection and set his Affections on the things above and with the Joyful Hope and Expectation of them he was enabled to bear the Torments of his Body with great Patience and wonderful Magnanimity and was not in the least terrified with the Thoughts of Death It was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him he spoke of it without Concern and triumphed over all its Terrors and welcomed it as a Joyful Messenger calling him to his Dormitory till the Resurrection And he died full of this Faith and did with Job say Though his Body were destroyed with Worms it should rise again to a Blessed Immortality and in the same Flesh he should see God and through the Merits and Intercession of Christ he doubted not to Partake of the Things above But you expect I should say more of him and indeed he highly deserves it and much very much is due to the Memory of such an excellent Prelate who for Learning and Piety for Wisdom and Courage for Humility and Meekness for Charity and Hospitality was one of the greatest Ornaments of the Church and Nation wherein he lived But unless I had his own Eloquence I should not attempt it A sorrowful Heart a thick Pencil and a trembling Hand will but overshade and darken the Lines of so fair a Piece and therefore I must beg of you who knew him in Oxford in Hackney in Exeter and in this City where he was so much followed applauded and admired to set him in his true Light to the World and give him that great Character which he so justly deserved while I only mention the great Honour and Veneration we had for him in Ireland in which Kingdom he soon made himself famous and for a Learned and Elegant Sermon which I heard him Preach at his first coming and which was afterward Printed I saw him Embraced by the greatest Prelates and courted to stay in that Country and was soon after made Dean and then Bishop of Raphoe and afterward most deservedly translated to Derry In the first of which Bishopricks as I am informed he spent about a Thousand Pounds in Buildings and other Improvements And in the last he was at a very great Expence to Beautifie and Adorn his Cathedral and in furnishing it with Organs and Massy Plate and in both he was a great Precedent of Piety and Holiness He was a burning and a shining Light He knew that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and did therefore preach loudly by example His Actions were Instructive Sermons and his Strict Life and Unblameable Consation had great Influence on all about him At his Table he was piously pleasant and religiously ingenious and doubly feasted all who did eat with him for he had a clear Head and solid Judgment a quick Fancy and a flowing Wit and was every-way accomplished for Address and for Discourse and was so Courteous and Affable so Gentile and so Obliging so Instructive and Communicative that all who conversed with him loved and admired him and though he kept a very Noble and Hospitable House yet was it famous for Regularity and Order And in the midst of the greatest Plenty Gravity and Sobriety were most strictly observed It was indeed a Temple and an Oratory for in it Prayers and Praises Catechising and Reading the Scripture were never omitted He constantly expounded it to his Family explained some part of the Lessons and made short but rare Observations upon them and beside the Publick Prayers he was very often at his Private Devotions and spent much time in Divine Meditations Thus did he behave himself in his House thus did he Instruct his Family and bring his Children up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord And if you follow him to the Pulpit you 'll find him there constantly once a Sunday while his Health permitted it and surely all who heard him will say his Sermons were Learned and Eloquent Pious and Methodical and as his Motto was Aut suavitate aut vi he either by sweet Discourses and charming Exhortations or by strength of Reason and powerful Arguments drew many to Christ He never omitted that Duty but preached in his Throne when he was not able to ascend the Pulpit And for his Excellency in that Noble Faculty he was celebrated by all Men. He was followed and admired in all Places where he lived and was justly esteemed one of the best Preachers of our Age. And his Discourses always smelt of the Lamp they were very elaborate and well digested He had a Noble Library and delighted in it and was as Tertullian says of Irenaeus Omnium Doctrinarum curiosissimus explorator He was a good Linguist and excelled in Polemick and Casuistical Divinity Many flocked to him to have their Doubts resolved and he gave Light and Comfort to clouded and afflicted Consciences and was admirably accomplished with many other Parts of useful Learning And if you consider him as a Bishop you will own that God had blessed him with Wisdom and Sagacity with Zeal and Courage with Temper and Moderation and all other necessary Virtues for a Governour and Ruler in the Church and surely none was more careful of his Diocess being constantly resident and bringing in learned and ingenious Men into all Livings in his Gift and Patronage And was a most tender and indulgent yet strict and vigilant Ruler of his Clergy He always treated them as Brethren and Friends with all kindness and respect and would spare no pains to protect them in their Rights and used all his interest to promote them as they deserved In a word he was every way qualified and adorned for that great Charge and by constant Preaching a wise Government and an even and steady Hand by a winning Temper an humble Courage and prudent Moderation he gained upon Dissenters and brought many into the Communion of our Church having fully convinced them that her Doctrin was Pure and Primitive Orthodox and Apostolical And did upon all occasions shew himself a wise a learned and a pious Bishop He every way filled his Chair and was an Honour to his See and may deservedly be enrolled in the Catalogue of his
than when they first believed that they are perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and every Day growing nearer unto Heaven and Happiness than other And though these Works of theirs are now imperfect yet they shall be shortly finished and consummate in Glory Well then if Pleasure and Delight do affect you here you see is that which is solid and substantial it springs from Success in your Work and from that suitableness that is in your renewed part thereunto also And therefore the more Work the greater Delight you find because the greater progress you make and the more suitable to it your Will becomes Nay your Delight is of the same Nature with that which you shall enjoy in Heaven The Work the Blessed are there imploy'd in is of the same Nature with yours only their suitableness to it is perfect and therefore their Delight and Pleasure is perfect And accordingly the more suitable your Hearts are to your Work the more Delight and Pleasure you will find in it This is that makes Heaven a place of Happiness because there is no Corruption no Body of Sin and Death there to make those Duties that are there required from glorified Saints to be irksom and grievous to them 2. The Reward of working for Salvation Secondly Consider the exceeding greatness of your Reward Doth Job fear God for nought was the Cavil of Satan when God applauded himself that he had such a Servant as Job was upon the Earth The Devil himself thought it no wonder that Job should fear and serve a rewarding God a God whose Hands are as full of Blessings as his Mouth is full of Commands And yet what were these great Something 's that the Devil envies Job for and thinks every one would have done as much as he if they had but as great a Recompence for it It was but Hedging of him about Job 1.10 but blessing of the Works of his Hands and increasing of his Substance as it is in Job 1. Why alas these are poor mean Rewards to what God intends to bestow such Rewards they are as that God still reckons himself in Arrears to his Children till he hath given them something better than he can bestow upon them here upon Earth These Things he casts but as Crumbs unto Dogs when he reserves a far better Portion for his Children And yet Satan thinks Job well paid for his Service in having of these lower Enjoyments in causing the Works of his Hands to prosper Doth Job serve God for nought And therefore if Satan doth not wonder that Job fears and serves God for Temporal Mercies will it not be to the great wonder of Satan himself that you should not fear and serve God that have infinitely better Things promised to you than Temporal Mercies are Do you deserve your Breath in spending of it some few Hours in Prayer Or do you deserve your plentiful Estate by laying out some small part of it for God Why to be able to Think or Speak to enjoy Health and Strength are such Mercies though outward Mercies as can never be recompenced to God although you should think of nothing but of his Glory and speak of nothing but of his Praise although you should impair your Health and waste your Strength and languish away in the performance of holy Duties These tho' they are Obligations to Obedience yet they are not the Reward of Obedience no far higher and more glorious Things are provided promised and shall be conferred upon you if you will but work For there is First your set standing Wages and that is eternal Salvation no less And Secondly besides this there are many incident Vails accrew to God's Servants in their performance of his Service And is not here Reward and Wages enough First 1. Working for Salvation shall be rewarded with Heaven 1 Cor. 2.9 Consider there is that eternal weight of Glory that shall be the Reward of the Saints in Heaven This now is so great that it is impossible for you to conceive It is such as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath it ever enter'd into no nor can it ever enter into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him as the Apostle speaks If St. Paul were now preaching and pressing this very Consideration of the infinite glorious Reward it would possibly be expected that he who suffered a Translation and was admitted as a Spy into the Land of Promise should at his return make some Relation of it and discover something of the Riches and Glory of that Place and would not all flock about him as Men do about Travellers to enquire for a Description of the Country whence they come Who the People and Inhabitants are What are their Manners and Customs What is their Imployment Who is their King and what Subjection they yield unto him Thus inquisitive truly our Curiosity would be And yet when St. Paul purposely relates his Voyage to the other World all that he speaks of it is only this I knew a Man caught up into Paradise who heard things that no Man could nor is it lawful for any Man to utter The Glory of Heaven is such that it can never be fully known till it be fully enjoyed and yet if Heaven were ever made chrystally transparent to you if ever God opened you a Window into it and then opened the Eye of your Faith to look in by that Window think what it was that you there discovered what inaccessible Light what cherishing Love what daunting Majesty what infinite Purity what over-loading Joy what insupportable and sinking Glory what Rays and Sparklings from Crowns and Scepters but more from the Glances and Smiles of God upon the heavenly Host who forever warm and Sun themselves in his Presence And when you have thought all this then think once again that all your Thoughts are but Shadows and Glimmerings that there is Dust and Ashes in the Eye of your Faith that makes all these Discoveries come infinitely short of the Native Glory of these Things and then you may guess and guess somewhat near what Heaven is Nay as God by reason of his infinite Glory is better known to us by Negatives than by Affirmatives by what he is not than by what he is so is Heaven by reason of the greatness of its Glory better known to us by what it is not than by what it is and we may best conceive of it when it is told us There is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve or trouble us nothing that may molest or disquiet us but we shall have the highest and sweetest Delight and Satisfaction that the vast and capacius Soul of Man can either receive or imagine Are you now burthened with Sin and Corruption those Infirmities that tho' they are unavoidable yet they make your Lives a Burthen to you Why the old Man shall never more molest you there that
Body of Sin and Death shall never enter with you into Life the Motions of Sin shall for ever cease in that Eternal Rest Are you here oppressed with Sorrows Do Afflictions overwhelm you Why there God shall kiss your blubbered Eyes dry again and wipe with his own Hands all Tears from your Eyes Are you pester'd here with Temptations and doth the evil One without intermission haunt you with black and hellish Thoughts with dreadful and horrible Dejections There you shall be quite beyond the Cast of all his fiery Darts and instead of these you shall have within you an ever-living Fountain bubling up spiritual and sprightly Contemplations and holy Raptures for ever such as you never knew when you were here upon Earth no not when you were in the most spiritual and heavenly Frame Are you here clouded and cast down with Desertions and doth God sometimes hide his Face from you in Displeasure In Heaven there shall be an everlasting Sun-shine God shall look freely and stedfastly upon you and you shall no more see him through a Glass darkly but Face to Face without any interruption or obscurity Think O Soul and then think of any Thing else if thou canst What is it to see the Father of Lights in his own Rays What is it to see the Sun of Righteousness lie in the Bosom of the Father of Lights What is it to feel the eternal Warmth and Influence of the Holy Ghost springing from both these Lights What is it to converse with Holy Angels and the Spirits of just Men made perfect to join with them in singing the same Hallelujahs for ever And when you have thought all this think once more Heaven is all this and more also Well then since Heaven is such and since such a Heaven as this is may be yours what should I say more but only with the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.1 Having these Promises dearly Beloved Promises of so certain and vast a Glory as this is let us cleanse and purify our selves from all filthiness and pollution both of Flesh and Spirit and perfect Holiness in the fear of God Is this Heaven attainable upon your Working Will God give it into Wages after working Will he share Stars nay will he share himself and his Christ among you Truly methinks Christians should not have patience to hear any more methinks it is too much dulness to indure another Motive besides this Why do you not interrupt me then Why do you not cry out What shall we do that we may work the Works of God Why do you not say and pray Lord work in us both to will and to do of thy good pleasure Why is there not such a holy Tumour and Disturbance among you some Questioning some Praying some Resolveing all some way or other testifying a sense of Salvation upon you But alas there is a general Silence Men and Women set as quiet in their Seats as if their Seats were filled rather with Monuments than with Men as if Heaven and eternal Salvation were of no Concernment for them to look after And wherefore is all this but because their Sight is short and their Faith weak They do not see afar off nor believe a far off Heaven they look upon as at a great distance and very unwilling they are to go so long upon Trust and sensual Persons as they are they look for present Reward and present Wages and will not stir till they have received it And this is the Reason why the Consideration of this great and infinite Glory affects Men no more they look for something present Well be it so Will God's Work bring in no present Profit The Reward in working for Salvation is great Yes it will and that such as you your selves shall acknowledge to be great And therefore Secondly Besides those set Wages that are to be received at the end of our Lives there are many Vails and occasional Incomes that accrew to God's Servants in the performance of their Work As First 1. God will provide for us while we are working Such are assured that God will provide for them while they are doing of his Work he hath assured them of the Mercies and good Things of this Life by Promise I do not say of the troublesome abundance of them but of the Enjoyment of them so far forth as they are Mercies and good Things Godliness says the Apostle is profitable for all things 1 Tim. 4.8 having the promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come It hath the Promises of this Life and that is a large Charter by vertue whereof God feeds them and cloaths them and provides Sustenance and comfortable Enjoyments for all those that work in his Service And therefore that I may note it by the way most Men are greatly mistaken that labour and toil in the World to get Riches and great Estates this is not the right thriving Course if you would grow Rich First seek the kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof work out your own Salvation Labour for the true Riches and this will not only increase and improve your inward Graces but inincrease and improve your outward Mercies also It is true indeed Earth Worms may by carking and caring by pinching and drudging increase their heap of Dirt but let who will for my part I will not nor cannot call that Man a rich Man that hath more Curses than Enjoyments Well thus we see what great Vails God gives his Servants he gives them not only those of another Life but those of this Life so far as they are Mercies and that is one Vail Secondly As God provides for his Servants while they are working so their very Work is Wages and Reward enough for it self If God should only give us our Labour for our Pains as we use to say and never bestow a Penny more upon us than what we get in his Service we were even in that sufficiently rewarded It was certainly a violent Pang of distempered Zeal in that Person that carried Fire in the one Hand and Water in the other and being demanded a Reason of it his Answer was He would burn up Paradise and quench Hell-fire that so God might be served and Holiness embraced upon no other Motives than themselves This was a violent Pang and cannot be allowed this Fire was strange Fire and this Water was too much muddied to be Water of the Sanctuary But yet certainly that Man who abstracting from the Consideration of Heaven and Hell eternal Rewards and Punishments would not rather choose the Works of God and the Ways of Holiness than the Works of Sin and the Ways of Iniquity let that Man know he never yet had much Acquaintance with that Way and with that Work What says holy David concerning the Commandments of God In keeping them there is great Reward not only after keeping them when those Commands that have here been the Rule of our Holiness and Obedience
Consciences too How many are there that have thus bewildred themselves in their own Fansies and Opinions and so have fallen upon the Precipice of damnable Errors and into Bogs of Mire and filthy Lusts only through an ignorant Conscience and self-conceited Pride that is always a Companion of it this Ignorance fills the Conscience with false Presumptions and draws it to wrong Determinations and Conclusions which though they seem to be but little mistakes in the Notion yet are they most destructive and pernicious in a Man's practice As a small mistake in the levelling of an Arrow at the Hand makes a wide distance at the Mark so a small mistake in the Notion of Truth makes a wide error in the practice of Godliness A mis-persuaded Conscience usually gives rise to misguided Zeal and Zeal without Knowledge is but a Religious Phrensie that fashions out to it self strange shapes of Sin and Duty of Good and Evil and usually it takes the one for the other until it falls under that Woe denounced by the Prophet Isa 5.20 Woe to them that call Good Evil and Evil Good that put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness that put Bitter for Sweet and Sweet for Bitter Now Ignorance doth vitiate and corrupt the Conscience two ways Ignorance vitiates the Conscience two ways either it makes it unnecessarily scrupulous or else it makes it daringly presumptuous First 1. By making it unnecessarily scrupulous Ignorance fetters and binds up the Conscience either to the doing of or abstaining from that concerning which God hath laid no Law and Obligation at all upon it This is an encroaching Conscience that makes that an enclosure that God hath left common and rigorously exacts from us what God hath permitted as indifferent It is a very sad Judgment to be given up to the domineering Impositions of a scrupulous Conscience such a Conscience as this is will certainly make much more Sin than over the Law made for whatever we do against the Commands of Conscience is Sin though it be not immediately and directly against the Commands of God Rom. 14.23 Why now some there are that do so needlesly pin and coop up themselves that they cannot stir nor moderately use that lawful Liberty that God hath indulged them but presently they are entangled in Sin because of the imperious Prohibitions of their own Consciences Secondly 2. By making it licentious and daringly presumptuous Sometimes Ignorance makes Conscience licentious indulging it self in those Actions that the Law of God condemns making it daringly presumptuous and this is a quite contrary extream and yet as opposite as these are we oftentimes find them joined together in the same Persons the same Persons that have a needlesly scrupulous Conscience have also a daringly presumptuous Conscience and this proceeds from an Ignorance of their due Bounds and Limits Who ordinarily so prophane as the Superstitious Their Ignorance makes them scrupulous Observers of little Circumstances and yet bold Adventurers upon notorious Sins What a strange wry Conscience have such Men that tie up themselves strictly where God gives them scope and yet run riotously where God's Commands and Threatnings restrain dreading more the transgressing one Law of Man than they do the transgressing of the whole moral Law of God This is now from Ignorance whereby Men do not know the due Bounds either of that Liberty that God indulgeth them or that Restraint that God lays upon them And this is the first Thing that corrupts Conscience namely Ignorance Secondly 2. Wilful Sinning corrupts Conscience and that two ways Wilful Sinning corrupts and vitiates the Conscience and that two ways First Sometimes such Sins stupifie and deaden the Conscience 1. By stupifying and deadning of Conscience especially if they become frequent and customary and therefore we usually call them Conscience-wasting Sins Believe it through a continued course of known and presumptuous Sins you will bring your Consciences into very sad Consumptions that they will pine away under Iniquities and how many are there that have their Consciences already lying Speechless Senseless and Gasping ready to give up the Ghost The Apostle in Eph. 4.19 speaks of them Eph. 4. â—9 that being past feeling have given themselves over to Lasciviousness Secondly 2. By terrifying and inraging of Conscience Sometimes such Sins do affright terrifie and enrage the Conscience filling it with dreadful Thoughts of eternal future Vengeance Wilful and known Sins sometimes terrifie and enrage the Conscience and this is a Corruption of the Conscience when the Terrors of it are so overwhelming as to sink Men into Despair for mark it it is its Office to accuse and to threaten for Sin and the greater the Sin is the more sharp and stinging ought to be its Reproofs but be the Sin never so great for which Conscience reproves if yet it denounceth Wrath without making mention of Repentance and hopes of Mercy it exceeds its Commission that God hath given it and becomes an evil and corrupt Conscience And therefore we have that Expression Heb. 10.22 Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near says the Apostle having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience By an evil Conscience here is meant a despairing Conscience from which we are freed only by the Blood of Sprinkling to be convinced of Sin and not at all to be convinced of Righteousness is such a Conviction as constitutes one part of the Torments of the damned in Hell whose Worm never dies and certainly that Conscience must needs be very evil and very corrupt that breeds in it this hellish Worm while we are here upon Earth And so much for the first Thing what it is that corrupts the Conscience Secondly 2. What it is to have a clear Conscience and that in two Things The next Thing propounded is to shew you What it is to have a their Conscience Now there are two Things that denominate a Conscience to be clear when it is pure and when it is peaceable when it is free from all known and wilful Defilements and when it is not justly burdned with the guilt of Sin then is it a clear Conscience 1. Then a Man hath a clear Conscience 1. When it is free from all known and wilful Sins when it is free from all known and wilful sins I say from all known and wilful Sins for it is impossible while we are encompassed about with Infirmities and oppressed with a heavy Body of Sin and Death to keep our selves free and pure from all Sin For in many things we offend all says St. James 3.2 Jam. 3.2 But these Sins of daily Weakness and sudden Surreption as they are usually small Sins and scarce discernible so are they no Obstructions to a clear Conscience no more than the Moats of the Sun-beams are Obstructions to a clear Day As for those Quotidian Weaknesses and Sins of â—aily Infirmity they neither leave Guilt nor Defilement upon the Conscience of God's Children but
neither did his Flesh see Corruption it is spoken so in Gen. 37.35 Jacob speaking concerning the supposed Death of his Son Joseph says I will go down into the Grave to my Son mourning Concerning the Resurrection of Christ from the Grave Gen. 37.35 Job 17.13 that word which we translate the Grave we translate also Hell Now saith the Prophet Though I should go down to the Grave and be covered from the sight and forgotten out of the mind and thoughts of Men yet thou art there and observest every Dust how it molders and crumbles away My Body cannot be more in the Grave than thou art there If we take Hell for the place of the damned God's presence is there likewise One would think if from any place God would exclude himself it should be from Hell since his presence is sufficient to make an Heaven any where but so infinite is his unlimited Being that when the Body is in the Grave and the Soul in Hell yet then is God present both with the Soul and with the Body If I make my Bed in Hell that is If I cover my self never so close and draw the Curtains of the thickest Darkness round about me If my Body should lye in the deepest Intrails of the Earth and my Soul be wrapt about with a Winding-sheet of Smoak and Flames yet thou art there and thy presence would soon find me out Job 26.6 Hell is naked before him and Destruction hath no covering Yea the Apostle tells us 2 Thess 1.9 That the Wicked in Hell shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his Power That is not only that their punishment shall be to be separated from the presence of the Lord but look how they are said to be punished from the glory of his Power so likewise are they to be punished from his Presence their Destruction shall be from the Glory of his Power that is his Power in inflicting most dreadful Punishments upon them and his Power in sustaining them under those Punishments when with one Hand the Lord shall hold them up in Hell and lift up the other as high as Heaven to give them redoubled Strokes of everlasting Vengeance So likewise they shall be punished from the presence of the Lord that is God himself will be present in Hell to torment and punish them that at the very same time that he shall be a cherishing God in Heaven he will be a tormenting God in Hell because in them he hath established his two great Thrones the one of his Mercy the other of his Justice But yet possibly there may be found some neglected place here below where God hath no such concernment to be present in it as he hath to be present in Heaven and in Hell Now saith the Psalmist Verse 9. If I take the Wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea even there shall thine Hand lead me and thy Right-hand shall hold me Wings of the Morning is an elegant Metaphor and by them we may conjecture is meant the Sun-beams called Wings because of their swift and speedy motion making their passage so sudden and so instantaneous as that they do prevent the observation of the Eye called the Wings of the Morning because the Dawn of the Morning comes flying in upon these Wings of the Sun and brings Light along with it and by beating and fanning of these Wings scatters the Darkness before it Now saith the Psalmist If I could pluck these Wings of the Morning the Sun-beams if I could imp my own Shoulders with them if I should fly as far and as swift as Light even in an instant to the uttermost parts of the Sea yea if in my flight I could spy out some Solitary Rock so formidable and dismal as if we might almost call in question whether ever a Providence had been there if I could pitch there on the top of it where never any thing had made its abode but Coldness Thunders and Tempests yet there shall thy Hand lead me and thy Right-hand shall hold me Thus you see the Text declares this Ubiquity and Omnipresence of God both in Heaven and Earth and Hell and in all Places and in all Things I shall first handle this Point Doctrinally and then Practically observing this Method I shall 1. Lay down some Positions 2. Demonstrate the Truth of them by some cogent and convincing Arguments 3. Answer some Objections which may be made against the Omnipresence of God 4. Make some Improvement of this Point The first Position I shall lay down is this Position 1. That God is intimately and essentially in all parts and places of the World yea this Presence being essential is also necessary so that it is simply impossible that God should not be wheresoever the Creature is By the World I mean whatsoever was at the beginning created by the Power of God the Heavens the Air the Earth and Sea and all things visible and invisible God is with them and in them all There are three things briefly to be touched upon here First That God is intimately present with the Creatures He passeth through their very Beings and Inward Parts he is in the very Center of their Essence and this flows from the Spirituality of his Essence From hence it is that it is impossible that he should be excluded out of the most close compacted Being Bodies cannot thus enter one another because of their gross and material Substances they can only stand without and knock for admission they cannot enter into the substance one of another Water when sucked up by a Spunge doth not pass into the substantial part of it but only fills up those Caverns and hollow Pores that were before filled with Air. The Air we breath in cannot enter into the Substance of our Bodies but only into those Pores and hollow Recesses that are by Nature fitted to receive it so of all other Corporeal Beings But Spirits are not tied up to this Law The Soul of Man because it is a Spirit resides not only in the empty void Spaces of the Body but also in the midst of the most solid and substantial part of it Angels who are a degree of Spiritual Beings above the Soul they cannot be excluded from being present in the most condensed Bodies and we know not how often they are in us we know not how often they pass through us nor how many of them are now present with us We read of no less than a Legion which is Six Thousand that quartered themselves together in one possessed person Mark 5.9 Then certainly God between whom and the Angels there is infinitely more distance than between Angels and Bodies cannot possibly be shut out of any Being but diffuseth himself to every part of his Creatures Secondly God is not only intimately present with his Creatures because as he is a Spirit he passeth through the most inmost part of them