"THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE."

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 209, 4 September 1899, Page 2

"THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE."

VIII. OMNIPRESENCE

Preaching at the Tabernacle yesterday from Psalm 139-7-12, the Rev. Joseph Clark said: —Omnipresence is another attribute ascribed to the Deity, and it is well to remember that we * have no need to speak of "Divine" omnipotence and omnipresence, because there can be only one omnipotent and omnipresent Being. Omnipresence, we say with reverence, is a necessary attribute of God. Love, wisdom, and power, are not enough. He must be present with every soul at all times everywhere to know what is needed, that His omnipotence may supply the need. There is the universal presence of the Deity in all places, at all times, and amongst all people. If not God would simply be a casual visitor, with one notion at a time, or one church at a time. What wonderful and varied conceptions of God there have been in the minds of men. God is a spirit. If He were only corporeal He would be limited when we read of His right hand, His searching eye, His almighty arm, .this is only the language of accommodation. Materialist conceptions are an indignity thrust upon God. It is true that God in Christ took upon Him the form of man. That was done to make us poor mortals understand Him, and to bring us back to Him. It- was condescension and love that brought Him into that lowly place. The Christian's conception of God is God's own conception of Himself. The brainy philosopher conceives God to be ail intellect, a monster, hard as flint, without will-power and love, and almost hearaless. The brawny man's idea of God is as a physical giant. The emotional man conceives Him as all heart, without much wisdom. All these conceptions are indignities thrust upon the Almighty. The Heathen for the most part makes God lower than himself, and has a very localised notion of the Deity. They confine Him to their own homes and their little temples. This is a degrading and miserably low estimate of the great God. He made man in His own image. Man left to himself makes God in his image. God is a spirit, and hence. He can be in all the worlds at the same 'time. He can fill all immensity. How stupendous to contemplate, and there is no limit either to His presence or His power. If the Deity had a material being He would fill all space, and nothing else could move. He is larger than all time: He is vaster than all space. A learned Jew once said: "A man set in the highest heaven is no nearer the essence of God than a man who sits in the centre of the earth." How true that is; God is a spirit. The Talmud says: "The idol seems so near, yet is so far: Jehovah seems so far yet it so near." Now is not that beautiful? Yea, He hears the pulsating of every heart: He knows the thoughts of every man. There are many proofs of His omnipresence. He is present to convict the sinner, correct the saint, comfort the troubled soul, whisper peace to the anxious heart. There is a sense in which God is in all, yet all is not God. The Pantheist holds that all is God, but we believe that God's personality is kept intact. I am in my house; my house is not me. God is in you; you are not God. David was not a Pantheist. He could not be an annihilationist either. You cannot flee from God. There can be no such thing1 as anni-

hilation. It is unscientific. Omnipresence is a necessity^! It is a possibility, for God is a spirit. All believers in the soul hold that the soul is in every part of the brain; there is relative omnipresence. What the soul is to your body God the spirit is to the whole world—the universe. Just as birds are surrounded in the water, and fish in the sea, so are we surrounded by God. A heathen philosopher asked, "Where is God?" The best answer is another question, "Where is He not?" And the doctrine of omnipresence is true from Scripture, from reason, from experience. Remember God is present when you are tempted to do wrong. Though a terror is His omnipresence

to wicked doers, it is a source of the greatest joy to- be obedient children of His. The lowest station you may occupy will not rob you of His presence and comfort; your miserable conAion in life will not drive Him away. "God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble." We read of Jeremiah in a dungeon, of Daniel in a den of lions, of Joseph in imprisonment, that God was with them. Eemember wherever you arc, and whatever you do, God is there. Poor Ha gar exclaimed; 'Thou God seest me." Man is always somewhere. God is always everywhere. I would like to burn that into every heart in this city and colon}'. May that truth shine forth with the light of day, for His name's sake. Arrien.