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An Enauxy 7 DoeBunes oP Cogety Af Preclerbraten Uhrartan Marpara Soy kasi : Govt, of Wen Beoual DISCOURSE L Acts xv. 18. KAQWN UNTO GOD ANE 434. HIS WORES, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD. NEXT lo the idea of power in the sapreme Being, dhot of his perfoot dmowledge of all that is doing in the world seems to be the first that arises in the mind of man, however undisciplined and uninstracted, even before any tolerable conception of what we call bis mora} attributes is formed. The most igno- vant person, who talks of Ciod’s seeing every thing, and hearing every thing, never for a moment juagines that he sees and hears by such orgaais us we possess; or that the ure of those facultics can be impeded in him aa it often is in ourselves; that any thing, for ® 2 instunce, can be hid eAighitig,,or come upon him by surprise, o ee Mi Bld confusedly discovered, Whatever knows, he knaws perfectly : and although it is some imprave- ment upon this idea, to couceive him know- ing things beforehand, yet since hmman wisdom arrives offen. at such a degree of certainty aboul future events, that for all the purposes of fife our foreknowledge is as touch to be depended upon as our actual knowledge, as. for instance, that the sun will rine to-rmerrow—-that the 4ife will ebb and flow at a given timecsince, Tsay, ox perience teaches us this of ourselves, it is no violent step, but a natural end eaay tron sition, to attribute this faculty in a much higher degree to God-—or rather 10 conceive it ax existing in him without any fimitation at all. The mere general statement indeed, that Ged does not exist in dime but in eter nity, and therefore that there ix no room for the ideus éefere and after when speaking of Aim, and that the succession of events cumnot to such a Beng make any difference, ix perhaps beyand the reach of minds not ac~ 3 customed to such abstraction: but the plain- ext and most anpractised thinker will find no difficulty in aowing, that God must see into fatuvity better than man can sec 98 one man sees better than another according to the strength of his faculties, and his superior acquaintance with the constiiution of the universe: and if’ we assign these qualities without measure or Limitation to God, what measure or limitation can it he reasonable to impose upon that foreknowledge which arises out of thealft Accordingly it may be observed, that one of the earliest religions practices of rade nations is to consnlt the Deity about that which is 10 come::plainly implying that foresight, which is the strongest evidence of superionty among men, must. belong to God in 4 fat more eminent degree. The counsel of Ahilophel was (the sacred historian ob- serves) “as if a mon had enquired at the oracle uf God.” The course indeed of the material world seems to proceed upon such fixed and uni- form laws, that short experience joined to Be