God.'* Thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting.'† 'Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.' Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever, and thy memorial throughout all generations.' § 'The everlasting God.'|| Thus saith the Lord, I am the first and the last; and besides me there is no God.' ¶ Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity.? ** 'The Lord, the true God, he is an everlasting King.'++ Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation.' ‡‡ 'His eternal power and Godhead.'§§ 'The commandment of the everlasting God.'|||| 'The King Eternal.'¶¶ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord; which is and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.' *** "Who liveth for ever and ever.'+++ "No words, within the reach of language, can possibly express the eternity of God, if the passages advanced are insufficient for the purpose." At the conclusion of his Proofs from Revelation, *Psalms, xc. 2. Psalms, cii. 12, 26, 27. || Isaiah, xl. 28. + Psalms, xciii. 2. Mr. Drew eloquently observes, "the numerous passages of Scripture, which have been quoted, concur in establishing those important truths which I have endeavoured to prove, likewise, by rational arguments. It, therefore, appears that revelation and reason (as far as the being and attributes of God are concerned) lead to one common issue. They inform us that there is a God, that He is omnipotent, and the creator of all things; that He is eternal, omnipresent, and infinite,-omniscient, invisible, immutable, - incorruptible, — infinitely wise, undivided in His essence, and incomprehensible. "If we turn from His essential attributes, to His moral perfections, we gather, from the same authority, that this God is just in Himself, and in all His actions,―that He is holy in His nature, and in all His ways, that He is compassionate and merciful-long suffering and patient-gracious, good, and bountiful— faithful and true, and abounding in love to all mankind,—and, finally, that He upholds and governs all things by the word of His power. "This is that great and glorious Lord, God, Almighty, in whom we live and move and have our being, and by whose mercies alone we can inherit everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." CHAPTER IX. SIMILAR ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DEAN PEARCE. BUT Mr. Drew is not the only Cornishman who has done himself and his county honour by the similar evidence he has afforded of his own faith, and the fortifications he has thence raised in defence of the faith of others. Among the posthumous sermons of my venerated friend and early patron, Dr. Pearce, the late Dean of Ely, there is one-" On the Existence and Attributes of God," in which he treats the subject, in as far as relates to proofs from the Bible, in very much the same manner with Drew. But there is in all his sermons, and particularly in this, a terse compactness of style, with strength of argument so characteristic of the author, that "although dead he yet speaketh."- Heb. ii. 4. In looking back upon the period when this spirited champion of the Cross of Christ flourished as Master * Sermon XX. Acts xiv. 17.-" God left not himself without witness." * of the Temple, it is delightful to contemplate the force and eloquence which were opposed to the legion of infidels who had taken fast hold of the nations of the Continent, and were striving with all their artifices, to disturb the repose of our highly favoured and Christian country-repose, which, it must be owned, was getting too profound for our security, and which required the watchman to call the hour of the night with renewed energy. It is, I repeat, delightful to contemplate the exertions which England made, at this probationary era, and appalling crisis, to rouse the slumberers-to check the efforts of infidels, by keeping men's minds in a healthy state with regard to religion, and, thereby, to afford the right means of dispelling the cloud of pestilential vapours, in which the Incubus of Gallic Demonism lay enveloped. The valuable volume of Sermons† alluded to was published by the Dean's son, the Rev. E. S. Pearce, prior to his taking orders; "in compliance," as he tells us, in his advertisement, "with the wishes of many who were present at their delivery;" and whoever is ac * From Hooker's days to those of the present admirable master, Benson, there was never, perhaps, a church better served or better attended, on Sunday Mornings, than that of the Temple. It is much to be regretted that there is scarcely any attendance on the afternoon service. There are, altogether, twenty-seven sermons, of which twenty-six were preached at the Temple Church, between the years 1787 and 1797. quainted with the description of persons comprising the congregation at the Temple Church, will know the value of such testimony. There is nowhere a congregation of more enlightened individuals; and I have more than once seen an easy victory gained over some pratler against revealed religion, whose weak side is usually vanity, by his being asked, "Pray do you ever visit London? Because, if you do, you will do well, when you are next there, to go on a Sunday morning, to the Temple Church, where you will find a crowded assembly of men, of distinguished rank in society, and of first-rate mental acquirements. You will see them attentive to the service throughout, and evincing, by their proper demeanour, that they are worshipping their Maker with the spirit, and with the understanding also.""* 6 It was hardly necessary to add, that, to connect the worship of such men with ignorance or hypocrisy, instead of justly considering it a reasonable service, would be nothing short of extreme folly. But to return to Dean Pearce's Sermon on the "Existence and Attributes of God," which is too excellent, and too much to my present purpose, to be past over without further notice. |