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SERMON,

&c.

PROVERBS, xv. 3.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

My dear Children, I am about to speak to you of Religion, and of what is to do you good and make you happy; and the subject I shall speak about, is God's all-seeing eye; His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. There are two things which I shall set before you.

I. THAT GOD'S EYE IS IN ALL PLACES.

II. THAT GOD'S EYE MARKS WHAT IS EVIL AND WHAT IS GOOD IN ALL PLACES.

I shall speak as simply and affectionately as I can, my dear Children. If you attend, 1 think I shall make myself understood to the youngest

child present. But you must each one pray for the Holy Spirit to teach you and make you feel what I am about to say. I can only speak. I cannot make you good; I cannot make you new creatures. But God can. Let every child pray in his heart this prayer, O Lord, bless this Sermon to my soul's salvation!

I. God's eye is in all places; that is, God sees in all places-God is present in all places— God rules and governs in all places. Each of these thoughts I shall endeavour to explain to you.

First. God sees in all places. There is nothing that God does not see. He sees, not merely what is done in the day, but what is done in the darkness of the night. He looks into the heart, and sees every thought, and he looks into the life, and sees every action;-it is one of our sins that we forget this.

When Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, they forgot that God saw in all places, and they went to hide themselves amongst the trees of the garden; and when God came and said, Adam, where art thou? he replied, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I went and hid myself. But God saw Adam, though Adam did not think of God.

When Cain killed his brother Abel, as he talked with him in the field, he thought no one

saw him. But God said to him, Where is Abel thy brother? and when Cain answered, I know not; am I my brother's keeper? God said to Cain, Doth not thy brother's blood cry unto me from the earth? God saw what Cain did, though Cain forgot God.

When Hagar fled from Abraham's family and from Sarah, into the wilderness, and thought herself deserted and forsaken of all, God's eyes were upon her, and the Angel of the Lord appeared to her, and bid her return to her mistress, and made her a promise of many blessings; and upon this She called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me.' My dear children, God sees every one of you at this time, and looks into each of your hearts; and therefore it was I said, you must all pray for his blessing upon what you are hearing.

The Second thought is, that God is present in all places. In the 139th Psalm, David tells us how God is present in every place: O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting, and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. Whither

shall I go from thy Spirit; or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the

wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee1.

There was one man, a prophet, and on the whole a good man (though not good in this instance), who tried to flee from the presence of God; that was, Jonah. When God sent him to Nineveh, he rose up to flee unto Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord". But did he escape the eye of God? You know that the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea; and, though Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and lay, and was fast asleep, yet God caused the lot to fall on him; and, to save the ship, he was cast by the mariners into the sea. God was present where Jonah was, though Jonah forgot God.

My Children, you know the light of the sun,

Psalm cxxxix. 1-3. 7-12.

2 Jonah, i. 3..

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and the air we breathe, reach to the ends of the world, and fill the height of heaven, and go even to the bottom of the sea; thus the presence of God reaches to all places at the same moment of time. I remember a venerable old clergyman lately deceased, Mr. Scott, said, that when he was a little boy, one of the first things he remembered to any purpose was the hymn of Dr. Watts, which his mother had taught him, about God's all-seeing eye:

"Almighty God, thy piercing eye

Strikes through the shades of night,
And our most secret actions lie
All open to thy sight."

Only a few weeks ago, I heard of a poor chimney-sweeper's boy, who seemed to know that God was present every where. This little chimney-sweeper was overtaken by the night near a small village in Oxfordshire. He came up to the house of one of my relations, and begged for a night's lodging. As the boy was a stranger, and all covered with soot, it was thought best to have the poor fellow put into one of the stables. The servant made him the most comfortable bed she could with clean straw, and as she left him, told him to be sure to say his prayers. When she had gone out and shut the door, she heard the little fellow begin to pray. She listened, and heard him repeat