"Omnipresence" as all will admit means presence everywhere.
Now, strictly speaking, matter, in its most extensive and comprehensive sense, is the only thing that can be said to be literally everywhere. There are various kinds and degrees of matter; but matter as a whole, and in a general sense, is the only thing that we can conceive of as being everywhere present, and nowhere absent.
One reservation, however, must here be made, for the sake of scientific accuracy,—namely, that wherever matter exists and moves, there is of necessity a corresponding or proportionate extent of space wherein to move.
There is no such thing, however, in all the creations of God, as what is called empty space.
But this fact does not in the least affect our argument; for the motion of matter is merely the displacement of one thing by another—one particle occupying the space which had been previously occupied by another. Thus, if I thrust my hand into a mass of sand, I do not penetrate the grains of sand, (although I do penetrate the sand as a mass,) the hand merely going between, or making its way by displacing the grains with which it comes in contact. No particle of matter can occupy the same identical space as another at the same time; consequently, no portion of matter can in an exclusive and strictly literal sense be omnipresent.
The nearest approach to a literal omnipresence, that we can conceive of, is that of the particles of one kind and degree of matter commingling with those of another.
The following may serve as a simple illustration: In a homely cup of tea, we find the particles of the tea itself intimately mingling with those of the water; those of the sugar mingling with those of the other two elements; and then, again, there are the particles of caloric or heat everywhere present throughout the whole. Yet no one particle of either water, (itself a compound of gases), or tea, or sugar, or cream, can occupy the same space as any other particle. This simple illustration, however homely and commonplace, may serve as an example, on a small scale, of the nearest idea that can be formed of a literal omnipresence, or presence everywhere. The plainer the simile, the better for ease and clearness of thought.
We have now to define what we mean by the term "God."
This word, like many others, is frequently used to represent different ideas. We sometimes employ it in reference to Deity as a person. One of the old prophets saw God sitting on a throne. Of course, then, according to this personal sense of the word, God could not have been everywhere present; for he was on a throne. We often read of God as sitting down, standing up, walking about, &c. Now, a person, when sitting down, does not occupy the same space as when standing up. He always occupies the same amount of space, but no more, whatever posture he may place himself in, or however much he may change his relative positions by moving hither and thither.
Hence it is utterly impossible for God to be personally omnipresent.