Doct. They that come to worship God had need have their hearts deeply possessed with a sense of his omnisciency.
I shall prove two things —
1. That God is omniscient, and in particular doth know the hearts of men.
2. That those that would worship before the Lord must soundly believe and seriously consider this.
1. That the hearts of men lie open to the view of God is a truth often inculcated in scripture, as in that speech of God to Samuel the prophet, 1 Sam. xvi. 7. When Eliab, Jesse's eldest son, was brought before Samuel, surely the Lord's anointed is before him ; ' And the Lord said, Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, for I have refused him. The Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man ■ looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' Man seeth things slightly and superficially, and judges of all things according to the show and outside, for his sight can pierce no deeper ; but God searcheth the heart and reins, knoweth who is, and will con- tinue to be, a faithful instrument of his glory : 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, And thou, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind : for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thouglits.' A man cannot sincerely frame himself to the service of God unless he dotli
244 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXXVI.
first believe him to know all things, even our very thoughts, yea the imaginations of the thoughts ; the first motions of the soul which set on men to do what they do ; so Prov. xv. 11, ' Hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more the hearts of the children of men? ' He comparetli two things which are most unknown to us, — the state of the dead, and the hearts of men. God knoweth all those that are in Sheol, the state of the dead, though they are unknown or forgotten by the most of men. We know not what is become of the bodies or souls of men, the number of the damned or the blessed ; but God keepeth an exact account of all, he knoweth where their souls are, and their bodies also, what is become of their dust, and how to restore to every one their own flesh. And as he knoweth who are in the state ofthe dead, so what are the thoughts and hearts of men now alive. The thoughts of the heart are hidden from us till they be revealed by word or action. Who can know our thoughts? What more swift and sudden ? What more various, what more hidden, than our thoughts ? Yet he knoweth them, not by guess or interpretation, but by immediate inspection ; he seetli them before they are manifested by any overt act ; he knoweth with what hopes and confidences and aims we are carried on, in whose name we act, and upon what principles and ends. Again, Jer. xvii. 9, 10, ' The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked ; who can know it ? I the Lord search the heart, and try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to his doings.' The heart of man is altogether imknown to others, and very hard and difficult to be disco»'ered by ourselves ; there are so many sleights and shifts and circuits and turnings to conceal and colour our actions. But there is no beguiling of God, who hath an eye to discover the most secret motions and inward intentions, and will accordingly deal with men according to their deserts. But the scripture doth not only assert, but argue this point —
[1.] From the immensity and greatness of God; God is in all, and above all, and be3'ond all ; nowhere included, nowhere excluded. And so his omnipresence doth establish the belief of his omnisciency: Jer. xxiii. 23, 24, ' Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off ? do not I fill heaven and earth ? can any hide himself where I shall not see him ? ' God is everywhere, here where you are ; nearer and more intrinsic to us than our very souls. Therefore all we think, speak, or do, is better known to him than it is to ourselves ; we do all as in hi.s sight, speak all as in his hearing, think all as in his presence ; that which can be absent is not God ; you may be far from him, but he is not far from every one of you.
[2.] From creation. He hath made our hearts, and therefore knoweth our hearts : Ps. xciv. 9, 10, ' He that planted the ear, shall not he hear ? . He that formed the eye, shall not he see ? ' Surely he that made man knoweth what is in man, and observeth what they do. The same argu- ment is urged, Ps. cxxxix. 13, ' Thou hast possessed my reins, for thou hast covered me in my mother's womb ; ' and again, Ps. xxxiii. 1,5, ' He fashioneth their hearts alike, he considereth all their thoughts.' He that hath so much wisdom to give you the power to think, knoweth the acts ; if he hath given knowledge to the creatures, he himself hath it in a more eminent degree. Nothing can be concealed from him who