176 SERMONS UPON ] JOHN III. [SeR. XXVI.
lie willeth them, and he willeth them from all eternity. God also knoweth all things that might have been. He knew that Abimelech would have defiled himself and Sarah, if he had not withheld him, Gen. XX. 6 ; that the men of Keilah would have betrayed David into the hands of Saul, if he had staj'ed among them, 1 Sam. xxiii, 12. There is many a man kept bare and low, God knoweth what he would do if he had power in his hands. Many die young ; God knoweth, if they had lived forty or fifty years, it would have been worse for them, they might have dishonoured God more, grieved their relations more, or been exposed to temptations, which he saw not fit to let loose upon them. Thus for the universality of God's knowledge, he knoweth all all things.
[2.] The particularity of God's knowledge. His knowledge is not only universal, but particular ; he knoweth every individual thing and person. Our persons are known to him by head and poll : 2 Tim. ii. 18, 'The Lord knoweth those that are his ;' and ' the good shepherd calleth his own sheep by name,' John x. 3. There is not a single man liveth in the world, but God taketh notice of him ; he doth cer- tainly know that there is such a creature as thou art, such a man or woman in the world. His decree passed on thee ; he knew thee in the mass and lump of mankind, and took notice of thee by name when his creating power passed on thee ; for he knoweth all that he hath made ; and he is to judge thee, and will set thy life in order before thee, Ps. 1. 21. And therefore certainly knoweth thee, or else he were not an omniscient judge. There could be no process against thee if the Lord •were ignorant of thy person ; and his actual providence about thee iraplieth it. Thou canst not uphold thyself one moment without him, and therefore he is as verily with thee as thou art with thyself. Suppose that God had never a creature to look to in all the world but thee, wouldst thou not believe then that he doth know thee and regard thee? Why not now? Is there any weakness in God? is his mind distracted with variety of objects, that he would not regard thy person, heart, word, and ways ? is he not sufficient for thee, and as really present with thee as if he had no other creature else ?
(2.) As our persons, so our ways : Ps. i. 6, ' The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.' Doth not God distinguish between his obedient and rebellious subjects, and know who they are, and how many are of the one sort and the other ? To deny this were to strike at the root of all piety and obedience. If lie hath not a particular inspection of , human affairs, and did not know the good and evil, what need we take care whether we be good or evil ?
(3.) As of our way and scope in general, so of every step; he knoweth all the particularities of our lives : Job xxxi. 4, ' Doth not he see all my ways, and count all my steps ? ' By our way is meant our general conversation, and by our steps oui- particular actions. God seeth us in all postures, when we laugh, and when we weep, when we are proud, and when we are angry, toying and praying, when in company or alone, when buying or selling, and when worshipping and hearing: Ps. cxxxix. 2, ' Thou knowest my up-rising and down-lying ; ' how ye go to bed at night, and rise in the morning. And he knoweth not only
VeR. 20.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 177
thy actions, but thy heart. It is a mighty awe upon us that he know- eth our words and actions : Ps. cxxxix. 4, ' Lo, there is not a word in my mouth, but thou, 0 Lord, knowest it altogether.' God knoweth it, whether it be savoury and gracious or vain and idle. But this is not all; he knoweth our hearts and our very thoughts: Prov. xv. 11, ' Hell and destruction are before the Lord ; how much more the hearts of the children of men ? ' He seiteth forth the knowledge of God by those things which are most unknown to us, the state of the dead and the hearts of men. He knoweth all those that are in the state of the dead, though unknown or forgotten by the most of men ; what is become of the bodies and souls of men ; the damned spirits in hell, he keepeth an exact account of all the prisoners ; the bodies in the grave, he knoweth what is become of their dust, and how to restore to every one his own flesh and his own body ; and what are the thoughts and liearts of men now alive. The thoughts of the heart are most hidden from man till they be revealed by word or action. Who can know our thoughts ? what more swift and sudden, what more various and more hidden than a thought ? and this he knoweth not by guess and interpretation, by running up our actions into their proper thought and principle wherein they are founded, but by immediate inspection, and knoweth them before they are manifested by the event, or any overt act of word or deed ; what consultations and deliberations we are about before we conclude anything ; with what hopes, and aims, and con- sciences we are carried on ; in whose name we act, and with what principles and ends : which is of double use to us, partly to breed a holy fear, and partly a hope in us. An awe, how should we compose our minds and passions, and the very thoughts of our hearts ! God seetli all, how should we use our words and order our behaviour ! We do all in his sight, and speak all in his hearing : he finds out^ the thought, word, and deed that is not done in his presence or conceived in his presence, and then allow yourselves to be vain and frivolous if you can. And partly to breed a hope in us. God knoweth what is hatched in hell, or Kome, or elsewhere against us ; and therefore let us do our duty, and rest in the wisdom of God for protection.