19. and this can

that is in angels or men, comes from God, He that teaches man knowledge, shall he not know? Psal, xciv. 10. He has a will which cannot be resisted, Eph. i. 11. Rom. ix. never be supposed to be without knowledge. In short, with out knowledge, God would be no other than the idols of the Gentiles, who have eyes, but see not; are the work of errors, and are falshood and vanity; but the portion of Jacob is not like them, Jer. x. 14-16. I go on,

II. To shew the extent of the knowledge of God: it reaches to all things, John xxi. 17. and is therefore with great propriety called omniscience, and which the very heathens ascribe to God. Thales being asked, Whether a man doing ill, could lie hid to, or be concealed from God? answered, No, nor thinking neither. And Pindar says, If any man hopes that any thing will be concealed from God, he is deceived.

1. God knows himself, his nature and perfections; and each person fully knows one another; the Father knows the Son, begotten by him, and brought up with him; the Son knows the Father, in whose bosom he lay; and the Spirit knows the Father and Son, whose Spirit he is, and from whom he proceeds; and the Father and Son know the Spirit, who is sent by them as the Comforter; see Matt. xi. 27. 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11. God knows the mode of each person's subsistence in the Deity, the paternity of the Father, the generation of the Son, and the spiration of the Holy Ghost; he knows the things he has purposed, and the exact time of the accomplishment of them, which he has reserved in his own power, Eph. i. 11. Eccles.

iii. 1. Acts. i. 6.

11. God knows all his creatures, there is not any creature, not one excepted, that is not manifest in his sight, Heb. iv. 13. He knows all things inanimate, all that is upon the earth, and all that are in the heavens; he knows all the irrational creatures, the beasts of the field," the cattle on a thousand hills;" he knows all the fishes of the sea, and provided one to swallow Jonah, when thrown into it; he knows all rational beings, the elect angels, whom he must know, since he has chosen them and put them under Christ, the head of all principality

and power. Yea tle. apostate angels, devils, are known by him, and are under the continual eye of God, and the restraints of his providence. God knows all men, good and bad: the evil thoughts of men, which are many and vain, Psal. xciv. 11. and the good thoughts of men, as he must, since they are of him, and not of themselves, 2 Cor. iii. 5. he knows all the words of men, there is not one upon their tongues, or uttered by them, but he knows it altogether, Psal. cxxxix. 4. every idle word must be accounted for in the day of judgment; and much more blasphemies, oaths, and curses. He is familiar with the words of good men, expressed in prayer and thanksgiving, and spiritual conversation with one another, Mal. iii. 16. And all the works and ways of men, Job xxxiv. 21. from what principles they spring, in what manner they are done, and with what views, and for what ends, Rev. ii. 2, 19.

III. God knows all things whatever, as well as himself and the creatures: he knows all things possible to be done, though they are not, nor never will be done; this knowledge is what is called by the schoolmen," Knowledge of simple intelligence." God knows the wickedness of some men's hearts that they would be guilty of the most shocking crimes, if suffered to live, and therefore he takes them away by death; and that some, if they had a large share of riches, would be haughty and overbearing, and that some good men, if they had them, would abuse them, to their own hurt, and therefore he gives them poverty. Moreover, God knows all things that have been, are, or shall be; and which the schools call, “knowledge of vision." He knows all former things, from the beginning of the world; and which is a proof of Deity, and such a proof that the idols of the Gentiles cannot give, nor any for them, Isai. xli. 22. and xliii. 9. God sees and knows all things present; all are naked and open to him, he sees all in one view; and all things future, all that will be, because he has determined they shall be. This is what is called Prescience or Fore-knowledge; and of which Tertullian, many hundred years ago, observed, that there were as many witnesses of it,

as there are prophets; and I may add, as there are prophecies. What more contingent than the imaginations, thoughts, and designs of men, what they will be? and yet these are foreknown before conceived in the mind, Deut. xxxi. 21. Psal. cxxxix. 2. or than the voluntary actions of men? yet these are foreknown and foretold by the Lord, long before they are done; as the names of persons given them, and what should be done by them; as of Josiah, that he should offer the priests, and burn the bones of men on the altar of Bethel, see 1 Kings xiii. 2. and 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16. and of Cyrus, that he should give orders for the building of the temple, and city of Jerusalem; and let the captive Jews go free without price, Isai. xliv. 28. and xlv. 13. Ezra i. 1-3.

There is another sort of prescience, or fore knowledge, the scriptures speak of; on which the election of persons to eternal life is founded, and according to which it is, Rom. viii. 30. The Lord knows them that are his, 2 1 im. ii. 19. whilst of others he says, I know you not, Matt. vii. 23. that is, as his be

loved and chosen ones.

III. Though enough has been said to prove the omniscience of God by the enumeration of the above things; yet this may receive further proofs from the several attributes of God; he he is unbounded as to knowledge, and so omniscient. He is from everlasting to everlasting, and therefore must know every thing that has been, is, or shall be. He is every where, and therefore must know every creature. The heathens represent the sun as seeing all things; then much more may it be said of God, who is a sun, that he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; see Psal. xix. 6. Job xxviii. 24.

IV. The manner in which God knows all things is incomprehensible by us; we can say but little of it, "such know. ledge is too wonderful for us," Psal. cxxxix. 6. we can better say in what manner he does not know, than in what he does: he does not know things by revelation, by instruction, and communication from another. Nor is his knowledge attained by reasoning, discoursing and inferring one thing from another,

as man's is; nor does he know things by succession, one after another; for then it could not be said, that all things are naked and open to him. In a word, he knows all things in himself,

in his own essence and nature.

OF THE WISDOM OF GOD.

I shall prove,

I. That wisdom is a perfection in God, and is in him in its utmost perfection. An unwise Being cannot be God'. No man is wise, says Pythagoras, but God only. He is no less than three times said to be the only wise God, Rom. xvi. 27. 1 Tim. i. 17. Jude 25. Men may be wise in some things, and not in others; but he is wise in every thing; he is essentially wise; there is the personal wisdom of God, which is Christ; who is often spoken of as wisdom, and as the wisdom of God; see Prov. viii. 12-31. 1 Cor. i. 24. and there is his essential wisdom, the attribute now under consideration; which is no other than the nature and essence of God. God is wisdom efficiently; he is the source and fountain of it, the God and giver of it; all that is in the angels of heaven comes from him; all that Adam had, or any of his sons; or was in Solomon, the wisest of men; or is in the politicians and philosophers of every age; and particularly, the highest and best of wisdom, the fear of God in the soul of man, there are some shining appearances and striking instances of it. And which,

II. Will be next observed.

1. The wisdom of God appears in his purposes and decrees, Isai. xxv. 1. The end for which God has appointed all that has been, or shall be, is himself, his own glory, the best end that can be proposed; Rom. xi. 36. The means he fixes on to bring it about, are either extraordinary or ordinary; which latter are second causes depending upon him, the first Cause, and which are linked together, and under his direction and influence most certainly attain the end; see Hos. ii. 21, 22. In the persons he has chosen : his end is the praise of his own grace, Eph. i. 5, 6. to shew the sovereignty of it, he passed

this decree without any respect to the works of men, and to shew that he is no respecter of persons, he chose some out of every nation, Jews and Gentiles; and to shew the freeness of his grace, he chose the foolish and weak things of this world, and things that are not; he has pitched upon means the wisest that could be devised, even "sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus," the righteousness and death of Christ, 2 Thess. ii. 13. 1 Pet. i. 2. So that this decree stands firm and stable. The subordinate end of election, is the salvation of the elect. The scheme and plan of which salvation is so wisely formed, that it is called the manifold wisdom of God, Eph. iii. 10.

II. The wisdom of God is more clearly manifested in his visible works in time: O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all! Psal. civ. 24. And,

1. It appears in the works of creation: Psal. cxxxvi. 5. Whole volumes have been written on this subject, the wisdom of God in creation; and more might; the subject is not exhausted. If we look up to the starry heavens; if we descend into the airy region; if we come down to the earth we may behold, all admirably fitted for an habitation for man, and for the glory of God, Rev. iv. 11.

2. The wisdom of God appears in the works of providence. It may be observed in the various returning seasons; in his opening his hand of providence and satisfying the desires of all living; particularly, he maketh all things work together for the good of his people; for the trial of their grace, and to make them meet for glory; nor is there any one trial or exercise they meet with, but what there is a necessity of it, and is for the best; when the mystery of providence is finished, the wisdom of God, in every part, will appear striking and amazing; as when a man looks on the wrong side of a piece of tapestry, or only views it in detached pieces, he is scarcely able to make any thing of it; nor can he discern art and beauty in it: but when it is all put together, and viewed on its right side, the wisdom, the contrivance, and art of the maker are observed with admiration.