life; which last is really nothing but formality, if the heart be not given up to worship God as this first of all the commandments requires it should be.

In general, then, this commandment requires we should know God. Know him we cannot truly and fully as he is, 'For canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ?' * Nor can we know anything of his spiritual nature and perfections, unless he reveal himself to us. But this he hath done in his word, and from thence we may learn to discern him in his works and ways. The Scripture gives us an account of the one God existing in a trinity of persons; that he is a living Spirit, having life in himself, and not from another; that his life is unchangeable and eternal, ever living and ever the same; that he lives everywhere; that to this everlasting Spirit belongs almighty power and unerring wisdom; that he is holy altogether, being incapable of willing anything but what is perfectly right: that this living Spirit is the Maker of the world, in which are manifest his boundless power and matchless wisdom; that he continues the world and everything in it in being, himself upholding all things by his power, and maintaining everything in the state it is in by his presence; that he rules everything according to the purposes of his holy and upright will, making everything, even the most jarring oppositions of men and devils, serve his wise and holy ends; that he governs us by a Redeemer, in whom, to display his own glory, are evident the unchangeableness of his holiness, the riches of his goodness, and the abundance of his wisdom and might; finally, that this living God will be eternally the same, his purposes shall never change, his doings fulfilling without ceasing the councils of his will from all eternity.

Now since this knowledge of God, as he hath revealed himself, is the foundation of all true spiritual worship, or giving the heart to him, I propose to your inquiry, and as the ground of deep humiliation, Whether you have been using all diligence in seeking to know God? He hath fully revealed himself in his word for the purpose, and that word he hath ordered to be ministered unto you; you have not wanted means and opportunities: but will you say that you have improved them as you ought?

* Job xi. 7.

Have you not been careless in the matter? Not given your mind to know God? Have you not disliked to have God in your knowledge? Or been drawn aside from seeking to know him by the various things of life? Or hearkened to the sinful dulness of the flesh, not bestirring yourself to hear and search the Scriptures, with continual prayer that you might be directed into the knowledge of God? To this inquiry after your diligence, let me add, Have you experienced humility in searching after God? Have you come always to hear and read the word with a meek and tractable spirit, desirous only to be taught, ready to believe whatever God should say to you? Have you never read the word or heard it curiously, with a desire to pry into God's secrets ; proudly, merely to inform your head and make you wiser than others; arrogantly, ready to dispute what you could not comprehend? Have you never questioned the certainty of any of God's declarations, or disputed in your heart the justice of his determinations, or found yourself wishing that God were even such an one as yourself, that you might find his word corresponding with your vain and carnal fancies and humours? Let me ask, whether you be not this day, as to anything that deserves the name of knowledge, very ignorant of God? You may have got a speculative knowledge of God; so had Eli's sons; for it cannot be supposed they were destitute of all knowledge of God, and yet it is said of them, They were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord; that is, whatever they knew of him, it had no good effect upon them; they did not regard him as God in their hearts, were unmindful of and forgot him. And may not this be said of you in one degree or another? Whatever you may know of God, do not you, many of you, live without him in the world—your hearts as regardless and unconcerned about him you had never heard of him? Do not you contrive somehow or other to forget him day after day? yea, do not whole days pass over your heads, wherein you do not so much as think of him? I will venture to ask, whether there be not some of you who have not really thought of him even now, since you have been here in his house? And all of us, are we not reproachfully ignorant and blind to the knowledge of God in comparison of what we ought to be? How little do we see of his wisdom, power, and goodness, in his works and ways! How forgetful

as if

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often of his presence! How inobservant of his providences! How regardless of his judgments, mercies, calls, and warnings, so constantly besetting us! Let me inquire again, whether your knowledge of God has been such as to abase you as it ought in your own sight? Alas, that ever man should be proud! such a thing, yea, such a nothing, yea, such a worse than nothing; such a crawling worm, such a sinner, such a criminal, such a child of hell! O that ever the reason of man should be debased to such a degree of ignorance as that man should be proud! Yet proud we all are by nature, setting ourselves up above all that is called God, saying to him, "Depart from us ;" what, or who, is God? Look back and see what you have reckoned yourselves; look in and see what your wretched hearts would needs have you conceit that you are! O, my brethren! have our hearts learnt the infinite difference there is between God and us-his excellency and our baseness, his power and our weakness, his mercy and our misery, his rich grace and our spiritual poverty? Have not our hearts yet much to learn of this lesson? Do we yet so know God as to know ourselves? O when shall it be that we shall be lowly in our own eyes, as becomes the creatures of the high God, the sinners against the most glorious Sovereign of the universe, the poor miserable, helpless, perishing wretches we are, saved only by infinite mercy and almighty grace?

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And now, after this inquiry, shall I need ask, are you guilty or free in this matter? The duty of the knowledge of God, doth it condemn or acquit you? I need not wait for an answer, I am persuaded every mouth is stopped; not one dare say, "Lord God, I have known thee, I have sought after thee, I do know thee as I ought to do." If y your mouth open, it can only be in that cry which alone becomes fallen man, God be merciful to me a sinner.' Brethren, I suppose you may have often wondered, when you have heard me making so little account of your best performances, that I would not allow there was anything in them which could in the least deserve God's notice; that I have been so constantly calling on you to put off your rags, and clothe yourselves with Christ's righteousness. Now what think ye of the matter yourselves? There is not a soul among you who is not miserably condemned in the very outset; not one of you that knows God as he ought to know him, and as God requires

we should know him. And, if the fountain be thus impure, can the waters issuing from it be clean? A true knowledge of God is the whole of religion; as much as this is defective, all the rest must be so of course; and, if we have sinned here, we cannot be innocent anywhere else. This will be more evident in the more particular consideration of this practical knowledge of God which will be illustrated in all the commandments.

But for the present I am to confine myself to the first, and to show you more distinctly the things that are included in the practical knowledge of God in the heart, which this commandment requires of us. And they are these three-to put the whole trust in him, to love him with all the heart, and to fear him only. You will easily observe that were there in our hearts such a knowledge of God as the Scripture revelation proposes to us; were our hearts duly sensible that the living, eternal, almighty, wise, holy, merciful God was ever present with us, we could not but trust in him always, and in every case without fear; esteem, desire, and delight in him with all our souls, ready always to please him, and waiting always on his pleasure; fear continually lest we should dishonour him; in everything we do, in everything we enjoy, in everything we use, fear only lest we should displease him. These are but parts of a true practical knowledge of God. Were that in the possession of the heart, these would be necessary fruits of it; and therefore, where these are wanting, we must be said not to know God. But let us come to a more particular consideration of them. And the

First of them is trust. The Scripture account given of God above was, that he is an almighty, most wise, and unchangeable Spirit, living everywhere, disposing everything, and most mercifully disposed towards his sinful creatures in Jesus Christ. The knowledge, therefore, we ought to have of God is, that in the Redeemer he is an almighty and most merciful Father, ever present with us, ever able, and ever ready to do us good. He reveals himself in this manner, and would have us trust in him, that is, not to trust in anything else, not to distrust him, but to rely quietly, assuredly, and satisfiedly on him, in all cases, temporal and spiritual. Wherefore, to trust in God is not to distrust him, nor to trust in anything else. Let us see now what answer we can make to this, in respect of things temporal and eternal.

In respect of things temporal, have ye put your whole trust in God? In your prosperity, have ye put your whole trust in God? Have you never made gold your hope, or said to fine gold, Thou art my confidence? * Have ye never thought your safety consisted in the abundance of things which you possessed? In the midst of your abundance, have you had as much dependence on God for your daily bread as if ye had not known where to get the next morsel ? See whether in truth there has not been the very reverse of this. You have been full, and have denied God, did not find your want of his providential care, did not ascribe all to his bounty, did not live on the promise that he would care for you, did not humbly and constantly acknowledge, with a becoming sense of it on your heart, that you received all from him, and held all at his pleasure. And do you thus trust God this day, you that have your tabernacles in peace, and eat bread to the full? It is the hardest part of trusting in God, when we are in the possession of his favours, especially when we seem to be in any established possession of them; we are apt insensibly to forget who gave and who continues them to us, and our deceitful hearts to withdraw their confidence from God, and repose a great part of it at least on the creatures God hath given us. This not trusting to God in prosperity is the greatest inlet to worldly-mindedness, and the true reason why it is so very difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And if you have failed here, if you have not trusted to God in prosperity, have you not also distrusted him in adversity? When crosses met you, when distresses fell upon you, were you not ready to put your trust in man or money, or schemes and contrivances of your own, without referring yourself to God? And when perhaps (having found no other resource) you have referred yourself to God in your worldly difficulties, have you not still distrusted him, conceived unworthy fears as if he had forgotten, or were not able, or were not careful to do for you what was best? Have you not still been doubting and impatient? Where then was your trust in God? Why surely his hand was in all your difficulties, and he presided over them; but you could not believe that, or did but half believe it; you could not trust him. Have you not on these occasions been doing like the

*Job xxxi. 24.