A Treatise of Knowledge and Love, Part 2 · Chapter 20
Chap. XX.
The ſecond part of the Exhortation; Reſt in this that you are known with Love to God.
2. TO be KNOWN OF GOD here ſignifieth to be approved and Loved of him, and conſequently that all our concerns are perfectly known to him and regarded by him.
This is the full and final comfort of a believer. Our Knowledge and Love of God in which we are agents are, 1. The evidence that we are known with Love to God, and ſo our comfort (as is ſaid) by way of Evidence; 2. And they are our comfort in their very exerciſe. But the chief part of our comfort is from God, not only as the Object of our Love, but as the Lover of us and all his Saints, even in our paſſive receiving of the bleſſed effects of his Love for ever: When a Chriſtian therefore hath any diſcerning of his intereſt in this Love of God, by finding that he Loveth God and Goodneſs, here he muſt finally Anchor his Soul, and quietly reſt in all Temptations, Difficulties, and Tribulations.
1. Our enemies know us not, but judge of us by blinding intereſt, and the biaſs of their falſe opinions, and by an eaſy belief of falſe reports, or by their own ungrounded ſuſpicions: And therefore we are odious to them, and abuſed, ſlandered and perſecuted by them. But God knoweth us, and will juſtify our righteouſneſs, and bring all our innocency into light, and ſtop the mouth of all iniquity.
2. Strangers know us not, but receive ſuch Characters of us as are brought to them with the greateſt advantage: And even good men may think and ſpeak evil of us (as Bernard and others of the Waldenſes, and many Fathers of many Godly Men that were called Hereticks, and many called Hereticks of ſuch Fathers.) But to us it is a ſmall thing to be judged of man, that is not our final judge, and knoweth not our cauſe, and is ready to be judged with us; We have one that judgeth us and them, even the omniſcient God, who knoweth every Circumſtance of our cauſe.
3. Our very Friends, know us not: No not they that dwell with us: In ſome things they judge us better than we are, and in ſome things worſe: For they know not our hearts; And intereſts and croſs diſpoſitions may deceive them; and even our boſom Friends may ſlander us and think they ſpeak the truth.
And when they entirely Love us, their Love may hurt us, while they know not what is for our good: But God knoweth us perfectly and knoweth how to Counſel us, Conduct us, and Diſpoſe of us: He ſeeth the inwards and the outwards, the onwards and the upwards of our caſe, which our deareſt Friends are utter ſtrangers to.
4. We know not our ſelves throughly, nor our own concerns: We oft take our ſelves to be better or worſe than indeed we are: We are oft miſtaken in our own hearts and our own actions, and in our intereſt. We oft take that to be good for us that is bad, and that to be bad which is good and neceſſary: We long for that which would undo us, and fear and fly from that which would ſave us: We oft rejoyce when we are going to the ſlaughter, or are at leaſt in greateſt danger; and we lament and cry when God is ſaving us, becauſe we know not what he is doing. Paul ſaith, [I know nothing by my ſelf, yet I judge not my own ſelf,] that is, though I have a good Conſcience, yet that is not my final judge: It muſt go with me as God judgeth of me, and not as others or my ſelf.
Is it not then an unſpeakable comfort in all theſe caſes that we are known of God?
Deſiring to know inordinately for our ſelves was our firſt ſin; And this ſin is our danger and our conſtant trouble. But to be to God as a Child to his Father, who taketh care to Love him and obey him, and in all things truſteth his Fathers Love, as knowing that he careth for him, this is our duty, our intereſt and our only peace.
Remember then with comfort, O my Soul; 1. Thy Father knoweth what it is fitteſt for thee to do. His precepts are wiſe and juſt, and good; Thou knoweſt not but by his word! Love therefore and ſubmit to all his Laws: The ſtricteſt of them are for thy good: Thy Guide, and not thou, muſt lead the way; Go not before him nor without him; nor ſtay behind him: In this night and wilderneſs if thou have not his Light and Preſence, how forlorn, Erroneous and Comfortleſs wilt thou be? He knoweth thy heart, and knoweth thy Enemies, Temptations and Dangers, and therefore beſt knoweth how to guide thee, and what to put into his Laws and into thy duty.
2. He knoweth what place, what ſtate of Life, of Health, of Wealth, of Friends, is beſt for thee. None of theſe are known to thee: He knoweth whether eaſe or pain be beſt: The fleſh is no fit judge, nor an ignorant mind: That is beſt which will prove beſt at laſt; Which he that foreknoweth all events knoweth. That therefore is beſt which infinite Wiſdom and Love doth chooſe. Eaſe and Pain will have their end: It is the end that muſt teach us how to eſtimate them: And who but God can foretell thee the end?
He knoweth whether Liberty or Impriſonment be beſt: Liberty is a Priſon if ſin prevail, and God be not there. A Priſon is a Pallace if God by his Love will dwell there with us. There is no thraldom but ſin and Gods diſpleaſure, and no true liberty but his Love.
3. He knoweth whether Honour or Diſhonour be beſt for thee: If the eſteem of men may facilitate their reception of the ſaving truth of God which is preached to them, God will procure it if he have work to do by it: If not, how little is it to be regarded? What doth it add to me to be highly eſteemed or applauded by men, who are haſting to the duſt, where their thoughts of me and all the world are at an end? When I ſee the Skulls of the dead who perhaps once knew me, how little doth it now concern me what thoughts of me were once within that Skull? And as for the immortal Soul, if it be in the world of light, it judgeth as God judgeth by his Light: If in hell, I have no more cauſe to be troubled at their malice than at the devils? And I have little cauſe to rejoyce that thoſe damned Souls did once applaud me.
Oh miſerable men that have no better than the Hypocrites reward, to be ſeen and honoured of men! Gods approbation is the felicitating honour! He will own all in me that is his own, and all that he owneth is everlaſtingly honoured. The Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous, Pſal. 1.6. For it is his way: The way which he preſcribed them, and in which he did Conduct them. Good and evil are now ſo mixed in me, that it is hard for me fully to diſcern them: But the all-ſeeing God doth diſcern them) and will ſeparate them.
4. Thy Heavenly Father knoweth whether it be beſt for thee to abound or want: And with what meaſure of worldly things it is fitteſt for thee to be entruſted! Abundance hath abundant ſnares and cares, and troubling employments which divert our thoughts from things of real and perpetual worth: Proviſion is deſirable according to its uſefulneſs to our work and end: It is far better to need little and have little, than to have much and need it all: For it cannot be got, or kept, or uſed, without ſome troubleſome and hurtful effects of its vanity and vexation. Let the fooliſh deſire to be tired and burdened with Proviſion, and loſe the prize by turning their helps into a ſnare, and miſs of the end by over-loving the way: My Father knoweth what I want, and he is always able to ſupply me with a word: It doth not impoveriſh him to maintain all the World. His ſtore is not diminiſhed by Communication. The Lord is my Shepherd, what then can I need? Pſal. 23.1. How oft have I found that he careth for me, and that it is better to be at his finding and proviſion, than to have been my own Carver, and to have cared for my ſelf? Bleſſed be my bounteous Father who hath brought me ſo near to the end of my Race, with very little care for proviſion in my way, and with leſſer want! Neceſſaries I never wanted, and ſuperfluities are not wanted. Bleſſed be that wiſe and gracious Lord, that hath not given me up to greedy deſires; nor enſnared and burdened me with needleſs plenty. How ſafe, how eaſie and comfortable a life is it, to live in the Family of ſuch a Father, and with a thankful careleſneſs to truſt his will, and take that portion as beſt which he provideth for us? And into what miſery do fooliſh Prodigals run, who had rather have their portion in their own hand, than in their Fathers?
5. Thy heavenly Father knoweth with what kind and meaſure of Tryals and Temptations it is fit that thou ſhouldſt be exerciſed! It is his work to permit and bound, and order them: It is thy work to beg his grace to overcome them, and watchfully and conſtantly to make reſiſtance, and in Tryal to approve thy faithfulneſs to God: Bleſſed are they that endure Temptations; for when they are tryed they ſhall receive the Crown of life, James 1. If he will try thee by bodily pain and ſickneſs, he can make it turn to the health of thy Soul: Perhaps thy diſeaſes have prevented ſome mortal Soul-diſeaſes which thou didſt not fear. If he will try thee by mens malice, Injury or Perſecution, he knoweth how to turn it to thy good; and in ſeaſon to bring thee out of trouble: He will teach thee by other mens wickedneſs to know what grace hath cured or prevented in thy ſelf; and to know the need of truſting in God alone, and appealing to his deſireable Judgment: He that biddeth thee when thou art Reviled, and Perſecuted, and loaded with falſe reports for righteouſneſs ſake, to rejoyce and be exceeding glad, becauſe of the great reward in heaven, can eaſily give thee what he doth Command, and make thy ſufferings a help to this exceeding joy.
If he will try thee by Satans moleſting Temptations, and ſuffer him to buffet thee, or break thy peace by Melancholy diſquietments and vexatious thoughts (from which he hath hitherto kept thee free) he doth but tell thee from how much greater evil he hath delivered thee, and make thy fears of Hell a means to prevent it, and call thee to thy Saviour to ſeek for ſafety and peace in him.
If it pleaſe him to permit the malicious tempter to urge thy thoughts to blaſphemy or other dreadful ſin (as it ordinarily falleth out with the Melancholy,) it telleth thee from what malice grace preſerveth thee, and what Satan would do were he let looſe: It calleth thee to remember that thy Saviour himſelf was tempted by Satan to as great ſin as ever thou waſt, even to worſhip the Devil himſelf; And that he ſuffered him to carry about his body from place to place, which he never did by thee: It tells thee therefore that it is not ſin to be tempted to ſin, but to conſent; And that Satans ſin is not laid to our charge: And though our corruption is ſuch, as that we ſeldom are tempted but ſome culpable blot is left behind in us, (for we cannot ſay as Chriſt, that Satan hath nothing in us:) Yet no ſin is leſs dangerous to mans damnation, than the Melancholy thoughts which ſuch horrid vexatious Temptations cauſe; both becauſe the perſon being diſtempered by a diſeaſe, is not a volunteer in what he doth; and alſo becauſe he is ſo far from loving and deſiring ſuch kind of ſin, that it is the very burden of his life; They make him weary of himſelf, and he daily groaneth to be delivered from them. And it is certain that Love is the damning malignity of ſin; and that there is no more ſin than there is will; And that no ſin ſhall damn men which they had rather leave than keep; and therefore forgiveneſs is joyned to Repentance: Drunkards, Fornicators, Worldlings, Ambitious men, love their ſin: But a poor Melancholy Soul that is tempted to ill thoughts, or to deſpair, or terrour, or to exceſſive griefs, is far from loving ſuch a ſtate. The caſe of ſuch is ſad at preſent: But O how much ſadder is the caſe of them that are Lovers of pleaſure more than of God, and proſper and delight in ſin.
6. God knoweth how long it is beſt for me to live. Leave then the determination of the time to him; All men come into the word, on the condition of going out again: Die we muſt; and is it not fitter that God chooſe the time than we? Were it left to our wills how long we ſhould live on Earth, alas how long ſhould many of us be kept out of heaven, by our own deſires? And too many would ſtay here till miſery made them impatient of living. But our lives are his gift, and in his hand, who knoweth the uſe of them, and knoweth how to proportion them to that uſe; which is the juſteſt meaſure of them. He choſe the time and place of my birth, and he chuſeth beſt: Why ſhould I not willingly leave to his choice alſo, the time and place, and manner of my departure. I am known of him; and my concerns are not deſpiſed by him. He knoweth me as his own, and as his own he hath uſed me, and as his own he will receive me, Pſal. 37.18. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance ſhall be for ever. And if he bring me to death through long and painful ſickneſs, he knoweth why, and all ſhall end in my Salvation. He knoweth the way that is with me, and when he hath tryed me, I ſhall come forth as Gold, Job 23.10. He forſaketh us not in ſickneſs or in death. [Like as a Father pityeth his Children, the Lord pityeth them that fear him; For he knoweth our frame, he remembreth that we are duſt: As for man his days are as graſs; as a flower of the Field, ſo he flouriſheth: For the wind paſſeth over it, and it is not, and the place thereof ſhall know it no more: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlaſting to everlaſting to them that fear him.] If the Ox ſhould not know his owner, nor the Aſs his Maſters Crib, the owner will know his own and ſeek them. That we underſtand and know the Lord, is matter of greater joy and glorying, than all other wiſdom or riches in the world, Jer. 9.24. But that he knoweth us in Life and Death, on Earth and in Heaven, is the top of our rejoycing. The Lord is good, and ſtrength in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that truſt in him, Nah. 1.7. Sickneſs may ſo change my fleſh that even my Neighbours ſhall not KNOW ME; and Death will make the change ſo great, that even my friends will be unwilling to ſee ſuch an unpleaſing, loathſome ſpectacle: But while I am carried by them to the place of darkneſs, that I may not be an annoyance to the living, I ſhall be there in the ſight of God, and my Bones and Duſt ſhall be owned by him, and none of them forgotten or loſt.
7. It may be that under the temptations of Satan, or in the languiſhing weakneſs or diſtempers of my fleſh, I may doubt of the love of God, and think that he hath withdrawn his mercy from me; or at leaſt may be unmeet to taſt the ſweetneſs of his love, or to meditate on his truth and mercies: But God will not loſe his knowledge of me, nor turn away his mercy from me. The foundation of God ſtandeth ſure, having this ſeal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let him that nameth the name of Chriſt depart from iniquity, 2 Tim. 2.19. He can call me his Child, when I doubt whether I may call him Father: He doubteth not of his right to me, nor of his graces in me, when I doubt of my ſincerity and part in him. Known unto God are all his works, Act. 15.18. What meaneth Paul thus to deſcribe a ſtate of grace, Gal. 4.9. Now after ye have known God, or rather are known of of God? but to notify to us, that though our knowledge of God be his grace in us, and our evidence of his love, and the beginning of life eternal, (Joh. 17.3.) yet that we are loved and known of him is the firſt and laſt, the foundation and the perfection of our ſecurity and felicity. He knoweth his Sheep, and none ſhall take them out of his hand. When I cannot through pain or diſtemper remember him, or not with renewed Joy or Pleaſure, he will remember me, and delight to do me good, and to be my Salvation.
8. And though the belief of the unſeen World be the principle by which I conquer this, yet are my conceptions of it lamentably dark: A Soul in fleſh, which acteth as the form of a body, is not furniſhed with ſuch images, helps, or light, by which it can have clear conceptions of the ſtate and operations of ſeparated Souls: But I am known of God, when my knowledge of him is dark and ſmall: And he knoweth whither it is that he will take me, & what my ſtate and work ſhall be! He that is preparing a place for me with himſelf, is well acquainted with it and me: All Souls are his; and therefore all are known to him: He that is now the God of Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, as being living with him while they are dead to us, will receive my departing Soul to them, and to himſelf, to be with Chriſt, which he hath inſtructed me to commend into his hands, and to deſire him to receive. He that is now making us living Stones for the new Jeruſalem, and his heavenly temple, doth know where every one of us ſhall be placed. And his knowledge muſt now be my ſatisfaction and my peace. Let unbelievers ſay, How doth God know? Pſal. 73.11. But ſhall I doubt whether he that made the Sun, be Father of lights, and whether he know his dwelling, and his continued works? Be ſtill O my Soul, and know that he is God, Pſal. 40.10. and when he hath guided thee by his counſel he will take thee to Glory; and in his Light thou ſhalt have Light: And though now it appear not (to ſight, but to Faith only) what we ſhall be yet we known that we ſhall ſee him as he is, and we ſhall appear with him in glory.
And to be KNOWN of God undoubtedly includeth his PRACTICAL LOVE, which ſecureth our Salvation and all that tendeth thereunto. It is not meant of ſuch a knowledge only as he hath of all things, or of ſuch as he hath of the ungodly. And why ſhould it be hard to thee, O my Soul, to be perſwaded of the love of God?
Is it ſtrange that he ſhould love thee who is Eſſential Infinite love: Any more than that the Sun ſhould ſhine upon thee, which ſhineth upon all capable recipient objects, though not upon the uncapable, which through interpoſing things cannot receive it? To believe that Satan or wicked men, or deadly Enemies ſhould love me, is hard: But to believe that the God of love doth love me, ſhould in reaſon be much eaſier than to believe that my Father or Mother, or deareſt friend in the World doth love me: If I do not make and continue my ſelf uncapable of his complacence by my wilful continued refuſing of his grace, it is not poſſible that I ſhould be deprived of it, Prov. 8.17. I love them that love me. Pſal. 146.8. The Lord loveth the righteous. John 16.27.
2. Why ſhould it be hard to thee to believe that he loveth thee, who doth good ſo univerſally to the World, and by his love doth preſerve the whole Creation, and give all Creatures all the good which they poſſeſs? When his mercy is over all his works, and his Goodneſs is equal to his wiſdom and his power, and all the World is beautified by it, ſhall I not eaſily believe that it will extend to me? The Lord is good to all, Pſal. 145.9. Luk. 18.19. None is good (eſſentially, abſolutely and tranſcendently) but he alone, Pſal. 33.5. The Earth is full of the goodneſs of the Lord, Pſal. 52.1. The goodneſs of God endureth continually: He is good and doth good, Pſal. 119.68. And ſhall I not expect good from ſo good a God, the cauſe of all the good that is in the World?
3. Why ſhould I not believe that he will love me, who ſo far loved the World, yea his Enemies, as to give his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him ſhould not periſh, but have everlaſting life? Joh. 3.16. Having given me ſo precious a gift as his Son, will he think any thing too good to give me? Rom. 8.32. yea ſtill he followeth his Enemies with his mercies, not leaving himſelf without witneſs to them, but filling their hearts with food and gladneſs, and cauſing his Sun to ſhine on them, and his Rain to fall on them, and by his goodneſs leading them to repentance.
4. Why ſhould I not eaſily believe his love, which he hath ſealed by that certain gift of love, the Spirit of Chriſt which he hath given? The giving of the Holy Ghoſt is the ſhedding abroad of his love upon the heart, Rom. 5. I had never known, deſired, loved, or ſerved him ſincerely but by that Spirit: And will he deny his name, his mark, his ſeal, his Pledge, and Earneſt of Eternal life? Could I ever have truly loved Him, his Word, his Ways and Servants, but by the reflection of his love? ſhall I queſtion whether he love thoſe whom he hath cauſed to love him? When our love is the ſureſt gift and token of his love, ſhall I think that I can love him more than he loveth me, or be more willing to ſerve him than he is willing and ready to reward his Servants? Heb. 11.6. 1 Joh. 3.24. and 4.13.
5. Shall I not eaſily hope for good from him, who hath made ſuch a covenant of Grace with me in Chriſt? Who giveth me what his Son hath purchaſed, who accepteth me in his moſt beloved, as a member of his Son? Who hath bid me, ask and I ſhall have? And hath made to Godlineſs, the promiſe of this life and that to come, and will with-hold no good thing from them that walk uprightly? Will not ſuch a Goſpel, ſuch a Covenant, ſuch promiſes of love ſecure me that he loveth me, while I conſent unto his covenant terms?
6. Shall I not eaſily believe that he will love me, who hath loved me while I was his Enemy, and called me home when I went aſtray, and mercifully received me when I returned? Who hath given me a life full of precious mercies, and ſo many experiences of his love as I have had? Who hath ſo often ſignified his love to my Conſcience? So often heard my prayers in diſtreſs, and hath made all my life, notwithſtanding my ſins, a continual wonder of his mercies? O unthankful Soul, if all this will not perſuade thee of the love of him that gave it! I that can do little good to any one, yet have abundance of friends and hearers, who very eaſily believe that I would do them good, were it in my power, and never fear that I ſhould do them harm! And ſhall it be harder to me to think well of Infinite Love and Goodneſs, than for my neighbours to truſt me and think well of ſuch a wretch as I? What abundance of love-tokens have I yet to ſhew, which were ſent me from Heaven to perſwade me of my Fathers love and care.
7. Shall I not eaſily believe and truſt his love who hath promiſed me eternal glory with his Son, & with all his holy ones in Heaven? Who hath given me there a great Interceſſor to prepare Heaven for me, and me for it and there appeareth for me before God? Who hath already brought many millions of bleſſed Souls to that glory, who were once as bad and low as I am? And who hath given me already the Seal, the Pledge, the Earneſt and the Firſt-fruits of that Felicity.
Therefore, O my Soul, if men will not know thee, if thou were hated of all men for the cauſe of Chriſt and Righteouſneſs; If thine uprightneſs be imputed to thee as an odious crime; If thou be judged by the blind, malignant World, according to its gall and intereſt; If friends miſunderſtand thee; If Faction and every evil cauſe which thou diſowneſt, do revile thee, and riſe up againſt thee: It is enough, it is abſolutely enough, that thou art known of God: God is All; and All is nothing that is againſt him, or without him: If God be for thee who ſhall be againſt thee? How long hath he kept thee ſafe in the midſt of dangers? and given thee peace in the midſt of furious Rage and Wars? He hath known how to bring thee out of trouble, and to give thee tolerable eaſe, while thou haſt carried about thee night and day the uſual cauſes of continual torment! His loving kindneſs is better than life, Pſal. 63.3. but thou haſt had a long unexpected life, through his loving kindneſs. In his favour is life, Pſal. 30. And life thou haſt had by and with his favour. Notwithſtanding thy ſin, while thou canſt truly ſay, thou loveſt him, he hath promiſed that all ſhall work together for thy good, Rom. 8.28. And he hath long made good that promiſe: Only ask thy ſelf again and again as Chriſt did Peter, whether indeed thou love him? And then take his love as thy full, and ſure, and everlaſting portion; which will never fail thee, though fleſh and Heart do fail; For thou ſhalt dwell in God and God in thee for evermore 1 Joh. 4.12, 15, 16. Amen.
FINIS.