The Common Principles of the Christian Religion, Sermon 7
Exod. 3. 13, 14. When they shal say unto me, What is his Name? What shal I say? And God said, I AM THAT I AM.
WE are now about this question, What God is? But, who can answer it? Or if answered, who can understand it? It should astonish us in the very entry, to think that we are about to speak and to hear of his Majesty, Whom eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of any creature to consider what he is. Think ye, blind men could have a pertinent discourse of light and colours? would they form any sutable notion of that they had never seen, and cannot be known but by seeing? What an ignorant speech would a deaf man make of Sound, which a man cannot so much as know what it is, but by hearing of it? How then can me speak of God, who dwels in such accessible light; that, though we had our eyes opened, yet they are far lesse proportioned to that resplendent brightnesse, than a blind eye is to the Suns light.
It uses to be a question, If there be a God? or, how it may be known that there is a God? It were almost blasphemy to move such a question, if there were not so much Atheism in the hearts of men, which makes us either to doubt, or not firmly to believe, & seriously to consider it. But what may convince souls of the Divine Majesty? Truly, I think, if it be not evident by its own brightnesse, all the reason that can be brought, is but like a candles light to see the Sun by. Yet, because of our weaknesse, the Lord shines upon us in the Creatures, as in a Glass; and this is become the best way to take up the glorious brightness of his Majesty, by reflection in his Word and Works. God himself dwels in light inaccessible, that no man can approach unto; if any look straight to that Sunne of Righteousnesse, he shal be astonished, & amazed, and see no more than in the very darknesse: But the best way to behold the Sun, is to look upon it in a pail of Water; and the surest way to know God by, is to take him up in a state of humiliation and condescention, as the Sun in the Rainbow, in his Word and Works, which are the Mirrours of his Divine Power and goodnesse, and do reflect upon the hearts and eyes of all men the beams of that increated light: If this be not the speech, that day uttereth unto day, and night unto night, One self-being gave me a being; and if thou hear not that language that is gone out into all the earth, and be not, as it were, noised and possessed with all the sounds of every thing about thee, above thee, beneath thee; yea, and within thee, all singing a melodious song to that excellent Name which is above all names; and conspiring to give testimony to the fountain of their being: If this, I say, be not so sensible unto thee, as if a tongue and voice were given to every creature to expresse it, then, indeed, we need not reason the businesse with the who hath lost thy senses; do but, I say, retire inwardly, and ask in sobriety and sadnesse, what thy conscience thinks of it? And undoubtedly, it shal confesse a Divine Majesty, at least, tremble at the apprehension of what it either will not confesse, or slanderly believes: The very evidence of truth shal extort an acknowledgement from it. If any man denied the Divine Majesty, I would seek no other argument to perswade him, than what was used to convince an old Philosopher, who denied the fire, they put his hand in it till he found it; so I say, return within to thine own conscience & thou shalt find the scorching heat of that Divine Majesty burning it up, whom thou wouldest not confesse. There is an inward feeling and sense of God that is imprinted in every soul by nature, that leaves no man without such a testimony of God that makes him with out excuse: There is no man so impious, so atheistiall, but whether he will or not, he shal feel at some times that which he loves not to know or consider of; so that what rest secure consciences have from the fear and terrour of God, it is like the sleep of a drunken man, who even when he sleeps doth not rest quietly.
Now, although this inward stamp of a Deity be engraven on the minds of all, and every creature without have some marks of his glory stamped on them; so that all things a man can behold above him, or about him, or beneath him, the most mean and inconsiderable creatures are pearles and transparent stones that casts abroad the rayes of that glorious brightnesse which shines on them; as if a man were inclosed into a City builded all of precious stones, that in the Sunshine all and every parcell of it, the streets, the houses, the roofs, the windows, all of it, reflected into his eyes those Sun beams in such a manner, as if all had been one mirrour; though, I say, this be so, yet such is the blockishnesse and stupidity of men, that they do not, for all this, consider the glorious Creator; so that all these Lamps seem to be lighted in vain, to shew forth his glory, which though they do every way display their beams upon us; that we can turn our eye no where, but such a ray shal penetrate it, yet we either do not consider it, or the consideration of it takes not such deep root as to lead home to God; therefore the Scriptures calls all naturall men Atheists, They have said in their heart, There is no God, Psal. 14 1. All men almost confesse a God with their mouth, and think they believe in him; but alas! Behold their actions, and hearts, what testimony they give, for a mans walking and conversation is like an eye-witness, that one of them deserves more credite than ten ear-witnesses of profession. Plus valet oculatus testis unus, quàm auriti decem. Now, I may ask of you, What would ye do? How would ye walk, if ye believed there were no God? Would ye be more dissolute & prophane, and more void of Religion? Would not Humane Laws bind you as much in that case as they now do? For that is almost the restraint that is upon many, the fear of temporal punishment, or shame among men; …et your walking beside a heathens conversation, and save that you say ye believe in the true God, and he denies him, there is no difference: Your transgressions speaks louder than your professions, that there is no fear of God before your eyes. Psal. 36. 1. Your practise belies your professiō, you profess that you know God but in works you deny him, saith Paul. Tit. 1. 16. Ore quod dicitis, opere negatis. In these words read in your audience, you have a strange question, and a strange answer; a question of Moses, and an answer of God: The occasion of it was the Lords giving to Moses a strange and uncouth Message, he was giving him commission to go and speak to a King to dismisse and let go 600000 of his Subjects, and to speak to a numerous nation, to depart from their own dwellings, & come out whither the Lord should lead them: Might not Moses then say within himself, who am I, to speak such a thing to a King? Who am I, to lead out such a mighty People? Who will believe that thou hast sent me? Will not all men call me a deceiver, an Enthysiastical Fellow that takes upon me such a thing? Well then saith Moses to the Lord; Look, when I shal say, that the God of their Father sent me unto them, they will not believe me; they have now forgotten thy Majesty, and thinkest that Thou art even like the Vanities of the Nations; they cannot know their own portion from other Nations vain-Idols, which they have given the same Name unto, & call God as well as thou art called: Now therefore sayes he, when they ask me what thy proper Name is by which thou art distinguished from all Idols, & all the works of thine own hands, & of mens hands, what shall I say unto them? Here is the Question. But why asks thou my Name, saith the Lord to Jacob Gen. 32 29. Importing, that it is a high presumptiō, & bold curiosity, to search such a wonder? Ask not my Name, saith the Angel to Manoah, for it is secret or wonderful Iudg 13. 18. Its a mystery, a dark hidden mystery, not for want of light, but for too much light; its a secret, its wonderful; out of the reach of all created capacity Thou shalt call his Name wonderfull. Isai. 6. 9. What name can expresse that in comprehensible Majesty? The mind is more comprehensive than words, but the mind & soul is too narrow to conceive him, O then! How short a garment must all words, the most significant & comprehensive and superlative words be? Solomons soul and heart was inlarged as the sand of the sea, but O! its not large enough for the Creator of it. What is his Name, or, What is his Sons Name, if thou canst tell? Prov. 30. 4. The Lord himself cannot expresse it to our capacity, because we are not capable of what he can expresse, much lesse of what he is, if he should speak to us of himself as he is, O! it should be dark sayings, hid from the understandings of all living; we could reach no more of it, but that it is a wonder, a secret. Here is the highest attainment of our knowledge, to know there is some mystery in it, but not, What that mystery is: Christ hath a Name above all names; How then can wee know that Name? It was well said by some of old, Deus est foreign, and yet foreign multorum nominum & tamen nullius nominis & tamen nihil omnium, because he is all in all, & yet none of all; Deus est quod vides, & quod non vides; you may call him by all the works of his hands, for these are beams of his increated light, and streams of his inexhaustible sea of goodnesse; so that what ever perfection is in them, all that is eminently, yea infinitely in him; Therefore, saith Christ, There is one God, even God; and he calls himself the light, and life, and therefore you have so many names of God in Scripture; there is no quality, no property or vertue, that hath the least shadow of goodnesse, but he is that essentially, really, eternally & principally; So that the creature deserves not such names, but as they participat of his fulnes; he is the true light, the true life: the Sun is not that true light, thogh it gives light to the Moon, & to men, for it borrows its light and shinin from him g; all creatures are, and shine but by reflexion; Therefore these names do agree to them but by a Metaphor, (so to speak) the propriety and truth of them is in him. As it is but a borrowed kind of speech, to call a Picture or Image, a man, only because of the representation & likenesse to him, it communicates in one name with him, Even so) in some manner) the creatures are but some shadows, pictures or remblances and equivocal shapes of God; and whatever name they have, of good, wise, strong, beautifull, true or such like, its but a barrowed speech from God, whose Image they have, & yet poor vain man would be wise, thought wise really, intrinsecally in himself, & properly, & calls himself so, which is as great abuse of language, as if the Picture should call it self a true and living man. But then, as you may cal him al things because he is eminently & gloriously all that is in all, the fountain and end of all, yet we must again deny that he is any of these things, unus omnia & nihil omnium: we can find no name to him; for what can we call him, when you have said, He is light; you can form no other notion of him but from the resemblance of this created light; but alas! that he is not, he so infinitely transcends that, and is distant from it, as if he had never made it according to his likenesse; His Name is above all these names: but what it is himself knows, and knows only: If ye ask what he is, we may glance at some notions & expressions, to hold him out: In relation to the creatures, we may call him Creator, Redeemer, light, life, omnipotent, good, mercifull, just and such like: But if you ask what is his proper Name in relation to himself, ipse novit, Himself knows that, we must be silent, & silence in such a subject is the rarest Eloquence.
But let us hear what the Lord himself speaketh, in answer to this Question, if any can tell, sure he himself knowes his own Name best; I am (saith he) what I am, sum qui sum, go tell them that I am hath sent thee A strange answer, but an Answer only pertinent for such a Question; VVhat should Moses make of this? VVhat is he the wiser of his asking? Indeed he might be the wiser, it might teach him more by silence, then all Humane Eloquence could instruct him by speaking: His Question was curious, & behold an answer short and dark, to confound vain and presumptuous mortality. I am what I am, an answer that does not satisfie curiosity, for it leaves room for the first Question, and what art thou? But aboundant to silence saith and sobriety, that it shal ask no more, but sit down and wonder.
There are three things I conceive imported in this Name, Gods unsearchablenesse, Gods unchangeablenes, and Gods absolutenesse. His ineffability, his eternity, & his soveraignty and independent substance, upon whom all other things depend.
I say, 1. His unsearchablenesse: you know it is our manner of speech when we would cover any thing from any, & not answer any thing distinctly to them, we say, it is what it is. I have said what I have said, I will not make you wise of it. Here then is the fittest notion you can take up God into, to find him unsearchable beyond all understanding, beyond all speaking; the more ye speak or think, to find him alwaies beyond what ye speak or think; whatever you discover of him, to conceive that Infitness is beyond that ad finem cujus pertransiri non potest, the end of which you cannot reach, that he is an unmeasureable depth, a boundlesse Ocean of perfection, that you can neither found the bottom of it, nor find the breadth of it? Can a child wade the Sea, or take it up in the hollow of its hand? when ever any thing of God is seen, he is seen a wonder, Wonderful is the Name he is known by: All our knowledge reacheth no farther than admiration, who is like unto thee? Exod. 15. 11. Psal. 89. 6, 7. and admiration speaks ignorance. The greatest attainment of knowledge reacheth but such a question as this, Who is like unto thee? To know only that he is not like any other thing that we know, but not to know what he is: And the different degrees of knowledge is but in more admiration or lesse, at his unconceivablenesse, & in more or lesse affection expressed in such pathetick interogations, O who is like theLord? How excellent is his Name? Here is the greatest degree of Saints knowledge here-away, to ask with admiration and affection such a question, that no answer can be given to, or none that we can conceive or understand, so as to satisfie wondring, but such as still more increaseth it. There is no other subject, but you may exceed it in apprehensions, and in expressions: O how often are mens songs, & thoughts, and discourses above the matter? But here is a subject that there is no excesse into, nay, there is no accesse unto it, let be excesse in it; imagination that can transcend the created Heavens and Earth, & fancy to it self millions of new worlds, every one exceeding another, & all of them exceeding this in perfection, yet it can do nothing here; that which at one instant can passe from the one end of Heaven to the other, walk about the circumference of the Heavens, & travel over the breadth of the Sea, yet it can do nothing here. Canst thou by searching find out God? Iob 11. imaginations cannot travel in these bounds, for his Center is every where, and his Circumference no where, as an old Philosopher speaks of God Deus est, cujus Centrum est ubique, Circumferentia nusquam, how shall it then find him out? There is nothing sure here but to lose our selves in a mystery, and to follow his Majesty till we be swallowed up with an Oh altitudo! O the depth and heigth, and length and breadth of God! O the deepth of his wisdome! O the heigth of his power! O the breadth of his love! And O the length of Eternity! Its not reason and disputation, saith Bernard will comprehend these, but holinesse; and that by stretching out the arms of fear and love, reverence and affection. What more dreadfull, than power that cannot be resisted, and wisdome that none can be hid from, and what more lovely than the love wherewith he hath so loved us, & his unchangeablenesse which admits of no suspition? … fear him who hath a hand that doth all, and an eye that beholds all things & love him who hath so loved us, and cannot change. God hath been the subject of the discourses and debates of men in all ages, but Oh, Quam long e est in rebus qui est tam Communis in vocibus? How little a portion hath men understood of him? How hath he been hid from the eyes of all living. Every age must give this testimony of him, we have heard of his fame, but he is hid from the eyes of all living. I think that Philosopher that took it to his advisement, said more insilence than all men have done in speaking. Simonides being asked by Hiero a King, what God was? sought a day to deliberate in and think upon it, when the King sought an account of his meditation about it: he desired yet two dayes more: and so as oft as the King asked him, he still doubled the number of the dayes in which he might advise upon it. The King wondring at this, asked what the matter by those delayes: saith he; Quanto magis considero, tanto magis obscurior mihi videtur; he more I think on him he is the more dark and unknown to me: This was more real knowledge then the many subtil disputations of those men, who by their poor shell of finite capacity, & reason, presume to empty the ocean of Gods infinitenesse, by finding out answers to all the objections of carnal reason, against all those mysteries & riddles of the Deity; I professe, I know nothing can satisfie reason in this businesse, but to lead it captive to the obedience of Faith, and to silence it with the faith of a mystery which we know not. Pauls answer is one for all, & better then all the Syllogisms of such men, what art thou, O man who disputest? Dispute thou, I will believe. Ut intelligatur tacendum est, silence only can get some account of God, quiet and humble ignorance in the admiration of such a Majesty, is the profoundest knowledge. Non est mirum si ignoretur, majoris esset admirationis si sciatur. It is no wonder that God is not known, all the wonder were to know & comprehend such a wonder, such a mystery; it is a wonder indeed that he is not more known; but when I say so, I mean that he is not more wondred at because he is passing knowledge. If our eyes of flesh cannot see any thing almost when they look straight & stedfastly upon the Sun, O what can the eye of the soul behold when it is fixed upon the consideration of that shining and glorious Majesty, will not that very light be as darknesse to it, that it shal be as it were darkned; & dazled with a thick mist of light, in superlucente caligne, confounded with that resplendent darknesse. It is said that the Lord covers himself with light as with a garment, & yet clouds and darknesse are about him and he makes darknesse his covering. Psalm 18. 9. 10, 12. His inaccessible light is this glorious darknesse, that strikes the eyes of men blind; as in the darknesse, the Suns light is the night owles night & darknesse, when a soul can find no better way to know him by, then by these Names and notions by which wee deny our own knowledge, when it hath conceived all of him it can, then, as being overcome with that dazling brightnesse of his Glorie, to think him inconceivable, & to express him in such terms as with all expresses our ignorance. There is no name agrees more to God, thē that which saith, we cānot name him we cannot know him, such as invisible, incomprehensible, infinite &c. This Socrates an heathen profest to be all his knowledge, that he knew he did know nothing, and therefore he preached an unknown God to the Athenians, to whom after they erected an Altar with that inscription; To the unknown God. I confesse indeed, the most part of our discourses, of our performances have such a writting on them, To th… unknown God, because we think we know him, and so we know nothing; But O that Christians had so much knowledge of God, so much true wisdom, as solidly, and willingly to confesse in our souls our own ignorance of him, & then I would desire no other knowledge, and growing in the grace of God, but to grow more and more in the believing ignorance of such a Mystery, in the knowledge of an unknown, unconceiveable, & unsearchable God, that in all the degrees of knowledge we might still conceive wee had found lesse, & that there is more to be found then before we apprehended. This is the most perfect knowledge of God, that doth not drive away darknesse, but increase it in the souls apprehension, any encrease in it doth not declare what God is, or satisfie ones admiration in it, but rather shews him to be more invisible & insearchable; so that the darknesse of a soul's ignorance is more manifested by this light, and not more covered & ones own knowledge is rather darkned, & disappears in the glorious appearance of this light, for in all new discoveries there is no other thing appears, but that this which the soul is seeking is supereminently unknown, and still further from knowledge than ever it conceived it to be: Therefore what ever you conceive or see of God; if ye think ye know what ye conceive & see, its not God ye see, but something of Gods, lesse than God; for it's …aid, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entred into the heart of man to consider what he hath laid up for them that love him: Now certainly, that's himself he hath laid up for them; therefore whatever thou conceive of him, & thinks now thou knows him, this is not He; for he hath not entered into mans heart to conceive him: Therefore this must be thy souls exercise & progress in it, to remove all things, all conceptions from him as not beseeming his Majesty, and to go still foreward in such a dark negative discovery, till thou know not where to seek him, nor find him next. Si quis Deū videat & intelligat quod vidit, Deum non vidit, If any see God, & understand what they see, God they do not see; for, God hath no man seen, 1 Joh. 4. 12. And no man knows the Father but the Son, And none knows the Son but the Father, it's his own property, to know himself, as to be himself: silent & seeing ignorance, is our safest and highest knowledge.