The Best Acquaintance and Highest Honor of Christians, Chapter 1
THE Beſt Acquaintance AND HIGHEST HONOUR OF CHRISTIANS. OR, A DISCOURSE of Acquaintance with GOD.
By Matthew Newcomen, Miniſter of the Goſpel.
Job 22.21.
Acquaint now thy ſelf with him, and be at peace.
John 8.16.
I am not alone, but I and the Father which hath ſent me.
1 Cor. 1.9.
God is faithful, by whom ye are called unto the fellowſhip of his Son Chriſt Jeſus our Lord.
1 John 1.3.
And truly our fellowſhip is with the father and with his Son Chriſt Jeſus.
James 2.23.
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteouſneſs, and he was called the friend of God.
Pſal. 149.10.
This honour have all his Saints.
John 1… ▪ 1….
Henceforth I call you not ſervants, but I … called you friends.
London, Printed in the Year, 1668.
THE Beſt Acquaintance, AND Higheſt Honour, OF CHRISTIANS.
Job 22. verſ. 21.
Acquaint now thy ſelf with him, and be at peace: thereby good ſhall come unto thee.
CHAP. I. The opening of the words, and of the nature of the great duty of acquainting our ſelves with God.
THe words are the words of Eliphaz, one of Job's three friends, and as it ſhould ſeem, the chiefeſt of the three, either for age, or dignity, or wiſdom: for the other two give him the priority in ſpeaking. He having in the beginning of the Chapter given Job a bitter pill to chew upon, in verſ. 5, 6, 7. that he might not leave the mind of Job exulcerated, towards the latter end of his diſcourſe attempers his ſpeech to a milder and ſweeter ſtrain, giving him firſt counſel, verſ. 21, 22. then promiſing him comfort, verſ. 23. to the end.
In this 21. v. we have two things. Officium, Beneficium. A work to be done, or a duty to be performed by Job, and indeed by every one. And that in theſe words. Acquaint now thy ſelf with him. 2. A benefit to be obtained by the performance of this duty, and that is peace and good. Acquaint now thy ſelf with him, and be at peace: ſo ſhall good come unto thee.
Acquaint. The word tranſlated acquaint is diverſly rendred by Interpreters. The Chaldee paraphraſe renders it, Learn of him; The Greek, foreign, be thou hard or ſtout, meaning patient in bearing Affliction. The Vulgar Latine, Acquieſce ei. Munſter, Conveniat tibi cum eo. The Syriack and Arabick, Coaequa te ei. The Tigurine, Accommoda te illi. Coccejus, Fac periculum. Pagnine and Junius, Aſſueſce te illi. The French, Accointe-toy. An old Engliſh tranſlation reads it, Reconcile thy ſelf unto him. Our Tranſlation reads it, Acquaint thy ſelf with him. Making choice of a word that takes in both the Chaldees, diſce ab eo. And the vulgars, Acquiſce; and the Tigurine, Accommoda te illi. And Munſters, Conveniat tibi cum eo. And the old Engliſh, Reconcile thy ſelf to him. As we ſhall ſee afterwards God willing.*The Hebrew word foreign hath (as many other words in the Hebrew) various ſignifications, and ſome of them ſeemingly contrary to others, as Prodeſſe, Increpare, arguere, aſſueſcere, theſaurizare, recondere, nocere, depauperare, periclitari ſignificatione Rabbinis conſuerâ. Pagnin. The ſeptuagint render it ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign, ſometimes by foreign. Kircher. Marius de Calaſio obſerves four principal acceptations of the word in Scripture. 1. Prodeſſe, or utilem eſſe. 2. Theſaurizare. 3. Calefacere. 4. Depauperare, to which he adds a fifth of the Rabbins and Chaldees, which is, periculum facere, or periclitari. And this great difference of ſignifications which this word is capable of, is the reaſon why there is ſo great variety in the tranſlation of this Text.
The word in the Original tranſlated acquaint, is foreign which is uſed in that Conjugation Hiphil, but in two places beſides this in all the Scripture. The one is Numb. 22.30. where Balaams aſs ſaith to him, foreign Nunquid aſſueſcendo aſſuetus ſum; Was I ever wont to do thus. The other is, Pſal. 139.2. where the Pſalmiſt ſaith, Thou art acqainted with all my wayes. In the Original it is foreign which our ſinging Pſalms according to the Emphaſis of the Original well render. And by familiar cuſtom art acquainted with my wayes.
Acquaint thy ſelf now: foreign that is an expletive particle, and ſignifies as much as nunc, ideo, quaeſo, and accordingly ſome here read, Acquaint now thy ſelf. Others, acquaint therefore thy ſelf. Others, acquaint I pray thee thy ſelf. It is a particle that implies ſeriouſneſs in him that ſpeaks, and weight and moment in the thing that is ſpoken of.
Acquaint now thy ſelf with him, that is, with God. The Almighty ſpoken of before, v. 17. and again v. 23. Acquaint thy ſelf with him, and be at peace, that is, thou ſhalt be at peace; for ſo, as the learned Mercer obſerves, it is uſual with the Hebrews to put the Imperative mood for the Future tenſe. Thou ſhalt be at peace: thereby good ſhall come unto thee. Good, that is all kind of good, Temporal, Spiritual, and Eternal, as is exemplified afterwards in the following verſes, to the end of the Chapter. That which from the words thus opened commends it ſelf to our obſervation is this.
That the great concernment of every man is to acquaint himſelf with God. I ſay, The great concernment of every man, that which every man ſhould make his greateſt ſtudy and buſineſs, and look upon himſelf as moſt concerned in, is to acquaint himſelf with God.
I ſhall immediately fall upon the opening of the Nature of this acquainting our ſelves with God in theſe three particulars that are neceſſarily included in it.
Firſt, This acquainting our ſelves with God implies a true and right knowledge of God. For you will all readily conclude, it is impoſſible for a man to have acquaintance with a perſon whom he hath never had any knowledge of. If a man ſhould come to one of us, and name to us a man that lives at Rome or Conſtantinople, or the Indies, and ask us if we be acquainted with ſuch a man, we would preſently ſay we do not ſo much as know him, therefore how ſhould we have any acquaintance with him? Ignorance of God you know is rendred as a reaſon of mens being eſtranged from God:Epheſ. 4.18. therefore they that would have acquaintance with God, muſt labour to know God. This David exacts of his ſon Solomon. And thou Solomon my ſon, 1 Chron. 28.9.know thou the God of thy Fathers, &c.
Now there is a threefold knowledge of God. A knowledge by the ear. A knowledge by the eye. And a knowledge by the taſte. Or if you will, A knowledge of notion or ſpeculation. A knowledge of faith. And a knowledge of experience. And all this neceſſary to our acquaintance with God.
Firſt, There is a knowledge of God that is a knowledge of notion or ſpeculation, when men know there is a God, and who, and what this God is, and how he is diſtinguiſhed from all other perſons and things whatſoever. That he is a Spirit, or ſpiritual ſubſtance, one in eſſence, diſtinguiſhed into three equally bleſſed, and glorious Perſons, the eternal beginning of all beings, the incomprehenſible Author and fountain of all life and motion, the almighty Creator, upholder, and ruler of the whole univerſe, who is all life, and all wiſdom, and all power, and all goodneſs, and all truth, and all bleſſedneſs, and all glory, whoſe truth, power, goodneſs, mercy, glory, is his very eſſence, and being. This knowledge men may have of God by the hearing of the ear; and this men may have, and yet have no acquaintance with God; this knowledge alone is not ſufficient to acquaintance with God, and yet this is ſo neceſſary, that without it there can be no acquaintance.
There is therefore, Secondly, A further degree of knowledge, & that is a knowledge of God by the eye; and this is that which we call the knowledge of Faith. Faith you know is compared to the eye, and though Faith it ſelf come by hearing, and the knowledge that we get by hearing, is preparatory to the knowledge of Faith, yet it is not the very knowledge of faith; no, that imports ſomething more.
Now there is a twofold faith. A faith of effectual perſwaſion, whereby the ſoul yields ſuch a full and effectual aſſent to the things it knows, as that the heart is affected towards them, and with them, according to the nature of them. Secondly, There is a faith of particular application, whereby the ſoul applies to it ſelf the things that it knows, as its own portion. Proportionably there is a double knowledge of God by faith.
Firſt, The knowledge of the faith of effectual perſwaſion, whereby the ſoul doth by the eye of faith ſee God in his nature, and attributes, and glory, ſo clearly and evidently, that his eye affects his heart with love, and fear, and reverence, and all holy affections anſwerable to the goodneſs and greatneſs of that God whom by faith he ſeeth. And he ſaith with Job, Now mine eye ſeeth thee, Job 42.5, 6.wherefore I abhor my ſelf, and repent in duſt and aſhes.
Secondly, There is a knowledge of God by faith, which is the faith of particular application; that is, when a man ſo knows God, as that he knows him to be his God in particular, and can ſay with Thomas My Lord and my God. And can joyn with the Church in heart as well as voice in ſinging that, Pſal. 48.14. This God is our God for ever and ever. Now the firſt of theſe, that is, ſuch a knowledge of God as may effectually work our hearts to the love, and reverence, and fear of God, to deſire after him, and delight in him; this is abſolutely neceſſary to our acquainting our ſelves with God, for without this we ſhall never indeed ſeek acquaintance with God, nor prize, but ſlight it; and without this God will never condeſcend to acquaint himſelf with us, but diſdain and abhor us; therefore this knowledge of God is neceſſary ad ipſum eſſe, to the very being of our acquaintance with God. But then the other knowledge of God by faith, that is, by the faith of a particular application this is indeed neceſſary, ad bene eſſe, to our more free and comfortable acquainting our ſelves, and converſing with God. For as he ſaid, Quid mihi Deus ſi non meus. What is God to me, if he be not mine? yet this is not ſo abſolutely neceſſary to our firſt acquainting our ſelves with God as the former, but is rather a fruit, and a conſequent of our acquainting our ſelves with God.
There is a third knowledge of God, and that is a knowledge of Experience. In Scripture phraſe, men are ſaid to know thoſe things that they have experience of, and not to know thoſe things that they have had no experience of, And this experimental knowledge is in Scripture in ſpecial manner called Acquaintance. It is ſaid of the Lord Chriſt, That he was a man of ſorrows, Iſa. 53.3.and acquainted with griefs. That is, he had felt, and taſted, and had experience of griefs and ſorrows of all kinds. Now this is an experimental knowledge; ſuch a knowledge of God as this, is that which the Apoſtle John ſpeaks of, That which we have heard, 1 Job. 1.1.which we have ſeen with our eyes, which our hands have handled of the word of life, declare we unto you. And this is that which Peter ſuppoſeth in the Saints.1 Pet. 2.3. If ſo be that ye have taſted that the Lord is gracious.
A ſecond thing included in this acquaintance with God, it is peace and reconciliation with God. Therefore Munſter, as I told you, renders the word, Conveniat tibi cum eo. Make agreement with him. And our old Engliſh tranſlation renders it, Reconcile thy ſelf to him. This we muſt know, that we are all by nature not only meer ſtrangers to God, for then a little matter might bring us into acquaintance with him, ſo gracious is he, and communicative of himſelf and love; but we are enemies to God, and God is an enemy to us. We that are infinitely beneath him, are enemies to him unjuſtly, and without cauſe; and have done him all the miſchief and deſpite that poſſibly we can; and he is juſtly become an enemy to us. And while terms ſtand thus, what acquaintance can there be between God and us? Will any man take one into his acquaintance, that hath been his ancient, conſtant, and bitter enemy, till firſt he be reconciled to him? What King would take an open enemy into his Court, and make him his favourite, till-firſt he hath made his peace with him? Can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3.3.ſaith God by the Prophet. We muſt be reconciled to God, and get our peace made in Chriſt, if we would acquaint our ſelves with him. That is a ſecond thing included in this acquaintance with God. Acquaintance is only between friends, therefore friends and acquaintance are Synonyma, both in our ordinary language, and in the language of Scripture, Pſal. 55.13.
A third thing implyed in this acquaintance with God, it is converſe with God. A converſing familiarly with God, as one friend converſeth with another. Only this we muſt take notice of, That among men there is a twofold friendſhip and familiarity, either inter pares, or inter inoequales. And where familiarity and converſe is between thoſe, between whom there is great inequality, there it muſt be managed with that decorum that becomes the diſtance that is between their perſons. As ſuppoſe a King ſhould take an affection to ſome mean and ordinary perſon, and take him into intimate converſe with himſelf, this Man muſt not think now to treat the King as he would do one with whom he is, as we ſay, hail fellow well met: but with much reverence, and obſerving the diſtance that is between the King and him, or elſe he may quickly forfeit his intereſt in the Kings favour, and familiarity: So here, the diſtance between God and us is infinite, therefore we muſt manage our converſe and familiarity with God with loweſt humility, and greateſt reverence, and a deportment of our ſelves every way anſwerable to the diſtance that is between God and us.