beauty and perfection out of a confused chaos. It was he that bedecked the glorious canopy of heaven with those glittering spangles the stars. It was he that commanded the sun to run his course by day, and the moon to ride her circuit by night about the world, to shew the inhabitants thereof the glory of their all-glorious Maker. It was he that hung the earth upon nothing, and spread upon the surface of it a curious carpet, embroidered with all manner, not of painted, but of real flowers, and plants, and trees. It was he that at first produced all things out of nothing; and it is he that still preserves all things in their being. It is he that orders the affairs of kingdoms, manageth the intrigues of state, directeth the events of wars, and disposes of every particular person as himself sees good. In a word, whatsoever was ever made in heaven above, or on earth beneath, it was he that made it; and whatsoever is still done in heaven above, or on earth beneath, it is he that doth it, so that nothing ever was, or is, or ever will be, or can be done, but what is done by him, as the first and universal cause of all things.

Fifthly, It is necessary also to know so as to believe, that though there is but one God, yet there are three persons; all and every one of which is that one God. I do not say it is necessary to understand or comprehend this mystery, for that we cannot do; but we are not therefore the less to believe it, because we cannot understand it for there are many other things in divinity, yea, many things in natural philosophy, and in geometry itself, which we cannot understand, and yet for all that, both know and believe them to be true. But how much more cause have we to believe this, which God himself hath asserted of himself! Nay, and besides that, we have the same obligations to serve and honour every person, as we have to serve and honour any one person in the sacred Trinity; our Saviour himself having expressly told us, That all men should ho

nour the Son even as they honour the Father, John v. 23. But that we cannot do, unless we believe the Son to be God as well as the Father; and, by consequence, unless we acknowledge this fundamental article of our Christian faith, into which we were all baptized.

Secondly, We must consider what kind of knowledge we ought to have of God, in reference unto our serving him aright.

For we must not think that it is enough to know in general that there is a God, and that he is wise and powerful, great and glorious, true and faithful, good and gracious; these things a man may know in general, so as to be able to discourse of them, and dispute for them too, and yet come short of that knowledge which is requisite to our true serving of God: which should be such a knowledge as will not only swim in the brain, but sink down into the heart; whereby a man is possessed with a due sense of those things he knows, so that he doth not only know, but in a manner feel them to be so. Thus David, who, in the text, calls upon his son to know the God of his fathers, intimates elsewhere, what knowledge he means; saying, O taste and see that the Lord is good, Psal. xxxiv. 8. Where we may observe, how he requires our spiritual senses to be employed in our knowledge of God, so as to see that he is good, yea, and taste it too; that is, feel and experience it in ourselves; which though it may seem a paradox to many of us, yet there is none of us but may find it to be a real truth, and attain unto it, if we be but careful and constant in our meditations upon God, and sincere in performing our devotions to him; for, by these means, our notions of God will be refined, our conceptions cleared, and our affections, by consequence, so moved towards him, that we shall taste and experience in ourselves, as well as know from others, that he is good, and that all perfections are concentered in him.

But this practical and experimental knowledge of

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God, doth necessarily presuppose the other, or the general knowledge of him, so as to be acquainted with the several expressions which God in Scripture hath made use of, whereby to reveal himself and his perfections to us; as when he is pleased to call himself the Almighty God, the all-wise, and infinite, the just, and gracious God, and the like; or to say of himself, I am that I am; that is, in and of myself eternal. Unless we first know that these and such like expressions belong to God, and what is the true meaning and purport of them, it is impossible for us to arrive at that knowledge of him, which is necessary to our serving him aright.

And so I come to the last thing to be considered here concerning the knowledge of God, even that it is necessary to our serving him; so that none can serve him that does not first know him, and therefore that the method as well as matter of David's advice is here observable, know thou the God of thy fathers, and serve him; or, first know him, and then serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind.

And, verily, one would think that this is a truth so clear, so evident of itself, that it needs no proof or demonstration; for how is it possible for us to know how to serve God, unless we first know that God whom we ought to serve? For all our services unto God should be both proper to his nature, and suitable to his perfections; and therefore unless I first know his nature and perfections, how can I adjust my services to them? As for example, I am to fear his greatness, and trust on his mercy, and rejoice in his goodness, and desire his favour: but how can I do this, unless I know that he is thus great and merciful, good and favourable ?

Moreover, as a man cannot serve God when he hath a mind to do it, so neither will he have a mind or heart to serve him unless he first knows him. For the motions of the will are always regulated by the ultimate

dictates of the practical understanding, so that a man chooses or refuses, loves or hates, desires or abhors, according as he knows any object that is presented to him to be good or evil. And therefore how can I choose God as my chiefest good, unless I first know him to be so; or love him as I ought, above all things, unless I first know him to be better than all things; or perform any true service to him, unless I first know him to be such a one, as deserves to have true service performed unto him?

Nay, lastly, nothing that we do can be accepted as a service to God, unless it be both grounded upon, and directed by, a right knowledge of him. God would not accept of blind sacrifices under the Law; much less will he accept of blind services now under the Gospel; and therefore he expects and requires now, that whatsoever we do, either to or for him, be a λoyixǹ λargsía, a reasonable service, Rom. xii. 1. That our souls as well as bodies, yea, and the rational as well as sensitive part, be employed in all the services which we perform to him; which certainly cannot be, unless we first know him; so that there is an indispensable connection betwixt our knowing and serving God; it being as impossible for any man to serve him, that doth not first know him, as it is to know him aright, and not to serve him.

But however indispensable this connection be in its own nature, the Church of Rome can make a shift to dispense with it; yea, so far as to assert, that ignorance is the mother of devotion. But you must excuse them, for they do not mean by devotion as we do, the real serving of God, but only the performing of some outward services to him. And such a kind of devotion, I confess, ignorance may be the mother of: but a man must be grossly ignorant that thinks this to be devotion, which is but a piece of pageantry, a mocking instead of serving God. And, for my part, I cannot but tremble to think what a dismal, what a dreadful account the heads of that church must hereafter give for daring to

keep the people in so much ignorance as they do; so as to render them incapable of serving God, that so they may be the more ready to serve the church; that is, the interests and designs of the court of Rome.

But let them look to that; whilst we, in the mean while, study to know God before all things else, considering,

First, God therefore made us that we might know him, and that we might know that he made us. And therefore it is that he hath made rational creatures capable of reflecting upon him that made us so: neither did he only make us at first, but he still preserves us; we feed daily at his table, and live upon his bounty. And the very beasts, that any of us keep, know those that keep them; and shall we be more brutish than brutes themselves, and not know him that keeps and maintains us? O how justly may God then call heaven and earth to witness against us, as he did once against his people Israel! Isa. i. 2, 3, 4.

Secondly, There is none of us but have attained to knowledge in other things: some of us have searched into arts and sciences, others are acquainted with several languages; none of us but are, or would be, expert in the affairs of this world, and understand the mysteries of our several trades and callings; what, and shall he alone, by whom we know other things, be himself unknown to us? What is, if this be not, a just cause, wherefore God should infatuate and deprive us of all our knowledge in other things? seeing we labour more to know them, than him from whom we receive our knowledge.

Thirdly, Ignorance of God is itself one of the greatest sins that we can be guilty of, and which God is most angry for, Hos. iv. 4. And there God himself imputes the destruction of his people to the want of knowledge, ver. 6. Nay, and it is that sin too that makes way for all the rest. For what is the reason that many so frequently blaspheme God's name, slight his service, transgress his laws, and incense his wrath against them, but merely