Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A30060
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An exhortation to trust in God, and not to despair of His help and fall from Him, in this dark time of popery that is coming upon the church written by Digby Bull.
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Bull, Digby.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing B5411; ESTC R6962
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37,239
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44
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trust in any blind Deity nor in any sensless Idol that hath eyes but seeth not nor in a Creature that is ignorant of our condition and of the concerns of this World But in trusting in the Lord Jehovah the living and true God we trust in a God that is Omniscient and knows every thing That perfectly understands all the affairs of this World and is thorowly acquainted with our State and Condition here That sees and knows all our needs and wants and the sorrows and miseries that we ly and labour under and all the hazards and dangers that we at any time are in And that hears our addresses and prayers which we at all times make unto him And therefore upon this account we have the greater reason to place our trust and confidence in him and to account him the Rock of our Salvation Secondly He is a God of infinite Wisdom and prudent in all his actions and enterprizes and therefore we have the greater reason to trust and confide in him All his actions and doings are weighed in the ballance and grounded upon the highest reason of all and are managed with wisdom and counsel He is not like the foolish Builder that laid his foundation upon the Sand and to have his work overturned with every blast of an adverse Fortune nor so unwise and imprudent as to be guilty of any such error and to have any of his intentions frustrated and blamed He attempts nothing but what he will bring perfectly to pass and his counsel shall stand and there is no over-reaching and out-witting of him but he at his pleasure can over-reach all others and therefore we have the greater cause to trust in him and rely upon him as the Rock of our confidence at all times Eph. 3.10 To the intent saith the Apostle that now unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God And this all the works of God declare viz that he is a God of infinite Wisdom and understanding so far as we are able to judg of them The stupendious Frame of this visible World with all the admirable works therein will abundantly manifest to us the wonderful Wisdom of him that Created and Formed it and let us understand a little how unconceivable it is If we behold the Heavens with all the Glorious Bodies thereof the Sun Moon and Stars with that exact oâ—â—er and the steady courses and motions that they keep with admiration and wonder may we say with the Psalmist Ps 19.1 The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his hand-work Day unto day uttereth Speech and night unto night sheweth knowledg And the Earth with all the numberless Hosts and Armies thereof doth shew the same The curious Frame and Order and Government of all the Armies and Hosts of Creatures that are upon the face of the Earth do manifestly shew to us that he that formed them and disciplines and orders them must be infinite as well in Wisdom as in Knowledg and Power And saith the Psalmist Ps 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in Wisdom hast thou made them all And saith Solomon Pr. 3.19 The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the Earth by understanding hath he established the Heavens By his knowledg the Depths are broken up and the Clouds drop down the dew The accurate works of God do abundantly manifest to us his exceeding great and infinite Wisdom He is infinitely Wise of himself and needeth no Counsellor to instruct and direct him as the Prophet sheweth Is 40.13 Who saith he hath directed the Spirit of the Lord or being his Counsellor hath taught him With whom took he Counsel and who instructed him and taught him in the path of judgment and taught him knowledg and shewed to him the way of understanding He is all-sufficient in this respect and he alone is Wise and giveth to all others Wisdom and understanding as he sees good Job 35.10 saith Elihu there But none saith Where is God my maker who giveth Songs in the night Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the Earth and maketh us wiser than the Fowls of Heaven And saith the Preacher Ecc. 2.26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom and knowledg and joy He is the original and fountain of all Wisdom and there is no Wisdom nor Counsel can prevail against him There is no circumventing and over-reaching and out-witting of him There is no craft nor policy that will signify any thing against him The foolishness of God is wiser than men saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.25 And saith Job 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered And saith Solomon Pr. 21.30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor Counsel against the Lord. All the wisdom and Counsel that is set against God is like to be blasted and to come to nought and they that travel with Plots and Designs against him will be sure to bring forth their own wo and misery in the end For he destroyeth the wisdom of the wise and overthroweth their Counsels at his pleasure He confounds all the Wit and Cunning of the crafty and turns it into stark folly and sottishness as he sees good He leadeth Counsellors away spoiled saith Job 12.17 and maketh judges fools And ver 20. He removeth away the Speech of the trusty and taketh away the understanding of the aged And ver 24 25. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the People of the Earth and causeth them to wander in a Wilderness where there is no way They grope in the dark without light and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man Thus doth he darken and confound their reason and understanding and makes them to become like fools and mad men at his own pleasure And saith God by the Prophet Is 44.25 That frustrateth the tokens of the lyars and maketh Diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledg foolish And saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.19 For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent And again saith he 1 Cor. 3.19 For the wisdom of this World is foolishness with God for it is written he taketh the wise in their own craftiness Thus are they taken with their own Wit and Cunning and their craft and policy is all retorted and turned back upon themselves and they do only plot and consult for their own downfall and ruin that set themselves against him And now seeing God is so unconceivably and infinitely Wise in all that he takes in hand and is guilty of no errors nor over-sights in what he doth but acteth always like himself like an All-wise God and is sure to bring his purposes and designs to perfection seeing he cannot be over-reached and out-witted by either men or Devils and that there is no counsel
thou art there If I make my bed in hell behold thou art there If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me And saith the Prophet Hanani 2 Chr. 16.9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro thorowout the whole earth to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him His eyes are employed every where and no place escapes them and with this design too to see what is needful and wanting to all such as have a perfect heart towards him that he may succour and help them And saith Solomon Prov. 15.3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good All places tho' never so far distant and remote from one another ly plain and open before his all-seeing eyes and are never absent from them His eyes and knowledge penetrate thro' all dark and hidden places where secret works are often a hammering out which are concealed from the eyes of the World but are there as visible to him as if they were doing in the open light Psal 139.11 If I say surely the darkness shall cover me saith the Psalmist even the night shall be light about me Yea the darkness hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee Darkness it self will not secure any from his sight and knowledg He by his unconceivable Deity and Godhead fills all places and is every where present and there is no place where any one can hide himself from his knowledg as he himself affirms by the Prophet Jer. 23.24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord Do not I fill heaven and earth saith the Lord There is no place that can be excluded from his eye and knowledg because there is no place whatsoever but he is there And as God's knowledg is extended to all places so is it also extended to all Creatures and to all their works and actions and especially to all the works of mankind There is not one of all his Creatures whereof there are numberless Hosts and Armies that is ever without the sight of his eyes nor is there one action that is done by any of them all that escapes his cognizance but he takes knowledg of it Is 40.25 To whom then will ye liken me or shall I be equal saith the holy One Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things that bringeth out their host by number he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth This perfect knowledg hath he of all the Armies of his Creatures And he is privy to all the actions that are done by them all and to all the secret transactions and contrivances that are done or a doing any where through-out the whole earth and to all the secret counsels and retired thoughts and imaginations of mens hearts His eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings as Elihu saith Job 34.21 And saith the Psalmist Psal 94.10 He that teacheth man knowledge shall not he know Hereby shewing that it is impossible that he should be ignorant And saith Solomon Prov. 5.21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings And what the son of Sirach saith to this purpose is very remarkable Ecclus. 23.18 A man that breaketh wedlock saying thus in his heart who seeth me I am compassed about with darkness the walls cover me and no body seeth me what need I to fear The most High will not remember my sins Such a man only feareth the eyes of man and knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun beholding all the ways of men and considering the most secret parts So quick-sighted is he to behold and observe whatsoever is done every where in the most secret and retired corners and all the hidden practices and machinations of men And all men's hearts and private thoughts are all plain and open to his All-seeing eyes It is his prerogative to be the searcher of all men's hearts and to know all that is therein Deut. 31.21 saith God concerning the Israelites For I know their imagination which they go about even now before I have brought them into the land which I swâ—re All things whether past present or to come are perfectly known to Almighty God He is an everliving and eternal God and with his eternity does his knowledg bear proportion He who was and is and is to come knows all things that may be comprehended in these terms There is no such thing as forgetfulness with him and the things that are past cannot be razed and expunged out of his memory but all things that have been done from the very Creation of the World are as fresh and present with him as they were in the very day and moment when they were done For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night saith the Psalmist Psal 90.4 And saith St. Peter 2 Pet. 3.8 But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day And saith St. James Acts 15.18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world All that has been done from the very Creation of the World remains clear and undefaced before him And all that is to come is clearly seen and known by him Things future are unknown to us and we cannot tell what shall come to pass hereafter except it be some way revealed to us But it is not so with God for he hath all things that are future and to come plain before his eyes This is his peculiar prerogative to have a perfect knowledge of what is to come as the Prophet sheweth Is 41.23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are Gods It is God and God alone that knoweth all things future and all that shall be done hereafter even to the end of the World is perfectly seen and known by him And the things too that men would do but shall be prevented and stopt from the doing of them are all within the reach of his sight He knows what they would do if he did not restrain them by his grace and power or prevent them by death He knows all things that can be known and his knowledge is perfect and complete in every respect And this as it ought to make us the more careful what we do because it is done before the All-seeing eyes of God so also will it be a very great ground of our trust and confidence in him For in trusting in the Lord Jehovah we do not