Sermon 17

Exodus 3:13-14. And Moses said to God, Behold when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they shall say to me, what is his name; what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM, THAT I AM, etc.

Use 5. Again, If God be present with us, this should stir us up to walk with him, to be present with him. Shall he be present with us, wherever we are; when we go by the way, or lie in our beds, or sit in our houses? And shall not we take notice of his presence, and direct our thoughts to him, and apply ourselves to him? It is an exceeding great dishonor to him. You know, a great man, when he is with you, if you neglect him, and apply yourselves to inferior men, he will take it as a great wrong done to him, to let him sit alone, and not to regard him. And when the Lord is with us from day to day, will you not take notice of him? Let them consider this, that suffer days to pass without any calling upon the Lord, that never think of him, nor consider that he beholds all that they do: you know, it was the only commendation of Enoch, that he walked with God.

Object. But you will say, What is this to walk with the Lord?

Answ. It is to see him present with us, and to make ourselves present with him: and what that is, we will easily find out, when we consider what it is to be present with any one.

The presence of any man is seen in three things.

First, a man that sees and hears all things that we do, he is said to be present.

Secondly, he that speaks to us, he is present with us.

Thirdly, he that acts or does something about us or toward us, he is present. In this manner is God present with us; and so we should be with him.

First, we must be present with him, that is, we must see him, as he sees us. He that looks upon the Lord, as beholding him, as knowing all that he does, he that observes all these passages of his providence toward him, and about him, he makes himself present with the Lord.

Secondly, he that speaks to the Lord, and makes known his secrets to him, and opens to him all his desires, and all his griefs upon all occasions, he makes himself present with him.

Thirdly, he that pleases God in all his actions, and does what is acceptable to him, that does what he has commanded, and abstains from what he has forbidden, he which behaves himself after this manner, makes himself present with the Lord. For this last, you shall see, if you compare that in Genesis, of Enoch's walking with God, with that in Hebrews 11:5. To make our actions agreeable to the rule of his will, this is to walk with the Lord: for Enoch is said to walk with God, in Genesis; and in Hebrews he is said to please the Lord.

And, as we must be thus present with the Lord, so secondly, we must make him present with us. As first, we must look upon him, as one who observes all that we do. When a man has this full persuasion in his heart, not only habitually, but actually, that the Lord looks upon him in all that he speaks, and does, he makes the Lord present with him. So secondly, when a man shall observe the Lord speaking to him, which a man does in meditating in the word. But this is not enough: but you must observe what the Lord says to you upon every occasion, and in every passage of his providence also.

But you will say, that the Lord does not speak to us now as he did to the Prophets.

Yes, he does in a manner speak to us.

How does the Lord speak to us now?

He speaks to our consciences: that is the immediate deputy by which he speaks to every man. And also he speaks to us by the suggestions of the Spirit, and the good motions of it: he speaks to us by the good counsel of our friends, and of the Ministers, and others; he speaks to us by the passages of his providence (for a man may make known his will by his actions, as well as by his word). I say, to observe what the Lord says to us in all these, this is a part of our walking with him.

Lastly, so consider what he does, and what the mercies are, which he shows to you: what corrections, what judgments, what turnings of his providence, what he does to those that are near you; (for God would have us to take special notice of it, as in Daniel 5:22). So observe what is brought to your knowledge; for as the word of God, so also his works ought to be sought out by them that belong to him.

After this manner we should walk with the Lord from day to day. And it is one thing required, of which you are put in mind, when you hear that he is everywhere present, you should be present with him upon all occasions, and observe his dealing towards you, and your carriage to him. Every man walks with something continually: now look at what a man's mind is busied about most, that he walks with. And indeed, to walk with anything, is to give it the honor that is due only to God. When a man is busy about what men think of him; about his riches and estate, how they ebb and flow, about his credit with men; these are the things that a man walks with. Beloved, you are not to go a step with anything, except he send you on such an errand, as a master does his servant; but you are to walk with him from day to day. It is possible that a man may be in company, and his mind be in another place, and busied about other things: and where his mind is, there he walks. A man may be in the world, and yet his mind and conversation in heaven; as Enoch did the things of this life, and yet he is said to walk with God: if you do so, this is a sign that you love God; for to walk with a thing, it is the best argument that you love it. Let a man profess never so much love to a friend, if he will not walk with him, it is but in show, and not in truth. If you would show your love to God, why do you not walk with him? If there be a friend that you love, do you not desire to be with him? And when you are in company with him, is it not a sign also of respect. As when many are together, all go to the chief man: so you must walk with God. You know what God says to Abraham (Genesis 17:1), I am God All-sufficient: walk with me, and be perfect. Mark here the connection: as if he should say, Abraham, when I desire this, you should withdraw yourself from all other creatures, and things, to walk with me: know that there is great reason for it, for I am All-sufficient, you need no other. If you have a friend all-sufficient, have you not need to walk with him? But as we showed you, God is in stead of ten thousand friends. A man needs many friends, a friend at court, a friend at home, a friend abroad, to be there where he himself cannot be: but wherever you go, the Lord is with you: if into banishment, banishment is nothing you will say, if I might have all my companions with me; now remember, that God is with you: if you go into imprisonment, he is there. A man will say, that no friend in the world can do so, but yet the Lord does. When Jacob went to Padax Aram, God promised him, that he would go with him; Joseph, when he went into prison, God went with him: and with Paul when he was in bonds. And Abraham was banished into a strange country, and the Lord tells him, that he would be with him there: and that makes a man's home and country, and liberty to be everywhere, he is at home, when he is abroad; and at liberty, when he is in prison. Now therefore let a man consider this, that wherever he is, yet God is with him; who is able to direct us in all our doubts, to defend us in all danger, and to provide for us in all our necessities. And then consider also what benefit comes by this; you shall grow acquainted with him, and then you can find the way to him upon all occasions whatever, when other men cannot. Another man would fain go to God, but he knows not the way. (Job 22:21) Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace, thereby good shall come to you: that is, serve God, and you shall prosper. The meaning is this, one that is acquainted with God, when he has anything to do, he may go to God, and get help from him, and so bring his enterprises to pass: he knows the way to put up a prayer to him, and he shall find a present help upon all occasions.

So consider in the time of death; if you have accustomed yourself to walk with God, if in your lifetime you have been acquainted with him, death will be no death to you. Death indeed is bitter, because it draws a man from his home, from his friends and acquaintance, and into a strange place: and therefore you use to say, we know not what we shall have hereafter, we know what we have here, and therefore the soul trembles at it. From where comes this, but because we have not been accustomed to walk with the Lord? Is it a great thing for him to die, when he has the same company, and the same friends with him still? It is but changing the place, not his company: one of the speeches repeated by the author at his death: for he is present everywhere. Therefore our duty is, to maintain such a constant communion with him, that we may be able to fetch help, and comfort, and direction from him, so that we need not turn aside to the creatures, and be dependent upon them. And indeed one that is acquainted with the Lord, and has full communion with him, may be satisfied with that alone: for what is it that makes a man to desire company? It arises from these two things.

First, partly because one would have fit objects to exercise his faculties upon: which if he had not, they would languish, and a wearisomeness would grow upon them.

Secondly, because he would have knowledge and direction, and help and advice, and comfort brought into his empty heart, by such friends as are able to suggest it to him: and therefore they desire company. Now shall they not find this in the Lord more than in any creature? Is not he then the worthiest and the highest object, on whom they should bestow their thoughts?

Again, cannot he fill your heart with joy and comfort? Is not he only wise to give you direction upon all occasions? And is there any then that you should choose to walk with more than with him? Every man, the more faith he has, and the more wisdom he has, the more able he is to walk with God, and with himself: the more unbelieving, and weak, and inconstant, the more unable he is to be alone. And the ground of it is: by faith a man walks with God, and by reflection he walks with himself. There are two companions which a man needs never to be destitute of, God and himself.

First, a man walks by faith when he sees God present, and speaking to him, and he speaks again to the Lord: and the stronger a man's faith is, the more he does it.

Again, a man walks with himself by reflection on his own actions, and heart, and ways; a beast cannot walk with itself, because it cannot recoil and turn in upon itself; neither can children or fools, or weak and inconstant men: therefore they cannot be without company, it is a hell to them to be alone; and the less a man's wisdom is, the more he complains of want of company.

Seeing therefore God is everywhere present, labor to strengthen your faith in that his presence, and so you may still be with him, and walk with him.

And then secondly, labor to speak to yourself, to reprove and admonish yourself, to consider your own ways and actions, to cheer and comfort yourself, (for these are all the actions of one that makes himself a companion:) and he that does these things, shall never complain of want of company, and solitariness.

Sixthly, if God be everywhere present, then he is present to observe all the sins that you commit, and to observe all the good that you do. Then make this use of it: that the presence of the Lord should be a restraint to keep you from sinning, on the one hand, and it should encourage you on the other hand to abound in every good work. Therefore a man should say thus with himself: I dare not do this, because God is present, he stands by and looks on. It was Joseph's reason to his Mistress. Though we be alone, yet God is present, and beholds it: and how can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God, as if he should say; though we see him not, yet he is present, and sees it, and knows it. And not only say, I dare not do it, but you should say, I dare not so much as think it: for he beholds the thoughts. You shall see an excellent place for this, if you compare Job 31:1 and 31:4 together, it is one continued speech. I have made a covenant with my eyes: why then should I think upon a maid? Does not he see my ways and count all my steps? As if he should say; I dared not give so much as give liberty to my thoughts, because he beheld all my ways. It is a question which those that fear God have been used to ask; how shall I do to be rid of such and such thoughts, that haunt me continually? I would very gladly be rid of them. This is an excellent way: to consider that God himself stands by and knows all your thoughts, and takes notice of them. As put this case; suppose a wise and godly man should stand by and take notice of all your base thoughts, that pass through your heart, would you not be ashamed of yourself? If your body were made a glass, and men should see all your thoughts through it, would you not be ashamed of them, and careful in them, as we are of our actions now before men? Now to consider that the Lord beholds them, to consider that he sees every thought, (the least of which is no light matter,) this would be a means to restrain you. In fact consider, that the Lord does not only behold them, but he ponders all your actions, to give you the fruit of them: so that God does not stand by as a mere looker on, but he takes such notice of all your thoughts, that pass through your heart, and all your vain words, that he weighs them, as it were. And therefore he is said in Scripture so often, to ponder our ways. He puts your sins, and those lusts in one balance, and his censure in the other; and gives you according: he puts weight for weight; he gives you correction, if you are his child, and judgment if you be wicked. Therefore you must consider who it is that knows them; what a one he is: as it is in Revelation 2, when he tells his churches that he knows them all, then he describes himself, what a one he is: as his eyes to be of flaming fire, and his feet like brass. This, if considered, would make a man to look about him. If there was a company set together, and there was an informer standing by, and did note down in his table-book what they did, and did declare it to their enemies, or to the King and Council, men would be exceeding wary, they would ponder every word before they spoke: so when God is present, and beholds all that you do; have you not reason much more to consider your ways? Men say indeed, that the Lord is present everywhere, but our lives show that we think like the Atheists in Job, that God is shut up in the thick clouds, and cannot see through them. Indeed there is no man, but needs an increase of faith in this point. For if it were fully believed, it could not be, but that we should take more heed to our ways and thoughts than we do. Therefore to convince you of and persuade you to this, I will name two places. One you shall find in Ephesians 4:6. One God, one Lord, who is above you all, and in you all, and through all. First he is above all. As a man that stands above can see all that is done below: so the Lord looks down, and beholds all that is done on earth, as a man in a high place, sees all that is done below.

But it may be objected, though a man be above, yet there may be some corners, some rocks and dens, so that he may hide himself from the eyes of him that is above him: therefore it is added, who is in you all; that is, he beholds every thought, every secret place, every corner of our hearts: he is in you all, and through all. This you shall find more at large in (Psalm 139:1). O Lord you have searched me and known me, you know my sitting down and my rising up, you understand my thoughts afar off, etc. The meaning of it is this. David labors to persuade his own heart, that God is present with him; and he does it by the argument: If I go forward the Lord is there; if on this side or that side, yet still he is present, he compasses me round about, he is behind and before: therefore it must needs be, that there is not a word that I speak or a thought that I think, but he sees and hears all. Indeed, he knows my thoughts afar off, that is, as a man that knows what roots he has in his garden, though there be not a flower that appears, yet he can say, when the spring comes, this and this will come up, because he knows the garden, and knows what roots are there: So the Lord knows a man's thoughts afar off, because he knows the principles that are within, and he knows what they would do, when occasion is offered; and therefore says David, I have cause to fear exceedingly before him. In fact, he does not only see men's thoughts afar off, but he will judge you afar off for them. We use to destroy hemlock even in the midst of winter, because we know what it will do, if it be suffered to grow: so the Lord does cut off men long before, because he knows that they will do this and this. Such passages of his providence there may be, as to cut off children and young men out of the foresight of the evil, that they would do to his Church, because he knows their thoughts afar off.

So he knows your thoughts for good afar off: therefore though a child of God may be cut off in some undiscovered sin, when he has not actually repented, yet GOD forgives it him, because he knows what he would do, if he had time to repent, and should come to discover it: and therefore GOD judges him accordingly: and likewise if we have begun any good work, if we be cut off before we have finished it, yet remember, that GOD knows what we would do. And seeing he does this, we should learn, exceedingly to fear before him, to ponder our own thoughts and speeches, seeing GOD himself takes notice of them.

So it should be a continual encouragement to consider that GOD takes notice of all the good that we do, as well as of the evil: (Revelation 2 and 3). I know your works, your labor and your patience, I know your sufferings; that is, when a man is miscalled, slandered, and evil spoken of, because he serves and fears God, because he is none of the world's own, and therefore it shows forth its hatred in word, when it cannot in deed; (for malice must have some vent) yet I know your sufferings, and let it be enough that I know them and register them: there is not the least suffering but I take notice of it, and it shall be rewarded. Again, men take much pains, and no man regards it; yet God takes notice of their labor, and their pains, and not of their works only, but their labor in doing them, and sees what ends they put upon all. Again, men put up injuries, and suffer much wrong, yet says the Lord, I know your patience, etc. What is said of this may be said of all other good actions. And it is a great honor to the Lord, that we are content with this, that he alone knows it. And so we may be well enough; for his knowledge will bring in a sure fruit with it, as he says to Jacob (Genesis 31). I know all the labor you have done to me. And what followed that? Why, God taught Jacob how to enlarge his wages, and so transferred Laban's substance to him. So (Psalm 1), last. The meaning is, the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and therefore it does prosper, and shall. And he knows the way of the wicked, and therefore they shall perish. Therefore it is enough to us, that he is present, and sees it, and knows it.

Again this should stir us up to good duties, seeing he is always present; you know soldiers though they are somewhat cowardly otherwise, yet in the presence of the General, if he look on they will adventure much: so servants that are otherwise idle, yet they will do eye-service, they will work while the Master looks on: so when we consider that the Lord stands by, and looks on, and takes notice what pains we take, how we do fight his battles, and what we do for him, it should encourage us and make us abundant in the work of the Lord, seeing we know, that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. In fact it is an encouragement against the discouragement of men; you may have discouragement from friends, from neighbors, and the place where you live: yet let this be your comfort, the Lord is present; he knows your dwelling, your neighbors, who is for you, and who against you, he knows the difficulties you meet with in any performance, he knows what hindrance you have, as it is there in verse 13: I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan's seat is, and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful Martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells.

Use 7: Seventhly, this should be an exceeding great terror to all men that remain in the state of unregeneration. The Lord is their enemy, and they have such an enemy from whom they cannot fly or escape, which is a miserable thing. On earth if a man has an enemy in one place, if he goes to another he is free; if he has an enemy in one land, yet he may fly to another, and there be free; and however, yet when he dies, he shall be free from the voice of the oppressors, and the wearied shall be at rest, as Job says; his enemy can follow him no further. But consider what an enemy God is, who is everywhere present; fly wherever you can, he follows you, if you go into another country, he will be with you there; or if you die and go into another world, yet still he follows you. I press it the rather, because, when some great man makes request to a man, and God commands the contrary; when the commands of God and men differ, they will rather make God their enemy than a powerful man. Thus men wrench their consciences, because they choose rather God's enmity than men's. Do but consider what it is, to have the Lord your enemy, he will meet you in every place: though man be your enemy, yet he meets not with you everywhere; if you be in your chamber, he cannot come at you, but God will meet with you there. And how will he meet you? He will meet you as a lion, and as a bear robbed of her whelps. You shall see how the Lord expresses it: (Amos 9:2-4) "Though they dig into hell, from there shall my hand take them: though they climb up to heaven, from there will I bring them down," etc. It is a common opinion, that if men have strong friends, strong towers, and a strong land, that is well beset with the sea, and cliffs, or great estates that will defend them; then they are safe: but if the Lord be your enemy, none of these will do you any good (verses 2, 4), and yet if a man has made peace with his enemies, he thinks himself safe, as if there were no other enemy but mortal men. So the Jews not being killed, but going into captivity only, thought their lives safe, their peace made: but, says the Lord, If you go into captivity, yet there I will command the sword to slay you (verse 4). The meaning is this: no condition that a man can be in, no greatness, though he be surrounded about with friends and safety on every side, can avail, if God be his enemy; he will pull you from the midst of the sea (verse 3), and which yet is a hard thing, to find a man in the midst of the sea: and all this is but to describe that no condition is safe, when God is a man's enemy.

And thus much for this Attribute.