A62054:12
A treatise of the incomparableness of God in his being, attributes, works and word…
A treatise of the incomparableness of God in his being, attributes, works and word opened and applied / by Geo. Swinnocke ...A treatise of the incomparableness of God in his being, attributes, works and word opened and applyed / by Geo. Swinnocke ...
London: printed for Tho. Parkhurst, 1672
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
If Knowledge be the excellency of a Man, and differenceth him from a Beast; surely then Divine Knowledge, or the Knowledge of God in Christ, is the excellency of a Christian, and differenceth him from other Men. Our awe of, love to, and trust in the Divine Majesty, are founded in the right knowledge of him. Creatures, the more they are known, the less they are esteemed; but the more the blessed God is known, the more he is prized, desired and obeyed, Psal. 73.25. Psal. 76.7. Psal. 90.11. Psal. 9.10. Our hatred of Sin, and contempt of the World, proceed from our acquaintance with God: He only hath hateful thoughts of Sin, and self-loathing apprehensions because of it; who hath seen the great and glorious, the good and gracious God, whose Authority is contemned, whose Law is violated, whose Name is dishonoured, whose Image is defaced, and whose Love is abused by it, Job 42.6. Isa. 6.5. He only lives above this present evil World, and all the Riches, and Honours, and Pleasures thereof; who can look beyond it, to the infinite God, and those unsearchable Riches, and Weights of Glory, and Rivers of Pleasures, that are in and with him. ⟨image 5⟩That which was rich and glorious, and pleasant to a Soul before, hath now no worth, no glory, no pleasure, by reason of that wealth, and glory, and pleasure which doth so infinitely exceed. When the God of Glory appeared to Abraham, he quickly and quietly left his Country and Kindred, and followed God, not knowing whither he went, Gent 12.1, 2. Acts 7.3. If the God of Glory appear to your Souls, you will soon wink upon these withering Vanities, broken Cisterns, and gilded Nothings, and count them all but Dung and Dross, for the excellency of the Knowledge of him in Christ.
If Knowledge be the excellency of a Man, and differenceth him from a Beast; surely then Divine Knowledge, or the Knowledge of God in Christ, is the excellency of a Christian, and differenceth him from other Men. Our awe of, love to, and trust in the Divine Majesty, are founded in the right knowledge of him. Creatures, the more they are known, the less they are esteemed; but the more the blessed God is known, the more he is prized, desired and obeyed,