Wednesday, June 07, 2006
from The existance and attributes of God by Stephen Charnock
God knows all the evils and sins of creatures. (1.) God knows all sin. This follows upon the other. If he knows all the actions and thoughts of creatures, he knows also all the sinfulness in those acts and thoughts. This Zophar infers from God's punishing men. (Job 11:11); for he knows vain man, he sees his wickedness also; he knows every man, and sees the wickedness of every man; he looks down from heaven, and beholds not only the filthy persons, but what is filthy in them (Psalm 14:2), all the nations in the world, and every man of every nation; none of their iniquity is hid from his eyes; he searches all Jerusalem with candles (Jeremiah 16:17). God follows sinners step by step with his eye, and will not leave searching out till he hath taken them; a metaphor taken from one that searches all chinks with a candle, that nothing can be hidden from him. He knows distinctly in all the parts of it, how an adulterer rises out of his bed to commint uncleanness, what contrivances he had, what steps he took, every circumstance in the whole progress; not only evil in the bulk, but every one of the blacker sponts upon it, which may most agrgravate it. If he did not know wvil, how could he permit it, order it, punish it, or pardon it? Doth he permit he know not what? order to his own holy ends what he is ignorant of? punish or pardon that which he is uncertain whether it be a crime or no? "Cleanse me," saith David, "from my secret faults" (Psalm 19:12), secret in regard to others, secret in regard of himself; how could God cleanse him from that wherof he was ignorant? He knows sins before they are committed, much more when they are in act; he forknew the idolarty and apostacy of the Jews; what gods they would serve, in what measure they would provoke him, and violate his covenant (Deutronomy 31:20,21); he knew Judus' sin long before Judus' actual existance, foretelling it in the Psalms; and Christ predicts it before he acted it. He sees sins future in his own permitting will; he sees sins present in his own supporting act.
p. 427-428
God has complete knowledge of His creation. He does not need to wait and see what happens.
Related Tags: God, sin, sinners, foreknew, idolatry, apostacy, Judus
p. 427-428
God has complete knowledge of His creation. He does not need to wait and see what happens.
Related Tags: God, sin, sinners, foreknew, idolatry, apostacy, Judus
