and to make use of. And though our Saviour questionless came to the use of His reason, as man, far sooner than we are wont to do, yet we must not think that He knew all things as soon as He was born; for that the nature He assumed was not capable of; neither could He then be said, as He is, to increase in wisdom, for where there is a perfection there can be no increase.

But here, before we proceed further, it will be necessary to answer an objection which some may make against this. For, if our Saviour as man knew not all things, then He was not perfect, nor absolutely free from sin, ignorance itself being a sin. To this I have these things to answer:

(1.) First, It is no sin for a creature to be ignorant of some things, because it is impossible for a creature to know all things; for to be omniscient is God's prerogative, neither is a creature capable of it, because he is but finite, whereas the knowledge of all things, or omniscience, is itself an infinite act, and therefore to be performed only by an infinite being. Hence it is that no creature in the world ever was or ever could be made omniscient; but there are many things which Adam in his integrity, and the very Angels themselves, are ignorant of; as our Saviour, speakMark 13.32. ing of the Day of Judgment, saith, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." But the Angels are nevertheless perfect, because they know not this. Nay, it is observable that the Son Himself, as man, knew it not; "neither," saith He," the Son, but the Father:" and if He knew it not then, much less was it necessary for Him to know it when a child.

[1 John 3. 4.]

(2.) Secondly, As to be ignorant of some things is no sin, so neither is any ignorance at all sin, but that whereby a man is ignorant of what he is bound to know: "For all sin is the transgression of the Law." And therefore, if there be no law obliging me to know such or such things, I do not sin by being ignorant of them, for I transgress no law. Now, though all men are bound by the Law of God to know Him, and their duty to Him, yet infants, so long as infants, are not, neither can be, obnoxious or subject to that

law, they being in a natural incapacity, yea, impossibility to perform it; but as they become by degrees capable of knowing any thing, they are obliged questionless to know Him first from Whom they receive their knowledge.

And thus it was that our blessed Saviour perfectly fulfilled the Law of God, in that although He might still continue ignorant of many things, yet howsoever He all along knew all that He was bound to know, and as He grew by degrees more and more capable of knowing any thing, so did He increase still more in true wisdom, or in the knowledge of God: so that by that time He was twelve years old, He was able to dispute with the great doctors and learned rabbies among the Jews; and after that, as He grew in stature, so did He grow in wisdom too, and in favour both with God and man. And verily, although we did not follow our blessed Saviour in this particular when we were children, we ought howsoever to endeavour it now we are men and women, even to grow in wisdom, and every day add something to our spiritual stature, so as to let never a day pass over our heads without being better acquainted with God's goodness to us, or our duty to Him. And by this example of our Saviour's growing in wisdom when a child, we should also learn to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and not to strive so much to make them rich, as to use all means to make them wise and good, that they may do as their Saviour did, even grow in wisdom and in stature, and in the favour both of God and man.

2. And as our Saviour grew in wisdom when a child, so did He use and manifest it when He came to be a man, by devoting Himself wholly unto the service of the living God, and to the exercise of all true grace and virtue; wherein His blessed soul was so much taken up, that He had neither time nor heart to mind those toys and trifles which silly mortals upon earth are so much apt to dote on. It is true, all the world was His, but He had given it all away to others, not reserving for Himself so much as a house to put His head Matt. §. 20. in. And what money He had hoarded up, you may gather from His working a miracle to pay His tribute or pollmoney, which came not to much above a shilling. Indeed, He came into the world and went out again, without ever

ch. 17. 4.

taking any notice of any pleasures, honours, or riches in it, as if there had been no such thing here, as really there was not, nor ever will be; all the pomp and glory of this deceitful world having no other being or existence, but only in our distempered fancies and imaginations; and therefore our Saviour, Whose fancy was sound, and His imagination untainted, looked upon all the world and the glory of it as not worthy to be looked upon, seeing nothing in it wherefore it should be desired. And therefore, instead of spending His time in the childish pursuit of clouds and shadows, He made the service of God not only His business but His recreation John 4. 34. too, His food as well as work. "It is My meat,” saith He, "to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." This was all the riches, honours, and pleasures, which He sought for in the world, even to do the will of Him that sent Him hither, and to finish the work which He came about; and so He did before He went away: "Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." If therefore we would be Christ's disciples, so as to follow Him, we see what we must do, and how we must behave and carry ourselves whilst we are here below; we must not spend our time, nor throw away our precious and short-lived days upon the trifles and impertinences of this transient world, as if we came hither for nothing else but to rake and scrape up a little dust and dirt together, or to wallow ourselves like swine in the mire of carnal pleasures and delights. No, we may assure ourselves we have greater things to do, and far more noble designs to carry on whilst we continue in this vale of tears, [Phil.2.12.] even to "work out our Salvation with fear and trembling," [2 Pet. 1. and to "make our calling and election sure," and to serve 10.] God here, so as to enjoy Him for ever. This is the work we came about, and which we must not only do, but do it too with pleasure and delight, and never leave until we have accomplished it; we must make it our only pleasure to please God, account it our only honour to honour Him, and esteem His love and favour to be the only wealth and riches that we can enjoy; we must think ourselves no further happy, than we find ourselves to be truly holy, and therefore devote our lives wholly to Him, in Whom we live.

This is to live as Christ lived, and by consequence as Christians ought to do.

I might here instance in several other acts of piety and devotion, which our Saviour was not only eminent for, but continually exercised Himself in; as His humble and perfect submission and resignation of His Own will to God's, His most ardent love unto Him, and zeal for Him, as also His firm and steadfast trust and confidence in Him; so that nothing could ever disquiet or discompose His mind, but still His heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord. In all which it is both our duty and interest to follow Him; our happiness as well as holiness consisting in our dependence upon God and inclinations to Him.

Luke 22.41;

3. But we should do well to observe withal, that our Saviour performed external as well as inward worship and devotion unto God; particularly we often find Him praising God and praying unto Him; and that with His eyes lift up to Heaven in a most humble and reverential posture; yea, John 17. 1; when He was to choose and ordain some of His disciples to Matt. 26.39. the work of the ministry, and to succeed Him after His departure under the name of Apostles, He spent the night before in prayer to God. I confess the words there used, iv r Luke 6. 12. προσευχῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ, will scarce admit of that interpretation or exposition, signifying rather, in a strict sense, that he went into a place appointed for prayer, which was usually called gou,' a place of prayer,' which kind of places were very frequent in Judea, and some of them continued till Epiphanius's time, as himself asserts; and they were only [Adv. Hæplots of ground enclosed with a wall, and open above, and res. lxxx. were ordinarily, if not always, upon mountains, whither the 2.] Jews used to resort, to pray together, in great multitudes. And this seems to be the proper meaning of these words, where our Saviour is said to go into a mountain, and to continue all night ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ‘in one of these proseuches of God,' a place dedicated to His service. Yet, howsoever, we cannot suppose but that He went thither to do what the place whither He went was designed for, even to pray; and by consequence, that seeing He staid there all night, questionless He spent the whole night in prayer and

lib. iii. tom.

meditation, in order to so great a work as the ordaining His Apostles was.

Here, therefore, is another copy which our Master Christ hath set us to write after; a lesson that all must learn and practise that would be His disciples. Though we ordinarily converse with nothing but dirt and clay, and with our fellowworms on earth; yet as Christ did, so should we often retire from the tumults and bustles of the world to converse with Him that made us; both to praise Him for the mercies we have received, and to pray unto Him for what we want; only we shall do well to have a care that we do not perform so solemn a duty as this is after a careless and perfunctory manner, because none sees us but God; for His seeing us is infinitely more than if all the world besides should see us; and we must still remember that prayer is the greatest work that a creature can be engaged in, and therefore to be performed with the greatest seriousness, reverence, and earnestness, that possibly we can raise up our spirits to. And besides our daily devotions which we owe and ought to pay to God, whensoever we set upon any great and weighty business, we must be sure to follow our Saviour's steps in setting some time apart proportionably to the business we undertake, wherein to ask God's counsel, and desire His direction and blessing in the most serious and solemn manner that possibly we can. I need not tell the reader what benefit we shall receive by this means; none of us that shall try it but will soon find it by experience.

I shall observe only one thing more concerning our Saviour's devotion, and that is, that although He took all occasions to instruct and admonish His Disciples and followers, whether in the fields, or upon the mountains, or in private houses, even wheresoever He could find an opportunity to do it; yet upon Sabbath-days He always frequented the public worship of God; He went into the synagogues, places appointed for public prayers and reading and hearing of the Word, a thing which I fear many amongst us do not think of, or, at least, not rightly consider it; for if they did, they would not dare, methinks, to walk so directly contrary to our blessed Saviour in this particular; for St. Luke tells