{a1} THE EXISTENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
STEPHEN CHARNOCK
WITH HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER
BY WILLIAM SYMINGTON
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE
Volume 1
Baker Books
A Division of Baker Book House Co
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516
{a2} Reprinted 1996 by Baker Books
a division of Baker Book House Company
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516‒6287
Originally published as
_Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God_
by Robert Carter & Brothers, 1853
Third printing, January 2000
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 0‒8010‒1112‒4
For information about academic books, resources for
Christian leaders, and all new releases available from
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{a3} CONTENTS OF VOL. I
PAGE
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR. a5
PREFACE. a19
DISCOURSE I.
ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
PSALM xiv. 1.――The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is
none that doeth good. a23
DISCOURSE II.
ON PRACTICAL ATHEISM.
PSALM xiv. 1.――The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is
none that doeth good. a89
DISCOURSE III.
ON GOD’S BEING A SPIRIT.
JOHN iv. 24.――God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. a176
DISCOURSE IV.
ON SPIRITUAL WORSHIP.
JOHN iv. 24.――God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. a205
DISCOURSE V.
ON THE ETERNITY OF GOD.
PSALM xc. 2.――Before the mountains were brought forth, or
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. a276
{a4} DISCOURSE VI.
ON THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD.
PSALM cii. 26, 27.――They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea,
all of them shall wax old as a garment; as a vesture shalt thou
change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same,
and thy years shall have no end. a310
DISCOURSE VII.
ON GOD’S OMNIPRESENCE.
JEREMIAH xxiii. 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. a363
DISCOURSE VIII.
ON GOD’S KNOWLEDGE.
PSALM cxlvii. 5.――Great is our Lord, and of great power: his
understanding is infinite. a406
DISCOURSE IX.
ON THE WISDOM OF GOD.
ROMANS xvi. 27.――To God only wise be glory, through Jesus Christ
forever. Amen. a498
{a5} LIFE AND CHARACTER OF CHARNOCK,
BY WM. SYMINGTON, D.D.
STEPHEN CHARNOCK, B.D., was born in the year 1628, in the parish
of St. Katharine Cree, London. His father, Mr. Richard Charnock,
practised as a solicitor in the Court of Chancery, and was descended
from a family of some antiquity in Lancashire. Stephen, after a course
of preparatory study, entered himself, at an early period of life, a
student in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was placed under the
immediate tuition of the celebrated Dr. William Sancroft, who became
afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. Although there is too much reason
to fear that colleges seldom prove the spiritual birthplaces of the
youth that attend them, it was otherwise in this case. The Sovereign
Spirit, who worketh where and how he wills, had determined that
this young man, while prosecuting his early studies, should undergo
that essential change of heart which, besides yielding an amount of
personal comfort, could not fail to exert a salutary influence on all
his future inquiries, sanctify whatever learning he might hereafter
acquire, and fit him for being eminently useful to thousands of his
fellow‑creatures. To this all‑important event we may safely trace the
eminence to which, both as a Preacher and as a Divine, he afterwards
attained,――as he had thus a stimulus to exertion, a motive to vigorous
and unremitting application, which could not otherwise have existed.
On his leaving the University he spent some time in a private family,
either as a preceptor or for the purpose of qualifying himself the
better for discharging the solemn and arduous duties of public life,
on which he was about to enter. Soon after this, just as the Civil War
broke out in England, he commenced his official labors as a minister
of the gospel of peace, somewhere in Southwark. He does not appear
to have held this situation long; but short as was his {a6} ministry
there, it was not altogether without fruit. He who had made the
student himself, while yet young, the subject of saving operations,
was pleased also to give efficacy to the first efforts of the youthful
pastor to win souls to Christ. Several individuals in this his first
charge were led to own him as their spiritual father. Nor is this a
solitary instance of the early ministry of an individual receiving
that countenance from on high which has been withheld from the labors
of his riper years. A circumstance this, full of encouragement to
those who, in the days of youth, are entering with much fear and
trembling on service in the Lord’s vineyard. At the time when they
may feel impelled to exclaim with most vehemence, _Who is sufficient
for these things?_ God may cheer them with practical confirmations of
the truth, that their _sufficiency is of God_.
In 1649, Charnock removed from Southwark to Oxford, where, through
favor of the Parliamentary Visitors, he obtained a fellowship in New
College; and, not long afterwards, in consequence of his own merits,
was incorporated Master of Arts. His singular gifts, and unwearied
exertions, so attracted the notice and gained the approbation of
the learned and pious members of the University, that, in 1652, he
was elevated to the dignity of Senior Proctor,――an office which he
continued to hold till 1656, and the duties of which he discharged
in a way which brought equal honor to himself and benefit to the
community.
When the period of his proctorship expired, he went to Ireland, where
he resided in the family of Mr. Henry Cromwell, who had been appointed
by his father, the Protector, to the government of that country.
It is remarkable how many of the eminent divines, both of England
and Scotland, have spent some part of their time in Ireland, either
as chaplains to the army or as refugees from persecuting bigotry.
Charnock seems to have gone thither in the capacity of chaplain to the
Governor, an office which, in his case at least, proved no sinecure.
During his residence in Dublin, he appears to have exercised his
ministry with great regularity and zeal. He preached, we are told,
every Lord’s day, with much acceptance, to an audience composed of
persons of different religious denominations, and of opposite grades
in society. His talents and worth attracted the members of other
churches, and his connection with the family of the Governor secured
the attendance of persons of rank. By these his ministrations were
greatly esteemed and applauded; and it is hoped that to some of them
they were also blessed. But even many who had no respect for his
piety, and who reaped no saving benefits from his preaching, were
unable to withhold their admiration {a7} of his learning and his
gifts. Studying at once to be an “ensample to the flock,” and to “walk
within his house with a perfect heart,” his qualities, both public
and private, his appearances, whether in the pulpit or the domestic
circle, commanded the esteem of all who were privileged to form his
acquaintance. It is understood that the honorary degree of Bachelor
in Divinity, which he held, was the gift of Trinity College, Dublin,
conferred during his residence in that city.
The restoration of Charles, in 1660, put an end to Charnock’s
ministry in Ireland, and hindered his resuming it elsewhere for a
considerable time. That event, leading, as it could not but do, to
the re‑establishment of arbitrary power, was followed, as a natural
consequence, by the ejectment of many of the most godly ministers that
ever lived. Among these was the excellent individual of whom we are
now speaking. Accordingly, although on his return to England he took
up his residence in London, he was not permitted to hold any pastoral
charge there. Nevertheless, he continued to prosecute his studies
with ardor, and occasionally exercised his gifts in a private way for
fifteen years, during which time he paid some visits to the continent,
especially to France and Holland.
At length, in 1675, when the restrictions of the government were so
far relaxed, he accepted a call from a congregation in Crosby Square,
to become co‑pastor with the Rev. Thomas Watson, the ejected minister
of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, who, soon after the Act of Uniformity,
had collected a church in that place. Mr. Watson was an eminent
Presbyterian divine, and the society which he was instrumental in
founding became afterwards, under the ministry of Dr. Grosvenor, one
of the most flourishing in the city, in respect both of numbers and of
wealth. It may not be uninteresting here to insert a few brief notices
respecting the place of worship which this congregation occupied,
being the scene of Charnock’s labors during a principal part of his
ministry, and that in connection with which he closed his official
career.
The place in which this humble Presbyterian congregation[1] assembled
was a large hall of Crosby House, an ancient mansion on the east side
of Bishopgate Street, erected by Sir John Crosby, Sheriff and Alderman
of London, in 1470. After passing through the hands of several
occupants, and, among others, those of Richard III., who thought
it not unfit for being a royal residence, it became, about the
{a8} year 1640, the property of Alderman Sir John Langham, a staunch
Presbyterian and Loyalist. A calamitous fire afterwards so injured
the building, as to render it unsuitable for a family residence;
but the hall, celebrated for its magnificent oaken ceiling, happily
escaped the conflagration, and was converted into a meeting‑house for
Mr. Watson’s congregation, of which the proprietor is supposed to have
been a member. The structure, though greatly dilapidated, still exists,
and is said to be regarded as one of the most perfect specimens of the
domestic architecture of the fifteenth century now remaining in the
metropolis. But, as an illustration of the vicissitudes such edifices
are destined to undergo, it may be stated that Crosby Hall, after
having witnessed the splendors of royalty, and been consecrated
to the solemnities of divine worship, was lately――perhaps it
is still――dedicated to the inferior, if not ignoble, uses of a
wool‑packer.
After saying so much about the building, a word or two respecting the
congregation which assembled for years under its vaulted roof, may
not be deemed inappropriate. It was formed, as we have already said,
by the Rev. Thomas Watson, the ejected minister of St. Stephen’s,
Walbrook. This took place in 1662, and Charnock was Mr. Watson’s
colleague for five years. Mr. Watson was succeeded by the son of an
ejected minister, the Rev. Samuel Slater, who discharged the pastoral
duties with great ability and faithfulness for twenty‑four years, and
closed his ministry and life with this solemn patriarchal sentence
addressed to his people:――“I charge you before God, that you prepare
to meet me at the day of judgment, as my crown of joy; and that
not one of you be wanting at the right hand of God.” Dr. Benjamin
Grosvenor succeeded Mr. Slater. His singular acumen, graceful
utterance, lively imagination, and fervid devotion, are said to have
secured for the congregation a greater degree of prosperity than it
had ever before enjoyed. A pleasing recollection has been preserved,
of perhaps one of the most touching discourses ever composed, having
been delivered by him in this Hall, on _The Temper of Christ_. In this
discourse the Saviour is introduced, by way of illustrating his own
command that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached
unto all nations, _beginning at Jerusalem_,” as giving the Apostles
directions how they are to proceed in carrying out this requirement.
Amongst other things, he is represented as saying to them:――“Go into
all nations and offer this salvation as you go; but lest the poor
house of Israel should think themselves abandoned to despair, the
seed of Abraham, mine ancient friend; as cruel and unkind as they have
been, go, make them the _first offer_ of grace; let them that struck
the rock, drink first of its refreshing streams; and {a9} they that
drew my blood, be welcome to its healing virtue. Tell them, that as I
was sent to the _lost sheep of the house of Israel_, so, if they will
be gathered, I will be their shepherd still. Though they despised my
_tears_ which I shed over them, and imprecated my _blood_ to be upon
them, tell them ’twas for their sakes I shed both; that by my tears
I might soften their hearts towards God, and by my blood I might
reconcile God to them.... Tell them, you have seen the prints of
the nails upon my hands and feet, and the wounds of the spear in my
side; and that those marks of their cruelty are so far from giving me
vindictive thoughts, that, if they will but repent, every wound they
have given me speaks in their behalf, pleads with the Father for the
remission of their sins, and enables me to bestow it.... Nay, if you
meet that poor wretch that thrust the spear into my side, tell him
there is another way, a better way, of coming at my heart. If he will
repent, and _look upon him whom he has pierced, and will mourn_, I
will cherish him in that very bosom he has wounded; he shall find the
blood he shed an ample atonement for the sin of shedding it. And tell
him from me, he will put me to more pain and displeasure by refusing
this offer of my blood, than when he first drew it forth.” In Dr.
Grosvenor’s old age, notwithstanding that he was assisted, from time
to time, by eminent divines, the congregation began to decline. After
his death, the pastoral charge was held by Dr. Hodge and Mr. Jones
successively, but, under the ministry of the latter, the church had
become so enfeebled, that, on the expiration of the lease in 1769, the
members agreed to dissolve, and were gradually absorbed in other
societies.
From this digression we return, only to record the last circumstance
necessary to complete this brief sketch. The death of Charnock took
place July 27, 1680, when he was in the fifty‑third year of his age.
The particulars that have come down to us of this event, like those
of the other parts of his history, are scanty, yet they warrant us
to remark that he died in a frame of mind every way worthy of his
excellent character and holy life. He was engaged, at the time, in
delivering to his people, at Crosby Hall, that series of Discourses
on the Existence and Attributes of God, on which his fame as a writer
chiefly rests. The intense interest which he was observed to take in
the subjects of which he treated, was regarded as an indication that
he was nearly approaching that state in which he was to be “filled
with all the fulness of God.” Not unfrequently was he heard to
give utterance to a longing desire for that region for which he
gave evidence of his being so well prepared. These circumstances
were, naturally enough, looked upon as proofs that his mighty {a10}
mind, though yet on earth, had begun to “put off its mortality,” and
was fast ripening for the paradise of God. From his death taking place
in the house of Mr. Richard Tymns, in the parish of Whitechapel,
London, it may be inferred that his departure was sudden. The body
was immediately after taken to the meeting‑house at Crosby Square,
which had been so often the scene of his prayers and preaching. From
thence, accompanied by a long train of mourners, it was conveyed to
St. Michael’s Church, Cornhill, where it was deposited hard by the
Tower under the belfrey. The funeral sermon was preached by his early
friend and fellow‑student at Cambridge, Mr. John Johnson, from these
apposite words:――“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in
the kingdom of their Father.”
Such is an outline of the facts, as far as they are known, of the
life of this great man. There are none, it is true, of those striking
occurrences and marvellous incidents in the narrative, which attract
the notice of the multitude, and which are so gratifying to those who
are in quest of excitement more than of edification. But, let it not
be thought that, for this reason, the narrative must be destitute of
the materials of personal improvement. If the advantages to be derived
from a piece of biography are at all proportioned to the degree in
which the character and circumstances of the subject resemble those
of the reader, a greater number, at least, may be expected to obtain
benefit from a life, the incidents of which are more common, inasmuch
as there are but comparatively few, the events of whose history are of
an extraordinary and dazzling description. “When a character,” to use
the language of a profound judge of human nature,[2] “selected from
the ordinary ranks of life, is faithfully and minutely delineated,
no effort is requisite to enable us to place ourselves in the same
situation; we accompany the subject of the narrative, with an interest
undiminished by distance, unimpaired by dissimilarity of circumstances;
and, from the efforts by which he surmounted difficulties and
vanquished temptations, we derive the most useful practical lessons.
He who desires to strengthen his virtue and purify his principles,
will always prefer the solid to the specious; will be more disposed to
contemplate an example of the unostentatious piety and goodness which
all men may obtain, than of those extraordinary achievements to which
few can aspire; nor is it the mark of a superior, but rather a vulgar
and superficial taste, to consider nothing as great or excellent but
that which glitters with titles, or is elevated by rank.”
{a11} Let us endeavor to portray the character of Charnock.
The mental qualities by which he was most distinguished as a man,
were judgment and imagination. The reasoning faculty, naturally strong,
was improved by diligent training and habitual exercise. In tracing
the relations and tendencies of things, he greatly excelled; he could
compare and contrast with admirable ease and beautiful discrimination;
and his deductions, as was to be expected, were usually sound and
logical. Judgment was, indeed, the presiding faculty in his, as it
ought to be in all minds.
The more weighty qualities of intellect were in him united to a
brilliant fancy. By this means he was enabled to adorn the more solid
materials of thought with the attractive hues of inventive genius. His
fine and teeming imagination, ever under the strict control of reason
and virtue, was uniformly turned to the most important purposes.
This department of mental phenomena, from the abuses to which it is
liable, is apt to be undervalued; yet, were this the proper place, it
would not be difficult to show that imagination is one of the noblest
faculties with which man has been endowed――a faculty, indeed, the
sound and proper use of which is not only necessary to the existence
of sympathy and other social affections, but also intimately connected
with those higher exercises of soul, by which men are enabled
to realize the things that are not seen and eternal. Charnock’s
imagination was under the most cautious and skilful management――the
handmaid, not the mistress of his reason――and, doubtless, it
tended, in no small degree, to free his character from that cold
and contracted selfishness which is apt to predominate in those who
are deficient in this quality; to impart a generous warmth to his
intercourse with others; and to throw over his compositions as an
author an animating and delightful glow.
These qualities of mind were associated with habits of intense
application and persevering diligence, which alike tended to
invigorate his original powers, and enabled him to turn them all to
the best account. To the original vigor of his powers must be added
that which culture supplied. Charnock was a highly educated man. As
remarked by the first editors of his works, he was not only “a person
of excellent parts, strong reason, great judgment, and curious fancy,”
but “of high improvements and general learning, as having been all
his days a most diligent and methodical student.” An alumnus of both
the English universities, he may be said to have drawn nourishment
from each of these generous mothers. He had the reputation of being
a general scholar; his acquisitions being by no means limited to
the literature of his profession. Not only was his {a12} acquaintance
with the original languages of Scripture great, but he had made
considerable attainments in the study of medicine; and, indeed, there
was scarcely any branch of learning with which he was unacquainted.
All his mental powers were thus strengthened and refined by judicious
discipline, and, as we shall see presently, he knew well how to devote
his treasures, whether original or acquired, to the service of the
Redeemer; and to consecrate the richest stores of natural genius and
educational attainment, by laying them all at the foot of the Cross.
But that which gave the finish to Charnock’s intellectual character,
was not the predominance of any one quality so much as the harmonious
and nicely balanced union of all. Acute perception, sound judgment,
masculine sense, brilliant imagination, habits of reflection, and
a complete mastery over the succession of his thoughts, were all
combined in that comely order and that due proportion which go to
constitute a well‑regulated mind. There was, in his case, none of that
disproportionate development of any one particular faculty, which, in
some cases, serves, like an overpowering glare, to dim, if not almost
to quench the splendor of the rest. The various faculties of his soul,
to make use of a figure, rather shone forth like so many glittering
stars, from the calm and clear firmament of his mind, each supplying
its allotted tribute of light, and contributing to the serene and
solemn lustre of the whole. As has been said of another, so may it be
said of him――“If it be rare to meet with an individual whose mental
faculties are thus admirably balanced, in whom no tyrant faculty
usurps dominion over the rest, or erects a despotism on the ruins of
the intellectual republic; still more rare is it to meet with such a
mind in union with the far higher qualities of religious and moral
excellence.”
Nor were Charnock’s moral qualities less estimable than his
intellectual. He was a pre‑eminently holy man, distinguished at
once by personal purity, social equity, and habitual devotion. Early
the subject of saving grace, he was in his own person an excellent
example of the harmony of faith, with the philosophy of the moral
feelings. Strongly he felt that while “not without law to God,” he
was nevertheless “under law to Christ.” The motives from which he
acted in every department of moral duty were evangelical motives;
and so entirely was he imbued with the spirit, so completely
under the power of the gospel, that whatever he did, no matter how
humble in the scale of moral duty, he “served the Lord Christ.” The
regulating principle of his whole life is embodied in the apostolical
injunction:――“Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and
not {a13} unto men.” The various talents with which he was gifted
by the God of nature, were all presided over by an enlightened and
deep‑toned piety, for which he was indebted to the sovereign grace
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was this that struck the key‑note
of the intellectual and moral harmony to which we have adverted as a
prominent feature in his character. This at once directed each faculty
to its proper object, and regulated the measure of its exercise.
Devotion was the very element in which he lived and breathed, and had
his being. Devout communion with Supreme Excellence, the contemplation
of celestial themes, and preparation for a higher state of being,
constituted the truest pleasures of his existence, elevated him far
above the control of merely sentient and animal nature, and secured
for him an undisturbed repose of mind, which was itself but an
antepast of what awaited him in the unclouded region of glory. Nor was
his devotion transient or occasional merely; it was habitual as it was
deep, extending its plastic and sanctifying influence to every feature
of character, and every event of life; dictating at once ceaseless
efforts for the welfare of man, and intensest desires for the
glory of God; and securing that rarest perhaps of all combinations,
close communion with the future and the eternal, and the busy and
conscientious discharge of the ordinary duties of everyday life.
His natural temper appears to have been reserved, and his manners
grave. Regarding the advantages to be derived from general society as
insufficient to compensate for the loss of those to be acquired by
retirement, he cultivated the acquaintance of few, and these few
the more intelligent and godly, with whom, however, putting aside
his natural backwardness, he was wont to be perfectly affable and
communicative. But his best and most highly cherished companions
were his books, of which he had contrived to secure a valuable
though select collection. With these he held frequent and familiar
intercourse. Great part of his time, indeed, was spent in his study;
and when the calls of unavoidable duty compelled him to leave it, so
bent was he on redeeming time, that, not content with appropriating
the hours usually devoted to sleep, he cultivated the habit of
thinking while walking along the streets. So successful was he in his
efforts of abstraction, that, amid the most crowded and attractive
scenes, he could withdraw his mind easily from the vanities which
solicited his attention, and give himself up to close thinking and
useful meditation. The productions of his pen, and the character of
his pulpit services, bore ample evidence that the hours of retirement
were given neither to frivolous vacuity nor to self‑indulgent {a14}
sloth, but to the industrious cultivation of his powers, and to
conscientious preparation for public duty. He was not content, like
many, with the mere reputation of being a _recluse_; on the contrary,
he was set on bringing forth the fruits of a _hard student_. There
was always one day in the week in which he made it to appear that
the others were not misspent. His Sabbath ministrations were not the
loose vapid effusions of a few hours’ careless preparation, but were
rather the substantial, well‑arranged, well‑compacted products of much
intense thought and deep cogitation. “Had he been less in his study,”
says his editors quaintly, “he would have been less liked in the
pulpit.”
To a person of these studious habits it may easily be conceived what
distress it must have occasioned to have his library swept away from
him. In that dreadful misfortune which befell the metropolis in 1666,
ever since known as “the fire of London,” the whole of Charnock’s
books were destroyed. The amount of calamity involved in such an
occurrence can be estimated aright only by those who know from
experience the strength and sacredness of that endearment with which
the real student regards those silent but instructive friends which
he has drawn around him by slow degrees; with which he has cultivated
a long and intimate acquaintance; which are ever at hand with their
valuable assistance, counsel and consolation, when these are needed;
which, unlike some less judicious companions, never intrude upon him
against his will; and with whose very looks and positions, as they
repose in their places around him, he has become so familiarized,
that it is no difficult thing for him to call up their appearance
when absent, or to go directly to them in the dark without the risk
of a mistake. Some may be disposed to smile at this love of books.
But where is the scholar who will do so? Where is the man of letters
who, for a single moment, would place the stately mansions and large
estates of the “sons of earth” in comparison with his own well‑loaded
shelves? Where the student who, on looking round upon the walls of
his study, is not conscious of a satisfaction greater and better far
than landed proprietor ever felt on surveying his fields and lawns――a
satisfaction which almost unconsciously seeks vent in the exclamation,
“My library! a dukedom large enough!” Such, and such only, can judge
what must have been Charnock’s feelings, when he found that his
much cherished volumes had become a heap of smouldering ashes. The
sympathetic regret is only rendered the more intense, when it is
thought that, in all probability, much valuable manuscript perished
in the conflagration.
{a15} Charnock excelled as a _Preacher_. This is an office which,
whether as regards its origin, nature, design, or effects, it
will be difficult to overrate. The relation in which it stands
to the salvation of immortal souls, invests it with an interest
overwhelmingly momentous. Our former remarks will serve to show how
well he of whom we now speak was qualified for acting in this highest
of all the capacities in which man is required to serve. His mental
and moral endowments, his educational acquirements, his habitual
seriousness, his sanctified imagination, and his vigorous faith,
pre‑eminently fitted him for discharging with ability and effect the
duties of a herald of the Cross. Of his style of preaching we may form
a pretty accurate idea from the writings he has left, which were all
of them transcribed from the notes of his sermons. We hence infer that
his discourses, while excelling in solid divinity and argumentative
power, were not by any means deficient in their practical bearing,
being addressed not more to the understandings than to the hearts
of his hearers. “Nothing,” it has been justly remarked, “can be
more nervous than his reasoning, nothing more affecting than his
applications.” While able to unravel with great acuteness and judgment
the intricacies of a nice question in polemics, he could with no less
dexterity and skill address himself to the business of the Christian
life, or to the casuistry of religious experience. Perspicuous
plainness, convincing cogency, great wisdom, fearless honesty, and
affectionate earnestness, are the chief characteristics of his sermons.
To this it must be added that his preaching was eminently evangelical.
So deeply imbued with gospel truth were his discourses, that, like the
Book of the Law of old, they might be said to be sprinkled with blood,
even the blood of atonement. The Cross was at once the basis on which
he rested his doctrinal statements, and the armory from which he drew
his most forcible and pointed appeals to the conscience. His aim seems
never once to have been to catch applause to himself by the enticing
words of man’s wisdom, by arraying his thoughts in the motley garb of
an affected and gorgeous style, or by having recourse to the tricks
of an inflated and meretricious oratory. His sole ambition appears to
have been to “turn sinners from the error of their ways;” and for this
end he wisely judged nothing to be so well adapted as “holding forth
the words of eternal life” in their native simplicity and power, and
in a spirit of sincere and ardent devotion. His object was to move his
hearers, not towards himself, but towards his Master; not to elicit
expressions of admiration for the messenger, but to make the message
bear on the salvation of those to whom it was delivered; not to please,
so {a16} much as to convert, his hearers; not to tickle their fancy,
but to save the soul from death, and thus to hide a multitude of sins.
The character of his preaching, it is true, was adapted to the higher
and more intelligent classes; yet was it not altogether unsuited to
those of humbler rank and pretensions. He could handle the mysteries
of the gospel with great perspicuity and plainness, using his profound
learning for the purpose, not of mystifying, but of making things
clear, so that persons even in the ordinary walks of life felt him to
be not beyond their capacity. The energy, gravity, and earnestness of
his manner, especially when young, contributed to render him a great
favorite with the public, and accordingly he drew after him large and
deeply interested audiences――a circumstance which, we can suppose,
was valued by him, not because of the incense which it ministered
to a spirit of vanity, but of the opportunity it afforded him of
winning souls to the Redeemer. When more advanced in life, this kind
of popularity, we are told, declined, in consequence of his being
compelled from an infirmity of memory to read his sermons, with the
additional disadvantage of requiring to supply defect of sight by the
use of a glass. But an increasing weight and importance in the matter,
fully compensated for any deficiency in the manner of his preaching.
If the more flighty of his hearers retired, others――among whom were
many of his brethren in the ministry――who knew how to prefer solidity
to show, crowded to supply their places. Reckoning it no ordinary
privilege to be permitted to sit devoutly at the feet of one so well
qualified to initiate them into the knowledge of the deep things of
God, they continued to listen to his instructions with as much
admiration and profit as ever.
It is as a _Writer_, however, that Charnock is best known, and this,
indeed, is the only character in which we can now come into contact
with him. His works are extensive, but, with a single exception,
posthumous. The only thing published by himself was the piece on “The
Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts,” which appeared originally in the
Supplement to the Morning Exercise at Cripplegate. Yet such was the
quantity of manuscript left behind him at his death, that two large
folio volumes were soon transcribed, and published by his friends,
Mr. Adams and Mr. Veal, to whom he had committed his papers. The
Discourse on Providence was the first published; it appeared in 1680.
The Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God came next, in
1682. There followed in succession the treatises on Regeneration,
Reconciliation, The Lord’s Supper, &c. A second edition of the
whole works, in two volumes, folio, came out in 1684, and a third
in 1702――no slight proof of the estimation in which they {a17} were
held. Several of the treatises have appeared from time to time in a
separate form, especially those on Divine Providence, on Man’s Enmity
to God, and on Mercy for the Chief of Sinners. The best edition of
Charnock’s works is that published in 1815, in nine volumes, royal
8vo; with a prefatory Dedication, and a Memoir of the Author, by the
Rev. Edward Parsons of Leeds.
All Charnock’s writings are distinguished for sound theology, profound
thinking, and lively imagination. They partake of that massive
divinity for which the Puritan Divines were in general remarkable, and
are of course orthodox in their doctrinal statements and reasonings.
Everywhere the reader meets with the evidences and fruits of deep
thought, of a mind, indeed, of unusual comprehension and energy
of grasp, that could penetrate with ease into the very core, and
fathom at pleasure the profoundest depths of the most abstruse and
obscure subjects; while, from the rich stores of an exuberant and
hallowed fancy, he was enabled to throw over his compositions the most
attractive ornaments, and to supply spontaneously such illustrations
as were necessary to render his meaning more clear, or his lessons
more impressive. In a word, for weight of matter, for energy of
thought, for copiousness of improving reflection, for grandeur
and force of illustration, and for accuracy and felicitousness of
expression, Charnock is equalled by few, and surpassed by none of
the writers of the age to which he belonged. The eulogy pronounced
by a competent judge on the Treatise on the Attributes, applies with
equal justice to all his other writings:――“Perspicuity and depth;
metaphysical subtlety and evangelical simplicity; immense learning,
and plain but irrefragable reasoning, conspire to render that work
one of the most inestimable productions that ever did honor to the
sanctified judgment and genius of a human being.”[3]
The correctness of the composition, in these works, is remarkable,
considering that they were not prepared for the press by the author
himself, and that they must have been originally written amid scenes
of distraction and turmoil, arising out of the events of the times.
The latter circumstance may account for the manly vigor by which they
are characterized, but it only renders their accuracy and polish the
more wonderful. Refinement of taste and extensive scholarship can
alone explain the chasteness, ease, and elegance of style, so free
from all verbosity and clumsiness, which mark these productions. There
were giants in literature in those days, and STEPHEN CHARNOCK was not
the least of the noble fraternity.
Charnock may not have all the brilliancy of Bunyan, nor all the {a18}
metaphysical acumen and subtle analysis of Howe, nor all the awful
earnestness of Baxter; but he is not less argumentative, while he
is more theological than any of them, and his theology, too, is more
sound than that of some. “He was not,” say the original editors of
his works, “for that modern divinity which is so much in vogue with
some, who would be counted the only sound divines; having tasted the
old, he did not desire the new, but said the old is better.” There is,
therefore, not one of all the Puritan Divines whose writings can with
more safety be recommended to the attention of students of divinity
and young ministers. It is one of the happy signs of the times in
which we live, that a taste for reading such works is beginning
to revive; and we can conceive no better wish for the interests of
mankind in general, and of our country in particular, than that the
minds of our young divines were thoroughly impregnated with the good
old theology to be found in such writings as those which we now take
the liberty to introduce and recommend. “If a preacher wishes to
recommend himself by the weight of his doctrines,” to use the language
of Mr. Parsons, “he will find in the writings of Charnock the great
truths of Scripture illustrated and explained in the most lucid and
masterly manner. If he wishes to be distinguished by the evangelical
strain of his discourses, and by the continual exhibition of Christ
and him crucified, he will here find the characters of Christ, and the
adaptation of the gospel to the circumstances and wants of man as a
fallen creature, invariably kept in view. If he wishes for usefulness
in the Church of God, here he has the brightest example of forcible
appeals to the conscience, and of the most impressive applications of
Scripture truth, to the various conditions of mankind. And, finally,
if he reads for his own advantage as a Christian, his mind will
be delighted with the inexhaustible variety here provided for the
employment of his enlightened faculties, and his improvement in every
divine attainment.”
Happy shall we be, if what we have written shall, by the blessing
of God, prove the means of producing or reviving a taste for reading
the works of our author, being fully convinced with a former editor,
that, “while talent is respected, or virtue revered――while holiness
of conversation, consistency of character, or elevation of mind,
are considered as worthy of imitation――while uniform and strenuous
exertion for the welfare of man is honored, and constant devotedness
to the glory of God admired, the memory of CHARNOCK shall be held in
grateful remembrance.”
ANNFIELD PLACE, Glasgow, June, 1846.
{a19} TO THE READER.
THIS long since promised and greatly expected volume of the reverend
author upon the Divine Attributes, being transcribed out of his own
manuscripts by the unwearied diligence of those worthy persons that
undertook it,[4] is now at last come to thy hands: doubt not but
thy reading will pay for thy waiting, and thy satisfaction make full
compensation for thy patience. In the epistle before his treatise on
Providence, it was intimated that his following discourses would not
be inferior to that; and we are persuaded that, ere thou hast perused
one half of this, thou wilt acknowledge that it was modestly spoken.
Enough, assure thyself, thou wilt find here for thy entertainment and
delight, as well as profit. The sublimeness, variety, and rareness of
the truths here handled, together with the elegancy of the composure,
neatness of the style, and whatever is wont to make any book desirable,
will all concur in the recommendation of this. What so high and
noble a subject, what so fit for his meditations or thine, as
the highest and noblest Being, and those transcendently glorious
perfections wherewith he is clothed! A mere contemplation of the
Divine excellencies may afford much pleasure to any man that loves
to exercise his reason, and is addicted to speculation: but what
incomparable sweetness, then, will holy souls find in viewing and
considering those perfections now, which they are more fully to behold
hereafter; and seeing what manner of God, how wise and powerful, how
great, and good, and holy is he, in whom the covenant interests them,
and in the enjoyment of whom their happiness consists! If rich men
delight to sum up their vast revenues, to read over their rentals,
look upon their hoards; if they bless themselves in their great wealth,
or, to use the prophet’s words (Jer. ix. 23), “glory in their riches,”
well may believers rejoice and glory in their “knowing the Lord”
(ver. 24), and please themselves in seeing how rich they are in having
an immensely full and all‑sufficient God for their inheritance. Alas!
how little do most men know of that Deity they profess to serve, and
own, not as their Sovereign only, but their Portion. To such this
author might say, as Paul to the Athenians, “Whom you ignorantly
worship, him declare I unto you” (Acts xvii. 23). These treatises,
reader, will inform thee who He is whom thou callest thine, {a20}
present thee with a view of thy chief good, and make thee value
thyself a thousand times more upon thy interest with God, than upon
all external accomplishments and worldly possessions. Who but delights
to hear well of one whom he loves! God is thy love, if thou be a
believer; and then it cannot but fill thee with delight and ravishment
to hear so much spoken in his praise. David desired to “dwell in the
house of the Lord,” that he might there behold his beauty: how much of
that beauty, if thou art but capable of seeing it, mayest thou behold
in this volume, which was our author’s main business, for about three
years before he died, to display before his hearers! True, indeed, the
Lord’s glory, as shining forth before his heavenly courtiers above,
is unapproachable by mortal men; but what of it is visible in his
works――creation, providence, redemption――falls under the cognizance of
his inferior subjects here. And this is, in a great measure, presented
to view in these discourses; and so much, we may well say, as may, by
the help of grace, be effectual to raise thy admiration, attract thy
love, provoke thy desires, and enable thee to make some guess at what
is yet unseen; and why not, likewise, to clear thy eyes, and prepare
them for future sight, as well as turn them away from the contemptible
vanities of this present life? Whatever is glorious in this world,
yet (as the apostle, in another case) “hath no glory, by reason of
the glory that excels” (2 Cor. iii. 10). This “excellent glory” is the
subject of this book, to which all created beauty is but mere shadow
and duskiness. If thy eyes be well fixed on this, they will not be
easily drawn to wander after other objects: if thy heart be taken with
God, it will be mortified to everything that is not God.
But thou hast in this book, not only an excellent subject in the
general, but great variety of matter for the employment of thy
understanding, as well as enlivening thy affections, and that, too,
such as thou wilt not find elsewhere: many excellent things which are
out of the road of ordinary preachers and writers, and which may be
grateful to the curious, no less than satisfactory to the wise and
judicious. It is not, therefore, a book to be played with or slept
over, but read with the most intent and serious mind; for though it
afford much pleasure for the fancy, yet much more work for the heart,
and hath, indeed, enough in it to busy all the faculties. The dress
is complete and decent, yet not garish nor theatrical; the rhetoric
masculine and vigorous, such as became a pulpit, and was never
borrowed from the stage; the expressions full, clear, apt, and such
as are best suited to the weightiness and spirituality of the truths
here delivered. It is plain he was no empty preacher, but was more for
sense than sound, filled up his words with matter, and chose rather to
inform his hearers’ minds than to claw any itching ears. Yet we will
not say but some little things, a word, or a phrase now and then he
may have, which, no doubt, had he lived to transcribe his own sermons,
he would have altered. If in some lesser matters he differ from thee,
it is but in such as godly and learned men do frequently, and may,
without breach of charity, differ in among themselves: in some things
he may differ from us too, and, it may be, we from {a21} each other;
and where are there any two persons who have in all, especially the
more disputable points of religion, exactly the same sentiments,――at
least, express themselves altogether in the same terms? But this
we must say, that though he treat of many of the most abstruse and
mysterious doctrines of Christianity, which are the subjects of great
debates and controversies in the world, yet we find no one material
thing in which he may justly be called heterodox (unless old heresies
be of late grown orthodox, and his differing from them must make him
faulty), but generally delivers, as in his former pieces,[5] what
is most consonant to the faith of this and other, the best reformed
churches. He was not, indeed, for that modern divinity which is so
much in vogue with some who would be counted the only sound divines;
having “tasted the old,” he did not desire “the new,” but said, “the
old is better.” Some errors, especially the Socinian, he sets himself
industriously against, and cuts the very sinews of them, yet sometimes
almost without naming them.