A Beam of Divine Glory, Part 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
Which gives an account why or whence it is that God is Unchangeable.
THat God is unchangeable, as alſo wherein, you have already ſeen. That which falls next under conſideration, is to ſhew whence it is that God is indeed thus unchangeable; or if you will, what Baſis and Foundation the unchangeableneſs of God is built upon: 'tis built upon a three-fold Baſis or Foundation:
1. The infinite purity and ſimplicity of his Nature.
2. The infinite excellency and Perfection of his Being.
3. The infinite extent and compaſs of his Wiſdom.
1. The unchangeableneſs of God is built upon, or ſprings from, the infinite purity and ſimplicity o… …s Nature. God, my Beloved, is a moſt pur… …ſt; He is a Spirit, an Infinite Spirit, Joh. …4. and ſo an infinitely pure, ſimple, unco…unded Being, and therefore unchangeable. God (ſays a learned Man) is a moſt ſimply and perfectly pure Act, Deus eſt ſimpliſſimè & perfectiſſimè purus actus, omnis compoſitionis expers, ideoque nec diſſolvi nec corrumpi, nec ſeneſcere poteſt. Sca.free from all compoſition; and therefore cannot poſſibly be diſſolved, corrupted, or wax old and decay. And Auſtin, I remember, founds God's unchangeableneſs upon this ground or Baſis:*Tu ſolus es Deus, id quod neque in melius neque in deterius commutari poteſt, quia ſolus ſimpliciter es. Aug. Thou only art God (ſayes he) and canſt not be changed, either into a better or worſe Being than what thou art, becauſe thou art a moſt pure and ſimple Being. Men, and ſo other Creatures, have their mixtures and compoſitions; they are compounded and made up of different Elements, Qualities, and Humours, and that is one reaſon among others why they change; but God is a moſt pure ſimple Being, he is purity and ſimplicity it ſelf, and therefore unchangeable: Angels and Souls have a compoſition in them, they are compounded of Subject and Accidents, Nature and Qualities, or Graces; but God is one meer and perfect Act, without all compoſition, diviſion, multiplication or the like, and therefore without change; …here there is compoſition, there may be …tation; but where there is infinite ſimplic… there is abſolute immutability; and thus …s you ſee with God.
2. The unchangeableneſs of God is built upon, and ariſes from the infinite excellency and perfection of his Being. As God is a moſt pure and ſimple, ſo he is a moſt perfect Being, an infinitely perfect Being; and therefore unchangeable: men are imperfect; and therefore they change; God is perfect, and therefore he changes not. All change, my Beloved, argues imperfection in the ſubject changed: for, pray obſerve, there is a two-fold change, there is a corruptive, and there is a perfective change; a corruptive change is a change from good to bad, or from bad to worſe, and ſuch a change to be ſure argues imperfection in the ſubject; a perfective change, is a change from bad to good, or from good to better, and this alſo argues imperfection in the Subject, this argues the Subject to be imperfect before, whatever 'tis now: Thus all change neceſſarily argues imperfection; but God is infinitely perfect, and therefore not ſubject to change; he is capable of no corruptive, nor yet a perfective change; becauſe he is an infinitely perfect Being, and ſo can have nothing added to him, nothing taken from him: Be ye perfect (ſayes Chriſt) as your Heavenly Father is perfect, Mat. 5.48. Our Heavenly Father is a perfect Being, he is both eſſentially and originally perfect; he is perfect in himſelf, having all excellencies and perfections centring in him; and he is the ſpring and cauſe of all thoſe excellencies and perfections that are found in the Creatures: God is light, (ſayes Saint John) and in him is no darkneſs at all, 1 Job. 1.5. that is, he is both pure and perfect; pure without mixture, and perfect without defect; he is wholly perfection, and therefore unchangeable. What ſhall I ſay? God is ſo good, ſo full, ſo bleſſed, ſo every way perfect, that 'tis impoſſible he ſhould change. 'Tis a great ſpeech I have read in one of the Ancients; For thee, Domino eſſe & vivere, non atiud atque aliud eſt, quia ſumme eſſe, & ſumme vivere idipſum es; ſummus enim es, & non mutaris. Aug.or to thee, Lord, to be and to live, are not two things; becauſe thou art the chief Being, and the chief Life; thou art every way, the higheſt, the chiefeſt, the moſt excellent, and thou art not changed: and indeed therefore he cannot change. My Beloved, God has told us, that he is God Allſufficient, I am God All-Mighty, (ſayes he) or God All-ſufficient, I have all fulneſs, bleſſedneſs and perfection in me:Sufficientiſſimus qui ſufficiens & ſibi & aliis ſufficientiam tribuit. Ar. He (as one upon the place notes) is moſt ſufficient, one who is infinitely ſufficient for himſelf, and who alſo vouchſafes a ſufficiency to his people. He has all excellency and perfection in him, and that in a bleſſed union and conjunction; and how then ſhould he change?
3. The unchangeableneſs of God is built upon and ſprings from, the infinite fulneſs and extent of his Wiſdom and Underſtanding; As God is a moſt pure and perfect, ſo he is a moſt wiſe Being, and therefore unchangeable; and this refers principally to his unchangeableneſs in his Kingdom, Counſels, Covenant and Love: Mens wiſdom is weak, and their underſtandings dark and ſhallow, and therefore they change, they are not to day what they were yeſterday, nor will they be to morrow perhaps what they are to day; but God is infinitely wiſe, and knows all things, and therefore he changes not; he is the ſame for ever.Homines quia venit illis in mentem, quod ante non cogitaverant, vellent eſſe infectum, quod jam fecerunt, & novas quaerunt retractandi modos, &c. Calv. Men change (ſayes Calvin) they oftentimes wiſh the things undone, which they have done, and ſeek wayes of retracting their own Acts or Grants, becauſe with them things come to mind many times which they foreſaw not, nor ever thought of; But (ſayes he) God denyes any ſuch thing to be found with him; he is infinitely wiſe, he has a perfect knowledg and underſtanding of things, and therefore changes not: he is called in Scripture a God of Knowledge, 1 Sam. 2.3. Yea, he is ſaid to be perfect in Knowledg, Job. 37.16. he has a perfect Knowledg of all things, whether paſt, preſent, or to come; he ſees and knows all things at once, uno intuitu, with one proſpect, or by one ſingle aſpect, and that unerringly and infallibly: He knows all things by one moſt ſimple, immutable, and eternal Act of underſtanding; God is in Scripture ſtiled the onelyonly wiſe God; 1 Tim. 1.17. and his underſtanding is ſaid to be infinite, Pſal. 147.5. God, my Beloved, ſees and knows himſelf, and in himſelf, all things, alwayes, perfectly, and at once; All things, without exception, alwayes without interruption; perfectly without defect, and at once without ſucceſſion; Known unto God are all his Workes from the Foundation of the World ſayes the Apoſtle) Acts. 15.18. In a word, my Beloved, God has a perfect proſpect of all things in his eternity, neither can there be any thing new to him, that ſhould occaſion a change in him: and thus you ſee upon what Baſis or Foundation the Unchangeableneſs of God is built.