The Fading of the Flesh and Flourishing of Faith, Chapter 11
CHAP XI. God the happineſs of Man, becauſe of his ſutableneſs to the Soul.
THis delight and joy in God ariſeth from his ſutableneſs to the nature of the heaven-born Saints (as I ſhall diſcover in the next heads) and their propriety in him.God is a ſutab…e good to Man… Soul.
Secondly, God is a proportionable good. That which makes a man happy, muſt be ſuitable to his ſpiritual ſoul. All ſatisfaction ariſeth from ſome likeneſs between the faculty or temper which predominateth, and the object. The cauſe of pleaſure in our meats is the ſutableneſs of the ſaline humor in our taſte to that in our food. Therefore ſilver doth not ſatisfy one that is ſick, Ariſtot. Eth. lib. 10 cap. 7.nor rayment one that ſuffereth hunger, becauſe theſe are not anſwerable to thoſe particular neceſſities of nature. The Prince of Philoſophers obſerveth truly, That thoſe things onelyonly content the ſeveral creatures, which are foreign accommodated to their ſeveral natures. Birds and beaſts, and fiſh, do all live upon and delight in that food, which is proportionable to their diſtinct beings. The Oxe feedeth on graſſe, the Lion on fleſh, the Goat on Bough's; ſome live on the dew, ſome on fruit, ſome on weeds; ſome creatures live in the Air, others ſport themſelves in the waters; the Mole and Worm are for the earth: the Salamander choſeth rather the fire; Nay in the ſame plant, the bee feedeth on the flower, the bird on the ſeed; the ſheep on the blade, and the ſwine on the root; and what is the reaſon of all this, but becauſe nature muſt have its reſt and delight from that only which is ſutable to its own appetite and deſire. Hence it is that though God be ſo perfect a good, yet he is not the happineſs of evil Men, or evil Angels, for he is not ſutable to their vitiated depraved natures. The carnal mind (which beareth ſway in unregenerate men) is enmity againſt God, and Devils are as contrary to Gods nature, as fire is to water. Hence it is, that ſpiritual men place and enjoy happineſs in the Father of Spirits, becauſe he is the ſavoury meat which their ſouls love. Though the ſinner can live upon dregs, as the ſwine on dung; yet the Saint muſt have refined Spirits, and nothing leſſe then Angels food and delights.
It is an unqueſtionable truth, that nothing can give true comfort to man, but that which hath a relation and beareth a proportion to his higheſt and nobleſt part, his immortal ſoul (for his ſenſitive faculties were created in him, to be ſubordinate and ſerviceable to their Maſter Reaſon; therefore he is excelled in them by his inferiours, as the Eagle in ſeeing, and the Hound in ſcenting; nature aiming at ſome more ſublime and excellent deſign, the perfection of the rational part, in thoſe lower particulars was leſſe exact) therefore the bleſſed God alone being a ſutable Good to the heavenly ſpiritual ſoul of man, can only ſatisfie it. Philoſophers tell us the reaſon of the irons cleaving to, and reſting in the load-ſtone, is, becauſe the pores of both bodies are alike; ſo there are effluxes and emanations that ſlide through them and unite them together. One cauſe of the Saints love to, and delight in God, is his likeneſs to God. Creatures, are earthly, the ſoul is heavenly, they are corporeal, the ſoul is ſpiritual, therefore (as when friends are contrary in diſpoſition) the ſoul cannot take up its reſt and happineſs in their fruition; but God is ſutable, and therefore ſatisfying, I am God All ſufficient, Gen. 17.1. Some derive the word Shaddai from Almighty, Alſufficient, from ſhad a dug; for as the breaſt is ſutable to the Babe nothing elſe will quiet it, ſo is God to his Children.
A man that is hungry, finds his ſtomack ſtill craving; ſomething he wants, without which he cannot be well: Give him muſick, company, pictures, houſes, honours, yet there follows no ſatisfaction (theſe are not ſutable to his appetite) ſtill his ſtomack craves; but ſet before this man ſome wholeſome food, and let him eat, & his craving is over. They did eat and were filled, O miſerabilis h…m…a cord…, & ſine Ch…iſto O…n…um omne …uod vivi… …l…e om. Epit. Nep. Tim 1. p. …5.Neh. 9.25. So it is with mans ſoul as with his body; the ſoul is full of cravings, and longings, ſpending it ſelf in ſallies out after its proper food; give it the credit and profits, and pleaſures of the world, and they cannot abate its deſire; it craves ſtill (for theſe do not anſwer the ſouls nature, and therefore cannot anſwer its neceſſity) but once ſet God before it, and it feeding on him, it is ſatisfied; its very inordinate dogged appetite after the world is now cured. He taſting this Manna, tramples on the Onions of Egypt; He that drinketh of this water, ſhall thirſt again; but he that drinketh of the water which I ſhall give him, ſhall never thirſt, John 4.