The Incomparableness of God, Treatise · Chapter 25
CHAP. XXV. 2. Ex. To chooſe this incomparable God for our portion; with ſome Motives thereunto.
2. IF this God be ſuch an incomparable God, then chooſe this God for thy portion, and take him for thy happineſs. Is it poſſible for thee to read ſo much of the incomparableneſs of God in his Being, Attributes, Works, and Word, and not deſire him? Thou canſt hardly ſee an excellent perſon, but thou art wiſhing him for thy Friend, thy Companion; nor an excellent Eſtate, but thou art wiſhing it were thine Inheritance, thy portion; and canſt thou hear of him who is excellency it ſelf originally, Job 13.11. the ſpring and ſtandard of all excellency in others, whoſe name alone is excellent, Pſal. 14.13. and not wiſh, O that this incomparable God were my Friend, my Father, my Head, my Husband, my Lot, my Portion? Who will give me to drink of the water of the Well of Bethlehem? O who will help me to drink of the well of Salvation, of the fountain of living waters, of the pure River that floweth from the throne of God, and the Lamb? Canſt thou hear ſo much of his worth (though infinitely ſhort) and not deſire him? Is it poſſible for a rational creature to read of ſuch a bottomleſs treaſure, of ſuch boundleſs pleaſure, of ſuch an infinite unconceivable good, and not covet the enjoyment of it? O man, where are thy wits? whither art thou fallen? art thou a man or a beaſt? Ah didſt thou know the gift of God, and what it is that is offered thee, thou wouldſt ſcorn the higheſt honours, ſweeteſt carnal delights, greateſt riches, yea, trample upon all the Crowns and Kingdoms of this world for it. It's an ineffable priviledge that thou art a creature capable of ſo vaſt an happineſs, it's a ſpecial favour that thou haſt leave to aſpire after ſuch an immenſe inheritance; and when its tender'd to thee, wilt thou refuſe it? wilt thou neglect it? O wilt thou not give it all acceptation?
Having ſpoken in another Treatiſe to this particular, I ſhall here only offer two or three things to thy ſerious thoughts, and proceed to a third exhortation.
1. Conſider, what is offer'd thee, when the incomparable God is offered thee for thy portion. And truly, to explain this head fully, would require the Pen, yea, exceed the skil of an Angel. None can tell what God is, but God himſelf. All the ſheets in the explication of the Doctrine ſpeak ſomwhat of him, but not the thouſand thouſandth part of that excellency that is in him. Reader, I may tell thee, when God is offered thee, the greateſt good that ever was, that ever will be, that ever can be, is offered thee; there never was, or can be, the like offer'd thee; more than Heaven and Earth, than both Worlds, than Millions of Worlds, is offered thee. This God who is offered thee, is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the God of Gods, the bleſſed and glorious Potentate, the firſt Cauſe, the original Being, Self-ſufficient, All-ſufficient, abſolutely perfect, uncapable of any addition or diminution. This God who is offer'd thee, is the high and lofty one, that inhabiteth eternity every moment, to whom a thouſand years, yea millions of Ages are but as one day, as one moment, whoſe duration is uncapable of the leaſt acceſſion, who is boundleſs in his being, omnipotent in his power, unſearchable in his wiſdom, unconceivable in his grace, and infinite in all his perfections. He dwelleth in that light that is inacceſſible; before him Angels, the higheſt of creatures, vail their faces; to him the whole Creation is leſs than nothing and vanity. This God who is offered thee made all things of nothing, ſupports all things, influenceth all things, and is all things, and infinitely more than all things. He is ſo needful a good, that thou art undone without him. This was the miſery of the Heathen on earth, Eph. 2.12. and of the damned in Hell, Math. 25.41. the very Hell of Hell. He is ſo plentiful a good that thou art perfectly happy in him, Pſal. 144. ult. thou needeſt no more. He is the Heaven of Heavens, Pſal. 16. ult. the ſafeſt refuge. O Friend, what doſt thou think of having this God for thy portion? Is it not worth the while to have this God for thy God? wilt thou not ſay, Foraſmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great: Who would not fear thee, O King of Nations? Jer. 10.6, 7. Again, the God who is offered thee, is the Well of Salvation, the Lord of life, the God of all conſolation, an Hive of ſweetneſs, a Paradice of pleaſure, an Heaven of joy. He is the richeſt grace, the deareſt love, the ſureſt friend, the higheſt honour, the vaſteſt treaſure, the exacteſt beauty, the chiefeſt good, and the fulleſt felicity. He is one that can enlarge and ſute all thy faculties, relieve and anſwer all thy neceſſities, fill up and ſatisfie all the capacities of thine Heaven-born ſoul. God is a good which Chriſt died to purchaſe for thee, Eph. 2.13. 1 Pet. 3.18. And ſurely if Chriſt thought him worth his blood, he is worthy thine acceptance. God is a comprehenſive univerſal good, not one, but all good, Riches, Honours, Pleaſures, Friends, Relations, Health, Life, Earth, Heaven, this World, the other World, all the good of both Worlds, and infinitely more; and art thou not covetous of ſuch wealth that is better worth than both worlds? Philip. 4.19. Pſal. 23.1. Gen. 17.1. God is an everlaſting good, a good that will ſtand by thee, and abide with thee when all other good things ſhall fail thee, 1 Tim. 6.7. Pſal. 73.25. He is that good which thou wouldſt have if thou art well in thy wits: he is that good which thou ſhouldſt have if thou anſwereſt the end of thy Creation; he is that good which thou muſt have, if thou art not eternally miſerable; He is the only ſuitable ſatisfying good, which hits the nature, and fits the deſire of the rational creature. O Reader, I ſay again, what doſt thou think of having this incomparable God for thy God? Surely by this time thy heart may well melt into aſtoniſhment, that he will allow thee to ſeek ſo matchleſs a portion. Well, what ſayeſt thou to him? Is it not worth the while to have him for thine, to whom thou wilt call in the day of diſtreſs, to whom thou wilt cry in a dying hour, when thy Soul ſtands quivering on thy lips, ready to take its flight into the unknown Regions of the other world, when Devils will be waiting to ſeize it, as ſoon as ever it leaves the body, to hale it to the unquenchable flames of hell, when thy Friends and Relations ſhall be weeping and wailing by thee, but unable to afford thy dying body the leaſt Cordial, or thy departing ſoul the leaſt Comfort. Ah friend, what wilt thou do in ſuch an hour, which is haſtening on thee, without the incomparable God? Believe it, though thou mayeſt live without him, thou canſt not dye (without an infinite horror) without him. Is it not worth the while to have him for thine, to whom thou muſt ſtand or fall for ever, from whoſe mouth thy ſentence of eternal abſolution or condemnation muſt come, and who ſhall judge thee to thine unchangeable ſtate of life or death? though thou mayeſt think thou canſt do well enough at this day with the world for thy portion; yet what wilt thou do at that day, when the world ſhall be in a flame, if God be not thy portion? Art thou willing or not, to have this God for thine? What ſayeſt thou? Canſt thou find in thine heart to deprive thy precious ſoul of ſuch an ineſtimable treaſure, and to leave it naked in the other world to the cruelty of Devils, and the dreadful curſes of the Law? Methinks, though I have ſpoken little, yet I have ſaid enough (to one that will but let his reaſon judge) to draw out thy moſt earneſt deſires after this incomparable God.
2. Conſider upon what terms thou mayſt have this God for thy God. You may poſſibly think that ſo boundleſs a good muſt coſt you very dear, and the price muſt be vaſt of a pearl that is ſo matchleſs: but lo, to thy comfort, all the condition which God requireth of thee, is only to accept him heartily and thankfully in his Son. Canſt thou have any thing cheaper? wouldſt thou deſire him in his terms to fall lower? nay is it poſſible ſo to do, and make thee happy? Nor can he be thine unleſs thou receiveſt him for thine. It's a poor favour that is not worth acceptance. Do but take him for your happineſs, and you ſhall have him for your happineſs.
Thou giveſt more for thy bread, thy cloaths, thy houſe, for the needful comforts that are for the ſupport of thy frail body, than thou needeſt give for the great glorious incomprehenſible incomparable God. Thou payeſt money for them, but thou mayſt have him without money and without price. One would think that the equity of the condition ſhould both amaze thee and allure thee. Conſider, I ſay, God doth not require of thee things impoſſible to thee; he doth not ſay, if thou wilt remove Mountains, dry up Oceans, ſtop the courſe of Nature, create worlds, I will then be thine, as great as I am; He doth not ſay, if thou wilt ſatisfie my juſtice, anſwer the demands of my law, merit my love and favour, then I will be thy God; No, he himſelf hath done all this for thee by the death of his Son: All he deſireth is, that thou wouldſt accept him in his Son for thy God. Nay, he doth not require of thee any thing that is barbarous or cruel, as the heathen Deities did (by the Devil) of their worſhipers. He doth not ſay, if you will lance and mangle your bodies, as Baals Prieſts did; if ye will go bare-foot in Sackcloth long and tedious pilgrimages, as the Papiſts do; if ye will offer your children in the fire, and give the fruit of your bodies for the ſins of your ſouls, as ſome did, then I will be your God. Again, he doth not require of thee things that are chargeable, to offer the beſt and chief of thy flock daily in ſacrifice to him; nor as he once did of the young man, to ſell all that thou haſt, and give it to the poor; nor as Idolaters, to lay down ſuch a part of thy eſtate for thy pardon: but he only requires that thou wouldeſt take the Lord for thy God; and wilt thou not do it? Canſt thou deny him and thy poor ſoul ſo reaſonable, ſo equitable a requeſt? As the ſervant ſaid to Naaman, If the Prophet had commanded thee ſome great thing, wouldeſt not thou have done it? how much more then when he only ſaith, waſh, and be clean? So ſay I to thee; If God had commanded the greateſt things imaginable, wouldeſt thou not to thy power have done them, that thou mightſt enjoy the bleſſed God for thy eternal portion? how much more then when he only ſaith, Thou ſhalt have no other God before me? O Reader, do but obſerve that firſt Command, which contains the ſum both of thy duty and felicity, and thou art made, thou art a bleſſed man for ever. Take the true God in Jeſus Chriſt for thy God, prize him as thy God, love him as thy God, Honour him as thy God, and obey him as thy God, and he will be thy God for ever. Do but as much for the true God, as the covetous man doth for his wealth, which is his God; as the intemperate man for his belly, which is his God; they give their higheſt eſteem, their choiceſt affections, and their greateſt ſervice to that which they take for their God. And ſurely, the true God is more worthy hereof, and will requite thee beſt for them.
3. Conſider, For what end God offereth himſelf to thee. I would not have thee miſtake, becauſe God out of his infinite pity to his miſerable creatures, is inſtant and urgent with them to accept of him, to think therefore that God hath any need of thee, or ſeeketh his own happineſs therein; I tell thee, if thou hadſt no more need of God than he hath of thee, thou mayſt let him alone: No, it's purely for thy good, for thy real and eternal good that he offereth himſelf to thee: he needeth thy ſervice no more than he doth the ſervice of the damned, of the devils, and he knoweth how to make uſe of thee for his own glory, as he doth of them, if thou fooliſhly rejecteſt his offer of himſelf. Thy righteouſneſs will not help him, Job 22.2, 3. nor thy wickedneſs hurt him, Job 35.2. He offereth himſelf to thee, not that he may be bleſsed by thee, but that he may be bountiful to thee. It's thy good, not his own, that he looks at; the felicity of accepting him is thine own, and the miſery of neglecting him is thine own, Prov. 9.12. Men call cuſtomers to them, preſs them with many arguments and intreaties to buy, that they may inrich themſelves by their cuſtomers; but God calls men to buy of him, not to inrich himſelf, (He is as rich and perfect and happy as he can be) but to inrich themſelves, I counſel thee (ſaith Chriſt to his luke-warm Church) to buy of me gold, (why, that he may get ſomewhat by her, and enrich himſelf? No) that thou mayst be rich; that thou (not I) mayſt be rich. Now Reader, ponder it ſeriouſly, it is wholly for thy own good, that thou mayſt eſcape wrath and death, and attain heaven and life, that God is pleaſed once more to offer himſelf to thee. What is thy mind about his offer? Wilt thou have him for thy portion, or no? Is there any thing unreaſonable in his deſire or demands? Doth not thy eternal felicity depend on thine acceptance of him? What ſayſt thou? Wilt thou have God for thy portion, or wilt thou have the Devil for thy portion? Thou ſhalt have an eternal portion, good or bad. The worldlings portion of good things is but for this world, and the godly mans portion of evil things is but for this world: Both have immortal ſouls, which will abide in the other world for ever; and their ſouls muſt have immortal portions to abide with them there for ever. Therefore, Reader, conſider what thou doeſt, either thou muſt take God in and through Chriſt for thy portion for ever, or hell and death and wrath and Devils for thy portion for ever: One of the two is the portion of all the ſons and daughters of Adam. If thou wilt ſtill prefer the world before God and love the creature above God, and pleaſe thy fleſh more than God; when once thou appeareſt in the other world, God will rain on thee fire and brimſtone, and an horrible tempeſt, this will be the portion of thy cup, Pſal. 11.6. But if now thou accepteſt him in his Son (for there is no making God thy friend, but by Chriſt) for thy chiefeſt good and happineſs, when all thy friends ſhall leave thee, and deareſt relations forſake thee, yea when thy fleſh and thy heart ſhall fail thee, God will be the ſtrength of thine heart, and thy portion for ever. O friend, conſider what I have ſaid in this Uſe, and the Lord give thee underſtanding, that thou mayſt know when thou art well offered, and be wiſe on this ſide the other world.