God a Christians Choice, Chapter 3 – Chapter 4
CHAP. III. The ſecond thing opened, viz. Why we are to chuſe God to be ours.
HAving diſpatched, and cleared the firſt thing in the Explication, we go on to the ſecond. viz. Why it is the higheſt Duty of Chriſtianity, to chuſe God to be ours.
In general this is the only reaſon; becauſe God is only Good; and this I ſhall branch out into theſe three particulars.
1. God is the chiefeſt Good.
2. God is a communicative Good.
3. God is the only ſatisfying Good.Summum Bonum
Firſt, God is the chiefeſt, and beſt Good that can be, an undoubted Maxim, God is all Good, and all Good is in God; nothing is Good without God, and there … thing Good to be found ou… … he is infinitely good, and no perſon or thing is good but God, Luk. 18.19. and this we know to be true in nature, that good is the proper object of the choice. Nothing is choſen but as far as it is Good, or appears to be ſo; if a man chuſe that which is not really good, it is meerly from the miſapprehenſion of the object; for men do not chuſe that which is evil, asevil, but as it ſeems, or as it appears to be good; their apprehenſion of it to be good, provokes to a deſire and choice of it. And he that knows God to be the chiefeſt Good, he it is that will chuſe him above all to himſelf; the ſame David that ſaid of God thou art Good, Pſal. 119.68. the ſa…e David ſaid alſo, thou art my Lord, Pſal. 16.2. Pſal. 4.6. Many will ſay, who will ſhew us any Good? that is worldly Good, becauſe they know no better; but Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance, &c. to this ſuits the Etymology, of the Greek word*foreign a duc…d…, quia duc & allicit nos ad ſui expetitionem, Mag. in Ariſt. … vel, foreign i.e. valde currendo, quia ad bonu… valde currimus i. e. Expetimus. I eigh Crit ſac. foreign for good. Some take it as coming from a word which ſignifieth to draw, becauſe it doth draw effectually to the deſire of it, and others derive it from a word which ſignifieth running, becauſe when once the Soul hath the apprehenſion of it, it will run ſwiftly after it; now God being the only real and chief God, he is the chief deſire of every Soul that knows and apprehends him to be ſo.
Secondly, God is a Communicative Good, and ſo he is not choſen only for the Good that is in himſelf, (though chiefly therefore); but for the good that is communicated, and diffuſed daily from him unto us. The ſame David that ſaid, thou art my Lord, ſaid alſo, in the ſame Pſal. 16. The Lord is my portion; further he ſaid too, thou art Good, and thou doſt Good, Pſal. 119. This ſeems to be ſomething of kin to that ſpeech of Jacob expreſſing his choice of God. Gen. 28. If the Lord will give me but bread to eat, and raiment to put on, the Lord ſhall be my God; and that is the mea…ſt of all theſe good things: and if Jacob will take God for his upon ſuch low terms, what ſhould we do? what obligations do lie upon us to chuſe him, who gives us Life, Breath, Being, Grace and Glory and all?
Thirdly, He is the only ſatisfying Good, therefore is he to be choſen; ſuch a Good that will fill up the whole affection, and all the defires of the Soul, and nothing will ſatisfy it but God: the Soul till it come to God is never ſatisfied, nor at reſt, no more than the Dove that fled from Noah's Ark, till it returned thither again. All created Goods are not ſatisfying Goods; though the Soul be a finite being, yet the deſires be infinite, and therefore whatſoever it chuſeth and reſteth in, it will not be ſatisfyed, till it come to God who is infinite. Pſal. 63.1. My Soul thirſteth for thee, yea my fleſh longeth for thee, — 2. to ſee thy power and thy glory: When it enjoys God, then it ſays as he, ver. 5. My Soul is ſatisfyed as with Marrow and Fatneſs — ver. 6. when I remember thee on my bed, &c. It is God's mercy and goodneſs alone, that can ſatisfy which way ſoever it comes, whether he communicates it mediately by his Ordinances, here on Earth, or immediately from himſelf in heaven: Here in his ordinances, Pſal. 65.4. Bleſſed is the man whom thou chuſeſt, and cauſeſt to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy Courts, he ſhall be ſatisfied with the Goodneſs of thy houſe, &c. O ſatisfy us early with thy mercy. Pſal. 90.14. I will ſatiate the Soul of the Prieſts with fatneſs, and my people ſhall be ſatisfled with Goodneſs, ſaith the Lord, Jer. 31.14. ſo hereafter, when I awake (in the morning of the reſurrection) I ſhall be ſatisfyed with thy likeneſs; ſaith David, Pſal. 17.15. other things ſatisfy not, riches will not ſatisfie, the eye is not ſatisfied with riches. Eccleſ. 4.8. He that loveth ſilver ſhall not be ſatisfyed with ſilver, nor he that loveth abundance. Eccl. 5.10. The great plea with which the Lord Jeſus Chriſt Expoſtulateth with Souls is Iſa. 55.2. Why do you ſpend your money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which ſatisfieth not? It is God and he alone is the Souls only ſatisfaction, therefore chuſe him.
Before I paſs to the uſe, I ſhall for the further evident proof of this that God is the only Soul-ſatisfying Good, propoſe to you the Experience of two perſons, who found ſuch ſatisfaction in God, even in this life, that it might be effectual to draw our affections to chuſe him above all to our ſelves. And the one is of Mr. John Welch, a Scotch Miniſter, who beſides his continued enjoyment of Communion with God, eſpecially,*The fulfilling of the Script. P. 429. During his Sickneſs, was ſo filled, and overcome with the ſenſible enjoyment of God, that he was ſometime overheard in prayer, to have theſe words. Lord, holdthy hand, It is enough, thy ſervant is a clay-veſſel, and can hold no more; ſuch large manifeſtations he had of God to his Soul, which gave him full ſatisfaction.
And*Xaverius clamabat, ſ… tis eſt Domine, ſatis eſt; nec enim mens mea in hac vitat antum gaudiorum pondus capit, A. Lap. in Cant. 2.3. Another ſaid, It is enough Lord, it is enough: my Soul is not able to receive, ſuch an exceeding weight of joys in this liſe. Do not theſe words of theſe perſons evidently declare, the abundant Satisfaction that is to be had in God, even here? beſides that fulneſs of joy and Satisfaction that there is to be had in him, and from him, in the liſe to come? there is then Satisfaction to be had in God, and who would not chuſe ſuch a God as this is?
CHAP. IV. The Application entred on; firſt Uſe of Information.
The Truth being cleared and conſirmed, the next thing that follows is, the putting of it to a due uſe & improvement in our lives and practices.
Uſe 1. Information.
Ʋſe 1. Inform.This doth diſcover to us, the great and indiſpenſible duty of all men, even of all people that mean to be happy; Eſpecially of all that profeſs themſelves to be the people of God, and that is to chuſe God to be theirs. How hard a matter it is to be perſwaded to it, or convinced of the neceſſity of it! this is the great queſtion you are to put to your Souls, have I yet choſen God to be mine? Reader, what doſt thou ſay in this Caſe? What anſwer doth thine heart give, to this moſt important query propoſed? Have you yet choſen God to be yours or not? Oh Chriſtians! if I might be but inſtrumental in this great Work, in cauſing your hearts and affections to embrace and chuſe God, what a work would this be! It is a very hard matter to be made to believe any of theſe truths, that God is ſo infinitely good in himſelf, and Satisfactorily good to the ſouls of his people, and therefore eminently to be choſen by them; but believe it every one, thou art not a Chriſtian indeed, thou art not, cauſt not be happy, till thou haſt choſen God to be thine. What is it to be baptized, and to have an outward profeſſion, if thou art not, and will not come up to this, to have and chuſe God to be thine, to take God to be thine own? Canſt thou be a godly man that hath not choſen God to be thy God? It's an impoſſible thing that a man ſhould be Godly, that hath nothing to do with God. Is not a Godly man named from God? Here is the eſſence of Chriſtianity: and there is no real Chriſtianity (whatſoever the profeſſion be) till this be done. Do not you be ſo fooliſh, as to content your ſelves with the paint of Religion and ſeeming to be Chriſtians, if you have not taken God to be yours, you have nothing to do with him, and you are not Chriſtians indeed. That man that hath not choſen God for his God, hath not yet learned the firſt Commandment in a practical way. What is that? Why, Thou ſhalt have no other gods before me, Exod. 20. and ſo he is no ſervant of God: this commands thee to chuſe God to be thy God, and him only, and art thou a Chriſtian, that art not practically come up to, much leſs taken out the very firſt rule in the Law of God? I dare ſay thou dareſt not ſay it.