A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 25 (Question 4 cont.)
SERMON XXV.
5. IT follows that we take ſome account of the Goodneſs of God, which is another of his Vertues or glorious Perfections: which alſo hath its manifeſtations in the works of Efficiency. For, tho' God be good in himſelf, yea, Goodneſs it ſelf; yet from this Eſſential Goodneſs of his there is a Relative one, which derives to the Creature, by which it makes diſcoveries of this Perfection in him, whereby it taſtes and ſees that God is good. We may take an account of it under this Deſcription: Goodneſs is God en…l…ned to beſtow his favour; freely up…n his Creatures. We do not look upon this Attribute here, as an expreſſion of the Perfection of his Nature, which is the goodneſs of a Being, for ſo it comprizeth all his Attributes under it; nor as his own happineſs, which is the reſult of the former, and is alſo counted the goodneſs of a Being; but as a moral Vertue, according to our Conception, and ſo the Scripture often, yea, for the moſt part uſeth it: and it bears a relation to ſomething unto which it imparts it ſelf, in which Communication it is made known; hence that, Pſal. 119.68. Thou art good, and doeſt good.— We may here, 1. Make ſome general remarks on the Goodneſs of God. And, 2. Take a more particular account of the ſeveral diſcoveries which are made of it in the works …f G…d.
[1.] IN general, we may obſerve,
1. THE Subject that participates in this Goodneſs, and that is the Creature, taken Indefinitely, and Univerſally. There is no ſecond being, from the nobleſt Angel of Heaven, to the moſt deſpicable Worm in the earth, but partakes in the influence of this Attribute: the Script…re therefore is frequent in expreſſing the unbounded expreſſions of this Perfection; Pſal. 145.9. The Lord is good to all.— And, 104th is ſpent in the diſcovery of it: and for this reaſon it is, that all beings are called upon to praiſe the Lord, Pſal. 148.
2. THE matter of this Goodneſs comprehends all thoſe favours which the Creatures do partake in. Whatſoever is a benefit to the Subject of it, comes under the notion of Go…dneſs, becauſe it doth it good: and inaſmuch as whatſoever it is, or hath, comes from God, it muſt needs be a fruit and diſcovery of his Goodneſs unto it: they are therefore his Benefits that the Pſalmiſt calls on himſelf to praiſe God for, Pſal. 103.2.
3. THAT which commends this Goodneſs is, that he beſtows all theſe favours freely upon them. The Creature had no challenge of them in it ſelf; but they are every way free. There could be no antecedent Obligation lying upon God to them, no neceſſity he had of them, having done well without them through a long Eternity: nor could there be any conſequent merit in them, ſo as to deſerve any part of this Goodneſs by any thing they did for him, which could do him a kindneſs, or earn his favour; all its very Powers & Actions being fruits of this very Goodneſs, ſo that God is ſo far from owing the Creature any thanks for any ſervice, that contrary wiſe, it owes him ackowledgment and praiſe for this; 1 Chron. 29.13, 14. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and pra…ſe thy glorious name. But who am I, and what it my people, that we ſhould be able to …ffer ſo willingly after this ſort: for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. And on the account of this freedom it is, that God imparts this Goodneſs after diverſe manners, and in different degrees to his Creatures at his pleaſure, without giving them an account; and they that receive the leaſt, have more than God owed them.
4. ALL this reſults from a natural inclination in God thus to do. In Men we obſerve Actions, and that Obſervation leads us to take notice of ſome Vertues which are Principles from whence ſuch Actions flow, which by the frequency of ſuch Actions, we account to be habitually ſeated in them; after ſuch a manner we conceive of God. We may therefore by the conſideration of what highly commends Men for goodneſs, conceive ſomething of that which is ſurpaſſingly and incomparably in God: The Apoſtle ſeems to give preference to a good Man, above a righteous Man, Rom. 5.7. For ſcarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man ſome would even dare to die. Now the principal Characters of one eminently Good, are ſuch as follow, which we may ſee how they tranſcend in God.
1. HE is ready to do good to all that ask it. It is ſo natural to him, that it flows out ſpontaneouſly; it is but ask and have; there have been ſome Men commended for this; but God is ſuch an one, hence that encouragement of Chriſt, Matth. …. 7. Ask, & it ſhall be given you.— And that d…claration of the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 145 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. And he feals it with his experience, Pſal. 34.6. This p…er … cried, and the Lord heard him; and …aved him …ut of all his troubles.
2. HE is ready to do for th…m …efore he … asked. A good Man by vertue of his inclination, cannot tarry till he be ſollicited; but he looks out to ſee for ſome Objects of his bounty, enquires who ſtands in need of his favour; and it is certain, that God prevents his Creature, and beſtows innumerable kindneſſes upon it unſought; Iſa, 65.1. I am found of them that asked not for me: I am found of them that fought me not —. One would think it enough to do for them when they pray; but ſee, Iſa. 65.24. And it ſhall come to paſs, that before they call I will anſwer, and whiles they are yet ſpanking, I will bear. The Pſalmiſt did but purpoſe, Pſal. 32.5. —I ſaid I will confeſs my tranſgreſſions unto the Lord; and thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin.
3. HE doth the Creature good, tho' he hath provoked him to the contrary. A good Man will requite good for evil to a very enemy: if he, hunger he will ſeed him, &c. He will if poſſible, break his heart with kindneſs; and herein is God's Goodneſs highly celebrated, Matth. 5.45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in …co…, for be maketh his ſun to riſe on the evil and on the good, and ſendeth rain on the juſt and on the unjuſt. (Rom. 5.8.) He not only requites the Creatures Service with benignity, but lays obligations upon them, whilſt diſhonouring him, to repent and return to their Obedience; Rom. 2.4. Or deſp…ſeſt thou the riches of his goodneſs, and forbearance, and long-ſuffering, not knowing that the goodneſs of God leadeth thee to repentance?
4. HE doth good to a multitude. Goodneſs is diffuſive a good Man contents not himſelf with drawing out his Goodneſs to one or two, but would do good to all as he hath opportunity and ability; Gal. 6.10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men—. And truly all Creatures, as innumerable as they are, receive the largeſſes of God's Goodneſs; Pſal. 145.15. The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou giveſt them their meat in due ſeaſon. For this reaſon he is compared to the Sun, (Pſal. 84.11.) which imparts its light to the whole earth: and to a Fountain, (Jer. 2.17.) which ſends forth its ſtreams far and near.
5. HE is unwearied in it. A good Man is not tired out; his natural inclination maintains in him a readineſs to be multiplying acts of Beneficence; ſuch is God, like the Sun, which is never weary of travelling about the earth, but is as a giant in it, Pſal. 19.4. Like a fountain which runs as full to day as it did yeſterday, and beſtows its ſtreams with as much freedom.
6. HE delights in it. Connatural acts are pleaſant: the Sun rejoiceth to run his race. Good Men are never better ſatisfied, than in imparting their Goodneſs: and God takes delight in being kind to his Creatures; Mic. 7.18. — He delighteth in mercy. He is as we may ſay, in his Element. It is one thing wherein he exalts his glory; and in all theſe reſpects the goodneſs of the Creature is but a poor dark ſhadow of his, as will be exemplified in the things that follow Hence,
[2.] LET us take a more particular account of the ſeveral diſcoveries which are to be made of this Goodneſs, in the works of God. And theſe may be reduced to two heads. G…ſs Goodneſs may be confidered, 1. As it relates to his Creatures in ge…eral. 2. As it diſcovers it ſelf to fallen Man in particular.
(1.) THE Goodneſs of God may be conſidered as it relates to the Creatures in general. We have obſerved that it is Univerſal, and there are none exempted from it; and therefore all beings do abundantly declare it: and we may trace the footſtep… of it thro' all God's works of Efficiency, both of Creation and Providence.
1. IN the works of Creation. We read, Gen. 1. ult. that all the things which God created were good, yea, very good: ſuch they were as they came newly out of his hands: and there are ſeveral tokens of his Goodneſs here, which deſerve an Ancriſm.
1. IT was Goodneſs that made, of gave, being to the Creature. The ſecond being is the proper iſſue and product of Goodneſs as well as Power. Goodneſs is accounted to be one of the prime affections of being; meerly to be, is in Nature better than not to be, now the Creature had it being from God, Acts 17.28. it once was not. and had never had been, if his Fiat had not given Entity to it.
2. THAT he made it for an end which it was to ſerve unto. Philoſophy tells us, that the end and goodneſs of a thing are convertible; a thing had as good not to be, as to be to no, uſe on purpoſe: and the goodneſs of a thing is proportionable to the end it ſerveth to: that therefore God made the Creature for an end, and no leſs than his own Glory, as, Prov. 16.4. The Lord hath made all things for himſelf (Rev. 4.11.) ſets forth his great Goodneſs to it.
3. THAT he put into the Creature a fitneſs or Capacity, of ſerving to their end, in their place. To have made a thing for an end: which it could never have attained, had been to make it in vain. The habitual goodneſs of any thing, is its uſefulneſs to the purpoſe it is deſigned for; and ſo far as it is uſefull, ſo far it is good. Now this was the goodneſs which God ſaw in all his works, and they had it from him; his Wiſdom contrived, and his Power effected it, and the effect it ſelf is his Goodneſs. There is no Creature but hath its uſe.
4. THAT he put the Creation into ſuch an Order or harmony; whereby every Creature is made nextly capable of ſerving to its end in its place. Without this, the habitual goodneſs of the Creature could not have ſutably exerted it ſelf; ſome Creatures are to ſerve God in ſerving their fellow-Creatures, others are to ſerve him in improving of theſe for his Glory; hence every thing was ſet in its place: there is a Concatenation, Hoſ. 2.21, 22. I will hear, ſaith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they ſhall hear the earth, &c. And thus did the Goodneſs of God impart it ſelf to the whole, in its ſeveral parts.
5. THIS Goodneſs hath expreſs it: ſelf more to ſome Creatures, than it hath done to others. Though God's Goodneſs as it is in him is infinite, yet in the Effect of it, it is diſpenſed variouſly to the Creature; hence ſome are more indebted to him than others, becauſe he hath imparted more to them. For,
1. SOME Creatures have a more noble and excellent Nature than others. As there are orders of Being, ſo there are degrees of excellency. A plant is more excellent than a ſtone, a ſenſible Creature hath greater perfections than a vegetative, and a reaſonable Creature is more noble than all theſe, Job 35.11.
2. HENCE ſome are capable of a more noble kind of Service than others. Some Beings were made to ſerve God in ſerving of Man. But Man was made more directly & immediately for the ſervice of God. Some Beings were to ſerve God paſſively, not being capable of actually deſigning his Glory; whereas Man was to ſerve him all nelly, being made a Cauſe by counſel of all his Actions.
3. SOME Creatures were made to be only temporary, and then to have an end forever, as to the individual Being which they had, others were made for Eternity, and conſequently capable of ſerving God world without end: Such were Angels and Men in particular.
4. SOME were made capable of happineſs in their attaining of their End, which others are altogether incapable of enjoying, it being a ſtate incompatible to their natures. A Beaſt cannot be happy, nor a Star, but a Men may. Theſe therefore had more of Divine Goodneſs imparted to them, and are therefore under the ſtronger Obligations.
2 IN the works of Providence. Herein the Goodneſs of God makes eminent diſplays of it ſelf, and that both to the Creation univerſally, and to Man particularly.
1. HIS Goodneſs is great towards the Creation univerſally. All Creatures partake in his Providential Goodneſs, all kinds of Creatures, and that individually too; and there are two things eſpecially in which it appears:
1. IN the Suſtentation which he affords unto them. The whole Creation is a dependent thing; the Creature now made cannot ſtand alone, but muſt be held up: as it had its Being of nothing, ſo that Being would retire into nothing again, if he did not uphold it by the right hand of his Power; the Divine manutenency is a continued Creation, it is that which keeps things in their Exiſtence, and conſerves their Eſſence: ſhould God for one moment withdraw this hand of his, or pluck it from underneath the ſecond Being, it would in that very moment ſink into the abyſs of non-entity, and ſuffer an entire Annihilation; Heb. 1.3.— Upholding all things by the word of his power—. If therefore it be a fruit of Goodneſs to be, it muſt needs be Goodneſs that affords continuation to that Being.
2. IN the Care which he uſeth to provide for his Creatures preſervation. Both the ſupplies themſelves, and the influence by which they are efficacious to the attaining this end, flow from this Goodneſs of God. The Creature is a ſhiftleſs thing, nor is its good in its own hands; without ſupply it would ſoon periſh. The very inſtinct by which irrational things purvey for themſelves, is of him; but that is not all; it is he that keeps the wheels of ſecond Cauſes on going, ſo that proviſion is continually made for the maintenance of the Creatures; and he it is that brings it to them when thus provided. He is the Father of this great Family, and that he ſees not only to the ſupply of ſome more excellent members of it, but of the leaſt and moſt deſpicable, ſo that no one is forgotten, commends his univerſal Goodneſs to us; Pſal. 104.27, 28. Theſe wait all upon thee: that thou may… give there their next in due ſeaſon. That thou giveſt them, they gather: that openeſt thine bund, they are filled with good. Even the ravens, yea, the young ravens are thus lookt after by him, Pſal. 147.9. Jah 38. ult. All this is by his opening his liberal hand, Pſal. 145.26.
2. THIS more peculiarly diſcovers it ſelf in the Providence which be exerciſeth towards Man in particular. And I ſhall only point at two or three paſſages which concerned Man before his fearfull Apoſtaſy; for what refers to fallen Man, will tall under the next head of evidence. Hen then God commended his Goodneſs to Man ſpecially in three things:
1. IN that he gave … a Command over his fellow-Creatures, and a liberty to make uſe of them for his good. Man's Dominion was at firſt founded in God's Goodneſs; that excellent Charter which God granted to him at firſt, recorded in, Gen. 1.28, 29. —Have decition over the fiſt of the ſea, and ever the ſoul of the air, end over every living thing that …veth upon the earth. And God ſaid, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing ſeed—, was a token of his kindneſs: Man's right properly derived from this donation, theſe Creatures were God's property originally, and not Man's till he gave them to him; and how much of benignity there was in it, and how much Man was brought under obligation to God by it, the Pſalmiſt takes notice of with admiration, Pſal. 8. Hereby he had both an honourable, and a liberal maintenance beſtowed upon him, and as much of good as there was in the things, ſo much did God's Goodneſs expreſs it ſelf to him.
2. IN that he gave him a Law to direct him in his reaſonable ſerving of him. Other Creatures were to be govern'd by inſtinct, but Man was a Cauſe by counſel, and muſt have a Rule to conform himſelf to, elſe he muſt have lived in vain: God gave him a Law in his good Will, and accommodated it every way ſuitable to his nature, and there was nothing in it, but what was holy, juſt & good, Rom. 9.14. Now the Goodneſs of the Law given, muſt needs reſult from, and give evidence to the Goodneſs of the Lawgiver; Neh. 9.13. Thou—gaveſt them —good ſtatutes —.
3. IN that he promiſed them glorious Rewards of their Obedience. The firſt Covenant is ſaid to be of Works, becauſe the Promiſe was annexed to the condition of Man's perſonal Obedience, not becauſe that Obedience had a valuable proportion to the recompence. It was free Goodneſs, that ſecured to Man in the Covenant, a conſtant life of Happineſs, on the ſuppoſal of a faithfull diſcharge of the Duty required of him. Man owed himſelf to God, but God owed nothing to him, till he had voluntarily by promiſe made himſelf a debtor: It was therefore incomparable Goodneſs that ſtood bound to do ſuch great things for Man.
USE. WE may hence take notice bro… vile and …irrible a thing Men's Apoſtaſy was; and how deeply the conſideration of it ought to ban…e as all that had an hand in it. No affronts are more bruitiſh and inhumane, than ſuch as are offered to Goodneſs. The very Heathen could ſay, S…lagrat…m dixeris, omnia dixiſti. Ingratitude is the moſt unreaſonable thing; and indeed, there is not a more convincing and aſhaming conſideration to be put on any Sin, to make as bluſh and be even confounded at the thoughts of it than to reflect upon, and upbraid ourſelves with the thought of the ſtrong cords by which the Goodneſs of God hath bound us to him, all whereof muſt needs be ſnapt aſunder by us, before we can adventure to Sin againſt him.
WOULD we then obtain to abbot our ſelves in duſt and aſhes for any Sin, let us be much in contemplation of the innumerable paſſages of Gods Goodneſs, by which he had engaged us to the contrary.
[DECEMBER 3. 1689.]