Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_088.TXT

Text File | 1994-07-15 | 7KB | 136 lines

88

OF THE BLESSEDNESS OF GOD.

Boosz I.

he bestows on them here, he has laid up such goodness
for thetn hereafter, which the heart of man cannot con-
ceive of. How blessed and happy then must he himself
be! name whatsoever it may be thought happiness con-
sists in, and it will be found in God in its full perfection.
Does it lie in grandeur and dominion? with God is ter-
rible majesty; he is the blessed and only potentate;
his kingdom rules over all, and is an everlasting one.
Does it lie in wealth and riches? The gold is mine, and
the silver is mine, saith the Lord, Hag. ii. 8. all the gold
and silver in the world, that, and all the fulness of it, are
his; the riches of both Indies are his property; the mines
and metals of the earth, the fowls of the heaven, the
beasts of the field, and "the cattle on a thousand hills,"
in the latter of which the substance of men formerly lay,
Psalm xxiv. 1. and 1.10, 11, 12. Does it lie in wisdom
and knowledge, where Solomon sought for happiness,
and had of all men the greatest share of it ? these are
in God in the highest perfection; O the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God .t Rom.
xi. 33. Does it lie in might, power, and strength, as
Samson's excellency did ? God is mighty iu strength: if
I speak of strength, says Job, lo, he is strong; there is
no strength nor power comparable to his; Who is a
strong Lord like unto thee? Job ix. 4, 19. Psalm lxxxix.
8. Does it lie in pleasure; in which also Solomon
sought for it, but found it not ? In the presence of God
is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures f Or
evermore, Psalm xvi. 11. and if such as to make his
creatures happy, angels and men, then certainly to make
himself happy also. Does it lie in fame, in credit, and
the high esteem of others? How excellent is the name
of God in all the earth! his works praise him, his saints
bless him, angels celebrate his glory; yea, his glory is
above the heavens; his name is great from the rising of
the sun to the going down of the same.
To happiness knowledge is necessary; whatever ex-
cellencies may be in creatures, if they know them not,
they are not happy in them. Hence happiness is denied
of brutes; for though there are many things which they
excel in, as strength, swiftness, &c. as the horse and the
mule, yet being without understanding, are not happy:
but God knows all the excellencies and perfections in
his nature; there is no searching of his understanding,
and therefore most happy. That happiness is the greatest
which is independent; the happiness of angels and men
is dependent on God; they have nothing but what they
have received, and therefore cannot glory, as though they
received it not; and this is a restraint upon, and a li-
mitation of their happiness: but the happiness of God
is infinite and independent; of him, and through him,
and for him, are all things, Rom. xi. 56. Add to all this,
that his blessedness endures for ever; he is God blessed
for ever, from everlasting to everlasting: could his hap-
piness cease, or be known that it would, it wotdd de-
tract frotn it, even for the present; but this can no more
cease than his Being.
Secondly, What may serve further to prove and il-
lustrate the blessedness of God is, that he is the cause
of all blessedness in Iris creatures, angels and men.
Angels have their beings from him; it is he that has
made them the spirits they are, and what excellencies,
as of wisdom, knowledge, strength, &c. they have, are all

from him; that they are chosen in Christ, and confirmed
by grace in him, see the face of God, and enjoy his fa-
vour, in which their greatest blessedness lies, all flow
from his s'overeign wfil and pleasure. The temporal
happiness of men is from him; that they have a'being,
are preserved in it, and have all the necessaries and
comforts of life; taht they are. blessed in basket and
store; that they have health and wealth, and an increase
in their families, flocks, and herds; on account of which
it behoves them to say, Blessed be the Lord, w/to daily
loadeth us with benefits, Psalm lxviii. 19. Their spiritual
blessings come from him, who is himself their covenant-
God and Father, the chief of their blessings, and there'
fore cannot want any good thing, nor need fear any evil
they have Christ, and all the blessings of goodness with
him; the Spirit, and all his graces, faith, hope, and love,
 joy and peace; the blessings of pardoning grace, and a
[justifying righteousness, and in which their blessedness
I greatly lies, and from whence peace and comfort flow,
{ Rom. iv. 6, 7, 8. and v. 1, 11. They are blessed also
[with the word and ordinances; which are the means of
increasing grace,. and spiritual peace; and hereafter will
be blessed with eternal happiness; with the blessed hope,
or the blessedness laid up in heaven, they are hoping
for, which they enter upon at death, and enjoy to all
eternity. Now if such blessedness comes from God,
how blessed must he be in himself!
Thirdly, God is his own blessedness; it is wholly
within himself and of himself; he receives none from
without himself, or from his creatures; nothing that can
add to his happiness; and he himself is the blessedness
of his creatures, who are made happy by him; whose
blessedness lies in likeness to him; which is began in
this life, in regeneration; when new-born souls are made
partakers of the divine nature, is increased by sights of
the glory of God in Christ, and will be perfected in the
future state, when they shall awake in his likeness, and
bear his image in a more perfect manner: and also it lies
in communion with God; it is the happiness of saints
now, and what they exult in, when they enjoy it, that
their fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus
Christ; and it will be the blessedness of the new Je
rusalem state, that the tabernacle of God will be with
men, and he will dwell with them; and of the ultimate
glory the saints shall then have, everlasting and unin-
terrupted communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, and
partake of endless pleasures in the divine presence: and
it will, moreover, lie in the vision of God; which, be-
cause of the happiness of it, is usually called the beatific
vision; when they shall "see God for themselves, and
not another ;" see him as he is in Christ, and behold the
glory of Christ; see no more darkly through a glass, but
face to face, and know as they are known. Wherefore,
Fourthly, God is pronounced, declared, and owned
to be blessed, by all his creatures; hence the frequent
form of blessing him used, Blessed be the Lord God,
&c. Gen. ix. o.6. Psalm lxxii. 18. Luke i. 68. Eph. i. 3.
Thus he is blessed by angels, who, as they are called upon
to bless him, do ascribe honour, glory, and blessing to
him, Psalm ciii. 20. Rev. v. l 1, 12. and vii. 11, l2. and by
the saints, who call upon their souls, and all within them,
to bless his holy name tbr all benefits bestowed npon
them, Psalm ciii. 1, 2., 3. and cxlv. 10.  Which is done,