Part 27
This doctrine appeared in full evidence, while we considered the three chief ingredients of true felicity, _viz._ the contemplation of the noblest object, to satisfy all the powers of the understanding, the love of the supreme good, to answer the utmost propensities of the will; and the sweet and everlasting sensation and assurance of the love of an almighty friend, who will free us from all the evils which our nature can fear, and confer upon us all the good which a wise and innocent creature can desire. Thus all the capacities of man are employed in their highest and sweetest exercises and enjoyments. Now it is God alone, the great and ever-blessed God, who can furnish us with all these materials of blessedness, who can refine our natures, and who can thus engage and entertain all the powers and appetites of our natures refined.
Having finished what I designed in the explication and proof of this doctrine, I proceeded to make various reflections for our information and practice. But the meditation which I proposed, and reserved for this discourse, was the sacred scale of blessedness, or the several degrees of felicity, that creatures are possessed of, according to their advancing approaches toward God; and we shall find blessedness, in its highest perfection, to belong only to God himself.
First degree of blessedness.—I. Happy are they who, though they are sinners by nature, yet are brought so near to God, as to be within the sound and call of his grace.
In this sense the whole nation of the Jews was a people near unto God, for he shewed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel; and upon this account they were happy, in ancient ages, above all kingdoms of the earth; Ps. cxlvii. and cxlviii.
Happy those countries where the apostles of Christ planted the gospel, and brought grace and salvation near them, though they were before at a dreadful distance from God! Happy Britons in our age! Though we are involved, with the rest of mankind, in the common ruins of our first defection from God, yet we are not left in the darkness of heathenism, on the very confines of hell: But God has exalted us near to heaven and himself, in the ministrations of his word, and led us in a way to his everlasting enjoyment. He has built his sanctuaries amongst us, and established his churches in the midst of us. We are invited to behold _the beauty of the Lord_, to return to our obedience and his love, and thus be made happy for ever.
This is a matter of divine choice and peculiar favour. Blessed England, whom “He hath chosen, and caused to approach” thus far towards himself! And why was not the polite nation of China chosen too; And why not the poor Savages of Africa, and the barbarous millions of the American world? Why are they left in a dismal estrangement from God, “Even so, Father, because it pleased thee,” whose counsels “are unsearchable, and whose ways of judgment and mercy are past finding out.”
“Blessed are the people who hear and know the joyful sound;” Ps. lxxxix. 15. But there are degrees of this blessedness, even in the lands which enjoy the gospel. Blessed are they above others, who dwell near to the places of public worship, who sit under an enlightening, a powerful and persuasive ministry, who have opportunity to hear the word of God often, and who have skill to read it. Blessed are they who are born of religious parents, and trained up in the early forms of piety; these are still brought near unto God; they are nursed up, as it were, in his churches, and dwell in his courts. And blessed are those who are devoted to the service of the sanctuary, like the priests and levites of old, who were brought nearest to God, among all Israel; for their civil employment, as well as their religious duty, led them continually toward God, heaven and happiness. But all these glorious privileges are not sufficient to ensure eternal felicity, unless we come one step farther in approaching to God.
Second degree of blessedness—II. Happy are those souls who have been taught to improve their outward advantages of nearness to God, so as to obtain reconciliation, with him by the blood of Christ. This is the great end of all the privileges before-mentioned, which either Jew or Gentile were partakers of: This was the design of all the approaches that God made towards them. Peace and salvation, were preached _to those which were afar off, and to them that were nigh_, and Christ died to reconcile both unto God; and that _through him both might have an access by one Spirit unto the Father_: Eph. ii. 16, 17, 18. Why are all the alluring glories of the Lord displayed before us, in his gospel, but that we might be drawn to love him? Why are these wondrous manifestations of his grace made to us, but that we might become the objects of his love, and taste of his special goodness.
Happy persons, who are weary of their old estrangement from God, who have heard and have received the offers of his mercy, who have made their solemn approaches to God by Jesus the Mediator, and are joined to the Lord in a sweet and everlasting covenant! Happy creatures, who behold the beauties of their Maker’s face with double pleasure, who love him with all their souls, and begin to taste the love of his heart too! This is a matter of special privilege. _Blessed are the men who are thus chosen_ by divine grace, and whom he _has caused to approach to himself_ by the converting power of his own Spirit! Let them come, let them come, and give up their names to his churches; let them take up their places, and dwell in his courts on earth, and thus make a nearer approach to his court of heaven.
O that sinners would once be convinced that there are divine pleasures in religion, and _joys which the stranger intermeddles not with_! O that they would be once brought to believe, that happiness consists in approaching to God! That they would but give credit to the report of wise and holy men, who have lived in humble converse with God many years! What a sacred and superior pleasure it is, above all the joys of sense, to love the great and blessed God, and to know that he loves me! To walk all the day in the light of his countenance! To have him near me as a counsellor, whose advice I may ask in every difficulty of life! To be ever near him as my guard, and to fly from every danger to the wing of his protection! To have such an almighty Friend with me in sickness and sorrow, in anguish and mortal agonies, and ready to receive my departing spirit into the arms of his love.
O that the formal and nominal christian, who attends divine worship, would but once be persuaded, that if he come one step nearer to God, his happiness will receive almost an infinite advance! Let the shadows lead him to the substance; let the image in the glass allure him to converse with the original beauty, and the ordinances of grace bring him near to the God of grace! Let him no longer content himself with pictures of happiness, but give himself up entirely to the Lord, and be made possessor of solid and substantial felicity. Blessed is the man who has renounced sin and the world, and his heart is over-powered by divine goodness, and brought near to God in his holy covenant.
Yet there are degrees of blessedness among the saints on earth. Blessed is every soul whose state and nature are changed, who is not a stranger, but a son: but more blessed are those sons who are most like their heavenly Father, and keep closest to him in all their ways! Blessed are they above others in the holy family, who seldom wander from their God, whose hearts are always in a heavenly frame, and whose graces and virtues brighten and improve daily, and make a continual and joyful advance toward the state of glory!
Third degree of blessedness.—III. Now let us raise our thoughts, and wonder at the blessedness of the saints and angels in the upper world: and blessed are those spirits, whether they belong to bodies or not, whom the Lord has chosen, and caused to approach so near him, as to dwell and abide in his higher courts! They are fully _satisfied with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple_. The saints are established as pillars in this temple of God, and shall go no more out. They approach him in their sublime methods of worship, without the medium of types and ordinances: They _see God face to face_; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Though ordinances in the church on earth are means of drawing near, yet in that very thing they are also tokens of some degree of estrangement. The saints above are constantly _before the throne_, or night and day serving the Lord, as it is expressed metaphorically; Rev. vii. 15. though in truth _there is no night there_; for they who dwell with God, dwell in light everlasting: They approach to their Maker in most pleasurable acts of worship, without any interposing cloud to hide his face from them, without clogs and fetters to hold them at a distance, without wanderings, without sins, and without temptations.
O blessed state! O glorious felicity! They behold the beauty of the Lord, transported in divine contemplation, infinitely various and immortal. They feed upon his goodness with all the raptures of refined love, and are held in long ecstacy under the permanent sensations of the love of God.
Yet in this state of perfect glory, there are doubtless some different degrees of nearness to God, and consequently there are different ranks and orders of blessed spirits. This is evident amongst the angels beyond all contradiction: for though all of them behold the face of God continually; Mat. xviii. 10. yet Gabriel seems to be a favourite angel, standing in the presence of God, and employed in the noblest errands to men; Luke i. 19. And we read of seraphs and cherubs, angels and archangels, thrones, dominions, and principalities; which plainly exhibits to us a celestial hierarchy, or superior and subordinate ranks of glory and power.
And why may it not be so amongst the saints on high, those sons of Adam who are made like to angels! They are so many stars that shine with various degrees of splendour, as they are placed nearer to the Sun of Righteousness, and receive and reflect more of his beams. I might multiply arguments on this head, but I shall at present ask only these two or three convincing questions.
Can we ever imagine that Moses the meek, the friend of God, who was, as it were, his confidant on earth, his faithful prophet to institute a new religion, and establish a new church in the world; who, for God’s sake, endured forty years of banishment, and had forty years fatigue in a wilderness; who saw God on earth face to face, and the shine was left upon his countenance? Can we suppose that this man has taken his seat no nearer to God in paradise, than Samson and Jepthah, those rash champions, those rude and bloody ministers[24] of providence? Or can we think that St. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, _who laboured more than they all_, and _was in sufferings_ more abundant than the rest; who spent a long life in daily services and deaths for the sake of Christ, is not fitted for, and advanced to a rank of blessedness superior to that of the crucified thief, who became a christian but a few moments, at the end of a life of impiety and plunder? Can I persuade myself, that a holy man, who has known much of God in this world, and spent his age on earth in contemplation of the divine excellencies, who has acquired a great degree of nearness to God in devotion, and has served him, and suffered for him, even to old age and martyrdom, with a sprightly and faithful zeal; can I believe that this man, who has been trained up all his life to converse with God, and is fitted to receive divine communications above his fellows, shall dwell no nearer to God hereafter, and share no larger a degree of blessedness, than the little babe who just entered into this world to die out of it, and who is saved, so far as we know, merely by the spreading veil of the covenant of grace, drawn over it by the hand of the parent’s faith? Can it be that the great Judge who _cometh, and his reward is with him, to render to every one according to his works_, will make no distinction between Moses and Samson, between the apostle and the thief, between the aged martyr and the infant, in the world to come?
And yet after all it may be matter of enquiry, whether the meanest saint among the sons of Adam, has not some sort of privilege above any rank of angels, by being of a kindred-nature to our Emmanuel, to Jesus the Son of God? But this leads me to the
Fourth degree of Blessedness.—IV. Let us stand still again, and wonder yet more at the blessedness of the man Christ Jesus in his approach to God.
1. His very union to God is habitual blessedness. He is constituted near to God by an unspeakable union. What joys, what unknown delights above our language, and above our thoughts, possess the holy soul of the man Jesus, for he is the nearest creature to the blessed God; for he is one with godhead; John x. 30. The Son of David, according to the flesh, is joined in a personal union to the eternal God, and thus he _is over all, God blessed for evermore_; Rom. ix. 5.
There was a time indeed, when the divine nature so far withheld its influences, as to let him feel sorrows and sharp agonies, when he came to make himself a sacrifice for our sins, and exposed his holy nature to pain and shame: He consented for a season to have God absent, but cried out terribly under the present anguish of it, and shall have no more trials of this kind. Christ _being raised from the dead, dieth no more_; Rom. vi. 9. The man who was born of the virgin, shall now have the eternal Son of God for ever manifesting himself in him and to him, according to this divine union.
This is that glorious piece of human nature, that one man, whom God has chosen, from all the rest of mankind, to bring so near to himself. This is that flesh, and that soul, which were chosen by God the Father’s decree, from among all possible, and all future flesh and souls, to be made for ever one with God: and they are for ever one. This wondrous union has, and must have everlasting pleasure in it, vastly beyond our nearest unions and approaches to God even in our most exalted state in grace or glory. This is an approach to God indeed, _and blessed is the man whom thou hast thus chosen_, O Lord, and thus _caused to approach unto thee, that he may dwell, not only in thy courts, but in thy bosom_, in thyself for ever and ever: Blessed is this man, and may he be for ever blessed![25]
2. His knowledge of God is much more intimate, more extensive, and more perfect, than any other creature can attain: for as he is exalted to the highest station and dignity that can belong to a creature, so we may be assured the all-wise God has furnished him with faculties of the noblest capacity, answerable to so exalted a station; and Christ has the highest advantage to fill all those capacities with inconceivable treasures of knowledge, by dwelling so near to God, and being so intimately united to Divine Wisdom. The sublime furniture of his understanding is vastly superior to all that we know, or can know; for our union to God is but a distant copy, his is the bright, but inimitable original. Our nearness to God bears no proportion to that of the man Jesus; for his union to the godhead is of a superior kind. He has therefore a vaster comprehension of all truth, and a sweeter relish in the survey of it, than any created spirit, angelic or human; and thereby this part of his blessedness becomes far superior to theirs.
3. All the outgoings of his holy soul towards God, all his desires, his love, and delight, are more noble in their kind, and more intense in their degree, than those of any other creature. He who dwells so near to godhead, sees vastly more beauty, excellency, and loveliness in the Deity, than men or angels can do at their distance; and therefore his love is raised to unknown heights and raptures.
All his worship of the Father consists of nobler acts, and nearer approaches, than it is possible for any other creature to perform or partake of. Jesus, the man, worshipped here on earth, and he worships above in glory: He loves the godhead, as infinitely more amiable than himself; he trusts in it as more powerful; acknowledges God is above him in every glory, in every beauty infinitely superior to him; and this is divine worship; for a creature is still beneath God, and the acknowledgment of it is the worship due from him. Now Christ pays this acknowledgment with greater humility than the meanest worm of the race of Adam; for the nearer he is to God, the better he knows the true distance of a creature; and because he does it with greater humility, therefore with sweeter delight; for the lower a creature lies before God, the nearer doth God approach it. _The High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity, and dwelleth in the high and holy place, dwelleth also with the humble soul_; Is. lvii. 15. But this leads me to a farther degree of the blessedness of the man Christ Jesus; and that is,
4. He hath a fuller, a richer, and a more transporting sense of the love of God, since God makes nearer approaches to him, and discovers more of his infinite goodness, and communicates more of his love. We may venture to say, that God loves the human nature of Christ better than he does any other creature; and this human nature has a stronger, and more intimate consciousness of the divine love, and a sweeter sensation of it, than saints or angels can have, because of the personal union between the son of man and the eternal God: which union, though we know not precisely what it is, yet, we know to be sufficient to give him the name Emmanuel, God with us; which distinguishes it most gloriously from all our unions to God, and raises his dignity, his character, and his advantages, even as a man, to so sublime a degree above that of all other creatures.
By his exaltation, and his dwelling so near to God, his powers are inconceivably enlarged, and made capable of taking in higher degrees of felicity. Sights of God stretch the faculties of the soul, and enlarge it to receive more of God; this eternal sight has our Redeemer. We see the glory of God chiefly in the face of Christ Jesus his Son, but he sees the glory of God in his own face and brightness, Christ himself is _the brightness of his Father’s glory_; Heb. i. 2, 3.
5. As Christ is the medium of our nearness to God, as he is the head of all those who approach to God, and the Mediator through whom all approach, so his blessedness is above ours; for in some sense, and by way of eminence, he enjoys and feels all that we enjoy and feel, and vastly more too; for he is the medium through which we approach and we enjoy, as well as a person who himself, and for himself, approaches and enjoys: As when a stream of wine or living water is conveyed from the spring by a pipe or channel, the pipe has a tincture of the rich liquor as it flows; so, if it be lawful to illustrate things heavenly and divine, by things on earth, and to bring them down to our ideas by material similitudes, our Lord Jesus, who is authorised to confer life and joy on the saints, and through whom all grace, glory, and blessedness, are conveyed to them, feels, and tastes, and relishes, eminently and in a superior manner, all the joy and the blessedness that he conveys to our souls; and all better than we can do, for he is nearer the fountain; he takes a divine and unknown satisfaction in every blessing which he communicates to us. Besides all this, there are some richer streams that terminate and end in himself; the peculiar privileges and pleasures of the good man, while others flow through him, as the head, down to all his members, and give him the first relish of their sweetness.
When Christ, at the head of all the elect saints, shall at the great day draw near to the Father, and say, _Here am I and the children thou hast given me_; those blessed ones whom _thou hast chosen, that they may approach unto thee_ by me; I have often approached to thee for them, and behold I now approach with them to the courts of thy upper house. What manner of joy and glory shall this be! How unspeakably blessed is our Lord Jesus; and we rejoice with wonder!
[This sermon may be divided here.]
Fifth, or supreme degree of Blessedness.—V. Our admiration may be raised yet higher, if we make one excursion beyond all created nature, and lift our thoughts upward to the blessedness of the three glorious persons in the trinity[26]. All their infinite and unknown pleasures are derived from their ineffable union and communion in one godhead, their inconceivable nearness to each other in the very centre and spring of all felicity. They are inseparably and intimately one with God; they are eternally one God, and therefore eternally blessed; 1 John v. 7. _For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one_; which text I believe to be authentic and divine, and that upon just reasons, notwithstanding all the cavils and criticisms that have endeavoured to blot it out of the bible. Nor is their blessedness, or their nearness, a dull inactive state: Knowledge and mutual love make up their heaven, so far as mortals dare conceive of it, and so far as we have leave to speak of God after the manner of men.
_First_, Knowledge.—An eternal blissful contemplation of all the infinite beauties, powers, and properties of godhead, and of all the operations of these powers in an inconceivable variety among creatures, is the glorious employment of God. His own knowledge of infinite truths, whether wrapt up in his own nature, or unfolded and displayed in his works, is a pleasure becoming the Deity; and each sacred person possesses this unknown pleasure.