A Body of Practical Divinity

4. God is Bonum summum, the chief Good. In the chief Good, there must be First Delectability, it must have something that is delicious and sweet: And where can we suck those pure quintessential Comforts which ravish us with Delight, but in God? In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima, imo rapitur; At Gods Right Hand are Pleasures, Psal. 16.11. Secondly, In the chief Good there must be Transcendency, it must have a surpassing Excellency. Thus God is infinitely better than all other things; 'tis below the Deity to compare other things with it. Who would go to weigh a Feather with a Mountain of Gold? God is Fons & Origo, the Spring of all Entities, and the Cause is more noble than the Effect. It is God that bespangles the Creation, that puts Light into the Sun, that fills the Veins of the Earth with Silver; other Creatures do but maintain Life, God gives Life. God infinitely out-shines all Sublunary Glory; he is better than the Soul, than Angels, than Heaven. Thirdly, In the chief Good, there must be not only Fullness but Variety; where Variety is wanting, we are apt to nauseate; to feed only on Honey, would breed Loathing; but in God is [Greek or Hebrew] all Variety of Fullness, Col. 1.19. He is an Universal Good, Commensurate to all our Wants; He is Bonum in quo omnia Bona, a Sun, a Portion, an Horn of Salvation: He is called the God of all Comfort, 2 Cor. 1.3. There is a Complication of all Beauties and Delights in him; Health hath not the comfort of Beauty, nor Beauty of Riches, nor Riches of Wisdom, but God is the God of all Comfort. Fourthly, In the chief Good there must be Eternity. God is [Greek or Hebrew]: He is a Treasure that can neither be drawn low, nor drawn dry. Though the Angels are still spending on him, he can never be spent; he abides for ever. Eternity is a Flower of his Crown. Now if God be our God, here is enough to let in full Contentment into our Souls. What though we want Torch-light, if we have the Sun? What if God deny us the Flower, if he hath given us the Jewel? How should this rock a Christians Heart quiet? If we say God is our God, and we are not content, we have cause to question our Interest in him.

4. God is Bonum summum, the chief Good. In the chief Good, there must be First Delectability, it must have something that is delicious and sweet: And where can we suck those pure quintessential Comforts which ravish us with Delight, but in God? In Deo quadam dulcedine delectatur anima, imo rapitur; At Gods Right Hand are Pleasures,