CXLII make us happy, and give peace and reft to our SER M. fouls and this is the conftant voice and language of fcripture, and the tenor of the bible; " Acquaint now thy felf with him, and be at peace," Job xxii. 21. Light is fown for the righteous, and gladness for "The "the upright in heart," Pfal. xcvii. 11. "work of righteousness fhall be peace; and the ef"fect of righteoufnefs, quietnefs and affurance for "ever," Ifa. xxxii. 17. Seeing then holiness is so high a perfection, and fo great a happiness, let these arguments prevail with us to afpire after this temper, that "as he who hath "called us is holy, fo we may be holy in all manner "of converfation, because it is written, be ye holy, "for I am holy." SER MON CXLIII. PSA L. cxlv. 9. The LORD is good to all, and bis tender mercies are over all his works. TH HE fubject which I have now proposed to SER M. treat of, is certainly one of the greateft and CXLIII. nobleft arguments in the world, the goodness of GOD; the highest and most glorious perfection of the best and most excellent of beings, than which nothing deferves more to be confidered by us, nor ought in reafon to affect us more. The goodness of I GOD CXLIII. SER M. GOD is the caufe, and the continuance of our beings, the foundation of our hopes, and the fountain of our happiness; our greatest comfort, and our faireft example, the chief object of our love, and praife, and admiration, the joy and rejoicing of our hearts; and therefore the meditation and difcourfe of it must needs be pleasant and delightful to us: the great difficulty will be, to confine our felves upon fo copious an argument, and to fet bounds to that which is of fo so vaft an extent, "the LORD is good to all, and "his tender mercies are over all his works." Which words are an argument, which the divine pfalmift ufeth, to ftir up himself and others to the praife of GOD: at the 3d verfe he tells us, that "the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised;" and he gives the reafon of this, verfe 8. and 9. from thofe properties and perfections of the divine nature, which declare his goodness, "the LORD is gracious, which declare and full of compaffion, flow to anger, and of great mercy the LORD is good to all, and his "tender mercies are over all his works:" where you have the goodness of GOD, declared, together with the amplitude and extent of it, in refpect of the objects of it; "the LORD is good to all." In the handling of this argument, I fhall do these four things: First, confider what is the proper notion of goodnefs, as it is attributed to God. Secondly, fhew that this perfection belongs to GOD. Thirdly, confider the effects and the extent of it. Fourthly, answer fome objections which may feem to contradict and bring in queftion the goodness of God. First, what is the proper notion of goodness, as it is attributed to God. There CXLIII. There is a dry metaphyfical notion of goodness, SER.M. which only fignifies the being and effential properties of a thing: but this is a good word ill bestowed; for in this fenfe, every thing that hath being, even the devil himself, is good. And there is a moral notion of goodness; and that is twofold: 1. More general, in oppofition to all moral evil and imperfection, which we call fin and vice; and fo the juftice, and truth, and holiness of GoD are, in this fenfe, his goodness. But there is, 2. Another notion of moral goodness, which is more particular and reftrained; and then it denotes a particular virtue, in oppofition to a particular vice: and this is the proper and ufual acceptation of the word goodness; and the best description I can give of it is this; that it is a certain propenfion and difpofition of mind, whereby a person is inclined to defire and procure the happiness of others; and it is beft understood by it's contrary, which is an envious difpofition, a contracted and narrow fpirit, which would confine happiness to itself, and grudgeth that others fhould partake of it, or share in it; or a malicious and mifchievous temper, which delights in the harms of others, and to procure trouble and mischief to them. To communicate and lay out our felves for the good of others, is goodness; and fo the apoftle explains doing good, by communicating to others, who are in mifery, or in want; Heb. xiii. 16. but to do good, and to communicate, forget not." The Jews made a distinction between a righteous and a good man to which the apostle alludes, Rom. v. 7. fcarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man fome would even dare to die." The righteous SER M. righteous man was he that did no wrong to others: CXLIII and the good man, he who was not only not injurious to others, but kind and, beneficial to them. So that goodness is a readiness and difpofition to communicate the good and happiness which we enjoy, and to be willing others fhould partake of it. This is the notion of goodness among men ; and it is the fame in GOD, only with this difference, that God is originally and transcendently good; but the creatures are, the best of them, but imperfectly good, and by derivation from GOD, who is the fountain and original of goodnefs; which is the meaning of our SAVIOUR, Luke xviii. 19. when he fays, "there is none good fave one, that is GOD." But though the degrees of goodness in GoD, and the creatures, be infinitely unequal, and that goodness which is in us be fo fmall and inconfiderable that, compared with the goodness of GoD, it does not deferve that name; yet the effential notion of goodness in both must be the fame; elfe when the fcripture fpeaks of the goodness of Gon, we could not know the meaning of it; and if we do not at all understand what it is for Gos to be good, it is all one to us (for ought we know) whether he be good or not; for he may be fo, and we never the better for it, if we do not know what goodness in God is, and confequently when he is fo, and when not. Befides that, the goodnefs of GOD is very frequently in fcripture propounded to our imitation: but it is impoffible for us to imitate that, which we do not understand what it is: from whence it is certain, that the goodness which we ought to endeavour after, is the fame that is in GOD; because in this we are commanded to imitate the perfection of GOD, that is, to be good and merciful as he is, according to to the rate and condition of creatures, and fo far as SER M. CXLIII. we, whofe natures are imperfect, are capable of refembling the divine goodness. Thus much for the notion of goodness in GOD; it is a propenfion and difpofition in the divine nature, to communicate being and happiness to his creatures. Secondly, I fhall endeavour to fhew, in the next place, that this perfection of goodness belongs to Goo; and that from thefe three heads : I. From the acknowledgment of natural light. II. From the teftimony of fcripture and divine revelation. And, III. From the perfection of the divine nature. I. From the acknowledgment of natural light. The generality of the heathen agree in it, and there is hardly any perfection of God more univerfally acknowledged by them. I always except the fect of the Epicureans, who attribute nothing but eternity and happiness to the divine nature; and yet if they would have confidered it, happiness without goodnefs is impoffible. I do not find that they do exprefly deny this perfection to God, or that they afcribe to him the contrary; but they clearly take away all the evidence and arguments of the divine goodness; for they supposed Goo to be an immortal and happy being, that enjoyed himself, and had no regard to any thing without himself, that neither gave being to other things, nor concerned himself in the happiness or mifery of any of them; fo that their notion of a deity was, in truth, the proper notion of an idle being, that is called GOD, and neither does good nor evil. But fetting afide this atheistical feet, the rest of the heathens did unanimously affirm and believe the goodness of GOD; and this was the great foundation of their religion; and all their prayers to God, VOL. VIII. and |