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416

THE

HAPPINESS

OP

SEPARATE

SPIRITS.

[DISC.

I1.

the future

state, and

may

feast

our contemplation and

improve our joy.

The

blessed

God himself

is

an

infinite

being:

His

perfections and glories

are

unbounded:

His

wisdom, his

holiness,

his

goodness,

his

faithfulness,

his

power

and

justice,

his

all

sufficiency, his

self

-

origination, and

his un-

fathomable eternity,

have such

a number of

rich ideas

belonging

to

each

of

them,

that

no

creature

shall ever

fully

understand.

Yet

it

is

but reasonable to

believe,

that

he

will

communicate

so

much

of

himself to us

by

degrees, as

he sees

necessary for

our

business

and

bless-

edness

in

that upper

world. Can it

be

supposed

that

we

should

know every

thing

that

belongs to

God

all

at

once,

which he

may discover to

us

gradually

as

our

ca-

pacities improve

?

Can

we

think

that

an infant

-soul

that

had

no time for

improvement

here,

when

it

enters

into

heaven shall

know

every thing concerning

God,

that

it

can

ever

attain

to

through

all the ages

of

its im-

mortality When

a

blessed

spirit

has

dwelt

in

heaven

a

thousand

years,

and conversed

with

God and

Christ,

angels

and

fellow-

spirits during

all

that

season,

shall

it

know nothing more

of

the

nature and wondrous proper

-

ties

of

God

than

it knew the first

moment

of

its

arrival

there

?"

But

I

add further,

the works

of

God shall doubtless

be the

matter of

our search

and delightful survey,

as well

as

the nature and properties

of God

himself.

"

His

works

are honourable and

glorious, and

sought out

of

of

all

that

have pleasure

in

them;" Ps.

cxi.

2,

3.

In

his works

eve

shall

read

his

name,

his

properties,

and

his

glories,

whether

we fix

our

thoughts

on

creation or

providence.

The

works

of

God

and

his Wonders

of

creation

in

the

known and unknown

worlds,

both

as

to the number,

the

variety,

and

vastness

of

them,

are almost infinite;

that

is,

they transcend

all the limits

of our

ideas,

and

all

our

present

capacities

to

conceive. Now there

is

none

of

these

works

of

wonder,

but

may

administer

some

enter

-

tainment

to

the

mind

of

man,

and may richly furnish

* God himself hath infinite

goodness

in him, which the creature cannot

take

in

at once; they

are taking

of

it

in

eternally. The

saints

see

in

God

still

things fresh, which

they

sew

not

in

the beginning

of their

bles-

sedness.

Dr. T.

Goodwin.