God's Happiness in Human Holiness

The sources of God's happiness, therefore, are twofold; — first, that simple but ever-flowing consciousness of happiness which has already been mentioned; and, second, the contemplation of his perfections, as they are imaged forth and realized objectively, that is to say, in the hearts and lives of his creatures. The moral universe around him, when unpolluted by sin, is the bright mirror of himself. It is the beauty, therefore, of his own being, seen in the infinitude of holy beings whom he has created, — the light of true glory kindled up in all parts of the universe, and reflected back upon the central fountain of light,— which constitutes a large share of his ineffable bliss. Considered in relation to the beings he has made, God may properly be regarded as the great moral center, as the sun in the vast system of holy love, rejoicing in the infinite number of stars which his own radiance has kindled up around him.

The holiness of the creatures of God is one of the great elements of his happiness. The doctrine that the happiness of God rests for its support, in part at least, upon the holiness of his creatures, is one of great interest to men. It  furnishes a new motive to holy effort. Everything we do has its correspondent result in the divine mind. There is not a throb in our bosoms, beating in the direction of pure and universal love, which does not excite joy in the bosom of our heavenly Father. It is not more true that angels rejoice, than it is that God rejoices, over every return from sin and every advance in holiness.

It  is hardly possible to conceive of a higher result in the destiny of man than that which thus contributes to the happiness of God. The thought, therefore, should animate us in all our efforts, namely, that God sees us; that he takes an interest in all our acts and feelings; and that when we are good our Father is happy. The light of our little star goes back to its parent sun. The small wave of our little fountain swells the broad billow of the mighty ocean. Can there be a higher motive to action than this?

Then let us labor on. God works. Let us work with him. Let us suffer; if needs be. Yea, let us rejoice in suffering; but neither in toil nor in suffering trusting to ourselves, but rather "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 7, Chapter 12.

God Desires Human Happiness

God's nature, including all his acts and feelings, corresponds precisely to the truth and relations of things. If he is a perfect being, it cannot be otherwise.  It is not possible for him, being what he is, to sunder himself from the things he has made, and from the relations they sustain to himself and each other; nor to act otherwise, and to be otherwise, than in perfect consistency with such things and relations.

Among other works which are to be attributed to him, God has formed moral agents. Of all his various works, this is, in some respects, the greatest. He has formed angels; he has formed men. The mere fact that he has made them, which involves the additional fact of the relationship of cause and effect, in other words, of father and child, constitutes an alliance, which is both an alliance of morality and an alliance of the affections In other words, he is allied to them by duty and allied to them by love.

If God is a good and holy being, it is not possible for him to create a being or beings susceptible of happiness, without making provision for their happiness, and without rejoicing in their happiness. To be indifferent to and not to rejoice in the happiness of his creatures, would be the characteristic of an evil and not of a good being. But no moral being which God has created can be truly and permanently happy without loving God and all other beings as God would have them love; in other words, without being holy. We come, then, to the conclusion, that another and very great source of God’s happiness is the contemplation of the holiness and happiness of his creatures. If they are holy, they cannot be otherwise than happy; and if they are happy, God must be happy in them.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 7, Chapter 12.

The Happiness of God

God is happy. Being infinite, he is infinitely happy. And it is interesting to know that holy beings, in whatever parts of the universe they exist, constitute one of the elements of the divine happiness. This being the case, there is such a thing (and it is certainly a most interesting and important consideration) as being united with God in the promotion of his own happiness. The humblest soul, when purified by divine grace, becomes a gem in the crown of the Infinite Father's bliss.

Undoubtedly the elements of the divine happiness are various. God, for instance, is happy in the knowledge of his own perfections; and especially is he happy in the consciousness that the central principle or life of his nature, that which brings the infinity of his natural attributes into action, is holy love. Most readily do we admit that he rejoices in his natural attributes also, in his inherent and universal knowledge, in his omnipresence and omnipotence; but more than all and above all does be rejoice in that living and life-giving principle, which saves his merely natural attributes from evil applications, and renders them available to the highest purposes.

And the exceeding  happiness  which God thus experiences is not the result exclusively, nor chiefly, of a reflex act. Some writers seem to suppose (at least such would be the interpretation of their language if taken in its natural and obvious import) that God sits alone in an infinite solitude, and is happy chiefly by means of such an act; that is to say, by means of the mind turned back in acts of contemplation on its own inward nature. It  seems to us better, and more in accordance with the divine nature, to say that God is happy, not so much by a series of reflective and deductive acts, as by direct consciousness.

Consciousness of happiness takes place when the happiness, flowing out naturally and necessarily from the existing states of the mind, pervades the mind and makes itself known without any care or effort on the part of the percipient subject. He, who loves with pure love, is happy; because happiness is a part of love's nature. Happiness, although there may be causes of affliction, which will diminish the amount of it at times, never was separated and never can be separated, from love. To speak figuratively in the matter, happiness is the smile of love, and it sits just as naturally and beautifully upon love's countenance, as the smile does upon the countenance of any pure and benevolent being. Or, to use another illustration, it is love's bright and eternal seal engraven upon it with letters of light. They are thus connected by an eternal relationship. And God can be no more unconscious of happiness in love, than he can be unconscious of love itself.

— edited from A Treatise on Divine Union (1851) Part 7, Chapter 12.

Palmer: Perfection Requires Progression

Guest blog by Phoebe W. Palmer (1807-1874).

MY DEAR CHRISTIAN BROTHER,

In view of the admonition, "Go on unto perfection," you inquire,

"Should I go steadily onward, how soon may I expect to arrive at a state of perfection? And when I arrive at this point, will not the summit of Christian attainment be reached?" 

Permit me to answer your latter inquiry first, and it will enable me more readily to meet the former.

The summit of Christian attainment reached? No, not in eternity itself, with receptive powers still growing, while immortality endures, will the attainments in love, knowledge, light, and power, which have been made possible through the atonement, be grasped. Paul says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

It is evident, as you perceive, on Scriptural authority, that a state of perfection which will not admit higher degrees is not to be expected. But that a state of perfection is attainable is most evident, and is proven upon the same premises. The apostle, in continuation of what I have already quoted, goes on to say, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded;" including, as you observe, both himself and a part of those addressed as being in a state of perfection. I am the more particular in speaking of this subject, because it is not uncommon for those who oppose the doctrine of Christian perfection to refer to this passage.

Just the state of perfection aimed at in these passages (Phil. iii, 8-15) is what I would now urge upon you: that is, a state of perfection which requires progression — a state which could not even be retained, without obedience to "this one thing — forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before." The perfection to which your attention is urged, does not imply perfection in knowledge or light, but a state of supreme love to God, where all the powers of body and mind are perfectly subject to love's control, and ceaselessly offered up to God through Christ. This is Christian perfection; not angelic perfection, neither Adamic perfection, but Christian perfection. To think disparagingly of Christian perfection, implies, to my mind, thinking lightly of the atonement. To undervalue the efficacy of the blood of Christ to cleanse is sinful. And it would be sinful to doubt whether the offering presented to God, through Christ, is holy and acceptable.

What you need, in order to bring you into this state, is an offering up of yourself through this purifying medium. Now do you still ask, How soon may I expect to arrive at this state of perfection? Just so soon as you come believingly, and make the required sacrifice, it will be done unto you according to your faith. Christ came to take away our sin, to destroy the works of the devil, and to purge us from all iniquity. The purpose of man's redemption is not accomplished until he is presented perfect in Christ Jesus. When the Savior said, "It is finished!" then this full salvation was wrought out for you. All that remains is for you to come complying with the conditions, and claim it. As it has been purchased for you, it is already yours. If you do not now receive it, the delay will not be on the part of God, but wholly with yourself.

— from Faith and Its Effects (1848) VII.

I Shall Yet Praise Him

"Why art thou cast down, Oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."  Ps. xlii. 11.

AT that dim hour, when ploughmen first arise,
Roused from their homely couch and deep repose,
When stars still linger in the changing skies,
And in the East the dawning feebly glows,
'Tis doubtful long, which of the two bears sway,
The nascent day or unextinguished night,
Till ruddy morn, at length, with bright array,
Proclaims the triumph of victorious Light.
So when there breaks upon the heart's domain
The Light Divine, which mars the shades within,
Oh, who can tell which of the two shall reign,
The recent purity or ancient sin?
And yet the inward Light, like outward day,
Shall shine, revealed at last, with a triumphant ray.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XXVI.

The State of Continual Prayer

He, who can say from a full and sincere heart, THY WILL BE DONE, is in a state of continual prayer. And it is a prayer, which, although it is general in its form, may be regarded as realizing and including in itself all particular and specific prayer. He, who is the subject of it, sympathising as he does with the divine mind, prays for everything which God requires him to pray for. He can as really pray for all the objects of prayer without specifically knowing them, as he can adore all the purposes of God without knowing them. There is no sinner in all lands and no sorrow in the wide world, which he does not virtually and at the same time really present before God. It should be remembered, however, that this sublime state of mind, which exists much less frequently than it should do, is entirely consistent with specific prayer, and that it really lays the best foundation for it.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CLX.

Do Not Remain in Ignorance

If an intellect and conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, furnish the instrumentality, which indicates the nature and regulates the degree of the religious affections, then the law of religious experience requires us to  know  the right, as well as to be and do the right. Be not contented, therefore, to remain in ignorance. Sit at the feet of the great Teacher, and  learn. "For this cause," says the Savior, "came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the TRUTH." And again he says in another place, "The TRUTH shall make you FREE." John 8:32, 18:37.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CLIX.