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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: All-Sufficiency Of God
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is that power or attribute of his nature whereby he is able to communicate as much blessedness to his creatures as he is pleased to make them capable of receiving. As his self-sufficiency is that whereby he has enough in himself to denominate him completely blessed as a God of infinite perfection, so his all-sufficiency is that by which he has enough in himself to satisfy the most enlarged desires of his creatures and to make them completely blessed. SEE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.
We practically deny this perfection —
1. When we are discontented with our present condition and desire more than God has allotted for us (Gen_3:5; Pro_19:3);
2. When we seek blessings, of what kind soever, in an indirect way, as if God were not able to bestow them upon us in his own way, or in the use of lawful means (Gen_27:35);
3. When we use unlawful means to escape imminent dangers (ch. 1Sa_20:26; 1Sa_21:13);
4. When we distrust his providence, though we have had large experience of his appearing for us in various instances (Jos_7:7; Jos_7:9; 1Sa_27:1; 2Ch_14:11; 2Ch_16:8; Psa_68:19);
5. When we doubt the truth or certain accomplishment of the promises (Gen_18:12; Psa_77:8-9; Isa_49:14);
6. When we decline great services, though called to them by God, under a pretence of our unfitness for them (Jer_1:6; Jer_1:8).
The consideration of this doctrine should lead us —
1. To seek happiness in God alone, and not in human things (Jer_2:13);
2. To commit all our wants and trials to him (1Sa_30:6; 2Co_12:8-9; Heb_11:19);
3. To be courageous in the midst of danger and opposition (Psa_27:1);
4. To be satisfied with his dispensations (Rom_8:28);
5. To persevere in the path of duty, however difficult (Gen_17:1). See Ridgley, Body of Div. quest. 17; Saurin, Sermons, vol. 1, ser. 5; Barrow, Works, vol. 2, ser. 11.