4.4 Sincere Obedience nee j/äry to SERM. pofe him to be a perfeEly righteous and good H. Being, which is the firth principle of all religion; )but particularly it appears from the nature and defign of thofe gifts, which have no necef'rary connexion with the favour of God, and the kingdom of heaven. They are intended for the advantage of men in this world, for others rather than thofe who are endow'dwith them, and are inftruments which providence makes ufe of to that purpofe : but as they do not depend on any inward qualifications or good difpofitions, any virtue at all in them to whom they are granted, fo they are no mark of the divine approbation. Therefore our Saviour Pays to them who are reprefented as pleading for his acceptance at the lath day on this fcore, I ne- ver knew you ; that is, I never approved you : fo that word is often to be underftood in fcrip- ture, as * The foundation of God flandeth fure, having this feat, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And -t, If any man love God, the fame is known of him. Nay farther, fuch gifts do really aggravate the guilt of men if they continue workers of iniquity : and therefore fet them farther from the kingdom of heaven, inftead of bringing them nearer to it. The reafon is, becaufe the gifts of * z Tim. ii. 19. Y Cor viii. 3. prophecy
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