LIFE OF FAITO. 441 and folly of the mind, and the delusion of the affections to exalt a shrub above a cedar, and magnify .a mole -hill above a- mountain ; to'euibrace a shadow or spectrum of felicity, which vanisheth into nothing, when you bring in the light. The creature is ' nihil et nullipotens : ' nothing should have no interest in us, and be able to do nothing with us, (as to the motions that are under the dominion of the will.) God is All andAlmighty; and he that is All should have all and command all. And the Omnipotent -should do all things with us, by his interest in mortals, as he will do by his force in naturals. I deny not but we may love a friend. One soul, in two bodies, will have one mind; and will, and love. But as it is not the body of my friend that I love, or Converse with principally, but the soul, (and therefore should haveno mind of the cadé, the corpse, the empty nest, if the bird were flown,) so is it not the person, but Christ in him, or that of God, which appeareth on him, that must be the principal object of our love. The man is muta- ble, and must be loved, as Plato did commend his friend to 'Dio- nysius ; ' He tibi scribo de homine, viz. animante naturâmutabili.' And, therefore, must be loved with a reserve. But God is un- changeable,and must be absolutely and unchangeably loved. That life is best that is likest heaven ; there God will be all ; and yet, even there, it will be no dishonor or displeasure to the Deity, that the glorified humanityof Christ, add the New Jerusalem, and our holy "society, are loved more dearly than we can love any creature here on earth. So, here, God taketh not that affection as stolen from him, that is given to his servants for his sake, but accepts it as 'sent to him by them. Let the, creature have it., so God have it, finally, in and by the creature; and then it is not so properly the creature that hath it as God. If you choose and love your friends for God, you will use them for God-; not flattering them, or desiring to be flattered by them ; but to kindle in each other the holy flame which will aspire and mount, and know no bounds, till it reach the boundless element of love. You will not value them as friends, ' qui omnia dicta et facta vestra laudant, sed qui errata et delicta amice reprehendunt :' not them that call you good', but them that would make you better. And you will let them know; as Phocian did Antipater, that theycan never use you, ut amicis et adulatoribus;' as friends and flatterers, that differ as a wife and a harlot. 'It is hard to love the imperfect creature, without mistakes and inordinanéy in our' love ; and, therefore, usually, where we love most, we sin most ; andour sin finds us out ; and. then we suffer most: and too much affection is the forerunner of much affliction, which will be much prevented; if faith might be the guide of love, and human love might be made divine; and all tó be referred to VOL. Ii. 56
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