aIa on the Excellency of the Soul. God by your owning ,of this would a. little but mile your fpirits to think that you have been deluded and deceived all this while : this is the excellency now of your fouls, in refe- rence unto God. Fifthly, And yet there is in the next place A further re- ference thatyour fouls have to God, and that is the centrgnity, as I may fo fpeak,,witb God himfelf : that is, of all things thät are here to this world, the foul of man it is that that is next untoGod himfelf : Next to God, you will fay, what do you mean when you fay that the foul of man it is contiguous un- to God ? I mean this, that God hath made all creatures for himfelf , but hee bath made them all for himfelf to come to him by man; bee, hath made all thefe inferiour things in the world for man, and man for himfelf, and fo God comes to attain the end of all things in this world by man, fo that man is next unto God : God would have the glory of all the creatures in the world, but how? by man: faith God, All thefe things that I have made,I will have them bee in fubje &lion to man, for fo they were in their fiat Creation; and as I fnall appear in all other of my works, fo (hall this creature honour mee, and fear mee, and admire mee, and magnifie mee, upon the taking notice of, and re- ceiving in that good that there is in any creature : All the goodnefs there is in the creature, it comes to mee, but how shall I have the glory of it all ? why, I will make a creature that shall bee as it were between mee and other creatures, that filall partake of the nature of other creatures , but fo as hee fhali have a certain kinde of divine Beam of my excel- lency, and (hall bee able totake notice of mee, and to re- ceive in my goodnefs ; what hee Both receive in of the fweetnefs of the creature, hee shall receive it in as my fweet, andmygoodnefs; Incoms from mee; and fo hee (hall ref e6t it upon my face again; fo that mans foul is like a Glafs; as you fee a Glafs that takes the beamsof the Sun that fhines upon it, and calls it toward the Sun again, as upan a,,vall; the beams of the Sun comes into the Glafs, and then the Glafs can refleti it this way, or that way : So the glory of God
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