il 136 The /'econd Sign PART. IIIa oils as Angels ; and therefore Purely nòthing that is the meer Refult of it, can be fupernatural and divine, in the Manner before defcri- bed -j. Chrift plainly fpeaks.of thisKind of Love, as what is nothing %eyond the Love of wicked Men, Luke 6. 32. Ifye love them that love you, what thank have ye 2 For Sinners afo love thofe that love them. And the Devil himfelf knew that that Kind of Refpedt to God which was fo mercenary, as to be only forBenefits received or depended on, (which is all one) is worthlefs in the Sight of God ; otherwife he never would have ,made ufe of fuck a Slander before God, again(£ Yob, as in Job i. 9, io. Doth Jobferve Godfor nought 2 Haft thou not made an Hedge about him, and about his Houfe, eac. ? Nor would God ever have implicitly allowed the Objeaion to have been good, in cafe the Accufation had been true, by allowing that that Matter fhould be tried, and that 'fob fhould be fo dealt with, that it might appear in the Event, whether gob's Refpea to God was thus mercenary or no, and by putting the Proof of theSincerity and Good- uefs of his Refpe61, upon that liThe. 'T is unreafonable to think otherwife, than that the firft Founda- tion of a true Love to God, is that whereby he is in himfelf love - ly, or worthy to be loved, or the fupream Lovelinefs of his Na- ture. This is certainly what makes him chiefly amiable. What chiefly makes a Man, or any Creature lovely, is his Excellency ; and fo what chiefly renders God lovely, and muff undoubtedly be the chief Ground of true Love, is his Excellency. God's Nature, or the Divinity, is infinitely excellent ; yea 'tis infinite Beauty, Brightnefs, and Glory itCelf. But how can that be true Love of this excellent and lovely Nature, which is not built on the Foundation of it's true Lovelinefs ? How can that be true Love of Beauty and Brightnefs, which is not for Beauty and Brightnefs fake ? How can that be a true Prizing of that which is in itfelf infinitely worthy and precious, which is not for the Sake of it's Worthinefs and , Precioufnefs ? This infinite Excellency of the divine Nature, as it is in it felt, is the true Ground of all that is good in God in any Refpea ; but how can a Man truly and rightly love God, without loving him for that Excellency in him, which is the Foundation of all that is in any Manner of Refpe& good or de- fireable in him ? They whole Affe&ion to God is founded firft on his Profitablenefs to them, their Affeaion begins at the wrong End ; they regard God only for the utmoft Limit of the Stream " There is a natural Love to Chrift, as to one that doth thee Good, and for thine own Ends ; and fpiritual, for himfelf, " whereby the Lord only is exalted ". Shepard's Parable of the ten Virgins, P. I. p. 25. of
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