Gm. 6. 6. What was it delighted him then? Men delight only in their Friends not Enemies; was it in him as Created lirfr in a frate of Jriendlhlp,then there were but a couple to delight in: This is i1•the So11s of Mm all the Earth ovtr, the inhabitable parts of the E~rtb. He had fome mone Age or other m all parts In· habited who were the defire and delight of his Eyes. And belides that lit of friendlhip which Adamwas not worth the thinking of, it laficd fo little a while, and ended in fo great a lafiing and general breach. His delights were then in this, That he Jl10uld win to him, and gain the love of thofe accurfed Rebels, in nil places habitable, whom he himfclf I<>Ved fo dearly · and !hew, that his Love, by an unheard-of way (that lhould amaze An· gels and Men) to take away their Szns, and reco11cile them to himfelf by the Jncarnatiofl and 'Death of his Son, and tie them to him by an everlafring Knot, which their Sios Jl10uld not untie ag~in, nor feparate from that his Love, This took up his Delights in the Plural, he delighted to think it again and again. It mufr needs be a thing he delights in, that he !eafis himfelf with the Thoughts of fo long be fore hand,even dot<ble 'Debghts,as.fome Paraphrafe it ; l1e delij?,hted in t hem when lirfr made, and that dehght lafrmg riot long, he delights m them again But what lhould be the reafon, t~at this Plot Jl1ould fo much affett and delight him. Had he not the Angels, that·werecon(\ant Friends to him, to delight in? One would think, he lhould have prized their Friendlhip more for the faithfulnefs of it. And if he had needed Princes, he could have created new ones ; out of thefe very Stones have raifed up a new Generation, and Seed of Wcll-willers, as J olm fa id of Chitdrm to Abraham; and have packed us all to Hell for Rebels. c He had Prifons enough to have held us, which Kings often want in a general Re· bellion, and hehe might have been glorified in our jufr defrrud:ion. What lhould be the reafon of this frrange affection in our God? Why? The Scripture gives it, and our God being even Love it felf, 1John 4· 16. Loving where he fets his Love, with nn infinite Love, as himfelf is; which Love,of all things elfe in him, he loves to !hew to the utmofr; and of all works, Works of Love have the moO: delight in them. Therefore, Micah 7· 18. Mercy is called hu delight, hi& darli11g. He would gladly !hew how well he could love Crea· tures, gladdefr of the greatefr opportunity to !hew it; therefore he refolves upon this courfe to take nway ji11s, to rrcoucite Eunnies, whatever it cofr, and the more they lhould eo(\ him, the gladder would he be; the making of a thou- • fand new Friends could not have expreffed fo much love, as the reconciling one Enemy. To love and delight in Friends, who had never wronged him, was too narrow, !hallow, and flight a way; he had htigbts, depths, aud breadths of Love, Eph. ~· 18. which he would make known, and which nothing but the depth ol our Mifery could have drawn out, And that this is the Reafon, fee Rom. 5· 8, 10. God commends his Love to– wards U<, that whiff/we werryet Erumies, he gave, not any fmall thing, but hu Sou for us; not to be born only, but to die. Our being Sinners, and his giving his Son, commends, or fets out his Love; and that he might commend it, he pitcheth on this courfe. You fee, how it was his Will, we have done with that. And that this Love lhould be pitched upon Men, not Angels that fell, it commends his Love yet further. There were but two forts of Sinners. And that the Som of lvfw are the Sin– ners, fpecified as Objed:s of this Love; as it is a Conficleration which cloth much commend his Love, foit is a Fourth thing di!lintlly to be confidered, we muft of neceiJity have fpoken of it in the end,ABody haf/ thotJjitted mr. !t is fpoken in oppofition to the Angels; He took 11ot 011 him the 11alt<re of A ngeh, Heb.2.16. His delights were with the Soils of Mm, not the A11gels that fell. Sure I am, it commends his Love to us. There were but thefe two forts of Sinners, whofe fins could be taken away; and of the twain, who would have thought but their Graces lhould have been propounded firfr, and hav~ paffed more ealily? They were fairer, and better Creatures than we; and if he regarded Services , one of them was able to do him, more than a Thoufand of us. When he had bought us; he mu(\ be at a great deal of more trouble topreferve and re.1d us, than we were 95
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