I 88 T!Je Nature,Operations and Cattfes ofDi1Jif!e Lolle, fees in God, the Fountain of Life, and would drink ofthe Ri· v'er ofhis Pleajures,Pfal.r6.8,9. that in his pre.fence ~i,sfulnefs of Joy, and at his right hand are pleafures for evermore, Pfa! I 6. I r. It longs and pants to drink ofthat Fountain,to bathe it felf iri that River of Pleafures; and wherein it comes fhort ofpre– fentEnjoyment, itlives in hopes that when we awake, itjhall be fatisjied with his Likenefs~ Pfa~. I 7· I 5· There is nothing gnevous unto a. foul filled wtth th1~ Love,_ but :vhat keeps it :trom thefullEnJoymentofthefe'Exaellenqes ?t O;Q.d~ What cloth fo, naturally and neceffarily it groans under. . Such is our prefent fiate in the- Body wherein in fome fenfe,, we are a/Jfent from the Lord, 2 Cor. 5'· 4, 8, 9· And what cloth fo Morally in the deviations of its WiU and Affections, as fin, it hates and abhors, and loathes it felf for. Under the con . dufr of this Love, the whole tendency of the foul is unto the Enjoyment of God ; It would be loft in it felf, and found in him; nothing in it felf, .and all in him. Abfolute complacency herein, that God is what he is, that he ihoul4 ~e wh~~ he is, and n9thing elfe, and that as fuchwe. m~y be upited tinto him, and enjoy him according t~{the capacity of our Natures, is .the Life ofDivine Love. 2. It is aLove of A.ffimulatirm. It contaip.s in it a defire and intenfe endeavour to be like unto God, ac~~rdigg, unto _ our capac~ty and meafure. The foul fees al! ,Qoodn~ls, and co'nfequently all that is amiable and ·lovely in- God~ the want of all \vhich it'finds in it felf. The fruition of this Goodnefs is that which it lorigs_for as its utmofi end , and conformitj unto it as t he means thereof. There is no man who loves not God fincerely, butindeed:li~ would·havehim to .befome– whatthat he is not, ·that he might be the more :like unt<;> ·him. This fuch Perfons are pleaied withal whiHF'ihey can fmcy it in any thing, P.fal. )O. 2 I. They that love him, would have him /;eall tha.t he is, as he is, and nothingelje, · and .. -'
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=