C. X.4,16 Doa:ofPcrfor Sts its ufefulnes topromote Gofp.Obedience. 238 2, Of theirLove there is thefame reafon ;Gods love to us is of hisfree Grace; helovesus becaufe fo it feeines good tohim ; Our Love to him, is purely ingenerated by hisLove to us,and carried on, and increafed by farther Revelations ofhis defireablenefè and excellency,to our foules;Herein is Love, not that we lovedGod, but that he lóved us ßrft: Thereis noCreature in the. 1eaft guilty offinne, that can put forth any acceptable Aét of Love towards God, but what ispurely drawn out , upon the Apprehenfion ofhis Love and lovelineffe in his Grace and mercy; Aman, I confefiè, may love God, when he bath no fence ofhis Love to him in particular: but it mutt all be built up- on an apprehenfion ofhis Love to finners, though he may come fhort in the Application; it is the terro it ofthe Lord, that caufes us to perfwade others, but it is the Love ofChrifi that eonfiraineth us to live to him. Shee loved much, to whom much was forgiven; Looke then, themore abundant difcoveries are madeofthe lovelineffè and defirableneflè in the riches ofhis Grace, the more effe&uall is the foie and only motive wehave to love him, with that filiali , chaff, HolyLove,that he requires. . For theLove ofGod to his Saints , our Do trineoftheir Perfeverance, fets it forth , with thegreateft Advantage, for the iíidearement oftheir foules, to drawout their ftréames ofLove toGod;efpeciallyBoth it give it its Glory in three things. 1. In its freedonze; Jr fetts forth the Love ofGod to his Saints, as that which they have no way in the leaft deferved, as bath beennianifefted from Ifa. 48. 8,9,11. & chap. 54.9, to. As he firftloved them, not becaufe they were better then others , being by nature Children of wrath , and lying in their Blood when he faid to them Live , quickning them when they were deadin trefpaffes and finnes : So he doth not continue his love to them, nor putpofe fo to do, becaufe he fore fees, that they will fo, & fo ,walke with him in HoIineffe &uprightnefle (for heforefees no fuch thing in them, but what he himfelfe purpofeth of eC ually to worke, upon theaccount ofhis loving them)but he refolves todo it,meerely upon the account ofbis owne Grace;. Heneither refolves to continuehis Love to them , on Condition that they be fo and fo holy , at randome, and with uncertainty . of the Event, but freely Eph.s,4. that they may and (hall be fo. And this is the Glory ofLove, the molt Orient pearl in the Cromne, ofit: 'Tis not mercenarynor felfe-ended, nor deferved; but,asa Spring and fountaine, freely vents and powresout it felfeupon its owne account: And what ingenuous,truly noble,Heavenly defcerided heart can holdout againft the power ofthis Love ? It is effe&uallyconftraining to all manneroffutable returnes; let the foule but put it felfe in to the aluall Contemplation ofthe LoveofGod, as it lyes reprefented in this property of it every way free, undeferved,the great LoveofGod, to apooreworme, a fanner, a nothing;and it cannot but be wrought to a ferious Admiration ofit, de- lightin ir, and be pained and ftraitned, untill it make foine fuitableB..eturnes ofLove and Obedience unto God; Ifnot, it may well doubt itnever tailed ofthat Love, or enjoyedany fruits ofit. 2. It gives the LoveofGod the Glory ofits Confiancy and Vnchangeable-. nef¡e; This is another Starreofan eminent Magnitude in the Heaven ofLove; It is notafading, a wavering, an altering thing, but abides for ever; God refis in his Love.Zeph. 3.17. It is a great thing indeed, to apprehend that the great God fhouldfixe his Love .upon a poore Creature. But adde hereunto, that he may love them oneday, and hate them the next, embrace them one houre, and the nextcaft them into Hell , one day rejoycing over themwith joy,another rejoycing todeffroy them,as it is difhonorable to God, and. de rogatory toall his Divine Excellencies,andPerfeftions : fo in particular, it clotheth
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