226. The Love of God to Men, Vol. If the way of our Salvation had been put into the Hands of our ownCounfel and Choice, how could we have been fo impudent as to havebegg'd Of God, that his only Son might defcend from Heaven and become Man, be poor, defpifed and miferable for our fakes ? God may (loop as low as lie pleafeth, being fecure of his'own Majef y and Greatnefs ; but it had been a Boldnefs in us, not far from Blafphemy, to have defiredof him to condefcend to fuck a fubmiffion. Nor, Lafly, was he pre oblig'd by 'any Kindnefs or Benefit fromus ; fo far from that, that we had given him all poffìble Provocation to the contrary, and had Reafon to expe&'the Effe& of his heavieft Difpleafure : And yet though he was the pars Lefa, the Party that had been difoblig'd and injured ; tho' we were firft in the Offenee and Provocation, he was pleafed to make the firft Overtures of Peace and Reconciliation ; and tho' it was wholly our Concernment, and not his; yet he was pleafed to condefcend fo far to our Perverfetiefs and Ob- ftinacy, as to fend his Son to us, and to befeech us to be reconciled. Now herein, (fays the Apoftle, immediately after the Text) herein is love, not that we loved God, hut that he loved us, and fent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins : Herein is the Love of God manifefted, that the kindnefs began on his part, and not on ours ; that being neither obliged nor defred by us, , he did freely and of his own accord, fend his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. What now remains but to apply this to our felves ? I. Let us propound to our felves the Love of God for our Pattern and Ex- ample. This is the Inference which the Apoftle makes in the next Verfe but one after the Text, Beloved, if God fo loved us, we ought alfo to love one ano- ther, One would have thought the Inference fhoul'd have been, if Godfo loved us, then we ought alfo to love him. But the Apoftle Both not fpeak fo much of the Affe&ion, as the Effe& of Love, and his meaning is, if God bath beftowed fuch Benefits upon us, we ought, in imitation of him, to be kind and benefi- cial one to another. Not but that we ought to love God with all our hearts andfouls, and ftrength ; but in this Senfe we are not capable of it. We can- not be beneficial to him ; becaufe he is felf-fufficient, and hands in need of no- thing ; and therefore the Apoftle adds this as a Reafon, why he does not ex- hort Men to love God, but one another; no man loath feen God at any time he is not fenfible to us, and therefore none of thefe fenfible things can figni- fie any thing to him. But he bath Friends and Relations here in the World, who are capable of the fenfible Eifé&s of our Love, and to whom we may Phew kindnefs for his fake ; we cannot be beneficial to God but we may teftifie our Love to him, by our Kindnefs and Charity to Men who are made after the Image of God; and if we fee any one Miferable, that is Confideration ettc;lrgh to move our Charity. There was nothing but this in us to move him toPity us, when we were in our blood, and no eye pitiedus. God is. a Pattern of the moft generous Kindnefs and Charity. Tho' he be in- finitely above us, yet he thought it not below him to confider our Cafe, and to employ his only Son to faveus ; he had no Obligation to us, no Expe&ation of Advantage from us, and can never be in a poffibilitÿ to Rand in need of us; and yet he loved us, and hath conferred the greateft Benefits upon us : So that no Man can have deferved fo ill at our hands, but that if he be in want, and'we in a Condition to help him, he ought to come within the Compafs and Confi- deration of our Charity. And this is the proper Seafon for it, when we Commemorate the greateft Bleffing and Benefit that was ever conferred on Mankind, The Son of God fent into the world, onpurpofe to redeem andfive us. And therefore I cannot but very much commend the Cuflom of Feedingand Relieving the Poor, more efpecially at this time, when the Poor doufually Hand moh in need of it, and when we Commemorate the grace of our Lord Jefus Chri/l, who being rich became poor for our fakes, that we through his povertymight be made rich. 2. Let us readily comply with the great Defign of this great Loveof God to Mankind. He bathfent his Son, that wemight live through him. But tho' he had done
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