reans were, have acknowledged this truth, what ought we to do, who are brought up in the Christian religion?—a religion, which teaches us, that, notwithstanding the infinite obligations we have to God, we are more indebted to him upon this account than upon any other; so that, if a man had a thousand hearts and bodies, this reason alone should be enough to make him offer them all to his honor and service. This is a point which all the saints, who have had a sincere and disinterested love for him, have faithfully complied with. And, therefore, St. Bernard, upon this subject, says, "True love is neither increased by hope, nor lessened by distrust;" Serm. 83, in Cantic. Hereby giving us to understand, that it is not the reward he expects, that makes him serve God but that he would go on still with the same fervor, though he were sure he should never have any thing for it; because he is not influenced by interest, nor wrought upon by any other consideration, but that of the pure love which is due to his infinite goodness.
4. But though this, of all obligations, is the greatest, yet it is that which, least of all, moves those who are not perfect. Because the greater power self-love has over them, the more they are carried on by their own interest; and, being as yet but rude and ignorant, they are unable to conceive the beauty and excellence of this supreme goodness. Whereas, were they but a little more enlightened, the very brightness of this divine glory would charm them into a love of it above all other things. For which reason, it will be very proper to instruct them upon this matter, that they may acquire a more perfect knowledge of the majesty of God. All I intend to make use of, for the effecting of this, shall be taken out of St. Denis, who wrote his treatise of Mystical Divinity with no other design, but to let us know how infinitely different God Almighty's excellences and perfections are, from those of creatures: that, by seeing this, we may learn, if we have a mind to know what God is, the necessity of shutting our eyes to the beauties we observe in creatures, for fear of deceiving ourselves, whilst we judge of God by those things that bear no proportion at all with his greatness. We are to look upon them as mean and base, and raise up our souls to the contemplation of a Being that exceeds all beings; of a Substance, above all other substances of a Light, that eclipses all other lights; and of a Beauty, which is so far beyond all beauties imaginable, that the greatest of them, and the most complete, is but ugliness and deformity when set by this. This is what we are told by the cloud Moses entered into to discourse with God, which removed every thing but God from him, that he might, by that means, have a better knowledge of God; Exod. xxiv. 16, 18. And Elias's covering his face with his cloak, when he saw the glory of God passing before him, is a lively expression of the same thing; 3 Kings,
