subjects...that he rules and reigns, and that we are absolutely in subjection, and absolutely at his disposal. In a word, we shall be glad to see him take all that honor to himself which he does, and shall be heartily reconciled to his government, and cordially willing to take our own proper places; and hereby a foundation will begin to be laid in our hearts for all things to come to rights. Job xlii. 5, 6.... I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Isa. ii. 11... The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be brought down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted.... And that all this is implied in a genuine love to God, not only the reason of the thing and the plain tenor of scripture manifest, but it is even self-evident; for if we do not so esteem God as to be thus glad to have him take his place, and we ours, it argues secret dislike, and proves that there is secret rebellion in our hearts: Thus, therefore, must we esteem the glorious God, or be reputed rebels in his sight.

3. Another thing implied in love to God may be called benevolence. When we are acquainted with any person, and he appears very excellent in our eyes, and we highly esteem him, it is natural now heartily to wish him well; we are concerned for his interest; we are glad to see it go well with him, and sorry to see it go ill with him; and ready at all times chearfully to do what we can to promote his welfare. Thus Jonathan felt towards David: and thus love to God will make us feel towards him, his honor and interest in the world. When God is seen in his infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency, as the most high God, supreme Lord and sovereign governor of the whole world, and a sense of his infinite worthiness is hereby raised in our hearts, this enkindles a holy benevolence, the natural language of which is, Let God be glorified....Psalm xcvi. 7, 8. And be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens : let thy glory be above all the earth....Psalm lvii. 5, 11.

This holy disposition sometimes expresses itself in earnest longings that God would glorify himself, and honor his great

the Lord forever-to walk in all his ways, and keep all his commands, seeking his glory: For if we desire that God may be glorified, we shall naturally be disposed to seek his glory. A sight and sense of the infinite dignity, greatness, glory and excellency of God, the great creator, preserver and governor of the world, who has an entire right unto, and an absolute authority over all things, makes it appear infinitely fit that all things should be for him, and him alone; and that we should be entirely for him, and wholly devoted to him; and that it is infinitely wrong to live to ourselves, and make our own interest our last end. The same views which make the godly earnestly long to have God glorify himself, and to have all the world join to give him glory, thoroughly engage them for their parts to live to God. After David had called upon all others to bless the Lord, he concludes with, Bless the Lord, O my soul: And this is the language of heaven-Rev. iv. 11.... Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power: For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created. And it was their maxim in the Apostles' days, Whether they ate or drank, or whatever they did, all must be done to the glory of God....I Cor. x. 31. And it was their way, not to live to themselves, but to the Lord....II Cor. v. 15: Yea, Whether they lived, to live to the Lord; or whether they died, to die to the Lord....Rom. xiv. 7, 8. This was what they commended.... Phil. ii. 20, 21. And this was what they enjoined, as that, in which the very spirit of true religion consisted....Eph. vi. 5, 6, 7.-I Cor. vi. 20.-Rom. xii. 1. & vii. 4.

All rational creatures, acting as such, are always influenced by motives in their whole conduct. Those things are always the most powerful motives, which appear to us most worthy of our choice. The principal motive to an action, is always the ultimate end of the action: Hence, if God, his honor and interest, appear to us as the supreme good, and most worthy of our choice, then God, his honor, and interest, will be the principal motive and ultimate end of all we do. If we love God supremely, we shall live to him ultimately; if we love him with

all our hearts, we shall serve him with all our souls: Just as, on the other hand, if we love ourselves above all, then self-love will absolutely govern us in all things; if self-interest be the principal motive, then self-interest will be the last end, in our whole conduct: Thus, then, we see, that if GOD be highest in esteem, then God's interest will be the principal motive and the last end of the whole conduct of rational creatures; and if self be the highest in esteem, then self-interest will be the principal motive and last end: And hence we may observe, that where self-interest governs men, they are considered in scripture as serving themselves....Hos. x. 1.-Zec. vii. 5, 6. And where God's interest governs, they are considered as serving the Lord ....II Cor. v. 15.-Gal. i. 10.-Eph. vi. 5,6,7. compared with Tit. ii. 9, 10. To love GOD so as to serve him, is what the law requires ;-to love self, so as to serve self, is rebellion against the majesty of heaven: And the same infinite obligations which we are under to love God above ourselves; even the same infinite obligations are we under to live to God ultimately, and not to ourselves: And therefore it is as great a sin to live to ourselves ultimately, as it is to love ourselves supremely.

4. and lastly. Delight in God, is also implied in love to him. By delight we commonly mean that pleasure, sweetness and satisfaction, which we take in any thing that is very dear to us. When a man appears very excellent to us, and we esteem him, and wish him all good, we also, at the same time, feel a delight in him, and a sweetness in his company and conversation; we long to see him when absent; we rejoice in his presence; the enjoyment of him tends to make us happy: So, when a holy soul beholds God in the infinite moral excellency and beauty of his nature, and loves him supremely, and is devoted to him entirely, now also he delights in him superlatively. His delight and complacency is as great as his esteem, and arises from a sense of the same moral excellency and beauty. From this delight in God arise longings after further acquaintance with him, and greater nearness to him. Job xxiii. 3...O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat !-Longings

after communion with him. Psalm Ixiii. 1, 2....O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee: my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is....To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Verse 8....My soul followeth hard after thee. A holy rejoicing in God. Hab. iii. 17, 18.... Although the figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls....Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Finally, from this delight in God arises a holy disposition to renounce all other things, and live wholly upon him, and take up everlasting content in him, and in him alone. Psalm lxxiii. 25, 26....Whom have Iin heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.... My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. The vain man takes content in vain company; the worldly man takes content in riches; the ambitious man in honor and applause; the philosopher in philosophical speculations; the legal hypocrite in his round of duties; the evangelical hypocrite in his experiences, his discoveries, his joys, his raptures, and confident expectation of heaven: But the true lover of God takes his content in God himself. Psalm iv. 6, 7. And thus we see what is implied in love to God.

And now, that this is a right representation of the nature of that love which is required in the first and great commandment of the law, upon which chiefly all the law and the prophets hang, is manifest, not only from the reason of the thing, and from what has been already said, but also from this, that such a love to God as this lays a sure and firm foundation for all holy obedience. That love to God is of the right kind, which will effectually influence us to keep his commands. John xv. 14. I. John ii. 3, 4, 5. But it is evident, from the nature of things, that such a love as this will effectually influence us to do so. As self-love naturally causes us to set up self and seek self-interest, so this love to God will naturally influence us to set up God

and seek his interest. As delight in the world naturally makes us seek after the enjoyment of the world, so this delight in God will naturally influence us to seek after the enjoyment of God: And while we love God primarily for being what he is, we cannot but, for the same reason, love his law, which is a transcript of his nature, and love to conform to it. If we loved him only from self-love, from the fear of hell, or from the hopes of heaven, we might, at the same time, hate his law: but if we love him for being what he is, we cannot but love to be like him; which is what his law requires. To suppose that a man loves God supremely for what he is, and yet does not love to be like him, is an evident contradiction. It is to suppose a thing supremely loved; and yet, at the same time, not loved at all: So that, to a demonstration, this is the very kind of love which the Lord our God requires of us. So, saints in heaven love God perfectly, and so the good man on earth begins, in a weak and feeble manner, to love God for there is but one kind of love required in the law; and so but one kind of love which is of the right sort: for no kind of love can be of the right sort, but that very kind of love which the law requires: There is, therefore, no difference between their love in heaven, and ours here upon earth, but only in degree.

SECTION II.

SHEWING FROM WHAT MOTIVES TRUE LOVE TO GOD TAKES ITS RISE.

II. I now proceed to shew more particularly from what motives we are required thus to love God. Indeed, I have done this in part already; for I have been obliged all along, in shewing what is implied in love to God, to keep my eye upon the first and chief ground and reason of love, namely, what God is in himself. But there are other considerations which increase our obligations to love him and live to him; which ought, therefore, to come into the account: And I design here to take a general view of all the reasons and motives which ought to influence us to love the Lord our God; all which are implied in

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