the pleasure they afford cannot last always; but a too great fondness for them will always be followed by fearful apprehenfions of a future account, and a comfortless end, if not bitterly repented of.

Well then, fince we are but too apt to love where we should not-to love what will but make us miferable; our merciful God has been pleased to direct us where to place our firft love, even upon God himself, which no man ever repented of. For being infinitely worthy of our love, both as he is the fountain of all goodness, and as he is good to every particular man; whoever confiders this attentively cannot but love him. It is for this reason that St. John faith, He that loveth not, knoweth not God; intimating, that the love of God is the neceffary effect of the knowledge of God.

Men fancy that they know what God is, though they have never seriously confidered in what he excels all other beings; and fo their love, like their knowledge, is very scant and unworthy of God.

They do not confider that God is everlasting; and that nothing is fo that we are apt to doat on.

They do not confider, that God is almighty, and that he can do abundantly more for us than we can ask or think.

They do not confider his infinite goodness, of which every creature in heaven and on earth is a fharer.

They

They do not confider the favours they have received from God, the happiness he has promised them, nor the bleffings they hope for.

In fhort; if men do not love God, it is because they do not know him, they do not think of him.

But what is it to love him with all our heart and foul? Why; it is to have the highest esteem for him; it is to love him above all other things; it is to love nothing that we know he does not love; it is to delight in knowing his pleasure, and to be pleased with what we know will please him; it is to think ourselves happy in having his word for our guide, his providence for our fecurity, his goodnefs for our dependance; it is to be jealous of. his honour, to pray that his kingdom and authority may be established in the earth, and that his name may every where be adored; it is to fuffer any thing for his fake, rather than difplease him; it is to be, with pleasure, whatever he would have us to be.

Gracious God! if this were our cafe, how happy fhould we be! How eafy would love make his yoke! We fhould obey him with pleasure; and we fhould defpife all the little baits, which ever now and then would draw our hearts from God. We should run with patience the race that is set before us, being affured of his care now, and of his favour hereafter. The changes and chances of this mortal life would not affright us, when the Sovereign

Sovereign of the world is our protector. All the duties of religion, instead of being a burthen, would be our delight. We should delight to lay all our wants before him whom we love; we should deny ourselves without pain, when we know we please our God by doing fo. Nay, repentance itself, that bitter 'duty, would become a pleasure, when it would have this certain effect, to make us love God more paffionately, who is fo good as to forgive us our trefpaffes.

Laftly; how eafily fhould we, on all occafions, know the will of God, being affured of this by our Lord himself:-He that defires to do the will of God, shall know the doctrine whether it be of God.

II. You fee, good Chriftians, what it is to love God, and the happiness of fuch a state. You cannot but think it a very defirable grace, and fuch as every body fhould ftrive to be poffeffed of. And this, in the fecond place, is what I would propofe to your confideration; namely, how we may poffefs our hearts with the love of God.

Now, as the end of all true religion, from the beginning, was to plant the love of God in the world; fo it is the peculiar excellency of the Christian religion, where it is in good earnest embraced, to do this most effectually. For the Christian religion gives us the most worthy thoughts of God; that he is great and good in himself, and that he is good to us.

For

For even when we were enemies unto him he loved us; propofing terms of pardon, and patiently bearing with our neglect of them. For he fent from heaven his beloved Son, with full power to establish an everlasting righteoufness amongst men; not fuch a righteoufnefs as the Jewish nation contended for, which confifted in outward ordinances; but fuch as is proper to make us partakers of the divine nature.

What a wonderful inftance and discovery of divine love have we in the gospel!—God united to our nature, fetting us an example how we ought to walk fo as to please God; teaching us humility, felf-denial, and fubmiffion to the will of God, as the only graces which can procure his favour here, and eternal happiness hereafter.

Here (that is, in the gospel) we have a full and free pardon of all our fins, upon the most reasonable conditions; here we are affured that a fincere endeavour to please God will be accepted, inftead of a perfect obedience; here we have liberty and authority to call God our Father, and encouragement to go to him upon all occafions. In fhort, the gospel (as St. Paul" calls it) is the law of the Spirit of life; that is, it does not only teach us a fet of principles and outward ordinances, but it is such a difpenfation as will frame the heart to the love of God; obliging to true and fubftantial holiness, and enabling us to profecute it, by

Rom. viii. 2.

giving

giving us all the encouragement and affiftance we shall ask and ftand in need of.

And though no religion ever was, or can be, without outward ordinances, yet, in the Christian difpenfation, all these aim at establifhing the love of God in the hearts of Chriftians. We are dedicated to God in baptism, that the spirit and love of God may take poffeffion of our hearts, before the world bewitches us. We are often called upon to receive the Lord's fupper, that the love of God and of Chrift, in our redemption, may not be forgotten in the midft of diftracting bufinefs. We do not look upon or use these as charms that will benefit us without an holy life; but we look upon them as means appointed by God, for creating and preserving his love in our hearts.

We have the fame opinion of all other duties. If a Chriftian renounces the world, it is because the Spirit of God has told him,* That if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If a Christian fafts, or prays, or denies himself, it is not that he thinks thefe things in themselves well-pleafing to God, but only fo far as they help to prepare our fouls for the love of God, which of all things is the most acceptable to God. If a Chriftian fubmits to the minifters of Chrift's kingdom, though they are men of like paffions with himfelf, yet it is because the gofpel affures him, that they are minifters of God for his good,

1 John ii. 15.