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hope of his favor; the doing so being an inseparable property of love; to which we adjoin another.

4. The feeling much displeasure and regret in being deprived of such enjoyment; in the absence or distance as it were of God from us; the loss or lessening of his favor; the subtraction of his gracious influences from us: for surely answerable to the love we bear unto any thing will be our grief for the want or loss thereof it was a shrewd argument which the poet used to prove that men loved their monies better than their friends, because-majore tumultu plorantur nummi, quam funera—they more lamented the loss of those than the death of these: indeed, that which a man principally affects, if he is bereaved thereof, be his condition otherwise how prosperous and comfortable soever, he cannot be contented; all other enjoyments become unsavory and unsatisfactory to him. And so it is in our case, when God, although only for trial, according to his wisdom and good pleasure, hides his face, and withdraws his hand; leaving the soul in a kind of desolation and darkness; not finding that ready aid in distress, not feeling that cheerful vivacity in obedience, not tasting that sweet relish of devotion, which have been usually afforded thereto; if love reside in the heart, it will surely dispose it to a sensible grief; it will inspire such exclamations as those of the psalmist: How long, Lord, wilt thou hide thy face?' • Hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble: Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies:' Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it.' Even our Saviour himself in such a case, when God seemed for a time to withdraw the light of his countenance, and the protection of his helpful hand from him, (or to frown and lay his heavy hand on him) had his soul TepíAUTOV ews Darárov, extremely grieved and full of deadly anguish ;' neither surely was it any other cause than excess of love, which made that temporary desertion so grievous and bitter to him, extorting from his most meek and patient heart that woful complaint, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!' But especially, when our iniquities have,' as the prophet expresseth it, separated between our God and us;' and' our sins have hid his face from us;' when that thick cloud' hath

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eclipsed the light of his countenance, and intercepted his gracious influences; when by wilfully offending we have, as the Israelites are said to have done, 'rejected our God, cast him off, and driven him from us;' so depriving ourselves of propriety in him, and the possession of his favor; then if any love be alive in us, it will prompt us, with those good men in their penitential agonies, to be grievously sensible of, and sorely to bewail that our wretched condition; there will not, if we so heartily love God, and value his favor as they did, 'be any soundness in our flesh, or rest in our bones; our spirit will be overwhelmed within us, and our heart within us desolate.' Our heart will be smitten and withered like grass,' on the consideration and sense of so inestimable a loss. Love will render such a condition very sad and uneasy to us; will make all other delights insipid and distasteful; all our life will become bitter and burthensome to us; neither, if it in any measure abides in us, shall we receive content, till by humble deprecation we have regained some glimpse of God's favor, some hope of being reinstated in our possession of him. Farther yet,

5. Another property of this love is, to bear the highest goodwill toward God; so as to wish heartily and effectually, according to our power, to procure all good to him, and to delight in it; so as to endeavor to prevent and to remove all evil, if I may so speak, that may befal him, and to be heartily displeased therewith. Although no such benefit or advantage can accrue to God which may increase his essential and indefectible happiness; no harm or damage can arrive that may impair it, (for he can be neither really more or less rich, or glorious, or joyful than he is; neither have our desire or our fear, our delight or our grief, our designs or our endeavors any object, any ground in those respects;) yet hath he declared that there be certain interests and concernments, which, out of his abundant goodness and condescension, he doth tender and prosecute as his own: as if he did really receive advantage by the good, and prejudice by the bad success, respectively belonging to them; that he earnestly desires, and is greatly delighted with some things, very much dislikes, and is grievously displeased with other things: for instance, that he bears a fa

therly affection toward his creatures, and earnestly desires their welfare; and delights to see them enjoy the good he designed them; as also dislikes the contrary events; doth commiserate and condole their misery; that he is consequently well pleased when piety and justice, peace and order (the chief means conducing to our welfare) do flourish; and displeased, when impiety and iniquity, dissension and disorder (those certain sources of mischief to us) do 'prevail; that he is well satisfied with our rendering to him that obedience, honor, and respect, which are due to him; and highly offended with our injurious and disrespectful behavior toward him in the commission of sin and violation of his most just and holy commandments: so that there wants not sufficient matter of our exercising good-will both in affection and action toward God; we are capable both of wishing, and (in a manner, as he will interpret and accept it) of doing good to him, by our concurrence with him, in promoting those things which he approves and delights in, and in removing the contrary. And so surely shall we do, if we truly love God for love, as it would have the object to be its own, as it intends to enjoy it, so it would have it in its best state, and would put it thereinto, and would conserve it therein; and would thence contribute all it is able to the welfare, to the ornament, to the pleasure and content thereof. 'What is it,' saith Cicero, to love, but to will or desire, that the person loved should receive the greatest good that can be?'* Love also doth reconcile, conform, and unite the inclinations and affections of him who loves, to the inclinations and affections of him who is beloved; eadem velle, et eadem nolle, to consent in liking and disliking of things,' if it be not the cause, if it be not the formal reason or essence, as some have made it, it is at least a certain effect of love. If then we truly love God, we shall desire that all his designs prosper, that his pleasure be fulfilled, that all duty be performed, all glory rendered to him: we shall be grieved at the wrong, the dishonor, the disappointment he receives: especially we shall endeavor in our own practice, with holy David, to perform návra

* Quid est amare, nisi velle bonis aliquem affici quam maximis?Cic. de Fin. 2.

rà leλýμara avrou, all that God wills, desires, or delights in ; to eschew whatever offends him. Our desire, our delight, our endeavor will conspire with and be subordinate to his; for it would be a strange kind of love that were consistent with the voluntary doing of that which is hurtful, injurious, or offensive to that we love; such actions being the proper effects, the natural signs of hatred and enmity: If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar,' saith St. John; and, If any man seeth his brother need, and shutteth his bowels toward him, how doth the love of God abide in him?' He that in his affections is so unlike, so contrary unto God; he that is unwilling to comply with God's will in so reasonable a performance; he that in a matter wherein God hath declared himself so much concerned, and so affected therewith, doth not care to cross him, to displease and disappoint him; how can he with any show of truth, or with any modesty pretend to love God? Hence it is, that keeping of God's commandments is commonly represented to us as the most proper expression, as the surest argument of our love to God: showing mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments ;' they are joined together as terms equivalent, or as inseparable companions in effect: he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:''ye are my friends, (that is, not only objects of my affection, but actively friends, bearing affection unto me,) if ye do whatsoever I command you,' saith our Saviour: and, Whoso keepeth his word, in him is the love of God truly perfected:' (he hath the truth and sincerity; he hath the integrity and consummation of love: without it love is wholly false and counterfeit, or very lame and imperfect; so the loving and beloved disciple teaches us.) For by doing thus, as we signify our esteem of God's wisdom which directeth us, our dread of his power and justice that can punish us, our hope in his goodness and fidelity to reward us, our regard to his majesty and authority over us; so especially thereby (if our obedience at least be free and cheerful) we express our good will toward him; showing thereby, that we are disposed to do him all the good and gratify him all we can; that his interests, his honor, his content are dear and precious to us. And were indeed our hearts knit unto God with this bond of

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perfection, we could not in our wills, and consequently in our › practice, be so severed from him; we should also love heartily all virtue and goodness, the nearest resemblances of him, and which he chiefly loves; we should do what David so oft professes himself to do, love his law, and greatly delight in his commandments.' With our Saviour, we should delight to perform his will; it would (as it was to him) be our meat and our drink to do it; his yoke would be easy indeed, and his burthen light unto us; his yoke so easy, that we should wear it rather as a jewel about our necks than as a yoke; his burthen so light, that we should not feel it as a burthen, but esteem it our privilege. We should not be so dull in apprehending, or so slack in performing duty; for this sharp-sighted affection would presently discern, would readily suggest it to us; by the least intimation it would perceive what pleaseth God, and would snatch opportunity of doing it: we should not need any arguments to persuade us, nor any force to compel us, love would inspire us with sufficient vigor and alacrity; it would urge and stimulate us forward not only to walk in, but even, as the psalmist expresseth it, to run the ways of God's commandments.'

But let thus much serve for explication of the nature of this duty; in order, as was before said, to the direction of our practice, and examination thereof: the particular duties mentioned being comprehended in, or appertaining to the love of God, if we perceive that we practise them, we may to our satisfaction and comfort infer, that proportionably we are endued with this grace; if not, we have reason (such as should beget remorse and pious sorrow in us) to suspect we abide in a state of disaffection or of indifferency toward him. If we find the former good disposition, we should strive to cherish and improve it; if the second bad one, we should (as we tender our own welfare and happiness, as we would avoid utter ruin and misery) endeavor to remove it.

II. To the effecting of which purposes I shall next propound some means conducible; some in way of removing obstacles, others by immediately promoting the duty.

Of the first kind are these ensuing :

1. The destroying of all loves opposite to the love of God;

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