valent inclination to due habitual acknowledgment of these things, with suitable desires after the favour, the approbation, the enjoyment of God; to have such suitable esteem, gratitude, and desire towards God, is to fulfil the chief commandments of God. It is by these things, we obey the commandments of God which relate to the heart, or prevalent dispositions of the soul. Such suitable affections towards God, are principal parts of conformity to him, or of obedience to him. They are in themselves essential duties of holiness, and they include a just impression of the chief motives and encouragements, and of the chief patterns of all the other duties of holiness in general. A due esteem of the chief moral excellencies of God's nature, has such an influence on suitable love to the moral duties of his law, that these things cannot be separated.

In considering the excellencies of the lively exercise of divine love, it is of particular use to explain these properties of it, which distinguish it from strong affections to inferior objects. Whereas, it is a chief use of reason and judgment, to controul and restrain our strong affections towards other objects; it is a chief use of these faculties, to promote and strengthen the vigorous love of God, and that love of our neighbours, which is inseparably connected with it. The lively exercise of divine love, is the noblest use to which human reason and understanding, sanctified by divine grace, can be subservient. It is the more needful to consider this, because of various insinuations, and ways of speaking, which tend to give a quite contrary view of things. Of this number, are these ways of speaking, by which the rational way, and the affectionate way of devotion, are without any due explication or restriction, distinguished, or rather opposed to one another. It is true, indeed, that all affectionate devotion, is not wise and rational: but it is no less true, that all wise and rational devotion must be affectionate. All suitable divine worship must include the exercise of divine love. Seeing there are various affections different from true love to God, or inconsistent with it, warm devotion oftțimes may be unreasonable:

but seeing love to God with the whole heart is the most reasonable, and the most necessary thing in the world, all cold and superficial devotion must be unreasonable. The use of human understanding is to know God and his works. The chief end of knowing God's works, is the knowledge of God himself. The highest end of knowledge is not mere speculation.The great end, therefore, of knowing God and his works, is to love God, to honour, and obey him, and to enjoy him. Divine love and joy are the highest attainments of human nature, and highest ends of all its faculties.

It is the use of reason to curb mens' passions, but it is to curb passions that are hurtful or liable to excess. It is needful, and requires great efforts to set due bounds to our love of other things. But the end of setting bounds to our love of other things, is, that we may set no bounds to our love of God. When people speak of rational and affectionate devotion as opposite things, they seem to go in so far to the philosophy, that made it the use of reason to root out the affections. But whatever rash and inconsistent things may have escaped men in sallies of zeal against devout affections, yet, when men calmly consider the most useful things in human nature, few are capable of denying the affections to be of that number. It is with good reason, that a famous author, Malebranche, speaking on that subject, compares the state the intellectual world would be in, without inclinations or affections, to the state of the material world, were it without motion, on which its beauty and usefulness so much depends. If it were, indeed, the true use of reason, to root out all affection, the right use of reason would be inconsistent with virtue and happiness. These things necessarily imply suitable affections towards God and our fellow-creatures; and especially, that love and joy of which God himself is the object.

It is the use of reason to oppose these affections, whichare in their own nature evil, and to moderate those, which, though in their own nature useful, are subject to hurtful excesses. Mens' affections are irra

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tional or unreasonable, when they are not founded on a well-informed judgment, when they are not excited by just and sufficient motives, when they are excessive in their degree, or have a bad influence on the mind and practice. If there are various affections, which may be introduced into mens' devotions, which are liable to these imputations; the more necessary are the good and wise affections included in divine love, which are evidently of an opposite nature and tendency.

The affections included in divine love, are founded on these truths, for which there is the greatest evidence in the world. Every thing in the world, that proves the being of God, proves that his creatures The evidence should love him with all their heart. for these things is in itself very strong, and level to every capacity. Where it does not beget conviction, it is not owing to the weakness of mens' capacities, but to the strength of their prejudices and pre-possessions. This is manifestly the case, as to the great truths of natural religion, concerning God's infinite excellencies and benefits; the many endearing relations we stand in to him, and our absolute dependence on him; the necessity of the enjoyment of God, in order to complete happiness, and of supreme love to God in order to the enjoyment of him: and in general, the necessity of having the affections of our hearts, as much as possible, proportioned to the worth of their objects. Whatever proves that reasonable creatures are obliged to love God and his law, proves that sinners are obliged to suitable hatred of sin, and self-abasement for it. A sinner cannot have due prevalent love to God and hatred of sin, without prevalent desire of obtaining deliverance from sin, and the enjoyment of God. suitable desire of so important ends cannot be, without proportionable desire of the necessary means. If a sinner, therefore, who hears the gospel, have these suitable affections of love to God and hatred of sin, to which he is obliged by the laws of natural religion, these things cannot be separated from a real complacency in that redemption, and graces which are proposed in revealed

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religion. This does not suppose that natural religion, can discover or prove the peculiar things of the gospel to be true; but when they are discovered, it proves them to be infinitely desirable. A book of laws that are enforced with awful sanctions, cannot prove that the sovereign has passed an act of grace, or indemnity, in favour of transgressors. But it proves that such favour is to them the most desirable, and the most necessary thing in the world. It proves that the way of saving us from sin, which the gospel reveals, is infi nitely suitable to the honour of God, to the dignity of his law, and to the exigencies of the consciences of sinners. But it is not suitable to the scope of our present inquiry, to enlarge here on the evidences of the main principles of natural religion, and revelation.

As what has been hinted, gives some view of the greatness of the evidence, it shews that if the truth of these principles is once supposed, they contain the most reasonable, and most just motives in the world, to the good affections included in divine love. The most obvious principles of natural religion, are evident proofs of the necessity of loving God with our whole heart. The peculiar doctrines of the gospel, relate to our deliverance from sin. And it is manifestly the most reasonable thing in the world, that deliverance from sin, should, in the most vigorous manner, occupy the thoughts and affections of sinners.

As the affections included in divine love, are founded on the most reasonable grounds and motives, they are incapable of excess. This is a principal excellency of these affections, and it is peculiar to them. It is unreasonable to object, that men may be so occupied about one part of religion, as to overlook and neglect other parts of it. Such partiality in religion, does not argue an excess in mens' love to God or holiness, but a very culpable defect in it. The more men have of these holy affections, the stronger must their inclination be, to that obedience to God, which is universal, and extends to all his precepts.

The affections included in divine love, are so far from being capable of excess that they must always ·

come short of the worth of their object. This must be the case, even though men were in a state of perfection. It is not only impossible to overvalue God's excellencies and benefits, or his favour and the enjoy. ment of him. Our esteem of these things, our gratitude, our desires, our complacency in God, can never fully come up to the motives and grounds of these good affections. When it is said, that holiness implies a due proportion between our affections and their objects, it must be understood with obvious limitations and restrictions, relating to God's infinity. The love of creatures to God, is infinitely unequal to the object.— But since the object of that affection is infinitely superior to all other objects, the affection itself should, as much as possible, transcend all other affections. It is always capable of the most just and reasonable additions and increase of strength. We cannot have sincere divine love, without a real desire of such progress in it. The necessary disproportion of that affection to its object, and the strong obligations to it, the divine benefits which are continually multiplying upon us, are evident proofs of this. And as there is good ground to suppose, that strong desire and endeavours after progress in the love of God, is a main thing, intended by the scripture expressions about our loving him with all our heart, and all our strength; so there are manifold other instructions in scripture, which shew that we cannot love God truly, without endeavouring to love him more than we do, and that desire of progress is a main character of sincerity.

From what is said, it is evident, that it is equally absurd and impious, to suppose that creatures may love God too much, or more than they ought. Hence, it follows, that sinners cannot hate sin too much; that they cannot prize deliverance from it too much, or be too thankful for it. It is true, that there are certain bounds, beyond which mens' affections cannot rise, in their present frail state, without doing hurt to their frame, or even unhinging it. But there are very obvious reasons, that this is no proof of a danger of excess in the good affections in view. In mens' present