cedent love; as it is firft in point of time, yea, from all eternity, fo it is firft in point of order of time. We cannot manifeft our love to him, till firft he manifeft his love to us. Men may feign love to God and Chrift, before they know any thing of God's love in Chrift towards them, but they truly have no love to him; even the elect themfelves have no love to him by nature, they are enemies, and without God, and without Chrift in the world; buried in the grave of fin and corruption even as others; dead in trefpaffes and fins, and flaves to divers lufts; the devil dwelling in them, working in them, reigning in them, as a man dwells in his houfe, or works in his fhop, or reigns upon his throne; they have no more acquaintance with him, or love to him, than others, till by grace they be regenerated, and made to come to God in Chrift, and be raised up to a new and lively hope. Common favours indeed, they may have, and God is always fure to notice his elect, and to have a care of them; and many remarkable deliverances will they meet with, even while unconverted. You will find few gracious perfons but they will have even good things to tell of the Lord's kindnefs to them in their youth; but yet love and hatred cannot be known by thefe things that are feen; for bad men have had the like deliverances, and manifold common mercies, and common grace perhaps alfo; but all this while they are ftrangers to true love to God, till once fome rays of his everlasting love go before them, and make way for the breaking of their enmity, and engaging them to love him.

3. "He first loved us:" It fays, that his love is abfolutely free love. If he firft loved us, before we had any love to him, or lovelinefs in us, O how free is it! His love is free in feveral respects. It is free love in that it is without force or constraint; we must even put ourselves in his reverence, and not think to compel God, as if he could be obliged to do it; nay, if we get any thing, we must be in grace's debt, and ly at grace's door, as poor beggars, for an alms for Chrift's fake. It is free love in that it is without

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reluctancy; it is with all his heart. There are fome objects come to our door, and though we give them alms, yet it is with fome reluctancy; we are not fo free-hearted towards them as to others whom we have a kindness for; thefe we will give to, with all our heart; we give them with as much pleafure as if we were getting to ourselves; fo God's fpecial gifts are given with all his heart; he takes pleasure in giving; he delights in fhewing mercy.-It is free love, in that it is without merit and motive; his love is neither defired nor deserved, and yet he loves: "I will love them freely:" I will do it undeservedly, even while they deserve to be thruft down to the lowest hell; "Not for your fakes do I this, be it known unto you.” It is free love, in that it is without price; he feeks nothing for what he gives, he takes nothing for it; nay, he deals with us as poor beggars that have nothing to offer for what he gives, and nothing wherewith to re. compence his kindnefs, after he hath given.-It is free, in oppofition to all proper terms and conditions. Papifts tell us of the merit of congruity, and the merit of condignity; and many ignorant Proteftants think they do enough, when they exclude the word merit, but in the room of merit they bring in a world of conditions; and tell us, upon condition you do fo and fo, then God will do this and that to you; telling us, God hath made a covenant with us, not like the covenant of works, but upon easier terms, requiring only fome little things accommodated to our weaknefs: "It cannot be called "merit, fay they, for there is no proportion betwixt "what we do, and what we get; it is, fay they, but as "if one fhould hold out a penny, and get a kingdom "for it." Many fuch fubtile reafonings of men there are, that tend to exalt felf, and self-righteousness, which would all evanish before the light of this very text, if viewed in a spiritual and evangelical manner. "He firft loved us."

4. "He first loved us;" it fays, that his love is a preventing love; it prevents our love, and all the good that can be about us; for he prevents with the bleffings of his goodness. I might here illuftrate this by

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fhewing, 1. The object of his love, whom he prevents. 2. The time of his love, when he prevents them, 3. The dawning of his love upon them, whereby he prevents them. 4. The fruits and effects of his love in them, wherein he prevents them.

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(1.) The object of his love, whom he prevents. It we view whom he loves, we cannot but fee it to be preventing love. The love of God lighted upon fallen men, not fallen angels, though much more noble and fpiritual beings; and why? even because he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy: his love falleth upon the poor, foolish, weak nothings of this world for ordinary; not upon the wife, noble, and mighty; not many fuch are called; he reveals thefe things to babes, not to the wife and prudent of the world. We must not think, that outward things, fuch as wif dom and learning, and worldly advantages,__move God to fet his love upon any; "Even fo, Father, for it seemed good in thy fight:" Yea, his love vents ordinarily upon the moft ftubborn and rebellious finners in the world, more than upon the most civil and moral perfons, that had led a better life than the generality of their neighbours; who have had more of the righteousness of the law than other people; who have been better-natured, in refpect of their pleafant natural difpofition, than others; and who have had a liberal education, fo as to be trained up, not only in manifold arts and sciences, but in manifold religious duties from their childhood. Grace many times paffes by fuch perfons as these, and falls upon more knobby, rugged perfons. The young man in the gospel may be put to fay," All these things have I done from my youth up," and yet go away from Chrift, when a bloody Manaffes, and perfecuting Paul, are received into favour and mercy. In a word, whomfoever he makes the object of his manifested love in time, they are perfons unworthy of his love; they are full of enmity against him, and bent to backfliding from him, and wofully averfe from returning to him. That God fhould love finners, and great finners, O what preventing love is it!

(2.) The

(2.) The Time of his love, when he prevents them, does alfo illuftrate this. Many a time he makes his grace to reach them, not when they are in their best frame or mood; but behold a Paul going to Damafcus, with the knife in his hand, ready to cut the throats of the faints; grace out-runs him, feizes him, lays hold upon him, and the love of a God in Chrift overcomes him; he is made Ghrift's prifoner, vanquished, and brought to fubjection. I do not fay, that it always holds, that a perfon gets the revelation of grace, when going on in fin; but the firft efflux of grace towards them is many times, when in a very bad cafe: theLord arrefts them, many times, when they have been about fome wicked act of fin; the Lord will fall in at fuch a time upon their confcience, fill them with terror, and humble them under his mighty hand; and never leave them till he hath quickened them, and made them live; "When thou waft in thy blood, I faid unto thee, Live." But what need we fay more concerning the time of his love, to fhow the preventing nature of it, than what God himself fays, Rom. ix. 11. "Jacob have I loved, and Efau have I hated; the children being not yet born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpofe of God according to election might ftand, not of works, but of him that calleth?" Before the man was born, or had done either good or evil, behold he is an object of divine love; " Jacob have I loved."

(3.) The Dawning of his love upon them, whereby he prevents them, may further illuftrate this, That he firft loved us. By this Dawning of his love, I understand, not only the love and grace that is objectively displayed in the glorious gofpel; but efpecially in the firft glimmering of the fubjective light, or the dawning of the day of power, wherein the person is made willing when the gospel comes, not in word only, but in power; when he girds his fword upon his thigh, even his glory and his majefty, as that word may be read, Pfal. xlv. 3. for the difplay of the glory of his grace and love, is the fword whereby he fubdues and conquers his enemies; and till this will-conquering day of power take place, what is in the will but impotence and infufficiency, VOL. II.

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to think any thing as of ourselves? and not only impo tency, but averfion from every thing that is good; and not only averfion, but oppofition and contrariety to the holy nature and will of God; "The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not fubje&t to the law of God, neither indeed can be." This Dawning then of the day of power, to make them willing, muft take place before there can be any gracious motion in the foul towards God; for all the legal conviction and humiliation that goes before this, works only from a principle of felf-love, and felf-prefervation, till this great mafter. faculty of the foul, the will being conquered, carry the reft of the faculties of the foul towards God.

(4) The fruits and effects of his love in them, wherein he prevents them. And here I will tell you fome of thefe things that his love prevents, in regard that they are fruits of his love. And,

1. His love prevents our holinefs; for that is a fruit of his love. I hope you know that fan&tification and holinefs is a work of God's free grace, and fo an ef fect of his free love; and yet, I fear, you bewray your ignorance of the gofpel in thinking, O mult I not be holy before ever God love me? Muft not a man be fomewhat holy, and therefore God will love him, and give him more? O great ignorance to think so; "What haft thou but what thou haft received ?" Is not the very firft beginning of holinefs from God? Is it not he that infuses the habit of grace, and takes away the heart of ftone, and gives the heart of flesh; and fo his love prevents our habitual holinefs, and alfo our actual holinefs, and all our good works? Surely you may know this; for you have learned to fay, that as it is by his free grace, that we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God, fo it is by the fame free grace that we are enabled more and more to die unto fin, and live unto righteousnefs. If any good work, truly good, be wrought by you, is it not the fruit of God's creating power? "For we are his workmanship, created in Chrift Jefus, unto good works."

2. His love prevents our faith; for that is a fruit of his love. You will fay, it is true, he muft make

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