(1.) This love vents itself in prayer and fupplication; "O God, thou art my God, early will I feek thee,” Pfalm lxiii. 1.

(2.) It vents itself in praife and commendation; "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thoufand," Cant. v. 10.

(3.) It vents itself in wonder and admiration; "Behold what manner of love the Father hath beftowed upon us, that we fhould be called the fons of God."

(4.) It vents itself in obedience and obfervation of his law; "If you love me, keep my commandments."

(5.) It vents itself in hatred of fin, and every false way; "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil."

(6.) It vents itself in loving every thing that belongs to God.—And this might lead me to fhew how,

7. We may confider this love in the object of it, and in the extent of its object: why, the true lover of Christ he loves a whole Christ.

(1.) He loves him in his perfon, as he is the brightnefs of the Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon, Heb. i. 3.

(2.) He loves him in his natures, as he is God-man; "IMMANUEL, God with us."

(3.) He loves him in his offices; as he is a Prophet, to take away his darkness; a Priest, to take away his guilt; and a King, to take away his fin, and to fubdue his lufts.

(4.) He loves him in his relations; as he flands related to God, being his eternal Son; as he stands related to the covenant, being the Mediator, Witness, Surety, and Teftator, and all of it; and as he ftands related to his church, being their Head and Husband, and all relations to them. You fee what a large field I might here go through.

(5.) He loves him in his righteousness, both active and paffive, as having fulfilled the law, and fatisfied the juftice of God in our room.

(6.) He loves him in his merit and purchase; he loves him in his Spirit and grace; he loves him in his commands, promifes, and comforts; he loves him in his work and wages; he loves him in his ministers and

people;

people; he loves him in his gofpel and ordinances; he loves him in his crown, honour, and glory; he loves him in his crofs, his reproach, and fuffering; he loves him in every thing about him, and especially in himself, as being altogether lovely. And this leads to another confideration.

8. We may confider this love in the grounds of it. Indeed it is a God in Chrift they love: more particu larly, if you ask, what are the grounds of the faints love to Chrift? Why,

(1.) Their love to him is grounded upon his worth, beauty, and excellency; the foul loves him, because of his own amiable excellency. When the foul gets a view of Christ's own beauty, and of the glory of God in him, his power, wildom, holiness, grace, mercy, and other properties, his heart is ravished with love within him. O the thoughts of his worth, and his fulnefs of grace and good-will is overcoming? "Because of the favour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee," Song i. 3.

(2.) Their love to him is grounded upon his undertaking for them, and accomplishing that undertaking: they love him because of what he did undertake from eternity, and perform in time; "Who loved me, and gave himself for me!" They love him, because he put himself in their nature, for their good; they love him, because he put his name in their debt-bonds and bills: they love him, because he put their names in his lastwill, and in the book of life; they love him, because he put his Spirit, his nature, and his Father's image

into them.

(3.) Their love to him is grounded upon his Father's love to him, and fatisfaction in him; The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness fake, faying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleafed." And, O but Christ be defervedly the object of the faints love, because he is the object of the Father's love, who loves him, both as he is his Son, and as he is our Surety; and therefore as the fum of all.

(4.) Their love to him is grounded upon his love to them; "We love him, becaule he first loved us." This leads me to

III. The third general head, viz. The Influence that his love hath upon theirs as the cause of it. And here I would, 1. Clear and demonftrate it, that his loving us is the Caufe of our loving him. 2. Enquire what Influence his love hath upon ours.

1. As to the first of thefe, to clear this point, we would offer the following confiderations.

(1.) Confideration is, That a natural man, that looks upon God, can never have a heart-love to him, whatever he pretends. It is true, many fancy God loves them, and pretend they have a love to him, like fome. in the church at Ephefus, who faid, they were apof tles, and were not, but were found liars; fo many pretend they know God, and love him, who yet in works deny him; and by their practice are found liars; and the vifion of their heads is like to end in utter darkness: It is true alfo, that all that have a love to God, have not the full affurance of God's love to them: fome may live under his frowns, who are yet in a state of favour there may be fome true love, where yet there is but little joyful affurance; yet, I fay, these who have no faith at all of God's love in Chrift, but look upon God as an implacable enemy, they can have no hearty love to him; nay, confciousness of guilt, and fear of wrath make them run away from God as an enemy; the spirit of flavish fear, which all awakened finners. are naturally poffeft of, till God fhew them his love and favour in Chrift, will rather harden men in their enmity, than melt them into love. If there were nothing but the terror of the Lord to be known, conversion would be impoffible.

(2.) Confideration is, That the greater the sense of God's love in Chrift is, the stronger will our love to him be. Hence there are fuch different degrees of love to God among the faints, and even in the fame faints, or believers, at feveral feafons, according as they have more or lefs of the comfortable apprehenfion of the

love of God in Chrift; for, although the love of God be not variable, yet our views and apprehenfions of it are. Every believer hath his dark and gloomy days, as well as his bright and pleasant days; and the less fenfible views he hath of God's love and favour, the more fenfible deadnefs in duty, and decay of love to God takes place. When the believer wants the faith of God's love, his wings are clipt; but when his heart is fraughted with a large meafure of the faith of God's love, then he mounts up on wings as an eagle: then the love of Chrift conftrains him; and his heart is enlarged to run the way of God's commandments.

(3.) Confideration, That the love of God difcovered, breaks the power of all these things that hinder our love to him. Is felf-love a fnare to keep us from the love of God? Well, a difplay of God's love breaks the power of felf-love. When Job got a dif covery of the glory of God's grace, then he abhors himfelf. When we know that God is pacified towards us, it makes us loath and abhor ourfelves, Ezek. xvi. 63. A finner is never fo odious in his own fight, as when he is perfuaded of his being precious in God's fight. Does the flattery of the world allure men from the love of God? Well, but the difplays of God's love make the world to be crucified to us, and us to the world.Chrift's love difcovered, obfcures all the feeming glory of the world, as the fun darkens the leffer lights, and as the works of nature spoil the reputation of the works of art. Do the frowns of the world fcare us from the love of God and his way? Well, but the difplay of God's love to us is a noble fecurity against this temptation; for little matter, who be against us, if God be for us; "His loving-kindness is better than life;" therefore, though the rage of men fhould reach our lives, yet what comparison is betwixt the breath of our nof trils, and the favour of an eternal God? We do not love God in Chrift, because we do not know him; but when his love is displayed, then he is known in the light of the Spirit, "As a Spirit of wifdom and revelation in the knowledge of Chrift," the Spirit comes as

C3

a Spirit

a Spirit of light; and thus the love of God is fhed abroad upon the heart by the Holy Ghost.

(4.) Confideration, When God difplays his love, he at the fame time transforms the foul to whom he difcovers himfelf, and makes it a new creature. Now, the new nature is a grateful and loving nature; depraved nature may reward evil for good, and hatred for love; but it is not fo with the new nature, it natively renders love for love; it is native to the foul upon the discovery of God's love, his everlasting love, to be constrained to his fervice and obedience; "If you love me, keep my commandments." Now, this love, that is the product of God's love, is virtually all obedience; and therefore love is faid to be the fulfilling of the law; and when love takes place, his commandments are not grievous, but pleafant; yea, when the love of God is in the heart, then the law of God is in the heart.

But then,

2. To enquire more particularly what influence God's love hath upon ours: We love him, because he first loved us" our love is juft the reflex of his, as the fun fhining upon a glass. Why, how does his love to us influence our love to him? (1.) It hath a moral influence, in point of motive. (2.) A physical influence, in point of power.

(1.) It hath a moral influence, in point of motive; and fo it is the moral cause of our love; the incentive, the argument. What will move us to love, if the dif play of this infinite love does it not? We cannot but love fuch a good God, who was firft in the act and work of love; that loved us when we were both un. loving and unlovely; that loved us at fuch a rate, as to feek and folicite our love at the expence of his Son's blood. O amazing love! Is there any motive can be ftronger to engage us to love him again? Shall not the love of Chrift conftrain us to love him again? What in all the world will endear a foul to God, if the love of God do it not?-So much as we fee of the love of God, fo much we love him, and delight in him, and no more. Every other difcovery of God without this, will but make the foul to flee from him. If the faith

and