and apprehenfion of his free love, of his ancient love, his antecedent love, his preventing love, fuch as I have spoken of, be no motive or argument to influence us to love him, there is no argument in the world will prevail.

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2. It hath a phyfical influence, in point of power; and fo it is not only the moral, but the productive caufe. There is a power in his love that conquers, captivates, and overpowers the man, fo that he cannot but love God's love hath a generative power our love is brought forth by his love, James i. 18. " Of his own will he begat us;" that is, of his own free love and good-will. Divine love makes fuch an impreffion, that it inftamps love upon the foul. As his love hath a generating power, fo it hath a creating power; his love infufes and creates love in the perfon. Beloved, it works good in the man, that is the object of it: his power and will are commenfurate; what he wills, he works; and when the time of love or of manifefting love comes, the time of power comes; Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power." His love hath a conftraining power; "The love of Chrift conftrains us;" and his love hath a drawing power; "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness will I draw thee." He draws with the cords of love, and thereby draws the heart towards him in love and hence never a foul tafted the fweetnefs of his everlafting love, but at the fame time he felt the power of it warming the heart, and kindling a fire of love there. O how does his mighty love break the power of their mighty enmity! Was ever pardoning mercy and love intimated, but the pardoned foul behoved to read the pardon with tears of joy; and to love much when much was forgiven? Can they chufe but love him, "Who are the called according to his purpose of love?" Rom. viii. 28. We love him, because he firft loved us."

IV. The fourth general head, was the application. Is it fo, that God's love to his people is the fource and cause of their love to him? Then we may apply it for information; and,

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1. Hence

1. Hence fee the difference betwixt God's love to the faints, and the faints love to God. It is true, their loves agree in feveral things: his love to them is a love of complacency, he delights in them; and their love to him is a love of complacency, they delight in him he loves them in Chrift, and they love him in Chrift; but yet vaftly great is the difference betwixt his love and theirs. 1. His love is eternal, their love is but of yesterday's date. 2. His love is the original caufe, their love is the native effect of his. the native effect of his. 3. His love is an antecedent love, it goes before theirs, as the father loves the child, when the child knows not the father, much lefs loves him; yea, they are by nature haters of God. And furely all muft begin on his fide; "Herein is love, not that we loved God,, but that God loved us:" yea, his love not only goes before our love, but before every thing that is lovely in us; "God commends his love towards us, in that while we were yet finners, Chrift died for us." Sin imports all unlovelinefs and undefirablenefs that can be in a creature; yet he loves; but then our love is a confequential love. 4. His love being free and eternal, is always equal and unchangeable; for, "The Strength of Ifrael is not a man that he fhould repent ;" but our love to him is unequal and changeable, up and down: his love is like the fun, always the fame in its light, though a cloud may fometimes interpofe; our love is like the moon, hath its -waxings and weanings: his love, I fay, is like the fun, always the fame in its light. It is true, as the fun is fometimes under a cloud; fo the fruits and manifeftations of God's love may change; now he fhines, now he hides his face, as it may be moft for our profit; but ftill his love in itself is the fame. Whatever changes affect the faints, whether as to fin or fuftering, yet God's love to them is unchangeable. Why, were it not blafphemy to fay, that God loves his people in their finning, as well as in their ftricteft obedience? If fo, who will care to ferve him more? To which it might be replied, The love of God in itself is no more changeable than God himfelf; and what then? Loves he his people in their finning? by no

means;

means; he loves his people, not their finning. Alters he his love to them? No; not his love, but the dif coveries of his love: he fmites them, rebukes them, and fills them with a fenfe of indignation. But wo would be to us if he changed in his love; nay," He is God, and changes not; therefore the fons of Jacob are not confumed." Thele very things which feem to be demonftrations of the change of his affection, do as clearly proceed from love to them, even his chaflifements, as any other difpenfations. Well, but will not this encourage to fin?" O fure he never tafted, as one "fays, of the love of God, that can seriously make "this objection." The doctrine of grace may be turned into wantonnefs, but the principle of grace cannot. His love, I fay, being free, eternal, and preventing love, is in itself always equal and unchangeable; but our love to God is an ebbing and flowing love. We are scarce a day at a stand. This hour we may be at this, "Though all men forfake thee, yet will not I!" And the next hour at this, "I know not the man." When was ever the time that our love was

equal one day to an end?

2. Hence fee the difference betwixt juftification and fanctification; and the priority of juftification to fanctification: We may here notice the difference betwixt the one and the other. Many are the differences betwixt them, but I confine myfelf to what the text imports. 1. In juftification, God loves us, and fhews his love in Chrift; in fanctification, we love God, and fhew our love to him: for the comprehenfive fum of active holinefs is love, which is the fulfilling of the law. 2. In juftification, we have the favour of God; in fanctification, we have the image of God; and the special part of his image is love. 3. In juftification, we are paffive, as when God fet his love upon us; but in fanctification, we are active, while his love caufes us to act in loving him. 4. Juftification is God's act of love without us, in and through the merit and righteousness of Chrift imputed to us; fanctification is God's work of grace within us, by the Spirit of Christ imparted to us as a Spirit of love, as well as of other graces. 5. Juf. tification

tification is perfect, equal, and always the fame, like the love of God, the original caufe, and the righteoulnefs of Chrift the meritorious caufe of it; but fanctification is imperfect, unequal, and changeable; for the love of the faints, as I faid, is up and down. 6. Juftification is the caufe; fanctification the effect; even as God's love is the caufe of our love. 7. Faith in juftification is an inftrument receiving Chrift, as the Lord our righteoufnefs, and apprehending the love and mercy of God in him; but faith in fanctification is an agent, employing Chrift as the Lord our ftrength, to enable us to manifeft our love to him. Thus we fee the priority of divine love and favour, and acceptation and juftification before any work of ours; and fo, how any can maintain, that actual gofpel-repentance (which must be a work of ours, and a piece of fanctification at leaft) doth go before, and is necessary in order to juftification, let the judicious confider, without receding from our ftandards, and binding their faith to the belt of any fallible creatures, councils, or acts. That legal repentance, or humiliation and conviction, and fense of fin, does go before juftification, in order of divine operation, is plain; and that habitual fanctification, or regeneration, and the infufing of all grace into the foul, is alfo precious, is not denied: But that gofpel-repentance, or any part of actual fanctification, is neceffary in order to juftification and pardon, I do not fee how it is poffible to maintain that, without running into the Roman camp, and fighting with Popifh weapons, and inverting the order of our text, making any part of our love to God neceffary first in order to God's loving us. But fure God's method of doing, will ftand in fpite of hell and earth: "We love him, because he first loved us."

3. Hence we may fee, that as the perfuafion that is in the nature of faith lies in the apprehenfion of the love and mercy of God in Chrift to a man's felf in particular; fo this doctrine of faith does not make void the law, but establish and fulfil it, if we confider love as the fulfilling of the law; for the language of this

text, when read in the fingular number is, " I love him, because he first loved me:"-"He firft loved me," there is faith's apprehenfion of the mercy of God in Chrift. It is true, a believer may fay, I know not whether he loved me or not; but fure I am it is not his faith that fays fo, but unbelief; but the ftronger that his faith is, to be fure the more will he be able to say, "He loved me:" And the more he can fay this, the more can he fay the other alfo, "I love him:" And there is obedience, gofpel-obedience, the obedience of faith, which is a loving obedience; for the law of Chrift is a law of love: it is blafpemy against the love of God to reproach it, as a mother of licentioufnefs, and a nurse of carnal fecurity. They that have the love of God in their eye, can take no encouragement from thence to fin; for fin tends to cloud that light wherein they rejoice. If it were poffible for a believer to think that God loves him, and thereupon fhould take encouragement to fin, then I am bold to fay, it is not the faith of God's operation takes place at that time with him, but only a fancy, and a firong temptation of Satan, working upon that fancy: for a true faith of God's love, brings holinefs, love, and obedience along with it, as natively as the rifing-fun brings light. God's love of bounty difplayed, does as natively bring in our love of duty, as it is natural for the fire to bring heat. Is it poffible that God's communicating his thoughts of peace to a child, will embolden him to new acts of treafon? No; if the fenfe of God's love did not wear off, and fecurity and unwatchfulness wear on, the believer's love would always be flaming in the fire of God's love. They have no experience of the love of God, who think that the discovery thereof would give them a license to tranfgrefs.

4. Hence we fee, that as the believer is perfectly free from vindictive wrath, from the curfe and penal fanction of the law, fo his gofpel-obedience is not influenced by flavish fear of hell, but by the love of God. How can the man that is actually juftified, and accepted in the Beloved, and fo the actual object of God's everlafting, unchangeable love, ever fall under his vindic