Whatever possesses the throne in our heart; whatever we love more than, or equally with, God; whatever we seek in preference to God's glory; whatever we expect our happiness from, or choose for our portion; that is our god, our idol; and we give the glory to it, which is due to God alone. Now men, in their natural state, have no more notion of seeking and finding happiness in God, as their portion, than they have of loving him supremely, and seeking his glory ultimately. They apprehend that the gifts of God can do somewhat towards making them happy; and therefore, they desire, choose, and deify them. The worldling makes a god of his riches, pleasures, and honours. In these he trusts, on these depends, and from them expects his satisfaction. Nor are other descriptions of character a whit better, though their idolatry takes another turn. The moralist, the self-righteous, the self-wise, the enthusiast, each deifies something that is not God. · One expects his happiness from his moral virtue; in which he prides himself; for which he admires, values, loves himself; in which he trusts, and on which he dotes. Another does the same by his forms of godliness; another by his knowledge and clear light; another by his experiences, discoveries, consolations, and attainments. Each takes the gift, and puts it in the place of the giver; and reposes that dependence upon it, cherishes that expectation from it, and delights himself in contemplating it in that manner, in which he ought to love, depend on, expect from, and delight in contemplating the glorious God; or rather, dressing up himself in this imagined finery, he admires, trusts in, loves, and rejoices in himself, and is his own idol. Even in his views of heaven, his soul rests in the expectation of happiness in something which is to be conferred upon him as his own, rather than in God. And thus all agree in forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves cisterns, braken cisterns, which can hold no water. "But the word of God, though it figuratively describes the happiness of the righteous under images taken from natural good things, yet affords light enough to the humble Christian for the interpretation of the figure, and plainly enough declares that true happiness is not to be found in God's gifts, but in God himself, the fountain from which all these streams flow, and to which they lead the renewed mind. The pure in heart shall SEE GOD. With out holiness nó man shall SEE THE LORD. We shall SEE HIM as he is, and be made like him. We shall behold his glory. True believers are all represented as choosing God for their portion; thirsting after God: longing to appear in the presence of God; desiring the light of his countenance; rejoicing in God; exclaiming, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee. And indeed nothing can be plainer, than that the all-sufficient and eternal God, of unchangeable excellency, is the only happiness which is large enough to satisfy the vast capacities of an immortal spirit. He is the fountain ever full, ever overflowing, inexhaustible, and if I may so speak, undiminishable, from which million of worlds, continually drinking full draughts of bliss, never in the least lessen it but all creatures are utterly incapable of affording happiness. Let a rational being have the whole world, not earth only but heaven, and every thing in it, and eternal duration secured, in which to enjoy it; and no positive evil to disturb that enjoyment; he would still be a dissatisfied and discontented creature, if not admitted to behold the glory and taste the love, and enjoy the presence of the great and glorious God. This, and this alone, can fill, and satisfy, and enlarge, and exalt, and make happy the rational soul for ever. I doubt not that every true believer, every spiritual man sees, yea feels this: and, however rational it is in itself, I am persuaded none beside can perceive it. He is happy and joyful in proportion as he can have fixed views of the divine glory, a realizing sense of the divine presence, and that kind of assurance of the love of God, which arises from a heartfelt conscious love to him. While he can thus feel the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, he is happy, and can rejoice, even though in tribulation: without it, his soul is dark, dreary, uncomfortable; nor can any worldly advantages, any recollection of past experiences, any hope of future happiness, though it may keep him from distress, make him comfortable, till this experience is renewed.—The view he has of the infinite excellency of God determines his choice of him as his portion. Self-love now takes its proper direction, and cannot be vehement and eager: The enjoyment of God is that recompense of reward to which the believer has respect in another world: where, without one intervening cloud, or any remaining coldness or corruption, he trusts to see the glorious God, and be for ever ravished with love: and the enjoyment of God, in the earnests and first-fruits thereof, he longs for as this only solace in the barren land where no water is. To see the beauty of the Lord, to rejoice in the peculiar manifestations of his glory, is the one thing which he desires. Now he knows, both from the word of God and his own experience, that his present enjoyment of this sweet pleasure, and the confirmed hope of it hereafter, increase or decrease in exact proportion to his diligence in watching against sin and following after holiness. He finds sloth and sensuality, worldliness, pride, and wrong tempers, grieve the Holy Spirit, unfit his soul for divine exercises, prevent divine communications, make corrections, temptations, and uncomfortable experiences necessary; and consequently hinder his enjoyment of his beloved. On the contrary he finds diligence and attention to duty prepare his mind for these gracious visits, and render them more frequent and blessed. Every true believer has a little of this experi→ ence and judgment, in proportion to his faith and grace: and thereby he will be proportionably induced to follow after holiness.". LOVE TO MAN. "EVERY true believer has a sincere disinterested love for all men. Nothing can be plainer than that, according to the Bible, the spirit of Christianity is especially a spirit of love to man; and that, without this, all other attainments, however specious, or even splendid or eminent, are of no worth to the owner. 1 Cor. xiii.-The whole law is written in the heart of every true Christian; and the two tables are inseparable. He that loveth God will love his brother also; and he is a false pretender to the former, who does not the latter for that removal of pride and selfishness, which makes way for our sincerely loving a God of infinite holiness, who, as such, is directly contrary to our own natural character, will necessarily dispose us to love all men, in submission to his authority, and imitation of his example. "Now this love, though not confined to, consists much in, universal benevolence and good will to all men, near or far off; strangers and enemies, as well as relatives and friends; and the vilest as well as the best of men.......He who does not forgive his vilest enemies and injurers, and so love the most entire strangers, or the most detestable characters, as sincerely and cordially to desire their welfare and happiness in time and eternity, and disinterestedly to seek to promote it, is not a Christian.-Under the immediate disturbance of mind which a recent provocation excites, a true Christian may, and will feel more or less resentment and ill will: he may afterwards, through remaining depravity, shew some measure of coldness and dislike to persons who have behaved ill, and express it by withholding favours formerly conferred, or conferred upon others. This, though it generally proves a person to be an unthriving Christian, does not always prove that he is no Christian. But he who habitually harbors so much resentment of injuries received, however great, as to be utterly destitute of benevolent love to the author of them; to have no disposition and desire to seek his good, spiritual and temporal; who can see him pinched with hunger, and feel no willingness to feed him; or thirsty, and have no disposition to give him drink; or going on in the way to perdition, and feel no desire in his heart for his salvation, or no willingness to use the means for that end; cannot be a Christian: for he has not one spark of the spirit of Christ in him, whatever his knowledge, discoveries, gifts, or experiences may be. If he do not forgive his enemy, God will not forgive him. If he cannot sincerely pray for his enemies, God will not hear his prayers for himself. If he have no willingness to shew mercy he shall have judgment without mercy. ་ "And, if enemies are all of them the objects of the benevolent good will of every true Christian, in a measure exactly proportioned to his faith and grace, evidently all other men must be so. There is not a man on earth for whom the true Christian, în his retired moments, when he is most himself, communing with God, or meditating on redeeming love, has not a sincere benevolence; and whom he does not really desire to be happy in time and eternity; and whose happiness he has not a sincere disposition to promote with a degree of disinterested, self-denying activity proportioned to his degree of grace. He that has no measure of this disposition is no Christian: he that has but little of it is but a poor sort of Christian: he that has much of it is a thriving Christian.-And, as the measure of this disposition in the heart is the standard of our growth in grace; so the measure of our willingness to part with our interests, advantages, gratification, ease, and credit, and to put ourselves to inconveniences, hardships, losses, in expressing this love, is the standard of the degree of that love. He that has no willingness to part with his money, to deny himself needless gratifications, or to put himself to inconvenience, to shew his good will to men, has no love he loves in word and in tongue, not in deed and in truth. He that has but little willingness, in proportion to his ability, has but little love: and he that has much willingness, and does much in proportion to his ability, has much love. : "These things being evidently so, it must be remembered that, though our goodness does not profit God, it does profit man. My goodness extendeth not unto thee, but to the saints that are in the earth. An ungodly man will do good works no further than he is himself in some way or other to have the advantage: either in being praised by men, or in receiving returns from men, or in some temporal conveniency, as credit, health, respect, preferment; or in being justified before God; or in having something whereof to boast, and for which to prefer and admire himself, and feed his self-complacency, or keep up his hopes of heaven: because he has no higher principle than selflove. But a godly man, though in a subordinate degree he may feel his mind influenced by some of these motives, yet, having higher principles, even disinterested love to God and man, (which is the very essential difference that true grace makes,) he will do good works not only when some one or other of these inferior motives induces, but when none of them do, or even when they all (if that were possible,) are on the other side. So that it is impossible that he can be without a motive to do good works, so long as it is impossible that his good works should not glorify God and benefit man." THE WHOLE GOSPEL DESIGNED TO PROMOTE HOLINESS. "There is not one doctrine which is not stated in the word of God in connexion with holiness of heart and life. We are elect through sanctification unto obedience. Those whom God foreknew he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. He hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.-Our Sav iour Jesus Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem |