be said, of every nation and kindred and people under heaven-"God hath put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by Faith."

LECTURE VI.

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLE OF HOLINESS---LOVE TO

GOD.

MATT. XXII. 36--38.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

It is not always found, that an inquiry into the radical meaning of terms conducts, by a direct and easy course, to the most correct ideas of the subjects on which they are employed. In our attempts, however, to arrive at satisfactory conceptions of Holiness, the aid which may be obtained from an etymological source is by no means to be disregarded. The words usually selected by the writers, both of the Old Testament and of the New, as expressive of the nature of Holiness, convey, in their primary import, the idea of consecration. They are employed in reference to that, of whatever order

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or nature it may be, which is separated from a common use, and unalienably devoted to the Most High. The sabbath was separated from the other days of the week, and consecrated in a peculiar sense to the service and enjoyment of God; and it is therefore pronounced holy. The Temple at Jerusalem was consecrated to the worship of Jehovah, and would have been contaminated and desecrated by any other use; it is therefore designated holy. All its vessels and utensils were devoted exclusively to the same hallowed purpose, and were therefore declared to be holy. All its ministers, and all its worshippers, are required to be thus consecrated, and are therefore represented as holy. Now it is obvious, that the precise character of the consecration itself must correspond with the nature of that which is thus solemnly devoted. If it be a thing which is consecrated to Goda form of inanimate, unconscious matter, all the consecration of which it can admit, is simply that of being solemnly dedicated to the honour of Jehovah, and exclusively employed in hisservice, by the act of the obedient worshipper. But if it be a person-a living, and a conscious being, the consecration must be by his own voluntary act. It is the act of an intellectual and accountable creature, cheerfully and unreservedly surrendering himself, in body and in

spirit, to Him who demands and accepts this entire dedication. It is a surrender which proceeds upon just and enlightened views of the attributes and the claims of God. It proceeds upon a conviction, that the character of Him who made us, comprises all the glorious and infinite perfections, which are entitled to our adoring homage and our highest love. It proceeds upon a persuasion, that, in the act of self-surrender, we most directly consult our own real happiness, while we present the most acceptable tribute which we can pay, to our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. It proceeds upon a desire to attain that resemblance to the adorable Jehovah, in moral excellence, which was the original dignity and glory of our nature, and by the restoration of which alone we can acquire a fitness, for the future and eternal enjoyment of his presence.

What, then, is the grand, distinguishing, and effective principle, which directly impels to the act of self-dedication, and renders that spontaneous act a source of ineffable delight? It is Love. It is the very principle which our Saviour declares to be the first and great commandment;---which secures a cheerful conformity to all the minuter requirements of the law;and without which, not one single act of true obedience can be performed by any creature that

exists. No other considerations, then, need I adduce, in order to render it distinctly apparentthat the essential principle of Holiness is none other than Love to the blessed God.

Permit me now to direct your regard

FIRST, To the leading developments of this principle: and

SECONDLY, To the importance of ascertaining whether this essential principle of true religion be implanted in our hearts.

FIRST, Let your attention be directed to the leading developments of this grand principle of holiness.

Instead of the unprofitable attempt to offer a formal definition of love to God, or to establish a metaphysical discrimination between the nature of love to God, and the character of the love we cherish towards human objects of attachment, I deem it more desirable to trace out some of the leading exercises, and most prominent indications, of the love which God requires.

Let me specify,

First, Admiration of the divine excellencies. The discovery of excellencies which we cannot but admire, has a powerful influence in awakening that regard, which gradually ripens into esteem, and that esteem which is matured into affection. Among our fellow-creatures, indeed, we sometimes discern qualities which