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thy Mind, and thy Neighbour as thy felf. Whereupon Christ told him, that he had answer'd right, this do, and thou shalt live. Where our Saviour comprizes the whole Law in two words, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, &c. and thy Neighbour as thy felf; and promifes eternal Life upon the doing of them. In treating of which, 'twill be requifite to fhew,

First, The Nature and Properties of Love.

Secondly, The double Object of it, viz. God and our Neighbour.

Thirdly, The Manner and Measure of both the one is to be lov'd with all the Heart, &c. the other is to be lov'd as our felves. And,

Laftly, The Reward of fo doing, which is eternal Life: This do, and thou shalt live,

Firft, For the Nature of Love, it may be thus defcrib'd; Tis a Paftion of the Soul that inclines it to unite to the thing beloved. I ftile it a Paffion of the Soul, to fhew that 'tis feated within, not in the Lip or the Tongue, but in the Heart; and thence fhews it felf in Deed and in Truth. And 'tis a Paffion that inclines to unite it felf to fomething that is pleafing to it; for all true Love, you know, covets the neareft and clofeft Union with what it is fet upon. The Properties of it are chiefly these two; a Defire to pleafe, and a Defire to enjoy.

He that truly loves any Perfon, will endeavour to ap prove himself to him, to do all things that may be grateful and well-pleafing to him, and likewife to avoid all that may any ways offend or difpleafe him. The most difficult Service will be eafy to a true Lover, and the most grateful things will be forborn, when they may prove offenfive,

Again, True Love defires to enjoy; it delights in the Prefence, and grows impatient of the Abfence of what 'tis fix'd upon. The Love of a Friend will make us defire his Converfation, to wifh for his Company, and to be pleas'd with the enjoying it. This is briefly the Nature, and thefe are the Properties of Love, and by thefe Fruits you may know the Truth and Reality of it, which you may therefore try by this Touchftone.

Seondly, As for the Object of Love, 'tis double; viz. God, and our Neighbour.

The

The first and great Object of our Love is God; Thou halt love the Lord thy God. He is the Lord, and fo his Power and Sovereignty may command our Affections. He is our God, in Covenant and Relation to us; and fo his Kindness and Nearnefs to us may engage us to love him. The two ftrongest Motives of Love, are infinite Greatness and infinite Goodnefs, both which center in God, and in none befide him.

As for the infinite Greatness and Excellency of his Perfon, that is far above all that we can exprefs or conceive, for he is the Sum and Source of all Perfections: all imaginable Excellencies are originally in him; and whatever is excellent in any of his Creatures, is intirely deriv'd from him. And what nobler Object can we have for our Love, than He who is the Author and Fountain of all Perfections?

But befide the tranfcendent Greatnefs of his Perfon, the infinite Goodnefs and Bounty of his Nature may juftly command our Affection: He is, good (faith the Pfalmift) and doth good. He is infinitely good in himself, and he is unfpeakably fo to all his Creatures; for he daily watches over us for good, and is still protecting us from all evil; he provides for our Bodies, and preferves our Souls: in a word, he freely gives us all things that are neceffary both for Life and Godlinefs. And what great reafon have we to love fo amiable an Object, and to give our felves to Him, who fo freely gives us all things? But our Saviour ment tions here,

2dly, Another Object of our Love; and that is, our Neighbour for 'tis faid not only, that thou shalt love the Lord thy God, but likewife that thou shalt love thy Neighbour. And this we are commanded to do,

(1.) And chiefly for God's fake, whofe Creature, Child, and Servant he is. Thy Neighbour hath the Image of God ftamp'd upon him; his Body is wonderfully made and framed by him in all its parts, his Soul is immortal like himself, he is ally'd to the Father of Spirits, and akin to the holy Angels: which made St. John fay, He that loveth God, muft and will love his Brother also; John 4. 20, 21. Again,

(2.) Thy Neighbour is to be lov'd for his own fake, becaufe he hath the fame Nature with thy felf; his Body is made of the fame Mould, his Soul came out of the fame Hands, and is endow'd with the fame noble and excellent

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Faculties: In this (faith Solomon) the Poor and the Rich meet together, that God is the Maker of them all. Prov. 22. 2.

Laftly, Our Neighbour is to be lov'd for our own fake, because he is Bone of our Bone, and Flesh of our Flesh, being the fame Substance multiply'd and enlarg'd into more Perfons: fo that to be cruel to him, is in effect to, be cruel to our felves; and to be kind to him, is indeed to cherish our own Flesh. In a word, if Likeness be any Cause or Motive of Love, we are to love our Neighbour for God's, for his, and for our own fake; he being in Likeness of Nature ally'd and related to them all. And this Love is to be exprefs'd, partly by avoiding all things that are any way hurtful or difpleafing to him, in Body, Goods, or Name; and partly by doing all good Offices, that may be helpful or beneficial to him in all or either of them. This is, in fhort, the double Object of our Love.

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But, Thirdly, how or in what measure are these two to be lov'd by us? Why, that our Saviour here tells us; Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength, and with all thy Mind: that is, with the highest and most fuperlative Affection. And likewife, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy felf; that is, with the like Affection that thou beareft to thy felf.

For the 1ft, The loving of God with all the Heart and all the Soul, &c. denotes both the Sincerity and Integrity of our Love to him.

The Sincerity is fignify'd by its being from the Heart, not from the Teeth or the Tongue outward, but from the Heart, Soul, and Spirit; and what fprings from thence is commonly found and fincere. And therefore we find God calling for it, My Son, give me thine Heart. 'Tis not for the Ear only to liften to him, nor for the Tongue to talk of him; but for the Heart to receive and embrace him. All true Love of God is rooted there, and all the Acts of it muft proceed from thence: it must be with the Heart, Soul, and Mind, that is, with the Understanding, Will, and Affections, which are all to be devoted to him, and inwardly touch'd and inflamed with the Love of him.

And as the Heart, Soul, and Mind denote the Sincerity; fo with all the Heart, and with all the Soul, and with all the Mind, denotes the Integrity of our Love to him: that is, he must have all, and will admit of no Rival with him in our Affections; for though he loves a broken, yet he

hates

hates a divided Heart: he will have all or none, and therefore calls for the whole Bent of our Will, the whole Strefs of our Soul, the whole Sway of our Understanding, together with all the Might of our bodily Powers, to be engag'd and employ'd in his Service. In a word, our Love to God must be ardent and intenfe to the highest degree; it must be whole and entire, as much as poffible, and above all things elfe, which is to love with all the Heart, and all the Soul, and all the Strength.

But if God muft have all, how then can our Neighbour have any fhare, whom we are here likewife requir'd to love? Very well, for these are confiftent one with the other: the Love of God doth not exclude the Love of our Neighbour, but comprize and include it under it; for we love God in loving our Neighbour, which is done by his permiflion and command. Indeed to love any thing in comparifon or competition with him, and much more in oppofition or contradiction to him, is a high Breach of Order and Obedience to him: In this fenfe we are bid to bate Father and Mother, and all that is dear to us, when they would draw us from him; and if any thus love the World, or any thing in it, the Love of the Father is not in him. But to love our Neighbour in fubmiffion and fubordination to our Maker, is fuitable to his Will, and a Duty laid upon us by his Command, And this will lead me,

2dly, To the Manner and Measure of loving our Neigh bour, which is, as our felves: that is, with a like, though not always with an equal Affection; for every one being neareft to himself, may be allow'd, firft, to confult his own Welfare, Charity we fay begins at home, tho it must not end there, but muft extend to all that are round about us, making our own Defires the Meafure and Standard of our dealing with others; doing all that Good to others, which we would have done to us, and avoiding all that Evil to any, which our felves would be unwilling to bear. Which is, in fhort, to love our Neighbour as our felves.

Thus we fee the Nature of Love, the double Object of it, God and our Neighbour, together with the Manner and Measure of loving both. The performing of these, is by our Saviour here made the Condition of eternal Life; faying to the Lawyer, This do, and thou shalt live: meaning, that the doing hereof would certainly bring him to Life and Salvation, but the neglect of them would

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as furely deprive him of all well-grounded Hopes of either. But it follows in the Gospel,

The Lawyer willing to justify himself, faid unto Jefus, And who is my Neighbour? that is, he thinking or pretending to have done all these things, moves another captious Queftion, And who is my Neighbour? more for Cavil than Satisfaction. But our Saviour knowing the Wickednefs of his Heart, and the great Uncharitableness that lodg'd there, answer'd him by a Parable, saying, A certain Man went down from Jerufalem to Jericho, and fell among Thieves, that ftripp'd him of his Rayment, and wounded him, and de parted, leaving him half dead, And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way, and likewife a Levite, whe both faw him, and pass'd away on the other fide. But a certain Samaritan, as he journey'd, came where he was, and when he faw him, he had compaffion on him, and went to him, and bound up his Wounds, pouring in Qil and Wine, and fet him on his own Beast, and brought him to an Inn, aud took care of him: And on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two Pence, and gave them to the Hoft, and faid unto bim, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou Spendeft more, when I come again, I will repay thee, Which now of these three, thinkeft thou, was Neighbour to him that fell among the Thieves? He faid, he that shew'd mercy unto him: then faid Jefus unto him, Go, and do thou likewife.

The Defign of which Parable, was to inftil into him the great Leffon of univerfal Charity and Compaflion to all Men, not excepting our greatest Enemies: for though the Prieft and Levite, who were Fellow-Jews and Countrymen to the wounded Traveller, were fo hard-hearted as to fhew him no Mercy; yet a Samaritan, who was of a different Nation and Religion, and between whom and the Jews there was a great Enmity, was more compaffionate towards him, washing his Wounds, and applying healing things to him, and at his own charge taking care of him by which Example, he taught him and us to love our Enemies, and to do good to them that fpitefully ufe us, and perfecute us. Moreover, our Saviour's intimating, that every one that is in want and ftands in need of Relief, although he be to us as a few to a Samaritan, is yet to be look'd upon as a Neighbour, and to be the Object of our Mercy and Pity. And the Lawyer acknowledging that he that fhew'd mercy, beft fhew'd himself a Neighbour to him; our Saviour took the advantage of

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