"If at any time I am so unhappy as to feel my affections exert themselves, in a more vigorous manner, towards the objects of flesh and sense which are present, than they do toward things absent, divine and heavenly, I would mourn over the frailty of human nature, in this present state, where we are so much attached to the things of this body. I will endeavour through divine grace "to love the Lord my God with all my mind, and with all my soul," to raise him higher in the esteem of my judgment, to cleave to him more firmly by a resolute bent of my will, to abide daily with him, and live upon him, as my all-sufficient and everlasting good, that I may attain some comfortable establishment in the hope of his love: And when my flesh and heart, and all my animal powers shall fail me, I may still rejoice in having God for my God, who will be the strength of my heart, the life of my spirit, and my portion for ever;" Ps. lxxiii. 26.

DISCOURSE VII.

Means of exciting the Devout Affections.

WE are now come to the last thing designed in these discourses, and that is to propose "a few proper methods, whereby the affections of nature may be awakened and employed in the christian life." Take them in the following order:

I. See to it that the leading and ruling faculties of the soul, viz. the understanding and the will, be deeply and firmly engaged in religion. Let the mind be well furnished with divine knowledge, and the will be as resolutely bent for God and heaven. Where the understanding has but a poor and scanty farniture of the things of God, the pious affections will have the fewer springs to raise them: And if our ideas of divine things are obscure and confused, our passions are in great danger of running wildly astray, and of being led away by every delusion. Seek therefore not only a large and plenteous acquaintance with the things of God, but endeavour, as far as possible, to get clear and distinct conceptions of them, that the pious passions may have solid ground whence to take their rise. And then let your will be steadily set for God without weakness or wavering. If the resolves and purposes of the heart be feeble and doubtful, the affections will never rise to any high degree in a regular or lasting manner.

But I have said so much on these points that I shall not enlarge here. If the mind and will are sanctified, it is certain, according to the very frame of our natures, that the passions will in some degree follow the influence of these governing faculties. Why is it our passions are suddenly alarmed and so warmly influenced by the things of this world? It is because our minds have too high a value for them, our wills are too much attached to them, we place our happiness too much in them; Mat. vi. 21. Where the treasure is, the heart will be also; the heart with all its passions. Why are our desires, our longings, our fears, and hopes, our sorrows, joys, and resentments so keen, and so intense about the things of life? It is because these things are too much esteemed as our treasure, our portion, our inheritance. If God be our portion, Christ our life, and heaven our inheritance, and our home, then our "affections will be set on the things that are above, where Christ is at the right-hand of God; Col. iii. 1, 2.

II. "Engage the most powerful and governing passion for God, that is, the passion of love:" All the train of affections will

obey its ruling power and influence, they will follow its motions and sovereign dictates, as was made evident in the second discourse on this subjet. And we have shewn you before, that in order to excite divine love in our hearts, we must meditate frequently on these things, viz. what the great and blessed God is in himself, what he has done for us, what he daily does for us, and what he has promised to do, both in this life, and the life to come. Never be easy, or at rest, therefore, if you find your love to God flag and languish, for then the other affections will grow cold and lifeless in religion. Take all opportunities to warm your heart with this sacred passion, and to re-kindle the fire of divine love within you, when at any time you find it declining.

III." Watch carefully against the too strong attachment of your affections to creatures: Remember that this world is at enmity with God; James iv. 4. If any man love this world, the love of the Father is not in him; 1 John ii. 15. Where the love of the world is habitually prevalent, the love of God is not found; for God is the supreme good, and the most lovely of beings, and he counts that love as nothing which is not supreme. No man can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon; Mat. vi. 25. that is, the true God, and the god of riches: And we may say by the same rule, you cannot love the true God, and the god of honour and ambition, or the god of sensuality and carnal pleasure. A God carries a supreme idea, and demands all the soul. Not only unlawful objects, and sinful pleasures, but even sensible delights, possessions, and enjoyments, which are lawful, take too fast hold on the heart, and draw it away from God. Remember that the creatures around you have this advantage, that while God is a spirit, an unseen being, the creatures are ever striking upon our eyes or ears; they are ever making their court to our senses and appetites, and have a thousand ways to insinuate themselves into the heart. The world, and the flattering enjoyments of it, are suited to work upon flesh and blood, and to draw off the soul from God its centre and its rest: They are ever near at hand on all occasions, and they are ready sometimes to say, where is your God? Keep your God therefore, always near you, and watch against the pleasing flattery of alluring creatures, lest your heart cleave too fast to them, and be thereby divided from your God.

Amidst all the endearing relations and engaging businesses of life, single yourselves, as much as possible, for God, and let not many things dwell too near your soul, lest you lose the sight of your heavenly Father, and the pleasing sensations of his love. Where the love of sensible things prevails, it draws with it all the long train of hopes and fears of desires, joys, and sorrows; of painful heart-aches, and fond wishes, and keen resentments. 'Thus the affectionate powers of nature are carnalized, are tinc

tured deep with the things of earth, and become too much estranged from God and heaven. Whensoever you find a tempting creature taking too fast hold of your passions, set a guard of sacred jealousy upon it; keep your heart at a holy distance from that creature, lest it twine about your inmost powers, and draw them off from their allegiance and duty to God your Creator. The love of God is a flower of divine original, and of the growth of paradise; if the holy Spirit has planted it in your heart, let not any other love be planted too near it, nor too much nourished, lest it draw away the vital moisture, and cause the love of God to languish and wither.

IV. Be not slight and careless in secret religion. Let private devotion, reading, meditation, prayer, have a proper share of your time allotted them. In pious retirements you may indulge all the holy passions with much greater freedom: You may there give a loose to all the devout affections of the soul in their warmest exercises and expressions: You may say a thousand things to God in secret, which are not proper for public worship: You may pour out your souls before him in the strongest and most pathetic sentiments of holy desire and divine joy: You may tell him all the inward pains of your conscience, the secret anguish and shame of your heart, because of your past offences; you may sigh deeply, and blush before him, and dissolve your eyes into tears: You may tell him in secret how intense are your desires to taste and be assured of his love, and to be formed after his image: You may rejoice in his sight with pious exultations and triumph, in hope of his eternal presence in the upper world. Such exercises as these will keep all the passions in an habitual practice of religion, and maintain inward piety in the life and power of it.

V. Converse much with those parts of our holy religion, and with those books of scripture, which are suited to awaken your warmest affections. Let your thoughts take occasion from the various occurrences in nature and providence, to meditate on the glorious perfections of God, the wonders of his wisdom in contriving the several parts of the creation, so happily fitted to answer his great designs. Think on his amazing power, that could form all things by his word, and bring a whole world into being at his will. Awaken your souls, to admire the wide spreading influence of his sovereignty and government, who manages the immense affairs of the upper and the lower worlds, the nations of men, and the armies of angels; and yet extends his care to every one of us in particular, and even to the meaner figures of flies and worms. Think on the infinite extent of his knowledge, that he is acquainted not only with every creature he has made, but with every thought that passes through our hearts, with all our most secret actions and purposes. This will awaken

in you a holy fear of his majesty, and you will dread the thoughts of sinuing against him, since it can never be concealed from his notice; and while you think on his omnipresence, you may rejoice in him as your guardian and defence through all times and places where or wheusoever it is possible for danger to attend you. Meditate on his boundless goodness: Our God is love, and all nature is filled with the blessings of his bounty. He has overspread the skies with light, and covered the earth with food for man and beast. Of what a vast and surprising extent is the whole family of creatures which are maintained out of the stores of God! What a transcendent veneration should we have of that goodness, which satisfies the craving appetites of millions daily and hourly!

Besides these general effects of the divine goodness, it is proper to have the memory furnished with particular instances of protections, deliverances, escapes from danger, rich and unmerited blessings, which we ourselves have enjoyed, that we may awaken our gratitude, re-kindle our dying love, and exalt our hearts and our voices in praise. Nor is it less useful to meditate sometimes on the sins and follies of mankind, that we may admire the patience of a God so affronted and so abused: Nor is it less needful to recollect our own follies, and our guilt, that we may keep holy repentance in its lively exercises: for the spring of godly sorrow should never be dried up while we dwell in these regions of sin and defilement. Then the astonishing designs of divine mercy towards guilty creatures, call for a due share of our meditations: Designs of mercy in the heart of God, counsels of peace transacted with his Son Jesus Christ before the world began, in order to rescue mankind from the ruins of nature, and to raise up a chosen seed for his own glory out of the rebellious race of Adam.

Here the thoughts of a christian should spread themselves abroad, and give a loose to holy contemplation and wonder. Let us run back to ancient ages, and view Jesus the Son of God, the brightness of his Father's glory in his pre-existent state of light and happiness, before he visited us in flesh; Heb. i. 3. There he dwelt in the bosom of the Father, before he made our world, or appeared in it: We should trace his various appearances to the patriarchs, and his conduct of the church through many ages, under the name of the angel of God's presence, under the character of the king of Israel: We should meditate on his wone drous condescension to become incarnate, to dwell in such feeble flesh and blood as ours is, to be compassed about with infirmities, to sustain perpetual labours and sorrows, fatigues and reproaches through the course of a mortal life, to bear those unknown agonies in the garden, and on the cross, which were the price of our pardon, and the means of his atonement for our guilt. What amazing love is this! How divine! How unsearchable! It