love; "For God fo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whofoever believeth on him, and receiveth him, might not perish, but have everlafing life. He that believeth, thall be faved: he that believeth not, fhall be damned." If there be infuperable difficulties and objections in your way, I cannot help it; the God who calls you, can remove them; but it is at your peril, if you reje& his call: you fhall never have it to fay in hell, that the good-will and favour of God was never proclaimed to you; for I take the mountains and hills that are in your view, to witnefs, that I proclaim, through Chrift," Peace on earth, and good-will towards men;" and that "God is in Chrift reconciling the world to himfelf." Why, would you have the greatest finner, and vileft debauchee among us all, to believe the love and good-will of God towards them? To this we reply, Whilst you are in a finful flate, you are indeed under the wrath and curfe of God; and you continue therein, you will be damned for ever, as fure as God lives; and you will continue there for ever, unless you come to get the apprehenfion of the mercy of God in Chrift; but whenever you get this apprehenfion of God's love, then I defy you to continue in a fiate of fin, or in a courfe of fin and enmity. Will a man receive Chrift, and believe the love of God in him, and yet keep faft hold of his lufts? No, I defy him, it is not poffible; and therefore it is to kill your enmity and deftroy your fin, that God would have you to believe his good-will in Chrift. I remember that ftory of a godly man, that faid to a witch, when nothing else could foften her heart, "I do, fays

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he, in the name of the Lord Jefus, charge you to "come to Chrift for falvation; to come to him for "faith, repentance, and remiffion of fin, and you fhall "have acceptance, and be received into the favour "of God in him." The poor witch was made to fay, "O, Sir, fhall I believe your word? My life for you, fays he, if you rely upon Chrift." Immediately her bands were loofed; and the Lord brought her to a deep humiliation for fin, and fenfe of the favour of God, fo as he gave clear evidence unto every

difcerning perfon, that the Lord had fhewn mercy to her. O if you knew how the Lord is faying to his fervants, O fy upon you! will you not compel those people to come in and close with Chrift, as the great pledge of God's love? O! go to God, when you can get an opportunity to be alone, and fay, Lord, I have been called to believe, but my heart is hard, and thou only can break it: O! come and fave the chiefeft of finners, whereby thou wilt get more glory than ever thou had by any of Adam's pofterity; cry to him, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief."

2. I would exhort you to render him love for love; and this exhortation concerns believers particularly. O, love him, becaufe he first loved you. What a fhame is it for you, believer, if you do not love him who first loved you! And to engage you, confider,

(1.) Whofe love it is; it is the love of him, who in himfelf is all-fufficient, who hath no need to go forth with his love to others; the love of a God, O what a vaft confideration is it!

(2.) Confider who you are that are the objects of his love; fo wicked, fo wretched, fo unworthy of his love; That God fhould love the glorious angels is no wonder; for they are meffengers and minifters executing his pleafure that he fhould love inanimate creatures is not ftrange; for hail, fnow, vapour, and ftormy wind fulfil his word but to love you is a wonder; and to love you

while enemies.

(3.) Confider what fort of love it is. It is eternal love; before the foundation of the world, his delights were with the fons of men, from eternity: the very thought of this is enough to make all that is within you, like the babe in the womb of Elizabeth, to leap for joy, that you lay in the bofom of his love from eternity and will you not love him!-His love is a free love; if you deferved his love, his love would be of lefs value; but that which is eternally antecendent, must be abfolutely free. His love is uncheangeable love: though you change every day, his love is unchangeable. Could any provocation turn away his love, it had ceafed long fince; but as he fet his love upon you,

not

notwithstanding all the faults you were, and he knew you would be, guilty of, fo it continues notwithstanding all. His love is a diftinguifhing love; why fhould he have fixed on you, and paffed by millions from whom you differ not by nature? Why hath he passed by your father, mother, brother, fifter, and fet his love upon you? And, O! will you not love him?His love is a bountiful love with his love he gives himfelf, his Chrift, his Spirit, his grace, his glory, and all. See how the pfalmift extols this love, Pfalm ciii. 1. "Blefs the Lord, O my foul, who pardons all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy difeafes, &c. Who pardons all thine iniquities!" O it is no fmall thing to forgive or to pardon three or four fins, but it is yet more to pardon three or four thoufand fins: Who can conceive of that love! but to forgive many millions of faults, O what love is here! And fo he deals with thefe whom he loves; "He multiplies to pardon;" yea, more, "he heals all your difeafes." O poor finner, have you not many plagues, many difeafes, yea, more than you are aware of? If you know the plagues of your own heart, you will be crying out, O the plague of my mind, the plague of my will, the plague of my affections! O my atheism, unbelief, hardness, blindnefs! &c. O what innumerable evils compass me about, fay you! O what horrible evils! yea, why do I call them evils, they are fo many devils within me; yea, but for as many as they are, He heals all thy dif eases; and for as grievous as they are, He fupplies all your wants: fuch alfo is his bountiful love, My God fhall fupply all your wants." Are you not made up of wants? Do you not want light, life, love, faith, repentance, joy, affurance, peace, communion with God? Yea, but fometimes even on earth he fupplies all wants, fo as to make you fay, I have enough. O does not this bour. tiful love, call for love?

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(4.) Confider the channel in which this love runs : Chrift is the means of the communication of the love of God; you have the love of God the Father, in the Son, by the Holy Ghoft: Chrift is the channel. in the Father is like the honey-flower; it must

Love

be in

the

the comb, before it be for our ufe: Chrift muft extract and prepare this honey for us. And, O how fweet is that love, that runs through fuch a glorious channel!

In a word, confider the excellency of the grace of love. Love to God is the fulfilling of the law; all that it requires is love; love is the great qualification of the faints above; the more love you have, the more like heaven you will be; and the more love, the more meetnefs for heaven: heaven would be a burden, and a wearinefs to you without love; if you had not love, you would throw yourfelf out of heaven into hell. If you have love, you will find it make every duty pleasant; the obedience of love is fweet obedience. Yea, love will make all your croffes to be comforts; where there is little or no love, the crofs is infupportable; the man cries, O a bitter crofs! O the gall and wormwood! yea, but love would be like the tree caft into the waters of Marah, to make them become fweet. If you have much love, it will make you fay of affliction, O this is the cup that my kind Father hath put in my hand, and fhall I not drink it? Welcome whatever he fends.

O love the Lord, ye his faints, and manifeft your love by your obedience: will you render him hatred for love? O let his love to you warm you heart with love to him; and in order thereto,

1. O do not doubt of or question his love to you; beware of renouncing that which engages you to love him; it is the devil's great aim to have you miftrufting God's love, that so you may not love God again.

2. Attend all his love-vifits, and thankfully receive them; think not little of his ordinary vifits, when in any measure he manifefts his love through the lattices of ordinances; defpife not the day of fmall things; and efpecially, O make much of his extraordinary lovevisits, when he mounts you up at any time into the chariot paved with love!

3. Take heed of abufing his love: beware of spotting your garments with the flesh, after God has spread his skirt over you. To fin against love is a dreadfully

aggra

aggravated fin. It was a fad blot upon Solomon, that his heart was turned from the Lord, "After that the Lord God of Ifrael had appeared to him twice," 1 Kings xi. 9.

4. Beware of confidence in the flesh, and expecting that your love fhould influence God to do you good; the love of Chrift muft conftrain you; think not that your duties and obedience fhould conftrain him: O beware of inverting the gofpel at this rate, and turning it up-fide-down! If his love excite you to love and obedience, then your love and obedience does not excite him to love you. We might fear every day, that the heart of God would be turned to hate us, if our hopes of abiding in his favour were built upon our best love and obedience.

I would fend away the haters of Ged with a word of terror. Know that if you cannot be perfuaded to the love of God, if his love does not break you in time, his vengeance will break you to eternity: "The enemies of the Lord fhall be like the fat of rams, they fhall confume; into finoke fhall they confume away." If you love not Chrift, know what the apoftle fays, "If a man love not our Lord Jefus Chrift, let him be Anathema." I will tell you what is fad; the day is coming wherein you fhall fay to the rocks and mountains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that fitteth on the throne, and from the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? You will ly for ever under the fiery mountain of divine vengeance. I will tell you what is yet fadder, and you will think flrange, what can that be; in fhort it is fad, that before this day eight days, all that I am faying will be forgotten; yea, before the morrow at this time, the impreffion of all will be gone.

I would fend away the lovers of Chrift, the lovers of God with a word of comfort. You love God, and God loves you, and God's love to you is ground of comfort.-Comfort in what you have; what you have in poffeffion, you have it with a bleffing; what you have in expectation in the promife, is in love; and therefore the promife is free, becaufe of God's love in it; the promife is firm, because of his love in it.

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