those words, The Lord thy God. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, i. e. because he is the LORD and our GOD. 1. The first and chief motive which is to influence us to love God with all our hearts, is his infinite dignity and greatness, glory and excellency; or, in one word, his infinite amiableness.We are to love him with all our hearts, because he is the LORD -because he is what he is, and just such a Being as he is.-On this account, primarily, and antecedent to all other considerations, he is infinitely amiable; and, therefore, on this account, primarily, and antecedent to all other considerations, ought he to appear infinitely amiable in our eyes. This is the first and chief reason and ground upon which his law is founded, I AM THE LORD...(Exod. xx. 2.-Lev. xix.) This, therefore, ought to be the first and chief motive to influence us to obey. The principal reason which moves him to require us to love him, ought to be the principal motive of our love. If the fundamental reason of his requiring us to love him with all our hearts, is because he is what he is, and yet the bottom of our love be something else, then our love is not what his law requires, but a thing of quite another nature: Yea, if the foundation of our love to God is not because he is what he is, in truth, we love him not at all. If I feel a sort of respect to one of my neighbors, who very kind to me, and either do not know what sort of man he is, or, if I do, yet do not like him, it is plain, it is his kindnesses I love, and not his person; and all my seeming love to him is nothing but self-love in another shape: And let him cease being kind to me, and my love will cease: Let him cross me, and I shall hate him. Put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face, (Job i. 11), said the devil concerning Job; and, indeed, Job would have done so, had not his love to God taken its rise from another motive than God's kindnesses to him. But why need I multiply words? For it seems even self-evident that God's loveliness ought to be the first and chief thing for which we love him.

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Now, God is infinitely lovely, because he is what he is; or, in other words, his infinite dignity and greatness, glory and ex

cellency, are the result of his natural and moral perfections: So that it is a clear sight and realizing sense of his natural and moral perfections, as they are revealed in his works and in his word, that make him appear, to a HOLY soul, as a Being of infinite dignity and greatness, glory and excellency. Thus, the Queen of Sheba, seeing and conversing with Solomon, and viewing his works, under a sense of the large and noble endowments of his mind, was even ravished; and cried out, The one half was not told me! And thus the holy and divinely enlightened soul, upon seeing God, reading his word, and meditating on his wonderful works, under a sense of his divine and incomprehensible perfections, is ravished with his infinite dignity, majesty, greatness, glory and excellency; and loves, admires, and adores; and says, Who is a God like unto thee!

His natural perfections are,

(1.) His infinite understanding, whereby he knows himself, and all things possible, and beholds all things past, present and to come, at one all-comprehensive view. So that, from everlasting to everlasting, his knowledge can neither increase nor diminish, or his views of things suffer the least variation; being always absolutely complete, and consequently necessarily always the same.

(2.) His almighty power, whereby he is able, with infinite ease, to do any thing that he pleases.

And his moral perfections are,

(1.) His infinite wisdom, whereby he is able, and is inclined to contrive and order all things, in all worlds, for the best ends, and after the best manner.

(2.) His perfect holiness, whereby he is inclined infinitely to love right, and hate wrong: Or, according to scripture-phrase, to love righteousness and hate iniquity.

(3.) His impartial justice, whereby he is unchangeably inclined to render to every one according to his deserts.

(4.) His infinite goodness, whereby he can find in his heart to bestow the greatest favors upon his creatures, if he pleases; and is inclined to bestow all that is best, all things considered.

(5.) His truth and faithfulness, whereby he is inclined to fulfil all his will, according to his word: So that there is an everlasting harmony between his will, his word, and his performance.

And his being, and all his natural and moral perfections, and his glory and blessedness, which result from them, he has in himself, and of himself, underived; and is necessarily infinite, eternal, unchangeable, in all; and so, absolutely independent, self-sufficient and all-sufficient.

"This is the God, whom we do love!

"This is the God, whom we adore!

"In him we trust....to him we live ;

"He is our all, for evermore.

Now there are three ways by which the perfections of God are discovered to the children of men: By his works, by his word, and by his spirit. By the two first, we see him to be what he is;-by the last, we behold his infinite glory in being such :-The two first produce a speculative knowledge; the last, a sense of moralbeauty.

First. These perfections of God are discovered by his works, i.e. by his creating, preserving, and governing the world; and by his redeeming, sanctifying, and saving his people.

1. By his creating the world. He it is, who has stretched abroad the heavens as a curtain, and spread them out as a tent to dwell in....who has created the sun, moon and stars, and appointed them their courses....who has hung the earth upon nothing....who has fixed the mountains, and bounded the seas, and formed every living creature. All the heavenly hosts he hath made, and created all the nations that dwell upon the earth: and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea, and every creeping thing, are the works of his hands: and the meanest of his works are full of unsearchable wonders, far surpassing our understanding: So that the invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead: As St. Paul observes, in Rom. i. 20.

2. By his preserving the world. His eyes run to and fro throughout all the world, beholding every thing. His eyes are

upon all his works; so that even the sparrows are not forgotten by him, and the very hairs of our head are all numbered: And he holds all things in being; and the opening of his hand fills the desires of every living creature: even the whole family of heaven and earth live upon his goodness, and are maintained by his bounty: In a word, his infinite understanding sees all....his infinite power upholds all....his infinite wisdom takes care of all, and his infinite goodness provides for all-and that every moment; so that the invisible things of God are discovered in preserving as well as in creating the world: And hence, when the pious Psalmist meditates on the works of creation and preservation, he sees God in them, and views his perfections, and is touched at heart with a sense of his glory; and is filled with high and exalted, and with admiring and adoring thoughts of God. So, Psalm xix. 1.... The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, &c. And Psalm xcv. 1....O come let us sing unto the Lord, &c-But why?-Verse 3...For the Lord is a great God, and a great King, above all gods.-But how does this appear? Why, (ver. 4, 5.) In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is his also: The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land: Ver. 6...0, therefore, come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. And again, in Psal. xcvi. 1....O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.-But why?-Ver. 4...For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.-But wherein does this appear?-Why, (ver. 5.) All the gods of the nations are idols; but the LORD made the heavens. And once more, in Psal. civ. 1, 2, &c....Bless the Lord, O my soul.-But why?.... Thou art very great thou art clothed with honor and majesty.-But how does this appear?Why, Thou hast stretched out the heavens as a curtain. And ver. 5....And laid the foundations of the earth, that it cannot be removed for ever. And ver. 27.... All wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. Ver. 28.... That thou givest them, they gather: thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. And throughout the whole Psalm he is meditating

on the creation and preservation of the world; and viewing the divine perfections therein discovered, and admiring the divine glory, and wondering and adoring; and finally concludes with, Bless the Lord, O my soul: Praise ye the Lord. But

3. His perfections are still much more eminently displayed in that moral government which he maintains over the intelligent part of the creation; especially his moral perfections. In the works of nature his natural perfections are to be seen: but, in his moral government of the world, he acts out his heart, and shews the temper of his mind: Indeed, all the perfections of God are to be seen in the work of creation, if we view angels and men, and consider what they were, as they came first out of his hands-holy and pure: But still God's conduct towards them, under the character of their King and Governor, more evidently discovers the very temper of his heart. As the tree is known by the fruit, so God's moral perfections may be known by his moral government of the world. The whole world was created for a stage, on which a variety of scenes were to be opened; in and by all which, God designed to exhibit a most exact image of himself: For, as God loves himself infinitely for being what he is, so he takes infinite delight in acting forth and expressing all his heart. He loves to see his nature and image shine in all his works, and to behold the whole world filled with his glory; and he perfectly loves to have his conduct, the whole of it taken together, an exact resemblance of himself; and infinitely abhors, in his public conduct, in the least to counteract the temper of his heart; so as, by his public conduct, to seem to be what indeed he is not: So that, in his moral government of the world, we may see his inward disposition, and discern the true nature of his moral perfections: And indeed all his perfections are herein discovered; particularly,

(1.) His infinite understanding. High on his throne in heaven he sits, and all his vast dominions lie open to his view: His all-seeing eye views all his courts above, and sees under the whole heavens, looks through the earth, and pierces all the dark caverns of hell; so that his acquaintance with all worlds and all