himself in a perpetual ferment, and pines away by his own ill-natured and rebellious spirit: Job v. 2, "Envy slayeth the silly one." And Solomon calls it the "rottenness of the bones," Prov. xiv. 30. The misery of the murmurer is, that he can be satisfied with nothing that he has, because of something that he wants. God's taking or withholding something from him that his heart lusteth after, makes him like Amnon, to be lean from day to day, and to despise all the other good things that he enjoys. Thus Ahab fell sick amidst all the riches, honours and pleasures of a kingdom, because of Naboth's vineyard. And Haman, notwithstanding his riches and preferment at court, cried out, "Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate," Esth. v. 13. And Rachel was so impatient for children, that nothing could make her relish life without them: "Give me children," says she, "else I die." Thus, murmuring under one cross, makes people overlook and undervalue many mercies: yea, it makes them not enjoy, but suffer life.

5thly, Absolute resignation to the divine will keeps a person sweet and easy in all circumstances. He that can just lay himself and all his concerns down at the Lord's feet, with humble confidence that all shall be well, has a serenity of mind much to be desired. That man is fit for all circumstances. Be he poor or rich, high or low, living or dying, he is perfectly easy; and can say with the prophet Habakkuk, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." At present, you live in a world full of uncertainties. If it is well with you to-day, it may be ill with you to-morrow. You know not what variety may be in your lot. But if you are possessed of the resigned temper, you will find yourselves easy in every change.

6thly, Resignation is the way to get good of all your afflictions. It will turn all your crosses into mercies.

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They who are so impatient, that they must have the plaster presently removed, need not be surprised that the sore is not whole. And those who will not lie still till the Lord hew and polish them, shall never be pillars in the heavenly Jerusalem, but shall be thrown down as rubbish into the pit. They who will not endure the Lord's furnace of affliction, shall be consumed as dross and stubble by the fire of his wrath, while those who patiently endure the trial, shall at last be brought out of the furnace shining and pure as gold, Job xxiii. 10. Know, then, that the end of your afflictions is your sanctification. And if ever you would attain that blessed end, be resigned: wait the Lord's time. If he casts you down, lie still till his own hand lift you up; and then you shall stand and never fall.

7thly, Consider that your murmuring cannot stop the purposes of God, or change the course of his providence: for he is of one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doth. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever:" and this is a part of it, that, through many tribulations the righteous must enter into the kingdom of God. "In the world ye shall have tribulation." There is no peradventure here: it is positively asserted. Now, shall the stated method of providence be altered, to gratify every peevish complainer? Must the purposes of the only wise God be broken for our ease, and to please our humour?

To conclude. Christ was resigned. And shall the Christian rebel, and so blaspheme the worthy name by which he is called? Nay, but on the contrary, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, with respect to his Father's will.

SERMON VIII.

LOVE TO GOD ILLUSTRATED AND ENFORCED.

MARK Xii. 30.-"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment."

THESE words are our Lord's answer to the question proposed by the Scribe, ver. 28, "Which is the first commandment of all?" or, as Matthew has it, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Matt. xxii. 35. These Scribes were of two sorts, either civil, such as our public notaries, or ecclesiastic, being paraphrasers and expounders of the law. This man was of the Pharisees; and among them was the question concerted which he proposed to our Saviour. "When the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together; then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him." The Pharisees and Sadducees were extremely opposite to one another; but they both agreed in their opposition to Christ. The cunning and policy of the Pharisees is observable here, in that, though the question was concerted among them, yet but one of them proposes it: if he prevailed, they would, all triumph, because he was of their sect; but if he were foiled, as the Sadducees had been lately, they would put it off, and say it was but his own private concert. Some think that this lawyer was one of them that had applauded Christ, for his conquest over the Sadducees in the last conflict, and that for a penance, he was enjoined by his fellow Pharisees to undertake the following dispute with Christ. This they

ground upon what is said in the 28th verse before our text, "and perceiving that he had answered them well." But however that be, our Lord's answer to the question is full, clear, and plain, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." In which words, observe, 1st, A duty enjoined, and that is love, which is the opening or letting out of the heart after some good proportionable to itself. If we consider love, as a habit implanted in the heart by the Holy Spirit, then it is a grace, and the queen among the graces, as faith is the king. Consider it as acted and put forth by us upon its object, and then it is a duty, and such an one as greatly influences all other duties. Love is a cardinal affection; it is, as it were, the master bee, which carries all the swarm with it. 2dly, Observe the object of this love, viz. God in Christ; for otherwise he cannot be our God: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God." God out of Christ is a consuming fire, a dread and terror to the guilty; but God in Christ is inviting, amiable, yea, altogether lovely. Hence it is observable, that the covenant of grace is the frontispiece to the moral law. When God came down upon the mount, to speak all the words of the law, the very first word he spoke was a word of grace; yea, it was the very covenant of grace; "I am the Lord thy God," Exod. xx. 2. Is the Lord our God any other way than by the covenant of grace; yea, is not this the express tenor of the covenant of grace, "I will be your God?" 3dly, The manner of this love is likewise enjoined. If we would know how we are to love the Lord, we are to love him with all our heart, and with all our soul. There are two things here, 1st, The extension of parts, the heart and soul, mind and strength. Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, for he hath created it; with all thy soul, for he hath redeemed it; with all thy strength, for he hath preserved it; with all thy mind, for he hath enlightened it. The heart is here put for the will, the soul for the affections, and the mind for the understanding. 2dly, The extension of degrees. Our understanding must think of God; our wills must cleave to him; our love, fear,

confidence and delight must be carried out to him, without division or deviation to other things. Lastly, We have a powerful motive to the practice of this duty, the loving of God, because it is the first and great commandment: so that while we neglect this, we do just nothing at all. Neither are we to think that the love of God is made the first and great commandment, only by the New Testament dispensation; for Moses says the same thing to the Jews, Deut. vi. 4, 5. that Christ here says to the Scribe.

In discoursing further from these words, I would, First, Explain the nature of the duty here enjoined, loving God. In describing or giving an account of what is commonly called the love of God, there are two extremes which some men have run into, both which ought to be avoided, namely, enthusiasm upon the one hand, and cold philosophy upon the other. Some describe our love to God in such a mystical enthusiastic manner, as makes it both unintelligible and impracticable to mortals: of these there have been instances in the Romish church; and there may be some such among ourselves.

On the other hand, some have been so much prejudiced at these enthusiastic heats and fervours, that they have run into the quite contrary extreme, describing the love of God in a manner abundantly real, but quite cold and uninteresting. They have philosophised it so much, as to take it out of the affections, and place it entirely in the understanding, while, at the same time, it is unintelligible to the bulk of mankind, who have neither capacity nor opportunity to understand long chains of reasonings, and so can never in that way be brought to the love of God.

The scripture account of the matter is perfectly plain, and adapted to the meanest capacity. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. And I shall, through grace, endeavour to imitate the plainness and simplicity of the scriptures, in what I have to say upon the subject.

To proceed, then, I conceive there is a sixfold love which we owe to God, as our God in Christ. And,