Firfl Co11imandment. 73 It would be too long, and indeed almoft endlcfs, ~o infifl: p:lrticolarly on: all the Duties that arc included in the true and fincere Worfhtp of the true amiably God: 1 !hall therefore fpeak only of the three chief and moft remarkable on~s: Firfl, The Love of God. Sccmdly, The Fear of God. . Thirdly, Invocation of, and rendring Praife unto Him. .J ' In thcfe Three efpecially, doth confilt the having the Lord fot our God. Firft, In th is Command is required _of us the mofl: fitpream .and indearcd Love of "God· yea indeed, the Love of God 1s not only the Sum of th1s, but of all the Corn~ mands of ~he firft Table: And therefore (as I lately toltl Yon) when our Saviour would give an Abridgment of the Law, he comprifcth J!l the Ten under Two great Commands, Matth. 22. 37, 38, 39· Thou J!ullt love rhe Lord thy God with all thy heart, and wirh·a/1 rhy foul, and with all. thy mind. Thu is the ftrft andgredt G:Jmmandmcnt. And the fecund U like unto it, Thou fha!tbrve thy nei'ghbour ru thy {cif. From Whence the Apofi:le dednceth that great Conclufion, Rom. r 3· r6. That LYve U the fulfilling uf the Law. lt is fo, if not formally, yet virtn:11ly and effeCtively, for it will powerfully and · fivcctly fway us to yield a ready Submiffion and Obedience to what is required of us; and that not only as it is the Ditl:ateofDivine and Sovereign Authority, but from the free ftxmtaneous Tendency of the Soul it felf, wh ich when it is once touch'd with this C~leftial and ferene Flame, mull: rebel :1gainft its own Inclinations, as well as :1g:1inft God's Commands, ifir be not carried out towards that Objetl: in which alone it can find full acqu iefcence and fatisf.1tl:ion. Now th is Love ofGod hath in it_three A_tl:s or Degrees; Defire, Joy, and Zeal: Firft, An earnert and panting Defire after God, Pfa/.. 42. 1, 2. .As the hart prmtcth ·after tb~ water-brooks, fo panteth my foul after thee, 0 God. A{Y foul thirjfe~h for God, for the livin~ God: Oh! when jlJali I come and appear be(orc God? As the poor nnbofs'd Deer t ha t is C!ofely pnrfued, flints and melts with the heat of the Chace, and hafteth to . the known River where it was wont to quench its thirft, to find both fafety and rcf rcfhmcnt there; fo cloth the holy amorous Soul reach and breath after God; he thirftcth after the Water-brooks, the ftreams of his.Ordinances, wherein God cloth 'pour out his Gr~ce and his Spirit to refrefu the 11onging clefires of this holy Impa~ tience: But nor being fatisficd with this, he ftilt makes up to the Fountain, and ne... ver refts contented, till he hath ingulph'd and plung'd himfclf into God, and is flvallowed up in Beatitude. &"ndly, From the fruition of the. beloved Object fprlngeth Joy; tor Joy is nothing clfe but fhc rcft and acqnicicence ofDefire. And therefore, accord inO' to the mea· Ii1rcs of God's communic:tring himfelf to our Souls, fi1ch proportionabiy will be the incrcafcs of our Joy. Something we enjoy of God in this life, wh il ft we are abfent from him itl the Body; he is pleafed. to give us tranfient Glances of himfelf, when he fills his Ordinances and our Duties with his Spirit; and yet thefe refervcd Communications arc fo ravilbing, that the difi:ended Soul is often forced, by the Agony of Swcetnefs, to cry out Wtth holy Simeon, Now Lord, let thy fervant depart in peacr, for mine tyts IJ.'l'iJt fcen thy_falvation. How over-flowing then will our Joy be, when w~ come to Heaven, where our fruition of God fhall be in tire and eternal; where we Jhall fee him as he is, and know him as we are known by him; where the unveiled Glories of the Deity !hall bCat full upon us, and we for ever Sun our felves in the Smiles of God? Certait~l y, the .Joy ?f fuch a State would be intolerable, but only th:tt God who fills us, w1ll then ltkewtfe· enlarge and fnpport us. · 71Jirdl.y, If onr fruit ion ofGod be hindred and obftrutl:ed, our love to him will fhen cxprefs 'it fclf in an holy Zeal: Zeal is t~e Indignation of the Soul, and a Revenge that it takes upon whatfoever is an impediment to the obtaining its defires. The carneft defire of a ~rue Saint, is the E?joyment of God, and the Gloty ofGod; and of both thcfe, Stn IS the only let and htt~dera!1ce. ~nd therefore a Sou l that is paffionatefor God, hath not fo great an Indtgnatton agamftany thmgasagainft Sin : Can ~e endure to fee that God whom he loves clearer thatt his life, daily provoked and in~ jured; to h~ar his Name blafphemed, to fee his Ordilllnces defpifed, his \;vorJhip negletl:ed, h1g Ser-:r:tnts ~bufe~, and the_mofr facred Truths of Religion denied, and ~he ~1cred Myfrcnes of Itdended? He IS the moft meek and patient Man on Elrtll m hts own concerns; unwilling to obferve ~h~ .Wrongs that are done him, and much more to revonge them: b?t when Gcxlts lllJUred, the dear Objetr of his Love and Joy, he can no longer refrarn, bbt whatfoever befalls him, rifeth up to vindi- . W. care r. 11. Ill. 1ft. I.
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