LOVE TO GOD. 



Ill 



of righteousness which are to the praise and glory 

 of God.&quot; We must &quot; add to our faith, fortitude 

 and resolution, and to fortitude knowledge, and to 

 knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, pa 

 tience, and to patience, godliness, and to godli 

 ness, brotherly kindness and charity. For, if 

 these things be in us and abound, they will per 

 mit us to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the 

 knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and so an 

 entrance shall be abundantly administered unto 

 us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 

 Saviour.&quot;* 



The foundation of Religion being thus laid in 

 the exercise of such Christian graces, the follow 

 ing dispositions and virtues, among many others, 

 will be cherished and cultivated, and will form 

 substantial qualifications for enabling us to par 

 ticipate in &quot; the inheritance of the saints in light.&quot; 

 1. Supreme love to God, the original source 

 of happiness. This is the first duty of every 

 rational creature, and the most sublime affection 

 that can pervade the human mind. It glows in 

 the breasts of angels and archangels, of cheru- 

 him and seraphim, yea, there is not an inhabitant 

 of any world in the universe who has retained 

 his primitive integrity, in whose heart it does 

 not reign triumphant. It unites all holy intelli 

 gences to their Creator and to one another; and 

 consequently, it must qualify us for holding a de 

 lightful intercourse with such beings, wherever 

 thy exist, and in whatever region of the universe 

 our future residence may be appointed. It enli 

 vens the adorations of the angelic tribes, when 

 they exclaim, &quot; Thou art worthy, O Lord, to re 

 ceive glory, and honour, and thanksgiving, and 

 power.&quot; It animates them in all their celestial 

 services ; it inspires them with a noble ardour 

 in executing the commands of their Sovereign, 

 and it qualifies its possessor, to whatever world 

 be may belong, for co-operating with them, in 

 carrying forward that scheme of universal be- 

 Devolence, towards the accomplishment of which 

 all the arrangements of the Creator ultimately 

 tend. 



This holy affection is congenial to every view 

 we can take of the character and operations of 

 the Deity, and its obligation is deduced from the 

 clearest principles of Reason, as well as from the 

 dictates of Revelation. It is founded on every 

 attribute of the Divinity, and on every part of 

 his physical and moral administration. His om 

 nipotence is every moment exerted in supporting 

 the frame of the universe, in bringing about the 

 alternate succession of day and night, summer 

 and winter, seed-time and harvest, and in direct 

 ing the operation of the elements of nature, in 

 such a way as to contribute to the happiness of 

 man. His wisdom and intelligence are display 

 ed in proportionating and arranging every object 

 in the system of nature, in such a manner, that 



2 Peter 1. 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 noddridge s Translation 

 20 



every thing is preserved in order and harmonj 

 and in organizing the bodies of men and othet 

 creatures, so as to prevent pain, and to produce 

 a combination of pleasurable sensations. His 

 goodness extends over all his works, and is dis 

 played towards every rank of sensitive and in 

 telligent existence. It appears in the splendours 

 of the sun, in the radiance of the moon, in the 

 glories of the starry firmament, in the beautiful 

 assemblage of colours which diversify the face of 

 Nature, in the plants and flowers, which adorn 

 the fields, in the gentle zephyrs, in the rains and 

 dews that fertilize the soil, in the provision made 

 for the sustenance of the innumerable beings that 

 inhabit the air, the waters, and the earth, and 

 &quot; in filling the hearts of men with food and glad 

 ness.&quot; His mercy and forbearance are exer 

 cised towards all men, even to the most profligate 

 and abandoned, in supporting them in existence 

 and loading them with his benefits, even when 

 they are engaged in acts of rebellion against him. 

 For he comrnandeth his sun to arise on the evil 

 as well as on the good, and sendeth rain both on 

 the just and on the unjust. He displays his long- 

 suffering, for many years, towards the thought 

 less prodigal, and the violators of his law, to 

 demonstrate, that &quot; he desires not that any should 

 perish, but that all should come to repentance.&quot; 

 A Being possessed of such attributes, and in 

 cessantly displaying such beneficence through- 

 out creation, demands the highest affection and 

 veneration of all his intelligent offspring; so 

 that it is the dictate of enlightened reason as 

 well as of revelation, &quot; Thou shall love the 

 Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all 

 thy soul, and with all thy strength.&quot; For, it is 

 from him as the original source of felicity, that 

 all our sensitive and intellectual enjoyments pro 

 ceed, and on him we depend for all the blessings 

 that shall accompany us in every future stage of 

 our existence. Love to God, is therefore, the 

 most reasonable and amiable affection that can 

 glow in the human heart, and the spring of every 

 virtuous action, and of every pleasing and rap 

 turous emotion. If we are possessed of this di 

 vine principle, we shall delight in his worship, 

 and bow with reverence at his footstool ; we shall 

 feel complacency in his character and adminis 

 tration ; we shall contemplate with admiration, 

 the incomprehensible knowledge, the omnipotent 

 power, and the boundless beneficence displayed 

 in the mighty movements of creation and pro 

 vidence , we shall feel the most lively emotions 

 of gratitude for the numerous blessings he be 

 stows ; we shall be resigned to his will und*&quot;- 

 every providential arrangement, and we shaft 

 long for that happy world where the glories of his 

 nature, and the &quot; kindness of his love&quot; shall be 

 more illustriously displayed. But the man who 

 is destitute of this amiable affection, is incapaDie 

 of those sublime and rapturous emotions which 

 animate the minds of celestial intelligences, ami 



