what is easy, and refuse what is hard; but likes

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what God likes, and disapproves of what he hates; his will being the great reason of all its choices and refusals: and whatsoever things in particular are distasteful and difficult to us, by its powerful oratory it renders pleasant and easy, For he that serves God out of love, serves him with delight; and he that serves him with delight, hath no clog to inscumber him; none of those aversations and antipathies to his service, that do so load and depress unwilling minds; he doth not row against the current of nature, but acts with the full inclination of his >mind, and so feels little or nothing of drudgery in his religion; and being carried on with a full tide of delight, he goes easily and cheerfully down with the stream. Of such vast importance is the love of God to our religion, that it not only produces it, but renders it easy and pleasant: so that without some degree of this, our religion can have neither being nor well-being; and it is as possible for us to live without a soul, and to be nourished without food, as cit is for our religion to be and to thrive without the love of God...

oz Wherefore, if ever we would be religious indeed, if ever we would connaturalize religion to our souls, so as to render it easy and delightsome to us, let us endeavour to kindle this heavenly fire. within us: sand certainly, if we heartily endeavour it, we cannot fail of success. For there are so many mighty reasons to engage us to the love of God, so many invincible attractions in his nature, and in his love towards us, as cannot but affect us, if we seriously ponder and consider them. For how can I reflect upon that amiable nature of his, in which there is

an harmonious concurrence of all beauties and perfections, where wisdom and goodness, justice and mercy, and every lovely thing that can claim or deserve a rational affection, are contempered together in their utmost degrees of perfection; how, I say, ́can I steadily reflect upon such a nature as this, without being charmed and captivated with the love of it? How can I think of that stupendous love which he hath expressed towards me, in giving me my being, and all the blessings I enjoy; in preparing a heaven of immortal joys for me, and sending his Son from thence to conduct me thither, without be'ing all inflamed with love to him? Wherefore, let us seriously set ourselves to the contemplation of God, of the loveliness of his nature, and of his infinite kindness to us and all his creation. Let us repeat the thoughts of these things upon our minds, and never give over pressing ourselves with those infinite reasons we have to love him, till we feel the heavenly fire begin to kindle within our breasts; and then let us never give over feeding and blowing it with these divine considerations, till it rise up into a triumphant flame. And then we shall feel ourselves animated with a new soul, and inspired with so much life and activity in religion, as that from our experience we shall be able to subscribe to the truth of the text; This is the love of God, this the most natural' expression and inseparable effect of it, that we keep his commandments.

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DISCOURSE XIII.

UPON

1 JOHN V. 3.

And his commandments are not grievous.

I PROCEED now to the next part of the text, viz. the motive by which this obedient love of God is enforced, and his commandments are not grievous: ak elon Bapeĩaι, they are not heavy or burdensome; they have no such weight or difficulty in them, as ought in reason to discourage us from keeping them. For in these words the apostle seems to anticipate an objection: Alas! if this be the love of God, to keep his commandments, what man is able to love him? For if his commandments are not absolutely impossible, yet are they at least so extremely difficult, that scarce any man can have the courage to undertake the performance of them. This, saith our apostle, is a mighty mistake, or a wretched pretence for men's sloth and idleness: for verily and truly, the commands of God have no such difficulty in them, but are in themselves very gentle and easy to be borne. And with this assertion our blessed Saviour doth most perfectly accord, Matt. xi. 30. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. And the prophet David makes it not only easy, but delightful, Psalm xix. 8. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes. And then in the 10th verse he tells us, that they are more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold; and sweeter than

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honey, or the honeycomb. So far are they from being toils and burdens, that in reality they are pleasures and recreations. But farther to demonstrate this truth to you, that God's commands are not burdensome and difficult, I shall do these two things:

I. Shew you that they are facile and easy in themselves.

II. That Christ, by what he hath done, hath rendered them much more facile than they are in themselves.

I. That the commands of God are facile and easy in themselves. And this will evidently appear, if we consider,

1. That whatsoever they enjoin, hath some na tural good appendant to it.

2. That every thing which they enjoin, is highly agreeable to our reasonable natures.

3. That they are all perfective of our natures, and conducive to our happiness.

4. That in themselves they are plain, and simple, and direct, and have no intricacies or labyrinths in them.

5. That they are all so inseparably connected to one another, that they mutually promote and help forwards each other.

1. That whatsoever they enjoin, hath some natural good inseparably appendant to it, to sweeten and endear it. The great and wise first mover hath so ordered things in the course of motion which he hath established, that such and such actions should be ordinarily attended with such and such effects and consequents; and this is one great way, by which he hath signified to the world his dislike or appro bation of human actions by the effects and conse

quents which he hath chained and annexed to them. If in the course of things which he hath established, such an action be ordinarily attended with a good effect, he thereby signifies his approbation of it, and declares that it is his will and pleasure that we should do, and persevere in doing it: but if the consequents, which in the course of nature are ordinarily linked to such an action, are evil and hurtful, he thereby declares his dislike and abhorrence of it; and that it is his will and pleasure that we should carefully and constantly avoid it. For the great Author of our beings hath so framed our natures, and placed us in such circumstances and relations, that there is nothing vicious, but is also injurious to us; nothing virtuous, but is advantageous; and in this the good and evil of all human virtues and vices do consist and it is purely for this reason, why he forbids the one, and commands the other, because he is our friend, and would not have us neglect any thing that tends to our good, nor do any thing that is hurtful and injurious to us; and because he knows, that while we are thus framed, and do continue in these cir cumstances and relations, it is impossible but virtue should be an advantage, and vice a mischief to our natures. And indeed the great sanction of the law of nature is nothing else but that natural good and evil, which is ordinarily consequent to the actions which it commands and forbids. For when God hath no otherwise revealed himself to the world, than only by the established course and nature of things, that was the only Bible whereby mankind could be instructed in his will and pleasure; and there being no threats or promises antecedently annexed unto bad and good actions, his will and plea