To declare, I fay, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be juft, and the juftifier of him which believes in Jefus.

Friendly, In what have the faints communion with God? Truth. In all the properties of his love; First, In its fovereignty: Though God is faid to be love, yet not of neceffity to love, or that there was any thing in the creature to oblige him to love them, any more than there was in fallen angels; No, GOD loves them because it is the fovereign pleasure of His will. GoD deals with men as he did with angels; fome he hath chofen to everlafting felicity, therefore elect angels; while others, who for their tranfgreffion, left their first habitation, he hath referved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day. Here his fovereignty was dif played, in fecuring the inconceivable felicity of the elect angels, whilft others, for their tranfgreffion, are configned over to mifery; and, in like manner, he hath difplayed the fo vereign pleafure of his will towards mankind, Rom. ix. 15. For he faith to Mofes, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will have compaffion on whom I will have compaffion. Now when the Chriftian fees that divine favour was an act of JEHOVAH's fovereignty, that God was at liberty whether to love him with diftinguishing love, or to leave him only to his providential love and care with the rest of mankind, this view makes the Chriftian fay, even fo Father, because it feemeth good in thy fight; it is thy pleasure to love me, and it is my life, my joy, and my happiness to be loved by thee. O what thall I render to thee, my GOD! O that my mind was more and more engaged in admiring the fovereign pleasure of thy will, to be gracious to my foul through a MEDIATOR, Eph. i. 9. According to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself.

Friendly. But can GoD do lefs than love his creatures which he has made?

Truth. I aufwer, GoD's love and approbation of an upright and innocent creature, as it came out of his hands, formed in his image, is according to right; juftice and equity require it. But love to a guilty undeserved creature must be an act of divine fovereignty; the creature can claim no right to the favour of GOD, having forfeited all claim by transgreffion, therefore if he is received into favour, it must arife from the fovereign pleafure of JEHOVAH's will, who faith, wi have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I own, that there is nothing in God, nor difplayed from GOD, that our corrupt nature quarrels with fo much as it does with divine lovereignty in the falvation of finners; hence the carnal mind is

faid to be enmity to God. But when the Chriftian fees it to be the bafis, origin, and foundation of his happiness, he takes a delight in holding fellowship with GOD, Eph. i. 5. Having predeftinated us unto the adoption of children by Jefus Chrift to himfelf, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise and glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. The Saints hold communion with God in the freeness of his love; all the communications of his favour flow not only freely, from him, without any reluctancy, but with ineffable delight and pleasure, Jer. ix. 24. For in these things I delight, faith the Lord; fo that all the boundlefs bleffings which JEHOVAH beflows upon his people, arife with infinitely more freedom in his eternal mind than fprings of water from the earth; for fountains and fprings often meet with obftructions of various kinds, and are much hindered in their communications, but the love of God to his people arifes in his eternal mind with infinite freedom, free from all reluctancy and obftruction, in its communications, the paffageway being opened by the blood of IMMANUEL; through the channel of whofe fufferings the ftreams of JEHOVAH's love flow to the elect, with the fame freedom as though they had never finned against him. Hence it is compared to a river, Pfal. xcvi. 4. There is a river, the ftreams whereof shall make glad the city of God. When the Chriftian fees that the fun never fo freely rejoiced to run his race, or the dew fo freely fell, as the love of God flows to his foul, he views, admires, and not only approves, but with rapture of foul cries out, O the boundless riches of free grace, that thou shouldest ever love me with fuch freedom and delight, without the leaft reluctancy in thyfelf, notwithstanding all my corruptions and vileness, or the leaft motive from all my goodness, or inherent difpofition, with a love that has a continuation of freedom in it, notwithstanding the rebellion of my heart!

This view fills the heart of the Chriftian with holy joy, and wafts him into the harbour of divine love, where he refts with peace and tranquillity of foul, viewing all the kind invi tations of JEHOVAH's word, the preciousness of the promises, and the confolations of the HOLY GHOST, flowing from the freeness of sovereign love. Hence CHRIST is called a fountain of living waters, and ftreams from Lebanon.

The Chriftian holds communion with GOD in the distinguishing nature of his love, though the love of GoD is free and un conditional, yet it is not alike free to all mankind. He has

diftinguifhed the out-goings of his love to angels, and from hence the happy angels are called elect angels; they are such that he loved with a diftinguishing love. So in like manner hath he loved his peculiar people, and from hence they are called, 1 Pet. i. 2. Elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father; chofen veffels, chofen in Chrift before the foundation of the world; chofen to falvation; velfels of honour; veffels of mercy, whom he hath afore prepared unto glory; and Rom. xi. 5,6. The remnant according to the election of grace.

Now when the Chriftian is led by the HOLY GHOST, who leadeth into all truth, to view the glories of distinguishing love. First, When he reflects upon what he was by nature, a child of wrath, even as others. LORD, faith he, I was vile as the vileft; my heart was not only cold as ice to every thing that was good, but was prone to every thing that was evil; I broke thy law, trampled upon thy authority, flighted thy mercy, fcorned thy favours, defpifed a Saviour, refused thy falvation, purfued in ten thousand ways, the gratification of my luft, and would have none of thee; of prayer, hearing, and reading thy word, when out of custom I was obliged to attend upon it, I was wont to fay, at least in my heart, what a weariness is this? And how is it LORD, that I now find and feel a contrary difpofition; a foul that is never happier than when in the bofom of thy love; delighting in thy law after the inner man, fubmitting to thy authority, admiring thy mercy, rejoicing in thy favours, adoring my Saviour, glad of thy falvation, delight in praying unto thee, reading thy word, and hearing the miniftration of life to my foul? O what can I afcribe this change unto, but to the glories of thy diftinguishing love, O GOD of grace! because thou hadft loved me with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness haft thou drawn me; or elfe I had remained to this moment dead in trefpaffes and fins.

Secondly, The Chriftian may difcern the glories of diftin. guifhing love by that feparation which it hath made between him and his fellow-companions. They, at leaft many of them, he may fee, are left to purfue the vanities of their hearts, the gratification of their lufts, to rush on in full career in rebellion against GoD, flighting divine favours, and defpif ing the falvation of their precious fouls, which makes him fay, "LORD, how is it that I was not left as well as they? "was there any thing more amiable in me than in them? was

not my heart equally as vain, as vile, and rebellious as theirs? nay, my GOD, was there not many of them of

more engaging difpofitions than me? and yet, O amazing! "they are left in a carnal unrenewed ftate, while the riches of "thy electing love hath distinguished me! why me; LORD? "that I fhould be felected, chofen, and adopted into thy fa"mily, while thoufands are paffed by! what fhall I render to "thee, my Gon? may that love that has diftinguished me "from others, influence my heart to conftant diftinguished "obedience in all thy appointed ways, thou god of my falva

"tion."

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Thirdly, The Chriftian may difcern the glories of diftinguifhing love, not only by the feparation it hath made in him from his fellow companions, but from his own relations, though they may be brethren, or fifters in the fame family, yet electing love fhines in the life, converfation, and obedience of the one, while enmity to the ways and people of GOD appears visible in the conduct of the others. And what is it that makes this diftinguishing difference in the fame family, but the difcriminating grace of God? now when the Chriftian beholds the glories of electing love to his foul, it not only fills his mind with wonder and joy, but affords him unfpeakable de- : light in communion with him. He defires to enjoy larger difcoveries, and to feel a conftant and fweet fenfation of diftinguishing love upon his mind; knowing that all his present peace and future happiness flows therefrom; therefore it is, that the Chriftian is fo defirous of having the diftinguifhing. love of GoD fhed abroad in his heart by the HOLY GHOST, that he may maintain a lively communion with GOD.

Fourthly, Likewife the immenfity of JEHOVAH's love is a fweet field of heavenly delight to the Chriftian, which made the pfalmift, in a kind of transport, to fay, How great is thy goodness which thou haft laid up for them that fear thee? which thou hast wrought out for them that trust in thee. Hence it is, that we not only read of the riches of his grace, and of his riches in glory, but of the exceeding riches of his grace towards us in Chrift Jefus. And as the love and favour of God is expressed in his word by fuch epithets, it denotes his boundless nature and unfearchable riches; and the bleffings which flow therefrom, are more in number than the hairs of our head, or the fands upon the fea fhore; all Heaven is enriched thereby, and the faints are filled, at times, with joy unspeakable and full of glary; fo rich is the love of God, that he with-holds no good thing from us; and fo great are his gifts to fuch worthless worms as we, that it proves his love to be without any

bounds or limits. And the glory of this fhines with exuberance, in that he has given us all that he can bestow, viz. Himfelf, in all the perfections of his nature, to be our portion for ever; forafmuch as he hath engaged by promife all the honours of his name, and the properties of his nature, to bring us from the depths of mifery to the fummit of everlafting glory; proving it to be infinitely valuable, immenfely rich, and eternally glorious: fince it beftows upon us fuch a variety of bleffings which are fuited and adapted to make us as happy as our prefent and future capacity will admit of. Thus the love of GOD is rich in its nature, and effects, as the prelibations and forctaftes of it, filleth us with all joy and peace in believing; enabling us to receive at the hands of GoD what he fo richly and freely gives. For it is grace that strengthens us to receive more grace, and one bleffing of Heaven prepares us to enjoy another; if this was not the cafe, a fenfe of our own guilt and unworthinefs would fo close the hand of faith that we fhould never receive to our own comfort any of the favours which GoD beftows. Were we not unworthy of the boundless favours which our GOD beftows upon us, it would only be liberality; but that which renders JEHOVAH'S favours acts of rich grace to us, in our unworthinefs, having forfeited all right to them by tranfgreffion, fo that every blefsing which he affords us is grace upon grace. Indeed, we can never difhonour God more than when we think that it is prefumption to receive the bleffings of grace and glory on account of our unworthiness of them, because it is his pleasure to give like himself, Paul faith to the believing Philippians, My God fhall fupply all your needs, according to his riches in glory. Obferve here, he does not fay, according to their wor thiness, meetness, or preparation; but according to his riches in glory, he takes motives to beftow all that he hath, or will beftow upon his people, from the riches of his grace, which is the grand and impulfive caufe of the whole of our falvation. Hence we are faid, Eph. i. 7. To have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of fins, according to the riches of bis grace.

Now when the Chriftian fees, not only the liberality, but the immenfe riches of free grace, in all the boundlefs blefings which his heavenly Fathes bestows upon him, it attracts his heart into the bofom of communion with Gop, he is fo delighted thereby, when he views the amazing riches of divine grace, in every fpiritual mercy which he enjoys, that he fays with the pfalmift, How precious are thy thoughts to me, O Ged!