PART I. Concerning the nature of the Affections and their importance in Religion.

PART I.

CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE AFFECTIONS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN RELIGION.

1 Peter i. 8.

Whom having not seen, ye love;_ in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory._

SECT. I.

_Introductory remarks respecting the affections. _

In these words, the apostle represents the state of the Christians to whom he wrote, under persecutions. To these persecutions he has respect, in the two preceding verses, when he speaks of _the trial of their faith, _and of their being in heaviness through manifold temptations.

Such _trials _are of threefold benefit to true religion.—Hereby the _truth _of it is manifested, it appears to be indeed _true religion. _Trials, above all other things, have a tendency to distinguish true religion and false, and to cause the difference between them evidently to appear. Hence they are called by the name of trials, in the verse preceding the text, and innumerable other places. They try the faith and religion of professors, of what sort it is, as apparent gold is tried in the fire, and manifested, whether it be true gold or not And the faith of true Christians, being thus tried and proved to be true, is found to praise, and honour, and glory.

And then, these trials not only manifest the _truth _of true religion, but they make its genuine _beauty _and _amiableness _remarkably to appear. True virtue never appears so lovely, as when it is most oppressed: and the divine excellency of real Christianity is never exhibited with such advantage, as when under the greatest trials. Then it is that true faith appears much more precious than gold; and upon this account, is found to praise, and honour, and glory.

Again, another benefit of such trials to true religion, is that they _purify _and _increase _it. They not only manifest it to be _true, _but also tend to _refine _it, and deliver it from those mixtures of what is false, which encumber and impede it; that nothing may be left but that which is true. They not only show the amiableness of true religion to the best advantage, but they tend to increase its beauty by establishing and confirming it; making it more lively and vigorous, and purifying it from those things that obscured its lustre and glory. As gold that is tried in the fire is purged from its alloy, and all remainders of dross, and comes forth more beautiful; so true faith being tried as gold is tried in the fire, becomes more precious; and thus also is _found unto praise, and honour, and glory. _The apostle seems to have respect to each of these benefits in the verse preceding the text.

And, in the text, the apostle observes how true religion _operated _in these Christians under their persecutions, whereby these benefits appeared in them; or what manner of operation it was, whereby their religion, under persecution, was manifested to be _true _religion in its genuine _beauty _and _amiableness, _and also appeared to be _increased _and _purified, _and so was like to _be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. _And there were two kinds of operation, or exercise of true religion, in them, under sufferings, that the apostle takes notice of in the text, wherein these benefits appeared.

1. Love to Christ. Whom having not seen, ye love. The world was ready to wonder, what strange principle it was, that influenced them to expose themselves to so great sufferings, to forsake the things that were seen, and renounce all that was dear and pleasant, which was the object of sense. They seemed to the men of the world as if they were beside themselves, and to act as though they hated themselves; there was nothing in _their _view, that could induce them thus to suffer, or to support them under and carry them through such trials. But although there was nothing that the world saw, or that the Christians themselves ever saw with their bodily eyes, that thus influenced and supported them, yet they had a supernatural principle of love to something unseen; they loved Jesus Christ, for they saw him spiritually, whom the world saw not, and whom they themselves had never seen with bodily eyes.

2. _Joy in Christ. _Though their outward sufferings were very grievous, yet their inward spiritual joys were greater than their sufferings; and these supported them, and enabled them to suffer with cheerfulness.

There are two things which the apostle takes notice of in the text concerning this joy. 1. The _manner _in which it rises, the way in which Christ, though unseen, is the foundation of it, _viz. _by faith; which is the evidence of things not seen; _In whom, though now ye see him not, yet _BELIEVING, _ye rejoice. _2. The _nature _of this joy; _unspeakable, and full of glory. Unspeakable _in the _kind _of it; very different from worldly joys, and carnal delights; of a vastly more pure, sublime, and heavenly nature, being something supernatural, and truly divine, and so ineffably excellent! the sublimity and exquisite sweetness of which, there were no words to set forth. Unspeakable also in degree; it having pleased God to give them this holy joy with a liberal hand, in their state of persecution.

Their joy wa_s full of glory. _Although the joy was unspeakable, and no words were sufficient to describe it; yet something might be said of it, and no words more fit to represent its excellency than these, that it was full of glory; or, as it is in the original, _glorified joy. _In rejoicing with this joy, their minds were filled, as it were, with a glorious brightness, and their natures exalted and perfected. It was a most worthy, noble rejoicing, that did not corrupt and debase the mind, as many carnal joys do; but did greatly beautify and dignify it. It was a prelibation of the joy of heaven, that raised their minds to a degree of heavenly blessedness; it filled their minds with the light of God’s glory, and made themselves to shine with some communication of that glory.

Hence the proposition or doctrine, that I would raise from these words is this, true religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.

We see that the apostle, in remarking the operations and exercises of religion in these Christians, when it had its greatest trial by persecution, as gold is tried in the fire—and when it not only proved true, but was most pure from dross and mixtures—and when it appeared in them most in its genuine excellency and native beauty, and was found to praise, and honour, and glory—he singles out the religious affections of _love _and _joy, _as those exercises, wherein their religion did thus appear _true, pure, _and glorious.

Here it may be inquired, what the _affections _of the mind are?—I answer, The affections are no other, than the more vigorous and _sensible exercises of the inclination and will of _the soul.

God has endued the soul with two principal faculties: The one, that by which it is capable _of perception _and speculation, or by which it discerns and judges of things; which is called the _understanding. _The other, that by which the soul is some way _inclined _with respect to the things it views or considers; or it is the faculty by which the soul beholds things—not as an indifferent unaffected spectator, but—either as liking or disliking, pleased or displeased, approving or rejecting. This faculty is called by various names: it is sometimes called the inclination; and, as it respects the actions determined and governed by it, the will: and the mind, with regard to the exercises of this faculty, is often called the heart.

The _exercises _of this last faculty are of two sorts; either, those by which the soul is carried out towards the things in view in _approving _them, being pleased with and inclined to them; or, those in which the soul opposes the things in view, in _disapproving _them; and in being displeased with, averse from. and rejecting them.—And as the exercises of the inclination are various in their _kinds, _so they are much more various in their _degrees. _There are some exercises of pleasedness or displeasedness, inclination or disinclination, wherein the soul is carried but a little beyond a state of perfect indifference. And there are other degrees, wherein the approbation or dislike, pleasedness or aversion, are stronger; wherein we may rise higher and higher, till the soul comes to act vigorously and sensibly, and its actings are with that strength, that (through the laws of union which the Creator has fixed between soul and body) the motion of the blood and animal spirits begins to be sensibly altered: whence oftentimes arises some bodily sensation, especially about the _heart _and vitals, which are the fountain of the fluids of the body. Whence it comes to pass, that the _mind, _with regard to the exercises of this faculty, perhaps in all nations and ages, is called _the heart. _And it is to be noted, that they are these more vigorous and sensible exercises of this facility, which are called the affections.

The _will, _and the _affections _of the soul, are not two faculties; the affections are not essentially distinct from the will, nor do they differ from the mere _actings _of the will and inclination, but only in the liveliness and sensibility of exercise.—It must be confessed, that language is here somewhat imperfect, the meaning of words in a considerable measure loose and unfixed, and not precisely limited by custom which governs the use of language. In some sense, the affection of the soul differs nothing at all from the will and inclination, and the will never is in any exercise further than it is affected; it is not moved out of a state of perfect indifference, any otherwise than as it is _affected _one way or other. But yet there are many actings of the will and inclination, that are not so commonly called _affections. _In every thing we do, wherein we act voluntarily, there is an exercise of the will and inclination. It is our inclination that governs us in our actions; but _all the actings _of the inclination and will, are not ordinarily called affections. Yet, what are commonly called affections are not essentially different from them, but only in the _degree _and _manner _of exercise. In every act of the will whatsoever, the soul either likes or dislikes, is either inclined or disinclined to what is in view. These are not _essentially _different from the affections of _love _and _hatred. _A liking or inclination of the soul to a thing, if it be in a high degree vigorous and lively, is the very same thing with the affection of love: and a disliking and disinclining, if in a great degree, is the very same with _hatred. _In every act of the will _for _or _towards _something not present, the soul is in some degree _inclined _to that thing; and that inclination, if in a considerable degree, is the very same with the affection of _desire. _And in every degree of an act of the will, wherein the soul approves of something present, there is a degree of pleasedness; and that pleasedness, if it be in a considerable degree, is the very same with the affection of _joy _or _delight. _And if the will disapproves of what is present, the soul is in some degree displeased, and if that displeasedness be great, it is the very same with the affection of grief or sorrow.

Such seems to be our nature, and such the laws of the union of soul and body, that there never is in any case whatsoever, any lively and vigorous exercise of the inclination, without some effect upon the body, in some alteration of the motion of its fluids, and especially of the animal spirits.—And, on the other hand, from the same laws of union, over the constitution of the body, and the motion of its fluids, may promote the exercise of the affections. But yet, it is not the body, but the mind only, that is the proper seat of the affections. The body of man is no more capable of being really the subject of love or hatred, joy or sorrow, fear or hope, than the body of a tree, or than the same body of man is capable of thinking and understanding. As it is the soul only that has ideas, so it is the soul only that is pleased or displeased with its ideas. As it is the soul only that thinks, so it is the soul only that loves or hates, rejoices or is grieved at, what it thinks of. Nor are these motions of the animal spirits, and fluids of the body, any thing properly belonging to the _nature _of the affections; though they always _accompany _them, in the present state; but are only effects or concomitants of the affections, which are entirely distinct from the affections themselves, and no way essential to them; so that an unbodied spirit may be as capable of love and hatred, joy or sorrow, hope or fear, or other affections, as one that is united to a body.

The _affections _and _passions _are frequently spoken of as the same; and yet, in the more common use of speech, there is in some respect a difference. _Affection _is a word, that, in its ordinary signification, seems to be something more extensive than _passion, _being used for all vigorous lively actings of the will or inclination; but _passion _is used for those that are more sudden, and whose effects on the animal spirits are more violent, the mind being more overpowered, and less in its own command.

As all the exercises of inclination and will, are concerned either in approving and liking, or disapproving and rejecting; so the affections are of two sorts; they are those by which the soul is carried out to what is in view, cleaving _to _it, or _seeking _it; or those by which it is averse _from _it, and _opposes _it. Of the former sort are _love, desire, hope, joy, gratitude, complacence. _Of the latter kind are _hatred, fear, anger, grief, _and such like; which it is needless now to stand particularly to define.

And there are some affections wherein there is a _composition _of each of the aforementioned kinds of actings of the will; as in the affection of _pity, _there is something of the _former kind, _towards the person suffering, and something of the _latter, _towards what he suffers. And so in _zeal, _there is in it high _approbation _of some person or thing, together with vigorous _opposition _to what is conceived to be contrary to it.

SECT. II.

_True religion, in great part, consists in the affections. _

1. What has been said of the _nature _of the affections makes this evident; and may be sufficient, without adding any thing further, to put this matter out of doubt: for who will deny that true religion consists, in a great measure, in vigorous and lively actings of the _inclination _and _will _of the soul, or the fervent exercises of the heart? That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless wishes, raising us but a little above a state of indifference. God, in his word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion: Rom. xii. 11. “Be ye fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. ” Deut. x. 12. “And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul?” And chap. vi. 4, 5. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” It is such a fervent, vigorous engagedness of the heart in religion, that is the fruit of a real circumcision of the heart, or true regeneration, and that has the promises of life: Deut. xxx. 6. “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. ”

If we be not in good earnest in religion, and our wills and inclinations be not strongly exercised, we are nothing. The things of religion are so great, that there can be no suitableness in the exercises of our hearts, to their nature and importance, unless they be lively and powerful. In nothing is vigour in the actings of our inclinations so requisite, as in religion; and in nothing is lukewarmness so odious. True religion is evermore a powerful thing; and the power of it appears, in the first place, in its exercises in the heart, its principal and original seat. Hence true religion is called the _power of godliness, _in distinction from external appearances, which are _the form _of it, 2 Tim. iii. 5. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it.” The Spirit of God, in those who have sound and solid religion, is a Spirit of powerful holy affection; and therefore, God is said “to have given them the Spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” (2 Tim. i. 7.) And such, when they receive the Spirit of God in his sanctifying and saving influences, are said to be “baptized with the Holy Ghost, and with fire;’’ by reason of the power and fervour of those exercises which the Spirit of God excites in them, and whereby _their hearts, _when grace is in exercise, may be said to _burn within them. _(Luke xxiv. 32. .)

The business of _religion _is, from time to time, compared to those _exercises, _wherein men are wont to have their hearts and strength greatly exercised and engaged; such as running, wrestling, or agonizing for a great prize or crown, and fighting with strong enemies that seek our lives, and warring as those that by violence take a city or kingdom. Though true grace has various degrees, and there are some who are but babes in Christ, in whom the exercise of the inclination and will towards divine and heavenly things, is comparatively weak; yet every one that has the power of godliness, has his inclinations and heart exercised towards God and divine things with such strength and vigour, that these holy exercises prevail in him above all carnal or natural affections, and are effectual to overcome them: for every true disciple of Christ “loves him above father or mother, wife and children, brethren and sisters, houses and lands; yea more than his own life. ” Hence it follows, that wherever true religion is, there are vigorous exercises of the inclination and will towards divine objects: but by what was said before, the vigorous, lively, and sensible exercises of the will, are no other than the _affections _of the soul.

2. The Author of our nature has not only given us affections, but has made them very much the spring of actions. As the _affections _not only necessarily belong to the _human nature, _but are a very _great part _of it; so (inasmuch as by regeneration persons are renewed in the whole man) _holy affections _not only necessarily belong to _true religion, _but are a very great part of such religion. And as true religion is practical, and God hath so constituted the human nature, that the affections are very much the spring of men’s actions, this also shows, that true religion must consist very much in the affections.

Such is man’s nature, that he is very inactive, any otherwise than he is influenced by either _love _or _hatred, desire, hope, fear, _or some other affection. These affections we see to be the moving springs in all the affairs of life, which engage men in all their pursuits; and especially in all affairs wherein they are earnestly engaged, and which they pursue with vigour. We see the world of mankind exceedingly busy and active; and their affections are the springs of motion: take away all love and hatred, all hope and fear, all anger, zeal, and affectionate _desire, _and the world would be, in a great measure, motionless and dead: there would be no such thing as activity amongst mankind, or any earnest pursuit whatsoever. It is affection that engages the covetous man, and him that is greedy of worldly profits; it is by the affections that the ambitious man is put forward in his pursuit of worldly glory; and the affections also actuate the voluptuous man, in his pleasure and sensual delights. The world continues from age to age, in a continual commotion and agitation, in pursuit of these things; but take away affection, and the _spring _of all this motion would be gone; the motion itself would cease. And as in worldly things, worldly affections are very much the spring of men’s motion and action; so in religious matters, the spring of their actions are very much religious affections: he that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is _engaged _in the business of religion.

3. Nothing is more manifest _in fact, _than that the things of religion take hold of men’s souls no further than they _affect _them. There are multitudes who often hear the word of God, of things infinitely great and important, and which most nearly concern them, yet all seems to be wholly ineffectual upon them, and to make no alteration in their disposition or behaviour; the reason is, they are not _affected _with what they hear. There are many who often hear of the glorious perfections of God, his almighty power, boundless wisdom, infinite majesty, and that holiness by which he is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity; together with his infinite goodness and mercy. They hear of the great works of God’s wisdom, power, and goodness, wherein there appear the admirable manifestations of these perfections. They hear particularly of the unspeakable love of God and Christ, and what Christ has done and suffered. They hear of the great things of another world, of eternal misery, in bearing the fierceness and wrath of almighty God; and of endless blessedness and glory in the presence of God, and the enjoyment of his love. They also hear the peremptory commands of God, his gracious counsels and warnings, and the sweet invitations of the gospel. Yet they remain as before, with no sensible alteration, either in heart or practice, because they are not _affected _with what they hear. I am bold to assert, that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any person, by any thing of a religious nature that ever he read, heard, or saw, who had not his affections moved. Never was a natural man engaged earnestly to seek his salvation; never were any such brought to cry after wisdom, and lift up their voice for understanding, and to wrestle with God in prayer for mercy; and never was one humbled, and brought to the foot of God, from any thing that ever he heard or imagined of his own unworthiness and deservings of God’s displeasure; nor was ever one induced to fly for refuge unto Christ, while his heart remained _unaffected. _Nor was there ever a saint awakened out of a cold, lifeless frame, or recovered from a declining state in religion, and brought back from a lamentable departure from God, without having his heart _affected. _And, in a word, there never was any thing _considerable _brought to pass in the heart or life of any man living, by the things of religion, that had not his heart _deeply affected by _those things.

4. The Holy Scriptures every where place religion very much in the affections; such as fear, hope, love, hatred, desire, joy, sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal.

The Scriptures place much of religion in godly fear; insomuch that an experience of it is often spoken of as the character of those who are truly religious persons. _They tremble at God’s word, _they _fear before him, their flesh trembles for fear of him, they are afraid of his judgments, his excellency makes them afraid, and his dread falls upon them, _&c. An appellation commonly given the saints in Scripture, is, _fearers of God, _or they ”_that fear the Lord. _And because this is a great part of true godliness, hence true godliness in general is very commonly called the fear of God.

So _hope _in God, and in the promises of his word, is often spoken of in the Scripture, as a very considerable _part of true religion. _It is mentioned as one of the three great things of which religion consists, 1 Cor. xiii. 13. Hope in the Lord is also frequently mentioned as the _character _ of the saints: Psal. cxlvi. 5. “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose _hope _is in the Lord his God.” Jer. xvii. 7. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope, the Lord is.” Psal. xxxi. 24. “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.” And the like in many other places. Religious fear and hope are, once and again, joined together, as jointly constituting the character of the true saints: Psal. xxxiii. 18. “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that _fear _him, upon them that _hope _in his mercy.” Psal. cxlvii. 11. “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that _fear _him, in those that _hope _in his mercy.” Hope is so great a part of true religion, that the apostle says we _are saved _by hope, Rom. viii. 24.. And this is spoken of as the _helmet _of the Christian soldier, 1 Thess. v. 8. “And for an helmet, the _hope _of salvation;” and the sure and stedfast _anchor _of the soul, which preserves it from being cast away by the storms of this evil world, Heb. vi. 19. “Which _hope _we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the vail.” It is spoken of as a great benefit which true saints receive by Christ’s resurrection, 1 Pet. i. 3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively _hope, _by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The Scriptures place religion very much in the affection of love; love to God, and the Lord Jesus Christ; love to the people of God, and to mankind. The texts in which this is manifest, both in the Old Testament and New, are innumerable. But of this more afterwards. The contrary affection of _hatred _also, as having sin for its object, is spoken of in Scripture as no inconsiderable part of true religion. It is spoken of as that by which true religion may be known and distinguished. Prov. viii. 13. “The fear of the Lord is to _hate _evil.” Accordingly, the saints are called upon to give evidence of their sincerity by this, Psal. xcvii. 10. “Ye that love the Lord, _hate _evil.” And the psalmist often mentions it as an evidence of his sincerity; Psal. ci. 2, 3. “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I _hate _the work of them that turn aside.” Psal. cxix. 104. “I _hate _every false way.” So ver. 128. Again, Psal. cxxxix. 21. “Do I not _hate _them, O Lord, that hate thee?”

So holy _desire, _exercised in longings, hungerings, and thirstings after God and holiness, is often mentioned in Scripture as an important part of true religion: Isa. xxvi. 8. ” The _desire _of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.” Psal. xxvii. 4. “One thing have I _desired _of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” Psal. xlii. 1, 2. “As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” Psal. lxiii. 1, 2. “My soul _thirsteth _for thee, my flesh _longeth _for thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is: to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Psal. lxxxiv. 1, 2. “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul _longeth, _yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Psal. cxix. 20. “My soul breaketh for the _longing _that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.” So Psal. lxxiii. 25. cxliii. 6, 7. cxxx. 6. Cant. iii. 1, 2. vi. 8. Such a holy desire, or thirst of soul, denotes a man truly blessed: Matt. v. 6. “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” And this holy thirst is connected with the blessings of eternal life: Rev. xxi. 6. “I will give unto him that is _athirst, _of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

The Scriptures speak of holy joy, as a great part of true religion. So it is represented in the text. And as an important part of religion, it is often pressed with great earnestness; Psal. xxxvii. 4. ”_Delight _thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psal. xcvii. 12. ”_Rejoice _in the Lord, ye righteous.” So Psal. xxxiii. 1. ”_Rejoice _in the Lord, O ye righteous.” Matt. v. 12. ”_Rejoice, _and be exceeding glad.” Phil. iii. 1. “Finally, brethren, _rejoice _in the Lord.” And Phil. iv. 4. ”_Rejoice _in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice.“ 1 Thess. v. 16. ”_Rejoice _evermore.” Psal. cxlix. 2. “Let Israel _rejoice _in Him that made him: let the children of Zion be _joyful _in their King.” This is mentioned among the principal fruits of the Spirit of grace, Gal. v. 22. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,” &c.—The psalmist mentions his holy joy, as an evidence of his sincerity, Psal. cxix. 14. “I have _rejoiced _in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.”

Religious _sorrow, _mourning, and brokenness of heart, are also frequently spoken of as a great part of true religion. These things are often mentioned as distinguishing qualities of the true saints, and a great part of their character: Matt. v. 4. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” Psal. xxxiv. 18. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a _contrite _spirit.” Isa. lxi. 1, 2. “The Lord hath anointed me—to bind up the broken hearted,—to comfort all that mourn.” This godly sorrow and brokenness of heart is often spoken of, not only as a distinguishing character of the saints, but as that in them, which is peculiarly acceptable and pleasing to God: Psal. li. 17. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Isa. lvii. 15. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Chap. lxvi. 2. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit.”

Another affection often mentioned, as that in the exercise of which much of true religion appears, is gratitude; especially as exercised in thankfulness and praise to God. This being so much spoken of in the book of Psalms, and other parts of the Holy Scriptures, I need not mention particular texts.

Again, the Holy Scriptures frequently speak of _compassion _or _mercy, _as a very great and essential thing in true religion; insomuch that a _merciful _man, and a _good _man, are equivalent terms in Scripture: Isa. lvii. 1. “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and _merciful men _are taken away.” And the Scripture chooses out this quality, as that by which, in a peculiar manner, a righteous man is deciphered: Psal. xxxvii. 21. “The _righteous _showeth _mercy, _and giveth; and ver. 26. “He is ever _merciful, _and lendeth.” And Prov xiv. 31. “He that honoureth the Lord, hath _mercy _on the poor.” And Col. iii. 12. “Put ye on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, _bowels _OF mercies,” &c. This is one of those great things, by which the truly blessed are described by our Saviour, Matt. v. 7. “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” And this Christ also speaks of, as one of the weightier matters of the law, Matt. xxiii 23. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, _mercy, _and faith.” To the like purpose is Mic. vi. 8. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love _mercy, _and walk humbly with thy God?” And also Hos. vi. 6. “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice;” a text much delighted in by our Saviour, it seems, by his manner of citing it once and again. (Matt. ix. 13. xii. 7. )

_Zeal _is also spoken of, as a very essential part of the religion of true saints. This was a great thing which Christ had in view, in giving himself for our redemption: Tit. ii. 14. “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, _zealous _of good works.” And this was the great thing wanting in the luke-warm Laodiceans. (Rev. iii. 15, 16, 19. )

I have mentioned but a few texts, out of an innumerable multitude, which place religion very much in the affections. But what has been observed may be sufficient to show, that they who maintain the contrary, must throw away what we have been wont to own for our Bible, and get some other rule by which to judge of the nature of religion.

5. The Scriptures represent true religion, as being summarily comprehended in _love, _the chief of the affections, and the fountain of all others. So our blessed Saviour represents the matter, in answer to the lawyer who asked him, Which was the great commandment of the law? (Matt. xxii. 37-40.) “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” These two commandments comprehend all the duty prescribed in the law and the prophets. And the apostle Paul makes the same representation of the matter; as in Rom. xiii. 8. “He that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law.” And Rom. xiii. 10.verse 10. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” And Gal. v. 14. “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” So likewise in 1 Tim. i. 5. “Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart,” &c. The same apostle speaks of _love, _as the greatest thing in religion, as the essence and soul of it; without which, the greatest knowledge and gifts, the most glaring profession, and every thing else which appertains to religion, are vain and worthless. He also represents it as the _fountain _from whence proceeds all that is good, in 1 Cor. xiii. throughout; for that which is there rendered _charity, _is in the original NOT ENGLISH the proper English of which is _love. _

Now, although it be true, that the love thus spoken of, includes the whole of a sincerely benevolent propensity of the soul towards God and man; yet, it is evident from what has been before observed, that this propensity or inclination of the soul, when in sensible and vigorous exercise, becomes _affection, _and is no other than affectionate love. And surely it is such vigorous and fervent love, which Christ represents as the sum of all religion, when he speaks of loving God with _all our hearts, _with _all our souls, _and with _all our minds, _and our neighbour as ourselves.

Indeed it cannot be supposed, when this affection of love is spoken of as the sum of all religion, that hereby is meant the act, exclusively of the habit, or that the exercise of the understanding is excluded, which is implied in all reasonable affection. But it is doubtless true, and evident from the Scriptures, that the _essence _of all true religion lies in holy love; and that in this divine affection—and habitual disposition to it, that light which is the foundation to it, and those things which are its fruits—consists the _whole _of religion.

From hence it clearly and certainly appears, that great part of true religion consists in the affections. For love is not only one of the affections, but it is the first and chief of them, and the fountain of all the others. From _love _arises _hatred _of those things which are contrary to what we love, or which oppose and thwart us in those things that we delight in: and from the various exercises of love and hatred, according to the circumstances of the objects of these affections, as present or absent, certain or uncertain, probable or improbable, arise all those other affections of _desire, hope, fear, joy, grief, gratitude, anger, _&c. From a vigorous, affectionate, and fervent _love to God, _will necessarily arise other _religious _affections; hence will arise an intense _hatred _and a _fear _of sin; a _dread _of God’s displeasure; _gratitude _to God for his goodness; _complacence _and _joy _in God when he is graciously and sensibly present; _grief _when he is absent; a joyful _hope _when a future enjoyment of God is expected; and fervent _zeal _for the divine glory. In like manner, from a fervent _love to men, _will arise all other virtuous affections towards them.

6. The religion of the most eminent saints of whom we have an account in the Scripture, consisted much in holy _affections.—_I shall take particular notice of three eminent saints, who have expressed the frame and sentiments of their own hearts, described their own religion, and the manner of their intercourse with God, in the writings which they have left us, and which are a part of the sacred canon.

The _first _instance is _David, _that man after God’s own heart; who has given us a lively portraiture of his religion in the book of Psalms. Those holy songs are nothing else but the expressions and breathings of devout and holy affections; such as an humble and fervent _love _to God, _admiration _of his glorious perfections and wonderful works, earnest _desires, _thirstings, and pantings of soul after him; delight and _joy _in God, a sweet and melting _gratitude _for his great goodness, a holy _exultation _and triumph of soul in his favour, sufficiency, and faithfulness; his _love to, _and _delight _in, the saints, the excellent of the earth, his great _delight _in the word and ordinances of God, his _grief _for his own and others’ sins, and his fervent z_eal _for God, and against the enemies of God and his church. And these expressions of holy affection of which the Psalms of David are every where full, are the more to our present purpose, because those psalms are not only the expressions of the religion of so eminent a saint, but were also, by the direction of the Holy Ghost, penned for the use of the church of God in its public worship, not only in that age, but in after ages; as being fitted to express the religion of all saints, in all ages, as well as the religion of the psalmist. And it is moreover to be observed, that David, in the book of Psalms, speaks not as a private person, but as the _Psalmist of Israel, _as the subordinate head of the church of God, and leader in their worship and praises; and in many of the psalms, he speaks in the name of Christ, as personating him in these breathings forth of holy affections; and in many others he speaks in the name of the church.

Another instance I shall observe, is the apostle Paul; who was, in many respects, the chief of all the ministers of the New Testament; being above all others a chosen vessel unto Christ, to bear his name before the Gentiles. He was made the chief instrument of propagating and establishing the christian church in the world, and of distinctly revealing the glorious mysteries of the gospel, for the instruction of the church in all ages; and (as not improbably thought by some) was the most eminent servant of Christ that ever lived, and received the highest rewards in the heavenly kingdom of his Master. By what is said of him in the Scripture, he appears to have been a person full of affection; and it is very manifest, that the religion he expresses in his epistles, consisted very much in holy affections. It appears by all his expressions of himself, that he was, in the course of his life, inflamed, actuated, and entirely swallowed up, by a most ardent _love _to his glorious Lord, esteeming all things as loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of him, and esteeming them but dung that he might win him. He represents himself as overpowered by this holy affection, and as it were compelled by it to go forward, in his service, through all difficulties and sufferings, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. And his epistles are full of expressions of an overflowing affection towards the people of Christ: he speaks of his _dear love _to them, 2 Cor. xii. 19. Phil. iv. 1, 2. 1 Tim. i. 2. of his abundant love, 2 Cor. ii. 4. and of his _affectionate and tender love, _as of a nurse towards her children, 1 Thess. ii. 7, 8. “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.” So also he speaks of his bowels of love, Phil. i. 8. Philem. 5, 12, 20. of his _earnest care _for others, 2 Cor. viii. 16. of his _bowels of pity _or _mercy _towards them, Phil. ii. 1. and of his concern for others, even to anguish of heart, 2 Cor. ii. 4. “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote unto you with many tears; not that you should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.” He speaks of the _great conflict _of his soul for them, Col. ii. 1. and of _great and continual grief _he had _in his heart _from _compassion _to the Jews, Rom. ix. 2. He speaks of _his mouth being opened, and his heart enlarged _towards Christians, 2 Cor. vi. 11. “O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.” He often speaks of his affectionate and longing desires,( 1 Thess. ii. 8. Rom. i. 11. Phil. i. 8. iv. 1. 2 Tim. i. 4. )

The same apostle very often, in his epistles, expresses the affection of _joy, _(2 Cor. i. 12. vii. 7 9, 16. Phil. i. 4 ii. 1,2. iii. 3. Col. i. 24. 1 Thess. iii. 9. ) He speaks of his _rejoicing with great joy, _(Phil. iv. 10. Philem. 1, 7. ) of his _joying and rejoicing, _(Phil. ii. 1, 7. ) of his _rejoicing exceedingly, _(2 Cor. vii. 13. ) being _filled with comfort, exceeding joyful, _(2 Cor. vii. 4. ) and _always rejoicing, _(2 Cor. vi. 10.) So he speaks of the _triumphs _of his soul, (2 Cor. ii. 14. ) and of his glorying in _tribulation, _(2 Thess. i. 4. Rom. v. 3.) In Phil. i. 20. he speaks of his _earnest expectation, _and _his hope. _He likewise expresses an affection of godly jealousy, 2 Cor. xi. 2, 3. And it appears by his whole history, after his conversion, that the affection of _zeal, _as having the cause of his Master and the interest and prosperity of his church for its object, was mighty in him, continually inflaming his heart, strongly engaging to great and constant labours, in instructing, exhorting, warning, and reproving others, travailing in birth with them; conflicting with those powerful and innumerable enemies who continually opposed him, wrestling with principalities and powers, not fighting as one who beats the air, running the race set before him, continually pressing forwards through all manner of difficulties and sufferings; so that others thought him quite beside himself. And how full he was of affection further appears by his being so full of tears; in 2 Cor. ii. 4. he speaks of his many tears; and so Acts xx. 19. and of his _tears _that he shed continually, night and day, ver. 31.

Now if any one can consider these accounts given in the Scripture of this great apostle, and which he gives of himself, and yet not see that his religion consisted much in _affection, _he must have a strange faculty of managing his eyes in order to shut out the light which shines most full in his face.

The other instance I shall mention, is that of the apostle _John, _the beloved disciple, who was the nearest and dearest to his Master of any of the twelve, and who was by him admitted to the greatest privileges of any of them. He was not only one of the three who were admitted to be present with him in the mount at his transfiguration, and at the raising of Jairus’s daughter, and whom he took with him when he was in his agony, and one of three spoken of by the apostle Paul, as the three main pillars of the christian church; but he was favoured above all, in being admitted to lean on his Master’s bosom at his last supper, and in being chosen by Christ as the disciple to whom he would reveal his wonderful dispensations towards his church, to the end of time. By him was shut up the canon of the New Testament, and of the whole Scripture; and he was preserved much longer than all the rest of the apostles, to set all things in order in the christian church after their death.

It is evident by all his writings, that he was a person remarkably full of affection: his addresses to those whom he wrote to, being inexpressibly tender and pathetic, breathing nothing but the most fervent love; as though he were all made up of sweet and holy affection. The proofs of which cannot be given without disadvantage, unless we should transcribe his whole writings.

7. He whom God sent into the world, to be the light of the world and the head of the whole church, and the perfect example of true religion and virtue for the imitation of all, the Shepherd whom the whole flock should follow wherever he goes, even the Lord Jesus _Christ, _was of a remarkably tender and affectionate heart; and his virtue was expressed very much in the exercise of holy affections. He was the greatest instance of ardency, vigour, and strength of _love, _to both God and man, that ever was. It was these affections which got the victory, in that mighty struggle and conflict of his affections, in his agonies, when he prayed more earnestly, and offered strong _crying and tears, _and wrestled in tears and in blood. Such was the power of the exercises of his holy love, that they were stronger than death, and in that great struggle, overcame those strong exercises of the natural affections of fear and grief, when he was sore amazed, and his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.

He also appeared to be full of affection, in the course of his life. We read of his great _zeal, _fulfilling that expression in the 69th Psalm, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,” John ii. 17. We read of his _grief _for the sins of men, Mark iii. 5. “He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts;” and his breaking forth in tears and exclamations, from the consideration of the sin and misery of ungodly men, and on the sight of the city of Jerusalem, which was full of such inhabitants, Luke xix. 41, 42. “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” With chap. xiii. 34. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” We read of Christ’s earnest desire, Luke xxii. 15. “With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” We often read of the affection of _pity _or _compassion _in Christ, (Matt. xv. 32. xviii. 34. Luke vii. 13. ) and of his _being moved with compassion, _(Matt. ix. 36. xiv. 14. Mark vi. 34. ) And how tender did his heart appear to be, on occasion of Mary’s and Martha’s mourning for their brother, and coming to him with their complaints and tears! Their tears soon drew tears from his eyes; he was affected with their grief, and _wept _with them; though he knew their sorrow should so soon be turned into joy, by their brother being raised from the dead: see John xi. And how ineffably affectionate was that last and dying discourse, which Jesus had with his eleven disciples the evening before he was crucified; when he told them he was going away, and foretold them the great difficulties and sufferings they should meet with in the world, when he was gone; and comforted and counselled them, as his dear little children; and bequeathed to them his Holy Spirit, and therein his peace, his comfort and joy, as it were in his last will and testament, in the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John; . and concluded the whole with that affectionate intercessory prayer for them, and his whole church, in John xvii. Of all the discourses ever penned or uttered by the mouth of any man, this seems to be the most affectionate and affecting.

8. The religion of _heaven _consists very much in affection.—There is doubtless true religion in heaven, and true religion in its utmost purity and perfection. But according to the scripture representation of the heavenly state, the religion of heaven consists chiefly in holy and mighty _love _and joy, and the expression of these in most fervent and exalted praises. So that the religion of the saints in heaven, consists in the same things with that religion of the saints on earth, which is spoken of in our text, _viz. love, _and joy _unspeakable, and full of glory. _Now, it would be very foolish to pretend, that because the saints in heaven are not united to flesh and blood, and have no animal fluids to be moved (through the laws of union of soul and body) with those great emotions of their souls, that therefore their exceeding love and joy are no affections. We are not speaking of the affections of the body, but those of the soul, the chief of which are _love and joy. _When these are in the soul, whether that be in the body or out of it, the soul is affected and moved. And when they are in the soul, in that strength in which they are in the saints in heaven, it is mightily affected and moved, or, which is the same thing, has great affections. It is true, we do not experimentally know what love and joy are in a soul out of a body, or in a glorified body; i. _e. _we have not had experience of love and joy in a soul in these circumstances; but the saints on earth do know what divine love and joy in the soul are, and they know that love and joy are of the same kind with the love and joy which are in heaven, in separate souls there. The love and joy of the saints on earth, is the beginning and dawning of the light, life, and blessedness of heaven, and is like their love and joy there; or rather, the same in nature, though not the same in degree and circumstances. This is evident by many scriptures, as Prov. iv. 18. John iv. 14. vi.40, 47, 50, 51, 54, 58. iii. 15. 1 Cor. xiii. 8-12. It is unreasonable therefore to suppose, that the love and joy of the saints in heaven differ not only in degree and circumstances, from the holy love and joy of the saints on earth, but also in nature, so that they are no affections; and merely because they have no blood and animal spirits to be set in motion by them. The motion of the blood and animal spirits is not of the _essence _of these affections, in men on the earth, but the _effect _of them; although by their reaction they may make some circumstantial difference in the sensation of the mind. There is a sensation of the _mind _which loves and rejoices, _antecedent _to any effects on the fluids of the body; and therefore, does not depend on these motions in the body, and so may be in the soul without the body. And wherever there are the exercises of love and joy, there is that sensation of the mind, whether it be in the body or out; and that inward sensation, or kind of spiritual feeling, is what is called affection. The soul, when it is thus moved, is said to be _affected, _and especially when this inward sensation and motion are to a very high degree, as they are in the saints in heaven. If we can learn any thing of the state of heaven from the Scripture, the love and joy that the saints have there, is exceeding great and vigorous; impressing the heart with the strongest and most lively sensation of inexpressible sweetness, mightily moving, animating, and engaging them, making them like to a flame of fire. And if such love and joy be not affections, then the word _affection _is of no use in language.—Will any say, that the saints in heaven, in beholding the face of their Father and the glory of their Redeemer, in contemplating his wonderful works, and particularly his laying down his life for them, have their hearts nothing moved and affected by all which they behold or consider?

Hence, therefore, the _religion of heaven, _being full of holy love and joy, consists very much in affection: and therefore, undoubtedly, _true religion _consists very much in affection. The way to learn the true nature of any thing, is to go where that thing is to be found in its purity and perfection. If we would know the nature of true gold, we must view it, not in the ore, but when it is refined. If we would learn what true religion is, we must go where there is true religion, and nothing but true religion, and in its highest perfection, without any defect or mixture. All who are truly religious are not of this world, they are strangers here, and belong to heaven; they are born from above, heaven is their native country, and the nature which they receive by this heavenly birth, is a heavenly nature, they receive an anointing from above; that principle of true religion which is in them, is a communication of the religion of heaven; their grace is the dawn of glory; and God fits them for that world by conforming them to it.

9. This appears from the nature and design of the ordinances and duties, which God hath appointed, as means and expressions of true religion.

To instance in the duty of prayer: it is manifest, we are not appointed, in this duty, to declare God’s perfections, his majesty, holiness, goodness, and all-sufficiency; our own meanness, emptiness, dependence, and unworthiness, our wants and desires, in order to inform God of these things, or to incline his heart, and prevail with him to be willing to show us mercy; but rather suitably to affect our own hearts with the things we express, and so to prepare us to receive the blessings we ask. And such gestures and manner of external behaviour in the worship of God, which custom has made to be significations of humility and reverence, can be of no further use, than as they have some tendency to _affect _our own hearts, or the hearts of others.

And the duty of _singing _praises to God, seems to be appointed wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be assigned, why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in prose, and do it with music, but only, that such is our nature and frame, that these things have a tendency to move our affections.

The same thing appears in the nature and design of the _sacraments, _which God hath appointed. God, considering our frame, hath not only appointed that we should be told of the great things of the gospel and the redemption of Christ, and be instructed in them by his word; but also that they should be, as it were, exhibited to our view in sensible representations, the more to affect us with them.

And the impressing of divine things on the hearts and affections of men, is evidently one great end for which God has ordained, that his word delivered in the Holy Scriptures, should be opened, applied, and set home upon men, in _preaching. _And therefore it does not answer the aim which God had in this institution, merely for men to have good commentaries and expositions on the Scripture, and other good books of divinity; because, although these may tend, as well as preaching, to give a good doctrinal or speculative understanding of the word of God, yet they have not an equal tendency to impress them on men’s hearts and affections. God hath appointed a particular and lively application of his word, in the preaching of it, as a fit means to affect sinners with the importance of religion, their own misery, the necessity of a remedy, and the glory and sufficiency of a remedy provided; to stir up the pure minds of the saints, quicken their affections by often bringing the great things of religion to their remembrance, and setting them in their proper colours, though they know them, and have been fully instructed in them already, 2 Pet. i. 12, 13. And particularly, to promote those two affections in them, which are spoken of in the text, _love _and joy: “Christ gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; that the body of Christ might be edified in love,”. Eph. iv. 11, 12, 16. The apostle, in instructing and counselling Timothy, concerning the work of the ministry, informs him, that the great end of that word which a minister is to preach, is _love _or charity, 1 Tim. i. 3-5. And God has appointed preaching as a means to promote in the saints joy: therefore ministers are called helpers of their joy, 2 Cor. i. 24.

10. It is an evidence that true religion lies very much in the affections, that the Scriptures place the sin of the heart very much in _hardness of heart. _It was hardness of heart which excited grief and displeasure in Christ towards the Jews, Mark iii. 5. “He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.” It is from men’s having such a heart as this, that they treasure up wrath for themselves; Rom. ii. 5. “After thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” The reason given why the house of Israel would not obey God, was, that they were hard-hearted; Ezek. iii. 7. “But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.” The wickedness of that perverse rebellious generation in the wilderness, is ascribed to the hardness of their hearts; Psal. xcv. 7-10. “To-day if ye will hear my voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work: forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart,” &c.—This is spoken of as what prevented Zedekiah’s turning to the Lord, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13. “He stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning to the Lord God of Israel.” This principle is that from whence men are without the fear of God, and depart from his ways: Isa. lxiii. 17. “O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? and hardened our heart from thy fear?” And men rejecting Christ, and opposing Christianity, are charged with this principle; Acts xix. 9. “But divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude.”—God’s leaving men to the power of the sin and corruption of the heart, is often expressed by his hardening their hearts; Rom. ix. 18. “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” John xii. 40. “He hath blinded their minds, and hardened their hearts.” And the apostle seems to speak of _an evil heart, that departs from the living God, _and a _hard heart, _as the same thing, Heb. iii. 8. “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation,” &c. verse 12, 13. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God: but exhort one another daily while it is called to-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” And that great work of God in conversion, which consists in delivering a person from the power of sin, and mortifying corruption, is expressed, once and again, by God’s “taking away the heart of stone, and giving a heart of flesh, (Ezek. xi. 19. xxxvi. 26. )

Now, by a _hard _heart is plainly meant an _unaffected _heart, or a heart not easy to be moved with virtuous affections, like a stone, insensible, stupid, unmoved, and hard to be impressed. Hence the hard heart is called a _stony heart, _and is opposed to a _heart of flesh, _that has feeling, and is sensibly touched and moved. We read in Scripture of a _hard heart, _and a tender heart: and doubtless we are to understand these, as contrary the one to the other. But what is a tender heart, but a heart which is easily impressed with what ought to affect it? God commends Josiah, because his heart was tender: and it is evident by those things which are mentioned as expressions and evidences of this tenderness of heart, that by it is meant, his heart being easily moved with religious and pious affections: 2 Kings xxii. 19. “Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardst what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and went before me, I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.” And this is one thing, wherein it is necessary we should _become as little children, in order to our entering into the kingdom of God, _even that we should have our hearts tender, and easily affected and moved in spiritual and divine things, as little children have in other things.

It is very plain in some places, that by hardness of heart is meant a heart void of affection. So, to signify the ostrich’s being without natural affection to her young, it is said, Job xxxix. 16.. “She hardeneth her heart against her young ones, as though they were not hers.” So a person having a heart unaffected in time of danger, is expressed by his hardening his heart, Prov. xxviii. 14. “Happy is the man that feareth alway; but he that hardeneth his heart, shall fall into mischief.”

Now, therefore, since it is so plain, that by a hard heart in Scripture, is meant a heart destitute of pious affections; and since also the Scriptures so frequently place the sin and corruption of the heart in its hardness; it is evident, that the grace and holiness of the heart, on the contrary, must in a great measure consist in its having pious affections, and being easily susceptive of such affections. Divines are generally agreed, that sin radically and fundamentally consists in what is negative, or privative, having its root and foundation in a privation or want of holiness. And therefore undoubtedly, if sin very much consist in hardness of heart, and so in the want of pious affections, holiness does consist very much in those pious affections.

I am far from supposing that all affections manifest a tender heart; hatred, anger, vain-glory, and other selfish and self-exalting affections, may greatly prevail in the hardest heart. But yet it is evident, that _hardness of heart, _and _tenderness of heart, _are expressions that relate to the affections of the heart, and denote its being susceptible of, or shut up against, certain affections; of which I shall have occasion to speak more afterwards.

Upon the whole, I think it clearly and abundantly evident, that true religion _lies very much in the affections. _Not that I think these arguments prove, that religion in the hearts of the truly godly, is ever in exact proportion to the degree of affection and present emotion of the mind: for, undoubtedly, there is much affection in the true saints which is not spiritual; their religious affections are often mixed; all is not from grace, but much from nature. And though the affections have not their seat in the body, yet the constitution of the body may very much contribute to the present emotion of the mind. The degree of religion is to be estimated by the fixedness and strength of habit exercised in affection, whereby holy affection is habitual, rather than by the degree of the present exercise: and the strength of that habit is not always in proportion to outward effects and manifestations, or indeed inward ones, in the hurry, vehemence, and sudden changes of the course of the thoughts. But yet it is evident, that religion consists so much in the affections, as that without holy affection there is no true religion. No light in the understanding is good, which does not produce holy affection in the heart; no habit or principle in the heart is good, which has no such exercise; and no external fruit is good, which does not proceed from such exercises.

SECT. III.

_Some inferences deduced from the doctrine. _

1. We may hence learn how great their error is, who are for discarding all religious affections, as having nothing solid or substantial in them. There seems to be too much of a disposition this way prevailing at this time. Because many who, in the late extraordinary season, appeared to have great religious affections, did not manifest a right temper of mind, and run into many errors, in the heat of their zeal; and because the high affections of many seem to he so soon come to nothing, and some who seemed to be mightily raised and swallowed with joy and zeal for a while, seem to have returned like the dog to his vomit: hence religious affections in general are grown out of credit with great numbers, as though true religion did not at all consist in them. Thus we easily and naturally run from one extreme to another. A little while ago we were in the other extreme; there was a prevalent disposition to look upon all high religious affections as eminent exercises of true grace, without much inquiry into the nature and source of those affections, and the manner in which they arose. If persons did but appear to be indeed very much moved and raised, so as to be full of religious talk, and express themselves with great warmth and earnestness, and to be_ filled, or _to be _very full, as _the phrases were; it was too much the manner, without further examination, to conclude such persons were full of the Spirit of God, and had eminent experience of his gracious influences. This was the extreme which was prevailing three or four years ago. But of late, instead of _esteeming _and _admiring _all religious _affections, without distinction, _it is much more prevalent to _reject _and _discard _all _without distinction. _Herein appears the subtilty of Satan. While he saw that _affections _were much in vogue, knowing the greater part were not versed in such things, and had not had much experience of great _religious affections, _enabling them to judge well, and to distinguish between true and false; then he knew he could best play his game, by sowing tares amongst the wheat, and mingling false _affections _with the works of God’s Spirit. He knew this to be a likely way to delude and eternally ruin many souls, and greatly to wound religion in the saints, and entangle them in a dreadful wilderness, and by and by to bring all religion into disrepute.

But now, when the ill consequences of these _false affections _appear, and it is become very apparent, that some of those emotions which made a glaring show, and were by many greatly admired, were in reality nothing; the devil sees it to be for his interest to go another way to work, and to endeavour to his utmost to propagate and establish a persuasion, that all affections and sensible emotions of the mind in religion, are nothing at all to be regarded, but are rather to be avoided, and carefully guarded against, as things of a pernicious tendency. This he knows is the way to bring all religion to a mere lifeless formality, and effectually to shut out the power of godliness and every thing spiritual. For although to true religion there must indeed be something else besides affection; yet true religion consists so much in the affections, that there can be no true religion without them. He who has no religious affection, is in a state of spiritual death, and is wholly destitute of the powerful, quickening, saving influences of the Spirit of God upon his heart. As there is no true religion where there is nothing else but affection, so there is no true religion where there is no _religious affection. _As on the one hand, there must be light in the understanding, as well as an _affected _fervent heart; or where there is heat without light, there can be nothing divine or heavenly in that heart: so, on the other hand, where there is a kind of light without heat, a head stored with notions and speculations with a cold and unaffected heart, there can be nothing divine in that light, that knowledge is no true spiritual knowledge of divine things. If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart. The reason why men are not affected by such infinitely great, important, glorious, and wonderful things, as they often hear and read of in the word of God, is, undoubtedly, because they are blind; if they were not so, it would be impossible, and utterly inconsistent with human nature, that their hearts should be otherwise than strongly impressed, and greatly moved by such things.

This manner of slighting all religious _affections, _is the way exceedingly to harden the hearts of men, to encourage them in their stupidity and senselessness, to keep them in a state of spiritual death as long as they live, and bring them at last to death eternal. The prevailing prejudice against _religious affections _at this day, is apparently of awful effect to harden the hearts of sinners, to damp the graces of the saints, to preclude the effect of ordinances, and hold us down in a slate of dulness and apathy; and this undoubtedly causes many persons greatly to offend God, in entertaining mean and low thoughts of the extraordinary work he has lately wrought in this land. For persons to despise and cry down all religious _affections, _is the way to shut all religion put of their own hearts, and to make thorough work in ruining their souls.

They who condemn high affections in others, are certainly not likely to have high affections themselves. And let it be considered, that they who have but little religious affection, have certainly but little religion. And they who condemn others for their _religious affections, _and have none themselves, have no religion. There are false _affections, _and there are true. A man’s having _much affection, _does not prove that he has any true religion: but if he has _no affection, _it proves that he has no true religion. The right way, is not to reject all affections, nor to approve all: but to distinguish between them, approving some and rejecting others; separating between the wheat and the chaff, the gold and the dross, the precious and the vile.

2. If true religion lies much in the _affections, _we may infer, that such means are to be desired, as have much tendency to move the affections. Such books, and such a way of preaching the word and the administration of ordinances, and such a way of worshipping God in prayer and praises, as has a tendency deeply to affect the hearts of those who attend these means, is much to be desired.

Such kind of means would formerly have been highly approved, and applauded by the generality of people, as the most excellent and profitable, and having the greatest tendency to promote the ends of the means of grace. But the prevailing taste seems of late strangely to be altered: that pathetic manner of praying and preaching which would formerly have been admired and extolled, and for this reason, because it had such a tendency to move the affections, now, in great multitudes, immediately excites disgust, and moves no other affections, than those of displeasure and contempt.

Perhaps, formerly, the generality (at least of the common people) were in the extreme of looking too much to an affectionate address in public performances: but now, a very great part of the people seem to have gone far into a contrary extreme. Indeed there _may _be such means, as have a great tendency to stir up the passions of weak and ignorant persons, and yet have none to benefit their souls: for though they may have a tendency to excite _affections, _they have little or none to excite _gracious _affections. But, undoubtedly, if the things of religion in the means used, are treated according to their nature, and exhibited truly, so as tends to convey just apprehensions and a right judgment of them; the more they have a tendency to move the affections, the better.

3. If true religion lies much in the affections, hence we may learn, what great cause we have to be ashamed and confounded before God, that we are no more _affected _with the great things of religion. It appears from what has been said, that this arises from our having so little true religion.

God has given to mankind affections, for the same purpose as that for which he has given all the faculties and principles of the human soul, _viz. _that they might be subservient to man’s chief end, and the great business for which God has created him, that is, the business of religion. And yet how common is it among mankind, that their affections are much more exercised and engaged in other matters, than in religion! In matters which concern men’s worldly interest, their outward delights, their honour and reputation, and their natural relations, they have their desires eager, their appetites vehement, their love warm and affectionate, their zeal ardent; in these things their hearts are tender and sensible, easily moved, deeply impressed, much concerned, very sensibly affected, and greatly engaged; much depressed with grief at worldly losses, and highly raised with joy at worldly successes and prosperity. But how insensible and unmoved are most men, about the great things of another world! how dull are their affections! how heavy and hard their hearts in these matters! here their love is cold, their desires languid, their zeal low, and their gratitude small. How they can sit and hear of the infinite height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus; of his giving his infinitely dear Son to be offered up a sacrifice for the sins of men, and of the unparalleled love of the innocent, holy Lamb of God manifested in his dying agonies, his bloody sweat, his loud and bitter cries and bleeding heart; and all this for enemies, to redeem them from deserved, eternal burnings, and to bring to unspeakable and everlasting joy and glory; and yet be cold, heavy, insensible, and regardless! Where are the exercises of our affections proper, if not here? what is it that more requires them? and what can be a fit occasion of their lively and vigorous exercise, if not such as this? Can any thing be set in our view, greater and more important? any thing more wonderful and surprising? or that more nearly concerns our interest? Can we suppose that the wise Creator implanted such principles in our nature as the affections, to lie still on such an occasion as this? Can any Christian, who believes the truth of these things, entertain such thoughts?

If we ought ever to exercise our affections at all, and if the Creator has not unwisely constituted the human nature in making these principles a part of it, then they ought to be exercised about those objects which are most worthy of them. But is there any thing in heaven or earth, so worthy to be the objects of our admiration and love, our earnest and longing desires, hope, rejoicing, and fervent zeal, as those things which are held forth to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ? There not only are things declared most worthy to affect us, but they are exhibited in the most affecting manner. The glory and beauty of the blessed JEHOVAH, which is most worthy in itself to be the object of our admiration and love, is there exhibited in the most _affecting _manner that can be conceived of; as it appears shining in all its lustre, in the face of an incarnate, infinitely loving, meek, compassionate, dying Redeemer. All the _virtues _of the Lamb of God, his humility, patience, meekness, submission, obedience, love, and compassion, are exhibited to our view, in a manner the most tending to move our affections of any that can be imagined; for they all had their greatest trial, their highest exercise, and brightest manifestation, when he was in the most affecting circumstances; even when he was under his last sufferings, those unutterable and unparalleled sufferings which he endured from his tender love and pity to us. There, also, the hateful _nature _of our _sins _is manifested in the most affecting manner possible; as we see the dreadful effects of them, in what our Redeemer who undertook to answer for us, suffered for them. And there we have the most affecting manifestations of God’s _hatred _of sin, and his wrath and justice in punishing it; as we see his justice in the strictness and inflexibleness of it, and his wrath in its terribleness, in so dreadfully punishing our sins, in one who was infinitely dear to him, and loving to us. So has God disposed things in the affair of our redemption, and in his glorious dispensations revealed to us in the gospel, as though every thing were purposely contrived in such a manner, as to have the greatest possible tendency to reach our hearts in the most tender part, and move our affections most sensibly and strongly. How great cause have we therefore to be humbled to the dust, that we are no more affected!