Cause ye were dear unto us." So also he speaks of his "bowels of love," Phil. i. 8. Philem. 5, 12, and 20. So he speaks of his "earnest care" for others, 2 Cor. viii. 16, and 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. He speaks of great and continual grief that he had in his heart from compassion to the Jews, Rom. ix. 2. He speaks of "his mouth's 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, and Chap. iv. 1. 2 Tim. i. 4. The same apostle is very often, in his epistles, expressing the affection of joy, 2 Cor. i. 12, and Chap. vii. 7, and ver. 9. 16. Phil. i. 4, and Chap. ii. 12. and Chap. iii. 3. Col. i. 24. 1 Thess. iii. 9. He speaks of his "rejoicing with great joy," Phil. iv. 10. Philem. i. 7; of his " joying and rejoicing," Phil. ii. 1. 7, and "of his rejoicing exceedingly," 2 Cor. vii. 13, and of his being "filled with comfort, and being exceeding joyful," 2 Cor. vii. 4. He speaks of himself as "always rejoicing," 2 Cor. vi. 10.

So he speaks "his glorying

of the triumphs of his soul, 2 Cor. ii. 14, and of in tribulation," 2 Thess. i. 4, and Rom. v. 3. He also expresses the affection of hope; 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, in the Acts, and also by all his epistles, and the accounts he gives of himself there, 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 those great and constant labors he went through, 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, does further appear 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, must have a strange faculty of managing his eyes, to shut out the light which shines most full in his face.

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The other instance I shall mention, is of the apostle John, that beloved disciple, who was the nearest and dearest to his Master, of of the twelve, and was by him admitted to the greatest privileges of any of them; being 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 the three spoken of by the apostle Paul, as the three main pillars of the Christian church; but was favored 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; as we have an account in the Book of Revelation; and to shut up the canon of the New Testament, and of the whole scripture; being 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 (as is generally observed by divines) that he was a person remarkably full of affection : His addresses to those whom he wrote to, being inexpressibly tender and pathetical, 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 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 a person who was remarkably of a tender and affectionate heart; and his virtue was expressed very much in the exercise of holy affections. He was the greatest instance of ardency, vigor 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. And he also appeared to be full of affection in the course of his life. We read of his great zeal, fulfilling that 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 proph ets, 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, Matth. xv. 32, and xviii. 34. Luke vii. 13, and of

his "being moved with compassion," Matth. ix. 36, and xiv. 14, and 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's 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 thercin his peace, and his comfort and joy, as it were in his last will and testament, in the 13, 14, 15, and 16 chapters of John; and concluded the whole with that affectionate intercessory prayer for them, and his whole church, in chap. 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 relig ion 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 be

cause the saints in heaven be 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 of the affections 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, the soul 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 with it, or like to it, in degree and circumstances. This is evident by many scriptures, as Prov. iv. 18. John iv. 14, and chap. vi. 40, 47, 50, 51, 54, 58. 1 John iii. 15. 1 Cor. xiii. 8....12. It is unreasonable therefore to suppose, that the love and joy of the saints in heaven, not only differ in degree and circumstances, from the holy love and joy of the saints on earth, but is so entirely dif ferent in nature, that they are no affections; and merely because they have no blood and animal spirits to be set in motion by them, which 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, that is antecedent to any effects on the fluids of the body; and this sensation of the mind, 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 sense, or feeling, and motion of the soul, is what is called affection: The soul when it thus feels, (if I may say so) and is thus moved, is said to be affected, and especially when this inward sensation and motion are to a very high VOL. IV.

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