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creature, 2 Cor. v. 17. the Divine Nature> 2 Pet. i. 4. Does it consequently rule and govern man? Hear how St. Paul expresses this power of the habit of holiness in himfelf, Gal. ii. 20. I am crucified with Chrift; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave bimself for me. This is a constant effect of habits, and is equally difcernible in those of vice and virtue, that they fway and govern the man they possess; Rom. vi. 16. Κηοω ye not, that to whom ye yield your felves fervants to obey, his fervants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of fin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness ?

Shall I go on to a more distinct and particular confideration of the properties of an habit? The first is, a great averfion for those things which are contrary to it, or obstruct us in the exercise of it. And this is directly the disposition of the perfect man towards temptations and fins; he is now ashamed of those things, which before he gloried in; he is filled with an holy indignation against those things, which before he took pleasure in; and what before he courted with fondness and paffion, he now shuns with fear and vigilance. In brief, the fcripture describes such an one as poffefsed with an utter hatred and abhor

rence of every evil way, and as an irreconcileable enemy to every thing that is an enemy to his virtue and his God. Thus Pfal. cxix. 163. I hate and abhor lying, but thy law do I love; and verse 128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every falfe way. And this is a genuine and natural effect of integrity or uprightness of heart; whence 'tis the observation of our Saviour, Matt. vi. 24. No man can ferve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or elfe he will hold to the one, and despise the other. And indeed every-where a hatred, a perfect hatred of evil, is accounted as a necessary consequence of the love of God; Pfal. xxxvii. 10. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: and therefore the Pfalmift resolves to practise himself what he prescribes to others; Pfal. ci. 2, 3. Iwill behave my self wisely in a perfect way: O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart: I will fet no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn afide, it shall not cleave to

me.

And how can this be otherwise? the love of God must necessarily imply an abhorrence of evil; and that habit, which confirms and increases the one, must confirm and increase the other too.

2. The next property of an habit is,

(if we meet not with violent oppofition) performed with ease and pleasure: what is natural, is pleasant and easy, and habit is a fecond nature. When the love of virtue, and the hatred of vice, have once rooted themselves in the foul, what can be more natural than to follow after the one, and shun the other? fince this is no more than embracing and enjoying what we love, and turning our backs on what we deteft. This therefore is one constant character of Perfection in fcripture: delight and pleasure are every-where said to accompany the practice of virtue, when it is once grown up to strength and maturity: The ways of wisdom are ways of pleafantness, and all her paths are peace, Prov. iii. 17. Perfect love castethout fear, 1 Joh. iv. 18. And to him that loves, the commandments of God are not grievous, I Joh. v. 3. Hence it is, that the good man's delight is in the law of the Lord, and that he meditates therein day and night, Pfal. i. 2. Nor does he delight less in action than meditation, but grows in grace as much as knowledge; and abounds daily more and more in good works, as he increases in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Confonant to this property of Perfection it is, that in Pfalm xix, and cxix, and elsewhere frequently, we hear the Pfalmist expreffing a kind of inconceivable joy and transport

in the meditation and practice of the commands of God. So the first Christians, who spent their lives in devotion, faith, and charity, are said, Acts ii. 46. to have eaten their meat with gladness and fingleness of heart. And 'tis a delightful description we have of the apostles, 2 Cor vi. 10. As forrowful, yet abway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet poffeffing all things.

3. Vigour and activity, or much earnestness and application of mind, is a third property of an babit. "Tis impossible not to be intent upon those things for which we have even an habitual paffion, if this expreffion may be allow'd me; an inclination, which has gathered strength and authority from custom, will exert itself with some warmth and briskness. Now certainly there is nothing more frequently required of, or attributed to the perfect man in fcripture, than zeal and fervency of spirit in the ways of God; and no wonder; for when actions flow at once from principles and custom; when they spring from love, and are attended by pleasure, and are incited and quickened by faith and hope too; how can it be, but that we should repeat them with fome eagerness, and feel an holy impatience as often as we are hindered or disappointed? and as the

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nature of the thing shews, that thus it ought

ought to be, so are there innumerable instances in the Old Testament and the New, which make it evident that thus it was. Shall I mention the example of our Lord, who went about doing good, Acts x. 38? shall I propofe the labours and travels of St. Paul? these patterns it may be will be judged by some too bright and dazling a light for us to look on, or at least too perfect for us to copy after; and yet St. John tells us, that he, who says he abides in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked, 1 John ii. 6. And we are exhorted to be followers of the apostles, as they were of Christ. But if the fervency of Christ and St. Paul seemed to have foared out of the reach of our imitation, we have inferior instances enough, to prove the zeal and fruitfulness of habitual goodness. Thus David says of himself, Pfal. cxix. 10. With my whole heart have I fought thee. And Jofiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 25. is faid to have turned to the Lord with all his foul, and with all his might. How fervent was Anna, who departed not from the temple, but ferved God with fastings and prayers night and day, Luke ii. 37? How charitable Tabitha, who was full of good works and alms-deeds which she did, Acts ix. 36? where shall I place Cornelius? with what words shall I set out his virtues? with what but those of the Holy Ghost, Acts x. 2. He was a devout