I Proceed now to treat of the Happiness of the Inner Man, the Soul or Spirit, and that consists in the love of God, and of our Neighbour; whatever makes the Soul happy, must be suitable and agreeable to the Nature of it. Now the Soul is a spiritual substance, and therefore its Objective Happiness must be so too. The Soul is immortal, and therefore the Object which makes it happy must be of eternal duration. The Desires of the Soul are very vast and extensive; nay, infinite; and therefore not to be satisfied but by an Infinite Good.
From the Love of God flows an universal Obedience to all his holy Commandments, John 14.23. If a man love me, he will keep my words. It is the nature of love to desire and endeavour to please and gratifie the Party beloved: And therefore he that loves God will labour to please him, by doing those things that are acceptable to him, and right in his sight. The Love of God will add Wings to his Soul, and constrain him to run the ways of his Commandments, which will no longer seem grievous or burthensome to him, but pleasant and delightful; yea, eligible, were they proposed to his chioce in competition with the short and unsatisfactory Pleasures of Sin.
Now Holiness of Life, and Obedience to the Commandments of God, hath the promises of all good things both for the Soul and Body; for this Life, and a better, Psal. 84.11. He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that live uprightly. Psal. 34.10. They that fear the Lord shall not want any good thing. Rom. 8.28. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. 1 Tim. 4.8. Godliness is profitable to all things, having the promises of the Life, that now is, and of that which is to come.
Moreover those that love God, cannot but be happy, because they that love him, shall be beloved of him, both of the Father, and of the Son, John 14.21. He that loveth me, shall be beloved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest my self to him. And again, v. 25. If a man love me, my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. God is the fountain of Happiness; whatever good is in the Creature, it came from him, and is but a Beam of his Light: Whatever is in the Creature in a limited, restrained, imperfect manner, is in him without limitation, without restriction, without imperfection. He both can and will make them whom he loves as happy as they are capable of being. God is the only Object that deserves the highest degree of our Love, and he requires it: And therefore it is as well against our Duty as our Interest to deny it.
As for the Love of our Neighbour, that is commanded us by God, Levit. 19.18. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self, repeated Matt. 22.9. 1 John 4.21. And this Commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his Brother also. From this immediately flows the performance of the Duties of the Second Table. That great Rule of doing to others as we would they should do to us in like case; and the contrary of not doing to others that we would not should be done to us, are necessary consequences of loving our Neighbour as our selves. If we loved him as our selves, we would wish him as much good, and do him as much good as we do to our selves. We would willingly that other Men should do their Duties to us, shew us all kindness, and be helpful and beneficial to us in all our Wants and Necessities; and why? because we love our selves. Had we the same love to them, it would have the same effects. We would do the same good to them, that we desire from them. To instance in the particular Commands:
Children, Subjects and Inferiors would yield to their Parents, Magistrates and Superiors, all that Honour, Reverence and Obedience, which themselves would expect and desire from their Inferiors, were they in the same Relations and Circumstances.
No Man would willingly have his own Body killed, or wounded, or any way tormented and put to pain; because no Man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as the1 Apostle speaks. Did he then love his Neighbour as himself, he would be so far from injuring him in that kind, that he would not suffer others to do so, if he could help it.
Every Man is jealous of the Loyalty of his Wife, and impatient of having his Enclosure invaded, and made common, because he sets a high value on her Love and Fidelity, and looks upon it as a great dishonour, as well as an injury done him, to be robbed of it. Think we then he would offer such an abuse and wrong to his Neighbour, did he love him as himself, and were as tender of his Reputation as his own.