Page:Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.djvu/55

 of Divine order, for to act otherwise would be to act in opposition to his own Divine Wisdom which provided those laws, and thus to act against himself,—which is impossible; and it would also be to act in opposition to the nature of things, which would also be to act against himself, for from him the nature of things was derived. The Divine end, therefore, in regard to man, namely, man's eternal happiness, cannot be attained but by the orderly means: and consequently, as God wills the end, he also wills the means. The next inquiry, then, is, what is the Lord's will in regard to the means of effecting man's salvation or everlasting happiness.

The essential and the only means, by which man can attain heavenly happiness is by his coming into a state of love and goodness; for love is the essential principle of the heavenly state, and carries with it heavenly happiness: and the reason it is so, is, because heaven is an image of God himself, and God is love. The means again by which man can come into a state of love and goodness, is by keeping the Divine commandments; for the sole object of these is to teach love and goodness, and how to attain it. The Lord said, "The first and great commandment is to love the Lord thy God with the whole heart and soul, and mind, and strength; and the second is like unto it, to love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Thus the end and sum of the commandments, and of the whole Divine Word, is to teach man to love God and his neighbor.