11. The love and joy, the wealth and honors of the true Christian, are circumscribed only by eternity itself; for, “where his _treasure_ is, there will his _heart_ be also.” Luke 12:34. From the lust and love of the world, on the contrary, nothing can result but eternal damnation. “The world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17): and hence, St. John calls upon the faithful entirely to withdraw their affections from the world; saying, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” 1 John 2:15. These and similar considerations powerfully convince us, that God will not permit us to fix our affections on any creature whatsoever. 12. But this will more fully appear from the following reflections: I. Love is the very _heart_ of a man, and the noblest of all his affections; hence, it is due to God only, as the supreme object, and sovereign Good. II. It is absolute folly to love temporal things, which cannot love us; whereas the infinitely blessed God deserves to be loved alone, since from a pure principle of love, he created us unto eternal life, and hath, to the same purpose, redeemed and sanctified us. III. _Like_ things are naturally loved by their _like_. Hence, God made us after his own image, in order that we might love Him; and that, next to himself, we might love our neighbor, created after the same image. IV. The human soul resembles a mirror, representing every object indifferently that is placed before it, whether it be of heaven or of earth. Therefore turn thy soul wholly and only to God, that this image may be fully expressed in it. V. The patriarch Jacob, when dwelling in Mesopotamia, far removed from his native soil, never abandoned his purpose to return, and, at length, after twenty years’ service, demanded his wives and wages; and, cheered by the recollection of the place of his nativity, returned thither. So should thy soul, amidst the various engagements of this life, and the hurry of outward employments, long without ceasing after thy heavenly fatherland. VI. Man is made either better or worse by that which he loves. He that loves God, partakes freely of the divine virtue and goodness that reside in Him; but he that loves the world, is defiled with all those sins and evils which attend it. VII. When King Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:33) was too much controlled by the love of the world, he lost the very form of a man, and degenerated into that of a beast. So all men, blotting from their hearts the image and love of God, are transformed, as it respects their inward man, into the nature of brutes. For surely those who wholly surrender themselves to the love of this world, are no better.