spirit he alone that is in grace is a living image of God quickned with his spirit and as it were the child and image of his parent by participation and communication of nature What a deal of difference is there and how far falls a material picture or statue of some king short of the kings own beloved Son the noblest essence and natural perfection of the highest Archangel falls much shorter of a soul that is in grace for there is no substance or nature but it represents God only after a dead manner no otherwise then an Emperour is represented by a piece of wood or marble or a painted tablet Among those that partake of the same nature there is not so much a similitude as an identity or selfsamenes therfore the H. Fathers stile one that is in grace the same with God like as the father and the Son in humane generations are accounted the same person The natural Son of God himself said let all be one as thou o father in me and I in thee that they may also be one in us For although each just man besides the just of justs IESVS becomes only such by adoption there is a greater tye unity betwixt him God then is found betwixt natural parents and their children The children of men have only a smal parcel of base matter and their parents flesh but he that is in the degree of grace receives the whole divine spirit within him Therfore the adoptive filiation of God is a more sublime manner of filiation then that which is naturally found among men O man rejoyce in this thy dignity and do not degenerate from the divine condition thou art raysd to have a care of Gods honour be zealous in his quarrel if not because he is thy God at least because he is thy father and all that he hath shal be thine Children because they hope to inherit their fathers patrimony follow their fathers busines thou being heir to God must not carry thy self like a stranger or alien Although God had not given us our creation yet for this only that he adopted us his children we owe him a cordial love and must discharge our duty in things appertaining to his service with a great deal of zeal O most loving father why am not I touched with a deep resentment for being enrolld into thy family and tasting so singularly of thy providence Wild beasts out of love to their yong ones expose themselves to a hazard of death and what wilt thou do who hast given such a remonstrance of love even for us who condemnd thy natural Son as to take us for thy children O what confidence ought a soul to have in this filiation although God were not a God of providence yet he would be watch fully careful sweetly sollicitous over him that is in grace no les then a mother in widowhood over her only and beloved child yea far greater then this is Gods affection and vigilancy in regard of the just To this we may add that by grace we become the friends of God IESVS himself utterd these words sweeter then honey drops ye are my friends For by grace there accrues a certain dignity betwixt God and man not of a disproportionable degree but so dignifying that it elevates him to the order of things divine and of a mortal man makes him a friend and favorite of the immortal king Although we did not become the children of God yet for this sole respect that grace entitles us his beloved its worth exceeds all valuation A friend is preferrd before a kins man and is held more trusty then nature it self allies are often neglected or become the objects of hatred friends are alwaies beloved men do more for their friend then for their brother what then shal we conceive of friendship with God There are two things which endear much alliance and love and both of them are found in grace To be loved by God is a rich mine of heavenly gold and a magazine of all divine blessings The love of God is not â—oytering and sluggish but most effectual and operative To love one is to wish him wel in God it is the self same to wil and to do and consequently whomsoever he loveth he enricheth him with the treasures of heaven The love of God is an ever flowing conduit or rather a river of celestial blessings If he exposd his life for his enemies what will he do for his friends There is no incongruity or inconsequence to be found in God wherfore if he did so much for those that hated him he wil do incredible things for those that love him carrying a special providence over them If he have so much care of our enemies as to command us to love them what wil he have of his own friends He loved us so affectionately when we were yet his foes that he seemd to love us more then himself and if he did this when we were his enemies wil he do les when he both stiles and accounts us his friends Thou wouldst be glad to have a friend as faithfull to thee as Ionathas was to David but all humane fidelity is a meer toy yea to be accounted but treachery in regard of that which God shewes on thy behalf Men hold it no smal favour to be taken notice of by a terrene king what wil it be to be loved so affectionately loved by God wilt thou know o my soul how signally remarkable Gods friendship fidelity is He is so enamourd upon his friends that he cannot endure to be separated from them If his immensity were confind only to heaven he would relinquish it to come to one that is in grace nor would he ever be from him but would make himself his coÌ„stant sejourner that our society may be with the father his Son Iesus Christ by the mediation of the H. Ghost who is diffusd in our harts Deer and lambs and pigeons are sociable creatures they willingly sort with one another love those whom they know to be of the same kind God is sociable the Son of God is a lamb the divine spirit is tame and affable it loves those that become divine affecting the fellowship of his nature and as it were of the same feather with him If the most sacred Humanity of Christ took such complacence in any one as to be alwaies present with him what should we think of such a singular priviledg and why do we not admire that the Dinity never departs from the just man but becomes his unseparable companion and not only dwels with him as his fellow sejourner but even in him in whom he placeth his tabernacle much more willingly then in the sun What parent so loves his child as with his good wil never to be from him but alwaies in his company yea such a one assignes him a tutour and commits him to his custody But God our parent and friend entrusts us to no body else he
Mother the intreaties of a Mother are as good as a command to towardly children and what child more towardly then Christ or what Mother better then Mary what greater obligation imaginable then that of the best of children to the best of mothers the obligation of CHRIST is not like that of other children to their parents but like that of creatures to their God It is not only such a one as interceeds betwixt the begetter and the begotten although this also is greater in Christ since it is not divided betwixt two like as other children owe their being both to father and mother for he took humane nature of his Mother alone he having according to it no father and therfore he owes solely to her his being a man but it is also a moral obligation Children owe duty and respect to their parents although they intend not this child in particular but any other yea although they beget him against their will and would indeed have begotten none nevertheles this tie of nature is so sacred that even Barbarians hethens were of opinion that parents were to be worshipped as second Gods that the debt which was owing them could never be dischargd O IESVS whose doctrine transcended the subtilest capacity of Philosophers whose example surpassd all humane opinion if Ethnicks deliverd such precepts about honouring parents what wilt thou o Son of God do in honouring thine that was the respect which Gentils afforded how much more perfect will thine be o IESVS thou who didst build upon the vertues of the ancients and added to their precepts thou who to the lawes of love superadded that of loving our enemies in the command of charity declard even concupiscence to be forbidden so also in the precept of reverencing parents thou didst excel in reverence towards thy mother wherin besides the debt due by nature thou owest another of free election Other parents have nothing of choise in the child they beget but with thy most holy Mother it fared much otherwise she not only bore thee but would only bear thee alone and no other but thee Her good will was expected and desird by God the father and his Angels therfore because thou art endebted to her for this elective will thou repayst it by denying her nothing which she wils Thou dost acknowledg a stricter obligation towards her then other children have to theirs one like to that which creatures have towards their Creatour This is the great debt of creation that God did not only create us but selected us in particular and producd us rather then others whom he left in that heap of things only possible and their own nothing O stupendious excellency of Mary seing God is in like manner obligd to her that creatures are to him which is infinite and then as there is an immense distance betwixt being and not being so the obligation of him that receives being and life infinitly surpasseth all other obligations arising from other common benefits which presuppose being and life If then o God worthy of all love thou art most liberal towards those that are most deeply endebted to thee and most indulgent to those that offend thee how canst thou be griping or hard harted to thy own Mother to whom alone thou art endebted and in such a manner endebted for the riches of thy mercy and goodnes How canst thou deny any favour where thou acknowledges so great a debt thou dost deservedly impart all by her who imparted life to thee for as children can by no goods whatsoever make recompense to their parents for the benefit of life because it is the foundation of all other benefits and all the actions natural endowments of children are properly belonging to parents because they gave them their first being in like manner thou wilt deny nothing to her who gave thee humane nature insomuch that giving all by thy Mother thou seemst to give all to thy Mother and moreover putst us upon a necessity of honouring her since thou wilt have us to obtain what we obtain by her and because thou hadst of her thy natural being that is humane nature so wilt thou also that we have from her a supernatural being that is grace that so by making us the children of Mary supernaturally thou mayst satisfy for thy humane filiation by her naturally True it is that all things are from God this very thing that he is a debter to his Mother is one of his benefits but this imports not much towards our right understanding how much he is ready to do for the most B. Virgin for this is the custome and fashion of God to regard his own favours no otherwise then if he had no hand in our merits though they proceed from his grace but is as bountiful in rewarding them as if they were wholly our own he will give as ful a recompense for our good works as if these good works were not his guifts nor he assisted us with his grace but we performd our services by our own strength and carried of our selves that proportion to glory after the same manner will he correspond with the duties of his Mother as if he had contributed nothing to them but will proceed as if he had receivd essence nature and life from her independently of any benefit and divine grace by which she was prevented and preelected to that stupendious work of the divine Conception If Christ acknowledg and esteem himself thus obligd will he perchance infringe the precept of honouring parents or rather seek to fulfil it with pressd heapt measure if the obligation wherewith other children are tied to their parents be so great that Philosophers judgd it indissoluble since Christ acknowledgeth a greater then any other can he possibly faile in gratitude if God recompense with glory the minute services of men even beyond their desert he will not be wanting in any kind to discharge and satisfy this debt to his Mother which exceeds all rewards and recompense Who can doubt but that Christs gratitude towards his Mother surpasseth the love and gratitude of all other men If then ethnicks were of opinion that children how obsequious soever cannot be gratefull enough to their parents can we imagine that Christ will let slip any occasion of gratitude to her in a word he was so grateful towards his dearest parent that not content with that reverence which he exhibited to her the while he lived in the exercise of infinite theandricall acts with which he honoured her in being subject to her he would have all us to honour her also and help him as it were to do the same For that end he would have all us become her children that for him we might love and honour her as our Mother For as there was an obligation due to her as Mother he would also have such satisfaction and gratitude as is proper to children Which filiation he dedicated on the altar of the Cross when he bequeathd all his
not to make thee the subiect of my action but not so much as the obiect of my memory O most loving God how could I behave my self worse towards my capital enemy then I do towards thee not so much as daigning thee a look when thou meetest me and meetest me so often though thou be stil ingratiating thy self by new favours and services O how continually o God art thou present in me and yet I so little present to thee and take so little notice of thee thy essence penetrates each part of me much more intirely then the sun beames penetrate each part and parcel of a transparent christal more perfectly then our soul is diffused through our body The presential assistance of thy wisdome provides for me and playes it self the purveyer that nothing may be wanting and if I do any good that it may impart a reward thou committest not this to the intercourse of thy Angels only and their relation but thou thy self becomest my overseer Thy power carryes me in thy bosome as a nurse or motherdoth her dearest child and because these duties of being in me of seing me of preserving me in my being are necessarily annexd to thy divinity thou wouldst have me engaged to thee o good IESV for a voluntary presence and there being but one way wherein thou couldst necessarily be absent thou didst invent a meanes even in that to be also present in thy most holy body that thou mightest be present with me both corporally and spiritually O ungrateful soul why wilt thou not be thankful to so loving a Lord and if thou canst not bodily be present with this divine Sacrament be not forgetful at least in spirit and thought of so benefical a soveraign who hath made thee his tabernacle and place of residence Carry o soul respect to thy self and the Altar of thy mind where God dwels by grace which thou perchance now partakest of and woe be to thee if thou dost not the divinity being there communicated We reverence inanimate things and deservedly which are imbrued in the blood of Christ but why do we not the same to a part of our soul spirit where the H. Ghost diffuseth himself we dare do no unseemly action before an Altar where the sacred body of Christ our Lord is kept nor darest thou do les before thy self because thy mind as thou maist wel hope is by grace the Altar and throne of God he residing in it with greater pleasure then in a Pix of gold How dost thou compose and recollect thy self when thou art to receive the Body of Christ habituate thy self allwayes in such a modesty such a decency since God is thy guest lodging not in thy body only but within thy soul If the Body of Christ being thy guest thou compose thy self with such decency thou must stil retain the same since the spirit of God becomes resident in thy spirit since the Father and the Son come to thee and take up in thee their dwelling place Whether in publick or private comport thy self allwayes after the same manner God beholds thee God is nigh thee God is with thee God is within thee If Christ should come visibly to thee when thou art all alone in thy chamber wouldst thou in his presence put thy self in any les seemly posture or rather stand in a reverend submissive composd manner trembling at the aspect of such an awful majesty Behold the divinity is allwayes present with thee and we owe it no les dutyes of respect The divinity is present not after one manner but many by filling and surrounding thee with his boundles essence as the ocean doth a spunge by carrying thee in the eye of his all seeing providence by sustaining thee by his power by cherishing imbracing and adopting thee for his child by his heavenly grace O soul why sendest thou thy desires in so long a pilgrimage since God is so nigh at hand why dost thou aspire to other joyes he being present thou hast a speedy redress for all thy miseries why art thou contristated a refuge sanctuary against all thy calamities is close by what needst thou fear let all thy affection spend it self in embracing and kissing this thy most loving parent in whose bosome thou art nurturd and brooded up Consider thy self more neerly allyed to God then to thy brother then to thy Father then to thy mother for the kindred and allyance betwixt thee and God is greater then betwixt a child and his parent Let him then be allwayes present to thee who is present after so many wayes As a mirrour becomes the image of that which is present to it so a holy soul in some manner will become divine if it have the divinity present with it This presence of God is the vital action of grace a holy soul is so long in an actual and waking exercise of life as it loves God and is mindful of him whether it be employd in the contemplation of his perfections or seek actively to advance his greater glory For as God is not only present to us by his essence knowledg but also by his power and activity so the best method of framing the presence of God is to consider him playing the good Operarius and directing his actions to our behoof Who wil not become active on Gods behalf since he works all in all for ours but yet though a soul surcease from this she shal not therfore dye by sin but wil be like one that is a sleep not dead but yet scarse alive as not enjoying the use of life so a soul that is in oblivion of her God though she be not voyd of life yet she is in so sound a sleep that she reaps no benefit of her spiritual vitalityes O how long-lifd wil one be that is stil mindful of God! o how many ages wil he complete which even those that otherwise are held spiritual do ordinarily forfeyt this presence of God is also the sense of grace for without it the soul lyes like one in a palsey The palsey is a disease not a death but it deprives ones limbs of all sense and vital motion life and grace are then to smal purpose when the memory of God is benumd and obstupifyed whether it be in action or contemplation One palm tree becomes fruitful merely at the presence of another and the soul at the presence of God is loaden with all variety of fruit Without the presence of the sun all is buryed in obscurity nothing doth partake of beauty by the presence of God a soul is illustrated and is made most comely to the eye The elements cannot brook to be absent from their center and no les is a soul carried to her center of repose God As a stone if it be detaynd in the ayre keeps alwayes a propension to the earth and if it be left to it self tends thither without any more adoe so a soul enamoured upon God even when it is detaind from its
to aym at nothing more then mortification pennance fasting prayer carrying our cross this through the course of our whole life he wil soon discover him no sectarist who dares scarse so much as talk of these things much les teach or practise them but a Roman Catholique who alone owns them both in doctrin practise as the chief meanes to Christian perfection Nor wil any body think I be so inconsiderately over-byassd as to take any prejudice by these expressions o infirm spirit pusillanimous spirit which here and there he 'l meet with T is true by the abuse of this our age they sound not so wel with us through the default of those who have renderd both them and themselves ridiculous yet the words like wine are good enough nor any more then that for the sophistication or abuse of some to be mislikd consider also that the Authour is a forraigner with whom they carry no such note nor did I deem it necessary to change them His industry in the compilement of this work seems by his own confession to have been very extraordinary he not sticking to aver that it was the fruit of all his labours the hony-comb of al his studious endeavours while bee-like he suckd from each H. Father Master of Spirit as from so many delicious flowers what he found in them rare and exquisite with these truths maximes as with so many pretious stones he has paved the way to perfection digesting them into that triple path which according to its great masters leads therto to wit purgative illuminative unitive in the first after he has told us what it is to adore God in spirit truth without eyther fanaticisme or duplicity he gives us the lively resentments of a penitent hart while it rock-like struck with the rod of the cross dissolves into the waters of a profound compunction Amidst its sighs and teares he conducts us on towards the second by true fruits of pennance love of God contempt of the world through all the oppositions of self love worldly concerns contrary temptations By degrees he leads us out of the desert of sin into the land of promise and the darknes of Aegypt into the fair sun shine of divine grace and here that light offers himself for guid which illuminates every man coming into this world we know that who ever followes him walks not in darknes For what doth this path aym at but a perfect imitation of his life by a constant treading of those sacred footsteps of vertu which he left deeply imprinted by self-abnegation humility patience meeknes poverty persecution all those which compleat a totall fulfilling of Christian justice perfection That this may be the better accomplishd he spends no les then a whole book to wit the 3. in teaching us how to discharg our duty in order to the aforesaid imitation by a most perfect practical performance of our daily actions And not without good reason since the whole is but the result of all particulars which if perfect the other can scarse suffer any allay he that performes his daily actions perfectly treads a sure path to perfection whosoever aymes at it without this medium shoots at random like a blind archer All these are works of light this according to the Philosopher being productive of heat they dispose wonderfully to the 3. path which leads a soul thus affected to a strait union the true lovers knot with almighty God And whether should such a bird of Paradise so disdaigning earth so enamoured on heaven so wingd with charity fitted for the flight soare but up to the bosome of God himself where nestling as in its center it may say with H. Iob in nidulo meo moriar This is the last complement of a vertuous soul in this life the purchase of its labours and fruition of desires where its activity becomes passive and its task with little Samuel is only to say Loquere Domine quia audit servus tuus nor yet can it be said to be idle For he teaches not a lazy love but operative and masculin a love that loves to be in the sun and dust bearing the heat and weight of the day in carrying its cross and yet wel knowing even in these how still to enjoy its beloved And in this spiritual journey which certainly tends to a Vade in pace and arrives to that peace of God which passes all understanding directs the traveller not through any extraordinary paths or by new and uncouth lights but teaches him to take the roadway of the cross in the broad daylight therof following him who said I am the way and this by a profound contempt of himself as wel as all the things of this world by an entyre mortification of his passions subduement of his wil to the wil of God by a curbing of his appetites mastry over self love command over sense and much more over sensuality and by such steps the truest steps of love and to it assisted by a daily recognition of the divine benefits towards man so unparallelld and inestimable he leads him up the mount of perfection Which journey though it be not performd without great extente of time labour and contradiction yet having once surmounted the difficulty and its top raysd now above all wind and weather in what a peaceful calme doth he find himself few believe this besides those that experience it and therfore it is but lost labour to insist upon it yet I dare say its joyful contentivenes exceeds the gust of the most affecting pleasures the world affords But these are onely the entertainments of choyse soules the perfect I can say to the comfort of all that the work it self affords both effectual helps to perfection and a certaine redress for spiritual maladies in what kind soever they be For the peruser will discover in it a rich mine of heavenly treasures a new dispensatory of celestial recepts antidotes against all the poysons of sin and an Armory of defence to shield him from the assaulting enemy Which though it was writ for himself a Religious man and by its sublimity may seeme proper for that state yet it is of that latitude capacity that even seculars if they be but vertuously disposd to the service of God may plentifully reap benefit by it nor would I wish any body upon this score to harbour a prejudice against it Thus much being sayd of the matter weightynes of his discourse I must now in a word touch also the manner His way of arguing is solid and witty but he has no regard at all to evennes of stile or quaintnes of expression speaking as we say a la negligence as to both like one that study's more what to say then how and this it seems he doth on set purpose For in his Epistle Dedicatory which I omit as needles he gives account of it I write this memorial sayth he in a plain stile and without any
lost one of his own eyes to save one of his sons who otherwise had lost both But what wonder if a friend for a friend a servant for a king a parent for his child did such a feat how much more did my IESVS for me not a friend but an enemy not his king but a base slave of the divel not his child but a child of perdition If he had pardond me my trespass it had been enough but he relinquishd his throne he lost his life and over and above enthrond me in his kingdom If he had only canceld the disgrace and infamy of my sin he had shewd a rare clemency though the punishment due for it had stood good but he hath pardond the penalty and replenishd me both with joy and glory Are these things perchance false or is fayth infallible if they be truth it self how chances it that while we relate them with our mouth we are not affected towards the person of Christ with our hart who gave us his hart and inclind and stil inclines the hart of God towards us O how dear ought IESVS to be to us by whom we are so dear to God how much beloved by us for whom we are so much beloved by God! Consider what great good thou enjoyest in Christ infallibly God would not endure us and our impudency if Christ were not our mediatour he beautifies our deformity and renders us comely in the eyes of God he cloathd our nakednes with grace and attir'd us in his own robes when we were so miserably tatterd that we could not appeare in the presence of God and enricht us with his merits that we may appeare How gratefuly did he take it at S. Martins hands that he gave him but the one half of his cloak IESVS gloried and made as it were a flourish before the Angels with that torne rag and we are ungrateful to him who clad us in purple and a divine garment when we were naked unworthy and infected with leprosy not that he might only cloak the soare but throughly cure the loathsome disease and being washd like Naaman as it were in a Iordan make us truly sound and beautiful neither do we prize the garment and grace and his merits for whose sake his Father tolerates us takes notice of us and which is the chiefe makes us the object of his love O ungrateful mortals how comes it to pass that your harts are not forc'd after Christ who is our treasure our riches and our beauty without him we are deformed and unsightly to the eyes of God by him comely and conspicuous God stands proportionably in order to mankind and Christ its redeemer as doth our eye to its object which is colour light Without light all colours are invisible they are void of all beauty it by only illuminating them beautifies them so Christ who was a light to the revelation of nations makes God look regardingly upon us men now visible and sightly to his eyes who were buried before in darknes and the shadow of death Light is the first and chief in the class of visible things very agreable to good eyes by it all other things are seen and only seen so far forth as they partake of it for only with light or in light or by light colours are discernable light resides in the colour with our eye and in the space intermediate betwixt both So Christ is that which is the first and most visible in the divine eyes most grateful and acceptable to those of his Father other men only are so for as much as they partake of him by him and with him and in him they are conspicuous t is he that disposeth them and makes them regardable before God All the lustre and grace of colours consists in light and by its meanes hath its being and all the glory honour and grace of men is by Christ it is all his blessing and benevolence Mark how regardles the choisest and lovelyest rarities are by night they are as if they were a sleep or rather not at all so soaring spirits and subtle wits without Christ lie shrowded in darknes and are no more regardable then a nothing Why then dost thou glory in any thing besides him without light fair and foul is all one and both of them in a sorry condition without grace by Christ a sharp and piercing wit and a dul and doltish one is much the same and all other endowments of nature art and industry are no more then if they were not at all The heavens also and the sun are only beneficial by their light by which they effect all their productions so God by Christ alone communicates all the blessings he imparts to man Of all our sublunary simple qualities the heavens admit none besides light so neither shall any man ascend to heaven but he whom the light of Christ irradiates neither shal any prayer be heard with acceptance which petitions not by his sacred name O IESVS the light of men the true light which illuminates every man coming into this world illuminate me that thy Father may behold me who if he see in me any thing of thine cannot reject me if he hear thy name in my mouth cannot but harken to me O the force of the grace of our only-begotten Christ which begets so many children so grateful to God! where Christ is or his name is heard thither mercy flies immediately there mercy is certainly to be found O how efficaciously sounds the voice of Christ by which we assuage his Fathers anger and press him to our relief How can such obsequiousnes of his only Son most obedient most holy most officious most loving but move most tenderly such a parent especially since he sees himself beloved by him alone according to the fulnes of his desert amidst so many exulcerating affronts of men The name of a child prescinding from all respects of duty is grateful even to the most unnatural and miserly what then will it be to a most beneficent God especially if we add so many services exhibited even to his unthankful enemies He that considers Christs dutifulnes towards his Father wil adjudge all rewards more then due to him His father lost the world by the sin of man but such was the officiousnes of his Son that he regaind it restord it to him was this a smal piece of service All mankind and innumerable Angels became rebellious refractory to his Father the Son took upon him to quel their stubborness and teach them obedience and this at the expense even of his own life All mortals fel into a high contempt of the Father the Son by honouring him would make amends for all he finally restord him so many servants he gave him so many worshippers so many lovers so many praysers he peopled heaven that was void of inhabitants and were these but sleight services But with what affection what diligence what love what seemlines performd he this it was altogether
fear thou art capable of doing all evil why dost thou not dread thy own condition thy own very essence is not thine but Gods yea what thou hadst before thy being was none of thine neither thou hadst then a mere nothing which had a possibility of being and even that thou hadst not of thy self but from God who if he were not thou couldst not be Why reputest thou thy self great since the very nothing which thou hadst before thy creation was not of thy self Therfore thou owest more then thy self to God for this also is a part of thy debt that when thou wast nothing he gave thee a possibility of being Thou receivedst the benefit of creation tell me what member was moulded by thy designment or to what joynt of any one fingar didst apply clay or afford materials wherof to frame it or by what prayer didst thou obtain of God to be created and calld out from among infinite natures and better individuals which sleep still in the dust of their own nothing what diligence of thine prevented that thou wert not born blind lame frantick or some savage barbarian dost thou glory in thy talents of wit handsomnes of body noblenes of birth yes thou mayst lawfully do so if God at thy suggestion made thee such But thou wilt say I glory not in being created but in being created such a one so industrious so witty and so toward of behaviour Tel me I pray if thou didst not advise God in the point of thy creatiō couldst thou advise him to create thee so witty and after such or such a manner if thou didst not suggest to him to endow thee with such a mind why dost thou boast of its piercing subtilty didst thou make choise of that mind and cunningly sift into that bottomles abyss of things possible extracting thence the best qualifyd I do not wilt thou reply brag of my natural endowments but of the vertuous practises I embrace while others sleight them I glory that I am better then they an upright man and one that fully complies with my duty Nay be ashamd that scarse once thou compliest with it and hast been neglective a thousand times O unjust and partiall sharer thou allottest to God the worst share to him thou attributest thy being and clay mest to thy self thy being good it is more to be good then only to be Why dost thou play the usurper in the better half since thou canst challenge no interest not even in the worst there is a larger distance betwixt being good and being a man then there is betwixt a man and being nothing God could make thee a man out of nothing only by commanding by acting by living but of a man to make thee good he was to serve to suffer to dye Thou art a most unjust distributer who ascribest nature to God and grace to thy self I never saw any body proud for his existency but almost all are for their being good and better and yet the former arrogance is more excusable for thou hadst had more supposing thou hadst any thing by having a being when thou wast not then after it in being good and just for we only not contributed to our creation but we moreover put a let and obstacle to our justification O most patient truth of God! how canst thou tolerate our lying arrogance were it not for its ridiculousnes while we make our selves the authors of what we most oppose and seek by all meanes to destroy If we carry our selves so modestly towards those things which are left in their nothing as not to vaunt over them for our being why are we so impudently vain-glorious against God for our being good and against men for our being better then they why takest thou pride o my soul in that which ought to put thee most to confusion for thy being nothing thou hast no reason to be confounded it is enough thou be not proud for that hath nothing of ignominy in it but thy being an impediment to God by thy sins that affords matter enough to plunge thee in a deep sea of shame and confusion The self-same that gave thee a being wil give thee a good being As thou hadst nothing of thy self towards thy existence so being created thou hadst nothing towards thy being good If thou hast nothing of thy self and in thy self towards nature so neither hadst thou towards grace Yea although thou didst nothing to deserve a being thou didst no evil to deserve a not being but to be good thou didst contribute nothing of thy own and not to be good thou didst contribute much evill Although humane nature had still remaind in that integrity and dignity in which it was created it would not preserve it self by it self but by God wherfore if it could not of it self preserve the grace which it received how can it repair what it lost and glory in that reparation Remember the infamy and corruption of our nature after its fall by sin if when it stood intire and in a flourishing condition it could do nothing of it self being now weakned and renderd contemptible what wil it be able to do A pot glories not in the presence of the potter of its forme and use fullnes though wel it may of its matter in which he had no hand thou hast nothing at all before God wherof to glory thou being moreover made of nothing why then dost thou glory of thy forme and usefulnes who mayst wel be confounded at thy misusage and canst not glory in thy matter because thou proceedest from nothing Thou hast no source which can derive any goodnes into thee because of nothing nothing is made as by way of causality If thou be nothing of thy self thou canst do nothing nor operate any thing of thy self for operation followes the being If thou be nothing of thy self if thou canst do nothing nor operate of thy self how much les any thing that 's good if what is nothing of it self have or can do nothing of it self then it is only powerful to sin which is a defect and nothing yea les and more contemptible then nothing The eye of it self hath capacity to darknes and to exclude sight or not to see but in order to actual vision it can do nothing without the assistance and concurrence of light That which is above nature and above thy self to wit an abnegation of nature and thy self thou canst not have immediately of thy self and nature but from God who is above both thee and nature If thou believest not reason in this point believe faith thou art nothing but imposture and sin of thy self is only thy perdition we are not sufficient to think any thing of our selves as of our selves but all our sufficiency is from God If we cannot so much as have a congruous thought how shal we be able to performe meritorious actions it may be born with that thou wouldst seem foolish but I cannot be perswaded that thou wouldst be
upon thee by name when it stood â—ritten in the front of the book that he was to do the will of God he said o heavenly Father even for that contemptible Caytif Iohn will I also undergo a whipping a crowning a cross ignominy even death it self I give I offer I sacrifice my self wholly for his salvation And will it not be also thy duty to reflect upon Christ and say o my God this day for my Saviours sake wil I embrace all corporal labours and anguish of mind that I may love serve and glorify him with all the extent of my affection If God had created thee in the state of grace in an ample freedome of will and had by divine revelation indoctrinated thee in all the mysteries of our faith and thou didst see thy self dear to him and his B. Son become man and crucified with unspeakable love for thy sake were it not thy duty in these circumstances to give thy self wholly to God and power thy self forth upon him it is all one as if he had but just now created thee be oâ— good courage thou shalt awake in the state of grace behold thou findst thy redemption accomplishd to thy hand by the death and torments of thy God and this with so early a love that Christ sufferd for thee a thousand and so many yeares before thou wert born that he might have plenty of grace in store for thee Neyther Adam nor S. Michael nor Gabriel nor any other of the Angels no nor their queen her self the sacred Virgin found such preventing diligence such a feat of love to wit that God had already died for their releasment Be inflamed then forth with with a recipocal love and burning desires towards so magnificent a goodnes so speedily provident over thy affaires and do not contemn such an anticipation in what concerns thy eternal weal. Adam stood in expectation of this benefit the space of 4000. yeares but the benefit it self hath expected thee already above 1600 and it is neyther right nor reason that thou requite such sedulity and quicknes with so much sluggishnes and delay Procrastinate no longer thy conversion to God who hath so long expected thee in a great deal of patience Put case a proffer of coming to life were made to the soules which now are only in a possibility of existence and this upon the same conditions helps and favours which God hath daignd to bestow this day upon thee how would they joy how happy would they esteem themselves how officiously would they spend that day how would they in the very entrance of life sacrifice themselves to such a benefact or And what if he should make this proffer to those whom this very night he hath sentenced to hel fire while he so lovingly stood centry over thee in thy repose with what incredible fervour would they at their first return to life consecrate themselves to Almighty God as also the remnant of that day and their whol life if they did but once behold themselves adornd with divine grace with supernatural habits and such opportunities of serving so beneficial a God Be thou confounded for not sacrificing thy self more fervently to him who is much more munificent towards thee it is a greater matter to have preserved thee from damnation then to have reprieved thee being once condemned Spur up thy self to outstrip the fervor of many just soules and be thankful that thou findst not thy self this morning plungd in hell but freed from it as also from so many dangers and sins which innumerable others have this night incurd Do thou alone wish to give him if it were possible that glory which all the Saints will be still rendering through the great day of eternity which desire thou must unfaignedly iterate in the course of the whole day and that with sighs from thy very hart neither in the morning only but oftner as if then newly set on foot and created begin the journey of Gods service allwayes with a fresh and vigorous courage The V. Chapter That our daily fervour must be retained THOV providest but fondly for this dayes life neyther art thou secure of that if thou delayst it till to morrow If the use of this dayes life be granted thee live wel and perfectly for he only is said to live who lives wel Thou diest miserably being yet alive if thou leadest not a good life Each morning when thou awakest purpose to live that day as wel as possibly thou canst as if thou wert undoubtedly to dye the same night Delay not the amendment of any defect till another day which perchance thou wilt never see eyther the day or thy wil wil fayl thee The day to come wil go wel with thee if the present do One must never hazard a thing so good as is a good life but be alwaies in an active fruition of it Thou art industrious in avoiding any thing that may endanger life and why dost thou by delaying prepare and call danger to a good life Live to day and protract not to amend what is amiss after this week or month or the disposall of this affair To day God is our Lord and to day must thou be the servant of God for he is thy servant to day since he to day makes the sun rise to thy behoof He delaies not his guifts till to morrow neither must thou thy services To day God heaps benefits upon thee which thou canst not challenge be not thou wanting to services which he exacts The services of another day wil not suffice for the beneficence of their day why wilt thou have them satisfy for the day past and for the benefits of the present its own goodnes is not sufficient to pay its debt why wilt thou make it pay for the malice of another God especially redoubling thy debts and his graces to day God is God and to day thou art his creature to day Christ is thy redeemer and thou to day his redeemed IESVS is Christ yesterday to day thou hast a being to day and shalt perchance not have one to morrow To day and every moment art thou a debter to God who impends continually his omnipotency to thy behoof thou also must each moment impend all thy forces in his love and service How darest thou incur the loss of one hour since thou canst not make recompense for the least benefit which thou receivest this instant flowing from the ocean of Gods infinite love How darest thou suspend the quitting thy obligation for the interval of one day or hour for if God suspended his munificence but for a piece of an hour thou wouldst not be in the world or if he suspended his indulgence thou wouldst be in hell An eternal salary is promised thee thou must not merit by interrupted services If thou wilt truly live never intermit to live wel this is an eternal truth O Truth give me grace to serve thee truly henceforth for all eternity and that I may eternally