1 Cor. 13.5 charity doth not seek her own saith S. Paul we may desire our promised reward and set our affections upon it as it is a demonstration of Gods infinite love and goodness or because it will be the expressing of our duty and thankfulness when we shall love and glorifie and adore God perfectly and for ever or rather because the reward is God himself who will be to every faithful servant his exceeding great reward Gen. 15.4 as well as to faithful Abraham rewarding sincere obedience with the fruition of himself being all in all to his Saints But still I say love is not selfish but free and generous if nothing were to be gain'd by it it would have satisfaction enough in shewing its self 't is an unspeakable pleasure to a devout lover to act and labour for JESUS when he thus thinks with himself by the performance of this duty by this act of vertue by this good work I serve my dearest Lord I oblige my best friend I express my love to him whose infinite kindness to me hath conquer'd my heart whom I love as my own soul and for whom I would willingly die O happy soul who feelest what an exceeding joy it is to love JESUS or rather unhappy soul who canst shew so little love to JESUS Unhappy necessities of a frail body unhappy distractions of a troublesome world Why am I by you depriv'd of the continual pleasure of waiting continually on my Divine and most loving Master But blessed be my gracious Lord that I might have more opportunities of pleasing him and expressing my affections to him he hath made vertues of necessities he hath turn'd nature into grace and of humane duties he hath made acts of Religion in relieving mine own and others wants If I observe the rules of sobriety and charity he takes thence occasion to bless and reward me as if he were thereby glorified in discharging the duties of my place and calling If I am diligent and faithful though my work be never so mean he owns it as a service done to him Servants saith S. Paul obey your masters in all things Col. 3.22 and do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men 23. knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ If I am consciencious in all my ways and works he takes it as a mark of my love and part of my duty to him O that the constant course of my conversation might speak the sincerity of my affection to my Blessed Lord. Dearest JESUS the Cross thou didst bear for me was heavy and painful to extremity but thy yoke is light and pleasant thy service is perfect freedom O let it be my delight and daily imployment as it is my duty to serve and obey thee to follow thy blessed example and be instrumental in winning hearts to thee let me love thee so intirely that I may love nothing but thee nothing but for thy sake Fac precor Domine B. Ansel me gustare per amorem quod gusto per cognitionem sentiam per affectum quod sentio per intellectum Amen §. 6. We belong to Jesus and are not our own Love regards not so much what is commanded as who it is that commands it if it be the Beloved requires any thing love doth it cheerfully without reluctancy another with earnest begging should not have that granted which the least word of a friend shall obtain The commands of Christianity are easie and most rational in keeping of them consisteth our present and future happiness Yet the ture lover of JESUS looks farther he considers that it is his God and Saviour who would have him obey he to whom he belongs to whom he ows himself and infinitely more for every Christian ows JESUS to JESUS who gave himself for him The old saying was emendus cui imperes buy your slaves buy those that will be commanded by you none of us can say so to the God whom we serve for he hath indeed bought us Ye are not your own saith S. Paul ye are bought with a price thence it is strongly infer'd therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods We are not at our own dispose our Divine Master hath a most just propriety in us we are wholly his and would to God we were his as much by affection and resignation as by right the price he hath paid for us is no less than himself he hath given his life that ours might be his We were redeem'd from our vain conversation by the precious blood of Christ who died for us that we might live to him he could get nothing by that dear purchase but our love only for we were his before it is he that made us only we had estrang'd our selves from him and plac't our love upon other things and he could not count us his own while we loved him not §. 7. Meditation our obligation to serve JESUS I must therefore consider whose I am I am Christs by a strong and incontestable title while I serve him I do that proper work which belongs to me whilst I obey what he hath commanded I do what is infinitely my duty what his love to me challengeth and what my love to him desires to return Had I ten thousand years to live and could I serve him all that while and do nothing else I could not repay him for the least part of that great ransom he hath paid for me neither could I deserve any thing of those great wages which he will give me my life is but short and he allows me time for other things even for pleasure and recreation I have therefore a most gracious Master and therefore I resolve and promise to do what he requires of me I will except at nothing he commands it shall be my joy to pay my duty to him and I will make it appear that I serve out of love and affection Vae miserae animae quae Christum non quaerit nec amat arida manet misera c. Aug. Man O my dearest JESUS would my heart did feel what it should would I could express what it feels and would I could perform as much as I express But O my Blessed Lord how frequently and unhappily do I forget that thou art my Master and I thy servant that my chiefest business is to do thy will and that my greatest happiness as well as duty is to obey thee Is it not because I also forget that thou didst redeem me from a most wretched slavery that thou didst pay an immense price for me that thou becamest a servant for me before thou requiredst any service from me and that thou didst first love me before thou did intreat my love O thou great Lover and Saviour of men I wholly give my self to thee body and soul heart and affections I desire to be thine I pray that thou wouldst make me
evil will be sufficient where love is and where it is not more would do no good and that little I shall say concerning the positive part of our duty doing that which is good will suffice also that Christian who knows what it is to love God The truth is my design is only to direct or beget love to shew its great power and the great advantages it brings Could I but teach thee often to repeat from thy heart as some Ancient Christians at the Celebration of the Lords Supper I love thee dear Jesus I love thee dear Jesus I should think to have profited thee more than if I had unfolded mysteries and displayâ—d much learning in the fairest and most exact method For I am sure that love would soon teach thee to know and to do that which pleaseth God to know and to perform the whole of thy duty Praecipuam Christiana pietatis portionem docuit quisquis ad hujusinflammavit amorem He hath taught the best part of Religion and to the best purpose who hath taught others to love it 'T is certain that if we give our love to God we shall afterwards refuse him nothing where a man gives his heart he will not refuse his hands or his knees where he gives his soul he will not deny his bread or his goods God shall have all that he requires and all we can offer to him if he hath our love and affections No qualification but love will make us true Christians Alia virtus cum peccato sed dilectio tua omni peccato contrariatur omni temptationi resistit Idiot no other vertue but may consist with some sin love alone is contrary to all no other grace can resist all temptations love alone hath that unlimited power no other grace will enable us to discharge all our obligations love alone is the fulfilling of the law all gifts and vertues without love can not fit a man for heaven nor make him dear to God but love can do it of it self they that be faithful in love Wisd 3.9 shall abide with him As there are Dragons that are bright and glittering and have precious stones in their heads as there are Comets that have the light and the elevation of stars so there are vicious persons false Christians that are indow'd with excellent parts and are eminent in some vertues but it profiteth nothing without love If I speak the tongues of Men and Angels 1 Cor. 13.1 c. saith S. Paul If I have the gift of prophesie and understand all mysteries if I have all faith so that I remove mountains if I give my goods to the poor and even my body to be burn'd and have not charity I am nothing and it profits me nothing Of all other gifts and abilities it may be said 1 Cor. 8.1 as of knowledge that they all puff up but charity alone edifieth among those creatures which stand and worship before God there is not only a Man and an Eagle which may represent persons of great learning fitted for high speculations but also a Lion and an Ox whereby Christians of meaner parts and knowledge are signified for these are capable of love as much as the others and 't is love alone qualifies men to dwell with that God who is love it self as S. John calls him God is love 1 Joh. 4.16 and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him God loves men that they may love him again saith S. Aug. Amat Deus ut ametur nil aliud vult quam amari c. he only requires that we would love him knowing that that love is of it self sufficient to make us eternally happy I have therefore all along fitted my discourse and meditations to every mans capacity and opportunities as much as I could because all may love and all must love that will be happy And though I may have recommended some things as means and instruments yet I have prescribed nothing as a duty but the great obligations which were laid upon us when we were baptized into Christ My Monastery as to the place is the Church as to the rule is the love of Jesus and the Orders of it are such as should be observed by all Christians I might indeed have mention'd many useful directions given by Ancient Fathers and Spiritual Guides to such as made profession of greater piety and stricter lives than others but they could not have suted with all conditions and callings therefore I have appointed no other rule to those that shall enter this Cloister but the love of Jesus in a sincere obedience to his holy precepts or a voluntary compliance with his Divine Counsels Not that I would deny that places for Religious Retirement might afford many great advantages in order to greater devotion and heavenly mindedness for I bewail their loss and heartily wish that the piety and charity of the present age might restore to this nation the useful conveniency of them Necessary Reformations might have repurg'd Monasteries as well as the Church without abolishing of them and they might have been still houses of Religion without having any dependance upon Rome Multi sunt qui possunt Religiosam vitam etiam cum saeculari habitu ducere plerique sunt qui nisi omnia reliquerint salvari apud Deum nullatenus possunt Greg. M. Ep. ad Maur. imp All men are not inclining to nor fitted for an active life some would be glad to find a place of rest and retirement for contemplation some who by melancholy or by the terrors of the Lord are frighted from their sins and from the civiliz'd world into Quakerism into an unhappy sullenness and Apostasie would perhaps exchange their silks and laces for the coarser garments of mortified professors of a Monastick life and find among them that happiness and peace of the soul which they vainly seek for in their wretched and deluded Brotherhood some who upon great afflictions and sudden changes of fortune fall into a state of sorrow and tedious sadness and are left in the world to struggle with the temptations of a discontented mind would perhaps take Sanctuary in a Religious house and give themselves up wholly to Jesus and forget their temporal sorrow by heavenly joys and meditations and at last bless that storm and shipwrack which cast them into that unknown land of rest and safety some that are forward and ready to promise well and take good resolutions have not strength enough to keep them but are prevail'd upon by the importunity of those temptations they meet withal in the converse of men who being fled from those occasions of sin might by the good example good instructions of a Religious Society secure themselves and stand to their holy ingagements some who never lov'd the world or that are grown weary of it or have passionate longings for heaven would willingly free themselves of the cumbrances and distractions of worldly business to
to be thine and that thou wouldst own me for thine that so thou mayst be mine to eternity wouldst thou know saith S. Aug. Aliud non quaerit precium nisi te ipsum tantum valet quantum es te da habebis illud Manual what thou must give for heaven give thy self that 's the price nothing less will serve that alone is accounted sufficient heaven is worth just what thou art give thy self and thou shalt certainly have it Do not men seek to serve and oblige great persons expecting to be by them gratified are they not ambitious to wait upon Princes in regard of an Honourable stipend and why should I not count it the greatest Honour and preferment to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords The salary he pays his servants is infinitely greater than any the greatest Monarch can give they oftentimes cast off with disgrace their most faithful officers my Lord is so far from so doing that he bears with the faults of his meanest servants and never turns out any that will live with him 'T is highly difficult to become a Prince his favorite many spend their time their wealth and themselves and never can get the least share in his affections but I am sure my heavenly Master loveth me I know it by what he hath done by what he daily doth and by what he hath declar'd he would do for me Although he hath bought me and so might well require the utmost I can do without any reward yet he hires me and gives me more infinitely more than I can earn I will therefore be diligent faithful and zealous in fulfilling the work he hath appointed me I will often say to myself I am a servant and a lover of JESUS I am a servant and a lover of JESUS I will every morning consider what can I do this day of what my Lord hath commanded me what duties of sobriety righteousness or godliness can I discharge to make it appear that JESUS is the Master I own and obey Rom. 14.7 8 9. None of us liveth to himself and no man dies to himself for whether we live we live unto the Lord or whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lords for to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living §. 8. Our love and obedience God requires This double duty of dying unto sin and living unto righteousness absteining from that which is evil and doing that which is good I am oblig'd to perform by strong and indispensible obligations if I do not I certainly perish When we say in common speaking that we do things out of love we mean that we are free and may chuse whether we do them or no we are not bound to it but here all along where I undertake to discharge the duties of Religion out of love I do not in the least mean so I acknowledge my self under the greatest necessity of discharging my baptismal vow of living according to the Gospel Rule otherwise my neglect of it would be my ruine I should perish in my disobedience Love it self is a duty the first and greatest commandment Mat. 22.37 thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind I recommend love therefore Meliores quos dirigit amor plures quos corrigit timor Aug. as the noblest the most powerful motive to a Religious obedience as that which makes our duty easie and pleasant and gives a value to what we do or suffer for God I know there is those who teach that by our well-doing we must not seek for salvation and that our obedience is not requir'd to our justification but may be a mark or an effect of it faith having done the work before but this groundless and mischievous opinion is contradicted by thousands of plain express Scriptures He that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not is like the man that built his house upon the sand Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven If thou wilt enter life keep the Commandments and innumerable others with all those that affirm that God shall judge and reward every man according as his works have been No the holy Religion we profess requires a conformity betwixt the Holy JESUS and his followers that by a devout imitation we should copy his example that we should be fruitful in good works and by a sincere and universal obedience serve God all days of our life Heb. 2.2 For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a full recompence of reward 3. how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation by being disobedient to our Lord JESUS who having wrought and reveal'd it offers it to us on the condition of an affectionate obedience to his Gospel Heb. 6.7 c. The earth which drinketh the rain that cometh upon it and beareth thorns and briers is rejected and nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burnt such is their condition who receiving the heavenly dew of Divine Grace in their admission into and profession of Christianity yet still remain barren or bring forth evil fruit But beloved saith the Apostle we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name and we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end He says not we desire that you may be confident and perswaded of your salvation but that by love and diligent obedience ye may ascertain your hope 1 Pet. 1.10 make your calling and election sure as S. Peter speaks for indeed God hath not appointed us to wrath 1 Thes 5.9 10. but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him Ephes 4.1 in holiness of life worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called for we are Gods work-manship created in Jesus Christ unto good works Ephes 2.10 which God hath ordained that we should walk in them This then is the way wherein of necessity we must walk that as we ingag'd and promis'd when we were Baptized into Christ so we should live ever after which S. Col. 2.6 Paul expresseth thus As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Col. 1.10 and again walk worthy of the Lord being fruitful in every good work This is the rule whereby we must order the course of our lives Phil. 1.27.3.20 that our conversation be as becomes the Gospel of Christ that our conversation be in heaven whence
loving father who jealous of his sons affection would have none to tend him but such as wear his livery would have the picture of himself hang in every room and all the goods in the house markt with his name and cypher So God who loves men tenderly and desires to be by them lov'd again hath put something of himself in all the creatures he hath appointed to serve us that which way soever we turn our eyes we might be put in mind of him he hath stampt his name in more or less legible Characters upon all the goods and utensils of this his great house the world wherein he hath plac'd us And now shall we do like a simple child who turning his back upon his father should look and smile on his picture and caress it and wait upon it and ask it blessing while he slights the original So absurd a thing would be counted madness and move pity or laughter but when we act the same folly in loving the world whilst we despise God we are highly criminal we highly provoke our heavenly Father thus to return to him contempt disobedience for the gracious tokens of his love From hence it follows that as we should love God above all and all things things in him and for him we should also love those things most which have most of his impress and likeness Therefore man who is created after Gods image should be by us lov'd above all other creatures and that part of man which is chiefly adorn'd with the likeness of God should have the greater share of our affection God himself values humane souls at a high rate because they are like him as appears by what he hath done and suffered to save them And for the same reason also we should pay to the souls of men the best part of that kindness we owe them and if we do not we give our friends no greater love than children to their puppets for they dress them fine and lay them soft and kiss and imbrace them Just as they who aim at nothing more than to make their friends merry to wish them toys and gaudy things and to see them at ease A fondness inexcusable in rational creatures especially in Christians who know the worth of an immortal soul and the great concern of Eternity and yet seek only to gratifie the material part of their friends which is subject to corruption and to ingage their affections to the world which passeth away and they must soon leave As if when King Edward the first was hastning out of the Holy-land hither to receive the Crown which expected him his friends had staid him by the way and invited him to rest and case and provided for him all Princely delights and entertainments and retarded his coming so long till he had forgot or lost his right and his kingdom What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We are indeed much commanded to love one another and in this consisteth one great half of our Religion all justice and charity and all the duties of the second Table To love our brother as we ought is the best demonstration of our love to God 1 Joh. 4.20 for he that says he loves God and hateth his brother Rom. 13.10 is a liar saith S. John and love worketh no ill to his neighbour Mat. 19.19 and is therefore the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul but a man is to love his neighbour as himself and therefore as he is most oblig'd to seek for himself the kingdom of God and its righteousness so should he in the first place indeavour to procure it to his friend Or else we are to love one another as Christ hath loved us Joh. 13.33 and that was in redeeming our souls and purchasing for us heavenly joys and eternal life not in providing ease and sensual pleasures to our bodies here in this world The result of this is that in the first place we should love God infinitely and for his own sake and that in the next we should love those things most which have a nearest relation to God Grace and Vertue Religion Holiness and Men especially their Souls which are an image of the Deity especially sanctified souls which are most like God Afterwards our lesser love for less Divine Objects may be reasonable and innocent and however we have secur'd a great duty and a great happiness Mar. 13.33 To love God with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices §. 14. 'T is most just and easie to love God A second consideration may be that it is most just and easie to love God That it is most just is shown all along this discourse wherein I have represented the more general and most excellent benefits of God to mankind all the which challenge and deserve the greatest love our hearts are capable of God had requir'd of his people that the first-born and the first fruits should be consecrated to him thereby to acknowledge him the author of all their blessings and the giver of all their increase Now the first-born of our souls the first-fruits of our hearts is love which God who gives us all things demands as an acknowledgment from us thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul We therefore commit a greater sacriledge if we deny him so just a tribute than if a Jew had rob'd him of his first grapes or his first ears of corn But it is so much the more just in that it is most easie to love God Infinite perfections an abyss of goodness whence rivers and oceans of good things do perpetually flow one would think should swallow up the hearts and affections of men as indeed it doth of all that duly consider it And more perfectly of beatified Saints and of those blessed spirits who minister before his throne and are all flame for him Besides 't is natural for men to love what is theirs propriety begets or increaseth love Now God is our God he hath given himself for us he doth now and will more intirely hereafter give himself to us he made us for the injoyment of himself and for that purpose he hath redeem'd us and that we might all say with David O God thou art my God that God might shew his kindness and indear himself to us and assert our right to him he hath assum'd the names of those relations who love us best whom we love most tenderly and whom we count most ours God the Father is pleas'd to be call'd our Father God the Son our Brother and God the Holy Ghost our Comforter as it were our friend thereby to express that affection which he hath for us and the propriety which
dividit inter filios regni aeterni filios perditionis Aug. de Trin. lib. 15. cap. 18. for that love it is makes the difference betwixt sincere and false Christians betwixt those that shall be heirs of salvation and those that shall go to perdition betwixt heaven and hell Many priviledges may belong to the tares while they grow in the same field with the wheat many Sun-shiny-days they may have and many drops of dew and rain may fall upon them but they are not rooted and grounded in love therefore they are pluck'd up and withered and burn'd Many gifts of the Divine Spirit wicked men may receive they may prophesie and do miracles in Christs name they may excel in some vertues but the grace of Charity they never receive the love of God never dwells in their hearts Thou maist be Baptized saith S. Aug. Habere Baptismum malus esse potes habere c. Tract 7. in Epist Johan and yet not be good thou mayst have knowledge and remain vicious thou maist be call'd a Christian and be none but thou canst not love God and be wicked thou canst not love God but thou must be holy and happy Thus we see love affords the greatest pleasure and the greatest safety this world is capable of The love of JESUS is a precious jewel precious beyond gold and the best of pearls Charitas est amor rerum quas nonnisi volentes amittimus Aug. he that hath it hath an infinite treasure and it is so much the more to be valued because we may acquiesce in its possession we can never lose it except we will We may lose our riches and we may lose our health we may lose our learning and our eloquence we may lose our friends and our lives but the love of God we can never lose without our consent no time no fortune no Tyrant can snatch it by force out of our hearts Verum bonum illud est quod non potes invitus amittere Aug. as 't is never given against our will so against our will it can never be taken away Charity never faileth Quinquagesima Sunday O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity the very bond of peace and of all vertues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee grant this for thine only Son JESUS Christs sake Amen §. 18. Love brings a lasting joy and peace to the Soul The fourth and last consideration is that the love of God is the solid joy and lasting Tranquillity of the Soul No tormenting fear or sadness can harbour in a heart that loves God the Motto of love might well be that of a late order of Knighthood at Mantua mean't of the Holy Chalice Nihil isto triste recepto grief and the love of God are incompatible no sadness should enter that breast wherein dwells Divine Love I need not treat at large of those many doubts and terrors concerning future happiness which grieve and almost distract the hearts of many Christians to prove that it is a happy thing to be freed from them there are few but are so far acquainted with them as readily to assent to it it will be more to purpose to shew that the love of God is the best remedy against them the best balsom to heal a wounded spirit Some persons from their poverty bodily pains or other afflictions draw this most afflictive inference that God is not their friend and that therefore their condition is dangerous and very bad if not quite desperate and this adds such a weight to their cross that they have no strength to bear it but are ready to sink whereas the love of God hath enabled thousands to bear a heavier with patience with fortitude and men with cheerfulness I take pleasure in infirmities and distresses and necessities for Christs sake said S. Paul that great lover of JESUS He that would suffer for God will suffer from God he that would die and be crucified for JESUS will willingly bear that cross which JESUS lays upon his shoulders And indeed 't is a greater vertue meekly and thankfully to accept of that correction wherewith God visits us than voluntarily to inflict the greatest sufferings on our selves what proceeds from God is ever best for us and most pleasing to him No Patient will question the love of that Physician who is his intimate friend for that he makes incisions and applies causticks upon him and makes him drink bitter potions he will not suspect his friends affection he will not doubt but that 't is for his good after this manner he that loves God will receive afflictions from him and gratefully acknowledge with David I know that of very faithfulness thou hast caus'd me to be troubled Knowing that all things work together for the good of them that love God he will harbour no thoughts of diffidence nor question Gods loving kindness to him but rest satisfied that while he loves God nothing can hurt him and that whatever happens is certainly for his greatest advantage But 't is not always the storms of adversity that bring those dark and dismal clouds on the minds of men they come sometimes in fair weather in the greatest prosperity Whence 't is in vain to examine better it is to drive them away for they are as mischievous as black They cast a damp upon mens spirits they freeze their hearts in such a manner that they can receive no spiritual joy they so weaken their hands and feet that they can hardly work for God or walk in his ways so that their condition is sad indeed not because God is their enemy but because they being unreasonably afraid of it are thereby hindred from being his friends To this evil none can prescribe a better remedy than love let such persons love God heartily and all these terrors will vanish away like the vain images of a terrible dream when one awaketh Love begets love therefore we should love God because he first loved us and love begets a confidence of being lov'd again so that if we love God we shall not long doubt but that we are lov'd by him and then all is well And if at first our hearts do not melt into devout affections and are not replenish'd with the sweetness and comfort of love let us not be dismay'd at it nor too much study our own disturbed thoughts and apprehensions but let us continue to give God demonstrations of love to abstein from what he forbids and to do that which he commands or that which will please him though uncommanded and then either holy joys and extasies will come or it will be as well without them No man is afraid of his friends nor of those whom he serves and obligeth we easily suppose that they love us whom we love and that they to whom we do good will be kind to us
therefore let us shew to God all the love we can and by words and actions protest that we seek to please him and our hearts will soon be possest with a blessed assurance that we are dear to him and he will never be cruel and severe to us 'T is reported of a Religious Person whose soul was griev'd and wounded with doubts and fears and with sadness that while he was one day weeping and praying thus O that I were sure that I shall persevere and never fall from God O that I were sure that God loves me and that I shall one day see his Blessed Face how zealous then should I be in mortifying my sins and doing my duty how cheerfully should I serve God every day and take pleasure in suffering for him how would I despise the world and its vanities and fix my thoughts and affections on things above while he was thus expressing the sorrows of his troubled mind he heard the whispers of a secret voice which told him fac quod faceres do now what thou wouldst do if thou hadst all those assurances With this he found himself so affected and refresh'd that he took it as an Oracle from heaven and in obeying of it found those comforts he begg'd Better counsel I cannot give thee fac quod faceres do what thou wouldst do if thy diffident timorousness and jealousies were confuted by a voice from heaven and they 'll soon be remov'd Let thy meek submission thy sincere obedience and thy free-will-offerings speak thy love to God and thou shalt soon find thy self perswaded that God loves thee dearly and that thy condition is safe and happy Other assurance we are not to expect in this world and this is not to be obtain'd any other way should thy comfort proceed from any thing else but thine humble and devout love to God it would be fansie and presumption whereas so it is well-grounded and never can deceive thee 1 Joh. 4.18 There is no fear in love saith Divine S. John but perfect love casteth out fear 't is never otherwise grace and nature joyn together to make the effect infallible that a Holy Love should ever produce a Holy Peace if we love indeed and in truth 1 Joh. 3.18 thereby not by new and secret revelations we shall know that we are of the truth and we shall assure our hearts before God Love may well work confidence and joy in our souls for it injoys already what it loves it is affectuosa unitas unitiva affectio love is inseparable from its object and the essence thereof consists in their union if not unity Though God be exalted infinitely above all things in a sphere of Glory and Majesty so high that the Cherubim with their many wings cannot flie up to it Qui mente integra Deum desiderat profecto jam habet quem amat Greg. Mag. yet thither love sores up and takes God and holds him as his own so that every one that loves God is already possest of him and may say with the spouse I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Cant. 6.3 We come to God by love S. Aug. amando non ambulando and to him we are united by love Magna res est amor quo anima per semetipsam fiducialiter accedit ad Deum c. amore Deo conjungimur therefore love is a great thing saith that devout father it brings the soul to God with an holy confidence and makes it trust in him and cleave stedfastly to him and rejoyce in him and represent her needs and beg his mercies with fiducial and devout affections And this is so great a truth that death it self with its pains and sorrows alters nothing of it even then in the last agonies the love of God sweetens the bitter cup and still entertains the soul with joy and holy comforts It was the saying of S. Aug. that because the soul hath willingly forsaken God whom she should love infinitely she is forc'd therefore with grief and regret to forsake her body which she loves too much and that because she voluntarily departed from God who is her life Aug. de Trin. lib. 4. cap. 13. she therefore departeth from the body whose life she is with sadness and much reluctancy Now we may say that when the soul returns to God by love Charitis libertatem donat timorem pellit c. S. Bern. she is freed from this punishment and restor'd to her first liberty she is willing to die for to be with Christ and then comes a cheerful cupio dissolvi O when shall I come and appear before God Happy is he who living doth so manifest his love to God by Piety and Charity that dying he can say with Theodosius Dilexi love hath been the business and delight of my life I have daily indeavour'd by my actions to declare the sincerity of my love to God he is doubtless of the number of those that love the appearing of JESUS and so he goes out to meet him with joy and confidence expecting a kind reception from him Nemo se amari diffidat qui jam amat libenter Dei amar nostrum quem praevenit subsequitur c. Bern. whom having not seen yet he lov'd and worship'd and serv'd affectionately Let no man that loves God doubt of God's Love to him for he that lov'd us when we were his enemies so as to die for us will much more love us when we have for him the hearty affections of friends It is the joy of heaven the joy of the Holy JESUS when his loving kindness hath won and conquer'd our hearts and 't is our greatest joy 't is for us a heaven upon earth when we love him faithfully and fervently with all our souls and affections The love of God brings that peace to the soul which the world can neither give nor take away Her sins which are many Luke 7.47 are forgiven because she loved much §. 19. The Close Now who can refuse to love God when 't is a thing so just and reasonable so pleasant and easie so safe and advantageous something of necessity we must love every mans heart is full of that passion and every mans life is govern'd by it 't is but considering who hath done most for us and whom we are most oblig'd to love who is most lovely and who will best reward our love and we shall soon understand that God is to be lov'd above all things infinitely without measure and if we love our selves as we should we shall easily remove our affections from the world to set them upon God and Eternity upon JESUS and his kingdom Love as we have seen will make it easie and delightful to do our duty Onus sine onere portat Kemp. will make the yoke of Christ light and enable us with strength and courage to bear our cross cheerfully like Christians it will lead us the shortest and the safest way to
so far mistook them as to suspect they might be in earnest when they profest to advance the power of Godliness Decay of Christian Piety Pag. 198. in the general hath occasion'd the distinction of Regular and Secular persons and perhaps the prophaneness and debauchery of too too many amongst us who are in the Church as the tares in the field among the wheat hath partly caus'd the unjust distribution our late Pharisees had made of our people into two parties the Godly and the Wicked though many are of opinion that discontent or melancholy makes men for the most part both Monks and Schismaticks or else spiritual pride or wordly interest However it be I will not make exprobrations against either of them with disâ—bliging truths but rather commend what is praise-worthy in them because I would have every Christian to be really devout and precise without entring the Cloister or the Conventicle I am indeed somewhat jealous that the ingaging men to be Religious and Vertuous by other considerations besides their Christian duty hath done some prejudice to Religion for now there be some that fansie self-denial and contempt of the world to belong only to Friers and others that to abstein from swearing and drunkenness is only the part of a Puritan Whereas Christianity binds those duties upon all its professors and every one by his Baptismal vow is bound to perform them though he doth not submit himself to the Rule of S. Francis or the dictates of the Assembly The heavenly mindedness of Carthusians the zeal and laborious preaching of Carmelites and Dominicans the penitent mortifications of Franciscans Non desiderabit tria illa vota ab hominibus reperta qui primum illud unicum votum quod in Baptismo non homini sed Christo nuncupavimus sinceriter pureque servaverit Eras Ench. and the sobriety of Non-Conformists are all contain'd in the Christian Rule and whosoever owns it needs not make new vows wear distinct habits or separate from the Church the better to discharge them but only seriously mind and study the obligations of his Religion and with diligence and sincerity live according to them My design therefore is not to Incloister particular persons Vellem universos Christianos ita vivevere ut qui nunc soli Religiosi vocantur parum Religiosi viderentur but to make a large Monastery of the whole Commonwealth at least to make every family a School of Vertue and Piety and every man an Ascetick and strict liver wishing heartily with Erasmus that they who hitherto have been call'd Precise and Religious by way of appropriation might justly lose that name by the more exemplary lives of all other Christians But though it be my wish it is not my hope in the least to see any such thing come to pass by means of this little volume Many much bigger and better have not been able to effect it they that will not hear Moses and the Prophets nay Christ the Lord himself will be far enough from being perswaded by the meanest of his servants and the truth is it may be the matter of our desires but must never be expected that a general Reformation of manners should follow that of Doctrine among us Nevertheless our indeavours ought not to be wanting though our sanctification be never consummated here below yet we are commanded 2 Cor. 7.1 and should strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God and so though we know that many will so live as that the end of them shall be destruction yet ought we like S. Paul to try all means that by any means we may save some If we convert none of the impenitent we may benefit some better Christians and if our instructing our brethren by word or writing profits none of them yet it may make us take the better heed that after we have preached to others we our selves be not cast-aways Now to this end my chiefest indeavour is to make a Christian devout to make him love God with a sincere love and then make it appear by a hearty obedience a devout love is not only the best part but also the best instrument of Religion as being an irreconcilable enemy to sin a friend or rather a nurse to all vertue No inticement could have drawn penitent Magdalene to her former impurities whilst she washed her dearest Saviours feet with her tears and 't is known by experience that when reading meditation the sight of a dying friend or any such thing hath softned a mans heart into a Religious temper temptations would be then so far from prevailing that they durst not so much as appear before him But when he returns to mind earthly things and hath his thoughts taken up with the concerns of this life he finds that his spiritual strength decays by the same proportions that his love becomes cold and he grows indevout again Love is the queen if not the fountain of passions the great mover and governor of actions and affections could we keep the fire of Divine Love always burning in our breasts it would be the most powerful and best instrument of Holy-living it would make self-denial and the yoke of Christ easie it would make acts of vertue and Religion pleasant and it would make us delight in pleasing God as much as we naturally do in pleasing our selves Therefore I have made it my aim and design in the following Pages to seize upon the affections to inkindle in the hearts of Christians the heavenly flames of the love of God To that end I have represented the more general benefits of God to mankind and especially that of Redemption by the greatest demonstration of love that ever was given the death of Jesus which if duly consider'd would be an irresistible motive to love him I have shewed the power the pleasure and the great advantages of love and I have us'd devout meditations and ejaculations as it were to transport our souls to heaven by love for to adore that God whom love brought down from thence to save us 'T is certain that most of them that perish perish for want of consideration and I have heard dying men wonder at themselves how they could be so stupid as not to mind those things which are of an infinite concern and should rather take up all our thoughts and our cares than be neglected or forgot one only moment Israel doth not understand Isa 1.3 my people doth not consider Love may be said to be that fire which God would have always to burn upon his altar that is Lev. 6.12 in our hearts which are his temple where the sacrifices of good works and the incense of devotion should always be offer'd to him now that sacred fire must have fewel to entertain it it must be nourish'd by reading good books and especially by frequent and pious meditations Wherefore I have indeavour'd as much as I could to feed those holy flames by representing things as they are and I would have every Christian seriously
so murmur and complain when they should give thanks But whoever shall diligently observe all the gracious distributions of that God who always giveth to all men being debtor to none all the supplies and comforts we receive from him will heartily say with the Psalmist Psal 31.107 O love the Lord all ye his Saints and O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men that they would exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the seat of the elders sect 5. What returns we should make for them Those Benefits we have hitherto mention'd we receive as we are men and that from the free goodness of our gracious God we are his people and the sheep of his pasture we are and we have nothing that is good but it comes from him he made us he preserves us and he provides for us therefore O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his name It was Jacob's vow that if God would keep him and give him food and raiment whilst he sojourn'd in Haran then the Lord should be his God Now what was his vow should be our resolution and practice God feeds and clothes and defends us therefore ought he to be our God That is we ought to own him for such by faithful service and hearty obedience Therefore 1. Let us pay our bounteous Benefactor the just and easie tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving for our creation preservation and all the blessings of this life 2. Let us set apart daily some of that time which he gives us for acts of Worship and Religion 3. Let us honour the Lord with our substance either in secret charities or publick offerings paying him an acknowledgement that he is our land-lord and lastly let us apply our selves to observe his Laws to do what pleaseth him because we are not our own we owe our selves to him we are his he gave us our being These are acts of natural Religion and them we owe to God as he is our Creator and Benefactor §. 6. Of Redemption and first of the infinite miseries we are redeemed from Now are to be considered the benefits we receive from God as we are sinners the mercies of our Redemption how God our Creator is become JESUS our Saviour how after having given us many good things he at last gave himself for us And that we may the better understand the greatness of this unspeakable and Divine Mercy let our meditation descend a while into that bottomless gulf of perdition wherein we were plunged by nature in this plain manner Represent to thy self a man in Job's condition having added to his ulcers and poverty all the saddest calamities that ever afflicted any man upon earth especially the remorses and horrors of a guilty and tormented conscience crying out of impatience and despair with Cain my pain is greater than I can bear This unhappy creature having for many years born the uneasie weight of his miseries linger'd out a tedious and disconsolate life is at last struck to the heart with a mortal wound and dies and so passeth from temporal to eternal sorrows he falls into a lake of fire and brimstone a place where there is nothing but woe and darkness weeping and gnashing of teeth where there is no company but of tormented and tormentors nothing to be seen but what is frightful no voices to be heard but curses shrieks and lamentations where there is the absence of all good and the presence of all evil where men desire to die and death flees away from them This is the fulness of his misery that it shall have no end that he must dwell with everlasting burnings their fire is not quenched and their worm dies not If weeping but one tear every day he might expect to be releast after he had wept as much as would make an ocean it would be some comfort but at the end of so many millions of years as would suffice to weep a Sea his torments will be as far from ending as the first day they began and if after this manner in process of time he should shed tears enough to make many more seas yet still it might be truly said this is but the beginning of sorrows still there is an intolerable Eternity to come for after as many thousands of millions of years as tongue can express or heart comprehend Eternity is nothing lessened still it is what is was before an abyss of duration that can have no end this excludes all comfort this fills his soul with a woful despair this is another hell in the midst of hell which inrageth him and perpetually tortures his mind to think that there will be no end of his sufferings that he can conceive no hope of being deliver'd but that he must bear to all Eternity what every moment is intolerable O dreadful Eternity who can seriously think of thee and not tremble Now if thou dost ask for what reason this wretched creature is thus tormented know that it is for sin because his first parents broke the Law of their Creation and he followed their footsteps they involv'd him first in the guilt of a wicked rebellion against God and afterwards by his own acts he made himself yet more criminal by nature he was a child of wrath and then he became so yet more by his own transgressions he was sold under sin and then he became a willing slave to it his own thoughts words and works being evil and that continually he forsook God and dishonor'd him and profest enmity against him and oppos'd his depraved will to Gods Holy Will and so became obnoxious to the infinite justice of God which therefore justly inflicts this deserved punishment upon him And now if knowing the reason thou dost inquire after the person who by being so unholy is become so extremely unhappy I could say with the Prophet thou art the man this is thy patrimony as thou art a child of Adam this thou art by nature but the Divine Mercy hath rescu'd thee from this misery and therefore I must say thou wert the man this must have been thy case had not the Holy JESUS work't thy Redemption by means as wonderful as was his pity and charity But before I proceed I must also propound one question Two men are equally indebted and equally unable to pay the one is patiently forborn and at last freely acquitted the other is cast into the dungeon and a while after compassionately releast and set at liberty I demand is not he that never entred the Prison as much bound to love his generous creditor as he that was deliver'd out of it yes doubtless or rather more because his debt is also forgiven and yet he is freed from that trouble and sorrow which his fellow debtor underwent Why then thy gracious Redeemer by saving thee from
eiadversatur timor est idque cum acciderit sentiens tristitia est Aug. de Civ Dei l. 14. c. 7. love it self is all passions and it obtains several different names according to its several acts and objects Love saith S. Aug. is called desire when it gasps after its beloved object when 't is possest of it it takes another denomination and is call'd joy or pleasure when it flies from what it abhors it hath the name of fear and 't is called sorrow when what it fear'd overtakes it But still love is the only passion desire anger joy and sorrow hope and fear are either the motions or acts or else the accidents of it This clearly shews the great power and activity of this noble passion for 't is well known that the greatest and indeed all humane actions that are free proceed from these natural affections and so are the effects of love There is no need to distinguish the several sorts thereof declaring that love is either natural or supernatural sensual or spiritual of friendship or of interest for all these are the same faculty or passion in man differing in their principles or objects only neither would it much avail to give and explain a â—â—rate and studied definitions of love which is much better felt than exprest and much better declar'd by actions than words it will be more useful to consider that as love is the principle of all passions so it is of all vertues and vices This fountain sendeth forth the clearest and the foulest streams and like all other things the greater its excellency the worse is its abuse so that it should be our greatest care to use it well and set it upon the right object No joy in enjoyment without love without it no pleasure in fruition it is the great instrument of happiness if we place it aright and it brings the greatest infelicities if we misplace it 'T is a misguided love that makes men vicious that causeth all the disorders in the world because men love themselves more than God and so would be Gods to themselves the Authors of their own happiness expecting their greatest felicities either from their bodies as the sensual Epicures or from their minds as the proud Stoicks Hence it is that in the head of a long catalogue of the blackest sins S. Paul sets self-love as the cause and origine of all the rest saying that in the worst and most perilous times Men should be lovers of their own selves 2 Tim. 3.2.4 and again that they should be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God which being the greatest depravation of the understanding and of the will of men plungeth men into the greatest sins and thence into the greatest miseries Certain it is that piety or true goodness consisteth in willingly submitting ones self to the Divine Pleasure either to suffer or obey and certain it is that self-love will admit of neither it makes a man uncapable of Religion the Essence whereof is to deny our own to comply with God's Will and so instead of that Godliness Justice and Sobriety which are the three generals comprehensive of all Religious duties this muddy head-spring self-love sends forth three muddy streams which cause the overflowing of ungodliness and almost drown the world under a deluge of wickedness These be the love of sensual pleasures call'd voluptuousness the love of Riches call'd covetousness and the vain-glorious love of honour call'd pride or ambition These three are disclaim'd and renounc'd by all Christians in the first part of their Baptismal vow for the love of them confounds the world and all Religion makes men criminal in souls bodies and estates and is the great enemy to their rest and salvation Therefore S. John who calls these the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life gives us this necessary caution 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him that is as our Blessed Saviour saith Mat. 6.24 no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon There is no halting betwixt God and Baal 1 Kings 18.21 the one or the other must be acknowledged for Lord there cannot be two contrary Sovereigns together and the same thing can't be granted to two several competitors if we love the world it reigns in our hearts and God is excluded if we give our love to the world we cannot possibly give it to God also Amor motus est cordis qui cum se inordinate movet cupiditas dicitur cum vero ordinatus est charitas apellatur Aug. de subst dil c. 2. so then the love of our selves is concupiscence the mother of all sin and impurity and the love of God is grace or charity the fountain of all holines and vertue and these two according as they are predominant in men make here the distinction betwixt the penitent and the impenitent betwixt the just and the unjust and will make the great difference hereafter betwixt those that shall dwell in the imbraces of the God of love to eternity and those that shall dwell with everlasting burning for every man is what he loves as S. Talis est quisque qualis est dilectio ejus terram diligis terra es c. Aug. Tract 2. in 1 Joh. Augustine saith the irresistible power of that mighty passion doth in some manner transform him into that which his love imbraceth and therefore to know whether a man be good or bad we inquire not what he knows or what he believes but what he doth love being sure that his morals are of the same nature as his love because his desires and actions are all guided by it §. 19. How they that will be profest lovers of JESUS must mortifie self-love This makes it our greatest duty as it is our greatest interest to rule by reason and Religion that passion which certainly will rule over us to set our love upon the right object upon God not upon our selves Not that we should or can be our own enemies and seek our own ruine no man ever yet hated his own flesh Ephes 29. saith S. Paul the worst of Misanthropes are kind to themselves and we may as soon lose our being as the desire of our well-being and indeed as we should have in the state of innocency so we may still love our selves in God only God must be preferr'd before all and 't is impossible we should be happy but in loving him above all things with all our hearts and souls but now that we are in a state of sin and depravation there must be a dereliction of our natural desires and affections a renunciation to our own wills that we may comply with the will of God and be
further than only to stir up our dull affections and raise holy passions in us But if we sincerely forsake our sins and evidence our love to JESUS 't is not greatly material what means or instruments we use §. 28. Meditation on the passion My love is crucified said that loving and holy Martyr Ignatius declaring how earnestly he wish't to die for JESUS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so considering the passion of JESUS I meditate with him My love is crucified my dearest Saviour dies in most bitter pains he hath been rudely bound and drag'd from place to place he hath been stript tied to a post and whipt like a vile slave he hath been buffetted and caned and abus'd with all manner of contumelies and now I see him crown'd with thorns all over spittle and blood I see him stretch'd upon the cross where his hands and his feet are nail'd his head hangs down I read in his pale face and his weeping eyes the extremity of his pain the anguish of his wounded soul Lord art thou he whom my soul loveth O Domine Jesu Christe si intelligentia quam mihi dedisti uti vellem sicut deberem cernerem manifeste quo modo imo quam sine modo à me creatura tua amari merueris qui prior dilexisti me tantus tantum gratis tantillum talem ingratum Idiot art thou my dearest JESUS were it my father my brother my friend or my benefactor that should suffer this undeservedly how would I pitty them but should they suffer this upon my account Lord I could not outlive such a sight if nothing else love would certainly wound my soul to death But behold it is so this crucified this dying man is my father he gave me my being he is my brother he came down from heaven and took humane flesh that he might have that relation to me he is my friend he lays down his life to save mine he is my greatest benefactor from him I receive all I have all the blessings the good things I injoy I owe to his kindness But heark methinks I hear him speak to me these pathetick these moving words Christian dearest Christian for whom here I die consider seriously imprint it in thine heart what in my words what in my mysteries thou readest of my suffering for thee consider who I am what I indure and to what end I am the eternal Son of God whom the Angels adore I became Man to make thee partaker of the Divine Nature I am infinitely rich the whole universe is mine I became thus destitute of all things to purchase true riches for thee I am of an Almighty Power the whole world was made and subsists by me I am now weak to make thee strong I am overcome of mine enemies to make thee conquer thine I am crown'd with glory and cloth'd with Majesty I now wear these thorns and am become naked to clothe thee with robes of righteousness and Crown thee with a Royal Diadem I am the inexhaustible fountain of joy and happiness I now indure sorrows and miseries to make thee joyful and happy I am infinitely pure and innocent I am become a sacrifice for sin to merit thy pardon and to sanctifie and make thee holy I am the Author of life the first and the last I now die to make thee live for ever nothing but love moves me thus to suffer for thee This us'd to be written under Crucifixes Aspice serve Dei sic me posuere Judaei Aspice mortalis pro te datur hostia talis Aspice devote quoniam sic pendeo pro te Introitum vitae reddo tibi redde mihi te In cruce sum pro te qui peceas desine pro me Desine do veniam dic culpam corrige vitam and nothing but love I require for it Dearest soul thy sins are more grievous to me than my wounds add not sorrow to my sorrow by remaining impenitent deny not this request to thy dying bleeding Saviour that thou wouldst mortifie thy lusts and forsake thy sins all that is past I heartily forgive if thou becomest true penitent I freely give my self for thee and beg that thou wouldst give thy self to me §. 29. Protestations of love to JESUS What shall I say now dearest Lord Words cannot answer thee I am amaz'd I am astonished I know not how to speak my tongue cannot express what my heart feels Lord I will say nothing I will answer with sighs and tears with devout affections by resigning and giving up my body and soul to thee I will answer by obedience by actions by now falling to work to reform my life to mortifie my sinful lusts to cut off the members of the body of sin Sweetest JESU I will love thee with all the affections my heart can entertain no bosome sin shall be so dear to me but for thy sake I will heartily part with it no lust shall be so pleasing but I will kill it at thy request and command even my natural desires and inclinations will I gladly deny when they come in competition with that duty and love I owe and ever will pay JESUS sect 30. Of a sincere amendment But fickle and unhappy creatures that we are we often promise well but seldome stand to our ingagements our resolutions are good and our performances very defective The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak I must not therefore rest in generals but I must resolve more especially against those sins I am inclined to and not only against them but also upon the means whereby I may overcome and mortifie them as avoiding the occasions and inticements inflicting on my self such severities as may be proper remedies and tying my self to such pious exercises as I know will drive away the temptation To forsake my sins is not to forbear drunkenness when perhaps I am not inclined to it or to avoid swearing when I look upon it as an unpleasing and unprofitable sin or to hate covetousness when by nature I am liberal but knowing what sin pleaseth me most what vice my temper inclines me to and what temptation is most strong and importunate upon me by my calling or my company against that to fortifie my self and imploy the utmost of my strength against that to watch and pray and use sincere and earnest indeavours To forsake my sins is not to say I will forsake them Some men when they are call'd upon by fear adversity or the secret voice of God within them are forward enough to ingage with the Elder Brother in the Gospel Lord I will go and work in thy vineyard but their hot zeal and hasty promise soon decays into negligence and at last into a cold denial Though I resolve against my natural corruptions never so seriously that will not subdue them without I use proper means for it to take up my cross and follow Christ to forsake all for him to deny my self to take the kingdom of heaven by force
lover a sincere and affectionate lover of JESUS I am oblig'd to undo as much as may be what I have done amiss and to do it no more this I heartily resolve to do and I hope shall really perform by the grace and assistance of my God I will make amends and restitution to those I have damnified in body goods or name and even ask their pardon for the injury and then bewail my sins grieve that I have offended my Divine and loving Master and beg his forgiveness and indeavour by tears and contrition to wash away the stains and spots wherewith my soul is polluted and displeaseth the holy eyes of the Holy JESUS and so to love JESUS binds upon me the whole exercise of repentance which now must be work of my life I am henceforth to live the life of a penitent and I resolve so to do therefore every night I must call my ways to remembrance and besides those greater provocations wherewith I offended my God in the days of my folly and inconsideration I am to take notice of those sins of daily incursion I am fallen into the last day and weep over them all and beg for pardon this especially upon those times appointed for mortification and acts of punitive repentance Fridays Lent and others wherein devout Christians make it their more solemn indeavours to soften their hearts and make them melt into penitent tears which must be done by Religious exercises and such meditations as this My dearest JESUS I owe to thy kindest goodness my being and all the blessings I injoy and I know that thou didst come down from heaven to die on the Cross that I might not die in hell to eternity to suffer a bitter and shameful death that I might live in eternal joys I hope to see thy glorious face one day I hope to receive a crown from thy gracious hands I hope to dwell in thy blissful society for ever dearest Saviour if thou wer 't upon earth I would go all the world over to prostrate my self before thee to kiss the ground thy Holy Feet should tread to serve thee to shew my love and gratitude to thee Dearest Lord I would now joyfully give up my life for thee I would lose the last drop of my blood to please and glorifie thee I would die rather than deny thee Why then unhappy wretch that I am do I offend thee to whom I owe my self and all that I have Why do I wound thee by my transgressions who was wounded for them by thy love Why do I grieve thee who purchasest eternal joys for me Why do I displease thee with whom I hope to live and dwell and from whom I expect mercy and Salvation Why do I sin against thee whom I love with all my soul and why do not I live to thee for whom I would die §. 33. Is made easie by love Such considerations and soliloquies as these will produce not only lachrymas doloris tears of grief but also lachrymas amoris tears of love and true contrition and moreover all the severities of repentance which are so unacceptable and so repugnant to nature will be made pleasant those things that would be ungrateful as acts of justice and obedience will become delightful as acts of love in amore nihil amari in love all things are sweet that are done or suffer'd for the sake of the beloved I take pleasure in infirmities 2 Cor. 12.10 in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake saith S. Paul that great lover of JESUS not that those things are of their own nature pleasant whether inflicted by our selves or others 't was for Christs sake that he like't them He that by penitent sorrow and acts of self-denial shews his love to JESUS is certainly delighted with the most afflictive of those voluntary sufferings as they are expressions of his love Accordingly 'tis said of the Religious of S. Bernard that their watchings and fastings and all the severities of their rule were become so pleasant to them by the devoutness of their affections that they were afraid of having their paradise in this world and consulted S. Bernard about it And certainly nothing but love could carry the primitive solitaries and Coenobites through that uneasiness and hardship they willingly undertook and indur'd many years and rejoyc'd in and would not have exchang'd for all the pleasures in the world §. 34. And proceeds not from melancholy Perhaps it will be said that such things are the effect of melancholy or a forward and misguided zeal not of true piety But let it be consider'd that natural love it self hath done and still doth wonderful things The love of friendship the love of lust the love of riches and ambition have set men upon difficult attempts have made them despise great dangers have carried them through many labours and sufferings and perhaps as great as the most mortified Christian ever undertook for JESUS and Eternity This hath been and is still the effect of Natural Love and sure Divine Love whose object is so infinitely more excellent may do at least as much Besides things temporal seem great at a distance but near at hand they appear as they are indeed mean and contemptible whereas contrariwise things eternal as they seem small and despicable afar off so near at hand they appear great and immense they overwhelm the mind Hence it is that dying men who are on the brink of eternity are amaz'd at the thoughts and near prospect of it and express great regret for their past inconsideration and promise great things for the future if they might live longer looking upon the world as an empty nothing not to be regarded where eternity appears and hence it is also that they who approach things eternal and view them by meditation and contemplation are of the same mind have the same apprehensions of them and act accordingly doing those things which dying men repent they have not doue for indeed it is no illusion or deceit but a great and real truth that the world and all it 's concerns are nothing compar'd to eternity and that we can never be too careful to obtain eternal joys and avoid eternal sorrows How much the Blessed Apostles and primitive Christians were acted by this consideration 2 Cor. 4.16 c. S. Paul gives us to understand saying that whilst they look't not on things visible and transitory but on things invisible and eternal then their afflictions were light and but for a moment though they lasted many years and were so great that the very thoughts of them can make us tremble yet they were light momentary whilst they look'd on eternity and they fainted not though their outward man decay'd daily by their great mortifications and their laborious zeal to serve God and all this whilst we look not on the things that are seen but on the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the
we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ that whatsoever things are true 4.8 honest just pure lovely of good report any vertue any thing praise-worthy may be our constant study and practice We must labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of our Lord 2 Cor. 5.9 because we shall all appear before him and receive according as we obey him now in his absence §. 9. Incouragements to obey Jesus All this and much more to the same purpose which I have read and observed in the Sacred Books of the New Testament hath convinc'd me that it is the design of Christian Religion to make me meek and humble sober and contented just and charitable devout and religious vertuous and holy this I own to be my duty and I will indeavour my self heartily to perform the same And that I may do it with cheerfulness â—nd affection I will stir and quicken â—he holy fire of love in my heart by pâ—ous considerations When any duty to God or man calls upon me for acâ—ion and performance and I find in my soul too much of dulness or reluctancy I will again by meditation suppose my dying Saviour present telling me how much he hath done and suffered for me and desiring me as I love him to do that duty which lies before me Christian if thou dost understand the greatness of my love which brought me here to die for thee if thou art sensible of it and wouldst make any return for it do this obey this command this may be the last thing thou shalt ever do for me this may be the last tryal of thy love sure it would grieve thee to have denied this small request to him that gives his life that gives himself for thee Or else I will suppose my self in the presence of my Divine Master sitting on his heavenly throne with his glorified servants about him shewing me the crown he hath assign'd to me and saying N. N. wilt thou deny to do this at my earnest request wilt thou be so unkind to me Sure I have deserved better at thy hands than so sure I who am much above thee have done much more for thee than that comes to but besides I would highly recompence thee These my friends I have rewarded with the bliss and glory they enjoy for having done such things for me and I would reward thee as bountifully here is eternal life eternal rest eternal glory for thy recompence as thou lovest me as thou lovest thy self obey that thou maist be happy To this what answer could I make but such as this Lord not only this but any thing else thou hast commanded I am willing to fulfil and obey I bewail my dulness and depraved nature that makes me so unready so unactive in thy service but Lord thou knowest that I love thee I would undertake any labour any trouble to make it appear I would die to justifie it Yet sweetest JESU I beg of thee to increase my love to increase it to such a degree that like thy heavenly attendants I may burn with that Divine fire and be all love to thee Sund. 25. after Trinity that so I may be always prepar'd and desirous to do thy will Stir up we beseech thee O Lord the wills of thy faithful people that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works may of thee be plenteously rewarded through JESUS Christ our Lord. Amen Love is the fulfilling of the Law Christian Reader I hope that what I have writ thou wilt also read and repeat heartily in the first Person for to that end I have thus contriv'd it to ingage thine affections to make thee speak as of thy self these soliloquies acts of love and acts of resolution which run throughout the whole discourse and I would have thee use that method which may much affect thee to make dialogues betwixt thy Saviour and thy soul and betwixt thy soul and thy self for certain it is that for thee N. N. by name JESUS was crucified and died and certain it is that thou thy self shalt die and be judged and rise again to an intolerable eternity if by carelessness and inconsideration thou hast been unmindful of thy Lord and thy soul or else rise again to eternal joys if thou hast sincerely lov'd and serv'd JESUS Job 15 10 If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love §. 10. Of free-will-offerings Thus much of necessity must be done my duty as well as my love constrains me to it Not to break negative precepts and to obey positive ones that is to cease from sin and to work righteousness is required of me if I do it by love I have made my task pleasant but yet a task it is which must be fulfill'd Not but that there is mercy for sins against the New-covenant for the transgression of Gospel precepts there is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner what ever his sins have been and it ought greatly to indear God to us that he is so willing to forgive so desirous to have us repent that we may be capable of his pardon but whether soon or late whether after crying guilts or ordinary sins still I say there must be a true contrition a sorrow and repentance for our sins proceeding from the love of God and a sincere indeavour to please and obey him for the future and so thus far we are drawn by a moral necessity by the desire of our own happiness which is not to be obtain'd any other way But shall we stay just here and not go one step further than is required 't is well indeed when we are safe and that must be secur'd first of all and with the greatest care but shall our love proceed no further Sure that Christian who is best assur'd of his salvation will love God most of all and make to him the greatest and most hearty returns When a man is qualified for heaven and enjoys the greatest happiness this world is capable of that is a sense of Gods favour and a well-grounded assurance of a future bliss his soul cannot but melt into the most affectionate love for that gracious God whose mercy and loving kindness hath brought him into that happy condition and fitted him by his grace for a much happier and they I say that are in such a case for to them only I now speak may well do something more than what needs they must may well enlarge their affections to God beyond the bounds of prescribed duties it is a good sign a sign of a sincere and a pious heart when a man is forward to undertake for God when he doth not weigh grains and scruples lest he should part with any of his right and liberty but affords God a full measure and running over and think he never gives enough and still desires that he might do infinitely more for him 'T is true
constitution hence the desuetude of fasting upon appointed days and even of bidding of them and the non-observance of Holy-days and times of solemn devotion hence the slight regard had to the publick worship of God and the seldom receiving of the Lords Supper hence the reservedness unhappy secresie of most people in not acquainting their spiritual guides with the state of their conscience when it needs and not receiving their comforts and directions hence the not sending for the elders of the Church to do their office upon sick persons and the seldom desiring their absolution and hence even in too many of the Clergy the neglect of daily saying Divine Offices as they are commanded and observing other injunctions peculiar to them I may say that it fares with our Church as with some Princes who have their due Sovereignty denied them because they are Christians as if by becoming members and defenders of the Church they were become subject to Pontifical Chairs and Puritan Synods for so many would not have this Church obey'd because 't is Reformed they would not have its laws observ'd because it makes them inferior to Gods as though by not imposing a blind superstitious and oversevere obedience as Rome doth this Church were become uncapable of exercising any authority over her children and requiring any duty from them But I say let those that love JESUS amend this for his sake for the Church is his spouse and hath receiv'd her power from him let them yield a free and Religious obedience to Ecclesiastical injunctions because JESUS hath said he that receiveth you receiveth me It is doubtless our duty so to do and I am sure it will be a good token of a pious heart when we shall obey them in the Lord whom the Lord hath set over us We shall make it appear that we own the Authority of our heavenly King when we are subject to those his officers by whom he now reigns over us to whom he hath given the keys of his kingdom and whom he hath appointed Stewards of his saving Mysteries we shall have a share in the Mysterious representation of the great expiatory sacrifice which by the Church is celebrated in the Eucharist and in those Divine Services and solemn Prayers which the Church offers to God daily and we shall receive the full benefit of being members of the Church and holding communion with it if this were not absolutely requir'd yet I am sure it will be a very acceptable free-will-offering if we do it devoutly and joyfully because we love JESUS and this Christian obedience to the known rational and pious orders of the Church will answer the best part of that ancient and so much magnified self-abnegation vow'd by the Coenobites when they gave up themselves to be in all things rul'd and commanded by their superiors and it will exercise those two heavenly graces meekness and humility which the world despiseth but all true Christians own to be most Divine Mat. 11.29 as they that bring rest to the soul and make us most conformable to the meek and humble JESUS §. 12. Of several voluntary oblations As for corporal austerities commanded or uncommanded I have said something of them already and the chiefest use and design of them is to mortifie sensual lusts and to keep under the body that the spirit may rule and be obey'd yet as they are exercises of repentance marks of the just indignation we conceive against our selves for having displeas'd God as they may effect or express a disrelish of temporal pleasures a longing for heavenly joys and an indeavour to take up our cross and follow JESUS they may be the matter of a free-will-offering and they may find a gracious reward and acceptance in so much as they proceed from a sincere love to JESUS Prayer also thanksgiving reading meditation acts of Religion though as to the substance they be the discharge of the greatest duty God requires of us the worship and adoration of his Divine Majesty yet as to the quantity they may become free oblations the expressions of a greater love He that with devout affections inlargeth his offices or counts the frequency of them by Canonical hours and wish't for opportunities and he that sets apart large portions for religious exercises or in the following of his necessary business doth often lift up his heart and thoughts to heaven and heavenly things makes a voluntary offering of some of his time to him of whose eternity he hopes to be partaker He that defalks some hours from the refreshment of his body to bestow them upon his soul he that chuseth a meaner condition and imployment that having fewer avocations he may spend more time upon Religion and he that bears with some wrongs and injuries that being free from the distractions of quarrels and law-suits he may be the better dispos'd to serve God hath bought the blessed opportunity of attending JESUS and indearing himself to him Charity likewise whether Spiritual or Corporal whether in giving or in forgiving may be carried further than is absolutely required and so become a free oblation He that takes great pains to instruct the ignorant to convert sinners by all means to win souls to JESUS may manifest a greater love than was absolutely necessary to his own salvation and he that makes it his business and delight to prevent quarrels or make reconciliations to comfort and defend the afflicted and oppressed to visit hospitals and relieve the poor and to spend all his substance in pious uses for the honour of God and Religion and for the present and future happiness of men may exceed what God would have rewarded and by shewing so great a love inrich his crown of glory and recompence I only mark the head-springs or store-houses of those arbitrary gifts wherewith men may honour God and enrich themselves the several emanations and offerings which may proceed from them being free and innumerable cannot be specified and should not be impos'd Where there is love there is a willing mind and where there is a willing mind a man in other cases as well as in charity is accepted 2 Cor. 8.12 according to what he hath and not according to what be hath not Some husbandmen sow that they may have wherewith to pay their debts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. S. Johan Clim Grad 26. §. 43. which marks the labours and offerings of penitents who indeavour to make what satisfaction they can for their injuries to God or man Some sow that by the expected crop they may increase their wealth which represents the good works of more innocent persons who aspire to a great reward and a glorious crown Some sow that they may have something wherewith to express their gratitude and make presents to their kind land-lord or benefactor whereby is signified the best of Christians who in all things seek and design the glory and advantage of their Lord. And others sow that they may be thought