finally Thirdly seekes and endeavours the protection and preservation of the thing it loves as it on the other side shunnes and avoids ought that might endanger the destruction thereof and if notwithstanding it meete with it interposeth it selfe betwixt it and that to defend it as the arme wards the blow from the head albeit it be to the wounding of it selfe And when these three concurre together when our love hath these three concommitants and is attended with these fruits and effects as you heard before that it thus desires the fruition conjunction preservation of Christ. Then may we distinguish it from all sensuall and carnall love for there be many sorts of love in the world but it is all but worldly love not spirituall and Heavenly love First ther 's a love of pitty as when we bewaile a mans case but hate his deeds so are Malefactors beloved Secondly ther 's a love of desire as when the stomacke desires sweete meates the eare delightsome sounds and the eye fine sights c. Thirdly ther 's a love of complusment when one lusts or longs after a thing with the whole heart or soule so as he cannot subsist without it as a woman with child lusteth and longeth after a thing she hath a minde to which she cannot fafely goe without Fourthly ther 's love of friendship when one man loves another for some courtesie or kindenesse he hath received from him Fiftly and lastly ther 's a love of dependance when a man loves God more then himselfe more then his life and depends upon him for all good things belonging to body or soule Or to be more briefe ther 's a naturall sinfull spirituall Love The first is betwixt parents and children and in it selfe is neither good nor evill The second ariseth from evill habits bred in the soule and it is most hatefull to God and makes us worse then the brute beasts The third is that divine gift and grace of God which the Holy Ghost puts into our hearts whereby we are more then men and desire Holy things for themselves and this is that love which the Apostle here calls for in this place Now if our love to the Lord Iesus Christ be such we shall further know it by these two things which alwayes proceede and goe before it as the former followed after it viz. humiliation for sinne past and faith in Christ for the time to come First humiliation for sinne past for till a man come to have a sight and sense of himselfe by reason of his sinnes he will never care for Christ and when he hath beene thus cast downe yet Secondly without faith in Christ whereby he applies him to himselfe and is perswaded that he is reconciled unto him he will not yet love him but rather hate him of the twaine Now the manner or meanes of getting of both these and so consequently of love into our hearts is by the preaching of the word of God by prayer and taking him when he is offered and given unto us in the same for that end But now we must take Christ as an husband takes a wife or a wife an husband out of love to their persons not to their portions and then shall we be the better subject unto him but except we be first humbled as was before said for our sinnes and consider in what neede thou standest of him how that without him thou must perish till then I say thou canst not sufficiently set by him nor love him aright but when thou knowest how necessary he is for thee how alsufficient and affectionate he is towards thee then thou beginnest to looke at Christ as a condemned person doth at him that brings a pardon for him whom he loves and longs after joyes and rejoyceth in And yet all this is but a preparative to our love of him it is faith that is the first fountaine whereby we so love him as that we can cleave unto him with purpose of heart to serve and please him in all things and this love which thus ariseth from faith doth not onely beleeve that Christ is mercifull and will forgive thee thy sinnes upon thy supplication and repentance unto him for the same but also that he is most fit and conformable for thee so that thou couldst finde in thy heart to be anathaematized for his sake and to be divorced from all things in the world for love of him And so much for the second thing also I come now to the last to wit Thirdly to the reasons why he is worthy to be had in execration and to be cursed even to the death that loves not the Lord Iesus Christ and they are chiefly these five First because when Christ shall come and be a Sutor unto us to love him and we refuse to doe it and to be reconciled unto him and receive him then he growes angry to the death you may see this in the Parable of the Marriage of the Kings sonne how wroth he was when he heard they had abused and beaten his servants which he sent to call them to the wedding and therefore the Prophet David bids us kisse the Sonne lest he bee angry and so c. that is as if he should say when he offers himselfe to kisse you with the kisses of his mouth be not too coy and curious but imbrace his offer returne his curtesie with the like kindnesse and kisse him againe lest he take it in great indignation at your hands and be so angry with you that you die for it Indeede when we knew not the Gospell he was content though we were froward and fruitlesse but now that he sends his Desciples to preach unto all Nations then if they bring not forth fruits worthy amendment of life he tells them the axe is laid unto the rootes c. Secondly because he that in old time brake the law was accursed now this was the Lords Commandement that we love him But you will say we are not able to fulfill the law of our selves and how then shall we doe it I answer ther 's a two-fold obedience Legall and Evangelicall that requires exact obedience in our owne persons but this requires no more but onely our endeavour and faith in Christ. Thirdly because he loves something else more then God and so commits Adultery now shee that in the old law did commit Adultery had a drinke of bitter water given her which made her belly swell c. so that shee died how much more worthy of death is he then that thus deales with God and going a whoring after it commits spirituall fornication Fourthly because that commonly belongs to Hypocrites they are a cursed crew to whom Christ shall say at the last day goe ye cursed c. Now all such as love him not are no better nor worse but wretched and damnable Hypocrites Fiftly because love governes the whole man it s as the Rudder of a ship which turnes
and that God hath accepted the attonement for thee in him thou canst never love him as a brother or friend but rather feare him as an enemy or Judge pray therefore with the Desciples Lord encrease our faith and therefore ply the ministery of the word one* else I say againe thou canst never truely love him but as thou dost another man which thou knowest not whether hee love thee againe or no and so thou mayst hate him againe at some time or other for all that but labour for faith and that will breede love and then if thou love him he will surely love thee yea indeede thou couldst neither love nor beleeve in him were it not but hee loves thee first But thou wilt say how shall I know that I answer It is the Apostle Saint Iohns owne words or rather his words by that his Apostle wee love him because hee loved us first And besides his word though that were enough thou hast his seale he hath given thee his Sonne who hath given his life for thee and shed his most precious blood for thy salvation and would he have done this for thee thinkest thou if he had not loved thee no but herein is love not that wee loved God but that God loved us and sent his Sonne to die for us us* and even yet by his spirit hee still sues unto us for our love as a further testimony thereof Oh but thou wilt say I am not worthy of so great love for I am a sinner disobedient and rebellious But I answer what dost thou tell him of that what if thou wert the chiefe of sinners he knew that before he gave thee his Sonne and he gave him unto thee the rather because he knew thou wast so for he justifies the ungodly that is those that condemne and judge themselves to be so so that if thou wilt but beleeve in him and imbrace him it is as much as he desires of thee But thou wilt say it may be he is affected to this or that person and not to me to which I answer againe That his commission is generall Goe preach unto all nations baptizing them c. And so is his invitation too Come unto mee all you that labour c. so that if thou wilt but beleeve and come in unto him thou shalt be saved for he casts out none that come in unto him as you heard before Ioh. 6. 37. And when thou hast considered this then begin to argue and reason thus with thy selfe sith the promise is made to all I know I am one of that number and then thou wilt begin to love him for all thou art a sinner yea thou wilt love him so much the more for that to consider that for all that he loved thee Oh but thou wilt say I see I sinne dayly and hourely and that againe and againe against many vowes and promises against many mercies and meanes of better obedience But I answer what though thou dost remember that as there 's a spring of sinne and corruption in thee so there 's a spring of mercy and compassion in God and that spring is set open for sinne and for uncleanesse to wash and purge thee from the same so that still I say if thou wilt but love and beleeve in him he will love thee for notwithstanding all this hee still woes and sues unto thee for thy love and therefore stand no longer out with him but come in with all the speede thou canst make which that thou mayst the better doe thou must remove these two hinderances out of the way Strangenesse Worldly mindednesse First Strangenesse for strangenesse begets coldnesse of love whereas familiarity as I told you procures boldnesse in the day of judgment But thou wilt say how shall I come to be acquainted with God How why be much in his praise in hearing of the word and receiving of the Sacrament there is a communion of Saints you know and so there 's a communion of God with the Saints let us therefore be carefull to maintaine this communion betwixt us by having recourse unto him in his ordinances and seeking unto him for comfort in all our troubles and adversities Secondly Worldly mindednesse that also begets coldnesse of affection and want of love to the Lord Christ and therefore hee circumcises the heart that is he puts off all carnall and worldly affections from it that so thou mayst not love the world nor the things of the world but may love him with all the heart and with all c. for the love of the world is enmity with God so that if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him for you cannot serve God and Mammon and therefore our Saviour saith That we must not onely forsake but hate father and mother and wife and children and house and lands for his sake and the Gospells or else we cannot be his Disciples so did the Apostles we have forsaken all and followed thee Wherefore let us not set these things too neere our hearts but considering what it is that keepes us asunder as vaine hopes worldly feares fantasticke pride pleasures profits and the like let us cashiere them and cast them from us for what are all these and all such as these are but vaine things that cannot profit in the evill day And therefore as Samuel exhorts the people of Israel Turne not aside from the Lord unto them either to the right hand or to the left for they cannot profit because they are vaine But thou wilt say will God then be content with any love I answer no truely that he will not neither what then Answer First thou must love him withall thy strength and with all thy power with all the parts and faculties of soule and body Now it may be thou art a Magistrate a master of a family a Minister a Tutor or any other governour and then thou must doe God more service then another private and inferiour person thou mayst compell them that are under thee to love the Lord by thy authority and example God lookes for this I say at thy hands for to whom much is given of them much shall be required thou art but as a servant sent to market which must give an account for what hee hath received and the more money hee hath given him to bestow and lay out the more commodities his master lookes he should bring home with him for it so the more wit or understanding or learning or knowledge or authority and power thou hast the more love must thou beare unto Christ and shew it by thy bringing forth more fruits thereof unto him then others that have none of all these oportunities or not in so great a measure as thou hast this is the first thing Secondly thou must love him above all things in the world besides whether it be pleasure or honour
they all which was an argument that he loved much because he was in labour much and so when our Saviour asked Peter whether he loved him he puts him to worke and sets him his taske saying feede my sheepe and last of all Eighthly whether thou wouldest not onely doe but suffer much for his sake as David when his wife Michal laughed at him for dancing before the Arke he was contented to beare it because he did it to the Lord and so the Apostles rejoyced because they werâ— counted worthy to suffer for his name And Saint Paul likewise when the people intreated him with teares not to goe up to Ierusalem because he should be bound as Agabus had signified by the spirit unto him answered them Why doe yee rent my heart I am ready not onely to be bound but also to dye for c. But thou wilt say I have no such occasions now adayes if I had I know not what I should doe But I answer is it so hast thou no such occasions yes thou hast occasions enough as when he takes away thy wife thy child thy friends thy goods thy good name c. if then I say thou canst beare it patiently with Iob and say it is the Lord giveth and the Lord c. or with Ely it is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good then thou lovest him and yet thou must doe more then that thou must not onely beare it patiently but ioyfully too as you heard before the Apostles did lay thy selfe to these rules then and try impartially whether thou love the Lord Iesus Christ or not and forthy further helpe and more infallible notice thereof to know whether thy love to him be pure and unfained or whether it be false and counterfeit take these more particular proofes of it for assure thy selfe if thou love him aright as we touched before that then First thou wilt be content with nothing but love againe so that as Absolon though in hypocrisie said when as David had fetch'd him out of banishment and confined him to his owne house that he might not see the Kings face what doe I here seeing I may not see the Kings face so wouldest thou say out of love to the love of God what doe I here since I cannot behold the faire beauty of the Lord Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon mee or else what good will my life doe me but if thou doe so then thou shalt make my heart more joyfull and more glad then they that have had their Corne and Wine and Oyle increased Secondly thou wilt love the brethren for they are like him though he exceede them in the degrees and measures of goodnesse as the Ocean doth a drop of a bucket this is a pregnant proofe hereof and therefore deale squarely with thy selfe herein And the reason why thou canst not love the Lord if thou love not the Brethren is because its an easier matter to love man whom thou hast seene then it is to love God whom thou hast not seene for use we know makes them comlier and hansomer wherefore Saint Iohn saith If any man say he loves God and yet hates his Brother he is a lyer he deceives himselfe and there is no truth in him But thou wilt say thou lovest them well enough Dost thou so then thou wilt love their company for what we love and delight in we are never well without it nor cannot endure it out of our sight and therefore when the Psalmist had said That all his delight was in the Saints and upon such as excell in vertue if you would know how to know it was so he afterwards tells us That he was a companion of them that feare him c. Psal. 119. But thou wilt say againe though thou dost not love them yet God forbid thou shouldst be so bad but that thou shouldst love the Lord Iesus Christ. But I answer thee againe to that too If thou dost so then thou wilt love his appearing for if thou wish in thy heart there were no generall iudgement thou lovest him not say what thou wilt to the contrary as a loving and loyall wife cannot love her husband but shee will reioyce at his comming home when he is abroad and the neerer the time approacheth by so much the more ioyfull and glad will shee be Thirdly if thou love him thou wilt speake well of him upon all occasions and in every place where thou commest for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh so that if thou speake well of God but for fashion sake not out of any true affection but of feare thou lovest him not for he that loves him will be much in his praise as we have an instance in David so that if the heart be inflamed the mouth will be open thou wilt not be tongue-tied nor ashamed of him no not before Princes But thou wilt say I am no scholler I cannot speake eloquently if I could then indeede I should not be so afraid nor ashamed to doe it as now I am because I can doe it no better nor Rhetorically then now I can But let me tell thee for thy comfort let that never trouble thee speake as well as thou canst and thou needst care for no more for that will beget more and more love in thee and love that will make thee eloquent we have a notable presedent for this in the Spouse who because shee loved Christ see how shee sets him forth my beloved is all beautifull c* and it is most sure it will be so with thee if thou love the Lord thou wilt shew it by thy speeches for thou canst not well speake well of him whom thou lovest not but if thou hast no good thought of him thy words will bewray thee yea thou wilt not onely speake well of him and of his wayes but thou wilt also walke in the same nor wilt thou stand pausing upon it to consider whether thou wert best doe it or no but if it be about a good duty as suppose keeping of the Lords day hearing of the word c. thou wilt doe it without any more adoe yea though there were no promise nor profit to be got by it for else thou dost no more but as a servant not as sonne in hope of wages and not out of love looking for nothing for thy paines so did Saint Paul he would preach the Gospell though he had nothing but chaines and imprisonment for his labour and why will he so why because God commands it and its a good duty so that if thou make a question of it whether thou wert best to doe this or that good duty or wilt doe no more then thou must needs thou lovest not the Lord for he that loves him will doe whatsoever he can for him and yet thinke all too little when he hath done too Fourthly as thou wilt speake well
of him thy selfe so thou wilt not endure to heare others speake ill of him but thy heart will be mooved within thee at them and at any thing that might impeach and hurt his glory as to see his Church lye wast his word corrupted c. so Ely was not mooved so much with the death of his Sonnes as to heare that the Arke of God was taken* and indeede they are bastards and not sons that can heare their father reviled and railed on and never be affected nor offended at it Fiftly if thy love to the Lord Iesus Christ be sincere and sound thou wilt be loath to lose him for we will rather lose all we have then lose the favour and affection of a friend whom we love intirely and as thou wouldst be loath to lose him so thou wouldst be as loath to offend him or doe any thing whereby thou mightest be like so to doe or if so be thou hast thou wilt never be at quiet till thou hast gained his good will againe whatsoever it cost thee to get it Sixtly thou wilt linger and hang after him as we may see in the woman of Canaan she would not be said nay but let him say or doe what he would she would not leave him but she still staid by him till he had granted her suite Examine thy selfe then narrowly by these signes likewise and when thou hast done so and findest thy selfe guilty in any or all of these particulars then confesse thy sinne unto the Lord and beg the pardon of it at his hands leave him not till he hath heard thee and granted thee the request of thy lips by saying unto thy soule I am thy salvation and witnessing with thy spirit that thou art his child by adoption and grace And so as I have hitherto shewed you some reasons why he is accursed that loves not the Lord Iesus Christ ought to love him and whereby thou mayst be incited and stirred up thereunto for as David said in another case the Lord is worthy to be praised so may I say the Lord is worthy to be beloved and that in many respects as First because he hath all the glory and beauty in himselfe that ever thou sawest in any creature it is in its full perfection in him whereas it is but in part in any creature as the light is in its full lustre and strength in the Sunne whereas the Starres and Planets have but a glimpse or beame of it and tha by participation and not in it selfe as in a fountaine and therefore the Spouse in the Canticles saith that he is all glorious or that all glory is in him and this is the reason why some love him and others love him not because he hath manifested and revealed himselfe and his glory to some and not to others as unto Moses Abraham c. Secondly he is unchangeable ther 's no man but that thou shalt at some time or other see that in him which might make thee not to love him but in God we cannot finde any such matter for he is Iehovah semper idem yesterday to day c. there 's no variablenesse nor shadow c. Thirdly because he is Almighty he can doe whatsover he will there is nothing impossible to him and as he is able to doe all he will so he will doe all that he is able so farre forth as it may make for his owne glory and thy good But thou wilt say why is this such a loadstone of love Yes verily that it is for by his omnipotency are understood all the excellency and glory all the grace and vertues that are in God But thou wilt say I have often offended him will he then yet heare me or accept of my love for all that Yes that he will for he is gracious and mercifull Oh but I have nothing in me but am ready to offend him againe What if thou be yet he is long suffering so that he will not cast thee off if so be thou wilt cleave to him Oh but how shall I know that I answer thou shalt know it by his word and that is truth it selfe search the Scriptures therefore and there thou shalt heare him say asmuch in plaine termes he that commeth to me I will in no wise c. Oh but my sinnes are such strange ones as no bodies are Suppose they were yet his mercy is infinite and farre more then thy sinnes are or can be but yet that is not so as thou sayst for there have bin as great sinners as thou whatsoever thou art which yet neverthelesse upon their faith and repentance have beene received into grace and favour againe as were Mary Magdalen Peter David and diverse others besides them Oh but for all that I am not worthy of his love and it will be a disparagement for him to set his love upon such a one as I am But what is that to thee if he thinke thee worthy as so he doth for he sues unto thee what needst thou stand upon that why shouldst thou care for any more now this is all the dowry and duty he askes of thee for what doth the Lord thy God require of thee ô Israel but that thou love him* And moreover besides this consider that it is he that first gave thee this affection that thou shouldst love him and that ther 's none other on whom thou canst better bestow it or who more deserves it at thy hands then he doth And finally consider that thou hast engaged thy selfe unto him by vow in Baptisme so that as Ioshua said unto the Children of Israel yee are witnesses against your selves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him so are yee against your selves and every time that ye receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper you renew your covenant so that if you love and serve not the Lord you are so many times witnesses against your selves And here let us make some little stand to reckon up the severall circumstances that doe engage us to love him as First that he is our Lord and hath bought us at a very high rate now if a condemned person or a man taken by the Turkes should bee repleeved or ransomed by another we would all thinke it his duty that he should love him as long as hee lives for it and so stands the case with us we all sate in darkenesse and in the shadow of death and were taken Captive by Satan at his pleasure and Christ hath redeemed us from that his more then AEgyptian bondage and that not with corruptible things as silver or gold but with his precious blood as of a Lambe without c. and doth not he then deserve thy love canst thou deny him such a small thing as that is Againe consider Secondly what he hath done for thee even from thy youth up how he hath fed thee forgiven thee thine offences and paid the
debt for thee when thou wast ready to goe to prison for it so that now the Lord begins to grow angry with thee if thou wilt not yet love him for all this and yet this is not all and therefore Thirdly consider also that he loves thee now as fire begets fire so doth love beget love therefore saith Saint Iohn we love him because he loved us first that is his love to us should make us love him againe but especially we cannot but love him if we consider in the last place Fourthly what his love is for its unspeakeable and passing knowledge we can never conceive the height and length c. All which what should it teach us but these two things First that if we will not love the Lord he will shew his wrath and make his power knowne upon us that we are but vessells of wrath fitted for destruction as it is said Againe Secondly it should exhort us to love the Lord Iesus Christ and therefore to provoke us thereunto we should often consider and thinke in these things what right and title he hath to us how much he hath done for us and how greatly he loves yea and more then all this wee shall thereby also have these and these things wee shall by this meanes reape these and these benefits First we shall have his spirit the spirit of truth the Comforter which shall leade us into all truth and enable us to fullfill his Commandements and with facility and ease whereas else they would be grievous unto us as for example Saint Paul would soone have beene weary of preaching and suffering so much as he did if he had not had this love in him and why doe parents thinke nothing too much for their children but because they love them therefore it is that though they bee froward and untoward yet still they beare with them if then we cannot finde in our hearts to be quiet untill they looke to the Lord like as the needle of a compasse which is toucht with a Loadstone will never stand still till it comes to the North-pole then may this be a testimony unto us that may distinguish us from Hypocrites and witnesse to our soules that we love the Lord Iesus Christ for they keepe the Commandements of God in some sort and abstaine from some one kinde of sinne but not out of love to him nor in any obedience and conscience of his word but in love to themselves Secondly this is a marke of thy Resurrection from the death of sinne to the life of righteousnesse hereby shall yee knew that yee are translated from death to life because yee love the brethren now yee cannot love them but you must love the Father that begot them Thirdly thou shalt get by this thy love to him for when thou givest him thy heart he will give it thee againe he will onely alter the object but let thee keepe the affection still onely it shall be better then it was before he will purifie it from all its corruptions and cleanse it from all its sins Nor shall this be any thing out of thy way it shall be as much for thy profit as ever it was before for when thy heart is set to keepe his Commandements when it inclines to his statutes as so hee will incline it then whatsoever thou dost it shall prosper so that as it s said of the Sabbath that it was made for man that is for mans good so may we say the same of all the rest of the Commandements that it is made for man that is for his good and benefit and therefore the promise of life and happinesse is made to all alike And here by the way take this difference along with thee to distinguish thy love from selfe love for that is all for it selfe but this is all for him whom thou lovest if then thou love the Lord for thine owne good it is selfe love but if thou love him for himselfe simply without any respect to the recompence of reward then is it true love indeede Fourthly wee shall receive much comfort by loving the Lord now what is that keepes us from loving of him but our pleasures we are loath to part with them and yet alas we shall receive much more and they farre more substantiall sollider and sounder comfort by loving of him then ever we should by loving of the world or the things of the world Now doe but thinke how good a thing it is to love one that is but like thee much rather shouldst thou love one that died for thee wherefore if thou wouldst have thy heart filled with joy and comfort love him for so thou shalt have joy unspeakeable and glorious And last of all if thou wouldst indeede unfainedly love the Lord Iesus Christ consider Fiftly that it makes thee a more excellent man then thou wast before for every man is better or worse according to his love as it is set on things better or worse now Christ is the Summum bonum the chiefest good and if thou love him thou art united unto him and to his God-head for love is of a uniting nature Thou wilt say these are indeede good motives to make us to love him but how shall I come by this love or by what meanes shall I get this love into my heart For answer whereunto I tell thee first of all that if thou canst but unfeinedly desire to love him thou hast halfe done this worke already and that thou mayst have such a desire meditate often upon those motives before This is the answer Christ himselfe gave to his Disciples when they asked him how they should get faith why saith he if you have faith but as a graine of mustard feed you should say to this mountaine be thou removed and be thou throwne into the midst of the Sea c. thereby shewing them the excellency of it that so he might the more enamour them with the love of it and make them desire it above all that they could imagine and thinke of besides in comparison thereof but if thou wouldst as thou sayst thou desirest to love the Lord Iesus Christ indeede with all thy heart with all thy soule and with c. I answer and add againe thou canst not use a better meanes to attaine thereunto and get the love of him into thy heart then these First pray unto God for it for all graces are his gifts they are meere Donatives and hee hath promised to heare them that aske in his Sonnes name and to give the spirit to them that aske it that is to give the gifts and graces thereof unto them nor is he any niggard for he giveth liberally and obraideth not But thou wilt say how doth prayer beget love I answer it begets it two wayes First by prevailing with God Secondly by familiarity with him First I say by prevailing with God so did Iaacob and the woman of Canaan for considering that