with the notion and state of all such because the Chosen ones of God are those and onely those who shew the truth and vigour of their Faith by all holy conversation and godliness Though they are in the World yet in the Scripture-sence they are not of the World but chosen out of the World as our Saviour said of his first Disciples John 15. 19. And for this reason the World hateth them because they are not of the World even as Christ himself was not of the World John 17. 14. Therefore the World knoweth them not because it knoweth not God whose Sons they are 1 John 3. 1. WHEN Men meddle with points of Divinity and especially with such a Tender and Weighty Point as this is touching God's Love to Mankind they should very carefully observe what words really mean in the Scripture style and should form their Notions of things accordingly not daring to fix upon the great Rule of our Faith a construction of their own and that too quite contrary to the Sence of the Holy Spirit as some have taken the Confidence to doe whether out of Ignorance or out of Design or out of Both God knoweth Now not to urge any more places of Scripture to this purpose those already cited are enough to shew that in the Sacred Dialect the World is taken commonly in the softer sence for Mankind in general and many times in a severe construction for those of them who are in the most desperate condition the more wretched sinful and provoking part of mankind but we never find it used to signifie a Peculiar People Approved of God Acceptable to him or so in Favour with him as to be elected by him unto Everlasting Glory And should these places of Scripture be applyed to those who are supposed to be so elected such consequences would necessarily follow as to all Rational and Sober men would appear not onely very Absurd but very Impious and Horrible also To come close then to the matter in hand When our Saviour said God so loved the World c. his plain meaning was that God's sending his onely begotten Son into the World was an Act of his Love to the whole Race of Adam to all men without any exception not onely to the Jews but to the sinful Gentiles also to all and singular that did or should live upon the face of the whole Earth nay an act of Love even to those who are the Ungodliest of the World the most Corrupt People the Greatest Sinners that are most of all under God's Wrath and Displeasure 2. SOME may be ready to enquire here How the God of Purity can be said to Love People that are in such a sad and wretched state why this is the Second thing I am to consider and before I proceed to the Explication thereof I must intreat you to observe that Love and Anger are not at all Inconsistent Love and Hatred indeed are opposite affections but Love and Displeasure may go together and very often there is Kindness even where there is Indignation As frail and infirm Beings as we our selves are we find in our own Nature a mixture of these Dispositions Thus a Magistrate is angry with a Malefactor though at the same time he Pitieth him A Father is Incensed against an Undutiful Child though at the same time he Loves him and for that reason Correcteth because he bears a Tender and Entire Affection towards him One Man is highly Displeased with another and reckons him an Enemy though at the same time he is Benevolently affected to him as a Neighbour and a Christian and is ready to do him any Charitable Offices as one for whom the Lord Jesus was pleased to Die And if these several Affections thus meet in us though our Natures are Vitiated and Corrupt How can it seem incredible that at the same time Displeasure and Love should come from that Divine Being who is absolutely Perfect transcendently Righteous Infinitely Necessarily and Inexhaustibly Good and Merciful This being premised that I may now proceed Distinctly and Clearly upon this Subject I must desire you again to observe that there is a Twofold Love to be consider'd here or rather a Two-fold Degree of Love and of each of these we find in our selves a daily Sense and Experiment 1. First There is in our Nature especially when it is smooth'd and softned by Religion an inclination to do a Man good consider'd under the notion of a Man though his actions towards us be such that he deserves not thereby any kindness at our hands but rather the contrary This Divines are wont to call The Love of Benevolence a Love that we bear towards all Mankind for common Humanity sake and an affection which the Laws of Christ require us to have even for our bitterest and most implacable Enemies How provoking soever their Practices be Works of Mercy and Charity are due to their Nature and Persons so that we must bless them that curse us do good to them that hate us and pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us Matth. 5. 44. 2. Secondly We feel in our Souls an earnest and vehement desire of doing all the Kindest Offices we can possibly to those that Love us again and that endeavour to oblige gratifie and serve us a very Great and Tender affection grounded on their Personal Qualities and Merits over and above that which they call for on the account of Common Nature and this is usually stiled A Love of Friendship or Complacency Now these Two Sorts or Degrees of Affection are ascribed unto God I mean abstracting those Passions and Perturbations of Mind which are ever incident to us by reason of the frailty and weakness of our Constitution That Particular and most Intense Love whereof there is some Analogy and Resemblance in the Divine Being he expresseth onely to those that are very Dear to him those that Love him that Serve him with all their Soul that Keep his Commandments and that acquire that Noble Character of being his Friends as Abraham was called the Friend of God James 2. 23. And the Blessed Jesus said to his Disciples Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John 15. 14. Hence it was that he told them That he Loved them and that the Father himself Loved them meaning with a more Peculiar and Ardent Assection and he told them this Reason for it too because they Loved him and Believed that he came out from God John 16. 27. For the same reason St. Paul saith Ephes 5. 25. That Christ Loved the Church that is those whose hearts are purified by Faith and whose consciences are purged from all dead Works to serve the Living God Those Gracious Dispositions and moral Perfections which by the operation of the Holy Spirit are formed in all Honest Humble and Obedient hearts are the onely ground of that Love I now speak of that Great and Abundant Kindness which God extends to such as perfect
to Christ considering the High Dignity of his Person though in his state of Exinanition he was made lower than the Angels that he might be in a Capacity to taste Death for every Man Next it is proposed as the great Motive for our Patience and Perseverance and confident Hope in God amidst all our Tryals in this World And then it is used as a very powerful Reason to Encourage us all to Amend our Lives in case we have Heinously Sinned or to depend upon Christ's Merit and Intercession for the Pardon of all our Trangressions THESE two observable things being throughly well consider'd are enough to make all Thoughtful and Teachable Men afraid of contradicting a Principle so very clear in itself and of such vast importance and concernment in its Use After these Manifest and Express Declarations over and over touching the Universal Extent of the Merit of Christ's Death to make a Monopoly of it for the Benefit of a Jew only leaving all the Residue of Mankind under an absolute inevitable Necessity of Perishing for ever What is this but to give the Holy Scripture the Lye and to shake the Minds of People in the Practice of their Duties nay to Deterr them from the practice of Religion by Ruining and Diging up the very Foundation which was designedly laid for the Building up of all Men in Faith and Holiness and to Support the whole Fabrick of Piety and Vertue BUT there are some particular Passages which serve to Demonstrate and Confirm the Point in Hand beyond one would think all possibility of Cavil and therefore I shall insist upon those after a more Copious rate omitting many others which if Critically Enumerated would presently swell into a great Heap AND the first shall be the Words of St. John which indeed I mentioned before but have not distinctly consider'd where he tells us positively That Christ is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for our Sins only but also for the Sins of the whole World 1 Jo. 2. 2. There is no question but when he saith Christ is the Propitiation for our Sins he means his own Sins and the Sins of others who Professed Christianity with him In the first verse he calls them His little Children which cannot but signifie Believers And if we may pretend to guess at God's Elect we have Reason to think both the Apostle and those he there Wrote to to have been of that Blessed Number and that St. John thought so too by the Account he gives of himself And then truly saith he our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ cap. 1. 3. And again I Write unto you little Children because your Sins are forgiven you for his Names sake v. 12. Much more to the same purpose he saith afterwards That they had overcome the Wicked one That they had known the Father That the Word of God did abide in them That they had an Unction from the Holy one That they were the Sons of God That they had passed from Death to Life And divers other such Characters he gives of them whereby we may easily perceive that St. John looked upon them to be in a State of Salvation And whosoever Reads his Epistles throughout will find Reason enough by the strain of them to believe that the Divine Apostle thought his own Salvation very secure Now in that speaking in his own Person and in the Person of other Faithful Christians he affirmeth Christ to be the Propitiation not for their Sins only but also for the Sins of the whole World He must be understood to mean the whole World of Infidels for there lies the Antithesis And the whole World being distinguished into two great Divisions the Sheep and the Goats those who are the Sons of God and those who are not and Christ being said to be the Propitiation for all we must conclude that he died for more than are supposed to be Predestinated to Eternal Life or else I cannot conceive to what purpose St. John spoke those Words or what Truth or Sence they can bear if he died for Believers only To say he is the Propitiation also for the sins of the whole World if it were not so would have been Superfluous and False and therefore this single Text should put it out of Controversie That he died for all Mankind He Paid on his part a Ransom for All he made on his part an Atonement for All so that all were Deliver'd from a Necessity of Perishing all were put anew into a possibility and capacity of being happy for ever And if after all this some will not lay hold on the Blood of Christ by a free and lively Faith nor perform the Terms of a New-Covenant of Grace which was Sealed by the Blood of Christ but will trample under foot the Blood of the Son of God this is no diminution to its infinite Valour nor to his Act and Intention but an Aggravation of their Guilt who were put by him into a good Condition and might have been Eternally Saved had they not been wanting on their own part to themselves by willfully neglecting so great Salvation This is a Plain Easie and Natural Account of St. John's meaning And to the same Effect though in other Words St. Paul tells us That Christ is the Saviour of all Men especially of those that Believe 1 Tim. 4. 10. This Assertion could not be True nor the Distinction Needful or to any purpose were he not the Saviour of them that Believe not Why should the Apostle come off with an especially of those that believe if Christ did not his part to Save all in general the whole Race of Mankind He might have said who is the Saviour of the Elect and no more if no more had been in Christ's Eye and Heart His saying especially doth not Limit or Restrain the Merits of his Death to Believers but only restrains the Application of his Merits to them through the fault of others who make his Blood of no effect to them by being Unbelievers It shews that they exclude themselves from having that Benefit by his Death which he purchased for All and intended for All if they would Believe and Repent None were passed by by any absolute Decree of God or for want of Affection in the Son of God he died for every Man with a Sincere purpose and upon Condition that every one would lay hold on his Cross and cleanse himself from all Filthiness by the Blood of Sprinkling Upon that Account he is the Saviour of all Men and the propitiation for the Sins of the whole World as to Merit and Intention But because all do not come unto him after all but continue still in a State of Wickedness and Infidelity therefore as to Efficacy he is not so much their Saviour as he is others to all intents and purposes he is a Propitiation and Saviour especially to Believers 2. SECONDLY For the farther Confirmation of this Point let us hear
St. Paul 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a Faithful Saying and worthy of all Acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to Save Sinners The stress of my Argument hence lyeth here that the Doctrine of our Redemption by Christ is a most comfortable Doctrine Not only a Truth but a most acceptable Truth a Principle that sufficiently recommends it self to every Man and Deserves to be Received by every one in the World for the inestimable Consolation it carryeth along with it Now this necessarily implies and proves That Christ came into the World to make every Sinner in it capable of Salvation in a better World because this is the onely substantial ground of that Comfort I speak of the only Principle whence we can with Reason gather that Satisfaction which makes the Doctrine of our Redemption worthy to be Accepted by us all A Man's Soul had neeâ— have all possible satisfaction touching the Reasonableness of his Hopes especially when he prepares himself for important Offices of Religion or is about to Die Then it stands in need of a solid and sure bottom to support it and give it rest nor do I see any other such grounds for reasonable satisfaction and the Comforts of a Man as this great Truth That Christ Died for the good of all Mankind Though some are ready to flee to God's Decrees for succour and to Cherish themselves with a confident perswasion that they were Elected to Salvation from Everlasting yet this is no sure Foundation to build on 't is unreasonable to take Sanctuary there and to fly for Refuge to the secret Counsels of God's Will This is the Work of Fancy and strong Imagination and many People may be willing to work themselves into it partly out of a principle of spiritual Pride and partly to quiet an evil Conscience and heal some inward sores which a Vicious Life hath made Nor are any so ready to run to God's Decrees as immoral People whose Sins pursue them with a great Cry Alass it is impossible for any of us without immediate Revelation which is not afforded now to Read our Names in the Book of Eternity or to know Infallibly that they are there those secret things belong unto the Lord our God by us they are Unsearchable and past finding out and therefore we cannot gather any reasonable Comforts that Way NOR Indeed doth the Revealed Will of God the Holy Scriptures themselves afford us much without that most acceptable Doctrine which I am now defending For neither in this Book can any of us find our Names Written no more than in the Volum of God's Decrees The Scripture is silent as to the state of particular Persons and all the Comfort any single Man can gather from it comes by making reasonable conclusions as to himself out of general Premises There are in the Bible many necessary Laws prescribed and many excellent promises given to the Faithful indefinitely and at large and when a particular person compares his private state with the common Rule and upon a due comparison discovers that according to his Power he hath sincerely and honestly observed God's Commands or doth now do so and resolves stedfastly by God's Grace to persevere to the end in so doing he may then very reasonably Hope and Cherish himself with an Humble Modest Confidence that he shall be Happy Yet all this is upon a supposition that Christ Died for him for if Christ be not a propitiation for his Sins such a Man is lost and utterly undone notwithstanding all his performances And how I pray can any particular Man be reasonably assur'd of that but by being assur'd first That Christ tasted Death for every Man This general Truth being believed That Christ was a Sacrifice for all Mankind and for the whole World it is easy and necessary for that particular Person to conclude That Christ was a Sacrifice even for him because he is one of Mankind and a part of the World But without this most Acceptable Principle I cannot see with what Reason and Comfort he can conclude for himself the Scripture tells him nothing of that as to his own particular all that he hath reasonably to rely on is That the Son of God Died for all Take away this Principle and farewel all Faith all Obedience all hope and comfort with it I mean all solid Reason of Hope and Comfort Fancy and Imagination there may be in this Case too but I speak now of Rational Convictions and Rational Consolation all that must depend upon this bottom and foundation that Christ came into the World to Die and offer himself up for every Child of Man This makes the Doctrine of our Redemption a most Acceptable Doctrine indeed a most Comfortable Saying worthy of all Men to be received whereas without this Latitude and as some People are willing through the pride of their Hearts to understand it 't is so far from being Acceptable unto all Men that it seemeth a very Frightful Doctrine For if the Son of God Died not for all Men to the utmost extent though he had past by but One in the whole World and had excluded but One from having any Benefit by the propitiation upon the Cross that one Person being not Known nor Mentioned how could any one of us all tell but he was that Person I might have been fearful it was my self another might have been though with less Reason as fearful as I a third as fearful too a fourth as fearful as the rest and so on ad infinitum For every one in the World might have thought himself equally concern'd to Fear and consequently to Despair as well as another Every one would have been in suspence and perplexity at least as People that are forced to draw Lots for their Lives not knowing how the chance would fall out till the Day of Judgment To be sure this Tormenting Doubt would be incident to all People of scrupulous Minds and great numbers of very Pious People are such and then what would become of Christianity Considering the Hereditary Weakness of our Nature the many Actual Sins we are Guilty of and how unworthy the very best are of eternal Happiness what Heart or Encouragement would any one have to undertake or persevere in Religion if Christ by passing any one by had put every one thus under Fears and Dangers of being Cast-aways at last This would have served to spoil the whole Work of Redemption and to have damp'd the Faith of all at least it would have brought on such a Faith as St. James speaks of in those most Miserable Spirits who Believe and Tremble I have insisted upon this Argument the longer to shew you of what great Consequence this Point is and what weighty Reasons we have to inculcate and urge the Belief of it The Interest of Christ's Religion and the Peace of every Christian's Mind depends upon it for which cause the Catholick Church of Christ hath maintained it from the Beginning to
Redeem us from all Iniquity to deliver us from the Bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God that being made free from Sin we might become Servants unto God and have our Fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life Nothing can be clearer than this is from the Holy Scripture that God sent his Son into the World to this end and purpose and with this most gracious Intention and for this Reason the whole Race of Mankind ought with all Thankfulness of Heart to acknowledge and adore him as the Saviour of us all If notwithstanding all his tenders of Grace and Mercy some will be so wanting to their Eternal Interest as to continue still in Bondage and to go on in their Wicked and Ungodly Courses till they take their last Fortunes with the Devil and his Angels from whose Power and Damnation they might have been delivered This will be indeed an aggravation of their own Crimes and Folly and a demonstration of the Divine Justice but no Diminution at all of God's Love and Goodness by the various acts whereof he shews now his great and unwillingness to have any of us Perish And it shews the Reason why the Apostle said He is the Saviour especially of them that Believe because though he be loving unto all yet these make a special use of his general Love they walk worthy of their Vocation by their special Obedience they order all Actions in special conformity to his Commands and Laws and so a special Application of Christ's Merits is made unto Them that he becomes Finally and Effectually and in the Event and Issue the Saviour of them onely It concerns us therefore as much as our Eternal Comforts amount to to take great care of our Hearts and Actions because whatever Notions some are willing to please their Fancies with every ones Final State will be suitable to the Nature and Condition of his Works To be Prying into and to Depend on God's Secret Counsels and at the same time to neglect ones own Life is the ready way to a more fatal downfall than His who walks on gazing upon the Stars and presently breaks his Neck by tumbling down a rugged Precipice The Revealed things belong to us and this is the Revelation that If we will enter into Life we must keep the Commandments Mat. 19. 17. That in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him Act. 10. 35. That we must work out our Salvation with fear and Trembling Phil. 2. 12. That we must not be conformed to this World but be transformed by the renewing of our Minds Rom. 12. 2. That we must cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7. 1. That we must be Holy in all manner of Conversation as He which hath called us is Holy 1 Pet. 1. 15. And that if God so Loved us we ought also to Love one another 1 Joh. 4. 11. These things being so plain the great business of our Life should be to let all empty Speculations go and to Study the Practical Part of Religion For it is not our Opinions but solid Piety and Vertue that will carry us out in the day of God He hath shewed thee O Man what is good And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God Saith the Prophet Mic. 6. 8. And to what purpose hath the Grace Grace of God which bringeth Salvation appeared unto all Men Why That denying Ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World saith the Apostle Tit. 2. 12. If then we would answer the Love of God to us so as to be the better for it indeed and to reap benefit by it Everlastingly this is the true Way viz. to be led by the Goodness of God unto Repentance to bring forth Fruits Meet for Repentance to Eschew Evil to follow Peace and Holiness to have our Conversation Honest in the World to do those things that are Just and Pure and Lovely and of good Report to serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear to lay aside all Bitterness Malice and Hatred to put on as the Elect of God Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any Man have a Quarrel against any and over all to put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness These are so many Branches of the whole Duty of Man and if ye do these things whatever Conceits uncharitable People may have of you ye shall never fall CHAP. IX That we must make God all possible Returns of love What love is How excellent when it is a Divine Affection Two things shewed First How we may Acquire the love of God Secondly How we are to Express it viz By Obeying him by Resembling him and by desiring the Present and Future Fruition of him Sixthly TO dispose our Minds throughly for these Religious performances we should above all things possess our Hearts with such a Sense of God's Love to us as will naturally excite us to return all possible degrees of Love to him Love is a most vigorous Affection of the Soul a Principle of Action that Works and Exerts it Self after an Omnipotent manner as if it resembled that miraculous Faith which removeth Mountains T is an Affection that bears up against all difficulties that breaks thorough all Opposition that spares no Cost that begrudgeth nothing either of Time or Labour and that engageth all the Faculties of the Soul in such generous Undertakings as Dull Selfish and Phlegmatick Natures are hardly capable of opening a Thought to In short it is such a commanding Passion as brings a Man into Captivity with his own Consent and makes him pleasantly and chearfully a Vassal witness that single instance of Love Jacob who notwithstanding the unworthy Artifices of his Unkle Laban looked upon his many Years Servitude but as a few Days for the Affection he bore to his Beloved Rachel Gen. 29 As this Affection is more and more Purified so it riseth in its Vigor and when it comes to be a Divine Love placed upon God and upon the Son of God it is a most Active Delightful Principle of Obedience to his Will in all things It is that which sets the Blessed Angels upon the Wing to Execute his Commands with such Pleasure and Alacrity The same Divine Principle inspired the Apostles and other such Saints of Christ especially in the Bâ—gining of Christianity to Do and to Suffer all that was possible for Christ's Name with that Resolution Chearfulness and Zeal which made them Renowned unto all Ages The Love of Christ constraineth us saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 14. And to omit other Instances I cannot but remember here the Ardent Zeal of that famous imitator of St. Paul Ignatius the Martyr Bishop of Antioch in the Apostolical Age who being Condemn'd
Therefore to kindle and maintain in our Hearts a Rational Holy and Divine Love we should represent God to our Minds under such charming Ideas as become a Being so admirably Perfect in himself so Transcendently and Gloriously Excellent We should Conceive of him as a Being that knoweth how to order all things for the best and with a strict regard to the good of his whole Creation and of every part of it that is but capable of participating of his Goodness As a Being that taketh a Particular care of Mankind and more especially of those Men who Study to live in conformity to his Laws as a Being that is always steddy and constant to his Promises nor is capable of Lying a thing so Repugnant to his most Blessed Nature that none but the Devil can be the Father of it As a Being that is Righteous in all his ways that loveth Righteousness and hateth Iniquity that giveth Laws which are Just and Good that rewardeth every one according to his Works and punisheth none but according to Equity and Eternal Reason We should Conceive of him as a Being that is ready to take Compassion upon all that need it and are capable of his Mercies that is unwilling to have any of us Lost that is slow to Anger that is patient towards all that is Merciful Gracious Long-suffering abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping Mercy for Thousands forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin In short we should Conceive of God as a blessed Being that loveth and careth for our poor Souls Infinitely more than we our selves do Under these lovely Ideas God representeth himself in the Holy Scriptures and to behold him under such ravishing Conceptions is an effectual way of raising in us a Rational affection to him because one great Branch of Love consisteth in Esteem in that Honour and Admiration which springs from the Excellencies we Discern or believe to be in the Object of our Affections 2. ANOTHER Branch of it is the placing of our Hearts upon the Object we highly Admire the desiring and Seeking after it and delighting in it as the precious and dear thing wherein we conceive our Happiness to be Lodged And to raise our Affections to this noble pitch we should represent God to our Minds also as a Being that is actually Communicative of Goodness and Happiness to us Love naturally commandeth Love again 'T is an Affection of the Soul that cannot resist any thing which is like it self but presently closeth with the object that by suitable expressions of Kindness invites and meets it Here then we should consider how that most perfect and excellent Being hath been before hand with us what good he hath done us and doth do for us daily The Life we now live and are so very tender of was given us at the first by that Father of Spirits and is every Moment supported by his sole Providence which Feeds and Cloaths us and hath Preserved us all along from innumerable Dangers from many which Time may have worn out of our Memories and from more which we have not minded or were so hidden that we could not discover them Those Blessings which lie in common to Mankind every one hath had his share of And were particular Persons so advertent as to observe God's particular Providence to them there is not one in the World but would find himself obliged to make God particular returns of Thankfulness and Affection God is so Good to the meanest and most Ungrateful People that if every one would but keep by him two private Registers one of God's Mercies and another of his own Actions the very sense of God's Goodness to every Man I mean as to the things of this Life could not but warm all our Hearts towards him especially if we did open both Registers and then fairly compare what we have had with what we have deserv'd BUT above all we should consider what God hath done for our Immortal Souls by his wise and gracious ordering all things that relate to a Life Eternal That State being Everlastingly Unchangeable when once Men enter into it whether it be a State of Blessedness or Torments God of his Infinite Goodness and most tender Compassion was pleased to make such ample Provision for the well-fare of us all that one might think it hardly possible for People of Probity and Thoughtfulness to miss of a Blessed Eternity He sent the Son of his Love to transact the weighty business of a Mediator that God and Men might be no longer at a distance The Lord Jesus did innumerable Miracles to prove and confirm his Divine Authority He declared unto the World the whole Counsel of God that nothing of Light might be wanting He deliver'd us such Precepts as are suitable to our own Reason and such as are Easie and Delightful to those who will but Accustom themselves to the observation of them He hath encouraged us with such Promises as are enough to Animate us in the greatest Difficulties and to carry us undauntedly through all He submitted to a most Painful and Reproachful Death that he might offer up a full perfect and sufficent Oblation Sacrifice and Satisfaction for the sins of the whole World and that in Vertue of his Death he might for ever make Intercession for us He gave his Holy Spirit to inspire his Apostles and to assist us all by such kindly Operations as are suitable to Creatures endued with Rational faculties to Illuminate our Understandings to perswade our Wills to purifie our Affections to strengthen our Hopes and to Comfort and Cherish us in our Trials He wooeth us daily by his Ambassadors who beseech us in Christ's stead that we would be reconciled unto God He hath instituted Ordinances to Seal the Mercies of God to every particular Soul which will use those Ordinances in a due manner In short he hath afforded us all the means which Reasonable and Immortal Souls stand in need of and all this for no other end but to make us Eternally Happy happy in the fruition of Himself who is so infinitely Happy in his own Perfections and Condition that he needeth not the Service or Attendance of Men or of Angels These things therefore could not flow from any other Principle but a Principle of Goodness And this is the true genuine Reason of Love whereas those frightful Ideas under which some have misrepresented the most Blessed God serve to cast a Damp on Men's Spirits and to Alienate their Minds and Affections from that Divine and most Amiable Being Plutarch in his Book of Superstition describes those People as God's Enemies and their own too who think hardly of God and believe him to be Fierce False Mutable Revengeful Cruel Angry upon every light occasion Austere Rigorous and Hurtful He tells us there that of all Men such are in the very worst condition that they are Afraid of him even when they have Recourse to him that they Reproach at the same time and Flatter him that they
THIS then is the first way of Expressing our Affections towards God in return of his great Love and Goodness to us and to all Mankind by Doing all things he requires of us with a ready and chearful Mind It is not a starch'd Gesture nor a Formal carriage nor an External Profession nor a waterish Look nor a furious Zeal for dry Opinions it is not these or any of these things that is the Sign of that Divine Love which is the Noble Principle of Religion For these outward shews may be consistent with the Hatred of God and Man and then they are only so many Glosses of Hypocrites void of that Rational and Generous Affection which God's Love calls for 'T is the entire subjection of the Heart Operating and Exerting all its Vigour by Religious Sober Honest and Charitable Actions 'T is the subduing our unreasonable Passions the denying all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts the cleansing of our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit the squaring of our Lives according to the Laws of God To this Pliant and Obediential frame of Soul that is the true Testimony and Fruit of that Love which God looks for and which is in the Sight of God of so great a Price We must call upon him daily with Faithful and Enflamed Spirits we must apply our Hearts to the Study and Practice of Religion we must do Justly Love Mercy and walk humbly with our God we must be sincere and without any Guile and deal truly with all Men as in the presence of God we must Love one another and Forgive one another For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 4. 20. In short to express our Love of God after a right manner we must obey him in all things and that with enlarged Hearts with Filial Reverence with Ingenuous Dutifulness with a ready Will and with such Alacrity Chearfulness and Pleasure of Mind as becometh those for whom God hath been pleased to do so many Miracles of Mercy SECONDLY Another proper Act of Love is to Study Imitation This proceeds from a Twofold Cause partly from the great Value we have of and the great Complacency we take in the Object of our Affections which being so Amiable in our Eye doth naturally Excite us to transform our selves into a Similitude of it And partly it proceeds from an innate Desire we all have of being Beloved again which being impracticable without an Harmony of Mind and Temper between both Parties it is necessary for the one that Love may be Reciprocal to suit himself to the disposition of the other especially if that other be a Superior in Dignity Excellence and Perfection Considering therefore that God is infinitely the most Excellent the most Excellent and Perfect of all Beings the Love which springs from a Sense of his Perfections and reacheth after a Plenary Communication of them must needs Stimulate ones Soul to put on a Disposition as far as 't is possible agreeable to the Mind and Spirit of God THEREFORE that we may Rightly and Eminently express our Love to God we must by all means endeavour to resemble him I mean in all those things that are Imitable by us We must be sincere in Heart as that most Blessed Being is According to the capacities and Powers of our Nature we must be Holy and Separate from all Moral Impurities as God is we must be Patient Long-suffering and slow to Anger as He is we must be Treatable and Reconcilable notwithstanding all Affronts and Injuries as he is we must be strict Observers of the Eternal Rules of Righteousness and Justice as He is we must be Steaddy and True to all our Promises as the Faithful God is we must be Merciful and Benign Compassionate and Tender-hearted Bountiful and Impartial Kind and Good to all Men even to our Enemies as that Gracious and Beneficent Being is who maketh his Sun to shine upon the Good and upon the Evil too and sendeth his Rain upon the Just and upon the Unjust also Those Ill-natured People who are Uncharitable Rigid Fierce Implacable Austere Cruel Revengeful and Outragious should look upon God's Glories the Perfections and Beauties of his Nature and should employ their time upon this great Study how to be like God according to those charming Ideas under which He is represented unto us in the Holy Scriptures Thou thoughtest Wickedly that I am even such a one as thy self saith God but I will reprove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done Psal 50. 21. God will not be served with our Vices nor must we be such Fools as to think we love him by entitling him to the Filth and Refuse of our Corrupt Nature Goodness is so bright a Beam of the Divine Glory and so easie to be seen in every part of the Creation that Men cannot but discover it by the Eye of Common Natural Reason The old Pagans Admired it and believed God to be the Best Being and therefore Ador'd him Prayed to him in all their Straits and Necessities and Celebrated his Praises as well as Nature could teach them For which Universal Custom amongst all Mankind there could not have been any sufficient Reason had they not Universally Believed not only the Existence of a Deity but moreover that the Divine Being is a God of Power and a God of great Clemency Benignity and Goodness This was the true Ground of their Religious Offices and of that Love which Nature wrought in their Hearts towards him And whatever any of us Christians may talk of our Loving God all is but Froth and Vanity Senseless and Ridiculous Profession unless we resemble him in Goodness Be ye Merciful even as your Father is Merciful as our Blessed Saviour said Luk. 6. 36. THIRDLY And Lastly to express our Love towards God we must earnestly desire the Fruition of him This every one seeth to be another natural Act of this Affection and the most Vehement Effort of it to be United to its Object and to have it in actual Possession and the Reason is because Happiness is Apprehended to consist in such Enjoyment Now God being the true Felicity of the Soul the only proper Object which the Faculties of the Soul can be Employed upon with satisfaction and which can fully Answer all our Desires it is impossible to Conceive how we can truly Love him especially under the notion of our Happiness without Ardent and Impatient Longings after the Fruition of him THIS being so clear the next thing we are to Note is that there is a Present and a Future Fruition of God The Present Fruition in respect of Degree is very Imperfect because we are yet in an Imperfect State but in respect of Quality and Kind is the same with that which is yet to come For it consisteth in Contemplating God according to our Capacities in Admiring the Perfections of his infinite Majesty in setting our Hearts on
him as our Supream Good in feeding our Desires with the Ravishing Ideas of him in Delighting and being highly pleased with the Sense of him and in such other Beatifical Acts which are answerable to Rational Appetites Every Divine Lover hath something of all this in this Present Imperfect State 't is the Fruition which now Crowneth our Affections that Spiritual Fellowship of Communion with God which we enjoy in this Life To Express therefore our Love to him in this respect we should have him always in our Minds be full of worthy Conceptions of him and make the thoughts of his Glorious Essence and Attributes to dwell in our Hearts daily We should Exalt him in our Minds above all things and make our Souls sensible that we have none in Heaven but Him none upon Earth to be desired in Comparison of Him We should take Pleasure in Divine Contemplations and endeavour constantly to Satiate our Souls more and more with Delights of that Nature We should every day possess our Hearts with such Affecting Meditations as These O God! How Excellent is thy Name How Radiant is thy Glory How Adorable are thy Perfections How Wonderful are thy Works How Beautiful are all thy Ways How Righteous are thy Actions How Equal are thy Commands How Precious and Sweet are thy Promises How Infinite is thy Goodness How Astonishing are thy Mercies How Charming is thy Love How Helpfull and Saving is thy Power How Tender is thy Pity How Blessed and Praise-worthy and Desirable art Thou O Thou great Lover of Souls and Redeemer of the World To kindle in us such a Divine Flame and to raise our Desires still touching the Fruition of God we should Form our Hearts into a Devout Temper give our Selves to Prayer and to the Love of it daily Insensate and Careless People know not the Comforts the Pleasures the Divine Enjoyments which Transport the Minds of those who Pray to God with Stay'd Fervent and Affectionate Hearts Certainly what Happiness there is here below Men of Holy Humble and Devout Spirits have it And that our Fruitions thereby may be the greater and the more desirable we should evermore be mindful of Publick and Solemn Devotion Chiefly when Two or Three are gathered together in Christ's Name then is he in the midst of us and then is God with us then we Enjoy him in a more especial manner and measure in the Congregation in the Assembly of the Saints in his House of Prayer There he scatters his Blessings there he gives us participations of himself there he refresheth us with a portion of those Pleasures which are at his Right Hand And this was the Reason of those Raptures Wishes Groans and Longings of the Holy Psalmist which upon the like occasions we should be full of too My Heart is fixed O God my Heart is fixed I will Sing and give Praise Awake up my Glory I will go into this Sanctuary and fall low on my Knees at thy Footstool Like as the Heart desireth the Water-brooks so longeth my Soul after Thee O God My Soul is a Thirst for God yea even for the Living God When shall I come to appear before the Presence of God! O How Amiable are thy Dwellings O Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a Desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord for one Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Now see how passionate that good Man's Love to God was though for the present Fruition of him And if the Gleanings of the Grapes be so desirable what is the whole Vintage I mean that abundant and Eternal Enjoyment which is Reserved for us till that Day when we shall have duly transacted all our Services here and shall pass from these Houses of Prayer into that Building of God not made with Hands the Everlasting Habitation of his Glory This Future Everlasting Fruition of God ought to be the chief Object of our Desires because it is our highest good and because it is the Ultimate end of the Divine Oeconomy and of all our Labours of Love in this World It is impossible for us truly and earnestly to Love God and not to groan within our Selves whilest we wait for this last Adoption the Redemption of our Bodies that we may be Cloathed upon all over with Immortality and have these our vile Bodies changed and fashioned like unto Christ's own Glorious Body that we may be in every Respect fit to be with that great Lover of our Souls and when we see him may rejoyce with him and with a joy like unto his when after all the Ignominy and Torments of the Cross he had this most Comfortable Reflection It is Finished PRAYERS OLord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy Stedfast Fear and Love Keep us we Beseech Thee under the Protection of thy good Providence and make us to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OGod who hast prepared for them that Love Thee such good things as pass Man's Understanding Pour into our Hearts such Love towards Thee that we loving Thee above all things may obtain thy Promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God who hatest nothing that Thou hast made and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are Penitent Create and make in us New and Contrite Hearts that we Worthily lamenting our Sins and acknowledging our Wretchedness may Obtain of Thee the God of all Mercy perfect Remission and Forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OAlmighty God who alone canst Order the Unruly Wills and Affections of Sinful Men grant unto thy People that they may Love the thing which thou Commandest and desire that which thou dost Promise that so among the sundry and manifold Changes of the World our Hearts may surely There be fixed where true joys are to be found through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen GRant We beseech Thee Almighty God That like as We do Believe thy only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have Ascended into the Heavens So We may also in Heart and Mind thither Ascend and with Him continually dwell who liveth and raigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost one God World without End Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for W. Crook 1. A Practical Discourse upon the Blessed Sacrament shewing the Duties of the Communicant before at and after the Eucharist Octavo Price 3s 6d 2. A Practical Discourse upon Prayer in Octavo Price Is. 3. A Practical Discourse upon Charity in its several Branches and of the Reasonableness and Useful Nature of this great Christian Vertue Octavo Price 3s These three are also bound together having the Title of Dr. Pelling's Three Practical Discourses Vol. 1. Price 6s together 4. A Practical Discourse upon Humility wherein is shewn the Nature Reasonableness and Usefulness thereof together with the ways of Expressing and Increasing of it Price 2s 6d All Written by the Reverend Dr. Pelling Author of this Book