duty to him By renouncing the devil and all his works the vain pomps and vanities of the world and the covetous desires of the same as also the sinful lusts of thy flesh Now thou art to approve thy self a true lover and servant of JESUS by departing from these by repentance and amendment Leave them therefore and forsake them these enemies of thy Saviour of thy love and of thy happiness Let thy Soul full of the love of JESUS thus meditate and resolve and express thy devout affections to him that died for thee The love of JESUS hath prevailed I find my heart wounded I can no longer resist the charms of his love he hath woed me so long and with so much kindness that now my heart is his I will love him because he first loved me Now it repenteth me that ever I rejected his sute that ever I was unkind to him it grieveth me that ever I countenanced and preferred his rivals the lusts of sensuality covetousness and pride which I renounced in my Baptism I will now exclude them wholly this is the first mark JESUS shall receive of my sincere affection to him that I will entertain nor caress no longer those his enemies with whom I have had an unhappy intelligence for too long a time henceforth if they come near me I will endeavour to drive them away if they come after me I will flee if they persevere in their attempts they shall get nothing else but shame and denials Away from me then ye wicked spirits with all your tempting allurements worldly vanities deceitful riches sensual pleasures I remember that I renounced you all when first I gave up my name to JESUS when he first began to shew and seal his love to me and to ingage mine I then renounced the devil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of the world with all covetous desires of the same and the carnal desires of the flesh I now remember those my ingagements and grieve that I have not kept them and therefore will hate you the more that you made me forget my promises and break my holy vows Now will I be revenged of you ye proud and ambitious designs lustful thoughts greedy desires of wealth I will now kill and crucifie you Henceforth it shall be my honour that I am a Servant of JESUS it shall be my delight and pleasure that I am a lover of JESUS and it shall be my wealth that he is mine as I am his JESUS hath done and suffered much to declare his love and to deserve mine he hath come down from heaven and humbled himself to my mean and low condition he hath lived poor and despised he hath been afflicted and persecuted he hath died for me hereby I know that he loves me because he laid down his life for me but ye his unworthy rivals never gave me any assurance of your affection never did or suffered any thing for me JESUS exposed himself to shame that I might become glorious endured pains that I might have pleasure he became poor that I might be enriched but covetousness offers me riches to pierce me through with many sorrows lust enticeth me to wound me when I have consented to it and pride promiseth me honours to cumber me and expose me to envy JESUS is infinitely lovely he is all perfection and goodness and he desires to be loved not for any advantage of his own but to make his lovers intirely and eternally happy but you painted idols of abused mortals are in your selves ugly and even loathsome though at a great distance ye may seem somewhat fair yet near at hand ye are nothing but deformity ye always prove vain and vexatious ye seek to enter mens hearts only to tyrannize and torment them and betray them to eternal sorrows JESUS is a true and constant lover he ever owns his friends he never fails them that love him he helps them in their distresses he comforts them in their sorrows and when they die he stands by them but ye temporal deceitful pleasures are false and inconstant ye forsake your friends in their greatest need ye flatter them for a few Summer days while the Sun shines kindly upon them but in the rigors of Winter when an unprosperous storm ariseth you are gone you leave them to die comfortless they carry nothing of you when they go from hence but the bitter remembrance of your treacherousness JESUS is a most grateful lover he ever returns love for love he is ever found of them that seek him to them that desire him he ever gives himself every true lover of JESUS is sure to enjoy him but you worldly enjoyments are generally most unkind to your most passionate lovers ye flee from them that run after you ye grieve and vex your greatest admirers ye are ever uncertain false and ungrateful I will therefore never love you again nay I resolve to hate and persecute you to mortifie and watch against my lusts my pride and covetous desires But JESUS shall reign in my heart him will I love him will I serve him will I endeavour to please in all things I will be wholly his therefore I renounce all friendship with you that are his enemies there can be no agreement betwixt the Holy JESUS and this sinful world If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him 1 John 2.15 Lord we beseech thee grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world the flesh and the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXIII That the Love of JESVS and the love of Sin can never consist together FUrther consider O my Soul that JESUS my Blessed Master is the Prince of purity he will never abide in the same heart with intemperance and with fleshly lusts He is meek and lowly pride cannot follow him By works of mercy and charity he calls us to the possession of heavenly treasures therefore greedy worldly mindedness can never entertain nor prefer his promise Lust Pride Covetousness can never abide with the love of Christ they can never be reconciled JESUS and they are mortal enemies Mortal I may call them because they were his murtherers or rather because he died to put them to death We were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ JESUS shed his blood to redeem us as well from the practice and commission as from the punishment and destruction of sin Or rather of both together for they are not to be put asunder Moral and natural evil ever go hand in hand as happiness is inseparable from Goodness and vertue Blessed are the the pure in heart for without holiness no man shall see God S. Paul therefore saying that Christ died unto sin that is to take away sin infers from thence that we being baptized into Christs death our old man
and all little enough to keep it in any vigor These voluntary observations should not lead them to scruple or censoriousness that are pleased to use them and should not be clamoured against by others indiscreetly and uncharitably for in themselves they are adminicula pietatis handmaids to devotion and holy contrition And they that know themselves are sensible that they want all possible helps to stir them up and relieve their dulness When our understandings are convinced we have not quite done means must be used also to affect the fancy and to ingage the affections And he had need be very sure of his strength that refuseth the assistance of all auxiliaries CHAP. XXV A passionate Meditation on the Passion of our Blessed Saviour MY love is crucified said that loving and holy Martyr Ignatius declaring how earnestly he wished 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 buffeted and caned and abused with all manner of contumelies and now I see him crowned with thorns all over spittle and blood I see him stretched upon the Cross where his hands and his feet are nailed 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 â—â—o quam sine modo a 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 pity 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 enjoy I owe to his kindness But now my soul suppose that from his Cross thou shouldest hear him thus expressing his love and bespeaking thine Christian dearest Christian for whom here I die consider seriously imprint it it thine heart what in my words what in my mysteries thou readest of my suffering for thee consider who I am what I endure 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 crowned with glory and clothed with Majesty I now were these thorns and am become naked to cloth 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 the 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 and nothing but love I require for it Dearest soul thy sins are more grievous to me than my wounds Aspice serve Dei sic me posuere Judei 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 peccas desine pro me Desine do veniam dic culpam corrige vitam add not sorrow to my sorrow by remaining impenitent deny not this request to thy dying bleeding Saviour that thou wouldest 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 To this O my Soul with the greatest love and wonder thou maist thus reply What shall I say now dearest Lord Words cannot answer thee I am amazed 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 my dearest JESUS Sweetest Lord it was I had deserved to be smitten to be covered with shame to be deprived of life and thou sufferest all these for me for me vile wretch for me my Lord was it for me O where shall I find such another friend or rather what shall I do to requite thy kindness and mercy I can give thee nothing but love and thanks and that will I do O my Blessed Lord who wast spet upon I humbly worship thee Thou wast reviled like a vile slave I praise thee and own my self thy servant The Jews refused thee for their King but thou art mine thou art my Blessed Master I care not what becomes of me here so I may come to bless and adore thee for ever Lord if there is a place where thou art not loved and magnified let me never come into it Assist me dearest Lord let no pleasure or pain no fear or hope no profit or loss no temptations within or without ever make me to offend thee O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever O that I could but join with you to express worthily my thanks and gratitude O that all the world would join with me to praise and glorifie the Lord that died for us Blessed JESU cleanst
and with whom my love hath crucified me and that now is the time to make it appear that I love him and to justifie the sincerity of my protestations And so for covetousness pride intemperance and all such temptations I will reject their attempts and proffers with indignation as a true friend would scorn the solicitations to betray his friend thus saying to my self What shall I be false to him I love to him that loveth me who hath shed his bloud for me and to whom I have often protested that I would even die for him shall I break the sacred bonds of love and my most sacred vows and put my soul into a state of regret unquietness shame and sorrow for this vile transitory profit or pleasure O my dearest JESUS thou knowest that I love thee I beseech thee make that love victorious against thine enemies and mine I would rather die than deny thee for any interest in the world and I hope thou wilt not deny me at the last day but own me among thy faithful servants Lord I serve thee not for nothing great are the reasons why I should obey thee thou hast done much for me and from thee I still expect much infinite rewards for such due and poor services Lord let me die before I deliberately over sin against thee and forfeit thy love by falling from mine Thus by love I resolve to conquer my self to deny and mortifie my lusts by love I will strive to overcome all unlawful desires all sinful motions and then I shall rejoice in the victory It shall not make me either proud or peevish or severe to others but rather humble and meek cheerful and contented so that it shall be seen by my outward deportment how much pleasure and tranquillity my soul hath inwardly that I rejoice in what I do for Christ that it is delicious to me to deny my self for his sake to oblige so great so true so generous a lover as JESUS who hath done all acts of friendship for me and owns me for his friend I call you not servants but friends ye are my friends indeed if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you Joh. 13.14 Those that are accounted gallant men in the world will venture their lives to second a friend in an idle an unchristian quarrel and their wound they bear with courage and count them honourable 'T was to serve a friend how much more should I rejoice in that violence I offer to my appetites and unruly desires in what I do or suffer for to please and serve my heavenly my best my dearest friend whom I can never love so much as he deserves and in loving of whom I am infinitely happier than if I should enjoy all the pleasures of sin as long as I live I only grieve and am displeased that I can do so little for him that I can requite his love no better I know that many persons have done far more for their less deserving friends than I do or can do for my Saviour JESUS CHAP. XXXII A singular example of humane Love with a short reflection upon it IT is reported by Greek historians of two loving sisters Eudoxia and Irenea daughters to the last unhappy Prince of Morea Niceph. Gregor Chalcondys who with his life lost his Crown and Country that an uncle saved them from the general desolation and captivity which soon succeeded the lost battel and carried them to old Andronicus their kinsman then Emperour of Constantinople There with pity they found a kind welcome and as great respects as they could wish Their beauty their vertues and accomplishment surpast their princely birth and were as eminent as their fortune was low so that young Andronicus who was to succeed in the Empire was in process of time taken with Eudoxia loved her passionately and obtained the Emperours consent to marry her This caused great troubles to Irenea who liked it well as she loved her sister but could not but grieve at it as she loved the Prince for unhappily she had setled her affections on him Upon this she fell sick and almost to death and it being observed that some distemper in her mind caused the distemper of her body her sister protesting of her love to her assuring her that Eudoxia should have only the title and the trouble but Irenea the priviledges and the power of an Empress conjured her to declare what caused her discontent Having understood what it was and grieving that she should be the occasion of her sisters danger and sorrow she presently took from her head a jewel the Prince had given her in form like a half-moon and with it she so wounded and disfigured her face that she cured the Prince of his love as she designed and afterwards retired to Galliopoli where she entred a Cloister and devoted the rest of her life to God The Prince finding in Irenea what he had lost in Eudoxia soon after entertained the same passion for her he had for her sister but Irenea remembring her sisters generosity forgot her affection to the Prince considering what Eudoxia had voluntarily suffered for her how great how tender a love she had exprest in what she had done resolves to forsake Andronicus to forgo her ease and pleasure and what she had so earnestly desired rather than be ungrateful Whereupon she steals away from the Court goes to Galliopoli enters her sisters Cloister and having exprest to her her love and acknowledgments she takes the same vows and resolves to live and die to God and with her beloved sister This story makes me grieve and blush that so little gratitude should be paid to JESUS for greater benefits for that incomparable love he hath shewed men in dying for them that I my self should so ill requite his much greater kindness so poorly and imperfectly return his most wonderful love What shall I think it much to refrain my intemperance for his sake who for mine fasted long and often and tasted vinegar and gall shall I think it much to mortifie my pride and anger for him who for my sake despised the shame of the Cross and returned nothing but meekness to the greatest provocations shall I think it much to refrain my worldly covetous desires for him who for me became poor naked destitute of all things though he were Lord of all shall I think it much to deny my self some momentary sensual pleasures for him who carried my sorrows who shed his blood and was crucified to save me No my dearest JESUS thy love hath overcome my heart I will be no more what I have been henceforth it shall be my wealth my delight my glory and ambition to serve and obey thee give thee all possible demonstrations of a devout a most passionate love CHAP. XXXIII Some Scriptures to shew the necessity of departing from Sin according to our Baptismal Vow With some protestations to conclude this first Part. THis Repentance and Reformation is what our Religion requires The
Scripture supposeth it in all that have embraced Christianity and is earnest and pressing in its exhortations to it We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord JESUS that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more for ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord JESUS for this is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thess 4.1 2. Again but ye have not so learned Christ as to follow the greediness and lusts of the Gentiles If so be that ye have heard of him and have been taught by him as the truth is in JESUS that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4.20 21. c. And in another place this change being absolutely necessary is absolutely supposed to be wrought in us by our imbracing the Christian Faith If ye are risen with Christ seek those things which are above for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry in the which ye walked sometime when ye lived in them but now you also put off these anger wrath malice blasphemy evil communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Col. 3.1 2 c. In these and many more places to the same purpose it is plainly implyed that true Christians are mindful and careful to fulfil their baptismal promises to renounce the devil and all his works c. It is not love alone that binds this duty upon us our profession absolutely requires it of all that have given their name to Christ and expect Salvation from him Love may inforce the obligation and assist us to discharge it but it is the design and the tenor of Christianity it self to reclaim us from sin to sanctifie our affections that our lives and actions may be holy as becomes the Gospel The grace of God which bringeth salvation teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live in this present world soberly righteously and godly Tit. 2.11.12 This is the sum of our duty that we should be temperate in our bodies and minds just and charitable in our intercourse with other men and pious in our minds devout in acts of Religion and worship to God the learning and practising this lesson is that whereby the offered salvation is obtained and laid hold on that whereby we must make it appear that we indeed own Christ for our Lord and Saviour and that we do truly love him with all our hearts and souls Now therefore I must remember that I am not mine own I am his that made and redeemed me I am his to whom I have given my self when I undertook manfully to fight under his banner against sin the world and the devil To me is addrest that exhortation Thou O man of God flee these things strifes disputes and covetousness before mentioned and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life 1 Tim. 6.11 12. I am become a Souldier of JESUS to me S. Paul speaks as well as to Timothy Thou therefore endure hardness as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ No man that warreth intangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier 2 Tim. 2 3 4. If I were in the Militia of any other Prince I might endure hardness enough before I could obtain his favour or indeed be taken notice of heat and cold hunger thirst and weariness sleepless nights and perpetual dangers all this and much more I might endure many years and not be looked on here my General hath prevented me with his kindness he first fought against mine enemies he first loved me and endured hardship for me and he notes every thing I suffer for him sets it down and assigns a reward to it Under another Commander I might do brave actions behave my self valiantly and yet not be seen here my General hath always his eyes upon me he incourageth me and rejoiceth to see my fortitude he is alway ready to help me and is most delighted when he sees me zealous and diligent I might fight long enough for an earthly King I could only get a poor subsistence or an empty fame but never so much as one province of his dominions here fighting for my heavenly King I shall get unvaluable treasures immortal glory and a Kingdom which shall have no end To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne Rev. 3.21 I will therefore never again fight against the captain of my salvation and I will never forsake him I will often renew my vows often swear allegiance to him upon that sacred blood which he shed for me and which he gives me to comfort and strengthen my heart I will daily think on those things that may increase my zeal and diligence and help me to resist temptations and I will suffer any thing use all means possible to perform these resolutions and approve my self unto death a lover of JESUS If any man loves not the Lord JESUS let him be Anathema Maranatha FINIS THE Reformed Monastery OR The LOVE Of JESUS The Second Part. LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in S. Paul's Church-yard the West-End MDCLXXVIII THE PREFACE I Have now gone through the greater half of my task the negative part of our Baptismal Vow and of our Duty The greater half I call it because our Nature stands not in aequilibrio in an indifference betwixt good and evil but is depraved and ill inclined and the way to vertue will be smooth and pleasant when once by grace and love we have renounced our sins and our vicious propensities are both subdued and rectified If therefore thou hast entred and liked this Cloister so far thou maiest safely advance further and go through what remains if thou hast approved and observed its Rules hitherto the rest cannot but be acceptable and easie to thee As a Traveller in a strange Enemy-Country meets with many hardships and dangers but at home amongst friends delights in journeying So the Love of JESVS among the works of the devil the sinful lusts and vanities of this world might meet with difficulties and a rugged way but now conversing with faith and good works the holy will of God and his glorious rewards it will proceed with joy and a pleasant speedy progress I have called the Love of JESVS The Reformed Monastery