a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of hosts and my name is dreadful among the heathen That is strange then that it should be no more dreadful among his people that pretend to love him that they are not afraid to bring and offer such Duties to him as do so much provoke him and are so greatly displeasing to him that give him only words when they have a Male in their Flock an heart in their breast to give him 4. Such Obedience as is a proof of Love must be persevering to the end expressed not by stepping into Gods ways but by walking in them One that loves not Christ might step into a good way but he that loves doth walk therein Deut. 11.1 Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God and keep his charge and his statutes and his judgments and his commandments alway And 19.9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them which I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God and to walk ever in his ways Such then as have made great shews of love to Christ and now are revolted and have forsaken his holy Commandments by this might judge what kind of love it was to Christ that they once made profession of and more by their partial irksom and refuse Obedience might be convinced that their love to Christ is unfound and only supposed Love II. Do you love Christ while you maintain the Love of Sin in your Heart Can the love of Sin and the love of Christ dwell together in highest degrees Can the affection of love in that manner be carried out to two contrary objects at the same time And is there any thing in the World more contrary than Christ and Sin Is there more opposition between Light and Darkness extreamly Sweet and extreamly Sowre Can you love your Health and Poyson too to be in your Stomach Can you love Christ and yet love what he doth hate Can you love Christ and delight in Sin which took away the Life of your Lord Could you carry that Knife continually in your Bosom with delight that was the Instrument of Death unto your dearest Friend You might as soon look down upon the Earth and up unto the Heavens at the same instant as thus love Sin and Christ together Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil and the hatred to Sin that proves sincere Love to Christ must be 1. Vniversal to the Darling Sin as well as others to the Sin that hath been to you as your Right Hand or Right Eye Hatred is to the kind he that hates a Toad It is not this one or that in particular but all He that Loves Christ sincerely hates Sin as a man hates a Toad not only as to the degree but also as to the extent all and every one Psal 119.104 I hate every false way 2. Implacable Anger might be pacified but Hatred planted in the Nature is irreconcileable Antipathy cannot be rooted out nor turned into Love A man might be angry at Sin that loves not Christ but be friends again might turn from it and afterwards return unto it but the hatred to Sin implanted in the new Creature is implacably bent against Sin that the words might have some place here by way of allusion relating the Love and Hatred of Amnon to Tamar 2 Sam. 13.15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly Hebrew is with great hatred greatly so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her and Amnon said unto her Arise be gone With like detestation will the Lover of Christ pack away his Sin Arise be gone with greater hatred than before he loved it 3. Therefore it is mortal and destructive to Sin that is the object of it Esau hated Jacob because of the Blessing wherewith his Father blessed him and Esau said in his heart The days of mourning for my father are at hand then will I slay my brother Jacob Gen. 27.41 So the Lover of Christ that hateth Sin is resolved to be the destruction of it Shall not I be the death of that cursed Sin that was the death of my blessed Lord Shall I suffer that to live in my heart which would not suffer Christ to live in the World Did Sin shed my Saviours Blood and shall not I be avenged on my 〈◊〉 Did Sin make my Saviour Groan and Sweat in a bloody Agony and shall I take delight therein Was my Sin the Nails that did fasten him to the Cross The Spear that did pierce his blessed Side And the Thorns that Crowned his Sacred Head And shall I lodge it in my Bosom Did Christ in love unto my Soul dye for my Sin and shall not I in love unto my Lord cause Sin to dye in me III. Do you love Christ sincerely when the things of this World have the predominant degrees of your affections As Sin is not to be loved at all by them that love Christ so things that are good must not be loved above Christ nor are by them that love him Mat. 10.37 If any man love father or mother more than me he is not worthy of me Doth that Woman love her Husband with a sincere Conjugal Love that though she love him truly yet loveth another more than him Do you love Riches Pleasures Honours Relations Self Life more than Christ and yet sincerely love Christ As he is better than all greater than all more suitable more durable more sweet more satisfying than all other good things so he must be loved above and more than all 1 Joh. 2.15 Love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him Jam. 4.4 Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God Though one that is sincere in his love to Christ might not love Christ more than some other persons love him yet he loves Christ more than he loves other persons or things But do you love Christ more than you love other things and yet 1. Your thoughts are habitually set and actually run out upon other things more than upon Christ Can you think on the World with delight but not on Christ And love to have a thousand thoughts on other things for one you have of Christ It is a pleasure to you to think on your Pleasures your Profits your Children but a burden to you to think of Christ and keep your thoughts upon him Are not the thoughts much upon the object of love Psal 139.17 When I awake I am still with thee But if you cannot sleep in the Night your Head is full of the thoughts of the World because your Heart is full of the love of the World Is it not a sign the World and not Christ is loved as your Treasure for where the treasure is there the
Can you spend it in Pleasures and profane it with your vain Discourse and worldly Talk when you should be delighting your self with the thoughts and speech of the great things that Christ did suffer and by suffering procure for his People Do not they that love and honour an earthly King delight themselves and shew their joy on his day of Coronation I cannot be induced to believe that any man loveth Christ that takes no care and makes no conscience of the holy observation of the Lords-day Do you love the Lord Jesus and yet hate his people Cannot you endure a real holy humble sin-fearing Christian and yet impudently say You are a Lover of Christ Can you revile them and magnifie Christ Do you love him and hate such as are like him Doth a Woman love her Husband that with indignation tears his Picture In this God himself doth declare thee to be a Liar when thou doest this and saith thou art a Christ-lover 1 Joh. 4.20 If any man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 21. And this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also 1 Joh. 5.1 And every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him Did not Christ shew his love unto his people by laying down his life for them And do you shew your love to Christ in taking their lives away from them that love him because out of love unto him they will not dare not sin against him as you do and dare when true love to Christ and them in due circumstances will cause a man that is a sincere Lover to lay down his life for them 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren Did you love God and Christ you would have a free heart and open hand to receive his people in their Need and Necessities And do you love God and Christ when you can find both heart and hand to spoil them of their Goods and thereby bring them into Poverty and Want Is it a certain sign of want of love to Christ when you do not according to your power supply their wants And is it not then a certain sign of hatred unto Christ when you take away their Supplies and bring them drive them into want 1 Joh. 3.17 But whoso hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother hath need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him How indeed Who can tell or conceive how it should VII Do you love Christ when you had rather sin against him than suffer for him Is that your Love when you had rather forsake him than in danger follow him When you had rather deny him than dye for him And though you do as Peter did you do not repent and weep bitterly as Peter did Did not Love move Christ to suffer and dye for us Was not Love the chain that did fasten him to the Cross And if you loved Christ would the Waters of Affliction and Persecution quench your Love You love him but cannot suffer for him Worthy Love but such as with which Christ doth not count you worthy of him or to have any saving benefit by him Mat. 10.37 38. The Martyrs loved Christ when they did go to Prisons for him and went to the Stake and were burned into Ashes for him You would think it a hard saying to assert None but Martyrs love Christ But with a distinction I think it is a true saying A Martyr is either actually so or intentionally It is the purpose and resolution of the Heart to dye for Christs sake if called to it he is one that doth dye for Christ or is ready willing and bâ— the help of Grace is resolved to lose his Life than leave Christ And then it is safe to say That he that loves his Life more than Christ and will part with Christ rather than his Life hath no sincere love to Christ for Christ doth say it Mat. 10.37 38. And this was the resolution and disposition of Paul's heart before he was actually put to death Act. 21.13 Paul said What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart for I am ready not to be bound only but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus VIII Do you love Christ that never were convinced of your need of Christ Of your undone and lost estate Of your deplorable cendition without Christ Are you ignorant of your Malady and can you then value the Remedy Doth not the Soul first feeling its wounds by Sin enquire what to do to be saved And then upon the sight of the power of Christ that he is able to save and of the freeness of Christ that he is willing to help the Soul is drawn to love him and to set his heart upon him Blessed Lord wilt thou help me out of my misery When none can deliver wilt thou I am undone Wilt thou succour me I am lost Wilt thou save me Why poor Sinner saith Christ I do pity thee my bowels yearn over thee I will keep thee I will save thee both from Sin and Hell Wilt thou so dear Lord Thou shalt have my heart my love shall be to thee IX Do you love Christ and yet will not submit unto him in all his Offices When you say you love Christ whom do you mean Or in what respect do you consider him As a Priest only that died for your Sins As a Jesus to deliver you from Hell to free you from the torments that your very Nature is against Did you ever know a Drunkard a Swearer or the vilest-debauchedst Wretch that hath heard of Hell and Christ but was willing and desirous on his own terms but not on Christs to be saved from the torments And upon that account will you say That this man continuing in his open Sins doth love Christ But Christ in this one respect considered only is not that Christ that is Preached and offered to you in the Gospel but also Christ as Prophet and King Is this then your love to him to divide him Is this your love to dethrone him from his Kingly Office No it is plain hatred to him Luk. 19.14 But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me X. Do you love Christ and never care if he never come again Nay you could be glad you might never leave this World if you might have your pleasures and enjoyments in it but that Christ should come to you by Death or at Judgment you have no desire but sorrow at the thoughts
to them that have no pity to themselves in that they will have no love to Christ Dost not thou know MARANATHA the Lord will come And art thou not sure that then they will be ANATHEMA under a bitter and an eternal Curse Dost thou see how the Devil turned mens hearts from their Lord-Creator and how he keeps their love from their Lord-Redeemer for which the Devil insults over them and wilt not thou be grieved for them Blessed Jesus I am ready to blame them because they love not thee and I do blame my self for want of grief in me for want of love to thee Methinks that Godly Parents should mourn because they have a Child or Children that love not Jesus Christ and say What! they love us but not the Lord What pleasure can we take in their love to us when they have none to Christ Methinks the Children that have love to Christ should weep and bitterly lament to be loved by their Parents with a greater love than they have for Christ and the Wife that is a Lover of Christ should be filled with sorrow that hath one so near that is so far from loving of the only Saviour and say Alas alas MARANATHA and then my Child my Father Mother Husband will be ANATHEMA Weep then weep weep abundantly for any in your House among your Relations Friends Acquaintance and Neighbours that are not Lovers of Christ Oh that your Heads were Waters and your Eyes Fountains of Tears that ye may Weep Day and Night for these that Love not the Lord Jesus How can ye go with dry Eyes without Tears trickling down your Cheeks one hasting to overtake the other when ye behold Non-Lovers of Christ and consider next ANATHEMA MARANATHA Oh! that ye had in some Wilderness a Lodging place of Wayfaring-men or some retired corner in your House that ye may leave your worldly Business for a while and go from them to wash your Faces in your Tears that your dear Relations love not that Lord of yours that is dearer to you than they are or all this World besides Take on most bitterly when ye think how by them your dearest Lord is undervalued and their precious Souls are endangered by their not loving of him for they must be ANATHEMA when MARANATHA Alas poor Loveless Souls The Lord will come will surely quickly come and then they will be miserable surely then they will be miserable Souls indeed But is this enough for you O ye Non-Lovers of Christ that others do lament your woful case while ye your selves do spend your Time and waste your Days in sinful Love and carnal Delights and sensual Joy Were ye convinced of your present Sin and did ye see your future approaching Misery could ye be so full of Mirth upon the very Borders of the place where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Could ye Laugh and Sing so near the bottomless Pit where your Laughing shall be turned into Mourning and your Mirth into everlasting Sorrow Were ye the Men that had your Eyes opened would ye not every one of you bitterly bewail your present danger in the sense and apprehension of your speedy and eternal Woe and say Alas what shall I do when Sickness shall come and Death shall come and the Lord himself shall come when I have no love for him Wo is me How shall I dye and after Death appear at his Tribunal whom I never loved O my poor departing Soul now as full of Terror as empty of the love of Christ what will become of thee when thou steppest out of Time into Eternity O dreadful dreadful this is exceeding dreadful to leave all that I did ever love and go to be judged by him whom I did Woe to me that I did never love I did love my Wise and Children but not Christ and now I must leave them whom I did so much love and receive my Doom from him whom I did so much hate I did love my Pleasures and my sensual Delights and now there is an end of them and now I must go unto those Miseries Woes and Torments that shall never never end Wo is me that now I am a dying man and shortly alas a day or two more an hour or two more so shortly for want of love to Christ and I must be a Damned man When I waâ— well and loved not Christ well and loved not Christ when I thought I was well without love to Christ I thought my Pleasures were sweet my Riches my Happiness and my beloved Relations my Joy and I thought my love was rightly placed upon them but now upon this Dying-Bed when I look backwards upon time now past and forwards into Eternity that never will be past I see I find the remembrance of them doth torment my departing Soul they are as bitter as Gall for the more I loved them heretofore the more they do torment me now Now Wo is me They will for ever Oh what did I mean to give that love to them which I should have given unto Christ Had I loved him as I loved them my love to him would have been as great a Comfort to me on this Dying-Bed as the love of them is now a Terror to me but I did not O cursed Catiff that I did not And now the Lord by Death is come to me and I after Death must go to him to be Judged by him and in my Sentence I shall hear ANATHEMA Depart thou Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels In that I never loved Christ I Sinned like the Devil and in my Sentence for that Sin I must be Condemned and in Hell suffer with and as the Devil But yet all this may be prevented may it And will ye not endeavour it How By calling off your love from other things and placing it predominantly upon the Lord Jesus By Faith in him and Love unto him the Curse might be escaped and the Blessing obtained at his coming and had ye rather be Damned than love Christ Indeed Is your Enmity so much to him that ye had rather be miserable for ever than place your Affections upon him Are ye not yet willing to forsake your Old Love and get New Love to Christ Can ye be willing to be miserable and pained and tormented in extremity to all Eternity I know ye cannot And yet I know whether ye be willing or unwilling without love to Christ miserable you must be Oh that ye did clearly see stedfastly believe and distinctly apprehend the transcendent Excellency the amiable Beauty the invaluable Worth of this Lord Jesus that ye might prize him more than Gold and Pearls and costly Jewels and love him more than all How is it when ye hear those on Earth that love him most so much complain of the smalness of their love to him that ye do not reflect upon your selves and say What Sinners then are we that have no love at all to him and yet are
the swarms of men therein that have no sincere Love to Jesus Christ Let all among you this day that are not Sensual Beasts or Incarnate Devils that have the Understanding and Hearts of men stand and wonder that tho Devils will not love the Lord Jesus Christ that a Man should deny him his Love Good Lord What a thing is this What cursed Wickedness is this What wonder that thou dost behold such a fight as this a Man without love unto thy Son and suffer him to continue to be a man or dost not make him a sick man a poor man a tormented pained man on earth or a Damned man in Hell But tho thou bearest with such a man is he not a wretched miserable man tho he be a rich and prospering man Oh what Punishment waiteth for him How do Devils hope for his Death that they might drag him down to that Hellish Crew where there is not one Lover of Christ amongst them all But what is he What shall he be that Loves not Christ What Anathema Maran-atha What is that The Explication will tell you SECT II. The Explication of Anathema Maran-atha Anathema where found in Scripture is usually Translated Accursed Acts 23.14 And they came to the chief priests and elders and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have bound our selves under a great curse that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul i.e. with a Curse we have Cursed that is grievously Cursed or bound our selves with direful Curses Vers 21. The same word used Gal. 1.8 But tho we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be Anathema accursed Repeated verse 9. Mark 14.71 But he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to curse and to swear saying I know not this man of whom ye speak Rom. 9.3 For I could wish my self Anathema were accursed from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh 1 Cor. 12.3 Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Anathema accursed Not to love Jesus is to carry our selves towards him as tho he were Anathema but forasmuch as he is God over all blessed for ever whosoever loves not him shall be Anathema for ever This Greek word is used as the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cherem which is Translated utterly to destroy viz. 1 Sam. 15.9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and the lambs and all that was good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would not utterly destroy them but every thing that was vile and refuse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they destroyed utterly The Greek Verb signifieth such Cursing as when a man either sweareth voweth or wisheth himself to dye or to be given to the Devil except he And the Hebrew word that answereth to it signifieth Utterly to destroy to devote to destruction As much as to say If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be utterly destroyed devoted to destruction let the Devil take him and so he will by God's own Order and Command Mat. 25.41 Then shall he say unto them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels Luk. 12.20 But God said Thou fool This night thy soul shall be required of thee In the Greek They shall require demand fetch away thy soul They What they The Devils that seize the souls of all that love not Christ whenever they dye 2. Maran-atha two Syriack words as some take them Maran that is our Lord. Nun finale est affixum primae personae ex pronomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar with Aleph is a Chaldee word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mara Lord and Nun only litera paragogica then Maran both in Chaldee and Syriack signifieth Lord. Atha written thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Hebrew word written thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Chaldee thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Syriack word thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Arabick in all signifieth To come A man that loves not the Lord Jesus Christ shall be Cursed in all Nations in all Languages by all People all the world shall account that man to be Anathema Anathema Maran-atha some render it Let him be accursed till the Lord come or when the Lord comes or he shall have due Vengeance from the Lord when he comes Some thus Let him be accursed even till the coming of the Lord to his death's day even for ever and hath reference to that Prophecy of Enoch recorded Jude ver 14. Enoch also the seventh from Adam prophesied of these saying Behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints 15. to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have angodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him And all for want of Love unto him Learned men conclude That here is an allusion to the Jewish manner of Excommunication of which there were three sorts or degrees The Lesser The Middle Sort. The Greatest 1. The Lesser called Niddui Put out and in the New Testament they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put out of the Synagogue and they hold that Cain was excommunicated this way 2. The second was called Cherem or Anathema when a scandalous sinner with Curses out of the Law of Moses was in the publick Audience of the whole Church without any limitation of time excluded from the Communion of it This thought to be the same called a delivering up unto Satan With this sort of Excommunication was the Incestuous person censured 1 Cor. 5.4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ 5. To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 3. The greatest of all they called Samatha so called from Sem a name which they put for Nomen Tetragrammaton or Jehova and Atha comes Others derive it from Sham There and Mitha Death as if they should say There and then shall be death to the Non-Lovers of Christ The Syrians call it Maran-atha by which form added to the two former the excommunicated person as desperate and forlorn without all hope of pardon or restitution was left to the hands of the Lord to receive from him an heavy doom at his coming implying that they summoned the Excommunicated before the dreadful Tribunal at the last coming of the Son of God They say this sort of Excommunication the people of God used against the Amalâ—kites And with this highest degree of Excommunication
shall all the Non-Lovers of Christ at his coming be excluded and stand excommunicated from the favourable Presence of the Glorious God and of Christ the Gracious only Saviour from the Company of all the Holy Angels and Society of the Blessed Saints from the Holy Place above and from all the Joys and Happiness thereof The manner how the Jews excommunicated the Samaritans was very solemn and dreadful They brought Three hundred Priests and Three hundred Trumpets and Three hundred Books of the Law and Three hundred Boys and they blew with Trumpets and the Levites singing accursed the Cutthaeans in the Name of Tetragrammaton or Jehovah and with the Curses both of the Superior and Inferior House of Judgment and they said Cursed is he that eateth the bread of the Cutthaeans hence is that saying of theirs He that eateth the bread of the Cutthaean or Samaritan is as he who eats swines flesh and let no Cutthaean be a Prosâ—lite in Israel neither have any part in the resurrection of the just These Curses they wrote upon Tables and sealed them and sent them through all Israel who multiplied also this great Anathema or Curse upon them But the Excommunication of all the Non-Lovers of Christ will be inconceivably more terrible when the Lord himself shall come with Millions of his Holy Angels and with Ten Thousands yea Thousands of thousands of his Saints and the Trumpet sounding the Saints singing and the Air ringing Christ and all shall say Now cursed for ever be every man that did not love the Lord Jesus Let them never come into the Kingdom of Heaven nor have a share in the Happiness that God hath prepared for them that love him and all the Saints and Angels shall say Amen Amen There is another Text setting forth the contrary good condition of those that love Christ Ephes 6.24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity Amen Paul standing one while upon Mount Ebal denounceth a Curse against those that do not love the Lord Jesus another while upon Mount Gerizzim pronouncing a Blessing upon them that do Deut. 27.11 And Moses charged the people the same day saying 12. These shall stand upon Mount Gerizzim to bless the people when ye are come over Jordan Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin 13. And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse Reuben Gad and Asher and Zebulun Dan and Napthali 14. And the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice 15. Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image an abomination to the Lord the work of the hands of the craftsmen and putteth it in a secret place and all the people shall answer and say Amen 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother and all the people shall say Amen 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's land-mark and all the people shall say Amen 18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way and all the people shall say Amen 19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger fatherless and widow and all the people shall say Amen Six Tribes stood upon Mount Gerizzim and six upon Mount Ebal and in a little Valley between these two Mountains the Priests stood one while pronouncing a Blessing upon the Observers of the Law and then the Tribes upon Mount Gerizzim sounded out Amen Another while denouncing Curses against the Transgressors of the Law then the Tribes upon Mount Ebal founded out Amen But now though you are not unjust towards men no Drunkards no Swearers yet if Non-Lovers of Christ the Curse lies upon you and at the coming of the Lord it will be in vain to plead your praying hearing receiving your moral Conversation if void of the Love of Christ for Christ shall declare you accursed and all that shall attend him at his coming shall say Amen SECT III. A Division and Paraphrase of the Text. The whole Text consists of these seven parts 1. The Grace to be obtained the Duty to be performed or Act to be exerted viz. Love Sweet pleasant and delightful 2. The Object of this Act or Person to be loved called the Lord and Jesus and Christ 3. The Subject of this Act or who should do this Duty Man Beasts cannot Devils will not Man ought 4. A Supposition if a man love not and it is indeed to be supposed that many will not 5. An heavy Imprecation or solemn denunciation of Vengeance Anathema if he will not be a Lover of Christ let him be accursed 6. A determination of the time when this at furthest shall be executed and poured forth upon him Maran-atha when the Lord comes tho he prosper in the mean time yet when Maran-atha then Anathema 7. The Extent of this Curse If any man let him be he what he will a Scholar a Preacher a Professor an Emperor and yet not a Christ-Lover the Plagues of God at the coming of Christ shall light and lie upon him and if this any be never so many Vengeance and Damnation shall overtake and seize them all I cannot yet get off the words of the Text without another view of each term one by one 1. If This if joined to the not loving of Christ is one of the saddest ifs you can suppose if you should be poor if you should be cast into Prison if you should be banished if you should suffer the loss of liberty and life it is not so bad as if you should not love the Lord Jesus Christ For if you be cast to Hell if you should be damned for ever it will be if you love not Christ If you be ever saved if you never love Christ God is not true and Christ is not true and this Word of God is not true if you pray till you wear the skin from off your knees if you cry for mercy till you waste your Tongue if you confess sin and weep your selves blind if you go as far towards Heaven as ever glozing Hypocrite did and all this while have no sincere love to Christ you never shall escape the Damnation of Hell if you do say I am a Lyer say I preached falshood and deceitful words unto you What! will you drive us to despair yes that I would with all my heart into this despair of ever getting to Heaven without sincere unfeigned love to Christ for despair you must of having Happiness and eternal Glory any other way than God hath prescribed in his Word and Love to Christ is one qualification of that man that shall be saved And to this if relating to your not loving of Christ I will shew you another if relating to your not entring into Heaven Heb. 4.3 I have sworn in my wrath If they shall enter into my rest 5. And in this place again If they shall enter into my rest Here God useth an Oath but concealeth the Imprecation when
above all thankfully accept him for my Lord and Saviour is plainly required from me and upon the sincere performance of these conditions and persevering therein unto the end of my life for Christ's sake beloved and believed on I may comfortably well-groundedly hope wait for and expect through the Riches and Freeness of his Grace Everlasting Happiness In like manner I judge it a perplexing question Whether we should love Christ for himself or for the Benefits by him Lord help me to love Christ for himself and for all the good I have and hope for by him but the one subordinately the other ultimately for such love I read there was in David Psal 116.1 I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications SECT X. The Ninth Requisite in Love to Christ NInthly Sincere Love to Jesus Christ doth respect him and is placed upon him as he is Prophet Priest and King In which respect the love of Hypocrites and carnal Gospellers doth fail and come short Most will profess love to Christ as he is Jesus a Saviour to deliver them from the Guilt of Sin and Punishment of Hell and the Wrath that is to come but will not love him nor have him as a Teacher and a Ruler As if a woman should love her husband as he makes provision for her and doth protect her from wrongs and injuries but as he is her Head to guide to rule and govern her so she cannot endure him Would you not in such a case cry out against such love and say this is but partial and pretended love And do not you see you deal as deceitfully and hypocritically with Christ when in one respect you say you like and love him but indeed in other respects you do dislike and hate him And do you think that Christ will save you from Hell if he do not save you from your sins That he will make you happy if you be never holy Or do you hope that he will bring you to Heaven without your being made meet and fit for Heaven Doth not your own Reason and Conscience if you consult them condemn such hopes of happiness that is built upon such partial Love Must Sin be loved as a Lord and Christ loved as a Saviour Do you think if Sin be your Lord Christ will be your Saviour What is the meaning then that the Object of such love that you must have if you would not be Anathema in the Text is set down the Lord Jesus Christ What meaneth then that slaughter at the last day among them that never would submit to Christ as Lord and Ruler nor love him in that relation Whom Christ looks upon not as Lovers of him but as Enemies to him and will deal with them not as Lovers but as Enemies Luk. 19.27 But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me What is the meaning then that Lord and Saviour so often in Scripture with a Conjunction Copulative are put together if as the Object of your Love they are to be parted asunder Rom. 8.39 and 7.25 1 Cor. 1.2 1 Cor. 15.57 2 Cor. 1.2 Gal. 1.3 Eph. 1.2 3. Phil. 1.2 Col. 1.2 1 Thes 1.1 and 2.1 2. 1 Tim. 1.2 and 2.1 2. Tit. 1.4 Jam. 1.1 1 Pet. 1.3 and 2 Pet. 1.1 2. In these Texts and many more Lord and Saviour Lord and Jesus Lord Jesus Christ are set together and in all these respects propounded to us to be loved and received by us if we would have Grace Mercy and Peace from God and Salvation by him And as he is offered so he must be loved and accepted or you must go without him and his benefits for ever SECT XI The Tenth Requisite to Love to Christ or the Worker of it TEnthly This Love to Christ is wrought by the Powerful Operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart For tho there is Affection of Love naturally in all men yet there is not the Grace of Love naturally in any man There is love to sin and to the world and there might be love of man to man and some common love in man to God by some common workings of the Spirit but there can be no special Saving Love to Jesus Christ but by the special Operations of the Holy Ghost It is a Flower that doth not grow in Natures Garden but is planted by the Spirit of God Therefore spiritual holy Love is said to be a fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 And if any such surely is sincere and saving Love to Christ SECT XII The Eleventh Thing required in it ELeventhly This Love includes a Resignation of a man's self to Christ without reservation of any thing he is or hath unto himself A Lover of Christ doth so devote dedicate and give up himself unfeignedly to Christ as to his rightful Owner and bountiful Benefactor that he looks upon himself to be Christ's more than his own to live to Christ and not to himself and to seek Christ in all and not himself As in Conjugal Love there is a mutual giving each to other the one I give my self to thee the other and I give my self to thee so in this holy Spiritual Love between Christ and the Soul Christ gives himself unto the Soul and says I am thine my Righteousness is thine my Merits are thine and all my Benefits shall be thine So the Soul in love with Christ saith Lord I give my self to thee my Understanding shall be thine my Will my Heart my Estate my All shall be thine at thy Command at thy Disposal for me to have to use to leave or lose as thou shalt please Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine and I am his Hos 2.23 I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy and I will say to them which were not my people Thou art my people and they shall say Thou art my God SECT XIII The Workings of this Love as it is Delighting Desiring or Mourning Love TWelfthly When all this is done the Soul doth Delight in Christ if present Desireth after him if absent or mourneth for him if it cannot find him One of these Three ways Love will discover it self There are Three sorts of Love First Delighting Love If a man finds Christ's gracious quickning Presence in his Soul discovering and manifesting himself and Love unto him he rejoiceth in it more than in all Riches and saith My Life is a Pleasure my Heart is filled with Comfor my Soul with Heavenly Delights Psal 4.6 There be many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased Cant. 2.3 As the apple-trees among the trees of the wood so is my beloved among the sons I sate down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste 4. He brought me
that I loved not Christ If I had loved Christ as much above the world as I loved the world above Christ I might have been among the blessed Saints and not in the midst of such a cursed Crew Had I loved Christ so much more than Sin as I loved Sin more than Christ I might have been a blessed one but because I did not O cursed Caitiff that I did not I am now this cursed Caitiff Who can be in these Torments and not acknowledge the Curses of the Lord have overtaken him Who can feel what is here to be endured and yet who can endure to feel it which yet in feeling must be endured and not reckon himself as cursed as curs'd can be This I was told for want of Love to Christ would be my cursed state the Lord is come and now for want of Love it is my cursed state I was told If I love not Christ I should be Anathema when Maran-atha I did not love Christ and now Maranatha and I am Anathema 6. To be Anathema when Maran-atha will be to be cursed privatively with the loss of God of Christ of Heaven of the society of Saints and Angels and of all the joys and happiness that God hath prepared for them that love him shall then be openly cast out of God's Favour You cast off Christ and that is your sin and Christ will cast you off and that will be your Curse The love of your heart is not towards Christ and that is your Sin and God's Face and Favour shall not be towards you and that will be your Curse Can he be blessed that loseth God that is our blessedness Must not he be cursed that lies under the punishment of cursed Devils Now you love not Christ and yet you will be confident that you shall escape Hell and obtain Heaven and be blessed But if you continue without Love to Christ you will be shut out of Heaven and where then Do you know of any other place whatever Papists dream but Hell and when out of Heaven and in Hell what a poor Blessedness will your groundless confidence bring you to 7. To be Anathema when Maran-atha will be to be finally accursed While Christ doth tarry if you are not in a good and blessed state one day you might be another Tho last Lord's-day you were in a miserable condition yet this you may and oh that you might be translated into a better If not this if you live till the next you may be then tho you should desire to get out of a cursed dangerous condition this day before the next for this day is yours the next might be none of yours But when Christ shall come that will be the last day and there shall not be a next Therefore to be accursed that day will be to be sent away with a Curse upon your Souls without any succession of a Blessing When Christ was upon the earth the last act he did relating to his Disciples was an act of Love his Valedictory act was an act of Benediction Luk. 24.50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany and he lift up his hands and blessed them 51. And it came to pass that while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into Heaven And when Christ shall come again the last act relating to them that love him not shall be an Act of Justice and Vengeance and Wrath and his Valedictory act an act of Malediction and after this no act of Mercy of Love or Favour to them therefore shall be finally accursed 8. To be Anathema when Maran-atha will be to be accursed without an appeal to any higher Court or superior Judge for such none is If it were the last thing that Christ would do to them yet if they could remove their Cause and have an Hearing in another Court and before another Judge they might hope the Curse may be repealed the Sentence whereby they are declared accursed might be changed and their sad condition altered for the better but this cannot be for all Judgment is committed to the Son John 5.22 And all men must stand or fall live or dye be damned or saved according to the Sentence that Christ shall pass upon them 2 Cor. 5.10 For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one might receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad And in the description of the Process of the day of Judgment we find without appeal to any other the Execution shall certainly follow and those whom Jesus shall pronounce blessed shall go into Eternal Life and those whom he shall declare accursed shall go into Everlasting Punishment Mat. 25.43 Come ye blessed of my Father Vers 41. Depart from me ye cursed Vers 46. And these shall go away into overlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal 9. Therefore to be Anathema when Maran-atha will be to be accursed with an irrevocable Curse Tho they should cry call beg for a Blessing with greater importunity than Esau did who cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his Father Bless me even me also O my father Gen. 27.34 Yet the Lord Jesus at that day will be inexorable not to be intreated but as Isaac said concerning Jacob I have blessed him and he shall be blessed so Jesus shall say concerning them that loved him I have blessed them and they shall be blessed and to them that hated him I have cursed you and ye shall be cursed So much we learn from Luk. 13.25 When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock saying Lord Lord open unto us and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence ye are 26. Then shall ye begin to say We have eaten and drank in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets 27. But he shall say I tell you I know not whence ye are depart from me all ye workers of iniquity Mat. 7.22 Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have not we prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name have done many wonderful works 23. And then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work iniquity Christ in these Scriptures speaks of many who shall find the door shut themselves excluded shall be importunate for admission into a state of Everlasting Blessedness by knocking calling Lord Lord Open to us But Christ doth disown them and denieth their request They plead their prophecying their hearing their eating and drinking in his presence casting out of Devils and doing many wonderful works in his Name But Christ replies All this you did but you did not love me and ye were not lovers of me for ye were workers of iniquity and a Lover of Christ and a Worker of Iniquity as
faith so that I could remove mountains and have no charity I am nothing 3. And tho I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and tho I give my body to be burn'd and have not charity it profiteth me nothing Love therefore is above all these for all these without love are nothing 5. Love makes us most like to God for God is love 1 Joh. 4.8 And God loveth Christ above all the men on earth and above all the Angels in Heaven therefore calls him his Beloved Son Mat. 3.17 God loveth All men with a Common Love John 3.16 Tit. 3.4 Holy men with a Special Love Angels with an Higher Love Christ most of all who is the Son of his Love Col. 1.13 So our Love is gradual we ought to love all men with some degrees of Love Holy men and Angels with an higher Love and Christ with the highest Love And when we love as God loves our Love makes us most like to God 6. Love is the highest improvement of the faculties of our Souls 1. We have Vnderstandings to know God and Christ And Love to God and Christ is the highest improvement of all our knowledg for if we know him and not love him the more we know of him the more our knowledge doth increase our sin and will aggravate our condemnation 2. We have Wills to chuse the Lord Jesus Christ and when we chuse him Love is the improvement of our Wills in taking complacency in him who is the Object of our choice 3. We have Consciences that do dictate to us that Christ is best and best for us and then we improve those dictates when we love him else all those dictates of Conscience are lost and come to nothing 4. We have Memories wherein the Sayings of Christ to us the Sufferings of Christ for us and the Benefits of Christ bestowed upon us should be lodged and laid up and when we love him we shall love to remember all these things that we have by him and from him and himself that is Purchaser and the Donor of them But if our Love is predominantly placed upon any thing below Christ all the Powers of the Soul are debased the Reason of man is degraded in contriving the getting of such ignoble and fordid enjoyments as his highest end the Will is debased in chusing of them and the Memory in being stuffed with the remembrance of them forgetting God and Christ and better things so that a man is more a brute than a man without sincere Love to Christ 7. Love is the end of all other Graces and in which they terminate their Operations Our knowledge of Christ endeth in our loving of Christ our believing on him hoping in him trusting to him like so many streams at last run into the Love of Christ 8. Love is the Everlasting Grace that shall abide and be in use and exercise when the actings of other Graces shall cease There are some Graces suitable especially to our state of imperfection in this world To live by Faith to Repent and Mourn for sin to live in hope of the glory that is to be revealed to wait till we be possessed of the Mansions that are above to desire all the good that is promised to us but not yet conferred upon us But hereafter Faith shall be turned into Vision Hope into Fruition Desires into Possession waiting into Obtaining And then we shall thus believe no more nor hope nor desire nor wait but then we shall love still yea more than ever more abundantly yea perfectly without diminution continually without intermission and eternally without cessation in which respect among the three Cardinal Graces Love hath the preheminence 1 Cor. 13.13 Now abideth faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is charity because it is the longest in duration So that those that love Christ sincerely here shall love him perfectly hereafter and be for ever blessed in that love But those that love him not on earth cannot love him in the other world and for want of such Love shall be accursed for ever CHAP. VI. The Application of the Doctrine THE last thing propounded in the method of this Subject is the Vse and Application of it to bring it down to our own hearts to work this truth upon our Minds Consciences and Affections And now O that God would help me and Christ would help me and the blessed Spirit of God and Christ would so help me and give me lively words a lively Heart lively and inflamed Love to blessed Jesus and your immortal precions Souls that I might speak and apply this great Truth as becomes a man that deth believe every one of you before God in this Congregation this day must be Anathema when Maran-atha if you live and die void of love to Jesus Christ as becomes a man that doth believe you must be blessed or cursed damned or saved for ever as you are prevailed with or not prevailed with to give Christ your Hearts and hearty love as becomes a man that doth believe your Everlasting Stare is much concerned in this one point that now is before us Alas Methinks I do foresee the great multitudes that this Anathema will fall upon Methinks I see the Lord a-coming methinks I hear the Trumpet sounding and the Voice calling to the Dead Arise and come to judgment Come ye cursed Souls that have been in the Infernal Lake and appear before my Bar come ye cursed Bodies awake arise and stand before my Judgment-Seat and let those cursed Souls be again united to those cursed Bodies and now be both cursed together and cursed for ever and let both be inseparably linked together to endure this Curse to all eternity Methinks I see them coming but unwillingly they come but with fear and trembling with horrour and amazement Now what is to do now now Maran-atha and now every one of us that loved not that Lord that now is come must be Anathema O woful Souls O miserable Sinners O cursed Caitifs What shall we now do and whither shall we now go do that we should have asked before this day that the Lord is come Do We should have done that which we did not do and now must go thither whither we would not go O that we might rather cease to be than to be what we must for ever be and go from whence we never must return and feel what will make us cry and roar toss and throw and be for ever restless and the more restless because hopeless and remediless O Sirs my Heart is pained my Bowels roul within me my Joints do shake with trembling for fear lest any of you that pray in this place and hear in this place should fall under this Curse when the Lord shall come The Uses of this Doctrine shall be 1. By way of Inference or Instruction what things from hence may be deduced and learned 2. For Reprehension or Reproof aggravating the Charge against such as love not the
Lord Jesus Christ 3. For Examination or Trial distinguishing the Non-Lovers of Christ from such as do sincerely love him 4. By way of Entreaty or Exhortation That as you would escape this Curse be careful that you get this Love to Christ 5. For the Comfort Encouragement and Joy of such as love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity above all CHAP. VII Vnder the first Vse we might learn these Lessons or deduce these Ten Corollaries I. GOD only hath power to curse any of his Creatures He that made us can only really and effectually make us a Blessing or a Curse Sin might meritoriously subject us to the Curse but God only can inflict all the Curse that Sin doth deserve Wicked men might wish others accursed and do but their wishing them to be so doth not make them so By cursing others they might sooner bring a Curse upon themselves than upon those whom they do curse let them beware of this that cannot speak of some persons but with a Curse in their mouths Psal 109.17 As he loved cursing so let it come unto him as he delighted not in blessing so let it be far from him 18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyl into his bones That Cursings as well as Blessings belong to God Balaam himself did teach Numb 23.7 And he took up his parable and said Balaak the King of Moab hath brought me from Aram out of the mountains of the East saying Come curse me Jacob and come defie Israel 8. How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed or how shall I defie whom the Lord hath not defied Therefore when we find holy men of God in Scripture using Imprecations and Curses we must not draw them into Example to fill our Mouths with Curses against any for there is not the same reason betwixt us and them 1. When they cursed they had the gift of discerning of Spirits whereby they perceived such were designed by God unto destruction as a Reward of their cursed Sinnings against whom they used such fearful Imprecations of Eternal Damnation Acts 8.20 Peter said unto him Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money 21. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thine heart is not right in the sight of God 23. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity The like is to be said of David's cursing of his slanderous Enemies under the person of Doeg Achitophel or Judas praying against his Person Family Name Honour Estate and Eternal Salvation Psal 109.6 Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand 7. When he shall be judged let him be condemned and let his prayer become sin 8. Let his days be few and let another take his office 9. Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow 10. Let his children be vagabonds and beg let them seek their bread in desolate places 11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath and let the stranger spoil his labour 12. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children 13. Let his posterity be cut off and in the generation following let their name be blotted out c. 2. The Imprecations of such men in Scripture might be taken rather as Predictions than as Curses or at least imprecating Predictions They speaking by the Spirit of God foretold what Curses would be inflicted by God upon them for their Sin and in a way of sin overtake them 3. There is a Ministerial and a Magisterial cursing The one is to make any thing or person accursed as the desert of Sin the other is to pronounce wish or declare any thing or person accursed and this is all that men can do Therefore though men pronounce Anathema against some without cause as the Pope and his Councils against Protestantâ— we need not be terrified therewith else the most happy men might be the most accursed 2 Sam. 16.12 It may be the Lord will look on mine affliction and that the Lord will require me good for his cursing this day II. This doth teach us the evil nature of Sin and what a cursed thing it is as being the meritorious cause of all the Curses that befall any of the Creatures of God If Sin had been kept out of the World curses had never come into it But Sin made way for the Curse and brought it in the commission of sin was the introduction of the Curse Gen. 3.14 And the Lord said unto the serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattel and above every beast of the field 17. Cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life Sin and the Curse are so linked together that Christ only that can take away the Sin can remove the Curse Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us If Curses be heavy Sin cannot be light and if the Curses be great that are due to Sin Sin that procures them cannot be so small a matter as the most make of it Would you flee from the Curse and yet run into Sin would you escape the Curse and yet live in Sin what is this but as if you would drink poyson and hope you shall live run into the fire and imagine you shall not be burnt Do you cry out under the Curse as a grievous pain and yet look upon Sin as the greatest pleasure Is the Curse dreadful and do you look upon Sin as delightful Is the Curse intolerable and can Sin be profitable Oh learn to look upon Sin through the Curse and then Sin will appear to be a cursed thing indeed III. Sin doth cross and thwart the natural Principles which are graven by the finger of God upon the hearts of all men If you ask whether Sin be now in man's lapsed state according to the nature of man I answer with this distinction there is the corruption of Nature and so Sin is according to our Nature as natural for man to sin as it is for light things to ascend and heavy to descend and there are the Principles left in corrupt Nature and so Sin is still against Nature In corrupted Nature there are yet remaining Principles that beget an aversation from Misery and an inclination for the obtaining of Happiness desires to avoid the Curse and to procure Blessedness but Sin is a thwarting of both these that you cannot sin but you go against the very Principles left in corrupted Nature as preservatives to keep down the Corruption of Nature Who is there among you all but hath innate Desires to escape the Curse of the Great God or can you desire to be accursed by him Who is among you that hath
Christ and few blessed by Christ Most are void of love unto him and most shall be accursed at his coming Is it an hard saying If hard yet true Is it a hard saying But it will be harder feeling when the Curse shall fully be inflicted XI Shall every one that loves not Christ be Anathema when Maran-atha accursed when the Lord shall come then the day of Christ's coming will be a doleful day to the Non-Lovers of Christ Then all the World shall be divided into cursed ones and blessed ones You love not Christ and yet bless your self but I pray you consider Maran-atha the Lord comes You glory in your Estate though Christ hath not your Heart but I beg of you that you would remember Maran-atha You put the Curse and the Evil day far from you but I beseech you let Maran-atha sound in your ears Then Oh then you shall curse the day that ever you were born you shall curse the time that you lived under the Gospel and heard of Christ but did not love him You shall curse your self for your wickedness madness and folly that so lovely a Christ was set before you and you had not an heart to set your love upon him and say Oh cursed heart that would love the World and not love yonder glorious Christ Oh cursed Will that didst chuse the Vanities of the World before the Son of God! Oh cursed was that love which I gave unto the Creature and did deny to Christ How can I hold up my head now to behold that Christ whom I never had an heart to love How can I hear that Voice and yet it is so great so thundring and so loud that I cannot but hear it commanding me to depart like a cursed Wretch when I never did and never would hearken to his Voice calling to me to love him and to give my Heart and Affections to him Wo is me now Maran-atha and now I am Anathema Wo is me the Lord is come and with him wrath is come and banishment from Heaven is come Wo wo wo is me the Lord is come and I feel fear and trembling is come ten thousand woes to me for the Lord is come and now compleat damnation comes the Lord is come and I must go I poor Wretch must go go Whither must I go to a cursed place to whom Alas to cursed Company But how wo is me like a cursed Wretch Cursed most bitterly cursed finally totally Body and Soul and all eternally for I had no Love for Christ and now Christ hath no Blessing for me When it is said throughout the World Maranatha then the World will ring with this Cry every one that loves not Christ is now Anathema CHAP. VIII Twenty Aggravations of want of Love to Christ THE Second Use doth bring a Charge and an Accusation against you for not loving the Lord Jesus Christ Some openly declare by their actions and manner of conversation That they do not love him Some openly pretend Love to Christ but really have no love unto him Ezek. 33.31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh and they sit before thee as my people and they hear thy words but they will not do them for with their mouth they shew much love but their heart goeth after their covetousness Love to Christ is in their mouth but love to the world is in their heart Some say they love him but God knows they do not John 5.42 But I know you that ye have not the love of God in you No! Do you know how great a sin this is Why then do you make so light of it Why then are you no more ashamed that you want this love Would you not be ashamed if this report went of you That you did not love your Wife your Children or your Neighbour And is it not an incomparably greater sin and shame that you do not love the Lord Jesus The only Son of God the only Saviour of lost sinners How is it that you do so seldom or never bewail the want of love to Christ in your Prayers or scarce put it in amongst the Confession of your Sins What do you love your Gold and not your God Or do you make your Gold your God and then love your Gold instead of loving the true God Can you love your Silver and not the precious Saviour Are you bound to love your very Enemies and yet have no love to him that would be your surest greatest and most faithful friend What shall I say Good Lord I am ashamed and blush to say which yet is true of too many of the sons of men that they both can and do love their very beasts their dog their horse and all their cattel and yet will not be prevailed with to love thy Son thy only Son and by thee beloved Son Nay what shall I say That you do love your very lusts and filthy sins that will destroy and damn you for ever and yet not love that only Lord and Jesus that would save you from your sins and from Hell for ever What can I say but that you love not Christ because you love your sin so much Oh horrid shame Love Deformity and not Beauty Where are your eyes Surely your love to sin is blind O monstrous Lover Love that which is worst of all and not him that is best of all Where is your reason Have you lost the understanding of a man Hath sin bereaved you of your wits Then oh Madness and Folly Are you so fond of sin as to be damn'd for it Are you so foolishly fond of this world as for the love of it to be hated of God and banished out of his Glorious Presence for ever Is your Soul so clogg'd with flesh and sunk so deep into it that it can rise no higher in its love than sensual earthly and fleshly delights and pleasures Will this love be so sweet in the review as you think it is in the present taste thereof Is this so vile a thing so base and sordid love that sets you below the rank of men not to be reproved For this are you not justly blamed Blamed yea and justly reckoned an Anathema that hath such an incomparable Object as Christ propounded to him and yet will nor love him Whose Excellencies are set forth and yet he seeth no Beauty in him That when there is nothing in the world so suitable to a sinner as Christ and yet will you be so perverse as to imagine and your heart maintain that Riches are more suitable and Pleasures are more suitable and Christ and the things of Christ the only inconvenient things for you If you do not think so why do you do so as you do in denying him your love Are you not to be blamed that when yet you might have Christ are not past a capacity a possibility of having Christ and all his benefits and good by him that you do not turn your love unto him Are you not to be
Love tried whether sincere or counterfeit MUST a man that loves not Christ sincerely be Anathema when Maranatha Must he love or be cursed if he do not Then as Christ did put the Question unto Peter Joh. 21.15 Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me And 16. the second time and 17. the third time Simon Son of Jonas lovest thou me So do thou put this Question to thy self O my Soul lovest thou the Lord Jesus And when thy heart may forwardly return an answer ask it the second time O my Soul art thou not mistaken Dost thou indeed love the Lord Jesus And because the matter is of everlasting moment put the Question a third time and so often till to this Question O my Soul Dost thou sincerely love the Lord Jesus Thou hast such proof out of the Scripture as will hold trial when this shall be in question at the great day of Judgment But alas What great grounds of jealousie are there that the love of many is but supposed love to Christ that think they do that hope they do but indeed do not For whose conviction I shall desire them to give in a serious answer to the following Queslions as trials of the sincerity of their love I. Dost thou love Christ sincerely and live in wilful disobedience to the known commands of Christ Dost thou know his will and willingly every day act contrary to it and yet pretend to love him Dost thou slight his commands and love his person Doth Christ command thee to be the death of thy sins and thou suffer them to live and rule and yet love him Doth Christ command thee to pray continually and thou dost neglect it continually and yet have the face to say thou lovest Christ Doth Christ command thee not to swear profanely at all nor to take Gods name in vain and dost thou do this often in a day and yet defie that man that calls in question thy love to Christ But whatever be thy confidence I do declare to thy face it is a great and Soul-damning mistake for as Love and Obedience are conjoined in the Scripture so they are never parted in the true and sincere Lover Weigh these Scriptures and thou wilt find thy Love pretended to without obedience to be so light that it will be driven away by the evidence of the Word like chaff before the wind Exod. 20.6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments The same words repeated Deut. 5.10 and Deut. 7.9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations And 11.13 And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul Neh. 1.5 I beseech thee O Lord God of heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments Joh. 14.15 If ye love me keep my commandments 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is yes that is the man that loveth me 23. Jesus answered and said unto him if a man love me he will keep my words 24. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings Do ye see how in all these Texts Obedience is joined with Love If Love go before Obedience follows after and the latter is a proof of the former Then the man amongst you that is not openly profane but of a moral conversation and moreover a Professor will say as Saul did to Samuel Blessed be thou of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord 1 Sam. 15.13 But Samuel replied ver 16. What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the Oxen which I hear So ye say we love the Lord how do ye prove it Why we have performed the Commandments of the Lord. Have ye so What meaneth then the neglect of Prayer in your Families that I hear of What meaneth then your Idling away the Lords day or polluting it by worldly Discourse What meaneth I pray you the allowed dead Praying and dull performances not striven against nor lamented for But if you would not deceive your sell mind that that Obedience which proves sincerity of love to Christ must be 1. Vniversal and that in regard of the object all the Commandments of God those that are more hard as those that be more easie those that cross and condemn your best beloved sin as well as those you could more easily and readily part with those commands that respect the inward as well as the outward Man and do enjoin the manner as well as the matter of your Duties Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy commandments and Universal in regard of the subject that your obedience be done with the whole heart Deut. 10.12 And now Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul 2. Obedience that is a proof of Love must be chearful for Love obeyeth with delight It is not a burden to Pray but a pleasure hard Duties become easie to Love and the time seems not long nor tedious As Jacoh for the Love of Rachel Gen. 29.20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed unto him but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as ones days translated as few days for the love he had unto her Seven years to love seem but as one day One day in an holy Duty to one that wanteth love seemeth as seven days if not as seven years which seem to pass away sooner and with more delight than one day spent in Flesh displeasing Duties where there is no love to take off the rediousness of it to the Flesh 3. Such Obedience must be the choicest Sincere Lovers of Christ will serve him with the best they have and in the best manner they can Love thinks nothing too good for God and Christ else it is but deceitful and pretended love Mal. 1.13 Ye said also behold what a weariness is it and ye have snuffed at it saith the Lord of hosts and ye brought that which was torn and the lame and the sick thus ye brought an offering should I accept this of your hands saith the Lord You bring Prayers but they are sleepy Prayers thus ye Pray Ye Pray but with your minds roving because of the prevailing habitual love ye have unto the World THUS ye Pray Could sincere Love find no better Service Give no better Duties than such for which a man is a Deceiver and Accursed v. 14. But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his slock a maele and voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord
thereof Doth that Woman love her Husband that is gone a Journey and the tidings of his coming back is sorrowful News unto her The loving of the coming of Christ is a character of such as shall be crowned when he comes 2 Tim. 4.8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing And the Spouse that was inflamed with Love concludeth that Song of Love with this Request Cant. 8.14 Make haste my beloved and be thou like to a Roe or to a young Hart upon the mountains of spices And when in the last words save one verse of all the Book of God Christ promiseth his last and speedy coming the Church that loveth Christ catcheth the promise out of his mouth and turns it into a Prayer Rev. 22.20 He which testifieth these things saith Surely I come quickly Amen Even so come Lord Jesus But your heart saith rather Oh not so Lord Jesus great love in the mean time in your heart Yet one that truly loveth Christ might be sometimes filled with fear at the thoughts of Christs coming not because he doth not love and desire it but because he thinks he is not prepared for his coming lest Christ should find him unfitted and unready at his coming to enter with him into his glory but while he doth defer his coming the loving Soul is hasting in his preparations for it As a Woman that is told her Suiter is coming is greatly troubled not because he is coming but because she fears he might come before she he adorned as she doth desire What say ye now Sirs Do ye love Christ or do ye not Upon the laying these things to your heart by examination of your heart by them can ye upon mature deliberation say that ye find the love of Christ is there Then I shall shew in the close of this subject what cause of joy in God ye have what comfort for the present and what ground of expectation of better greater things for the future and for ever this love to Christ might be unto you But is this the case of all you in this Congregation I would to God it were Is love to Christ in every heart among you I wish it were but I fear it is not I hope some of you do love Christ but can I hope so of you all If I would never so fain I cannot while some are ignorant and some are prophane and too many are excluded by the former characters of Love from having for the present the Grace of Love Oh that I my self had more love to Christ that I might grieve more that blessed Jesus is not loved by more among you Oh that for Jesus sake I had more love to your Souls that I could weep abundantly over you that neither for Jesus sake nor your own have hitherto loved the Lord Jesus What then Have ye not Good God pardon it Will ye not Good God forbid it What shall I do Take it for granted that many of you do not love the Lord Jesus Yea I have proved that ye do not And oh how bitter are these thoughts to me that so many of you do not love the sweetest Jesus Shall I take it for granted that ye will not This were enough if my heart were not a stone to break it to pieces Shall I let you alone without this Love I dare not Shall I try to gain your Love not to me but to my Lord I am afraid ye will deny me Deny me In this that is of everlasting concernment to your Souls shall I take a denial and be gone At your first denial I will not be gone I know ye must have love unto him or be cursed by him how then can I acquiesce in a denial from you I know the Sinner doth not know what he saith when he doth deny to give Christ his love and therefore in hopes he might come to a better understanding of himself and what makes for his own eternal good I will proceed to the fourth Use by which I hope God will change some of your hearts and minds and win the love of some of you for Christ that all you that yet do not love him will not give this as your final answer That ye will not love him CHAP. X. Where the fourth Vse is an attempt of gaining Sinners consent to love Christ a serious wish for good success OH then be perswaded as ye love your Souls as ye would escape the Damnation of Hell as ye would obtain the Happiness of Heaven as ye would avoid the punishment of Devils as ye would dye in a good condition and after Death give a good account of the Wooings of Grace this day and not be Anathema when Maranatha be perswaded to set your hearts and love upon Jesus Christ for he must be loved by you or ye must be cursed by him Abraham Gen. 24. sent his Servant bound with an Oath to seek a Wife for his Son Isaac with this proviâ—o If the Womâ—n would nor be willing he should be clear from his Oath ver 1. to 10th The Servant prepares to go on this Message and Prays O Lord God of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and shew kindness to my master Abraham ver 10.11 12. He meets with Rebekah by the Well of Water enquireth whose Daughter she was and whether there were room in her Fathers House for him to Lodge in he is invited by her Brother Laban saying Come in thou blessed of the Lord wherefore standest thou without for I have prepared the house and room for the camels to ver 32. There was Meat set before him to eat but he said I will not eat till I have told my errand And he was desired to speak on and he said I am Abrahams servant and the Lord hath blessed my master greatly and he is become great and he hath a Son and he hath given him all that he hath and my master made me swear saying Thou shalt go unto my fathers house and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son and now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master tell me and if not tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said The thing proceedeth from the Lord we cannot speak unto thee bad or good behold Rebekah is before thee take her and go and let her be thy masters sons wife as the Lord hath spoken And the servant brought forth Jewels of silver and Jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah and they said to Rebekah Wilt thou go with this man and she said I will go O that I might have such success with Souls this Day for the Lord my Master hath sent me bound with the obligation of a Woe to seek the love and
more is contained in these explicatory words than I am able to explain Heb. 8.10 God hath promised the pardon of sins Heb. 8.12 That he will justifie us Ezek. 36.25 and take away the old Heart and give a new one the hard and stony Heart and give a soft and fleshy which shall not be a fleshly Heart ver 26. to give his holy Spirit to help to quicken to guide to comfort you ver 27. To give persevering Grace Jer. 32.40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me If God neither turn away from his sincere People nor they from God their Perseverance is sure that neither shall be is secured by the Promise of God Now these Promises concern the Lovers of God and Christ and to them shall be performed Neh. 1.5 O Lord God of Heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth Covenant and Mercy for them that love him and observe his Commandments The same words in Dan. 9.4 there are promises to them that love God and Christ and there are promises for the performance of those promises to such Deut. 7.9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments He did he doth but how long will he do so To a thousand Generations But what will he do to them that do hate him What Read and Tremble ye that are haters of God and Christ Ver. 10. And repayeth them that hate him to their face to dâ—stroy them He will not be slack to him that hateth him he will repay him to his face III. Predominant sincere love to Christ is an evidence of Gods special and peculiar Love to you How fain wouldst thou know that God doth love thee and Christ doth love thee Then thou saist thou shouldst not care though all the wicked in the World should hate thee and if I knew that God did love me it would resolve my Doubts expell my Fears lighten my Burdens sweeten my Mercies make me chearful under the Cross be a Cordial to me in Sickness and be Life to me in the Gates of Death Canst thou prove thou lovest Christ Then I can prove that both God and Christ do love thee for thy love to God and Christ is the fruit and effect of Gods and Christs love to thee God loveth first or thou hadst never loved at all God loveth us with a preventing Love never any prevented God and Christ in Love We love with a following Love Prov. 8.17 I love them that love me Joh. 14.21 He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him 23. Jesus answered and said unto him If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him 1 Joh. 4.19 We love him because he first loved us And now what Spiritual Comfort What Heavenly Joy What Ravishing Delights might a Lover of Christ take in this That God and Christ is a Lover of him because his Love is such that is above all Expression beyond all Conception above all Comparison Eph. 3.18 May be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height 19. And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge The properties of this Love will make your Joy to be abundant 1. Christ loveth his Lovers with a free Love ye had motives to love Christ his Beauty his Wisdom his Fulness The Necessity ye had of him the Good ye expected by him were attractives of your Love to him but what was in you to move Christ to Love you when ye were Deformed Polluted Guilty Condemned Poor full of running Sores and wallowing in your Blood Ezek. 16.6 And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood Live yea I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood Live 8. Now when I passed by thee and looked upon thee behold thy time which might have been the time of loathing was the time of love As he hath Mercy because he will have Mercy so he Loves because he will Love Deut. 7.7 The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people 8. But because the Lord loved you 2. Christ loveth his Lovers with a pure Love The Love of most is Selfish-love loving others for their own ends and indeed there was something of Self in your loving of Christ that ye might be Pardoned by him and Justified and Saved by him But what can Christ gain by loving of you What advantage redounds to him Or what profit hath he thereby 3. Christ loveth his Lovers with an unparallel'd matchless Love Great was the Love of Jonathan and David great is the Love of tender Parents to their Children but Christs is greater than all Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this That a man lay down his life for his friends 4. Christ loveth his Lovers with a constant abiding Love for it is eternal and unchangeable The Love of Creatures is sickle and waveringlove sometimes sades and fails while they live or dyeth with them when they dye or when we dye their Love to us doth also dye At least they love us not as in that relation for Death hath null'd that relation But the Love of Christ is without end he doth Live for ever and he will Love for ever and neither our Love to him nor his to us doth dye when we do dye but after Death we love him more than ever and he doth manifest his Love to us more than ever Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love IV. Christ makes the hearts of his Lovers the seat and place of his special Residence Lovers love to dwell together and Christ hath prepared Mansions for us that we might dwell with him hereafter but Christ through the greatness of his Love being impatient of so long absence till we come to be present with him in Heaven makes our Hearts a Mansion for himself that he might dwell with us on Earth till we are lodged with him in Glory Joh. 14.23 Jesus answered and said unto him If a man love me he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him Oh blessed Change When thou lovedst not Christ Satan the World and reigning Sin had their abode in thee These were the Lodgers in thy Heart that had the best Room and chiefest Seat in thine Affections While thou wast in the World and not in Christ the World was in thee and noâ— Christ While thou wast in thy Sin thy Sin was in thee as Lord and Ruler but now thou
hast changed thy Love thou hast changed not only the Lodgers but the Governours and Rulers of thine Heart for now the Father is come and the Son is come and the Holy Ghost is come and have taken up their abode in thee Will God dwell in Hearts of Clay Yes if Love to him dwell there V. Christ will manifest himself unto his Lovers He will discover his Love and that in the worst condition ye can be in While ye are in Prosperity many may manifest much Love unto you but when ye are afflicted distressed and stand most in need of their Help and Love will with-hold it from you Job 19.13 He hath put my brethren far from me and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me 14. My kinsfolk have failed and my familiar friends have forgotten me 15. They that dwell in my house and my maids count◠me for a stranger I am an alien in their sight 16. I called my servant but he gave me no answer I entreated him with my mouth 17. My breath is strange to my wife though I entreated for the childrens sake of mine own body 19. All my inward friends abhorred me and they whom I loved are turned against me But Christ that dwells in the Hearts of his Lovers is to them a Bosom friend that he makes the time of their greatest Troubles and Distresses to be the time of the discoveries and manifestations of his love Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions he was afflicted and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the days of old And if he withdraw and for a time conceal his love it is to make them more earnest in seeking after him and for fuller discoveries of his love to them afterwards Cant. 3.1 2 3. VI. All things shall work together for the good of them that love God and Jesus Christ Nothing shall befall them but first or last shall further them in their way to Heaven and tend to their advantage Many things seem to be against you but all shall work for you If you be in Prison your Heart shall be the more enlarged If you lose the things of the World your Heart shall be the more set on the things of Heaven If you be sick and weakly it shall quicken you and stir you up to make more haste to get ripe for Heaven If you be Poor in the World it shall further your Riches in Grace Whatever be the Cross it shall increase the weight of your Crown Rom. 8.28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose VII Sincere love to Christ is a mighty help against Apostacy If a man be a Professor and a Lover of the World a Professor and a Lover of Pleasure of his own Ease and Life more than of Christ when these come in danger to keep them he parts with Christ but he that loveth Christ above all will part with all to cleave to Christ Love to Christ hath carried his people through great difficulties and dangers out of love to Christ they have contemned the Allurements and laughed at the Affrightments of this World have gone through Shame and Reproach endured Stripes and Imprisonments Bonds and Bondage and Death it self Rom. 8.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Whether it be understood Actively or Passively of the love wherewith we love Christ or the love whereby we are beloved by Christ is not material for concerning both we might ask Shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword 37. Nay in all these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we over-overcome we are more than conquerors through him that loved us 38. For I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. If any leave Christ it is for want of love for so far as love prevails we shall in greatest Troubles and Sufferings for him cleave unto him VIII The Lovers of Christ shall be always under his Eye for good He will be looking upon them in order to the shewing of Mercy unto them He looks upon the Lovers of the World and Sin with an Eye of Observation and Indignation he looks and takes notice of their sinful love he looks and is angry with them for such love but he looks upon his Lovers with an Eye of Compassion to pity and to tender them Psal 119.132 Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name God useth to do so it is his way his manner and custom of dealing so with such as love him it is not a strange thing to God nor a thing that he doth but now and then but it is his daily custom to look upon his Lovers and shew them Mercy Psal 145.20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him but the wicked that do not love him will he destroy IX The Lovers of Christ have great preparations made by God himself for their entertainment in the other World For all the Lovers of the World and Sin and Vanity is Wrath and Hell prepared but for the Lovers of Christ such things as do transcend the most refined Wit to conceive the most eloquent Tongue to express or the ablest Pen to describe 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him 1. The Eye of Man hath seen admirable things Coasts of Pearl Golden Mines stately Monuments Kingly Palaces costly Raiments but never Eye hath seen such things as God hath prepared for them that love him 2. The Ear hath heard of more than the Eye hath seen and many hear of the joys of Heaven whose Eyes shall never see them 3. The Heart of Man can conceive more than the Eye hath seen or the Ear hath heard it can imagine all Pebles to be Pearls all the Earth to be a silver Heap the Sea to be liquid Gold the Air transparent Chrystal every Star to be a Sun And if all these were so they would be but as a Sand to a Mountain a Beam to the Sun a Drop to the Ocean a Grain to a Golden Mine compared with the things that are prepared for such as love God and Christ for those things are so great they cannot be measured so many they cannot be numbred so precious they cannot be valued so long and lasting they will never be ended they exceed our Faith they are beyond our Hope above our Desires they might be possessed hereafter but they cannot be comprehended here because For Sublimity they are Incomprehensible for Transcendency