to man for a Saviour Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And likewise man is enabled or rather forc't by love to do and suffer any thing as soon as Divine Love enters a mans heart of proud it makes him humble of lustful and intemperate it makes him chaste and sober of covetous it makes him charitable of dainty and effeminate it makes him a Martyr No ill habits so deeply rooted but love can pluck them up no cross so heavy but love can bear it Many waters cannot quench love saith Solomon neither can the floods drown it Cant. 8.7 No the strongest torrent of affliction is but like drops of water sprinkled upon the fire it increaseth the flames and ardency thereof 6. Love is as strong as death and death is very strong Magnum verbum fortis ut mors dilectio magnificentius exprimi non potuit fortitudo charitatis quis enim morti resistat ignibus undis ferro regibus resistitur venit una mors quis ei resistit nihil illa fortius propterea viribus ejus charitas comparatur Aug. in Psal 121. stronger than all visible creatures We daily fight against death and beat it back by rest and food and Physick we dispute the victory with it many years but it is ever victorious at last so is love it never gives over till it hath conquer'd all oppositions it 's courage increaseth together with difficulties the more obstacles in its way the greater it's indeavours the more fierce it's contentions Death severs a man from himself and disunites what seems inseparable love also takes the lovers soul from him and unites it to the beloved so that he lives more in what he loves than in himself love is as strong as death Death converts the greatest sinners or at least keeps them from sinning at all any longer so doth love it certainly mortifies all even the most reigning sins it will not suffer them to sin that love God We can tame wild beasts by industry overcome the barrenness of the earth by labour resist the angry elements by Art and Physick no evil but hath a remedy only death hath none there is no striving against it so that nothing can better express the irresistible power of love than to say that it is as strong as death §. 24. The fourth The last property of love I shall now mention is that love sweetens bitter things makes our labours pleasant and even our sufferings delightful How heavy is that yoke which is impos'd by an ungrateful hand the Souldier prest to the service can hardly bear his arms but he that is inrol'd by love thinks them light and bears them with pleasure the slave that works in the Mines counts his very life a burthen the niggard that works much harder likes well his drudgery because the love of riches is his task-master he that serves his master out of fear works faintly and with a heavy heart he that serves him out of love doth it diligently and yet with chearfulness the Christian pilgrim who is driven heaven-ward with fears and terrors goeth on with much reluctancy and a sorrowful heart he that is drawn with the cords of love follows with joyfulness minds not the ruggedness of his way and even rejoyceth in his weariness because it brings him nearer and nearer to his beloved he that could say the love of Christ constraineth us could say also we rejoyce in tribulations 'T was the love of JESUS made primitive Christians work hard and suffer much Nullomodo sunt oncrosi labores amantium sed etiam ipsi delectant sicut venantium piscantium interest ergo quid ametur nam in eo quod amatur aut non laboratur aut laber amatur Aug. with comfort and unspeakable joy and 't is for want of that sweet and Divine Love that Christians now find sorrow and great difficulty in that little they do or suffer for JESUS The labours of love are ever pleasant nothing is hard that love binds upon us §. 25. A farewel to all sinful desires These considerations are now to be reduc'd into practice And so I come to enter upon the work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 I come to profess my self a lover of JESUS and so to approve my self by deeds and actions The love of JESUS hath prevail'd 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 countenanc'd and prefer'd his rivals the lusts of sensuality covetousness and pride which I renounc'd 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 indeavour 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 renounc'd 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 renounc'd 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 reveng'd 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 liv'd 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 expos'd himself to shame that I might become glorious indur'd pains that I might have pleasures he became poor that I might be enrich'd but covetousness offers me riches to pierce
evil will be sufficient where love is and where it is not more would do no good and that little I shall say concerning the positive part of our duty doing that which is good will suffice also that Christian who knows what it is to love God The truth is my design is only to direct or beget love to shew its great power and the great advantages it brings Could I but teach thee often to repeat from thy heart as some Ancient Christians at the Celebration of the Lords Supper I love thee dear Jesus I love thee dear Jesus I should think to have profited thee more than if I had unfolded mysteries and displayâ—d much learning in the fairest and most exact method For I am sure that love would soon teach thee to know and to do that which pleaseth God to know and to perform the whole of thy duty Praecipuam Christiana pietatis portionem docuit quisquis ad hujusinflammavit amorem He hath taught the best part of Religion and to the best purpose who hath taught others to love it 'T is certain that if we give our love to God we shall afterwards refuse him nothing where a man gives his heart he will not refuse his hands or his knees where he gives his soul he will not deny his bread or his goods God shall have all that he requires and all we can offer to him if he hath our love and affections No qualification but love will make us true Christians Alia virtus cum peccato sed dilectio tua omni peccato contrariatur omni temptationi resistit Idiot no other vertue but may consist with some sin love alone is contrary to all no other grace can resist all temptations love alone hath that unlimited power no other grace will enable us to discharge all our obligations love alone is the fulfilling of the law all gifts and vertues without love can not fit a man for heaven nor make him dear to God but love can do it of it self they that be faithful in love Wisd 3.9 shall abide with him As there are Dragons that are bright and glittering and have precious stones in their heads as there are Comets that have the light and the elevation of stars so there are vicious persons false Christians that are indow'd with excellent parts and are eminent in some vertues but it profiteth nothing without love If I speak the tongues of Men and Angels 1 Cor. 13.1 c. saith S. Paul If I have the gift of prophesie and understand all mysteries if I have all faith so that I remove mountains if I give my goods to the poor and even my body to be burn'd and have not charity I am nothing and it profits me nothing Of all other gifts and abilities it may be said 1 Cor. 8.1 as of knowledge that they all puff up but charity alone edifieth among those creatures which stand and worship before God there is not only a Man and an Eagle which may represent persons of great learning fitted for high speculations but also a Lion and an Ox whereby Christians of meaner parts and knowledge are signified for these are capable of love as much as the others and 't is love alone qualifies men to dwell with that God who is love it self as S. John calls him God is love 1 Joh. 4.16 and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him God loves men that they may love him again saith S. Aug. Amat Deus ut ametur nil aliud vult quam amari c. he only requires that we would love him knowing that that love is of it self sufficient to make us eternally happy I have therefore all along fitted my discourse and meditations to every mans capacity and opportunities as much as I could because all may love and all must love that will be happy And though I may have recommended some things as means and instruments yet I have prescribed nothing as a duty but the great obligations which were laid upon us when we were baptized into Christ My Monastery as to the place is the Church as to the rule is the love of Jesus and the Orders of it are such as should be observed by all Christians I might indeed have mention'd many useful directions given by Ancient Fathers and Spiritual Guides to such as made profession of greater piety and stricter lives than others but they could not have suted with all conditions and callings therefore I have appointed no other rule to those that shall enter this Cloister but the love of Jesus in a sincere obedience to his holy precepts or a voluntary compliance with his Divine Counsels Not that I would deny that places for Religious Retirement might afford many great advantages in order to greater devotion and heavenly mindedness for I bewail their loss and heartily wish that the piety and charity of the present age might restore to this nation the useful conveniency of them Necessary Reformations might have repurg'd Monasteries as well as the Church without abolishing of them and they might have been still houses of Religion without having any dependance upon Rome Multi sunt qui possunt Religiosam vitam etiam cum saeculari habitu ducere plerique sunt qui nisi omnia reliquerint salvari apud Deum nullatenus possunt Greg. M. Ep. ad Maur. imp All men are not inclining to nor fitted for an active life some would be glad to find a place of rest and retirement for contemplation some who by melancholy or by the terrors of the Lord are frighted from their sins and from the civiliz'd world into Quakerism into an unhappy sullenness and Apostasie would perhaps exchange their silks and laces for the coarser garments of mortified professors of a Monastick life and find among them that happiness and peace of the soul which they vainly seek for in their wretched and deluded Brotherhood some who upon great afflictions and sudden changes of fortune fall into a state of sorrow and tedious sadness and are left in the world to struggle with the temptations of a discontented mind would perhaps take Sanctuary in a Religious house and give themselves up wholly to Jesus and forget their temporal sorrow by heavenly joys and meditations and at last bless that storm and shipwrack which cast them into that unknown land of rest and safety some that are forward and ready to promise well and take good resolutions have not strength enough to keep them but are prevail'd upon by the importunity of those temptations they meet withal in the converse of men who being fled from those occasions of sin might by the good example good instructions of a Religious Society secure themselves and stand to their holy ingagements some who never lov'd the world or that are grown weary of it or have passionate longings for heaven would willingly free themselves of the cumbrances and distractions of worldly business to
loving father who jealous of his sons affection would have none to tend him but such as wear his livery would have the picture of himself hang in every room and all the goods in the house markt with his name and cypher So God who loves men tenderly and desires to be by them lov'd again hath put something of himself in all the creatures he hath appointed to serve us that which way soever we turn our eyes we might be put in mind of him he hath stampt his name in more or less legible Characters upon all the goods and utensils of this his great house the world wherein he hath plac'd us And now shall we do like a simple child who turning his back upon his father should look and smile on his picture and caress it and wait upon it and ask it blessing while he slights the original So absurd a thing would be counted madness and move pity or laughter but when we act the same folly in loving the world whilst we despise God we are highly criminal we highly provoke our heavenly Father thus to return to him contempt disobedience for the gracious tokens of his love From hence it follows that as we should love God above all and all things things in him and for him we should also love those things most which have most of his impress and likeness Therefore man who is created after Gods image should be by us lov'd above all other creatures and that part of man which is chiefly adorn'd with the likeness of God should have the greater share of our affection God himself values humane souls at a high rate because they are like him as appears by what he hath done and suffered to save them And for the same reason also we should pay to the souls of men the best part of that kindness we owe them and if we do not we give our friends no greater love than children to their puppets for they dress them fine and lay them soft and kiss and imbrace them Just as they who aim at nothing more than to make their friends merry to wish them toys and gaudy things and to see them at ease A fondness inexcusable in rational creatures especially in Christians who know the worth of an immortal soul and the great concern of Eternity and yet seek only to gratifie the material part of their friends which is subject to corruption and to ingage their affections to the world which passeth away and they must soon leave As if when King Edward the first was hastning out of the Holy-land hither to receive the Crown which expected him his friends had staid him by the way and invited him to rest and case and provided for him all Princely delights and entertainments and retarded his coming so long till he had forgot or lost his right and his kingdom What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We are indeed much commanded to love one another and in this consisteth one great half of our Religion all justice and charity and all the duties of the second Table To love our brother as we ought is the best demonstration of our love to God 1 Joh. 4.20 for he that says he loves God and hateth his brother Rom. 13.10 is a liar saith S. John and love worketh no ill to his neighbour Mat. 19.19 and is therefore the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul but a man is to love his neighbour as himself and therefore as he is most oblig'd to seek for himself the kingdom of God and its righteousness so should he in the first place indeavour to procure it to his friend Or else we are to love one another as Christ hath loved us Joh. 13.33 and that was in redeeming our souls and purchasing for us heavenly joys and eternal life not in providing ease and sensual pleasures to our bodies here in this world The result of this is that in the first place we should love God infinitely and for his own sake and that in the next we should love those things most which have a nearest relation to God Grace and Vertue Religion Holiness and Men especially their Souls which are an image of the Deity especially sanctified souls which are most like God Afterwards our lesser love for less Divine Objects may be reasonable and innocent and however we have secur'd a great duty and a great happiness Mar. 13.33 To love God with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices §. 14. 'T is most just and easie to love God A second consideration may be that it is most just and easie to love God That it is most just is shown all along this discourse wherein I have represented the more general and most excellent benefits of God to mankind all the which challenge and deserve the greatest love our hearts are capable of God had requir'd of his people that the first-born and the first fruits should be consecrated to him thereby to acknowledge him the author of all their blessings and the giver of all their increase Now the first-born of our souls the first-fruits of our hearts is love which God who gives us all things demands as an acknowledgment from us thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul We therefore commit a greater sacriledge if we deny him so just a tribute than if a Jew had rob'd him of his first grapes or his first ears of corn But it is so much the more just in that it is most easie to love God Infinite perfections an abyss of goodness whence rivers and oceans of good things do perpetually flow one would think should swallow up the hearts and affections of men as indeed it doth of all that duly consider it And more perfectly of beatified Saints and of those blessed spirits who minister before his throne and are all flame for him Besides 't is natural for men to love what is theirs propriety begets or increaseth love Now God is our God he hath given himself for us he doth now and will more intirely hereafter give himself to us he made us for the injoyment of himself and for that purpose he hath redeem'd us and that we might all say with David O God thou art my God that God might shew his kindness and indear himself to us and assert our right to him he hath assum'd the names of those relations who love us best whom we love most tenderly and whom we count most ours God the Father is pleas'd to be call'd our Father God the Son our Brother and God the Holy Ghost our Comforter as it were our friend thereby to express that affection which he hath for us and the propriety which
that is begotten and so reciprocally The Divine Essence is but one it admits of no division therefore whatever honour is paid to one of the Divine Persons is paid to all Three the Ever-glorious Trinity is honour'd by it But then it must be consider'd that JESUS the second Person of that Blessed and Glorious Trinity is not only God but also Man and so Mediator betwixt God and Man so that by and through him we pray we worship we love God As God manifested his love to men in JESUS so in JESUS men offer the returns of their love to God 1 Joh. 4.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him and in this is manifested our love towards God that we receive and love and obey that Son With this God is in no wise offended but rather infinitely well pleas'd Joh. 14.21 he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father saith our Blessed Saviour 23. If a man love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him and again If any man serve me Joh. 12.26 him will my Father honour Though we owe our redemption to the infinite mercies of God Father Son and Holy Ghost yet in a more especial manner we are ingaged to the Son who personally came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation JESUS is the Author and finisher of our faith he is the Founder of our Holy Religion it is he hath reveal'd those doctrines we are to believe it is he hath given us those laws and precepts whereby we are to live it is he from whom we are called Christians it is he who for us despised the shame and indured the Cross who hath shed his blood and given his life a ransom for ours it is he who by contracting a near relation with us becoming our brother hath caus'd us to be adopted Sons of God and heirs with him of an eternal kingdom it is he who is our Lord and Master and will be our judge and our rewarder if we be faithful to him Rom. 14.9 For this end Christ died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living saith S. Paul Act. 2.36 God hath made that same JESUS whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ him God hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour saith S. Peter 5.31 All power is given him in heaven and earth and he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet Hence the frequent and urgent exhortations to follow and imitate to serve and obey JESUS Hence those Pathetick words of S. Paul The love of Christ 2 Cor. 5.14 Phil. 3.7 constraineth us and again what things were gain to me I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things loss 8. for the excellency of JESUS CHRIST my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ 'T is JESUS hath won our hearts to God 't is he hath reconcil'd us from a state of enmity to a state of love besides that God was justly angry for our rebellions his glories are so bright so amazing his Divine Majesty so high that to love a being so infinitely above us might have been thought prophaneness or presumption Non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur Majestas amor respect not friendship is the affection of subjects to Princes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an ordinary Epithete for the heathen Gods and even the Israelites were amaz'd and terrified at the sight of a heavenly messenger crying we shall die for we have seen God 't is the great humiliation of JESUS hath procur'd and establish'd an everlasting reconciliation and friendship betwixt God and man Rom. 5.8 God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and now there is neither death Rom. 8.39 nor life nor angels nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD Therefore for a reward for the great sufferings and abasement of JESUS God hath given him a supreme authority over all the world Men and Angels being made subject unto him because he made himself of no reputation Phil. 2.7 8 c. and took on him the form of a servant and humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of JESUS every thing should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father Our love and obedience to JESUS derogates nothing from but belongs to God 'T is to the glory of God the Father God hath highly exalted JESUS for his humiliation and for the same cause we ought also to love and exalt him as much as possibly we can because it was for us not only bow at his name but ever kneel and kiss the ground when he only sees us no fear of exceeding here no fear of superstition we can never shew him too much love or respect Psal 72. All Kings shall fall down before him all nations shall do him service prayer shall be made unto him and daily shall he be praised Amen §. 17. 'T is most pleasant and safe to love God A third consideration will be that it is most pleasant and safe to love God Love may cause trouble but it certainly is the spring or parent of all joy and satisfaction He that hath an affection to nothing hath pleasure in nothing could the imaginary apathy of the Stoicks really seize upon any man if he could never be miserable he would also be uncapable of all happiness 'T is true indeed that the love of worldly things in that they are vain and perishing is it self vanity and vexation qui multum amat plus dolet is certainly true of all but the Divine Love He that hath many friends hath many sorrows he that loves many things hath many things to fear for 'T is only God that hath those infinite excellencies which can fully replenish our minds and desires 'T is only God that admits of no variableness neither shadow of turning and therefore 't is the love of God alone that can make us eternally and intirely happy It is reported of a person of great sanctity that an evil spirit confest to him that were it possible for one who loves God to come into hell yet it were impossible he should be miserable but that it would rather sink hell it self and make it disappear or else make it a paradise for him Though the relation
dividit inter filios regni aeterni filios perditionis Aug. de Trin. lib. 15. cap. 18. for that love it is makes the difference betwixt sincere and false Christians betwixt those that shall be heirs of salvation and those that shall go to perdition betwixt heaven and hell Many priviledges may belong to the tares while they grow in the same field with the wheat many Sun-shiny-days they may have and many drops of dew and rain may fall upon them but they are not rooted and grounded in love therefore they are pluck'd up and withered and burn'd Many gifts of the Divine Spirit wicked men may receive they may prophesie and do miracles in Christs name they may excel in some vertues but the grace of Charity they never receive the love of God never dwells in their hearts Thou maist be Baptized saith S. Aug. Habere Baptismum malus esse potes habere c. Tract 7. in Epist Johan and yet not be good thou mayst have knowledge and remain vicious thou maist be call'd a Christian and be none but thou canst not love God and be wicked thou canst not love God but thou must be holy and happy Thus we see love affords the greatest pleasure and the greatest safety this world is capable of The love of JESUS is a precious jewel precious beyond gold and the best of pearls Charitas est amor rerum quas nonnisi volentes amittimus Aug. he that hath it hath an infinite treasure and it is so much the more to be valued because we may acquiesce in its possession we can never lose it except we will We may lose our riches and we may lose our health we may lose our learning and our eloquence we may lose our friends and our lives but the love of God we can never lose without our consent no time no fortune no Tyrant can snatch it by force out of our hearts Verum bonum illud est quod non potes invitus amittere Aug. as 't is never given against our will so against our will it can never be taken away Charity never faileth Quinquagesima Sunday O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity the very bond of peace and of all vertues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee grant this for thine only Son JESUS Christs sake Amen §. 18. Love brings a lasting joy and peace to the Soul The fourth and last consideration is that the love of God is the solid joy and lasting Tranquillity of the Soul No tormenting fear or sadness can harbour in a heart that loves God the Motto of love might well be that of a late order of Knighthood at Mantua mean't of the Holy Chalice Nihil isto triste recepto grief and the love of God are incompatible no sadness should enter that breast wherein dwells Divine Love I need not treat at large of those many doubts and terrors concerning future happiness which grieve and almost distract the hearts of many Christians to prove that it is a happy thing to be freed from them there are few but are so far acquainted with them as readily to assent to it it will be more to purpose to shew that the love of God is the best remedy against them the best balsom to heal a wounded spirit Some persons from their poverty bodily pains or other afflictions draw this most afflictive inference that God is not their friend and that therefore their condition is dangerous and very bad if not quite desperate and this adds such a weight to their cross that they have no strength to bear it but are ready to sink whereas the love of God hath enabled thousands to bear a heavier with patience with fortitude and men with cheerfulness I take pleasure in infirmities and distresses and necessities for Christs sake said S. Paul that great lover of JESUS He that would suffer for God will suffer from God he that would die and be crucified for JESUS will willingly bear that cross which JESUS lays upon his shoulders And indeed 't is a greater vertue meekly and thankfully to accept of that correction wherewith God visits us than voluntarily to inflict the greatest sufferings on our selves what proceeds from God is ever best for us and most pleasing to him No Patient will question the love of that Physician who is his intimate friend for that he makes incisions and applies causticks upon him and makes him drink bitter potions he will not suspect his friends affection he will not doubt but that 't is for his good after this manner he that loves God will receive afflictions from him and gratefully acknowledge with David I know that of very faithfulness thou hast caus'd me to be troubled Knowing that all things work together for the good of them that love God he will harbour no thoughts of diffidence nor question Gods loving kindness to him but rest satisfied that while he loves God nothing can hurt him and that whatever happens is certainly for his greatest advantage But 't is not always the storms of adversity that bring those dark and dismal clouds on the minds of men they come sometimes in fair weather in the greatest prosperity Whence 't is in vain to examine better it is to drive them away for they are as mischievous as black They cast a damp upon mens spirits they freeze their hearts in such a manner that they can receive no spiritual joy they so weaken their hands and feet that they can hardly work for God or walk in his ways so that their condition is sad indeed not because God is their enemy but because they being unreasonably afraid of it are thereby hindred from being his friends To this evil none can prescribe a better remedy than love let such persons love God heartily and all these terrors will vanish away like the vain images of a terrible dream when one awaketh Love begets love therefore we should love God because he first loved us and love begets a confidence of being lov'd again so that if we love God we shall not long doubt but that we are lov'd by him and then all is well And if at first our hearts do not melt into devout affections and are not replenish'd with the sweetness and comfort of love let us not be dismay'd at it nor too much study our own disturbed thoughts and apprehensions but let us continue to give God demonstrations of love to abstein from what he forbids and to do that which he commands or that which will please him though uncommanded and then either holy joys and extasies will come or it will be as well without them No man is afraid of his friends nor of those whom he serves and obligeth we easily suppose that they love us whom we love and that they to whom we do good will be kind to us
eiadversatur timor est idque cum acciderit sentiens tristitia est Aug. de Civ Dei l. 14. c. 7. love it self is all passions and it obtains several different names according to its several acts and objects Love saith S. Aug. is called desire when it gasps after its beloved object when 't is possest of it it takes another denomination and is call'd joy or pleasure when it flies from what it abhors it hath the name of fear and 't is called sorrow when what it fear'd overtakes it But still love is the only passion desire anger joy and sorrow hope and fear are either the motions or acts or else the accidents of it This clearly shews the great power and activity of this noble passion for 't is well known that the greatest and indeed all humane actions that are free proceed from these natural affections and so are the effects of love There is no need to distinguish the several sorts thereof declaring that love is either natural or supernatural sensual or spiritual of friendship or of interest for all these are the same faculty or passion in man differing in their principles or objects only neither would it much avail to give and explain a â—â—rate and studied definitions of love which is much better felt than exprest and much better declar'd by actions than words it will be more useful to consider that as love is the principle of all passions so it is of all vertues and vices This fountain sendeth forth the clearest and the foulest streams and like all other things the greater its excellency the worse is its abuse so that it should be our greatest care to use it well and set it upon the right object No joy in enjoyment without love without it no pleasure in fruition it is the great instrument of happiness if we place it aright and it brings the greatest infelicities if we misplace it 'T is a misguided love that makes men vicious that causeth all the disorders in the world because men love themselves more than God and so would be Gods to themselves the Authors of their own happiness expecting their greatest felicities either from their bodies as the sensual Epicures or from their minds as the proud Stoicks Hence it is that in the head of a long catalogue of the blackest sins S. Paul sets self-love as the cause and origine of all the rest saying that in the worst and most perilous times Men should be lovers of their own selves 2 Tim. 3.2.4 and again that they should be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God which being the greatest depravation of the understanding and of the will of men plungeth men into the greatest sins and thence into the greatest miseries Certain it is that piety or true goodness consisteth in willingly submitting ones self to the Divine Pleasure either to suffer or obey and certain it is that self-self-love will admit of neither it makes a man uncapable of Religion the Essence whereof is to deny our own to comply with God's Will and so instead of that Godliness Justice and Sobriety which are the three generals comprehensive of all Religious duties this muddy head-spring self-self-love sends forth three muddy streams which cause the overflowing of ungodliness and almost drown the world under a deluge of wickedness These be the love of sensual pleasures call'd voluptuousness the love of Riches call'd covetousness and the vain-glorious love of honour call'd pride or ambition These three are disclaim'd and renounc'd by all Christians in the first part of their Baptismal vow for the love of them confounds the world and all Religion makes men criminal in souls bodies and estates and is the great enemy to their rest and salvation Therefore S. John who calls these the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life gives us this necessary caution 1 Joh. 2.15 love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him that is as our Blessed Saviour saith Mat. 6.24 no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon There is no halting betwixt God and Baal 1 Kings 18.21 the one or the other must be acknowledged for Lord there cannot be two contrary Sovereigns together and the same thing can't be granted to two several competitors if we love the world it reigns in our hearts and God is excluded if we give our love to the world we cannot possibly give it to God also Amor motus est cordis qui cum se inordinate movet cupiditas dicitur cum vero ordinatus est charitas apellatur Aug. de subst dil c. 2. so then the love of our selves is concupiscence the mother of all sin and impurity and the love of God is grace or charity the fountain of all holines and vertue and these two according as they are predominant in men make here the distinction betwixt the penitent and the impenitent betwixt the just and the unjust and will make the great difference hereafter betwixt those that shall dwell in the imbraces of the God of love to eternity and those that shall dwell with everlasting burning for every man is what he loves as S. Talis est quisque qualis est dilectio ejus terram diligis terra es c. Aug. Tract 2. in 1 Joh. Augustine saith the irresistible power of that mighty passion doth in some manner transform him into that which his love imbraceth and therefore to know whether a man be good or bad we inquire not what he knows or what he believes but what he doth love being sure that his morals are of the same nature as his love because his desires and actions are all guided by it §. 19. How they that will be profest lovers of JESUS must mortifie self-love This makes it our greatest duty as it is our greatest interest to rule by reason and Religion that passion which certainly will rule over us to set our love upon the right object upon God not upon our selves Not that we should or can be our own enemies and seek our own ruine no man ever yet hated his own flesh Ephes 29. saith S. Paul the worst of Misanthropes are kind to themselves and we may as soon lose our being as the desire of our well-being and indeed as we should have in the state of innocency so we may still love our selves in God only God must be preferr'd before all and 't is impossible we should be happy but in loving him above all things with all our hearts and souls but now that we are in a state of sin and depravation there must be a dereliction of our natural desires and affections a renunciation to our own wills that we may comply with the will of God and be