moved by the merits and the pretious promises of so great a love Thy Preaching was Love thy Miracles were love thy whole Life was love thy Death was the most singular love thy last breath in a manner was love one of thy last words was love even to the bitterest enemies thy Sacraments are love the Holy-Ghost the Comforter is love thy Embassadors were love thou art we see All love and yet dull and stupid blocks that we are we are nothing less than this Divine love O sweet Saviour what wilt thou do with such vile such wretched hearts as these of ours Canst thou endure so much as to look upon such souls as are so frozen before thy fires Canst thou shed one beam more upon such icy hearts that are so insensible of all thy flames Is it possible that thou shouldest be so patient as to bear with the prayers of those whose breasts are so full of love so propense to this affection so free to pour it out to every thing and yet allow so few or no drops of it unto thee who deservest all the love we have O Dearest Lord if there be any room still left in thy heart for such as we are be pleased once more to cast thine eyes upon us most miserable sinners If thou canst lend thine ears to the requests of such foolish such obstinate hearts as have been so senslesly deaf to all thy gracious intreaties hear the sighs and the groans of all those penitent souls who cry unto thee and say Lord Jesus look upon us Spare us Good Lord if it be but one dram of thy pity and tenderest compassion O spare us but the least touch more from thine all-powerful hand if thou art not weary of striking such rocky hearts as now petition thee for thy love O mollifie them most gracious Lord mollifie them we beseech thee with thy Dear love towards us Now that they are a little tender and yielding to thee melt and dissolve them into the like love towards thee Enter into all our hearts O that thou wouldst enter and fill them with thy love Overcome them with this powerful engine thy mighty thy wonderful Love Thy love I say thy most stupendious love for no word pleases me so much as love Give me leave therefore to repeat it over again and to pray thee by thy love by thy dear and tender love that thou wilt not pass by this heart of mine among all the rest which now at last would fain be replenished with thy love I lye here in the humblest devotion prostrate at thy feet and gasping there before thee my soul pants and says O Love inspire me O Love breath thy soul and life into me As thou hast overcome so possess this heart intirely and vouchsafe to dwell in me And do thou my incomprehensibly loving Saviour make me ever thus to sigh and groan out of the very center of mine heart after thee Make me always to be saying thus to thee O my life my joy my hope my all do not despise this languishing soul which intreats thee to dwell in it by thy surpassing love Draw me after thee and touch me so that I may look upon nothing so much as thy love Turn my heart about and bend it wholly to thy love Make me to speak of nothing with such delight as of thy love to breath nothing to study nothing to desire to do nothing but only love Let no day at least pass without some serious meditations of thy love Let no Sun shine but what shows me thee and thy love shining brighter by far upon me Let no night close mine eyes but do thou shut up a sense of thy self and thy love in my breast Let no friend come to visit me but give him thy love to bring along with him and let him present thy self unto me Let the sight of him enkindle thy love in me Let the embraces of him knit me in faster affection to thee Let the remembrance of him and his kindness recall to mind thy infinitely greater love to me Let every motion of my heart towards him rest at last in the love of thee who art the hope and the satisfaction both of him and me Still may I therefore think of thee more frequently Still may I desire thee more passionately Still may I obey the more universally May the following acts of love and vertue still out-strip the former and one conquest of my self make way for a nobler May thine Almighty love still grow and prevail till there be no affection that dare appear no passion that dare presume to show its head against the soveraign power of thy love in mine heart And now O my Lord I know not how to leave thee untill I hear thee say Thou lovest me Prostrate still will I here lye at thy feet for I cannot have the heart to rise up again unless thou wilt speak that kind that gracious word and tell me that thou dost not cease to love me Nay I dye unless thou lovest me I shall make my grave here in this very place and expire with these words in my mouth LORD WHETHER I LIVE OR DYE IT MATTERS NOT LET ME BVT KNOW THAT THOV LOVEST ME. And may I be so bold as to conclude thou hast some love to me because I feel my heart beat thus passionately towards thee and my soul thirsts and cryes thus after thee Will it not be too great a presumption to think thou hast not forsaken me because I cannot forsake my request but above all things long and labour to be beloved of thee Is this love thou hast wrought in my heart to thee an incouragement to hope thou lovest me Truly then my Lord I am well satisfied Then I know thou bearest a favour to me For my soul follows hard after thee it cleaves unto thee it loves thy memory and delights it self in thy Commandments It sayes continually nothing but more of thy love nothing but abundance of thy love I open my heart unto thy exuberant love I expose my self to the power of thy transcendent love I chuse and desire the pleasures of thy love above all the delights wherewith the world can entertain me Above the admired heaps of wealth and the dazling heights of honour Above the loudest praises of fame and the bewitching applause of numerous spectators Above the charms of beauty and the more inticing delights of curious knowledge Nay above the solid joyes of health and the most necessary refreshments of nature Above all that even thine own bounty can give to those that love thee O let me but love thee make me but always thus to love thee alwayes despise all other delights compared with those of loving thee do but fill my heart with that love and with those delights and I am perfectly satisfied I am at rest now I have given my self to thee intirely And if I had a thousand hearts they should be devoted to thy service with the most affectionate
continually nearer towards its perfection and make us likewise to abound in all the fruits of the spirit which are the highest expressions of our love and the best preparation for the day of Christs Appearing For true Devotion doth not terminate in the heart it goes further and hath its effect in the life and actions And especially excites us to love or charity towards all mankind and above all to our Christian Brethren as that which bears the greatest resemblance to him whom we love The Commandment which St. Paul charges Timothy to keep without spot till our Lords appearing was for the most part acts of Charity as you will find briefly touched in this Book And therefore these we should labour to inliven by our Devotion which is then truly Great when it makes us so and raises our spirits above all anger and peevishness covetousness and eager desire of wealth envy and vain ambition evil surmises and jealousies fretfulness and impatience with all those other mean qualities which are the enemies of Christian Charity Some Readers perhaps may think that I strain Devotion here unto too great an height and may be apt at the entrance to lay this Book aside because they imagine I have expressed that passion of love which we should indeavour after towards Christs appearing beyond the truth But I must intreat them to do me the right and themselves the kindness to read on and they will find in conclusion the whole description of it made good by the plain words of the holy Scriptures In the study of which if we did all conscientiously imploy our selves it is to be hoped God would still preserve to us that inestimable Treasure which contains such admirable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the forenamed Father speaks Medicines of the soul both to cure our diseases and to comfort and restore our tired or languishing spirits For they are that living water our Lord speaks of which whosoever drinks hath in himself a Well or Fountain of comfort and perpetual refreshment springing up into everlasting life xxij Rev. 20. COME LORD JESVS St. Chrysostom Tom. vj. p. 709. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IMPRIMATUR Hic Liber cui titulus The Glorious Epiphany c. Geo. Thorp Reverendissimo in Christo Patri D no D no Gulielmo Archiep Cantuar. à Sacris Domesticis April 30. 1678. THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. COntaining an Introduction to the ensuing Discourse CHAP. II. Shewing what is meant by the APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ CHAP. III. A further Illustration of the APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ CHAP. IV. The certainty of this APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ CHAP. V. Containing the Vse we should make of what hath been delivered in the foregoing Chapter CHAP. VI. Of the means to excite that LOVE in our hearts which we ought to have for Christs APPEARING CHAP. VII Two further steps in this Love of Christs Appearing CHAP. VIII The Progress of this Love to Christs Appearing in three steps more CHAP. IX This Love to the Appearing of our Lord further described in three other fruits or marks of it CHAP. X. All this shown to be the sense of the Holy Scriptures CHAP. XI Reasons for our Love to this Appearing drawn from the respect we ought to have to our Lord himself CHAP. XII Other Reasons why we should love his appearing drawn from the love we have to our selves CHAP. XIII Two other Reasons why if we love our selves we must needs love this Appearing CHAP. XIV Two Reasons more to induce us to raise our thoughts and affections to the Appearing of our Lord. CHAP. XV. Three Considerations more to draw our Affections to the Appearing of our Lord. CHAP. XVI Of the mighty power and pleasure of Love when it is setled in the heart CHAP. XVII Of the means whereby this Love may be setled in our hearts and the Benefit thereof CHAP. XVIII A continuation of the former Argument concerning the mighty power of the Divine Love and the Benefit we have by loving our Lords Appearing CHAP. XIX More expressions of this devout affection towards our Lords Appearing and the way whereby we may excite them CHAP. XX. The Conclusion The Glorious Epiphany with the Devout Christians love to it CHAP. I. Containing an Introduction to the ensuing Discourse WHEN we observe how the desire of life is so deeply fixed in all mankind both in old and young in Kings and Beggars in Wise men and Fools that as Lactantius * L. III. In stit C. 12. well noteth they will endure any miseries to preserve and prolong it we are led thereby to this Consideration That the highest and most perfect Good to which the soul of man aspires is a life without end and without those laborious toils and troubles which attend us here in this present world We are naturally form'd to wish that we may be so happy and find no thought so sad and dismal as this of being quite extinct and never enjoying any more pleasure after we are laid in our graves Upon which account it must be acknowledged that we are infinitely indebted to the Grace of God who hath made that so sure which is so desirable and that our Blessed Saviour justly challenges our most ardent love and cheerful obedience whose Religion is nothing else but an acknowledgment of the Truth which is after godliness in hope of eternal life They are the words of St. Paul Tit. i. 1 2. which import that the Gospel is a Doctrine which teaches us to be pious and promises to reward our piety with an happy immortality This is the glorious hope of Christians whose Master Christ Jesus who is our Hope 1. Tim. i. 1. hath brought life and immortality to light and made that which was but obscurely delivered in times past as clear and bright as the Sun at noon-day There are so many Witnesses of this that their Testimonies have filled a large Volume The FATHER the WORD the HOLY-GHOST have all declared that we have eternal life and this life is in our Saviour the Son of God So say the WATER also the BLOOD and the SPIRIT they all consent in this Truth That Jesus is alive from the dead and lives for evermore and because he lives we shall live also Which welcome news filled the hearts of all those who believed it with excessive joy even when they were in heaviness through manifold temptations 1 Pet. i. 6 8. And why it should not have the same effect on us there is no other reason can be given but because we do not believe as they did For they of whom S. Peter speaks had never seen our Lord when he was on earth no more than we nor had they any such sight of him as S. Stephen and S. Paul had after he went to Heaven and yet believing they rejoyced with joy unspeakable and full of glory All our business therefore is to settle this belief stedfastly in our minds Which will have the greater power upon our
and what we would be too a Good wherein we see the image of our selves in that perfection to which we desire to be advanced All they therefore who would be truly disposed to love the appearing of our Lord must have a deep apprehension of the meanness and vileness of this present state They must be possessed with a serious sense of their many imperfections and great weakness in the best condition that this world affords of the poverty and emptiness of all earthly enjoyments yea and of the scantiness and narrowness of all those Divine participations which their Souls are here capable to be blessed withal And then the Appearing of our Lord will seem a Good so suitable to them that they cannot chuse but have the same affection for it that a crazy and diseased person hath to the most skilful Physician In hope that He will perfect their nature cure the disorders under which they labour supply their defects fill their appetites nay enlarge their capacities and raise them to a greater pitch of true goodness and bliss Let us suppose such persons to be so much in the favour of God as to have a liberal share even in the blessings of this World as well as of those which are more peculiarly in the gift of our Saviour Christ yet it is impossible one would think they should be so much pleased in the highest Dignities that can be conferred on them in the rarest Delicates that the bounty of Nature or curiosity of Art can provide for them in the society of the choicest and dearest Friends or I may add in their own secret joy though descending from heaven to them as not to think still that it is far more desirable to see the Lord Jesus come to promote them and all their pious Relations and Friends to an incomparably better condition in his Coelestial Kingdom It is their interest to have Him appear again and besides they have such a likeness and resemblance to Him that the bent and inclination of their Souls cannot but make them long after the sight of Him as a good more delightful and agreeable than any other For there is another Coming of Christ before that which we expect Quo per totum tempus in Ecclesia sua venit c. as St. Austin speaks * L. xx de Civ Dei Cap. v. by which He comes through all the time between his first appearing and the last in His Church that is his members particulatim atque paulatim working in every one of them by little and little according to his promise xiv Joh. 21 23. that if any man keep His Commandments He will look upon it as such a testimony of his love that He will love that man and the Father will love him and we will come saith He unto him and make our abode with him Now when we heartily entertain Him and He is so truly setled there that we are made partakers of his Blessed nature and disposition and all the lineaments of Him if I may so speak are drawn upon our hearts We shall find them inclined to wish for the day when he will compleat his work and fill up the whole image of Himself to the very life and not only make us glad with the light of His countenance but make us look perfectly like Him and intirely assimilate us to His own most Blessed nature Do you not see how the holy Scriptures represent this Appearing of Jesus as the most lovely of all other things and therefore apt to draw our hearts with an irresistible force towards it It is expressed there I observe under the character of that which is wont to touch the Soul with such an agreeable stroke that it ravishes it from it self I mean Beauty For as that is nothing else according to Plato but the splendor and glittering of that which is good so this appearing is set forth as exceeding bright splendid and glorious and as that which will make us so also to the end we may be affected with it as the most beautiful sight that ever was Read ij Tit. 13. xiij Mat. 43. And St. Luke I told you before mentions a threefold glory wherein He will appear His own His Fathers and His holy Angels ix 26. which is said I believe to make this day appear the more illustrious and amiable in our eyes The only visage of Scipio we read made him Master of some barbarous Nations he piercing further into their hearts by his countenance than by his sword And Heliogabalus as bad as he was was no sooner shown by his Mother to the Souldiers but from Priest of the Sun he became Emperour of the World Why then should not the beauty of that day when the Prince of all the Kings of the Earth shall appear in the most glorious splendor attended by the greatest Principalities of Heaven with all their shining Hosts in admirable order captivate the hearts of all those that love Him since there is none so powerful did they but behold His glory as the Apostles did and look upon Him as the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth to draw those to his Religion who love Him not How can they refuse to yield to do Him homage and suffer themselves to be carried after Him as the Conquerour of all Souls and above all desire to wait upon Him at his appearing which they discern will be so glorious and render them so amiable that they will become as I doubt not to show a considerable addition to his Triumphs The hearts of all the faithful cannot chuse but leap for joy at the very thought of so great a Good though widely distant from them and wish it would come nearer to make them happy by its presence with them They are apt to sigh and say when they deeply ponder these things with the Prophet David in another case ci Psal 2. O when wilt thou come unto me It is a long time O Lord since thou didst promise to come We have waited for thee and for thy salvation more than they that wait for the morning I say more than they that wait for the morning May I not pray thee to hasten thy desired coming O when wilt thou display thy self and show thy glory more openly before us O when wilt thou be pleased to impress thine own image more fairly on us When shall those little touches that we have received of thee be perfected and figured into a more exact resemblance of thy beauty We cannot refrain but we must long to have all our defects supplied out of thy fulness to have all spots wiped off our souls to be rendred clear as the Sun free as the Air and as unstained as the pure influences of heaven For how should we think O blessed Lord that we bear any love to thee if we can be content to remain as we are so much unlike thee There is none can see thee and not ardently love thee There is none
IX This Love to the Appearing of our Lord further described in three other fruits or marks of it VIII AND now can any Soul chuse but think of that perpetually which it most dearly loves Doth not every Good use to present it self continually to the mind that is inamour'd of it and remember us of its beauty There is no question to be made of it The very ardency of our affection for it doth more imprint and engrave it on our mind and when by any participation of it we feel how good it is we press it harder and sink it deeper into our hearts There is no man for instance who hath setled his love upon an agreeable person but He finds the image of that friend always before his eyes It accompanies him every where and cleaves inseparably to his thoughts It is a great part of his pleasure to entertain himself with the shadow of that in which he hath lodg'd his heart And therefore if we love the appearing of our Lord we shall solace our selves often with the kind In the multitude especially or tumult of our thoughts within us as the Psalmist speaks xciv 19. the comforts of it will delight our souls We shall be daily calling upon them and exhorting them to look towards it and to fix their thoughts and affections upon it We shall be inclin'd to say as the voice is in the Song of Songs Come my fair one come away O my chiefest Good what shall I desire or wish for so much as for thy coming What is it that I ever saw which should detain my eyes from thy incomparable beauty Or where can I expect to satisfie their hunger but only with the filling sight of thee at thy appearing The spacious Heavens hope to be filled with the Majesty of thy Glory The Sun is but a weak image of thy brightness and will be content to go out to make room for thee when thou appearest All the Stars of light are ready to resign their places and leave the skie to be illuminated by thee alone Whatsoever is lovely and surprises us with its beauty here confesses it is but thy shadow and that when thou breakest forth it must disappear Fix my mind therefore upon thy glory and let it henceforth imploy my busie thoughts Possess thy self O Lord of life and glory intirely of this heart which hath been too long estranged from thee Impress such a lively sense of thee and of thy glory there that I may sooner forget my self than thee and thy appearing Make it my greatest pleasure to sit hours and days and years to think of thy so much desired coming When I meet with my dearest Relations and Friends let nothing entertain us with such delight as to think of being caught up together in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the air Let us love to speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and to talk of thy power to utter abundantly the memory of thy great goodness and to sing of thy righteousness Let us wish with united hearts to see thy power and glory and to behold thee coming according to thy faithful promise out of thy heavenly Sanctuary Let it be our sweetest joy to inspire each others hearts with these holy hopes and to stir up one another to love and to good works And when thou comest O Lord may every one of us be found so doing IX These are some of the pantings of an heart which loves and bears in mind the appearing of Christ For to say the truth Love is the original and source of all the passions that we feel in our hearts They all flow from this as from their spring-head They are but several motions which have their rise from Love Or if you will so conceive it nothing but different figures and shapes wherein it appears It is love which fears and love which grieves and love which hopes and love which rejoyces there would be none of these were it not for some good which we love to which these and all the rest of their kindred owe their birth and nourishment When this is hindred in its designes it breeds anger or impatience or fear or sadness or some such like commotion And when this succeeds and prospers in the pursuance of its ends there arises hope and contentment and joy and gladness as the natural issue of it They that love then Christs appearing will fear nothing so much as to lose the blessedness which He will bring along with Him Nothing will excite such a displeasure in their hearts as that evil which would rob and defraud them of his favour at that happy day And what is there that can give them such a touch of sadness as the thought that they are so far distant from their Dearest Lord Or what can create such joy such exultation of spirit as to hope they shall one day see Him so as never to part from Him any more In one word all the passions of their Souls will run this way and be concern'd for nothing so highly as this that they may be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy True indeed O blessed Saviour doth such an heart meditate in it self I have had a thousand fears in my breast I have dreaded every small danger in this world as if it would prove my utter ruin The terrors that have affrighted me are as innumerable as the things I have fancied to be my happiness But now all these are willing to be gone that they may make way for one greater fear lest I should not enter with thee when thou appearest into thy rest O prevent so intolerable a mischief Whatsoever I lose I shall account my self a gainer if I lose not the blessing which thou wilt give us Take all if thou pleasest I am content so thou wilt give me a share in thy glory when thou comest I have been too long pestered with a world of sensual passions Sometimes sadness hath oppressed me and then anger hath set me all on fire Now vain joyes have swelled my heart and puffed me up and again they have given place to grief and sorrow hath shrunk up my soul and dried up my spirit Fears and Hopes have tossed me up and down as in a tempestuous Sea A small matter hath created me much trouble and I have longed for things which promised much but gave me little satisfaction What a comfort is it but to expect the day which will settle and compose these tumults in perpetual peace and quiet I feel the thoughts of it already appeasing my spirit and bringing a ealm into my breast And if the brightness of thy appearing did but always shine in my mind it would dispel all the clouds and scatter the darkness wherein all this confusion reigns O let the splendor of that day irradiate my soul even at this distance from it and leave no space void of its light and comfort Yea let it eclipse all other joyes and by
shall be an honour to him to have such subjects who by his Almighty Power are so nobly preferred The magnificence and greatness of his Kingdom will appear in the greatness and splendor of all his Friends and followers It shall be seen in them what he is and how highly God the Father hath exalted him whom he gave him to be the head over all things to the Church which is his body i. Ephes 22 23. the fulness of him that filleth all in all Certain it is he cannot be perfect as he is the Head of the Church without all his members In which regard several both of the Greek and Latine Fathers * V.S. Chrys Oecumenium S. Hieron think that his Body the Church is called his FULNESS because he will not be absolutely compleated and consummated till all his members be knit together in one body and joyned to him in such a glory as is befitting those that are so nearly related to him who is able to communicate to them out of his fulness what excellencies he pleases This says St. Chrysostom is the hope of our calling which the Apostle speaks of before the riches of the glory of the inheritance the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe For whom he hath such an affection and loves us with so great tenderness that he doth not think himself intirely happy unless we be promoted to be with him where he is and to reign with him for ever So much is his heart set upon our advancement that he accounts himself to be but in part glorious till we be numbred among his Saints in glory everlasting Then will he shine in greater splendor and majesty than ever according to those words of St. Paul in another place 2 Thess i. 10. where he saith He shall come to be GLORIFIED in his Saints and to be ADMIRED in all them that believe For first of all as Oecumenius hath collected the sense of the ancient Fathers about this business it will be a glory to him that he hath so many Saints to whom he will distribute his goods and make illustrious with him For as his riches saith he is our salvation so it will be a glory to him And secondly He will be glorified also by his Saints when they shall behold him sitting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. in his Fathers Glory the God and the Judge of all And thirdly We may add that the Saints will procure him glory from the spiritual powers when they shall see what a recompense of reward he hath vouchsafed to his servants Who as they shall give occasion to his being glorified so to his being admired also because it will be a most wonderful and amazing sight to see those who were thought so vile and abject in this present life that they were persecuted and murdered accounted worthy then of such and so great good things as he will bestow upon them And truly as our Lord will be thus magnified and admired at that day so this ought now to be very wonderful in our eyes Who have little consideration if we be not exceedingly in love with his appearing when self-love so strongly inclines and prompts our affection to it Can we find in our hearts to turn away our eyes from that or cease to long for it with ardent desire which Nature it self calls for as the greatest Good Here our own interest combines with his to make us wish for that blessed day which shall make him more illustrious by the brightness of our glory Here two great Seas meet and run into one to make our souls swell and rise up in bigger expectations of his happiness Come should your heart and mine say come O blessed Jesus and at once make us and thy self intirely glorious Arise O thou Sun of Righteousness and shed thy beams so plentifully upon us that we may shine with thee as the Sun in the Kingdom of the Father Great are the things which are spoken of thy coming when the exceeding greatness of thy power shall appear to us-ward who believe O come and compleat thine own fulness by filling us out of thine exuberant Goodness with all the blessings of thine heavenly Inheritance Do not want that happiness any longer which will make us happy too together with thee Delay not to put on those Kingly Robes wherein when thou appearest we shall be promoted to reign as Kings with thee for ever How will our ravisht spirits then rejoyce in that great salvation How will they triumph to see every knee bow to thine exalted Name Nay to see thee admired in us cxlviij Psal 14. when thou shall exalt the honour of thy people the praise of all thy Saints O come that the greatness of thy Glory and Majesty may appear in thy Saints and thy wonderful power and love in all those that believe And till thou comest lot all thy Saints be joyful in glory cxlix 4 5. Let them sing aloud in perfect quiet and repose Yea let the high praises of our God be in their mouth who hath given us hope of victory over all our enemies Let them never cease to praise him who takes pleasure in his people and will beautifie them with his Salvation Praise him who hath promised to come and visit us in greater love than ever praise him who is the head over all things to the Church and will prefent it to himself a glorious Church v. Eph. 27. not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing Let his name be alway engraven upon our hearts who hath comforted us with the blessed hope of seeing him in all his glory Let the memory of his transcendent love be ever most dear unto us who intends to lift us up to sit with him in Heavenly places Let us never forget to rejoyce in his holy Name with whom we expect to rejoyce in the highest happiness of endless Life And O blessed Jesus that we may be so happy now as to long for that day on thy account as well as our own May it delight us to think how thou wilt be admired and highly praised in our exaltation Make us so much in love with thee as to desire to see our selves raised unto honour because it will make thee also appear in greater glory CHAP. XII Other Reasons why we should love his appearing drawn from the love we have to our selves THus I have made a fair way to introduce the second thing which I propounded for the compleating of this Discourse Wherein I am to show how the natural Affection we all bear to our selves should powerfully dispose us to love the Appearing of our Lord Jesus And this will admit of no less than these TEN Considerations which will instantly at the very first hearing win our assent to the truth of them For I. First We cannot but passionately desire if we have any belief of this Appearing to see so great an honour as will then be done to our Nature So
and sensless heart as this of mine With what thanks ought I to receive the smallest testimony of thine inestimable love Which is so sweet that it makes us sigh because we can enjoy no more of it Ah! that this vessel should be so narrow and strait as to contain so little of thy love Ah the dulness of this heart which entertains thee so poorly that it is no wonder thou makest so short a stay so exceeding short a stay with me How sad is it to think of this heavy clog which will never let me follow thee far when I have the strongest attractions from thee Fain would my soul climb up unto thee but when I have got a little way down I come and have lost that glorious sight I had of thee And if thou art pleased to lift me up as high as Heaven how soon is the mind weighed down again while it museth upon those celestial things O the constant joyes which I hoped to have how are they vanished O the satisfaction which began to be in this heart which now lyes groveling in the dust filled with nothing but sighings after thee And blessed be thy Goodness that it doth sigh after thee I thank thee that I feel such love such vehement desire there as makes it long for more of thee I will never cease to sigh after thee I will still long for that time when thou Lord wilt be pleased to appear and make all sighing fly away by a constant sight and enjoyment of thee For this I will groan that I may be so happy as to see thee and that thou wilt make me as strong as sometime thou makest me desirous to accompany thee I will pray for this that thou wouldest come and heal those wounds which love hath made by making me perfect in thy love O come therefore Dearest Lord and turn my desires into enjoyment my sickness into health my weakness into strength these flutterings of my soul into a flight into a flight I say from this earth into the air where I may no sooner wish to be with thee but I may feel my soul snatcht away and leap for joy to find it self in thy embraces Come O my Lord come thou lover of Souls and let me not languish in these longings any more Come and leave no place for any fears that I shall lose thy company Come and give me the full satisfaction I promise my self in thy sweetest society I am content to suffer one pain that I may thereby put an end to all Death is no longer dreadful to me when I think it will bring me something nearer to thee Thou maiest rend my soul when thou pleasest from this flesh that it may be torn no more as it uses to be when it is pulled back by other things and would gladly follow thee O joyn me perfectly most perfectly to thee that I may love thee as much as the most enlarged spirit is capable to love thee Happy should I be if I could do nothing else but love thee and feel that thou lovest me O hasten the day when my time shall be divided between these two sweetest employments of expressing my most ardent love to thee and rejoycing in the full satisfaction of thy love to me CHAP. XIII Two other Reasons why if we love our selves we must needs love this Appearing IV. SO we ought to wish if we seriously believe there will be such a day because we naturally love Life and Immortality which till then cannot be perfectly bestowed on us Our Lord indeed hath brought these to light and given us an assured hope that none of those who believe in him shall perish But as the everlasting Life he puts us in possession of when we depart from hence I shall show in the next Chapter is not presently compleated so it is out of all question that we must stay till the last day before he perform his so frequently repeated promise vi Joh. 40.54 c. of raising our bodys out of the dust and making them incorruptible that they may live for ever Which is a thing we so much desire that we are prone to please our selves with the meer shadow of it studying when we dye to make our memory survive our ashes We would fain record our Names in the Legend of fame by the performance of some remarkable exploit Or by some memorable work we contrive that the world may speak of us when we are gone down into silence And for fear it should not we teach Marble-stones and Pillars to tell what we were and by this means we fancy we shall live as long as the world shall last But alas this is no better than an imaginary life which we cannot secure neither but must leave the World without any assurance of that for which we are so solicitous and imploy such serious pains No mans Name can be so loudly sounded by the trumpet of fame but it may chance that succeeding ages shall not hear the least whisper of him Or if they do it may fare with him as it doth with Hercules and Bacchus who were as great Souldiers and Conquerers it is likely as Alexander and Caesar and yet now their notable atchievements do but serve to fill up the number of Fables Epitaphs and Escutchions Books and Monuments do all dye as well as men Our Names in all likelihood will at last be buried and perish as well as our selves For this world is the place where death reigns and plays the Rex not only over us but over all the reliques that we leave behind us What should we wish for then what should be the ardent desire of all Nations if they were believers but the time of our Lords appearing when this mortality as the Apostle speaks shall be swallowed up of life and we shall receive from his hands Laurels and Crowns that are incorruptible and never fade away a Name that shall never dye a Glory that shall live and continue in its splendor as long as God himself For as this is the time wherein Death hath dominion so that will be the time of abolishing its Kingdom and putting an end to all its tyranny by setting up Life and Immortality in its stead O welcome time sayes the heavenly minded soul when this great devourer of the world shall have nothing left to feed upon unless it be the Grave which shall dye eternally and never be heard of more O what a joyful name is this of Life and of life for evermore How sweetly doth even the word IMMORTALITY sound in this land of death and destruction What is it that makes our hearts so cold and to feel so few desires to see the Prince of Life appear To see Him who shall raise up that in glory and power which was put into the earth in dishonour and weakness and shall turn this natural this corruptible body into one that is spiritual and incorruptible Are we afraid this world will be burnt up by the
a great while for certain reasons which he best knows before he come as he stayed two days after he heard of Lazarus his sickness notwithstanding the love he had for him and his intentions to rescue him from death yet we ought not to be discouraged if we be sure he loves us but believe that he will appear at last and that he will raise us up though we lye dead in our graves and have lain so perhaps many years and that he will bid us come forth and go along with him whither his endless love will lead us CHAP. XVIII A continuation of the former Argument concerning the mighty power of the Divine Love and the Benefit we have by loving our Lords Appearing HAve we not great reason then to love him and to love his appearing since that will be the best argument of his love to us and his love you see will prove such an assurance of all his blessings What will move us if this cannot do it Need there any thing more be said to draw our affections towards him If there do then let me assure you that love will even transform us into him There is nothing more discernible in this passion than that it assimilates us unto the Thing or Person which we love Which should teach us indeed to have a great care what and whom we love but should excite us to love him our Dearest Lord without any measure Because nothing is so desireable as to be like to him and nothing can prepare us so surely for his glorious appearing In that which every man loves in that he lives saith St. Austin upon those words of the great Apostle St. Paul not I live but Christ liveth in me So great so mighty a thing is true love that it carries the heart from the place where it is and translates it thither where it loves If thou lovest thy self merely then thou livest altogether in thy self But if thy heart be set on any other person or thing then thou livest in that which hath ingaged thy affection And if it be Jesus whom thou lovest in sincerity it is certain that in him also thou livest Of so great importance it is that we love aright For he that loves ill lives ill and he that loves well cannot but live well too But there is no danger at all in loving our Lord and his appearing and therefore we need not stand to ask our selves whether we should love him or no or how much we shall love him or with what passion and concernment we should set our hearts upon his coming again to take us into his glory There is nothing to hinder us from loving here as much as ever we are able no fear our affections should be too far ingaged as they may be in other cases all that caution is useless here which when we are in pursuit of lesser injoyments is but necessary to put a check upon our hearts and cool a little our love towards them The more we love him the more we shall be like him the more we love him the more we shall live in him This love makes us divine and heavenly it purifies us and makes us fit to live with him I must add also that according to this rule by loving his appearing we shall be formed to some likeness of it as much as we are capable here to be wrought and fashioned to an imitation of a thing so bright and full of glory It will raise our minds that is to a noble pitch and highly improve our degenerate nature It will invite him to manifest himself to us and graciously to shine upon us It will possess us with a lively sense of him and of the glory wherein he lives The light of his countenance will be lifted up on our souls and he will fill us with a stronger sense of life and immortality It will chase away the base fear of death and kill all vitious affections in us We shall be purified and refined from all our dross by these holy fires There is no sin will be able to live in the same place with this heavenly love but will continually languish and decay as this increases and grows stronger in our souls Our spirits thereby will become more cheerful light and aerial They will ascend more easily towards those celestial places and be less inclined though they feel its attractions toward this lower world O what a Coronet of Glory will this love place before-hand on our head It is it self a royal ornament and a diadem of glory It 's a participation of a Divine Nature an entrance upon the life of God an Heaven upon earth a pleasure whereby we anticipate the joys of the other world for if all love have a sweetness in it this Divine love sure cannot but entertain us with a transcendent satisfaction By this we have our conversation in Heaven and it is there only to be ever with the Lord as much as our condition here will give us leave for nothing but love will make him familiar to our thoughts and present him frequently to the eye of our minds Yea this is the best glass we have while we are here below wherein to see God If there be any way to know the meaning of those words we must learn it of this Teacher which alone can discover to us so great a mysterie Nothing else can lead us into that secrecy and reveal to us what lies hid in that retirement the Vision of God Never hope for any key to open a door into the Holy of Holies unless it be this of heavenly love If it be possible to peep a little behind the veil it is love only that enjoys so singular a priviledge For God you see is love and the Apostle tells us that when Faith and Hope shall be done away it is charity alone that still remains as a thing of longer duration than this world and whose proper place is Heaven This is one of the Cherubims of Glory that inhabits the most holy place and attends upon the Majesty on high This is of an Angelical Nature and is always there where God is It waits upon him it ministers to him it knows his mind it is privy to his thoughts and designs and makes us understand more of him than all the wit in the world can do beside There is nothing can lend wings to the soul but only love which raises us above this world and sets us in the presence of him that made it And what a sight doth it give us there of his boundless bottomless Goodness If it can show us nothing else it will not fail to let us see how gracious how wonderfully gracious the Lord is With what kindness doth love behold almighty Providence spreading it self in tender mercy over all its works It is this alone can make us feel how inclinable the Divine Nature is to pour out its Benefits Nothing but love can make us know what an everlasting spring
love to thee But yet alas when I think of thy wondrous love I am apt to conclude again that I did amiss to say I was satisfied All this upon better thoughts seems a great deal too little and I am as short me thinks of thy love as if I loved thee not at all For what have I given thee when I have paid thee all my acknowledgements What have I bestowed on thee when I have given thee my self and absolutely offered all my affections to thee What is my heart what are a thousand such hearts as this worth that I should think such a present will be of any esteem with thee If all my life were nothing else but the most affectionate the most cheerful obedience to thee what requital should I have made thee for all thy love to me Alas I have so little ability to do any thing worthy of thee that I have not the skill how to speak as becomes me of my duty to thee What do I talk of acknowledgements to thee That 's as if I could number or value thy favours And it is a worse absurdity to speak of giving thee my affections as if I were not a debtor to thee and of bestowing my heart on thee For that 's as if I had any thing I received not from thee But it is worst of all I am ashamed of it to mention a requital of thy favours for that 's as if they were so small or so few as to admit of any return like a recompense unto thee No No I am nothing at all I have nothing I can do just nothing but what is thine more than mine if it be worth any thing I here most solemnly protest that I think my self indebted to thee for all I have I my self am thine my love is thine my prayers and desires are thine my praises and thanksgivings are thine so is my Faith and my Hope my comforts and my joyes they are all thine I cannot so much as confess my debts and obligations but it is from thee I cannot be sensible of my faults but I contract a new debt to thee That I can so much as see and say I am nothing I owe it unto thee What shall I do therefore How shall I express my self to thee Or in what manner shall I approach thee All that I can think of is only this still to cast down my self in the humblest devotion before thee and all thawed and dissolved with thy love to pour out my heart unto thee saying LORD WORK THINE OWN GOOD PLEASVRE IN ME. Make me what thou thy self best likest and lovest And when thou hast loved and obliged me as much as thou pleasest here compleat thine own benefits and crown them with as great a glory as thine own great love can bestow hereafter CHAP. XX. The Conclusion AND here I think it is best to put a period to this discourse which is already come to a competent length For where can I leave you better than in the arms of our Lord intirely resolved into his will and wishing to be united to him and made one spirit with him as much as he pleases And yet how hard is it to cease to desire that happiness in its utmost perfection How can we chuse but ask him leave at least to repete that wish over again The very thoughts of it make the ravished soul thrust it self with the more ardent affection into the bosom of his love They stir it up to ply him with new petitions that he will draw it more strongly after him and knit it more closely to him that he will inspire it with more of his love and by perfecting his likeness in it inseparably unite it to himself O blessed Jesus surely thou wilt appear I believe in due time thou wilt appear I am fully perswaded thou wilt not fail to make good thy word of coming to fetch us to thy self and making us exceedingly more happy than now in our most inlarged thoughts we can conceive I see me thinks the sky cleave and the day break and the Arch-angel thy Harbinger begin to look forth and thrust his head out of the clouds which makes my heart leap for joy as if it would leave this world and instantly go to meet thee my infinitely Dearer Saviour For what splendor is there in Gold Greg. Nyssen Orat. V. in Beatitud that I should desire it What brightness in pretious stones What ornament in the most sumptuous apparel compared with that Good which our hope in thee supposes and sets before us When thou who reignest over all creatures shalt reveal thy self to mankind sitting most magnificently upon a lofty Throne when innumerable millions of Angels shall be seen about thee and when the Kingdom of Heaven which now is such a secret shall be set wide open before all our eyes O let the thoughts of the Trump of God which shall then sound awaken my soul more powerfully to lift up it self to look for thee and for that glorious sight thou wilt bless us withal at thy appearing O let the faith that is in thy heart grow daily more active and work in me a most vigorous love of thee And let my love be inlarged till this heart be stretched to its utmost capacity and thou the infinite Good still fill and overflow it For I am afraid thou shouldest come and find me unprepared for thee I would not for all the world be found unready to meet thee and unfit for the blessings thou wilt bring along with thee If an heart that desires thee most passionately be of any worth if thou canst have any kind thoughts of a mind that prefers thee and thy love above all other things if to love thine appearing far more than the most glorious condition wherein a man can possibly appear in mortal flesh can find any grace in thine eyes behold then a soul that is able to say through thy great goodness that it most earnestly longs for thee See here an heart that desires to be like thee that had rather dye than displease thee and that will welcome thy coming with more joy than a sick man wearied with the restlessness of a long night doth the morning light or a Traveller doth his much desired home or a Virgin espoused doth her long absent Bridegroom the dearly beloved of her soul It is thou who hast begot in me these longings I have received all thou seest in me from thy gracious hands which have made me and fashioned me and made me unsatisfied in any thing but thee and thy love O let not these pious longings also be unsatisfied Let me not want the pleasures from which I have turned mine eyes away here and those pleasures too which I look for so earnestly and promise my self at thine appearing But let the same reason which moved thee to give me so much incline thee to give me more Let that mighty love which hath wrought in me desires bring me to the enjoyment And after thou hast pleased thy bounty in making me receive as much as thou wilt in this present state let it be thy pleasure to receive me to thee in a better and by giving me all I would have in the sight I expect of thee to leave no desires remaining in me Amen and Amen THE END Books written by the Reverend Dr. Patrick and Printed for Richard Royston at the Angel in Amen-corner 1. THE Christian Sacrifice a Treatise shewing the Necessity End and Manner of receiving the holy Communion together with suitable Prayers and Meditations for every Month in the Year and the Principal Festivals in memory of our Blessed Saviour In Four Parts The Third Edition Corrected in Twelves 2. The Devout Christian instructed how to Pray and give Thanks to God Or a Book of Devotions for Families and particular persons in most of the concerns of Humane life The second Edition in Twelves 3. An Advice to a Friend The second Edition in Twelves 4. The Witnesses to Christianity or The Certainty of our Faith and Hope In a Discourse upon 1 S. John v. 7 8. In two Parts in Octavo new 5. A Sermon Preached before the King on St. Stephen's day Printed by His Majesty's special command in Quarto Angliae Speculum a Glass that flatters not Presented to a Country Congregation at the late Solemn Fast April 24. 1678. In a Parallel between the Kingdom of Israel and England Wherein the whole Nation is desired to behold and consider our Sin and our Danger By a dutiful Son of this Church in Quarto The true Intellectual System of the Universe The first Part wherein all the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism is Confuted and its Impossibility Demonstrated By R. Cudworth D. D. in Folio A Sermon Preached before the King Feb. 10th 1677 8. By Z. Cradock D. D. Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays-Inn and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty in Quarto XXXI Sermons Preached to the Parishioners of Standford-Rivers in Essex upon several Subjects and Occasions By Charles Gibbes D. D. Rectour of that Church and Prebendary of St. Peter's at Westminster in Quarto new The Jesuits Loyalty manifested in three several Treatises lately written by them against the Oath of Allegiance with a Preface shewing the Pernicious Consequence of their Principles as to Civil Government Also Three other Treatises concerning the Reasons of the Penal Laws viz. I. The Execution of Justice in England not for Religion but for Treason II. Important Considerations by the Secular Priests III. The Jesuits Reasons Unreasonable in Quarto
his death before he was crowned with glory and honour was a place of very much happiness it will not be compleated till he come again to bring us that Great Salvation which the Scripture speaks of at the Resurrection of the dead When we are at rest from our labours in the other world I cannot but think we shall long for that happy day and that it will be part of our joy to expect it with perfect assurance of its coming And therefore it cannot but be a very delightful entertainment to think of it to hope and wish for it now as the greatest refreshment we have of our labours here in this life For while our thoughts and desires are thus imployed we tread if I may so speak upon the threshold of Paradise and begin to enter into the joy of our Lord. But there is one expression of St. Paul which I mentioned in the conclusion of the second Advice to a Friend p. 64. which excels all the rest for he makes it the proper mark of a Christian to LOVE his appearing Which I have undertaken therefore to explain in this Discourse that devout Christians may know what the Blessedness of that time will be and what the Affection is we should have for it and what Reason there is we should be so affected towards it The subject is so unusual that I have not seen it any where handled which made me the more willing to set about it that I might in part both satisfie the desire I have to do all the honour and service I am able to our Blessed Lord and Master Christ Jesus and the delight I take in explaining his holy Scriptures Of which to be ignorant is to be ignorant of Christ himself as St. Hierom's words are in the beginning of his first Book of Commentaries upon Isaiah I do not expect indeed nor is it possible that you should have your minds alwayes possessed with such thoughts and that your hearts should perpetually burst out into such passions as I have here expressed I my self cannot think them over again nor any like them whensoever I please It is enough good Readers and as much as we can reach if you be thus affected at certain times when your spirit is most serious and retired into it self and if you indeavour to habituate your selves to such thoughts and desires that they may be so familiar and natural as to become easie and delightful when you will stand most in need of them More particularly when the days wherein you live are evil or when you are under any private trouble or when you would at any time retreat from the world and solace your self in angello cum libello in a nook with a Book to speak with Tho. à Kempis who thought this the highest pleasure upon earth or when the Church calls upon you to sequester your self for devotion and especially when old age you feel creeping upon you and you think of drawing your selves by degrees out of this life At all such seasons as these and chiefly when you come near to your journeys end this Prospect cannot but be most pleasant and such aspirations and sighs after the day of Christs appearing be the most ravishing musick and to be transported with such ardent longings as are here represented make Afflictions light and easie solitary retirements exceeding sweet and delightful old age cheerful and death it self very comfortable But you must not imagine that Love can arrive at its highest pitch presently nor must you be troubled or discouraged because you cannot instantly or when you would raise in your selves such passionate longings after Christs appearing Love is a thing that grows and as I may say steals upon us by degrees and the passion we feel at certain seasons disposes us by little and little to be perfectly in love with that Good which is set before us A Good so great and so desireable that we do not follow our own best inclinations if we use not our utmost indeavours to be so happy as to behold that admirable Countenance to speak in the language of St. Chrysostom of our blessed Saviour the King of Glory For if saith he * Homil. penult in S. Johan p. 925. when we read the story of his life death and resurrection we are so inflamed that our hearts burn within us and we wish we had lived in those days when he was conversant on earth that we might have heard his voice and seen his face and kept his company and touched him and ministred unto him think with your selves what it will be to see him not any longer in a mortal body nor doing humane things but attended with the hosts of Angels when we also our selves shall be freed from this mortality and beholding him shall enjoy such felicity as exceeds all expression Let us do all we can I beseech you that we may not miss of so great a glory There is nothing too hard for us if we have a will to it nothing too burdensom if our mind be not averse from it For if we suffer or endure we shall also reign with him And what is it to suffer If we bear afflictions if we endure persecutions if we walk in the narrow way which to nature indeed is laborious but to them who chuse it and have a good will to it is light and easie by the hope of things to come For our light affliction which is but for a moment works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not at the things which are seen but at those which are not seen Let us lift up our eyes then from these things here and direct them towards Heaven let us imagine always these unseen joyes and look upon them For if we be conversant with these things we shall neither be inticed with the sweet things of this world nor sink under the load of those that are grievous to be born But we shall laugh these and all such like to scorn and never suffer any thing either to depress us or to puff us up provided we still stretch forth that desire and look towards that love What did I say that we shall not feel the evil things of this world to be grievous to us More than that we shall scarce mind them or think that we see them For such is the nature of love that it makes us imagine we see even those who are absent from us but much desired by us every day with us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for great is the soveraign power and as we speak the tyranny of love It neglects all things and tyes the soul fast to those it loves And therefore if we thus love Christ Jesus all things here will seem but a shadow but an image but a dream and we also shall say Who shall separate us from the love of Christ I pray God increase it and make it abound more and more in all our hearts that it may draw
endeavour to render our selves as a beautiful body without any spot and blemish and thereby be found acceptable in His sight at His appearing And if you would know what Commandments they were which He would have Timothy in consideration of this appearing of Christ and the certainty thereof to keep without spot you need but look back to the eleventh and twelfth verses and there you may find them Follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness Fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called c. That is Shun Covetousness and all the vices that issue from it ever rendring to every man what is his due Have God always before thine eyes and put thy trust and confidence in him Deceive no man that relies on thy word exercise mercy and charity to all suffer wrongs rather than do them and suffer them with a patient humble mind bridle anger repress all Cholerick motions and use such gentleness to others as thou wouldst desire thy self in the like cases And for this end contend earnestly for the Christian faith that is suffer not thy faith in Christ to be shaken much less overthrown by any persecution pain or death it self As thou hast begun to show thy self a good Christian so continue Remember thy Calling and Profession and resolve to quit all thou hast rather than fall short of Eternal Life And this I give thee in charge v. 13. as thou wilt answer it before God who raises even the dead and before our Lord Jesus Christ who constantly professed the truth before Pontius Pilate that thou keep these things inviolable and endeavour to be found pure and holy when Christ shall appear again As certainly He will for we have his word for it and God the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords c. is able and lives for ever to make it good These two Uses you see the Apostle plainly directs us to make of the Doctrine here delivered And there is a Third which he teaches us in the place I am now treating of when he describes all good Christians who keep the faith by the Name of those who LOVE this APPEARING of Christ Jesus All they who observe the Commandments of our Lord and Saviour with seriousness and care ought to set their hearts upon this glorious appearing which they expect as the most goodly sight the most blessed spectacle that eyes can behold This is the very Character you see that St. Paul gives of the faithful and so it hath ever since been esteemed by all those who understood our Religion Which disposes and inclines all those that heartily embrace it and live according to it to have a great affection for that happy day which so many pious souls through so many Ages have most passionately longed to see So Andreas Caesariensis hath most excellently expressed the sense of all right Christians when he sets this down for the Contents of the last Chapter of the Revelation according to the old division * Chap. lxxii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. How the Church and that Spirit which is in it wishes for and desires the glorious appearing of Christ Which will bring with it so transcendent a bliss that they have little faith or little goodness who do not only wait for it but rejoyce in hope of it before it come For when the Apostle calls this appearing of Christ his Revelation saith an ancient Writer in Oecumenius * In 2 Thes i. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He bids them look for the greatest things and please themselves in the very thoughts of his coming before they receive the recompence of the reward For as his appearing will be infinitely affrighting to the wicked and they have reason to dread it before-hand so it will be no less comfortable to the godly who ought now to entertain themselves with delightful hopes of it and fetch great contentment and consolation from it because they shall then see and hear such things as will ravish their hearts with joy unconceivable That 's the chiefest thing of all and which is principally by me intended in these Papers Unto which therefore without any further evidence that might be produced of the certainty of this appearing I shall apply my self in the remaining Third Part of this Discourse CHAP. VI. Of the means to excite that LOVE in our hearts which we ought to have for Christs APPEARING I Have passed over the other two with the greater speed because I intend to take the more pains in this by endeavouring to show and to express as lively as I can what the LOVE is which we should bear to this Appearing if we hope to partake in the comforts of it And how to do this better than by describing the original and progress of this passion I cannot devise And therefore I shall use that Method for the conveying this Appearing of Christ into your minds under such a notion and character as shall not fail to stir up in your heart the devoutest affection for it I. Let it then in the first place be remembred that there cannot be the least beginning of this love unless we look upon the appearing of our Saviour as a GOOD and that of the greatest size For else it will be so far from touching us with any inclinations towards it that it will excite either our hatred or our contempt of it It is the GOOD which we discern in any thing that charms our souls and attracts our desires Though an object be never so near us and present it self to our very hands and would thrust it self upon us yet if we see no good in it we either hate it for disturbing our quiet or at least are perfectly cold to it as feeling no power it hath to stir up any passion for it Nay though we do perceive a thing to be good for us and defirable to be enjoyed yet if it stand at such a great distance and seem so very far off as the Appearing of Jesus Christ for any thing we know may be it will not sensibly affect our hearts nor move us to bear much regard to it unless it have the face of a very great happiness and promise us exceeding much contentment This Appearing therefore of our Lord is called by this Apostle in another place li. Tit. 13. that BLESSED HOPE to express the incomparable happiness and bliss which it will bring along with it He would have us look upon it as a thing that far more imports us than all our present enjoyments or all that is possible to be here enjoyed For there is nothing in this world that is worthy to be spoken of with such an Emphasis as to be called that blessed thing that happy possession This is a peculiar respect belonging only to the appearing of Christ which is the summ of all a Christians Hopes and those Hopes the great treasure of his soul
so sweetly to it and this is properly Love As soon as ever we discover any thing that is suitable to us we feel our hearts instantly struck with a secret joy and are marvellously delighted in it And this delectable touch is no sooner perceived but it sweetly yet strongly draws us to go towards that thing which at first sight gave us such a pleasure and will yield we hope a far greater when we approach so near it as to get possession of it Complacence or delight then is but the first stirring or motion which a good thing causes in our heart This pleasing motion and agitation of the Spirits is attended presently with a melting and as it were effusion of the heart whereby we run out to meet that beloved object and entertain it into our souls and in this as I said properly consists the very being of Love Which is so manifest in an heart duly affected towards the appearing of our blessed Lord that there cannot be a greater proof of the truth of this description For it feels so great a pleasure in the lively belief of his coming that it is drawn thereby quite out of it self and cannot chuse but resign up it self intirely to that glorious Prince that He may make it appear together with Him It easily dissolves in that heavenly warmth and losing all its power to contain it self in its former bounds flows to Him the Lord of Life as to its proper place It is lifted up towards heaven and would fain be there where He is from whom this pleasure comes For with Him is the fountain of Life and therefore where should a devout soul set its affections but on those things which are above as S. Paul speaks 3 Col. i. 3 4. where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Which when they mightily affect the heart it feels as if it were dissolving into that life which is hid with Christ in God That future life or bliss is safe indeed because it is in the custody of Christ and in a glorious place where God dwells in light inaccessible But who can abstain from desiring it should be no longer hid and reserved but made manifest and shown as it will be at the appearing of Christ For so the Apostle adds immediately as if He would answer their Question who might ask when shall this Life be discovered When Christ who is our Life i.e. the cause of it who will give us this life shall appear then shall we also appear with Him in glory O what a joyful word is this what should hinder an heart that is possessed with a full belief of it from running thither with all speed whither it is called by so great a joy as sent from thence into it Into whose arms should it leap but only His the expectation of whose appearing creates that exultation There is none in heaven it can desire but Him with whom its life is hid and whom is there on earth that it can desire besides Him Come saith such a soul to it self and lift up thy head Thy Lord I hear is coming let us arise and go and meet Him Let us leave this earth and ascend up towards heaven where He is who is our Life Let us raise up our dull thoughts thitherward and fix our minds as oft as we can on the glory that shall be revealed Let us stir up our selves and with the most ardent desires and affections of our heart get as near Him as ever we are able let us go O my Soul and at least make a present of our very heart to Him beseeching Him most earnestly to possess Himself intirely of it Let us invite Him to prevent His appearing and to come a little beforehand to manifest Himself unto us and to take up His abode with us O blessed Jesus let us say who art our Life be intreated to come hither now that we cannot come up to thee and live in us Show thy self in this soul and let not me live any longer but do thou live in me let the life I live in the flesh be by thy faith O thou Son of God Thou hast loved me and given thy self for me O love me so much I again beseech thee as to live in me I would begin that life which is hid with thee in resigning my self to thee that thy will may be done in me Never did I feel such complacence in following mine own as I have since I was inclined to follow after thee who wilt lead me I see to immortal glory Blessed be that day which made me sensible of such happiness Blessed be the day which directed mine eyes to look for thy appearing What can I wish for more than to be blessed with the sight of it and till it come to have my heart always in love with it I am going towards it by these desires and I will excite my self to go the faster because that blissful sight is still making nearer approaches What do we mean my soul to hang thus towards this earth Why do we stay here when we see Jesus preparing Himself to make another journey to us Why do we not advance towards Him as if we were desirous to have Him come and to let us see Him Why do we not with all speed make our selves ready to receive Him What is it that makes us so slow in our motions towards Him who when He appears will come as swift as the lightning unto us Vp up O my soul let not thy Lord find thee when He comes posting after these worldly vanities pursuing of thy sinful pleasures but onward in thy way gone very far in devout affections ardent desires and holy hopes to meet His Glorious Majesty CHAP. VIII The Progress of this Love to Christs Appearing in three steps more V. AND yet this Love cannot content it self with inward motions and aspirations of the Soul towards the appearing of our Lord but constantly excites all such actions as are requisite for the attaining of so great a Good If we esteem any thing highly and feel it exceeding agreeable to our hearts desire we do not willingly rest in the pleasing passions it raises up in our hearts but they carry us out in earnest endeavours to be owners of it And the influence it hath upon us is so powerful and it doth so strongly draw us after it that it will not suffer any thing to put a stop to the current of our affections when they are issuing out unto it There are certain imperfect motions in our hearts which we are apt to call Love that by no means deserve that name being only a good liking of that which we do not yet truly love They are called in the Schools Velleities wishes and wouldings as we speak half a will which we feel for divers excellent things but never come to any effect The reason is because the appearance of some extream great difficulty or the force of some contrary desire either holds the soul
thee Let the time come that there shall be no more night but a perpetual day with me O hasten the time when I my self shall shine like the Sun in thy Celestial glory VII Now in the mean time till love come to a perfect union as it is incessant in its motion so it grows more vehement in its desires and endeavours For as frequent agitations make the fire burn more fiercely so doth the stirring of this passion make it break out with a brighter flame The desire of union increases the swiftness of its motion and the more speed it makes the nearer it is like to come to its desired union And which is very considerable the more earnest and assiduous our motion is towards any Good the greater hopes we have that we shall enjoy it and the greater our hopes are the more are we still pricked on and spurred forward in the pursuit of that which we would fain enjoy A thing which is of exceeding great moment in this pious and devout love of Christian people For without a GOOD HOPE which St. Paul saith our Lord who is our Hope hath given us 2 Thess ii 16. 1 Tim. i. 1. our motion would slacken if not be extinguished We should have no heart to prosecute our design but let it fall immediately if it were not in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lye hath promised i. Tit. 2. As on the contrary by the help of this sure and certain Hope our diligence is doubled and such oyl poured on our wheels as makes them move not only more easily but with greater speed and quickness also All the lovers therefore of Christs Appearing are said to wait for it to expect it and to look for the coming of that blessed Hope as you shall see in the conclusion of this Argument from those well known places iij. Phil. 20. ij Tit. 13. and many other And if you examine the holy Scriptures carefully you shall find that this is comprehended in the love we ought to have for his Appearing being such a natural effect of love that they are put indifferently the one for the other As may be seen by comparing these two places together 1 Cor. ij 9. with lxiv. Isa 4. in the former of which the Apostle says the things which surpass our conception are prepared by God for them that love him and in the other the Prophet saith He hath prepared them for him that waiteth for Him Just as the people of Israel praying without the Sanctuary in the Court to which they were confined waited for the Priest when he should come from the Altar of Incense or rather for the High-Priest on the day of Atonement to return from the most holy place and the Ark of the Covenant to bestow the blessing on them So do all good Souls who are devoted sincerely to the service of Christ while they remain in this outward Court the Earth wherein we dwell which is at a great distance from the Heavens look up to the holy place where Jesus the great High-Priest of our profession is iij. Heb. 1. iv 15. and wait for the time when He will come forth to bless them saying Come ye blessed of my Father xxv Mat. 34. inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world They cannot but frequently cast their eyes and turn their hearts that way as the place of their Rest which He is gone before to prepare for them They are ever calling upon their Souls to follow hard after their dear Saviour as David says lxiij Psal 8. his heart did after the enjoyment of God in his Sanctuary For this they seek as he there speaks with thirsty desires to see his power and his glory so as they have never yet seen him nor can see him no not in their nearest approaches to him while they live in these earthly tabernacles They wish therefore He would come and bless them with a clear and full sight of Him After this their desires grow daily more ardent and they endeavour to stir up stronger and more affectionate motions towards so great an happiness They are apt to cry out saying Draw us and we will run after thee yea we will fly we will take the wings of an Eagle in our passionate desires that we may mount up aloft and get more and more above this world to be with thee And this gives them good Hopes likewise that they shall be with Him insomuch that they cannnot but say O blessed Jesus thou hast set our Souls into a longing for thee and now they cannot cease to desire to come to thee Thou hast made us believe the most excellent surpassing glory wherein thou shinest and ever since we cannot chuse but look towards it and wish to behold thee in that glory If we be very earnest for this sight if our Souls sigh and say xlij Psal 2. O when shall we come and appear before thee we do but return thine own breath who hast inspired us with these desires after thee And may we not hope to come thither where thou art when thou thy self attractest our souls to thee Wilt thou not satisfie those longings which not we but thou hast raised in our hearts Give us leave to remember thee of what thou thy self hast said who didst pronounce those BLESSED WHO HAVE NOT SEEN xx Joh. 29. AND YET HAVE BELIEVED O let it be unto thy servants according to thy word For we are such believers as thou hast blessed We never saw thee and yet believe thou camest forth from God xiij Joh. 3. and art gone to God and art most high in the glory of the Father ix Rom. 5. God blessed for evermore Do not our hearts cleave unto thee though they have only heard of thee Are not our eyes continually towards thee though they have never yet beheld thee Thou wilt not always sure absent thy self but turn our faith at last into a sight of thee For what is the BLESSEDNESS of which thou spakest and hast faithfully promised to such believers Is it not that they shall one day behold thy glorious face and reign with thee in thy glory Is it not that thou wilt manifest thy self unto them here and at last appear again to take them to thy self that they may live where thou art O dear Saviour as thou hast made us to BELIEVE in this manner so make us likewise thus BLESSED As we have received thee though we have not seen thee so let this be the reward of our receiving thee that we may see thee We will hope thou wilt make us thus happy as thou hast made us thus faithful We will expect till thou makest us see what thou hast promised as thou hast made us do what thou hast commanded We will rejoyce in hope of thy glory and do thou make our joy to be full yea bring us unto thee and bid us enter into the joy of thee our Lord. CHAP.
its glistering beauty cause the small contentments of this world to seem but as so many Glow-worms which shine only in the night I am sensible how short the sweetest enjoyments of this life are of that celestial happiness The society of my Saviour and of the inhabitants above O how much is it to be preferred even before the delightful company of those that most deserve my love Who can do me no greater service than by the innocent passion I have for them to transport me with far greater to that blessed country where I shall enjoy them without fear and love them without danger And O that all the fears I at any time have of losing the Dearest Creature in this world may presently expire into a greater fear of heing separated from my Lord. Let all my hopes and joyes also about that conclude in better hopes and joyful expectations of living together in the joy of our Fathers house But as for other things I discharge and renounce you all you frivolous sinful delights I am not afraid of any evil that man or other creature can do unto me while my trust and my joy is in the Lord. Come troubles come reproaches come loss of Goods I am not angry at it so Jesus will but come and they will also excite me to fasten mine eyes more stedfastly on Him and his appearing This is my hope this is my joy this is the support and the satisfaction of my heart This is the thing I am resolved to entertain my thoughts withall and if I may but have this let all the rest O blessed Jesus be even as thou pleasest X. I have but one thing more to add which is that the Love which deserves this Character is a setled constant affection an habit and temper of the soul which alwayes abides Not a sudden fit of passion but a fixed inclination and rooted disposition to seek such a good as it desires And so the word here used by St. Paul signifies not barely they that love but they that have loved his appearing For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being in the time perfectly past denotes that this hath been the stedfast bent of their hearts to look for Christ and prepare themselves in this manner for his coming The Image of any lovely person when it first presents it self before us is wont to come in a posture of humility and submission and seems to crave to be admitted into our hearts It invites us with so much sweetness and respect as if it would be beholden to us for our kind acceptance of it into our favour But when it is once passionately entertained and hath possessed it self of our hearts we find it changes its behaviour and grows so imperious that it requires what before it seemed to intreat It becomes absolute master of our hearts and placing it self there as the Governor of all our affections will no more be denied in any of its demands And such is the progress of the love of Christ and his appearing in pious souls He comes and intreats us at the first or rather beseeches us that we would be so sensible of his kindness as to let Him have a room in our hearts and to receive from His hands so great a good as He offers to bless us withall We feel thereupon only some inclinations to Him and good affections for Him but do not come presently to a full resolution to surrender our selves intirely to Him Nay it is too manifest that we are off and on as the phrase is and seem as if we could choose whether we will love Him or no. But when He hath once got within us when we perceive how gracious the Lord is and have opened our hearts to let Him dwell there then He exercises an absolute Empire over us He will have none of His commands refused or disputed A ready and chearful compliance with His will is the fruit of His Authority and nothing can have a room there but what shall ask Him leave He rules and reigns over us in so soveraign a manner that He carries us whither He pleases And more than that it pleases us to be ruled by Him and it is the most perfect liberty to be under the uncontroulable power of his Love All the world cannot hinder Him from being obeyed but every signification of his will and pleasure to us becomes a Law as strong as Fate which cannot be resisted Let him ask what he will it is sufficient that he is pleased and that he loves us so much as to think of appearing again to make us perfectly like himself That 's a Good incomparably great which needs nothing to procure our love to it but only to be known And when it is loved needs nothing to secure it but not to slip out of our mind Or rather we cannot forget what we have once so dearly loved The pleasures of that passion are its preservation It s activity and force will not let it dye or fall asleep O come come saith a soul possessed with this Love for I cannot wish for any thing like thy appearing It is impossible I should refrain from desiring that joyful day I cannot live but I must long for thy coming O when wilt thou come my blessed Redeemer when wilt thou come when shall we see that welcome morn that shall bring the news of thine approach It cannot but be most welcome sure to all those that have waited for it with so much patience and cryed out so often make no long tarrying O my Lord. The brightness of thy face I know can throw no scorching flames into those eyes that look for thee That sweet Sun will arise with a smiling countenance upon all such hearts They can never fear an evil day when the Bridegroom comes most gloriously deckt to compleat his love to them And therefore I cannot but say again and let all them that love thee joyn their desires with me and say continually come come O blessed Jesus Come while our hearts are warm with love to thee Come while these passionate sighs are calling for thee Come now that these souls stand open with outstretched arms to receive thee What greater felicity can we wish than to pass away in such aspirations towards thee What gentler or sweeter breath than these holy desires can waft our souls into the air to meet thee Who can fancy any thing more desireable than to evaporate all together in ecstasies of devout affections to thee Happy were it for us if our hearts were scrued up to such a pitch of love that we needed no other instrument but that to crack those strings that tye our souls to our bodyes Happy were it for us if in such a fiery chariot we might be transported unto thy heavenly mansions We can conceive no greater pleasure than this to expire in such ardent flames into thy bosom there to rest for ever in thy love CHAP. X. All this shown to be the sense of the Holy
so bright and glorious an object And happy were it for us if it were nothing else but mere Love that made me resume this Discourse and begin it again and that made those who read it to be willing or rather desirous to know further what are the causes of this heavenly affection to the appearing of our Lord. For that is it wherein I intend to imploy the remainder of my thoughts upon this subject Love is a passion that is very desirous to feel it self and to be satisfied of its own sincerity by the strength and force and restlesness of its motion It fills the heart also with such a secret joy that it would fain know the very spring of all its delectable motions and be led to the rise of every one of its desires and inclinations Both the strangeness and the variety of its surprising pleasures are so great that our hearts cannot but be invited thereby to the very bottom of it to see from whence it flows as we perceive whither it tends And therefore as I have touched upon the general cause and reason of this passion of love in the foregoing part of this small Treatise so it is not fit to deny it in the following part a brief consideration of the particular reasons why it should be set upon the appearing of Christ And they may be reduced to these two Heads First The great affection that all good souls have for our blessed Saviour himself And Secondly The natural affection we all bear to our own good and welfare Which when we have considered we shall be ashamed that we do not with greater fervour say with respect to this in our daily prayers THY KINGDOM COME And be mightily excited to call upon our souls more frequently to meditate on that blessed hope and to look with much affection for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who will be so much honoured thereby himself and then confer such upon us as should make us long for the accomplishment of both CHAP. XI Reasons for our Love to this Appearing drawn from the respect we ought to have to our Lord himself AS for the first of these the affection that is due to our blessed Saviour it ought to be strong you will easily confess that death it self should not be an equal match for it That which conquers all things should it self be conquered by this and the king of terrors should yield all his force and yield himself a Captive to the love of the King of Love For since there is so great a power in hearty and unfeigned love to beget love in those to whom it is expressed and since the love whereby our Lord attracts our affection doth so vastly exceed all other it is a prodigious obstinacy or negligence that the dullest and heaviest souls are not drawn by so big a Loadstone Do we not feel as I have said elsewhere some motions of kindness in our hearts for the most contemptible creatures when they constantly fawn upon us and follow us and lye down by us and will by no means leave us but take our part if any body assault us Are we not much pleased with this affection they have to us and concerned for their safety and ready to reward them with tokens of our love to them We must be infidels then or very inconsiderate and regardless of our blessed Saviour or else find our hearts put into the greatest passion when we read and seriously weigh the strange expressions which our Saviour hath made of the most endearing love to us When we remember Low he neglected himself to serve us how he indured hunger and thirst that we might be satisfied how he gave the people the very bread out of his mouth and forgot to feed himself that he might nourish them when we see how he addresses himself unto us how he wooes and courts us to speak in our own language with the greatest kindness to come to him how solicitous he is for our happiness how he sighed for us how he groaned in spirit to see men so obstinate how he sweat how he bled how he gave his very life for us and was content to be exposed to the greatest shame rather than we should perish what heart can be so insensible as not to be mightily affected with it and to think of returning back his love and that in some proportion to the wonderful greatness of it But then alas it must be confessed that we find when our passion is stirred up and our hearts begin to burn within us we have little or nothing there that is worthy of him A present we would fain make to him but have none fit to be offered to so great a Majesty Nay so void many times and empty are our hearts of all that is good that we may well be ashamed to let him see them Our thoughts are so dull and the resentments we have of his kindness so feeble and weak that we our selves in whom they are can scarce feel them And at the best our affections are so small and so short that we cannot but blush to come furnished with no better oblation to him What shall we do in this case How shall we behave our selves with some due regard to his incomprehensible love Love him we must but love him as he is worthy and as we would we are not able We cannot choose but bring him our hearts and yet we are sensible they are not worth the bringing We shall find our selves naturally inclined in these circumstances to do just as a grateful Poor man doth who being unable himself to requite a Friends courtesies rejoyces to hear that so very great a Person will take that care upon him Or as the Divine Psalmist doth who finding his own thoughts too short and low calls upon the Angels who excel in strength to set forth the praises of him whose name is highly exalted above all blessing and praise That is since we our selves cannot requite the benefits our Lord hath done us nor worthily magnifie his goodness towards us we ought in all reason to be exceeding desirous that God the Father of glory as St. Paul calls him would be pleased to reward his love and make his praise glorious Since there is nothing here whereby we can considerably honour him we must needs wish the day would come when the Blessed and only Potentate will show the respect he bears unto him As it is a joy to think that he is gone to the Father and there is recompensed for his sufferings so it is a matter of greater gladness if we have any love for him to remember that at his appearing which he who is able will in due time show he shall still be more magnified This therefore all serious Christians cannot but much desire to see For this they cannot but long extreamly and call with earnest expectation for the coming of that joyful day That since they cannot laud and
cannot be perfectly healed till it enjoys its desires and that you know is not without the company of anguish and pain 1. For we find that when men admit into their hearts the love of any mortal creature like themselves the soul which before was whole unbroken and intire is as it were separated and torn by this passion both from it self and all other objects save only that which hath engaged its affection Now all men know that no heart can be thus parted and divided without a sense of grief and smart attending on such a divulsion and rending of it from it self till it feel that soul which it loves as another self effectually joyned to it And then 2. we find that after it hath obtained well assured hopes of this yet those eager desires and longings that are in this passion still carry their sting in them and make the heart but ill at ease until they be accomplished Both which it were easie to apply to that devout affection wherewith pious souls are touched towards our blessed Saviour which is very unquiet and full of trouble till they know and feel that he loves them 3. But I shall rather observe which is peculiar to this holy love that the wounds as I may call them which are made in any heart by the wonderful kindness of our Saviour who loved us so much as to dye for us are wont very oft to be a torment to it because it can love him no more and doth not feel such vehement transports of affection to him as it desires and he hath merited And then 4. though we are fully perswaded that we do sincerely and heartily love him yet this proves a great trouble to us here in this present state that we fancy him sometimes to be a stranger to us and he seems to treat us as if he were suspicious of our Love And 5. when we have the greatest sense of his most tender mercies and he sheds abroad his love in our hearts This creates a new grief because he stays no longer with us and we cannot call him back as oft as we please to give us those delicious tastes of his infinite Love But 6. there is nothing so considerable in this matter as that we cannot enjoy those gracious visits from our Lord of which we are so desirous and which fill the heart with the greatest love to him and delight in him but they conclude in sighs and groans and leave us much unsatisfied while we are in this mortal body That very love which God himself excites those Heavenly impressions which his own hand makes upon our hearts the greatest ardors of divine affection wherewith we are inspired from above are not without their pangs of trouble in all those who with earnest intention of mind and most hearty desires give up themselves to follow them and seriously endeavour to comply with them For while a devout soul that is in a lively manner touched by him stretches its wings as I may say and spreads it self with great affection that it may mount up in vehement love unto him It presently feels how unable it is to answer those divine motions and sees to its sorrow that its wings are not grown large enough to bear it so high as it then aspires There is a powerful spirit indeed which stimulates it to fly aloft where he is but while it endeavours to obey its inspirations it is strongly dragged and pulled down by the earthly tabernacle to these inferiour enjoyments It is born away with violent and swift desires and at the same time sinks below and sadly flaggs for want of power Like the Bird that is not yet fully fledg'd which would fain fly when it hears the Mother call but finding its wings too weak is forced to fall into some hedge or tree and there is content to hop up and down and please it self in its little chirpings among the branches so doth the devout soul feel it self when it is very desirous to correspond with the heavenly motions that are stirring in it and when it thinks it hears the Father of Spirits saying Come up hither It fails in the attempt and can only make some small but feeble essays towards its celestial country It is soon tired and grows weary and while it pants and breaths after high and excellent things cannot reach them or come nigh them but faints away and spends it self in sighs which are so much the sadder because it sees the spatious Heavens before its eyes and yet must be content to drop down and sit still upon the Earth Yea the very stretching of her wings puts the soul to pain when she cannot fly The straining of her self is very uneasie when she can only groan but not raise up her self to the pitch that she desires She suffers a kind of torment between these two the strength of her affections and the weakness of her ability the sharpness of her sight and the dulness of her enjoyment O miserable Creature that I am what shall I do is the dejected soul in this case apt to say Pardon me Dear Lord if my great love to thee make me call my self miserable when I know that I am very happy It is my desire to be nearer to thee which makes me deplore not only my distance from thee but the feebleness of my soul in its endeavours to approach thee O what a change have a few moments made in me I thought just now I was going up to Heaven and alas here I lye at this present sighing upon the ground The Divine breath methought was carrying me above and I unable to accompany it am still here below I felt as if I was all life and spirit a little while ago and now I am almost dead I seemed as if I should have quite forgot this world and now I can scarce think of any thing else O how sweet would it be but to remember the tasts that I had of thy transcendent love whereas now alas I can scarce relish any thing that is good What shall I do with my self Or what shall I desire for this poor soul which is thus sadly burdened and pressed down by the corruptible body My heart is with Jesus but O how little do I enjoy of him I am not my self I am become another thing than I was before and yet how little is there of Jesus in me How wide is the distance still between me and my dearest Lord How do I long to be exactly like him but how short O how vastly short am I of him And how like a stranger doth he sometime seem How do I lose in this blind and dark estate the sight and sense of his most pretious love I know my heart loves him but what a grief is it that my love is so weak so dull so little worthy of him O blessed Jesus what a favour is it that thou wilt be pleased to cast at any time a gracious look upon such a cold
pleasing her eyes and her mind with the very shadow of that dear Person or if she have any token of his love left or sent her whereby to remember him is ever and anon taking it into her hands and imprinting her kisses on it so it becomes all those to do who pretend any love to our Lord Jesus who hath endeared himself to us by such incomparable loving kindness and merited so highly of us that it would be exceeding strange if we should be either insensible of his favours or let them slip out of our minds when among the rest of the expressions of his wonderful love he hath taken great care to preserve the remembrance of them there Our gracious Lord the Bridegroom of our souls is gone a long journey even as far as Heaven He hath espoused us to himself it is true in great love most assured love but hath left us for a time here in this world and removed himself so far from us that though there be nothing so desireable as his company to those who are acquainted with him and have any affection for him yet they find the distance is so exceeding great between them that they cannot attain their much wisht for enjoyment of him And therefore every good soul should look towards him and sighing within it self should often say When will he come when will he come and let me have the long desired sight of him When will he come and finish what he hath so graciously begun O that he would come and take me to him O that he would come and satisfie this soul which is ready to dissolve and sweetly melt into that blissful union with him And till he please to grant this desire we should often fasten our expecting eyes on the Picture he hath left us of himself drawn as I may say by his own hand which tells us he will certainly come and requires us to rest assured he will be as good as his word and give us immortal life in the glory where he is We should frequent I mean the holy Sacrament of his body and blood we should love there to communicate with him and knit our selves to him it should be our greatest pleasure to solace our selves in that representation of him till he comes We should affectionately receive into our hands those tokens and pledges of his love which he continually sends us by his Ministers we should take them into our mouths yea let them into our hearts and embracing him in those signs and seals of his grace towards us should rejoyce in his love till he himself appear and lay our souls to rest in his bosom for ever If there were no other benefit we should receive by this means than that thereby our love will be mightily excited towards him who hath loved us so dearly it were sufficient to commend this duty to us But we shall also grow thereby more confident of his appearing again to perfect his love towards us and in the mean time be still receiving fresh tokens of the affection he now hath for us For as the thoughts of his love hath the greatest power over our hearts so we need not fear to say that the love he sees in us is of such force and efficacy with him that it strongly moves his tender compassions towards us If any man love me saith he himself xiv Joh. 21 23. he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest my self to him O what a word is this I will love him How it pierces into the heart How it stirs and works how it revives and refreshes there Can there be any thing greater than this to be beloved of the Lord of Heaven the Prince of Life the King of Glory What will not he do for those whom he loves when we see he did not stick to dye for them even before they loved him You know that when Lazarus was sick as I think I have somewhere observed in another Treatise his Sisters sent this news to our Saviour saying Lord behold he whom thou lovest is sick xi Joh. 3. This was a very short Letter And their grief perhaps would not permit them to write a longer But they did not fare the worse because they were not more ceremonious in their addresses this alone did the business O how great a power was there in these few words They say no more to move him but only this Lord thou lovest him and what doth not our Saviour do to show they were not mistaken Up he rises away he goes to the place of his abode there needed no more prayers to bring him thither And though there were many dangers in the way as the story relates though to go thither his Disciples thought was to cast himself into a showr of stones v. 8. though the Jews he knew very well sought to take him and kill him x. 39. yet love being as strong as death carried him through all impediments He could not chuse but go when he heard this charming word he whom thou lovest is sick By which we may learn that to obtain the favour and grace the help and assistance the comfort and the presence of our blessed Saviour we need no long Petitions no great address of words no courtship nor studied complements Let us be able only to tell him that he loves us and it is enough If we can but win his good affection we need no more We may then remember to him his own dear love more than ours We may tell him how much good he hath done us and that is argument sufficient to move him to do more We may relate his graciousness and sweet disposition when we can perceive in our own hearts but disgusts at our selves We may say O my Lord I have seen by many arguments the wonderful great good will thou bearest to me For thou hast instructed my ignorance pitied my weaknesses cured many of my diseases delivered me from the power of temptations I cannot tell what thou hast done for me O most merciful Saviour who art still going on by innumerable ways to testifie thou lovest me And this humble devout acknowledgement will certainly invite a further effusion of his favours For it is a pleasure to him to do benefits especially to those he loves He rejoyces over them to do them good He loves to accomplish his own good purposes and delights as much as they can desire to perfect what he hath happily begun in them And therefore we may intreat him to give himself that pleasure not to lose any of that joy which will so much please and rejoyce us also and make us his debtors his admirers his adorers and lovers to all eternity We may desire him even that it would please him to come again according to his promise because he loves us and because he loves to finish his works of love and we may be confident he will and bring his rewards with him Though he stay we think
is the cause that we who are made to love should not let our love turn divine and address it most devoutly to him who best deserves the Love of all the world Or what may it be that keeps us from running with the whole current of our affections towards that heavenly Lover who sues so earnestly to us for our hearty love Hath he not loved us enough to make us love him Was he a cold and indifferent Lover that could not touch the heart with a sense of his kindness Was he perfectly frozen and careless in our concerns when the urgent wants of our souls called for his kind and compassionate relief Or did he pretend a great deal of kindness and made long protestations of his love but did just nothing to merit our affection There need no answer to such questions which serve only to reproach and confound our insensibleness and negligence who have nothing to say why we do not love him For so apparent is his love so confessedly great so costly and expensive so tender and obliging that as it had no example nor can be ever exactly imitated so it must needs attract all those and fill them with the greatest love who do not turn away their eyes and their ears and their hearts from this Lord of love Let us but listen a while to him and we shall hear him say was there any love like unto my love What is it that you would have had me done for you more than I have done without your desire to win your love Hath any man greater love than this that he lay down his life for his Friends But what were you for whom I died Herein God commended his love towards you in that while you were yet sinners I dyed for you And what was the purchase I made by that price which I laid down for you Who is it that hath the keys of Hell and death To whom is all power given in Heaven and in Earth Can any but I forgive your sins and open to you the Kingdom of Heaven and restore you to the joys of Paradise nay make you eat of the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God Where do you read of any King who at his Coronation gave such royal gifts to men From whom do you expect the Crown of righteousness and an eternal inheritance of which I gave the earnest so long ago Can you think of any thing comparable to the glory of my appearing Or is there any doubt whether I will come or no or whether you shall appear with me in that celestial glory What would you have me do to satisfie and assure you more than I have already done by my Word and by my Blood and by my Angels and by my Holy Spirit which I have sent down from Heaven to bear witness to me and to tell you that I will certainly come again and give you the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Believe it I will as surely come again as I died and rose from the dead and visibly ascended into Heaven and according to my promise poured out the Holy-Ghost upon my Apostles and inspired them to proclaim this in all tongues and languages that I still live and that because I live you shall live also And is it possible for us to think we hear him speaking to us in this manner as he doth in his blessed Gospel and not be provoked to summon all the powers of our soul to offer up themselves in devout and hearty love to him What hath the dearest friend whom we love with so much passion nay even our tenderest Parents done for us in comparison with this love Or what can the favour of all the Princes on earth should they unite all their powers to love and honour us bestow and heap upon us worthy to be named together with this miraculous love It ought to call us from all vain delights Our minds should continually study to comprehend the breadth and length the depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Our wills ought to be more passionately bent towards him and grow every day stronger in his love Our memories should be a most faithful Treasury of the manifold tokens of his Love Our tongues and our hearts should never cease to meditate and sing the praises of his wondrous love For if we could speak to him as we may conceive him speaking to us and ask him what he did before the world he would tell us that He loved If we could ask him what moved his Almighty Wisdom to make the world he would tell you that he loved If we could further ask what he hath done ever since he would still say he loved And what brought him down from Heaven if we could ask again to be partaker of our miseries he would tell you again that he loved And could we ask again why he would humble himself so low as to take the form a servant and dye a base servile and ignominious death the death of the Cross he would again tell you that he loved And if you could still go on to ask what moved him to send the Holy Ghost and give such gifts to men you would still receive the same answer because he loved And could you beseech him not to be angry and you would inquire again what he hath been doing since those days and what he now does he would give you no new answer but that he loves And if you should pray him once more to tell you what he loves he would let you know it is nothing but love abundance of love This is the thing he would win by his love This is all that he asks and desires at our hands though he hath obliged us so much For this he solicites and beseeches having set his heart upon it as the fruit of his incomparable love He intreats for this as if it were for his life that we would be at last so sensible of all his kindness as to let him have our unfeigned love For he being Love himself loves nothing else but sincere and hearty love O blessed Jesus should all our hearts then say how much doth thy love differ from ours Love brought thee down from Heaven to us but how few of us and how slowly doth it carry up thither unto thee Love made thee dye the most shameful death but it doth not make us live the most glorious life It made thee endure the sorest pains but alas it doth not make mankind take the pleasure of following thy steps to the greatest happiness It made thee think perpetually on such poor wretches as we are but how seldom are our minds fixed or how small is the number whom love inclines to think upon so glorious a person as thy self It perswaded thee to come to us when there was nothing to call thee but only our great miseries but it doth not bring us all to thee when we are