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
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
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
ever beheld thy face that was not impatient to be conformed to thee None have tasted thy sweetness who could be satisfied till they came to the fountain of it Therefore suffer us Good Lord to beg some more of thee since thou hast given us so much Yea suffer us to ask when thou wilt come and give us all that so we may ask no more of thee O how joyful will that time be which shall make us so complete that all our business will be to praise and thank thee How comfortable will thy appearing be which shall make us appear with thee O come Dear Saviour that we may come to thee Come that we may so come to thee as to be for ever with thee CHAP. VII Two further steps in this Love of Christs appearing III. NOW when we feel our souls thus touched with any thing that seems very good and convenient for us the first approaches of it beget a complacence in the heart and give it a sense of no small joy and pleasure For when the Image you may observe of any good that imprinted it self is on the mind or imagination it instantly endeavours to proceed further and creeps into the heart the will and affections which cannot but turn themselves towards it to feel what this is which shows so fairly and comes so kindly to salute them Now when the heart thus looks about to see what it is that courts it you shall find if you mark it that at the very first greeting it is entertained with a certain delight and pleasure which this new-come guest brings along with it to invite us to it For if you examine things strictly and with such a curious eye as some have done you will perceive that this Image which imprints it self upon us is of the same nature with light or any shining body It casts as I may say its bright rays round about the soul it disperses it self by a kind of illumination into the will and affections that they may be sensible how amiable it is Which when they are the Light is not more pleasant to the eyes than this is to the heart It rejoyces in this good which presents it self to its enjoyment as a man doth in the welcome approach of an ancient Friend whom he is glad to see but much more glad to feel in his arms And such is the contentment that the belief of Christs appearing gives to all those who fix their thoughts upon it It chears and refreshes their spirits It smooths their minds and makes them so calm and still that the Halcyon days are but fabulous shadows of that rest and peace which then they feel in themselves Their heart is intirely delighted and satisfied with this belief It is so transported beyond it self with this comfortable perswasion that it can easily overlook all other joys when it lifts up it self in the contemplation of this incomparable blessedness No musick can then be so sweet to the ear as the sound of the trump of God No beauty so fair to the eye as that glory which shall be reveal'd No company so inviting and welcome to the heart as that great Assembly of Christ with all his holy Angels And heark O my soul do they not call upon thee to cast a look that way that thou may'st behold them in their surpassing glory Listen a while and hear if they do not say We are preparing our selves and making ready to come for thee and for all those that love His appearing O hearken again my soul what is it they say to thee Turn thy self about and lift up thine eyes towards Heaven that thou may'st know what it is that 's promised to thee Will thy Lord indeed come again in power and great glory Will He once more leave his heavenly place and descend to call us up to himself Shall we see Him who loves us so much and be transformed at the sight of Him O welcome news When didst thou meet with any tidings like to this which sheds such a sudden and transcendent joy and gladness abroad in thy heart and prevents my forward thoughts which were going to exhort thee to rejoyce What hadst thou lost if thou hadst turned away thine eyes from this blissful sight How great an happiness hadst thou been deprived of if thine heart had not opened when the report of His coming knockt at its door But O my soul how sweet then will this appearing it self be the hope of which is so delicious How will that sight intrance us the news of which at this distance is so comfortable to us Into what raptures will it cast us which now inspires such joy into our hearts What a bright day will that be which through all the clouds wherein we are wrapt spreads round about us such a cheerful light If the representation of our Lord in the holy Sacrament of His body and blood and that but in His sufferings and low estate give such satisfaction to the heart What will the sight of Himself do to us and that when he appears in his glorious Majesty as the Lord of Heaven and Earth O sweet Jesus come and let us see what that Majesty and Glory is come and draw aside the veil do away the shadows and present thy self as the King of Glory before our eyes They have long looked for thee They would gladly know what it is to behold thee in thy glory O how gladly would they understand what the meaning is of thy coming in the Clouds of Heaven The brightness of them we believe is infinitely beyond all that eye ever saw The thoughts of it revive our hearts and make our faces shine Our souls are drawn out and run to meet thee by the joy we have conceived at the promise of thy coming Though we have not seen thee yet we love thee and though we now see thee not 1 Pet. i. 8. yet believing we rejoyce O that we could say with joy unspeakable and full of glory O blessed Lord do not deny to compleat our joys by hastning thy coming to let us see thee Come and fill our eyes which cannot here be satisfied with seeing Come and shew us thy glory that we may say it sufficeth And let our hearts in the mean time rejoyce in nothing so much as in the hope of thy glory Let them always prefer this above their chiefest joy and never wish for any thing with so much fervour as for thy coming IV. Now from this pleasant sense which is excited in us by the appearance of any Good to us there naturally follows not only a desire but a vehement motion and as it were an effusion of the heart towards that which is so agreeable and promises it so much satisfaction Complacence you must know is but the beginning of love For by that delicious pleasure which the heart feels when any good approaches it is invited further and even forced to pour forth it self upon that fair thing which presents it self
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
in her course as she is moving towards them and beats her affections back again or else turns the stream of them quite another way Love therefore is a generous vigour in the heart which incites and strengthens it to fair and noble actions for the effecting its desires though opposed by never so many enemies It is called by some the fire wherewith the soul is clothed which forces its way through all resistances A certain ardor in us which inspires us to worthy though difficult undertakings An Heroick passion which makes us think nothing impossible that is needful to be done for the compassing the end at which it aims Thus then must our souls be carried with such strong affections towards the appearing of Christ if we heartily love it We must omit nothing that we know is required of us for the obtaining the blessings which it will bring unto us We must bid all things stand aside that would impede us and tell them they must pretend to no interest at all in us when we are in pursuit of so great a good The love of which will soon reconcile us to the hardest duties and endear to us the most self-denying courses It will alter the countenance of sufferings and make all the troubles of this life cast a kinder aspect on us Nay it will enable us to look death in the face with a cheerful heart For it will present it to us in another shape and make the Grave that house of darkness seem like the beautiful gate of the Temple of God Whatsoever our Lord declares to be his pleasure this will bid us do it though we be undone by that means in all our temporal concerns And when they tempt us to murmur and repine to cry and lament at our parting with them Love will bid us be of good comfort because this is the way to have a fair reception by our Lord when He shall see we have quitted all for His sake We cannot indeed keep them always if we would yet such is his love our faith tells us that if we consent to forsake them beforehand upon his account He will not suffer us to be losers by it And therefore our love both to Him and to our selves prompts us not to stick at any thing which will be pleasing to Him though for the present it be harsh to us It teaches us to reason as St. Peter doth 2 Pet. iij. 11 12. Seeing all these things must be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord What manner of persons Truly such as are preparing a room in their hearts for their Lord. Such as hope then to compleat their Espousals to Christ And therefore must be holy and without blame before Him in love 1. Ephes 4. and study nothing so much as to be found acceptable in his sight who is the Lord of their hearts and their very life and to be nobly entertained by Him when He shall come again to receive His loving subjects up unto Himself We have our conversation in heaven saith St. Paul from whence we expect the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body according to the working whereby He can subdue all things unto Himself For in all reason they that expect such a sight should fit themselves for it by a conversation suitable to the dignity to which they shall be then preferred So Oecumenius I remember expounds these words of St. Paul to Timothy when he answers the Question who is it that loves his appearing in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that doth things worthy of excellent recompences Which if we love it will not fail to raise us unto a heavenly life If we wait for Him to come from Heaven it will lift up our hearts and carry them thither We shall disburden them of all carnal affections and throw off the load of the cares of this world that we may be light and airy ready to fly up above when He calls us to be with Him We shall labour to cleanse and purifie our souls as He is pure to adorn them with His Graces and in one word to put on the Lord Jesus that He may see Himself in us when He comes And wilt thou come then O blessed Saviour are such souls apt to say may we confidently look for thee from Heaven to be our Saviour Why do we question it sine we have thy faithful word for it who haste promised that we shall see thee as thou art and be for ever with thee O astonishing love what riches of grace is this Was it not enough that thou condescendedst once to come and save us but that thou determinest to come again Canst thou not satisfie thy love unless we be where thou art And wilt thou leave thy seat in heaven to come and fetch us rather than leave us here upon the earth O Love what is like unto thee Thou hast a mighty power who can understand the wonders that thou dost O make it great in us good Lord as well as in thy self Cause it to do marvels in our hearts as it hath done in thine Let our souls be unsatisfied till they come to thee Call forth all their powers as thou hast done their desires that they may restlesly move towards thee Make them unwearied in well-doing stedfast unmovable and abundant in thy work that they may not miss of thee O most gracious Lord suffer nothing in this world to discourage these hearts that have wholly given themselves to thee Cease not still to excite and quicken them since they have been already touched and awakned by thine Omnipotent love But preserve such a flame alive in them that they may ardently follow thee Inspire them with zealous resolution never to desist in their pursuit of that blessed Hope thou hast set before them Strengthen them against all the power of their enemies and let thy love burn with such fervour in them that none of the opposers of their holy desires may be able to stand before it Arm them good Lord with this invincible force of heavenly love which may make them noble conquerors and prepare them for thy glorious Triumph VI. But true love cannot stay here neither nor content it self with some endeavours to enjoy that Good which propounds it self to its affections for it ever tends to an Vnion with that lovely thing towards which it is moved When the Soul runs forth to see what it is that calls out its desires the intention of that motion is to possess it self of that amiable object if it answer its first pretences and prove such as it promised No sooner doth any thing appear beautiful and lovely to the mind or imagination but presently the heart sends messengers as I may call the spirits that issue out of it to bring it home and
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
Scriptures THus have I put an end to the third enquiry about the nature of this Love which St. Paul supposes good Christians feel in their souls to the appearing of Christ In satisfying of which I have not followed mine own fancy but the common sentiments of all those hearts who have so much good nature as to know what this passion means And there hath been nothing said but what may be fully justified by the Holy Scriptures if we diligently observe in what terms they speak of the passion and fervent desire which all pious Believers have for the coming of our Lord. I. For which they are first said to LOOK or to expect it with such a greediness as men do that of which they are extreamly desirous So those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie which are used in the 1 Cor. 1.7 iij. Phil. 20. ij Tit. 13. ix Heb. 28. where they are said to look for the Revelation of Jesus Christ to have their conversation in Heaven from whence they look for the Saviour to be looking for that blessed Hope the coming of Christ who will appear the second time to them that look for him with that earnestness that is and concernment which one hath for the greatest good in the world Or with such a longing as I have explained it before as the children of Israel had to see their High-Priest return out of the most holy place into which he went on the day of expiation to make reconciliation for their sins For if he came out alive it was a token that God had accepted him and with the greatest joy they received the blessing which then he brought and pronounced to them in his name There is a manifest allusion to this in the last of those places now mentioned Heb. ix where the Apostle saith vers 26. that when Christ appeared in this world it was to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Which bloody sacrifice as you read vers 24. He carried not into the holy places made with hands which were only figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us that is by vertue of this Sacrifice to perfect the expiation of our sins and obtain for us the Divine Blessing Now he being thus offered vers 28. to bear the sins of many as a publick Sacrifice that is for the whole body of mankind not a particular for one or a few persons unto them that look for him he shall appear visibly the second time without sin as having made a complete expiation to give salvation to his people who expect his coming out of Heaven to bless them II. Expect it did I say yea this Apostle calls it a most earnest expectation So the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the creature viij Rom. 19. is expounded by Oecumenius * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be its exceeding intense and vehement desire and expectance of the revelation of the Sons of God that is sayes he of the conclusion of all when it shall be clearly seen who are the sons of God and who the sons of the Devil Which is a Good to be wisht for so much above all other that the Heaven the Earth the Sea the Air the Sun the Moon all the visible Creation together with all that is invisible the Angels Archangels Powers Principalities Dominions all these expect our perfection They are the words of Theodoret who with other of the Ancients looks upon the whole Creation as brought in here expecting our future happiness by such a figure * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecum as the Prophets use when they introduce the Woods rejoycing the Mountains leaping the Floods clapping their hands to express the exceeding great joy that should be among mankind at the first coming of our Lord. But because it is controverted what the Apostle means by the Creature and this is not a fit place to discuss it I shall pass by this expression and not mention the sighs and the groans which there follow as the natural effect of an exceeding great desire to see the day of redemption come III. Let us rather consider that the glory which shall be revealed at the coming of Christ out of this holy place to give salvation to his faithful worshippers is the cause that as St. Paul speaks in this place which I have taken for the rise of this Discourse they look for it as a thing that hath very strongly engaged their hearts and is the object of their dearest affection They declare by the fixing of their eyes upon it how much they love it that is esteem it are inclined to it and think long till they enjoy it For whatsoever touches us so nearly we are wont to expect it with some impatience IV. But as the greatness of this Good is such as will make those that believe it earnestly long for it so it is able to quiet and still their souls by the mere hope of its enjoyment though it stay long before it come And therefore 4. they are said to WAIT for his Son from Heaven 1 Thess i. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to tarry to stay till he come Which implies both longing and patient abiding till he please to send so great a Blessing V. Nay fifthly St. James exhorts them to be PATIENT with long-suffering to the coming of the Lord V. 7. For so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there used imports a patient abiding though he stay long and we suffer much before he come We could not suffer and indure what we must on some occasions if we did not expect him as Oecumenius notes out of the ancient Greek Expositors * In 1 Th. i. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And our sufferings would not be very valuable if we were not content to expect him long as he likewise observes upon another place in that Epistle For if it were manifest saith he * In 1 Th. v. 1. that the day of the Lord or the consummation of all things would be within three years and it could not be otherwise all would despise dangers and make nothing of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and what great vertue would this be when they knew that within so short a space they should receive their full reward The vertue of a Christian is to suffer long as well as to suffer much waiting with long patience as the Husbandman doth for the precious fruit of the Earth VI. And yet it is not such a patience we are to exercise but St. Peter gives us leave to HASTEN it which is a sixth word whereby the holy writings express this pious affection unto and vehement desire of the appearing of Christ Jesus 2 Pet. iij. 12. Looking for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and HASTING unto the coming of the day of God In the Greek it is not hasting unto the coming but hasting the coming and so we render it in the margin that
is in our wishes most ardent longings and gaspings for it For so that phrase is observed to be used by good Authors in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies I wish thy good so heartily that is that I would make it fly hither if I were able as swift as my desires VII This declares the highest passion they had for it looking upon themselves as imperfectly happy till they and their Saviour met together at his coming Only they had a perfect hope of it which was an exceeding great comfort to them So St. Peter also expresses it which is the next word Hope to the end or rather as the translation in the margin renders the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HOPE PERFECTLY And with very good reason because of the grace that is to be brought unto you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. i. 13. There are great favours to be then bestowed most ample rewards to be distributed which may justly make us value the hope of them more than all the present possessions of this world and rejoyce before we have them that he hath given us such solid and firm grounds of hope one day to receive them Which whosoever understands as he ought to live upon that hope and support himself with a perfect trust in him that lives for ever to make good his promise So he cannot but desire and pray continually to see it accomplished VIII Which is the last thing they cry unto our Saviour and call upon him beseeching with fervent desires that he would come So some understand those words xxij Rev. 17. to be the voice of Christian people not inviting strangers to come and embrace their Religion but earnestly inviting our Saviour Christ to come to perfect their happiness In this they all agreed the SPIRIT that is prophetical persons indowed with the most eminent gifts of the Holy-Ghost and the BRIDE that is the whole body of the Church with one consent say COME And they exhort all others who should read this and receive Christianity to joyn with them in these prayers for so it follows Let him that heareth say COME And let every soul that 's their conclusion who thirsts after divine knowledge especially of future things come and read this Prophecy and partake of that refreshment that water of Life which is here freely offered to him But if that verse should have another meaning yet it is certain that St. John himself who was a fit pattern to all those who believed his Book concludes all his Visions with a Prayer to Christ that he would hasten his coming For when our Lord had said v. 20. Surely I COME quickly He answers AMEN to this promise and echoes back his own words to him Even so let it be so COME LORD JESVS Thy word is all our wishes There is nothing so desireable as that thou would'st come and fulfil thy gracious Word It will be very fit then for us who are come a great deal nearer to the day of the Lord to descend down into our selves and see what passions we have like to these which were of old in Christian breasts Let us call our selves to a strict account and examine whether we be in the number of those thirsty souls that have this hearty affection for the appearing of Christ It is safe for us to feel the pulse of our souls and by these tokens make a judgement of them whether they beat Heaven-ward or no. What is it may every one say to himself what is it that I most admire and holds the principal place in my esteem On what is it that I have fixt my mind and set mine heart What is the chiefest Loadstone of my affections and whither doth the main current of them run To what is it that my actions are addressed What is my Hope and the strength and support of my heart If I might have my wish what would I now see The whole world fall down at my feet to worship me or all these things vanish and disappear before the Glory of the Lord Jesus that we might go and fall down and worship His Majesty What am I content to suffer and endure for this though I stay long before I enjoy it Hath patience had its perfect work and do I rejoyce though in tribulation in hope of this Glory Is this my satisfaction also in the greatest fulness of worldly goods and are mine eyes even then ever towards the Lord Am I still looking up unto Jesus sighing for him and saying Come Lord Jesus come quickly I can appeal to thee that thou knowest there is nothing I so much long for as that thou would'st come O come make haste to come and satisfie the desires of thy Church which have long cryed Come Lord Jesus Let us not deceive our selves this great Apostle hath pronounced a curse upon every one that loves not the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. xvj 20. And he that loves Him loves his appearing and he that loveth his appearing sets his thoughts his heart his design so much upon it as to contrive by all means whatsoever become of him here that when Jesus who is our life shall appear he may appear with him in his glory Riches Greatness Pleasures Fame Long-life and all the train that waits upon them are but as so many big names loud but empty sounds which signifie nothing to him in comparison with these exceeding great things the COMING the APPEARING the KINGDOM and the GLORY of Christ Jesus The sweetest Friend in this world to whom he hath conceived the most passionate love will not hinder him from seeking these but rather by that love he will be excited to remember with what inexpressible affection he ought to pursue such divine enjoyments not only for his own soul but for his second self The best wish he can make for both is that they may be carried with the same eager desires and hasty speed to perfect their love in the incomparably greater joys and blessedness of Christs heavenly kingdom So great they are that having now finished all that was at first propounded to be considered on this subject this Love will not be content that I should here make an end It being such a masterly affection and governing the soul so absolutely as hath been related will not suffer us to lay that presently out of our thoughts which it hath once planted very deep in our hearts It is one of its greatest pleasures to think very much of that Good whose company it doth not yet enjoy and when it is far distant of it self to make it present by a constant image of it in the Mind And therefore it cannot be any wonder if we bear a true love to the appearing of Christ that it will not permit us to be willing to cease our Meditations on so delightful an argument It doth but act according to its nature if it require us again to take another view of it and spend a few more thoughts upon
live in these remote places and ages of the world and have heard indeed with the hearing of the ear of Christ Jesus our Dearest Saviour and of his incomparable love and of the honour he hath done us and still intends to do us But have not yet been so happy as to have our eyes intertained much less satisfied with the blissful sight of him as theirs were who lived near him and conversed with him at his first appearing If we had any hope therefore of his appearing again though in less splendor than I have told you we could not but look up unto Heaven where he lives with earnest expectations and say When will he come when will he come and manifest himself visibly unto us Because as yet we know nothing of him but by the report of those who had the honour to be EYE-WITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY We have been told by them that they saw this amiable and gracious person and clearly discerned that he was God manifested in the flesh They have assured us that he was born of a spotless Virgin that his name was Jesus that he was acknowledged the Son of God by voices from Heaven and by the descent of the Holy-Ghost in a visible manner upon his head and yet that he was contented to become poor and mean that he might inrich us to suffer his hands and his feet and his heart to be pierced that he might heal our wounds yea we have heard that he descended into the lowermost parts of the Earth for our Salvation and that he rose from the dead again after three dayes and that he ascended up on high and now sits at the right hand of the Father and will come again to judge the world and to take up his faithful Servants unto himself And most comfortable news all this is which hath arrived at our ears and we must needs with all thankfulness dutifully acknowledge that we are marvellously beholden to the Almighty Goodness which hath taken such care to perswade and fully assure us of its truth But still every pious heart that sincerely and ardently loves Him is apt to say When will he come again that then we may see as now we believe the certain truth of all this which we have heard of him with our ears When shall we be satisfied by such evidence as the Apostles and other of his Attendants had who beheld his person and saw his glory as the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth May not we also hope to be as they were eye-witnesses of his Majesty O when will his holy Angels descend unto us and say as they did to them Come and see that he is risen When shall we hear a voice from Heaven saying come up hither and behold my beloved Son in whom I am ever well pleased When will the trump of the Archangel sound and proclaim in all our ears that he is Judge of quick and dead O how many days must we stay and wait before we rise again to ascend up to him where he is How long will it be before we leave this earth to behold him exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high O most gracious Saviour who hast done such great things for us Come and let us see that thou art alive and still lovest us Come and put us out of all doubt that thou livest for evermore Let us behold those bright those loving eyes which wept so oft and with so much kindness over us Let us see that sweet and now most glorious face which sweat as it had been drops of blood for our sake Stretch forth those hands that were wounded in our service O stretch them out to lay hold on us and lift us up to the vision of thee Do not long defer before thou lettest us enjoy what we now believe Make no long tarrying O blessed Lord but turn the faith of thy servants into sight And by thy second appearing be pleased to make us as sure as thou didst those who then lived by thy first We are perswaded that the fame of those things which we wait for is nothing comparable to the sight of them We cannot but think that all present reports fall far short infinitely short of future enjoyment Thy type the great Solomon O Lord puts us in mind of thee and makes us more desirous to see thee We would fain go like the Queen of Sheba from these furthermost parts of the earth that we may stand before thee in thy heavenly Jerusalem Not the half we believe of thy Magnificence hath been related to us No not the shadow of thy glory and Majesty hath been brought to these far distant climates where we hear little or nothing of thee Nay we believe we cannot now understand thy greatness if it should be all related to us If we should see thee as thou art in thy royal apparel on the Throne of thy Glory with all thy Heavenly Attendants and noble Ministers round about thee there would be no more spirit left within us We should faint away under the weight of that sight unless thou O Lord wouldst disburden us of this flesh and make us become all Spirit And that 's the happiness indeed which we desire and groan in Spirit till we injoy There is no greater good we can wish than to be caught up from this earth and have eyes bestowed upon us bright and strong enough to behold thy Majesty We cannot but long for this that we may stand in thy presence and be satisfied with thee that we may see thee who hast loved us and given thy self for us thee whose love hath won our hearts and conducted us thus far in our way towards thee thee who art our hope and with whom our life is hid That we may see thee O Lord in the height of thy glory and thy face may shine upon us and our eyes sparkle for joy with the light of thy Countenance Of which we are the more desirous because we never yet had the favour to see thee who art so dear unto us O favour us therefore so much most gracious Lord as to come and gratifie our desires with that unknown that long lookt for sight of thee III. And there is still a greater reason to desire it and to be in love with his appearing because then we hope to be perfected and consummated in Love This is an affection you have heard so pleasurable that we are inticed thereby or rather sweetly forced to strain our souls to the utmost expression of it When we have found an object worthy of this passion the delight it gives us invites nay compels our hearts to the most abundant effusion of it that so we may not want the highest degree of delight and joy But alas Love in this world though exceeding sweet is not as we usually speak all Hony but there is some bitterness mingled together with it The heart that is struck with it receives a wound which
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
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
it is of grace and bounty and with what unwearied kindness it delights to communicate its blessings to us And what is there that we would see which is comparable to this What can we desire to see but more of this even when we are made perfect in love And what thanks do we owe to God that we see so much It ought to stir up all that is within us to bless his holy name We ought to say every day will I bless thee and praise thy name for ever and ever But for this also we must be beholden to love For it is that which indites all our Hymns and meditates the Divine Praises It puts the songs of joy into our mouth and fills our hearts with thanksgiving Our tongues are tyed without this or we do but babble not speak our Saviours praises It is love that bursts out into such effusions as these O praise the Lord of love who humbled himself do dwell among us Praise him in the beauties of his holiness praise him in his super-excellent wisdom Let all his works praise him who came to us with his hands full of Miracles and every miracle full of mercy O praise him in his almighty and most merciful kindness which made the lame to leap like a Kid and the tongue of the dumb to sing for joy which opened the eyes of the blind to see his wonders and the ears of the deaf to hear the wisdom where by he spake which restored the sick to health and the dead to life which published the Gospel to the poor and instructed the ignorant in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God O praise him before whom the Devils fled and confessed him to be the Lord. Praise him in his incomparable love which thought it not enough to do all this but also gave himself to dye for us Let all Nations praise him who are the purchase of his blood Let them mark every step of his dying love from the time he was betrayed and sold like a slave till he finished his sufferings on the Cross O the greatness of that love which endured such scorn such reproach such a bitter agony and shameful death even for all those who have little sense of this wondrous love But let no Christian soul be insensible how the hands which wrought so many Miracles and the feet which travelled up and down to do men good were cruelly nailed by them to an ignominious Gibbet Let them remember how his head was crowned with thorns and his body cloathed in a fools coat How they spit in his face blinded his eyes and then rudely buffeted him to make them sport O what love was that which made him submit to be mocked and reviled to be accounted worse than a seditious murderer and numbred among the greatest transgressors And above all let it never be forgotten how he sweat in our service as it had been drops of blood and at last bled to death after three hours shame and anguish on the Cross Praised be that incomparable Charity Praised be his inimitable meekness and humilitie Let all the world extol and praise his Lamb-like patience and innocence Let them celebrate his admirable kindness in forgiving such implacable enemies and his intire confidence and faith in God whereby he offered up himself to him and obtained an eternal redemption for us O the wonderful vertue of that sacrifice which hath taken away the sins of the world Praised be the tender mercies of our God which have forgiven us so many trespasses Praised be his mercies which have not only forgiven us but restored us to life and glory again by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead Let us rejoyce and be glad in that great salvation Let us bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by that resurrection of his from the dead Let us lift up our heads and look to Heaven our ancient Country for there he is exalted And let us thank our God who hath set him at his own right hand and made him most glorious for ever See how all the Angels welcomed him thither and falling at his feet most humbly worshipped his Majesty See how they all now wait upon him and constantly attend his pleasure And let us worship him too with the devoutest and most lowly reverence Let us praise him in his Sanctuary where he appears before God for us from whence he sends down the gracious influences of his spirit on us and commands his Angels to minister unto us Let us praise him the glorious King of Angels and men Who hath conquered death and triumphed over all the powers of darkness and opening the Kingdom of Heaven to all the faithful hath promised that they shall reign in glory together with him Let all the Angelical Ministers praise him Let the Apostles Prophets and Martyrs praise him Let all those who are departed in the true faith and fear of him praise him And let all the living who partake of the daily fruit of his bounteous love continually praise him Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is excellent his glory is above the Earth and Heaven Let them praise him in the greatness of his Power in the Wisdom of his Counsels in the carefulness of his Providence in the riches the exceeding riches of his Grace in the stedfastness of his word and the faithfulness of all his promises And let them all joyn together and beseech him to come again that he may both accomplish our hopes and perfect his own praises O let him come that we may give him better praises in one body for ever CHAP. XIX More expressions of this devout affection towards our Lords Appearing and the way whereby we may excite them THis is some of the language of Love which wishes every knee would bow to Jesus and every tongue confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God the Father who hath thus highly exalted him For its desires are unlimited and its kindness like the fountain of it is inexhaustible and infinite It is the brightest image of Jesus There is nothing represents him so lively to the world He now appears most in those who love most and who long and wait with pure and ardent desires to see him come in all his glory For they will keep his commandment without spot unrebukeable until his appearing which in his times he will shew who is the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see to whom be honour and power everlasting Amen Why then O my soul do we not let this blessed guest be lodged in our heart Or why do we not entertain it so that it may stay with us and we may feel it stirring there in restless motions towards Jesus What
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
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
praise him enough now the whole world may then be gathered together in one general assembly all Angels and all Men and with joynt consent bow themselves before him and humbly acknowledge him to be the LORD OF ALL. And here I shall take the liberty for the clearer understanding of this to give a distinct account in a few considerations of that which we may justly conceive will accrue to our blessed Saviour by his glorious Appearing I. And first of all there is no doubt but at his second appearing our Lord will be publickly honoured and thereby have an amends made him for the open shame and the publick disgrace to which he was here exposed No Varlet was ever used so basely as the world treated him when he first came to visit us in much humility No man was ever the subject of so much scorn of so many sorrows and of so great pains as he endured Would it not then be acceptable to you to see his honour every where vindicated his credit as I may say repaired and his glory made no less notorious than his reproaches were Who would not wish to see that sweet face which by rude hands was so contemptuously blinded and buffeted appear in an unveiled brightness looking with the fairest the most beautiful and gracious eyes upon us How is it possible to refrain from desiring to see that countenance which was spit upon and all bespawled by the filthy mouths of wicked men shining with rayes brighter than the Sun and glistring in the Glory and Majesty of God the Father Are you not impatient to behold that Head which was inviron'd with Thorns show it self with a royal Crown upon it Would you not fain see him as much admired as he was despised as highly praised and extolled as he was vilely mockt and flouted O that I might behold that time arrive is every devout lover of the Lord Jesus apt to say O that I might be blessed with a sight of that Glory and Honour wherewith we believe thou art already crowned Thou wast sorely wounded and grosly abused O dear Saviour by those whom thou camest to heal and to save They barbarously smote and besmeared thy holy face they nailed thee to a Cross they pierced thy hands and thy feet they thrust a spear into thy side and left thee all in gore they condemned thee as the foulest Malefactor and crucified thy Name and Reputation as well as thy self And which is worse how have thine own followers grieved thee and pricked thy very heart by their base ingratitude to thee who wast pleased to be thus vilely used for their sake And what reparation are the best among us able to make thee What does it amount unto that such poor wretches as we can do for thee How mean and inconsiderable is all the honour and all the praise that we little and worthless things can pretend to give thee O thou God of love thou Father of mercies we must address our desires to thee and beseech thee that thou wouldst be pleased to do it for us Thou who art the Blessed and only Potentate who hast already appointed him to be heir of all things who hast given him a more excellent inheritance than the Angels and when thou broughtest him into the world didst command them all to worship him finish I beseech thee according to the riches of thy glory the recompenses thou hast begun to make him Let me and all men else see how Thou lovest him and what honour thou hast conferred on him Behold how this soul sighs out its desires to thee that thou wouldst vouchsafe to hasten his Appearing and to show him to the world in the glory which thou hast given him Let us all behold him as highly exalted as he was lowly depressed and abased Let us SEE HIM AS HE IS the Prince of Life the King of Glory O perfect that which concerneth him Let him come and receive our universal acknowledgements Let all Kings fall down before him and all nations serve him Let them all call him blessed and Heaven and Earth be filled with his glory Amen and Amen II. They may well pray after this manner and speak of his perfecting that which is begun because secondly till the day of his glorious appearing it is most certain his conquests will not be compleated over all his enemies The very greatest of them will remain unsubdued till he come then to tread them under his feet Which cannot but dispose us to love that time above all other because it will make him perfectly victorious He is sat down saith the Apostle at Gods right hand x. Heb. 12 13. from thenceforth EXPECTING till his enemies be made his footstool Though he be highly advanced that is above all creatures yet all his enemies do not presently fall down before him but he must stay sometime before not only all the adverse Empires on earth submit themselves to him but the Principalities also in the Air and Death it self which is the last enemy saith St. Paul which shall be destroyed and put under his feet He rules and reigns indeed but still he hath many opposers of his Kingdom He waits likewise for their utter subversion and looks for their total ruine but still they spoil and commit many wastes within his territories The Devil tyrannizes and rages in a number of places and Death as I must show anon devours all How can we choose then but wait for that of which he himself is in expectation Where is our love to him if we can cease to wish that all those foes who despise or refuse his Government were perfectly brought in subjection to him Is there any thing more desireable to those who pray seriously his Kingdom may come than to see those put under his feet who now proudly trample upon his soveraign Authority What more joyful sight can there be to them than to behold the Devil who now insults so insolently in his Dominions despoiled of all his power and thrust down into the eternal Prisons and Chains of Darkness to which he is reserved To say nothing yet of the glory it will be to him to overcome Death it self to which even all his subjects are forced at present to submit O blessed Saviour should all Christian souls say with one consent it afflicts us to hear thine enemies roar in the midst of thy Congregation to see them thus triumph and set up their banners And far more grievous it is to think that we have ever been in the number of them and given the least countenance and support to this hellish Kingdom The remembrance of it is bitter to us that there was a time wretches that we were when we were drawn aside to joyn our selves to this wicked faction and abett the Apostate spirits in their rebellion against thee their soveraign Creator But blessed be thy Goodness thou hast overcome our disobedient hearts and restored us to an happy accord with thee We thank thee for it
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
brightness of his appearing Do we pity our Palaces and costly Furniture which we think are then in danger to be consumed Are we concerned for our Money and Jewels our ancient Demesn and places of pleasure our Pictures and Statues with such like things which we strive to perpetuate to all posterity Will all these do we fear be in a flame and serve for no other use than those great Fires do wherewith we honour the Coronations and Victories of Kings or any other such like noble spectacle Let it be so I see no cause to be troubled at it when I remember that together with these the Graves and the Sepulchres the Tombs and such like Monuments of Deaths conquests the Vaults and the Charnel-houses with every other Trophee that sin hath erected shall be cast into this huge Bonfire which shall be made we conceive by the conflagration of this Globe of earth to adorn our Saviours Triumph Why should we dread O my soul to behold such Flames as these Let us look and fix our eyes upon them as most cheerful blazes Let us warm our hearts at the very thoughts of such fires And though they should prove to be this worlds Funeral yet let us rejoyce in them as accompanying our most happy Resurrection O Death I fear none of thy threatnings O Grave I am not astonisht any longer at thy darkness I see the fatal day is coming which shall put an end to both your dominions And till then I yield my self your subject and intend not to struggle against your power But I fear it not because unless you can prevent that day or prevail against my Saviour as well as over me I am safe enough It is not much you can rob me of at present The pleasures we enjoy in this crazy body are not so considerable that we should mightily lament the loss of them Our Friends indeed have taken such fast hold of our hearts that we cannot easily consent to leave them but setting them aside what is it that you can take away which I am loth to part withal And they I consider shall at last triumph together with me over your now prevailing power We shall only part to meet again and see you swallowed up in victory And we shall be revived in bodies far more glorious with hearts full of more vigorous love In which we shall live with endless pleasure without any fears of being severed any more Amen I wish thou wouldst come O blessed Jesus and carry us all to a place of secure and peaceful love where we might sit together and chaunt thy praises for ever V. We cannot but be inclined to such meditations and bear an affectionate love to our Lords appearing unless we be in love with Sin which at that time we should further consider shall quite cease and not have so much as the least shadow of it remaining Are not all pious souls very much afflicted to think that God is every where so much dishonoured Is it not exceeding grievous to them to see his most high authority daily affronted without any remedy for it and that Image he hath placed of himself in man after such a lamentable manner and without any remorse continually mangled Nay is it not a considerable part of their trouble that they are afraid lest through the violence of temptations or the weakness of their nature or the inadvertency of their minds by sudden surprises they should add to the number of those disorders which are already so prodigiously increased What is there then for which they can more reasonably wish than that they may be delivered out of this fearful danger and the Heavens may be secured from this rude violence A blessing to be desired and expected not only upon their own account but in respect to our blessed Lord and Saviour also who is now we read in the most holy place above there presenting himself with his pretious blood before God for us Which he must continue to do till the time of his Appearing be fulfilled when he shall come out from thence without sin ix Heb. 28. as having discharged all his Office in that heavenly Sanctuary While he stayes therefore in that place the care of all the people lies upon his shoulders there is a daily charge he is to attend that he may cure and expiate the sins of men This is the constant imployment of his high and Royal Priesthood and it cannot cease till he come out again on the day of his appearing which it is manifest will free both him and the world from this great burden of transgressions Then there shall never be any more objects of his pity and compassion He shall have no sense then of our infirmities no feeling of our pains our grief and our anguish Then he will cease to be afflicted with us and be put to no further trouble about us But be all delight all joy all complacence and pleasure in his members who will be so well as to call for none of his care any more for ever And shall not the thoughts of this blessed time be our joy and pleasure too We have very much reason to suspect our faith if we can find such contentment here that we would not have it make too much haste For nothing is so sad to pious hearts as that it seems to be so far off and comes so slowly to them They groan and sigh here under many weaknesses They complain most heavily and mourn under the weight of many imperfections From which they would fain be delivered that they may turn their sighs into songs of praise to the triumphant Captain of their salvation Christ Jesus Nay should we suppose there will be a time before the end of all things when righteousness will more universally prevail which is the best sense that can be made of the Saints reigning upon the earth with Christ a thousand years which some are perswaded is still to come Yet such and so many are the weaknesses that will hang upon us and so great are the dangers to which they will make us subject while we dwell in these earthly Tabernacles that Good men would but be the more desirous our Lord would appear to perfect what they saw so happily begun in their intire reformation to a better state O what a long time am I like to stay cries such an oppressed soul before I be eased of this burden which is too heavy for me How many days and years more must I spend under the load and pressure of this flesh and blood Give me patience Dear Lord to wait for that day which shall free me from it Make me able to support my self in contentment with the hopes that the time of release at last will come I am so far from being unwilling that thou shouldest come that I beseech thee to make me willing to stay till thou canst come Only give me leave sometime to sigh and say when wilt thou come O when wilt thou
dead shall be CAUGHT UP TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR v. 17. There he will shew himself and not upon this earth Thither they shall be carried up unto him and not he come down hither unto them And if you well observe it the Apostle teaches you to believe that this ascent of the Saints unto him will bein a very glorious manner Just as he comes from Heaven shall they go up thither For St. Paul saith we shall be caught up IN THE CLOUDS as so many triumphal chariots sent to fetch us from this earth and transport us to himself Who when he stood before his Judges to receive his sentence from them thus describes his own coming to judge them xxvj Matth. 64. Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven Though now that is I am arraigned and condemned by you as if I were the vilest of men you shall one day see that I am the Son of God by whom you shall be judged for with amazement you shall behold me clothed with Divine Majesty and coming as the Vicegerent of the supreme Lord of all to call you to an account For every one knows that clouds are called the Chariot of God civ Psal 3. and therefore his coming in the CLOVDS of Heaven can signifie nothing else but his appearing in the glory and with the Authority of his Father as Lord of the world that hath conquered all his enemies and is come to pronounce the sentence of God upon them In such a splendid manner with the like pomp and state shall we be carried up to him as so many Princes going to wait upon him and to receive the honour he will delight to confer upon us in the sight of all the world Nay it will be part of our honour to be conveighed to him just as Elias yea he himself ascended into Heaven For a Chariot of Fire appeared for the transportation of the one 2 Kings ij 11. and a cloud which is the same received the other out of the Apostles sight i. Act. 9. O blessed Day O happy Appearing doth an heavenly minded Christian often think with himself when a sight of my Saviour will draw me up to him to be where he is O most glorious most beautiful Spectacle when his beams which fall upon me shall make me ascend from this earth as the Vapors do before the rayes of the Sun O the joy that will fill my heart when I shall see those gilded Chariots sent from my Saviour to fetch me unto himself How shall I sing when I am uncooped and let out of this Cage wherein I am now confined to accompany the free people of the air in their heavenly melodies What a pleasure will it be to look behind me as I fly up unto Jesus and see what a poor spot this Earth is of which I shall then have taken my leave for ever O how glad shall I be that I am to return no more to a place so dull so dark and so full of miseries How happy shall I think my self that I am gone quite away from this vile Orb which will not seem then to my exalted soul so big as a pins-head Nay how joyful will it make me to find that I am at last ascended up so high as to have lost the sight of this little Globe and of all the Kingdoms and Empires that it contains O my Gracious Lord pardon me if I be sometime apt to think that thou stayest too long before thou comest to call me up unto those heavenly places This flesh is too unweildly a load when I think of that aerial state It hath made me groan ever since thou madest me believe that thou wilt bestow a lighter garment upon my soul Heretofore indeed I fancied nothing more than a body fresh and plump a tall and proper stature a fair face and beautiful features and I was prone to envy those who dwelt in such fine and goodly Palaces But ever since the time that I heard of going into the air to meet with thee my Lord all the love they excite in my heart makes such habitations seem no better than stately Prisons I have lookt upon my self and sweetest Friends in our most healthy estate and sighed to think that we were in Chains and Fetters Nay the best of these houses I tell them at certain seasons are but painted Sepulchres wherein the mind lies dead and buried It is thou therefore O most blessed Lord who hast made me to wish so earnestly for thine appearing I owe these longings to the discovery which thou hast made to me of another and better world whither thou intendest to transport me And if I have a mind to begin my journey thither presently if I would fain feel my wings so grown that they might be able to bear me up above this earth if my soul sometimes would willingly be released from these chains and have the freedom to leave this flesh and if I wish withal that this flesh may be changed and turned into a kind of spiritual being I must ascribe it unto thee who hast begot these desires in me by telling me of a building of God eternal in the Heavens when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved Thou hast revealed these things to me that I might desire them and who can desire them and not wish withal that he might presently enjoy them Let it not displease thee therefore I beseech thee again O my Dearest Lord if I say sometimes I am weary of being here Do not esteem me impatient if in the agonies and pangs of Love I long to come up higher and get as near as may be to thy self Suffer me to pray thee that these walls of flesh may not long immure me and exclude me from thy face At least open a window for my gasping soul that I may look into the purer air and please my self in the thoughts of the flight which I shall one day take to see thee and enjoy thee in unclouded Bliss VII But there is something beyond all this to draw our affections from all things here and to make us love and long for the coming of our Lord And that is the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which the Apostle tells us in this very place shall then be given to all those who are thus piously disposed for it I cannot tell you how much is contained in these two words unless I should make another Treatise little less than this For a CROWN denotes the highest degree of honour and RIGHTEOUSNESS signifies in the holy language not only freedom from all pain and punishment but the enjoyment of the greatest felicity that the most bounteous goodness of God will bestow upon his faithful servants No less than such a glory and happiness as our Lord himself hath received for a reward of his labours For we see Jesus saith the Apostle ij Heb. 9. who was made a little lower than the Angels
in our eclipsed nature O when will that sweet breath come that shall make them shine and set them free to fly to their element above When shall those flashes of light which sometime break forth be blown up into a clearer and more constant flame Can one believe and not wish to find himself in the House of God in the midst of the heavenly Ministers surrounded with such glorious sights as eye never saw nor heart can possibly conceive I am not able to refrain from saying O when shall I see my mind incircled in the rays of divine light When shall it beam forth in such heavenly thoughts and make my heart burn and sparkle with such ardors of love that they shall cast a glory round about my head This is the Crown which my soul desires to wear This is the Garland I would win the glorious Diadem wherewith my restless mind would be adorned It is not Silver and Gold Pearls and Pretious-stones or any such like things whose rich names I borrow to express my present thoughts that I wish and desire But the brightness of the knowledge of God to fold it self about my head and that I may sit invironed in a Ring of admiring thoughts of pure undisturbed never ending thoughts of thee and of thy marvellous kindness towards me Which happiness till my mind enjoy the pain that I feel will not cease unless thou Lord wilt be pleased to asswage it by comfortable hopes and joyful expectations of such an eternal weight of glory Even when I have left this world and am come to those light some Tabernacles which thou hast prepared for those that truly love thee I shall long to know more of thee and desire still to be nearer to thee and look to see thee come out of thy Royal Palace to Crown the faith and hope of thine obedient Servants And in the mean time may I be so happy as to be disposed into the Order of those who perpetually talk of thy love and sing thy praises and rejoyce with perfect confidence and full assurance and are ever lifting up their heads to see thee and often saying one to another when will he come when will he appear in the highest and most exalted glory O blessed day I when mixed with the Quire of Saints we shall fly in their company to meet the Spouse and say every one of us I have found him whom my soul loveth I have found him the sight of whom I shall lose no more but indued with the glory of immortality and the splendor of incorruption shall live for ever with the Lord. O happy state of Saints Ex L. de Viro perfecto sub nom S. Hieron Tom. iv when they shall have flesh without earth a body without sense of pain a soul without fear life without death age without time light without night and blessedness without end Christianity will never let us be satiated with these delectable thoughts This is its refreshment this is its delight this is its pleasure and joy in mind and heart to go to the Seat of God and there to take its place and seize on its share in that Seat not by its own presumption but by the promise of God Who hath already exalted our Lord Christ in that blessed place and by our relation to him we challenge a right to be so happy For he is the Head of his body the Church He is the head of all principality and power From whom all the body by joynts and bands ii Col. 19. having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God CHAP. XV. Three Considerations more to draw our Affections to the Appearing of our Lord. VIII I Have already said so much of the Happiness we expect when our Lord shall come again that here I might put an end to this Discourse if it would not be more profitable distinctly to consider that after we are caught up from this earth to meet the Lord in the air and he hath done us honour in the sight of all the world we shall all as I have already suggested march with him unto Heaven in goodly array and comely order with those Crowns of Glory which he hath given us upon our heads This should mightily move us to love his Appearing that we shall then appear together with him and not abide in the Air though incompassed with so much glory but be carried up with him far higher into the purest sky When our minds are made all Light we shall see a vast way before us and behold the Palace where God himself dwells inviting us unto it Thither our Lord will have us attend upon him and accompany him when he hath finished the judgement of the great day Where the Holy Books inform us we shall be sumptuously treated with no less kindness magnificence and joy than a King we may conceive would entertain his only Son when he brought home his beloved Bride whom he had long ago espoused to himself For whose reception he prepares the most Royal Supper a glorious Marriage-Feast to welcome her unto his house And will not this make every faithful soul who is a holy member of that Body the Church whom our Lord is pleased to own for his Bride still more desirous if not impatient of the coming of the celestial Bridegroom to perfect his love and complete the promises wherein he stands ingaged by the gracious covenant he made with us when he contracted us to himself What is there that we all so much covet as the excess of joy and the highest pitch of pleasure And where are these to be found in so much purity in such fulness and so perpetual as in his most blessed Presence Which should force us to burst out with the greatest earnestness when we think of that Heavenly Feast which he hath prepared for us into such expressions as those of David As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God My soul thirsteth for God even the living God O when shall I come and appear before God I have small satisfaction alas in these dull and short delights which I find on earth What taste is there in this green trash And there is little other fruit that grows in the garden of this world but what is sowre and harsh and sets my teeth on edge It is too far from thy beams to bring forth any thing very sweet Nothing can be ripened at this distance from thee to satisfie a font and yeild it all the contentment it desires Bring me therefore into thy Paradise above O conduct me into thy Eden the Garden of thy delights Lead me to those fruits which are brought to maturity by the constant presence of the Sun of righteousness Let me feast on those pleasures which are all pleasure and enter into the joy which is fulness of joy for evermore And till thou thinkest me meet for such entertainments may it please thy love but
with cares nor dampt with fears but dwell secure in assured joys for evermore Joys in the perfection of a glorified body and of an exalted inlarged spirit Joys to find my self in the company of thy Saints and welcomed into the noble society of Angels Joy at the sight of my dearest Friends the greatest joys in thy presence and in the light of thy countenance from whom I hope for all this joy O come most blessed Saviour that we may all be nothing but joy and love and peace without any end Come and bring us to our beloved Rest and where can our souls find any rest but in thy bosom Come that we may rest from our labours and where can we lay down our selves in perfect repose but only in thy love O come and fill our hearts therewith that we may hunger and thirst no more Come that we may perfectly know what the new Wine of thy Kingdom is Come that we may desire to feed on nothing else but the sweetest comforts of seeing thy blessed face smileing on us And that we may have no other business nothing else to do but to enjoy thee in all that we see not so much imployment besides as to spend any time as now we are forced to do in wishing to enjoy thee X. And yet there is still a greater reason remaining why we should love our Lords appearing because we shall be brought by that to the very top and highest pitch of bliss which is to SEE GOD Matth. v. 8. and to SEE HIM AS HE IS 1 John iij. 2. Not as the old Prophets saw him in visions and dreams nor as others saw him in the Angels of his presence But alas who can tell what this sight is What tongue unless touched as the Apostles were by the Holy-Ghost can declare any thing of such a bliss The day of Pentecost must return again if we expect to have any language to express or thoughts to conceive the meaning of these words We must intreat some Angel to come and tell us if he can what it is to see God Or rather we must confess that if he should we cannot understand such celestial language It is above our reach and we do but babble we do not speak when we adventure to discourse of it Nay when we depart this world and shall be admitted into the blessed company above we may not be able to comprehend much of it if the opinion of many of the Ancient Fathers be true that the Saints shall not enjoy that which is properly meant by the Vision of God till after the great day of our Lord. And therefore it will be our best way now to do as the Painter did who being to make a picture of Love drew nothing on his Table but a Veil which covered no body knew what under the shadow of it Not so much to show as some have poorly conceived that Love is blind as to declare that it is an ineffable thing a mysterious passion not to be described by humane art Such I am sure is this Vision of God and such is the love that it will beget It is a secret never to be known but by the enjoyment of it A mysterie reserved in the holy Place to be beheld only by entring into it We have all a natural desire indeed to pry into this as well as all other secrets A strong appetite we find within us to be admitted into an intimate acquaintance with those things which are closely lockt up from us We cannot chuse but long to go within the Veil and would fain have the curtain drawn aside that the glorious face of the Divine Majesty may appear But after all our search and busie enquiry we are able to say no more at present but this O happy Darkness O blessed O most glorious obscurity For I do not know what else to call thee How joyful is it to think that thou art more than we can ask or think What a pleasure is it to know that thou surpassest all that can now be known How comfortable is it to believe that thou art hid from our eyes only because we are not capable to behold thy brightness Thou shamest indeed hereby our small understanding but publishest thine own most excellent Greatness We are laid very low when we hear thee speaking thus at present but it lifts us up and highly exalts us in our future hopes We have no means to comprehend this gracious promise nor know we what to think when we read these words you shall SEE GOD. We must confess our weakness which is absolutely puzled with so few and so plain words If we have any thing to boast of it is only this advantageous ignorance All that we have to glory in is that such our hopes we know not what to conceive of this dark so we must now speak this unseen and hidden brightness But this we know because thou O God hast told us that when this present darkness is done away and we shall see thee as thou art WE SHALL BE LIKE THEE O most desireable sight which will so happily transform us O much wisht for day which will set us in such a light as will make us all bright and shining too Shining in the light of the wisdom of God in the light of his Purity and of his Bliss and Immortality In the light which makes the eyes of Angels shine so brightly and which preserves the youth of Saints The light which no man can approach unto till thou O God who art that Light shalt finish our hope and bring us to see thee face to face And may we not be confident of this also though we know so little that when thou O blessed God shalt cause thy Son to appear and shalt show thy self unto us the very first glimpse of thy glory at the greatest distance from thee will mightily attract our hearts unto thee No arrow sure flies more swiftly from the strongest bow no bullet can be sent with greater violence from the bended force of steel than our souls shall then move or rather shoot themselves towards thee that they may know what it is to see thee and that they may be like thee And till that joyful day shall come shine thou O blessed Light perpetually in these eyes Strike through all the clouds that incompass me round about and by the bright hopes of thee chase away all my gloomy thoughts and put out the false lustre of this deceitful world Shed O thou blessed light thy glorious beams into this heart and kindle there such holy flames as may consume all sinful desires and purifie my soul as thou art pure Let me burn continually with an ardent love of thee till thy bright day appear Till not only these walls of flesh be pulled down which intercept thee from me but my spirit fly up in a lightsome body that I may see thee That I may see thee by whose power the Heavens and the Earth were made
thee by whose Wisdom all things are governed thee by whose infinite kindness mankind was redeemed What a joy will it be to me to see thee who didst conduct me in my way direct me at every turn support me in every step assist me in all the various passages of my life secure me from innumerable temptations preserve me from as many dangers and at last broughtest me safe to see thee and rejoyce with thee for ever CHAP. XVI Of the mighty power and pleasure of Love when it is setled in the heart AND thus I am come to the end of this other part of my Discourse Wherein the reasons of placing our best affections on the appearing of Christ have been so plainly deduced that as they cannot but be understood so they cannot but move those hearts which do not quite turn away their minds from all consideration of them And that it should be hard to do one would think if we have the least acquaintance with the Christian Religion Which hereby most strongly recommends it self unto us that it gives us such great and glorious hopes and entertains our tiresome Pilgrimage with such delightful contemplations of the joys and pleasures we shall have in another world especially when we come to rest with our Lord for ever No man that is in his wits would be without the comfort of this expectation It far exceeds all our present enjoyments and is in it self so desireable that we may truly say Faith doth not beg to be admitted by us but rather commands us to open our hearts and let it in if we would have any constant pleasure and setled peace and satisfaction there which nothing but the Christian belief can establish in us And this is the misery of all those who do not faithfully receive the Gospel that as they shall miss of the greatest blessings hereafter so they want the highest comfort in the world at present Which is to wait with assured hope for those good things which our Lord will give us at his appearing By the expectance of which we are not only a little pleased while we imploy our minds in such meditations as these but they put us into a state of pleasure and constant satisfaction by drawing our hearts to Heaven and placing us out of the power though not out of the reach of all worldly accidents For such is the condition of man as the Disciples of Plato's School have well expressed it that there are two effusions and ecstasies as we may call them of his soul two sorts of inebriation as some of them love to speak whereby he is dispossessed of himself By the one which is a Divine rapture we are carried out and placed above our selves by the other which is the witchery of sense we are hurried away and thrust down into a condition below our selves Their meaning is that man being of a middle nature between Angels and Beasts by his intellectual part partaking of the nature of those heavenly beings and by his sensitive of the nature of the brutes he may so apply himself either to the one or to the other that he come in great measure out of his middle condition and go either upward to the former or downward to the later And this strange feat is wrought by nothing else but by the power of Love which evidently intrances our souls and transports us out of our selves either to the celestial natures if it be Divine or to the brutish if it be founded only in the flesh By exercising our minds in the actions of spiritual life and placing our affections on things above we may deliver and infranchise our selves from a servile base condition and approach nearer to the degree of Angels than of ordinary men As on the contrary by applying our minds and hearts wholly to corporeal actions and addressing all our services to the things of this world we may so inthrall our selves and bring our souls into such bondage that we shall sink down into a vile estate and become more like beasts than men O strange power of Love which makes such transformations turning men either into Angels or into the most sordid creatures How careful should we be to observe its motions What diligence should we use to watch whither it goes and to see that this mighty passion be directed to the most excellent good And if we do but open our eyes to receive the light of the glorious Gospel and all the beauties that it presents unto us we cannot easily be deceived There are a world of noble enjoyments to which our Saviour invites us if we will vouchsafe to look upon them and not be so sottish as to fasten our eyes only on a few objects here before us He hath opened to us the Kingdom of Heaven and tells us he will show us all the glory of his Fathers house if we will but wait a while till he be ready to come and fetch us thither Why should we not believe him and daily look up unto him with hearts full of joy that we are beloved of the Lord of life and have a good hope to live together with him What a change would this work in us And how happy should we be to think of the far more glorious change which the sight of him will make when by seeing him we shall become what he is O the joy that begins to spring up in my heart O what ravishing words are those WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS How sweetly they enter into mine ears How deliciously they spread and diffuse themselves all over my mind and strongly penetrate to my very heart I am changed already I am not what I was but quite another man All light and joy all spirit and life while I think of these things And can I ever so forget them as to be allured and drawn away from my self and my Saviour from my enjoyments and my hopes by any earthly pleasures What comparison is there between those two states I now described that I should be in danger of such temptations Is there any need to ask which is most to be chosen To suffer my heart to be touched with such a sense of Divine pleasures as to be ravisht out of my self and become more than man or to expose it so to the solicitations of sensible delights as to be inticed by them another way out of my self and transformed into the nature of the beasts that perish We are all desirous and forward enough to climb higher and our ambition tempts us to mount to as noble a station as it is possible to reach And therefore let us ascend O my soul to the Lord Jesus let us lift up our thoughts still towards the holy place where he reigns and look for the time of his appearing to make us reign with him for ever This is the most pleasant object we can behold or rather is a coliection of innumerable pleasures which all here meet
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
to give me some tasts of their incomparable sweetness May I relish no joys so much as those May I always have the remembrance of them fresh upon my soul And may I be so happy as to be preserved by the savour of them from the sinful allurements of all other pleasures Hence hence all you beggerly delights which would have me forget my happiness Stand aside you Images of true joy and hinder not my prospect of that heavenly Paradise Lend me your help or else get you gone and trouble me no more Assist my benighted thoughts and represent that blissful place to them or else I desire not your company I have eaten of all your dainties but still am empty and void of satisfaction I know what you have to say the very utmost you can offer me therefore follow me with no further importunities For my heart is set on that fair that delicious place where the Great Lord keeps his Court and entertains his Friends with endless pleasures O holy City of God what glorious things are spoken of thee How free how sprightly and how full of joy are all thy happy Inhabitants What heart is there that is so dull as not to long to dwell in that blessed place where every head wears a Crown of Life and every hand carries a Palm of Victory Where every eye overflows with joy and every tongue with Psalms of praise Where light shines in every face and love smiles in every Countenance Where every heart is perfectly satisfied in the fulness of its own bliss and satisfied again with the pleasure it hath to see the felicity of others It is too much trouble to me that I am not there O let me not lose the thought of it too I sigh to think that I stand at such a distance from my Fathers House and shall I suffer a further remove by turning away my eyes from thence Go O my soul go thither in thy thoughts and daily meditations Send a thousand wishes before thee thither to tell thy Lord that thou art coming to him Say whom have I in Heaven but thee who wentest thither to open it to all thy faithful Followers What have I on Earth but my hope by following thee to arrive at last where thou art gone before me Whither should I look but unto Heaven now that thou my Dearest Lord art ascended thither to prepare a place for me A place of rest and secure peace a place of joy and constant enjoyment a place from whence I am loth my thoughts or my heart should descend to return to this poor earth again for there they grow so dull that it is hard to lift them up to look to thee O keep them with thee keep them with thee thou King of Heaven Settle and fix them there where I my self expect to be where thou also expectest me where they shall find ease for every grief and joy in the midst of the greatest tribulation O fix them unmoveably in this quiet place this eternal Rest And when they must attend the affairs of this lower life may they only look not come down to them and still remain and stay with thee IX And when these things shall be fulfilled the Apostle tells us in the place before named 1 Thess iv 17. that we shall be ALWAYS WITH THE LORD who passed his promise to his Disciples a little before he left the world that he would come again and receive them to himself that where he is there they may be also xiv John 3. Of which promise he was so mindful after he went to Heaven that he further informs St. Paul who spake this by the word of the Lord that he will not part with us when he hath conducted us to his Fathers house but keep us ever with him there in joys and pleasures that never fade away A condition which we cannot but love and passionately long for if we have any love for him or for our selves For there are none of our enjoyments here but must be frequently intermitted and are too often interrupted even the enjoyment of our blessed Lord himself and the sense he gives us of celestial things we find to our sorrow suffers this inconvenience Neither are we diverted from them only by the troubles of this life or the violence of other worldly temptations which press too boldly and rudely upon us but by the most necessary occasions and the most innocent fruitions to which nature not only inclines us but requires our frequent attendance Of how much of our time doth sleep possess it self though we desire never so earnestly to continue awake How little do we live in the account of reason if we do but remember this Image of Death which hath us so many hours every night in its arms And yet besides this eating and drinking journeys and visits the businesses and cares of this life which challenge some of our thoughts devour no body knows how great a portion of every day To say nothing of those hours when we are fit for little or nothing but are forced to find as we significantly speak some pastime for the entertainment of our wearied minds O blessed Jesus how few are the minutes that these souls inclosed in flesh can spend in thy company Into what a little room are the thoughts of thee and of thy unmeasurable love most wretchedly crowded How soon are we weary and how often are we forced away when we have the greatest mind to thy sweet Society O the cares that not only divert but sometimes oppress us O the multitude of troubles which are wont to disquiet us the sicknesses and infirmities of our bodies which indispose us besides the great weakness and feebleness of these spirits which are not able long to bear thee company It is but a wish I see that I may always stay with thee I feel my self pulled away and cannot keep my soul above even when thou hast lifted it up unto thee And therefore I cannot but renew my desires that thou wouldest be pleased to hasten thy coming That 's the time I long to see because I would be ever with thee and always behold thy face and perpetually speak of thee and declare thy love without ceasing in the height of love and devotion to thee O what a change will that day make in me when I shall be all Life and see not so much as the image or shadow of death any more When I shall neither slumber nor sleep much less be sick or grow old and dye but always wake and enjoy a perfect health a vigorous youth and immortal life O the blessedness of that change when I shall be hungry no more nor have my head disturbed with the fumes and clouds of food When all my journeys will be at an end and I shall never lose nor leave the company I love When I shall neither be crost by others nor vext with the violence of my own passions When I shall be no more perplext