love God above all and all things things in him and for him we should also love those things most which have most of his impress and likeness Therefore man who is created after Gods image should be by us loved above all other creatures and that part of man which is chiefly adorned with the likeness of God should have the greater share of our affection God himself values humane souls at a high rate because they are like him as appears by what he hath done and suffered to save them And for the same reason also we should pay to the souls of men the best part of that kindness we owe them and if we do not we give our friends no greater love than children do their puppets for they dress them fine and lay them soft and kiss and embrace them Just as they who aim at nothing more than to make their friends merry to wish them toys and gaudy things and to see them at ease A fondness inexcusable in rational creatures especially in Christians who know the worth of an immortal soul and the great concern of Eternity and yet seek only to gratifie the material part of their friends which is subject to corruption and to ingage their affections to the world which passeth away and they must soon leave As if when King Edward the first was hastening out of the Holy-land hither to receive the Crown which expected him his friends had staid him by the way and invited him to rest and ease and provided for him all Princely delights and entertainments and retarded his coming so long till he had forgot or lost his right and his Kingdom What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole word and lose his soul and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul We are indeed much commanded to love one another and in this consisteth one great half of our Religion all justice and charity and all the duties of the second Table To love our brother as we ought is the best demonstration of our love to God for he that says he loves God and hateth his brother is a liar saith S. John 1 Joh. 4.20 and love worketh no ill to his neighbour and is therefore the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul Rom. 13.10 but a man is to love his neighbour as himself Mat. 19.19 and therefore as he is most obliged to seek for himself the kingdom of God and its righteousness so should he in the first place endeavour to procure it to his friend Or else we are to love one another as Christ hath loved us Joh. 13.33 and that was in redeeming our souls and purchasing for us heavenly joys and eternal life not in providing ease and sensual pleasures to our bodies here in this world The result of this is that in the first place we should love God infinitely and for his own sake and that in the next we should love those things most which have a nearest relation to God Grace and Vertue Religion Holiness and Men especially their Souls which are an image of the Deity especially sanctified souls which are most like God Afterwards our lesser love for less Divine Objects may be reasonable and innocent and however we have secured a great duty and a great happiness To love God with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices Mar. 13.33 CHAP. XX. That as it is most just so it is most easie to love God A Second consideration may be that it is most just and easie to love God That it is most just is shewn all along this discourse wherein I have represented the more general and most excellent benefits of God to mankind all the which challenge and deserve the greatest love our hearts are capable of God had required of his people that the first born and the first fruits should be consecrated to him thereby to acknowledge him the author of all their blessings and the giver of all their increase Now the first-born of our souls the first-fruits of our hearts is love which God who gives us all things demands as an acknowledgment from us Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul We therefore commit a greater sacriledge if we deny him so just a tribute than if a Jew had rob'd him of his first grapes or his first ears of corn But it is so much the more just in that it is most easie to love God Infinite perfections an abyss of goodness whence rivers and oceans of good things do perpetually flow one would think should swallow up the hearts and affections of men as indeed it doth of all that duly consider it And more perfectly of beatified Saints and of those blessed spirits who minister before his throne and are all flame for him Besides 't is natural for men to love what is theirs propriety begets or increaseth love Now God is our God he hath given himself for us he doth now and will more intirely hereafter give himself to us he made us for the enjoyment of himself and for that purpose he hath redeemed us and that we might all say with David O God thou art my God that God might shew his kindness and indear himself to us and assert our right to him he hath assumed the names of those relations who love us best whom we love most tenderly and whom we count most ours God the Father is pleased to be called our Father God the Son our Brother and God the Holy Ghost our Comforter as it were our Friend thereby to express that affection which he hath for us and the propriety which we may claim in him Sure 't is an easie thing to love them that love us Nimis durus est animus qui amorem etsi uâ—tro non impendat nâ—lit tamen rependere Aug. and where God hath exprest so much love 't is strangely unnatural if we are not affected with it Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts saith the Wise man Prov. 19.6 Now what gifts hath our God given us or rather what gifts hath he not given us and what perverse violence do they offer nature that seek to confute Solomons saying in this instance where it should be most true Certainly 't is an easie thing to love infinite perfections an infinite goodness one that ever did and ever doth us gâ—od from whom we daily receive favours so great and so many that we can tell neither their worth nor number Wherefore S. Aug. saith that to love G d is so natural Potes mihi dicere non habeo quod tribuam egenti non possum jejunare non possum fl re Numquid potâ—s mihi diâ—ere charitaâ—em habere non possum c. so easie so infinitely just and so much our duty that to omit it can admit of no
of thâ—â— whom he serves and obligeth we eaâ—â—ly suppose that they love us whom we loâ—â— and that they to whom we do good will 〈◊〉 kind to us therefore let us shew to God 〈◊〉 the love we can and by words and actioâ—â— protest that we seek to please him and 〈◊〉 hearts will soon be possest with a blessed aâ—surance that we are dear to him and that 〈◊〉 will never be cruel and severe to us ' Tiâ— reported of a Religious Person whose soâ—â— was grieved and wounded with doubts and fears and with sadness that while he 〈◊〉 one day weeping and praying thus O thaâ— I were sure that I shall persevere and neveâ— fall from God O that I were sure thaâ— God loves me and that I shall one day see his blessed Face how zealous then would I be in mortifying my sins and doing my duty how cheerfully would I serve God every day and take pleasure in suffering for him how would I despise the world and its vanities and fix my thoughts and affections on things above while he was thus expressing the sorrows of his troubled mind he heard the whispers of a secret voice which told him fac quod faceres do now what thou wouldst do if thou hadst all those assurances With this he found himself so affected and refreshed that he took it as an Oracle from heaven and in obeying of it found those comforts he begged Better counsel I cannot give thee fac quod faceres do what thou wouldst do if thy diffident timorousness and jealousies were confuted by a voice from heaven and they will soon be removed Let thy meek submission thy sincere obedience and thy free-will offerings speak thy love to God and thou shalt soon find thy self perswaded that God loves thee dearly and that thy condition is safe and happy Other assurance we are not to expect in this world and this is not to be obtained any other way should thy comfort proceed from any thing else but thy humble and devout love to God it would be fansie and presumption whereas so it is well grounded and never can deceive thee There is no fear in love saith Divine S. John 1 Ep. 4.18 but perfect love casteth out fear 't is never otherwise grace and nature join together to make the effect infallible that a Holy Love should ever produce a Holy Peace if we love indeed and in truth thereby not by new and secret revelations we shall know that we are of the truth and we shall assure our hearts before God 1 Joh. 3.18 Love may well work confidence and joy in our souls for it enjoys already what it loves it is affectuosa unitas unitiva affectio love is inseparable from its object and the essence thereof consists in their union and in some manner unity as our Blessed Saviour praid for his that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Joh. 17.21 and that this is effected by love he adds ver 26. that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them Though God be exalted infinitely above all things in a sphere of Glory and Majesty so high that the Cherubims with their many wings cannot flie up to it Qui mente integro Deum desiderat profecto jam habet quem amat Greg. Mag. yet thither love soars up and takes God and holds him as his own so that every one that loves God is already possest of him and may say with the spouse I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Cant. 6.3 We come to God by love amando non ambulando and to him we are united by by love amore Deo conjungimur Magna res est amor quo anima per semetÌ„ ipsam fiducialiter accedit ad Deum c. S. Aug. therefore love is a great thing saith that devout father it brings the soul to God with an holy confidence and makes it trust in him and cleave stedfastly to him and rejoyce in him and represent her needs and beg his mercies with fiducial and devout affections And this is so great a truth that death it self with its pains and sorrows alters nothing of it even then in the last agonies the love of God sweetens the bitter cup and still entertains the soul with joy and holy comforts It was the saying of S. Aug. that because the soul hath willingly forsaken God whom she should love infinitely she is forced therefore with grief and regret to forsake her body which she loves too much and that because she voluntarily departed from God who is her life she therefore departeth from the body whose life she is with sadness and much reluctancy Aug. de Trin. lib. 4. cap. 13. Now we may say Charitas libertatem donat timorem pellit c. S. Bern. that when the soul returns to God by love she is freed from this punishment and restored to her first liberty she is willing to die for to be with Christ and then comes a cheerful cupio dissolvi O when shall I come and appear before God Happy is he who living doth so manifest his love to God by Piety and Charity that dying he can say with Theodosius Dilexi love hath been the business and delight of my life I have daily endeavoured by my actions to declare the sincerity of my love to God he is doubtless of the number of those that love the appearing of JESUS and so he goes out to meet him with joy and confidence expecting a kind reception from him whom having not seen yet he loved Nemo se amari diffidat qui jam amat libenter Dei amor nostrum quem praevenit subsequitur c. Bern. and worshipped and served affectionately Let no man that loves God doubt of Gods Love to him for he that loved us when we were his enemies so as to die for us will much more love us when we have for him the hearty affections of friends It is the joy of heaven the joy of the Holy JESUS when his loving kindness hath won and conquered our hearts and 't is our greatest joy 't is for us a heaven upon earth when we love him faithfully and fervently with all our souls and affections The love of God brings that peace to the soul which the world can neither give nor take away O sweet JESU O look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name Psal 119.132 CHAP. XXV The Conclusion NOW who can refuse to love God when 't is a thing so just and reasonable so pleasant and easie so safe and advantageous something of necessity we must love every mans heart is full of that passion and every mans life is governed by it 't is but considering who hath done most for us and whom we are most obliged to love who is most lovely and who will best reward our love and we
even from the beginning there hath been Civitas dei Civitas mundi children of light and children of this world or to use the modern distinctions the Godly and the Wicked Regular and Secular persons Not because some have made new vows wore distinct habits or chosen new guides and separated from the Church but because some have lived after the flesh some after the Spirit that is some have followed Gods revealed will some onely their own some have obeyed the precepts of Christ and too many their own lusts and humors However I would not make any exprobrations against either Monks or Schismaticks by disobliging truths rather commend what is praise worthy in them because I would have and 't is every Christians duty to be really devout mortified and precise without entring the Cloister or the Conventicle For indeed I am somewhat jealous and not without reason that the ingaging men to be Religious and Vertuous by other considerations besides their Christian duty hath done some prejudice to Religion because now there be some that fansie self-denial and contempt of the world to belong only to Friers and others that to abstain from swearing and drunkenness is only the part of a Puritan Whereas Christianity binds those duties on all its Professors and every one by his Baptismal vow is bound to perform them though he doth not submit himself to the Rule of S. Francis or the dictates of the Assembly Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue if there be any praise think on these things saith the Apostle they are all parts of our duty Whatever is good in it self or any ways a means to make us good is commanded or recommended in holy Scripture is contained in the Christian Rule wherefore I say the Christian Professor designing to attain higher degrees of holiness the highest pitch of Christian perfection attainable in this life needs not separate from the Church nor make new vows nor wear distinct habits but only mind seriously and sincerely discharge the obligations which he lies under in being a Disciple and a Servant of the Holy JESVS My design therefore is not to Incloister particular persons Vellem universos Christianos ita vivere ut qui nunc soli Religiosi vocantur parum Religiosi viderentur but to make a large Monastery of the whole Common-wealth at least to make every family a School of Vertue and Piety and every man an Ascetick and strict liver wishing heartily with Erasmus that they who hitherto have been called Precise and Religious by way of appropriation might justly lose that name by the more exemplary lives of all other Christians But though it be my wish it is not my hope in the least to see any such thing come to pass by means of this little volume Many much bigger and better have not been able to effect it They that will not hear Moses and the Prophets nay Christ the Lord himself will be far enough from being perswaded by the meanest of his servants And where the Text it self is not regarded no Comment can signifie much I mean that if the Holy Religion we own be not able to reform our lives if the Gospel which is here preached and professed in purity doth not make us holy 't is in vain to expect any other instruments should prevail But yet our indeavours ought not to be wanting it may not be in vain to diversifie Christian instructions severall ways of perswasion may affect several persons and perhaps that which to day is slighted will to morrow make a deep impression However it is more or less the duty of every one of us with great S. Paul to trie all means that by any means we may save some at least that we may save our selves that if those arguments which we think most forcible cannot convince others they may may at least move us to take the better heed that after we have preached to others we our selves be not cast-aways Now to this end having observed how much in all cases men will do and suffer for love I have thought nothing would more conduce than to make a Christian love God with a sincere and devout affection a devout love being undoubtedly not only the best part but also the best instrument of true Religion an irreconcilable enemy to sin a friend or rather a nurse to all holy vertues No enticement could have drawn penitent Magdalen to any of her former sins whilest in the fervency of her love she washed her Saviours feet with her tears and 't is known by experience that when reading meditation the sight of a dying friend or any such thing hath softened a mans heart into a religious temper temptations will be then so far from prevailing that they durst not so much as appear before him But when he returns to mind earthly things and hath his thoughts taken up again with the concerns of this present life he finds that his spiritual strength decays by the same proportions that his love becomes cold and he grows indevout again Love is the Queen if not the fountain of passions the great mover and governor of actions and affections could we keep the fire of Divine Love always burning in our breasts it would be the most powerful and best instrument of Holy-living it would make self-denial and the yoke of Christ easie it would make acts of vertue and Religion pleasant and it would make us delight in pleasing God as much as we naturally do in pleasing our selves Therefore I have made it my aim and design in the following Pages to seize upon the affections to inkindle in the hearts of Christians the heavenly flames of the love of God To that end I have represented the more general benefits of God to mankind and especially that of Redemption by the greatest demonstration of love that ever was given the death of the Blessed JESVS which if duly considered would be an irresistible motive to love him I have shewed the power the pleasure and the great advantages of love and I have used devout meditations and ejaculations as it were to transport our souls to heaven by love for to adore that God whom love brought down from thence to save us 'T is certain that most of them that perish perish for want of consideration and I have heard dying men wonder at themselves how they could be so stupid as not to mind those things which are of an infinite concern and should rather take up all our thoughts and our cares than be neglected or forgot one only moment Israel doth not understand my people doth not sider Isa 1.3 Love may be said to be that fire which God would have always to burn upon his Altar Lev. 6.12 that is in our hearts which are his Temple where the sacrifices of good works and the incense of devotion should always
there was none to help I wondred that there was none to uphold Isa 63. He was like a mild and defenceless lamb in the midst of ravenous wolves there were none about him but such as thirsted for his blood And no wonder if man forsook him when he was in some manner forsaken even by his Father It pleased God to give him up to the cruelties of wicked men and the sorrows of death and that his Divine Nature though personally and inseparably united to his humanity should for a time suspend the effects of its beatifying union and leave him suffer as a man in soul and body the greatest pains without the least comforts They that saw our crucified Saviour suffer so patiently as not to open his mouth to complain might have thought that he had no sense of pain therefore he cries out so bitterly My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why dost thou suffer me to be plunged into this gulf of sorrow so that I have nothing but anguish within and without Why dost thou suffer me to be almost overwhelmed by so great a distress and art so far from helping me and from the words of my complaint Psal 22. Lord we had deserved to sink and evermore to cry and groan in the bottomless pit and to rescue us thou art pleased to descend very low and with strong crying and tears to say de profundis clamavi out of the depths have I cried unto thee O Lord hear my voice Psal 130. be pleased to hear us dearest Lord when we call upon thee and make thy voice sink into our hearts and there find a cheerful admission and a constant and sincere obedience CHAP. XI The height of the Cross NOw we have only the height of the Cross to look on that is the sublimity the greatness of the torments of Christs crucifixion that in this sense his Cross was very high appears already by what hath been said and yet we may consider further that he being conceived by the Holy Ghost of a most pure Virgin was therefore of a most healthful constitution so that his senses being very quick and apprehensive were sensible of pain beyond other men's and so all the blows and wounds he received and his being nailed and stretched three long hours on the Cross as upon the Rack must needs have been a most exquisite torture Also the vigor of his nature being neither weakned nor spent by age or distempers he being full of strength and in the flower of his age was capable to taste the smart and sharpness of his pain to the very last moment of his life and so 't is written by S. Luke that he cryed with a loud voice when he gave up the ghost to shew that he was still very strong and that his death was bitter and violent to extremity There was likewise an invisible Cross which afflicted his soul and made it sorrowful even unto death his heart was like wax melted in the midst of his bowels Psal 22. and in the midst of so many and such intolerable pains his murtherers shook their heads made mouths at him scoft at his sorrows by cruel and insulting mockeries and by their tongues and derisions aggravated those sufferings which their hands could hardly increase but thaâ— the Cross of Christ was higher in the greatness of its pains than that of any Martyr of any man that ever suffered is evident enough only by considering who it was that was crucified on it for it was more that JESUS being perfect God as well as man should shed one drop of blood than that all Men and Angels should for Millions of years bear the greatest torments Lord we were wonderfully made by thy power but we are yet more wonderfully redeemed by thy mercy Lord what is man that thou shouldst thus be mindful of him or rather what is man that he is unmindful of thee CHAP. XII What an infinite love is exprest by the Cross NOw we have seen the whole frame of the Cross writ all over in blood with characters of love expressions of the greatest kindness for a testimony that JESUS loved us unto death Not any sorrow or anguish in his soul not any gap or wound in his body but are as many mouths to cry aloud in the ears of all men Behold what manner of love God had for his enemies his sinful and unworthy creatures to suffer such things to die in such a manner for to redeem them and make them happy Now let us if we can comprehend the breadth and the length O dilectio quam magnum est vinculum tuum quo ligari potuit Deus Idiot the height and the depth of the love of JESUS that love which bound him much harder than the cords of the Jews and nailed him to his Cross much faster than those Irons which pierced his hands and feet for he that could with one word cast his enemies to the ground could easily have broke their bands and escaped from them but that his love did constrain him and make him desirous and willing thus to die What man would suffer one half of what Christ did for his dearest Benefactor And then how immense and wonderful was that charity which he exprest in suffering the ignominy and pains of the Cross for those that were his enemies and had highly injured him and from whom he could expect no reward but only to be loved again Let us therefore remember it throughout this whole book or rather throughout our whole life that we have been redeemed from eternal despair and misery and from our vain and sinful conversation not by any corruptible thing as silver and gold but by the precious blood of Christ shed with great pain and great ignominy CHAP. XIII Of the eternal happiness merited for us by the Cross of Christ and measured by it THis Love of JESUS is more already by far than ours can answer Could our hearts burn perpetually with those brightest flames of love which beatifie the Cherubims could they contain all the most passionate affections of all Saints both in heaven and earth yet we could not love JESUS so much as he deserves for having died to save us from eternal death and yet he did more he suffered death that we might have life that we might have eternal life Not only that we might not be intirely miserable but also that we might be perfectly happy Heaven is the purchase of the Blood of Christ as well as Redemption from hell God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in trespasses and sins hath quickned us together with Christ and hath raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2.5 Let us meditate a while upon that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory reserved in heaven for us 2 Cor. 4.17 and in it consider the same dimensions as in the price wherewith it was bought the Cross of
the world to live well to keep thee from wandring to bring thee to heaven to conquer all oppositions and do the work of God throughly Love is by far the best Monastery it will both secure thee from the world and yet enable thee to do much good in it Love hath a general intendance over all vertues and duties and makes them pleasant to us and acceptable to God Love is the fulfilling of the Law Love and thou canst never do amiss love and thou canst never miscarry CHAP. XVII Considerations of the nature of Love and first of Self Love LOve is the common Prince and parent of other passions as they all take their Laws so they take their Origine from it Or to speak more properly love it self is all passions and it obtains several different names according to its several acts and objects Love saith S. Aug. is called desire Amor inhians habere quod amatur cupiditu est idem habens eoque fruens laetitia est fugiens quod ei adversatur timor est idque cum acciderit sentiens tristitis est Aug. de Civ Dei l. 14. c. 7. when it gasps after its beloved object when 't is possest of it it takes another denomination and is called joy or pleasure when it flies from what it abhors it hath the name of fear and 't is called sorrow when what it feared overtakes it But still love is the only passion desire anger joy and sorrow hope and fear are either the motions or acts or else the accidents of it This clearly shews the great power and activity of this noble passion for 't is well known that the greatest and indeed all humane actions that are free proceed from these natural affections and so are the effects of love There is no need to distinguish the several sorts thereof declaring that love is either natural or supernatural sensual or spiritual of friendship or of interest for all these are the same faculty or passion in man differing in their principles or objects only neither would it much avail to give and explain accurate and studied definitions of love which is much better felt than exprest and much better declared by actions than words it will be more useful to consider that as love is the principle of all passions so it is of all vertues and vices This fountain sendeth forth the clearest and the foulest streams and like all other things the greater its excellency the worse is its abuse so that it should be our greatest care to use it well and set it upon the right object No joy in enjoyment without love without it no pleasure in fruition it is the great instrument of happiness if we place it aright and it brings the greatest infelicities if we misplace it 'T is a misguided love that makes men vicious that causeth all the disorders in the world because men love themselves more than God and so would be Gods to themselves the Authors of their own happiness expecting their greatest felicities either from their bodies as the sensual Epicures or from their minds as the proud Stoicks Hence it is that in the head of a long catalogue of the blackest sins S. Paul sets self-love as the cause and origine of all the rest saying that in the worst and most perilous times Men should be lovers of their own selves 2 Tim. 3.2 4. and again that they should be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God which being the greatest depravation of the understanding and of the will of men plungeth them into the greatest sins and thence into the greatest miseries Certain it is that piety or true goodness consisteth in willingly submitting one self to the Divine Pleasure either to suffer or obey and certain it is that self-love will admit of neither it makes a man uncapable of Religion the Essence whereof is to deny our own to comply with God's Will and so instead of that Godliness Justice and Sobriety which are the three Generals comprehensive of all religious duties this muddy head-spring self-love sends forth three muddy streams which cause the overflowing of ungodliness and almost drown the world under a deluge of wickedness These be the love of sensual pleasures called Voluptuousness the love of riches called Covetousness and the vain-glorious love of honour called Pride or Ambition These three are disclaimed and renounced by all Christians in the first part of their Baptismal vow for the love of them confounds the world and all Religion makes men criminal in souls bodies and estates and is the great enemy to their rest and salvation Therefore S. John who calls these the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life gives us this necessary cauti n love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him 1 John 2.15 that is as our Blessed Saviour saith no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon Mat. 6.24 There is no halting betwixt God and Baal the one or the other must be acknowledged for Lord there cannot be two contrary Sovereigns together and the same thing cannot be granted to two several competitors if we love the world it reigns in our hearts and God is excluded if we give our love to the world Amor motus est cordis qui cum se inordinate movet cupiditas dicitur cùm vero ordinatus est charitas appellatur Aug. de subst dil c. 2. we cannot possibly give it to God also so then the love of our selves is Concupiscence the mother of all sin and impurity and the love of God is Grace or charity the fountain of all holiness and vertue and these two according as they are predominant in men make here the distinction betwixt the penitent and the impenitent betwixt the just and the unjust and will make the great difference hereafter betwixt those that shall dwell in the embraces of the God of Love to eternity and those that shall dwell with everlasting burning for every man is what he loves Talis est quisque qualis est dilectio ejus terram diligis terra es c. Aug. Tract 2. in 1 Joh. as S. Augustine saith the irresistible power of that mighty passion doth in some manner transform him into that which his love embraceth and therefore to know whether a man be good or bad we inquire not what he knows or what he believes but what he doth love being sure that his morals are of the same nature as his love because his desires and actions are all guided by it CHAP. XVIII That the Love of JESVS requires we should mortifie Self-love THis makes it our greatest duty as it is our greatest interest to rule by Reason and Religion that passion which certainly will rule over us to
set our love upon the right object upon God not upon our selves Not that we should or can be our own enemies and seek our own ruine no man ever yet hated his own flesh saith S. Paul Ephes 29. the worst enemies to mankind are kind to themselves and we may as soon lose our being as the desire of our well being But we must understand that our supream happiness consisteth in the enjoyment of God who is that infinite increated Goodness that can alone fully beatifie us God is infinitely happy and hath the possession of his infinite perfections by loving himself and we also become happy by loving him with all our hearts and souls it was so in the state of innocency and so it is still and ever shall be and Angels and men became miserable only by departing from the love of God which was then as 't is now to be exprest by obedience So that when man prefers any thing to God he not only departs from his duty but also from his sovereign bliss In the time of mans integrity God was to be regarded and loved first and most of all so it must be still the difference is that then man did it naturally and now by a supernatural assistance he did it then by the grace of his Original Righteousness and now by the grace of the Gospel he did it then without reluctancy now he hath sinful appetites and passions which he must deny and mortifie before he can do it Therefore our blessed Saviour requires it at the very entrance of his School as a necessary qualification to all that will be his Disciples that they should deny themselves and hate all things in comparison of him If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me and again if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple Luk. 9.23.14.26 that is he that will own JESUS and be owned by him must in all things give him the preeminence must relinquish his natural desires deny his own will that he may yield an humble obedience to God he must forsake all things that come in competition with him and even part with his dearest relations and his own life as though he hated them rather than commit what God hath forbidden or disclaim what he would have us profess this self-abnegation Ille satis se diligit qui sedulo agit ut summo fruatur bono this daily self crucifixion is no act of self-hatred as the world might think but the greatest kindness we can shew to our selves or others for 't is the onely way whereby to make our lives comfortable here and eternally happy in the world to come and in many cases more hard and less advantageous we practise self-denial of our free choice As he therefore that cuts off one of his limbs hates not himself but seeks the preservation of his body and he that casts his goods over-board hates them not but prefers his safety to them so in this case he that parts with his earthly enjoyments hates them not but prefers heaven to this earth he that loseth this present life hates it not but loves eternal life beyond it and he that forsakes his friends or parents to follow his Saviour in the discharge of a good conscience hates them not but seeks to win them to their happiness by preferring his God and his Salvation to their unjust desires In this case the promise is verified that he that parts with any thing for Christs sake receives an hundred fold in compensation and he that loseth his life certainly finds it therefore hating our kindred and our own lives is otherwise exprest in S. Matthew he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me c. Mat. 10.37 As much as to say that it is only required that the love of God should be predominant that JESUS should be dearer to us than all persons whatever and that in the first place we should love God with all our minds with all our strength and with all our souls for then afterwards the love of our selves Recte novit vivere qui recte novit amare Aug. and others being subordinate would become regular and innocent CHAP. XIX How great a Vertue is Divine Charity or the Love of God NOw as all sins and miseries proceed from a misplaced love so all vertues and felicities are the product of love well guided and placed on the right object this is as beneficial and advantagious as the other is pernicious that is Sicut radix omnium malerum est cupiditas ita radix omium bonorum est charitas Serm. de Charit as S. Augustine saith that as self-love is the root of all evil so the love of God is the root of all good the stock whence all vertues do grow The excellency of Divine Love is so great so transcendent Sine charitate fides potest esse sed non prodesse Aug. 1 Cor. 13. that it alone is accepted on its own account and all other things for its sake a faith strong enough to work miracles alms the most expensive and even the flames of Martyrdom profit nothing without love as S. Paul teacheth love it is that makes all good works meritorious in the best sense love it is that gives a value to all other vertues or rather it is love that produceth all good works and vertues as they are so indeed Love is the discharge of our whole duty the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul Rom. 13.10 love is that grace which renews and sanctifies our natures and abides for ever it is the greatest the most excellent gift of God it is even the Divine Spirit Vnitas Spiritus continet omnia Serm. Pont. Donum est Spiritus San tus in quo nobis omnia bona dantur who unites all things within the bonds of love and unity saith S. Aug. and with whom all good things are ever given Divines teach that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of love wherefore he is called nexus amoris quo conjungitur Pater cum Filio Filius cum Patre that is in the Language of the Church that in the Unity of the same Spirit Charitas qua Pater diligit Filium Filius Pa rem quae est Spiritus Sanctus ineffabilem communionem amborum demonstrat De Trin. l. 15. the Father and the Son live and reign evermore or as S. Augustine expresseth it The love wherewith the Father and the Son love mutually is the Holy Spirit and represents best the Mystery of their Incomprehensible Union Now that Divine Spirit which is the eternal love of God to himself is given to us in the grace of love or charity which are one and the same whereby we are all joined together into one body and all
and insignificant attempts its strength is great as well as its endeavours Great are the dangers and difficulties which love overcomes it carries the ambitious lover of honour through many uneasie perils to a fading laurel it carries the covetous lover of riches through the most hard and slavish labours to his false and treacherous Mammon and it carries likewise the devour lover of JESUS through obedience and self humiliation through briars and uneasie crosses through patience and the greatest sufferings to the enjoyment of his Beloved Love can do all things since it brought God down from heaven to become man and die for man Who shall separate us from the love of Christ saith S. Paul Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 8.35 c. As much as to say that the power of love is irresistible that it answers all objections and conquers all obstacles notwithstanding mans high provocations and great unworthiness love made the Almighty lay down the arms of his just vengeance and open his bosom of mercy to give his dear and only Son to man for a Saviour God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 And likewise man is enabled or rather forced by love to do and suffer any thing as soon as Divine Love enters a mans heart of proud it makes him humble of lustful and intemperate it makes him chaste and sober of covetous it makes him charitable of dainty and effeminate it fits him to be a Martyr No ill habits so deeply rooted but love can pluck them up no cross so heavy but love can bear it Many waters cannot quench love saith Soloman neither can the floods drown it Cant 8.7 No the strongest torrent of affliction is but like drops of water sprinkled upon the fire it increaseth the flames and the ardency thereof Love is as strong as death verse 6. and death is very strong Magnum verbum fortis ut mors dilectio magnificentius exprimi non potuit fortitudo charitatis quis enim morti resistat ignibus undis ferre regibus resistitur venit una mors quis et resistit nihil illa fortius propterea viribus ejus charitas comparatur Aug. in Psal 121. stronger than all visible creatures We daily fight against death and beat it back by rest and food and Physick we dispute the victory with it many years but it is ever victorious at last so is love it never gives over till it hath conquered all oppositions its courage increaseth together with its difficulties the more obstacles in its way the greater its endeavours the more fierce its contentions Death severs a man from himself and disunites what seems inseparable love also takes the lovers soul from him and unites it to the beloved so that he lives more in what he loves than in himself love is as strong as death Death converts the greatest sinners or at least keeps them from sinning at all any longer so doth love it certainly mortifies all even the most reigning sins it will not suffer them to sin that love God We can tame wild beasts by industry overcome the barrenness of the earth by labour resist the angry elements by Art and Physick no evil but hath a remedy only death hath none there is no striving against it so that nothing can better express the irresistible power of love than to say that it is as strong as death The last property of love I shall now mention is that love sweetens bitter things makes our labours pleasant and even our sufferings delightful How heavy is that yoke which is imposed by an ungrateful hand The Souldier prest to the service can hardly bear his arms but he that is inrolled by love thinks them light and bears them with pleasure the slave that works in the Mines counts his very life a burthen the niggard that works much harder likes well his drudgery because the love of riches is his task-master he that serves his master out of fear works faintly and with a heavy heart he that serves him out of love doth it diligently and yet with chearfulness the Christian pilgrim who is driven heaven-ward with fears and terrors goeth on with much reluctancy and a sorrowful heart he that is drawn with the cords of love follows with joyfulness minds not the ruggedness of his way and even rejoyceth in his weariness because it brings him nearer and nearer to his beloved he that that could say the love of Christ constraineth us could say also we rejoyce in tribulations 'T was the love of JESUS made primitive Christians work hard and suffer much Nullo modo sunt onerosi labores amantium sed etiam ipsi delectant sicut venantium piscantium interest ergo quid ametur nam in eo quod amatur aut non laboratur aut labor amatur Aug. with comfort and unspeakable joy and 't is for want of that sweet and Divine Love that Christians now find sorrow and great difficulty in that little they do or suffer for JESUS The labours of love are ever pleasant nothing is hard that love binds upon us CHAP. XXII A farewel to all sinful desires THis great power of love is now to be drawn into act and these considerations to be reduced into practice Now therefore enter more seriously than ever this Cloister of love ingage thy self further into the society of the true lovers of JESUS enter now actually and affectionately upon the work and labour of love Remember now thy Baptismal Vows remember them I say now that the love of Christ constrains binds thee to fulfil them Things are best preserved by that which first gave them being And now thy making good that stipulation thy part of that gracious Covenant whereby thou art related to Christ that according to the design of that Sign of the Cross which was drawn upon thee as the badge of thy profession thou wouldest not be ashamed to profess the Faith of Christ crucified and manfully to fight under his banner against sin the world and the devil and to continue his faithful Souldier and Servant unto thy lives end So now thou shouldest accomplish this promise by faith working by love Now then retire a while and enter thy Closet sequester thy thoughts from the world and confer with thy Soul about thy duty and thy great interest Call to mind the obligations the love of JESUS hath laid upon thee and how thou hast promised to requite it by renouncing all things that are contrary to thy love and
duty to him By renouncing the devil and all his works the vain pomps and vanities of the world and the covetous desires of the same as also the sinful lusts of thy flesh Now thou art to approve thy self a true lover and servant of JESUS by departing from these by repentance and amendment Leave them therefore and forsake them these enemies of thy Saviour of thy love and of thy happiness Let thy Soul full of the love of JESUS thus meditate and resolve and express thy devout affections to him that died for thee The love of JESUS hath prevailed I find my heart wounded I can no longer resist the charms of his love he hath woed me so long and with so much kindness that now my heart is his I will love him because he first loved me Now it repenteth me that ever I rejected his sute that ever I was unkind to him it grieveth me that ever I countenanced and preferred his rivals the lusts of sensuality covetousness and pride which I renounced in my Baptism I will now exclude them wholly this is the first mark JESUS shall receive of my sincere affection to him that I will entertain nor caress no longer those his enemies with whom I have had an unhappy intelligence for too long a time henceforth if they come near me I will endeavour to drive them away if they come after me I will flee if they persevere in their attempts they shall get nothing else but shame and denials Away from me then ye wicked spirits with all your tempting allurements worldly vanities deceitful riches sensual pleasures I remember that I renounced you all when first I gave up my name to JESUS when he first began to shew and seal his love to me and to ingage mine I then renounced the devil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of the world with all covetous desires of the same and the carnal desires of the flesh I now remember those my ingagements and grieve that I have not kept them and therefore will hate you the more that you made me forget my promises and break my holy vows Now will I be revenged of you ye proud and ambitious designs lustful thoughts greedy desires of wealth I will now kill and crucifie you Henceforth it shall be my honour that I am a Servant of JESUS it shall be my delight and pleasure that I am a lover of JESUS and it shall be my wealth that he is mine as I am his JESUS hath done and suffered much to declare his love and to deserve mine he hath come down from heaven and humbled himself to my mean and low condition he hath lived poor and despised he hath been afflicted and persecuted he hath died for me hereby I know that he loves me because he laid down his life for me but ye his unworthy rivals never gave me any assurance of your affection never did or suffered any thing for me JESUS exposed himself to shame that I might become glorious endured pains that I might have pleasure he became poor that I might be enriched but covetousness offers me riches to pierce me through with many sorrows lust enticeth me to wound me when I have consented to it and pride promiseth me honours to cumber me and expose me to envy JESUS is infinitely lovely he is all perfection and goodness and he desires to be loved not for any advantage of his own but to make his lovers intirely and eternally happy but you painted idols of abused mortals are in your selves ugly and even loathsome though at a great distance ye may seem somewhat fair yet near at hand ye are nothing but deformity ye always prove vain and vexatious ye seek to enter mens hearts only to tyrannize and torment them and betray them to eternal sorrows JESUS is a true and constant lover he ever owns his friends he never fails them that love him he helps them in their distresses he comforts them in their sorrows and when they die he stands by them but ye temporal deceitful pleasures are false and inconstant ye forsake your friends in their greatest need ye flatter them for a few Summer days while the Sun shines kindly upon them but in the rigors of Winter when an unprosperous storm ariseth you are gone you leave them to die comfortless they carry nothing of you when they go from hence but the bitter remembrance of your treacherousness JESUS is a most grateful lover he ever returns love for love he is ever found of them that seek him to them that desire him he ever gives himself every true lover of JESUS is sure to enjoy him but you worldly enjoyments are generally most unkind to your most passionate lovers ye flee from them that run after you ye grieve and vex your greatest admirers ye are ever uncertain false and ungrateful I will therefore never love you again nay I resolve to hate and persecute you to mortifie and watch against my lusts my pride and covetous desires But JESUS shall reign in my heart him will I love him will I serve him will I endeavour to please in all things I will be wholly his therefore I renounce all friendship with you that are his enemies there can be no agreement betwixt the Holy JESUS and this sinful world If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him 1 John 2.15 Lord we beseech thee grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world the flesh and the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXIII That the Love of JESVS and the love of Sin can never consist together FUrther consider O my Soul that JESUS my Blessed Master is the Prince of purity he will never abide in the same heart with intemperance and with fleshly lusts He is meek and lowly pride cannot follow him By works of mercy and charity he calls us to the possession of heavenly treasures therefore greedy worldly mindedness can never entertain nor prefer his promise Lust Pride Covetousness can never abide with the love of Christ they can never be reconciled JESUS and they are mortal enemies Mortal I may call them because they were his murtherers or rather because he died to put them to death We were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ JESUS shed his blood to redeem us as well from the practice and commission as from the punishment and destruction of sin Or rather of both together for they are not to be put asunder Moral and natural evil ever go hand in hand as happiness is inseparable from Goodness and vertue Blessed are the the pure in heart for without holiness no man shall see God S. Paul therefore saying that Christ died unto sin that is to take away sin infers from thence that we being baptized into Christs death our old man
it withall it will kill our lusts crucifie the members of the body of sin and carry us through the labours and difficulties of penitence and sincere amendment it will be the fulfilling of repentance as it is the fulfilling of the law For as love is strong to overcome strong enemies to kill the greatest sins so is it wise and quicksighted to see and to find out the least A loving friend will not only not slander and defame his friend not rob or strike or murther him but will forbear all words and actions which might bring him the least grief or inconvenience love will not only not give the greatest provocations but even not disoblige or displease in the least instances And now my soul I must apply this home and thereby examine how true are my resolves and protestations if my love to JESUS my Lord be sincere it will not only keep me from confederation with his profest and greatest enemies but even make me shun and forsake the most secret and contemptible of them I mean that the love of JESUS will never suffer me to entertain any the least sin and whenever I find that I have been unhappily seduced to commit any it will cause me to grieve and sadly to repent that I have displeased my dearest Saviour and wounded that tender love I owe him and profess ever to have for him And indeed it is reported of many devout persons great lovers of JESUS that they would sorrow and weep for ordinary failings for small omissions more than others would for much greater sins Divine Love like a bright burning flame will feel a commotion and disturbance by the least drop of water that falls upon it a small irregularity will be more grievous to a pious lover of JESUS than great crimes to another Therefore he that could say the love of Christ constraineth us would also highly complain and groan under the sense of our unavoidable imperfection O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 Nothing will make us more sensible of our least and most common sins than the love of JESUS it will make us angry at and impatient of them and earnest and severe in reforming of them Now therefore as I profess my self a sincere and affectionate lover of JESUS I am obliged to undo as much as may be what I have done amiss and to do it no more this earnestly and vigorously I must now resolve and beg the divine grace an assistance to perform it I must make amends and restitution to those I have any ways damnified in body goods or name and even ask their pardon for the injury and then bewail my sins grieve that I have offended my Divine and loving Master and beg his forgiveness and indeavour by tears and contrition to wash away the stain and spots wherewith my soul is polluted and displeaseth the holy eyes of the Holy JESUS And so to own and to love JESUS my Master binds upon me all the duties of holy penitence repentance must now be my my work and I must live like a true penitent Especially on Lent Fridays and such other times as the Church appointed and devout Christians use for mortification and more solemn devotion I must then and even every night call my ways to remembrance And besides those greater provocations wherewith I have offended my Lord in the days of my folly and inconsideration I ought also to take notice of those sins of daily incursion I last committed and weep over them all and beg for pardon and this I say especially on penitential days For though true contrition should always abide in the heart of every one that truly loves JESUS yet there are occasions and proper times to bring it forth when we are to make it our business to soften our hearts and make them melt into penitent tears Which must be done by religious exercises pious meditations and such acts of contrition as this My dearest JESUS I owe to thy kindest goodness my being and all the blessings I enjoy and I know that thou didst come down from heaven to die on the Cross that I might not die in hell to eternity to suffer a bitter and shameful death that I might live in eternal joys I hope to see thy glorious face one day I hope to receive a crown from thy gracious hands I hope to dwell in thy blissful society for ever Dearest Saviour if thou wert upon earth I would go all the world over to prostrate my self before thee to kiss the ground thy Holy Feet should tread to serve thee to shew my love and gratitude to thee Dearest Lord I would now joyfully give up my life for thee I would lose the last drop of my blood to please and glorifie thee I would die rather than deny thee Why then unhappy wretch that I am do I offend thee to whom I owe my self and all that I have Why do I wound thee by my transgressions who wast wounded for them by thy love Why do I grieve thee who purchasest eternal joys for me Why do I displease thee with whom I hope to live and dwell and from whom I expect mercy and salvation Why do I sin against thee whom I love with all my soul and why do not I live to thee for whom I would die Lord if what thou hast done and suffered for me be not able to win my heart what canst thou do more but O break and yield sinful heart of mine open the way to tears and grief and let the love of thy dearest Saviour enter and fill and ever possess thee CHAP. XXVIII That Love will sweeten as well as produce the truest penitence and that true wisdom not melancholly is the guide of sincere penitents SUch considerations and soliloquies as these will produce not only lacrymas doloris tears of grief but also lacrymas amoris tears of love and true contrition and moreover will make pleasant all the severities of repentance which are so unacceptable and so repugnant to nature those things that would be ungrateful as acts of justice on our selves or obedience and submission to a severe Master will become delightful as acts of love to a gracious beloved Lord. In amore nihil amari in love all things are sweet that are done or suffered for the sake of the beloved I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake saith S. Paul 2 Cor. 12.10 that great lover of JESUS not that those things are of their own nature pleasant whether inflicted by our selves or others 't was for Christs sake that he liked them He likewise that by self-denial and revenge on himself expressing his sorrow for his sins shews his love to JESUS is certainly delighted with the most afflictive of those voluntary sufferings as they are expressions of his love Accordingly 'tis said of some Religious persons that their watchings and fastings and all the severities to
Scripture supposeth it in all that have embraced Christianity and is earnest and pressing in its exhortations to it We beseech you Brethren and exhort you by the Lord JESUS that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more for ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord JESUS for this is the will of God even your sanctification 1 Thess 4.1 2. Again but ye have not so learned Christ as to follow the greediness and lusts of the Gentiles If so be that ye have heard of him and have been taught by him as the truth is in JESUS that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4.20 21. c. And in another place this change being absolutely necessary is absolutely supposed to be wrought in us by our imbracing the Christian Faith If ye are risen with Christ seek those things which are above for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry in the which ye walked sometime when ye lived in them but now you also put off these anger wrath malice blasphemy evil communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Col. 3.1 2 c. In these and many more places to the same purpose it is plainly implyed that true Christians are mindful and careful to fulfil their baptismal promises to renounce the devil and all his works c. It is not love alone that binds this duty upon us our profession absolutely requires it of all that have given their name to Christ and expect Salvation from him Love may inforce the obligation and assist us to discharge it but it is the design and the tenor of Christianity it self to reclaim us from sin to sanctifie our affections that our lives and actions may be holy as becomes the Gospel The grace of God which bringeth salvation teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live in this present world soberly righteously and godly Tit. 2.11.12 This is the sum of our duty that we should be temperate in our bodies and minds just and charitable in our intercourse with other men and pious in our minds devout in acts of Religion and worship to God the learning and practising this lesson is that whereby the offered salvation is obtained and laid hold on that whereby we must make it appear that we indeed own Christ for our Lord and Saviour and that we do truly love him with all our hearts and souls Now therefore I must remember that I am not mine own I am his that made and redeemed me I am his to whom I have given my self when I undertook manfully to fight under his banner against sin the world and the devil To me is addrest that exhortation Thou O man of God flee these things strifes disputes and covetousness before mentioned and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life 1 Tim. 6.11 12. I am become a Souldier of JESUS to me S. Paul speaks as well as to Timothy Thou therefore endure hardness as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ No man that warreth intangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier 2 Tim. 2 3 4. If I were in the Militia of any other Prince I might endure hardness enough before I could obtain his favour or indeed be taken notice of heat and cold hunger thirst and weariness sleepless nights and perpetual dangers all this and much more I might endure many years and not be looked on here my General hath prevented me with his kindness he first fought against mine enemies he first loved me and endured hardship for me and he notes every thing I suffer for him sets it down and assigns a reward to it Under another Commander I might do brave actions behave my self valiantly and yet not be seen here my General hath always his eyes upon me he incourageth me and rejoiceth to see my fortitude he is alway ready to help me and is most delighted when he sees me zealous and diligent I might fight long enough for an earthly King I could only get a poor subsistence or an empty fame but never so much as one province of his dominions here fighting for my heavenly King I shall get unvaluable treasures immortal glory and a Kingdom which shall have no end To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne Rev. 3.21 I will therefore never again fight against the captain of my salvation and I will never forsake him I will often renew my vows often swear allegiance to him upon that sacred blood which he shed for me and which he gives me to comfort and strengthen my heart I will daily think on those things that may increase my zeal and diligence and help me to resist temptations and I will suffer any thing use all means possible to perform these resolutions and approve my self unto death a lover of JESUS If any man loves not the Lord JESUS let him be Anathema Maranatha FINIS THE Reformed Monastery OR The LOVE Of JESUS The Second Part. LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in S. Paul's Church-yard the West-End MDCLXXVIII THE PREFACE I Have now gone through the greater half of my task the negative part of our Baptismal Vow and of our Duty The greater half I call it because our Nature stands not in aequilibrio in an indifference betwixt good and evil but is depraved and ill inclined and the way to vertue will be smooth and pleasant when once by grace and love we have renounced our sins and our vicious propensities are both subdued and rectified If therefore thou hast entred and liked this Cloister so far thou maiest safely advance further and go through what remains if thou hast approved and observed its Rules hitherto the rest cannot but be acceptable and easie to thee As a Traveller in a strange Enemy-Country meets with many hardships and dangers but at home amongst friends delights in journeying So the Love of JESVS among the works of the devil the sinful lusts and vanities of this world might meet with difficulties and a rugged way but now conversing with faith and good works the holy will of God and his glorious rewards it will proceed with joy and a pleasant speedy progress I have called the Love of JESVS The Reformed Monastery
partly to work upon thy fancy that by thy Christian profession thou mightest think thy self as entred into a new state of life and cloistered in from loose company and sinful injoyments and also to give thee to understand that though thou beest not under any severe monastick ingagements yet by thy being a Disciple and servant of JESVS thou art bound to be strict and watchful over thy self to use those remedies against sins and temptations and those proper helps to devotion which are useful and subservient to Vertue and Religion and will assist thee to secure thy duty and thy happiness Old heresies we know often revive and appear under a new dress and it may serve the ends of true goodness and piety to diversifie Christian instructions and to bring them forth under new and different forms What one is not moved withall may affect another and the very novelty of a name or method may make that to be looked upon which otherwise would pass unregarded I know that I have fallen very short of what my Subject could bear and perhaps some will think that I have not been full enough in my particulars and in my directions but my only design was to beget and entertain Divine Love in our Souls well knowing that that love afterwards would soon inlarge our hearts and our knowledge and guide us right in all cases If I can but teach thee Reader to love JESVS with all thy heart I am sure I have brought thee into the easiest and the only safe way to Heaven He hath taught the best part of Religion and to the best purpose Praecipuam Christianae pietatis portionem docuit quisquis ad hujus inflamavit amorem Eras who hath taught others to love it And they certainly love it and obey it too that truly love its Author the Blessed JESVS If we truly love him we shall afterwards refuse him nothing Where a man gives his heart he will neither refuse his hand nor his knee neither service nor worship where he gives his Soul and affections he will willingly bestow all the rest God shall certainly command us and all that we can dispose of without any reservation if we secure our love to him Therefore Love is called the bond of perfectness It is the onely qualification can make us true Christians Alia virtus cum peccato sed dilectio tua omni peccato contrariatur omni temptationi resistit No other vertue but may consist with some sin love alone is contrary to all no other grace can resist all temptations love alone hath that unlimited power Nothing but love can enable us to discharge all obligations Love is the fulfilling of the Law All other gifts and vertues without love cannot fit a man for heaven nor make him dear to God but love can do it of it self Love JESVS sincerely and affectionately and then you shall be sure to live here to him and hereafter with him to eternity As there are Dragons that are bright and glittering and have precious stones in their heads as there are Comets that have the light and the elevation of stars so there are vicious persons false Christians that are indowed with excellent parts and are eminent in some vertues but it profiteth nothing without love If I speak the tongues of Men and Angels saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 13.1 c. If I have the gift of prophesie and understand all mysteries If I have all faith so that I remove mountains if I give my goods to the poor and even my body to be burned and have not charity I am nothing and it profits me nothing 1 Cor. 8.1 Of all other gifts and abilities it may be said as of knowledge that they all puff up but charity alone edifieth Among those creatures which stand and worship before God there is not only a Man and an Eagle which may represent persons of great learning fitted for high speculation but also a Lion and an Ox whereby Christians of meaner parts and knowledge are signified for these are capable of love as much as the others and 't is love alone qualifies men to dwell for ever in the embraces of the God of love for God is love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 John 4.16 God loves men that they may love him Amat Deus ut ametur nil aliud vult quam amari c. Aug. and he onely requires that they would love him knowing that that love is of it self sufficient to make them eternally happy I have therefore all along fitted my discourse and meditations to every mans capacity and opportunities as much as I could because all may love and all must that will be happy And though I may have recommended some things as means and instruments yet I have prescribed nothing as a duty but the great obligations which were laid upon us when we were baptized into Christ So that in this Monastery all must enter and live that would live in heaven and the Rules and Orders of it should be observed by all that desire to own Christ before men and to be owned by him at the last day I might indeed have here inserted many perhaps not unuseful directions given by Ancient Fathers and Spiritual Guides to such as made profession of greater piety and stricter lives than others but they could not have suted with all conditions and callings therefore I have appointed no other rule to those that shall enter this Cloister but the love of JESVS in a sincere obedience to his holy precept or a voluntary compliance with his Divine Counsels Not that I would deny that places for Religious Retirement might afford many great advantages in order to greater devotion and heavenly mindedness for I bewail their loss and heartily wish that the piety and charity of the present age might in a just and primitive measure restore to this Nation the useful conveniency of them Necessary Reformations might have repurg'd Monasteries as well as the Church without abolishing of them Multi sunt qui possunt Religiosam vitam etiam cum saeculari habitu ducere plerique sunt qui nisi omnia reliquerint salvari apud Deum nullatenus possunt Greg. M. Ep. ad Maur. Imp. and they might have been still houses of Religion without having any dependance upon Rome All men are not inclining to nor fitted for an active life some would be glad to find a place of rest and retirement for contemplation some who by melancholy or by the terrors of the Lord are frighted from their sins and from the civilized world into Quakerism into an unhappy sullenness and Apostasie would perhaps exchange their silks and laces for the coarser garments of mortified professors of a Monastick life and find among them that happiness and peace of the soul which they vainly seek for in their wretched and deluded Brotherhood Some who upon great afflictions and sudden changes of fortune fall into a state
a cup of water given for his sake should not go unrewarded and that their reward would be great bountiful and most excellent far above their deserts and even above their wishes and apprehensions an angelick nature a glory bright as the Sun it self an eternal life an heavenly an endless kingdom his own joys should be their portion and their recompence And we find also the Holy Apostles assuring those whom they brought to work in their Lords vineyard that they should certainly have their hire and be paid most generously for their work God will render to every man according to his deeds to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory honour and immortality shall be rendred eternal life Rom. 2.6.7 Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour 1 Cor. 3.8 And S. Paul to incourage the Corinthians tells them that we Christians are entred into a race at the end whereof we may see the Laurel palmam in stadio positam a glorious prize an incorruptible crown if we will run and strive for it 1 Cor. 9.24 and he likewise tells the Ephesians that whatsoever good thing any man doth the same shall be receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free Eph. 6.8 S. Peter also teacheth that we should be moved and encouraged by the greatness of the promised reward to forsake our lusts and wholly devote our selves to God exceeding great and glorious promises are given unto 〈◊〉 that by these you might be partakers of the Diviae Nature having escaped the pollution that is in the world through lust 2 Pet. 1.4 Christ is become the author of eternal salvation to themt obey him Heb. 5.9 And so the result of all these may be comprehended in the exhortation of S. Paul My beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 In this sense good works are meritorious in that they procure us a reward a reward infinitely greater than their own desert Let us not therefore as the Apostle exhorts be weary in well-doing for we shall reap in due season if we faint not Gal. 6.9 Let us compare together the returns of vice and vertue how unlike are the fruits of them and let us bear this short saying in our minds if we do ill the pleasure is soon past the grief and punishment abide long upon us if we do well the trouble is soon ended the joy and reward of it remain for ever Let us pray with S. Paul the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for Christ 2 Thes 3.5 who when he comes brings his reward with him and to this let us add this Collect of the Church Grant us grace O Lord so to follow thy blessed Saints in all vertuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for them that unfeinedly love thee through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen CAAP. IV. That Love hath a secret pleasure and reward in it self with a meditation to that purpose BUT Though it may encourage us to love that gracious God who gives so very much for that little we are able to do yet Love it self is not mercenary charity doth not seek her own saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 13.5 we may desire our promised reward and set our affections upon it as it is a demonstration of Gods infinite love and goodness or because it will be the expressing of our duty and thankfulness when we shall love and glorifie and adore God perfectly and for ever or rather because the reward is God himself who will be to every faithful servant his exceeding great reward Gen. 15.4 as well as to faithful Abraham rewarding sincere obedience with the fruition of himself being all in all to his Saints But still I say Love is not selfish but free and generous if nothing were to be gained by it it would have great satisfaction in shewing it self the work and labour of love is a noble pleasure to a pious heart When he thus reflects on his obedience and thinks with himself By the performance of this duty by this act of vertue I serve my dearest Lord I oblige my best friend I express my love to him whose infinite kindness to me hath conquered my heart whom I love as my own soul to whom I wholly give my self and for whom I desire both to live and die O happy soul who feelest what an exceeding joy it is to love JESUS or rather unhappy soul who canst shew so little love to JESUS Unhappy necessities of a frail body unhappy distractions of a troublesome world Why am I by you deprived of the continual pleasure of waiting continually on my Divine and most loving Master But blessed be my gracious Lord that I might have more opportunities of pleasing him and expressing my affections to him he hath made vertues of necessities he hath turned nature into grace and of humane duties he hath made acts of Religion In relieving mine own and others wants if I observe the rules of sobriety and charity he takes occasion thence to bless and reward me as if he were thereby glorified In discharging the duties of my place and calling if I am diligent and faithful though my work be never so mean he owns it as a service done to him Servants saith S. Paul obey your masters in all things and do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ Col. 3.22 23. If I am conscientious in all my ways and works he takes it as a mark of my love and part of my duty to him O that the constant course of my conversation might speak the sincerity of my affection to my blessed Lord. Dearest JESUS the Cross thou didst bear for me was heavy and painful to extremity but thy yoke is light and pleasant thy service is perfect freedom O let it be my delight and daily employment as it is my duty to serve and obey thee to follow thy blessed example and be instrumental in winning hearts to thee let me love thee so intirely that I may love nothing but thee nothing but for thy sake Fac precor Domine me gustare per amorem quod gusto per cognitionem sentiam per affectum B. Ansel quod sentio per intellectum Amen CHAP. V. Reflections on the vanity of temporal things with some holy resolves and ejaculations COnsider O my soul how deceitful how vain is this present world how inconstant and unsatisfying how vexatious and troublesome Doth not thine experience tell thee that the more thou lovest the best of earthly thing the more crosses and sorrows befal thee the more thou enjoyest of them the more weary thou art the farther from happiness and true contentment I have observed that
me whilst I obey what he hath commanded I do what is infinitely my duty what his love to me challengeth and what my love to him desires to return Had I ten thousand years to live and could I serve him all that while and do nothing else I could not repay him for the least part of that great ransom he hath paid for me neither could I deserve any thing of those great wages which he will give me but my life is but short and he allows me time for other things even for pleasure and recreation I have therefore a most gracious Master and therefore I resolve and promise to do what he requires of me I will except at nothing he commands it shall be my joy to pay my duty to him I will make it appear that I serve out of love and affection O my dearest JESUS would my heart did feel what it should Qui viget affectu non gemâ—t imperie would I could express what it feels and would I could perform as much as I express But O my Blessed Lord how frequently and unhappily do I forget that thou art my Master and I thy servant that my chiefest business is to do thy will and that my greatest happiness as well as duty is to obey thee Is it not because I also forget that thou didst redeem me from a most wretched slavery that thou didst pay an immense price for me that thou becamest a servant for me before thou requiredst any service from me and that thou didst first love me before thou dist intreat my love O thou great Lover and Saviour of men I wholly give my self to thee body and soul heart and affections I desire to be thine I pray that thou wouldst make me to be thine and that thou wouldest own me for thine that so thou maist be mine to eternity Wouldest thou know saith S. Aug. what thou must give for heaven give thy self Aliud non quaerit precium nisi te ipsum tantum valet quantum es te du habebis illud Manual that is the price nothing less will serve that alone is accounted sufficient heaven is worth just what thou art give thy self and thou shalt certainly have it Do not men seek to serve and oblige great persons expecting to be by them gratified are they not ambitious to wait upon Princes in regard of an honourable stipend and why should I not count it the greatest Honour and preferment to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the salary he pays his servants is infinitely greater than any the greatest Monarch can give they oftentimes cast off with disgrace their most faithful officers my Lord is so far from so doing that he bears with the faults of his meanest servants and never turns out any that will live with him 'T is highly difficult to become a Prince his favorite many spend their time their wealth and themselves and never can get the least share in his affections but I am sure my heavenly Master loveth me I know it by what he hath done by what he daily doth and by what he hath declared he would do for me Although he hath bought me and so might well require the utmost I can do without any reward yet he hires me and gives me more infinitely more than I can earn or claim I will therefore be diligent faithful and zealous in fulfilling the work he hath appointed me I will often say to my self I am a servant and a lover of JESUS a servant and a lover of the Blessed JESUS I will every morning consider what can I do this day of what my Lord hath commanded me what duties of sobriety righteousness or godliness can I discharge to make it appear that JESUS is the Master I own and obey None of us liveth to himself and no man dies to himself for whether we live we live unto the Lord or whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lords for to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living CHAP. IX Meditation to excite us to a sincere and fervent love O MY Soul whither canst thou fly for to be secure and at rest thou dost converse with snares and temptations thou art taken up with cares and concerns that come to nothing whither canst thou retire to be free from dangers what place of leisure canst thou find wherein thou maist secure thy duty and thy happiness The Love of JESUS must be thy refuge thy Claustrum Animae a Cloister or shelter for thee to dwell in and be safe Thither retire under the banner of love Cant. 2.4 and there thou shalt want neither protection nor encouragement Ye that love the Lord hate evil he preserveth the Souls of his Saints he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked Light is sown for the Righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.10 Consider what love hath done for thee and thou shalt easily believe that it can do much upon thee Love like active fire Omne agens omne amans vult sibi passum amatum assimilare turns all things into its likeness It vested the most perfect God with thy flesh and infirmities Because resemblance begets love Ne etiam similitudo deesset amori ecce immortalis mortalis factus est God would become like thee that thou mightest love him And if thou wilt entertain and follow the Love of JESUS it will make the become like him if thou wilt walk in love as he walked Eph. 5.2 it will make thee easily follow his footsteps and arrive to his perfect happiness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Rom. Behold how great how wonderful a thing is Love Its power and perfection can not be uttered we want words for to express them In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him 1 John 4.9 He made thee with a word Qui te totum semel dicendo fecit in reficiendo dixit multa pertulit dura Bern. but to save thee he wrought many wonders and suffered many pains The Jews when they saw him weep for dead Lazarus behold said they how he loved him when thou seest him shed not only tears but his bloud also dying that thou maist live wilt thou not say behold how he loved me and then my soul what canst thou do but return love for love It is easie and it is profitable and it affords the greatest of pleasures to love him who thus loved thee If by a hearty sincere love thou canst dwell in the bosom and approach the heart of thy dearest Lord there thou shalt find the sweetest rest the purest joy the best of instructions and the greatest helps and incouragements to perfect holiness till thy happiness be perfect If with an unfeigned
affection thou canst daily repeat these few words which have been frequently in the mouth of some devout persons I love thee dear JESUS I love thee dear JESUS thou hast learned that which will teach thee both to live and die well Then thou wilt value nothing not life it self but so far as it is subservient to love and thou shalt be so far from being afraid of death that thou shalt wish with a primitive Saint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God in S. Basil it were in thy power to die many times for JESUS A devout love for him will make thee find that true peace and satisfaction which the world with endless labour vainly seeks in earthly enjoyments It will make thee say but without fear of change or disappointment with the rich man in the Gospel Soul eat and drink be merry take thine ease thou hast much goods laid up for many years Luk. 12. yea for eternity Worldly men as though they had a dropsie the more they drink out of their broken Cisterns the more they thirst the more unsatisfied they remain but they that love and fear God lack nothing they drink living waters out of that fountain which is never drie they have him in their souls with whom true peace and felicity is ever enjoyed O fortunanatissime cui quod amas domi est O happy soul that art possest of that which thou lovest thou hast enough at home to make thee intirely happy without ever seeking abroad O my soul entertain that blessed guest which instead of being chargeable will discharge thee of all thy wants and fears and troublesome burthens Love will strengthen thee against temptations Poterant leges delicta punire cons ientiam munire non poterant Lact. and secure thee from sin It will deliver thee from the terrors and bondage of the Law and bring thee to the rest Brevis differentia inter legem Evangelium timor amor Aug. and freedom of the Gospel-yoke As it self grows on towards perfection So will it still increase thy hapiness till its consummation But my Soul suffer not thy love to be fantastick and to spend it self in thoughts and wishes the expressions of love are obedience and submission with a devout life Whoso keepeth his word in him is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him 1 John 2.5 Princes have many flatterers and but a few friends JESUS also hath many pretenders and but a few lovers Multitudes will wait upon him in Mount Gerizim to receive his blessing in Sinai where he gives his Law he hath but a few attendants and fewer yet in Golgotha where he himself suffers and calls us to take up his Cross Therefore my Soul by obedience self-denial and an humble patience justifie the sincerity of thy love and protestations Follow now thy Saviour by love and a sincere imitation and thou shalt certainly come to see his face and to dwell with him in glory for where he is there shall his servant be John 12.26 They that be faithful in love shall abide with him Wisd 3.9 CHAP. IX Christianity absolutely requires our love and strictest obedience THis double duty of dying unto sin and living unto righteousness abstaining from that which is evil and doing that which is good I am obliged to perform by strong and indispensable obligations If I do not I certainly perish When we say in common speaking that we do things out of love we mean that we are free and may chuse whether we do them or no we are not bound to it but here all along where I undertake to discharge the duties of Religion out of love I do not in the least mean so I acknowledge my self under the greatest necessity of discharging my Baptismal Vow of living according to the Gospel Rule otherwise my neglect of 〈◊〉 would be my ruine I should perish in my disobedience Love it self is a duty the first and greatest commandment thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Mat. 22.37 I recommend love therefore â—s the noblest the most powerful moâ—ive to a religious obedience Meliores quos dirigit amor plures quos corrigit timor Aug. as that which makes our duty easie and pleasant and gives a value to what we do or suffer â—or God I know there is those who teach that by our well doing we must not seek for salvation and that our obedience is not required to our justification but may be a mark or an effect of it faith having done the work before but this groundless and mischievous opinion is contradicted by thousands of plain express Scriptures He that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not is like the man that built his house upon the sand Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven If thou wilt enter life keep the Commandments and innumerable others with all those that affirm that God shall judge and reward every man according as his works have been No the holy Religion we profess requires a conformity betwixt the Holy JESUS and his followers that by a devout imitation we should copy his example that we should be fruitful in good works and by a sincere and universal obedience serve God all the days of our life For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a full recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation Heb. 2.2 3. by being disobedient to our Lord JESUS who having wrought and revealed it offers it to us on the condition of an affectionate obedience to his Gospel The earth which drinketh the rain that cometh upon it and beareth thorns and briers is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burnt such is their condition who receiving the heavenly dew of Divine Grace in their admission into and profession of Christianity yet still remain barren or bring forth evil fruit But beloved saith the Apostle we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name and we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end Heb. 6. 7 c. He says not we desire that you may be confident and perswaded of your salvation but that by love and diligent obedience ye may ascertain your hope make your calling and election sure as S. Peter speaks 1 Pet. 1.10 for indeed God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether We wake or sleep we should live together with him 1 Thes 5.9.10 in holiness of life worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called Ephes 4.1 for we
be in the second place to be intent upon that and to do it well In what appears before the world commonly men put a varnish upon their actions and their behaviour when oftentimes at home they are loose tyranical and unjust But act in private and every where tanquam sub alicujus boni viri ac semper praesentis oculis said Seneca as always in the sight of God in the most publick view For your actions at home in your closet and in your family are noted and registred before God and 't is by the doing them well that you advance forward towards perfection and glory Hoc age hoc age was often cryed by a herald whilst the heathen worshipped their Gods Mind your business mind that you are about That we must do in all actions even them that relate only to this life diligently and faithfully to do them as well as we can The praise of an actor on the stage of this world is to act his part well and decently whatever it be and that must be our care to be just and exact in being a good servant or master artist or whatever it be In so being consists our perfection and the demonstration of our love to God So likewise in things that pertain to a better life when you pray read or meditate do it with a serious attention and the greatest application your mind is capable of Do it as if you were now to die and that were the last thing you shall ever do for God and for your own soul for if you be in haste in a hurry and in a distraction you wholly lose your time and your reward It is storied in some of the legends that at prayers S. Bernard saw divers Angels noting down the behaviour of the assistants some in golden letters some in ink and some in water only according to the devotion or negligence of them that prayed Though the relation looks much like a fable yet there is this truth in it that they certainly weary themselves to no purpose who serve God without attention and without fervour and do the business of their soul in a careless and trifling way As Mathematicians consider an abstract quantity not regarding whether of Gold or clay so it is not so much the matter of our actions as the manner of doing them that most recommends them to God and makes them expressions of our love to JESUS As for the second Rule of bearing patiently what ever happens It must be also extended to the meanest sorrows and vexations In all things let us be content that Gods will should take place Let us carefully secure our duty and afterwards let us care for no more leave the event to God and let him chuse for us It is to no purpose to resolve to bear evenly great calamities which perhaps shall never happen to gather a stock of patience against violent persecutions and the flames of martyrdom and mean while to be fretful and angry for every loss and trifling accident that crosseth our humour This is but self deceit and an imaginary patience stoutly to resolve upon great evils when they are far off and yield to lesser when present We are rather to remember the words of our Blessed Lord to take up our cross daily and follow him The word daily imports that the evils of every day are to be born with patience and a composed mind And that the wrongs and vexations we meet withall in our intercourse with others as well as great calamitie are our own proper cross which our Christian profession and love to JESUS obligeth us to bear and submit to When a rough-hewn plank is to be join◠to one that is even it must be plained and made smooth by great or smaller strokes at the workmans discretion our deform soul or crooked will is to be close united to God who is most equal and perfect therein consists our happiness we must therefore let him who is pleased to undertake that work polish and rectifie our soul and make them conformable to his blessed will by what means he pleaseth by great or lesser blows according as he knows to be expedient Let us follow the Prince of sufferings by love and imitation cheerfully bearing our cross whatever it be mindful of this profitable advice of the son of Sirach My son if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy soul for temptation set thy heart aright and constantly endure and make not haste in time of trouble Whatsoever is brought unto thee take cheerfully and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate They that fear the Lord will not disobey his word and they that love him will keep his ways CHAP. XVIII Some more particular directions how to order our lives by the love of JESVS FROM the happy and safe cloister of love wherein thou art entred look not abroad upon that world that lies in wickedness Follow not the multitude to do evil for men take hand in hand Vae tibi slumen moris humani Aug. and betray one another to folly and ruine Gods benefits are lost upon the major part of them they have no sense of the divine mercies ungratitude is their proper character and their greatest guilt Rarae fumant felicibus arae all might easily be happy if they would love and be thankful Read the lives of primitive Saints and consider them that are now truly religious and good men Converse with them and with them learn to spend thy time carefully and well Time is short and precious spend it upon that that will turn to account when time shall be no more It leads to an endless eternity and it is given thee to make that eternity infinite in happiness as in duration Indulge not then to idleness for it will bring temptations upon thee and make them prevailing Labour watchfulness and prayer make us victorious over sin and win the incorruptible crown Use all means whereby thou maist be advanced in thy way to heaven thou canst never work out thy salvation with too much care and diligence 'T is good to make sure work in so great a concern Malo cautior esse quam fortior fortis enim saepe captus est cautus rarissime for multitudes perish through carelesness and presumption and the way to eternal life is streight and narrow But in the use of such means as I recommend take heed of deceiving thy self and resting in outward observations making that the end which is only a way to lead thee to vertue Thou maist carry thy Bible about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and read the Gospel and yet not be a good Christian Thou maist go up to the Temple to pray fast and give alms and profess the greatest strictness with the Pharisee Non Hierosolymis fuisse sed Hierosolymis bene vixisse laudandum Hieron and yet still be an hypocrite except thou dost truly love God Love therefore and often think that thou shalt die for that
disappear or else make it a paradise for him Though the relation may be fabulous yet I believe the thing it self is true he that is joined to God by love and so possest of him who is the fountain of all joy and bliss it is not possible he can be miserable despair the hell of the damned can never seize his soul However I am confident that the love of God would sweeten all the bitterness of our innocent miseries and that it is only the imperfection of a Christians love that exposeth his mind to the vexation of humane sorrows I am not to my grief a competent witness to this truth but there have been many Saints and devout persons who in the fervency of their love to God have found those joys those ravishments of joy which are ineffable Nihil crus sentit in nervo dum animus est in Coelo and which made them in some manner insensible and incapable of any great sorrow And even the lesser love of more imperfect though sincere Christians doth in a great measure take away the sense of humane calamities and brings to their minds the greatest contentment and delight this world is capable of A mans heart is more where it loves than where it lives Magis est ubi amat quam ubi animat he that loveth dwelleth in God and God in him 1 John 4.16 and what greater Deus Charitas est quid pretiosius qui manet in Charitate in Deo manet quid securius Deus in eo quid jucundius Bern. what more excellent bliss can we imagine or desire what stronger expression could one find to express the highest felicities to dwell in God! to be swallowed up in an abyss of infinite goodness to be overwhelmed in the immensity of Divine Joys and perfection as an atom in the air as a drop of water in the Ocean so so he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God Nothing can better represent those transcendent and delicious raptures wherewith the soul is inebriated and raised above it self Extasim facit amor amatores suo statu demovet sui juris esse non sinit Dionys de divin nom This was it made the Holy Martyrs shout and rejoyce in the midst of the flames they dwelt in God no sorrow no harm could approach them Happy are they that can say with S. Paul Our life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 and I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 The love of God fits us for the joys of heaven and is an anticipation of them it powerfullly governs the will and it sweetly overflows the mind it is the perfection of grace and will be the consummation of glory but 't is much easier and happier to feel than to express it How much better is thy love than wine and the smell of thine ointment than all spices Cant. 4.10 One thing that adds much to the worth and the pleasure of Divine Love is that it never fails it is of the nature of its object eternal as God is whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away but charity never faileth 1 Cor. 13.8 Faith and hope may accompany us as far as heaven-gate but there they for sake us the one is turned into sight and the other into enjoyment love alone enters and abides with us to eternity Our greatest safety therefore as well as pleasure consists in loving God affectionately for that love which never faileth secures our duty here and our happiness hereafter We are sure never to live and never to perish in sin if we love JESUS sincerely He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and there neither sin nor misery can come to hurt him Quid refert natura esse quod potes effici voluntate Chrys What matters it then to be by nature what we may be by choice and affection If of our selves we are not holy and happy we may be so by love the love of God will transform us into his nature and make us partakers of his holiness and happiness Love kills us in our selves that we may live in God Occidit quod fuimus ut simus quod non eramus Aug. It maketh such a change in us that we are no longer what we were as to the sinfulness and wretchedness of our condition Mandato novo facit hominem novum homines amando Deum dii efficiuntur Aug. The New Commandment maketh the New Creature men become Gods by loving God Love considers and dischargeth all the duties of Religion it allows of no omission nor transgression Love is the fulfilling of the law this is love that we keep his Commandments 2 John 6. Ille sancte juste agit qui sanctam habet dilectionem Aug. He is a Holy Man whose love is holy Non faciunt bonos vel malos mores nisi boni vel mali amores Aug. for love having the rule and direction of all mans passions and affections they become either good or bad according to the nature of what they love Therefore to know whether a man be vertuous or no we inquire not what his condition is or what are his parts and learning but what he delights in what he loves for if he loves the world and himself he is certainly vain and vicious but if he loves God he is pious and good and of a certainty he can never perish If natural love be so powerful and active as we know it is how much more when it is set upon God and by him assisted This therefore doth greatly manifest how secure and well guarded they are that love God in that their holy love masters and mortifies their unholy affections What is it that hurries men to sin and hell and destruction but their masterless and unruly passion now love can not only subdue them but even makes them useful and subservient to vertue the love of God sanctifies all passions and makes them serviceable If it cannot make him meek who is of an angry nature it will make him angry against sin and against himself a sinner if it doth not make him bold and generous whose temper inclines him to timorousness it will turn his fear into prudence and make him not dare to offend God if it makes him not cheerful who naturally is melancholy it will turn his sadness into penitent sorrow and make him a blessed mourner And so all other passions love will make them instruments of vertue Amor ubi venerit caeteros in se traducit captivat affectus S. Bern. or occasions of a greater reward that is it will either fight and conquer them or else put them to a good use Love is obeyed wherever it appears and Divine Love is irresistible it overcomes all difficulties nay Nomen difficultatis erubescit it scorns the name of difficulty saith S. Augustine it is as strong and
victorious as death Happy and safe are they that love JESUS Charitas est donum Dei quo nullum est excellentius solum est quod dividit inter filios regni aeterni filios perditionis Aug. de Trin. lib. 15. cap. 18. for that love it is makes the difference betwixt sincere and false Christians betwixt those that shall be heirs of salvation and those that shall go to perdition betwixt heaven and hell Many priviledges may belong to the tares while they grow in the same field with the wheat many Sun-shiny days they may have and many drops of dew and rain may fall upon them but they are not rooted and grounded in love therefore they are plucked up and withered and burned Many gifts of the Divine Spirit wicked men may receive they may prophesie and do miracles in Christs name they may excel in some vertues but the grace of Charity they never receive the love of God never dwells in their hearts Habere Baptismum malus esse poâ—es habere c. Tract 7. in Epist Johan Thou maist be Baptized saith S. Aug. and yet not be good thou maist have knowledge and remain vicious thou maist be called a Christian and be none but thou canst not love God and be wicked thou canst not love God but thou must be holy and happy Thus we see love affords the greatest pleasure and the greatest safety this world is capable of The love of JESUS is a precious jewel precious beyond gold and the best of pearls Charitas est amor rerum quas nonnisi volentes amittimus Aug. he that hath it hath an infinite treasure and it is so much the more to be valued because we may acquiesce in its possession we can never lose it except we will We may lose our riches and we may lose our health we may lose our learning and our eloquence we may lose our friends and our lives but the love of God we can never lose without our consent no time no fortune Verum bonum illud est quod non potes invitus amittere Aug. no Tyrant can snatch it by force out of our hearts as 't is never given against our will so against our will it can never be taken away Charity never faileth Quinquagesima Sunday O Lord who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity the very bond of peace and of all vertues without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee grant this for thine only Son JESUS Christs sake Amen CHAP. XXIV That love brings the most lasting joy and satisfaction to the soul THE fourth and last consideration is that the love of God is the solid joy and lasting Tranquillity of the Soul No tormenting fear or sadness can harbour in a heart that loves God the Motto of love might well be that of a late order of Knighthood at Mantua meant of the Holy Chalice Nihil isto triste recepto grief and the love of God are incompatible no sadness should enter that breast wherein dwells Divine Love I need not treat at large of those many doubts and terrors concerning future happiness which grieve and almost distract the hearts of many Christians to prove that it is a happy thing to be freed from them there are few but are so far acquainted with them as readily to assent to it it will be more to purpose to shew that the love of God is the best remedy againâ—â— them the best balsam to heal a woundâ—â— spirit Some persons from their povertâ— bodily pains or other afflictions draw thâ—â— most afflictive inference that God is noâ— their friend and that therefore their coâ—dition is dangerous and very bad if noâ— quite desperate and this adds such weight to their cross that they have a strength to bear it but are ready to sink whereas the love of God hath enableâ— thousands to bear a heavier with patiencâ— with fortitude and even with cheerfulnesâ— I take pleasure in infirmities and distresses and necessities for Christs sake said S. Pauâ— that great lover of JESUS He thâ—â— would suffer for God will suffer from God he that would die and be crucified for JESUS will willingly bear that cross whicâ— JESUS lays upon his shoulders Anâ— indeed 't is a greater vertue meekly anâ— thankfully to accept of that correctioâ— wherewith God visits us than voluntarilâ— to inflict the greatest sufferings on ouâ— selves what proceeds from God is eveâ— best for us and most pleasing to him No Patient will question the love of that Physician who is his intimate friend for that he makes incisions and applies causticks upon him and makes him drink bitter potions all this he takes to be for his own good as proceeding from his friends affection after this manner he that loves God will receive afflictions from him and gratefully acknowledge with David I know that of very faithfulness thou hast caused me to be â—roubled Knowing that all things work togeâ—her for the good of them that love God he will harbour no thoughts of diffidence nor question Gods loving kindness to him but rests satisfied that while he loves God nothing can hurt him and that whatever happens is certainly for his greater advantage But 't is not always the storms of adversity that bring those dark and dismal clouds on the minds of men they come sometimes in fair weather in the greatest prosperity Whence 't is in vain to examine better it is to drive them away for they are as mischievous as black They cast a damp upon mens spirits and freeze their hearts in such a manner that they can receive no spiritual joy they so weaken their hands and feet that they can hardly work for God or walk in his ways so that their condition is sad indeed not because God is their enemy but because they being unreasonably afraid of it are thereby hindred from being his friends To this evil none can prescribe a better remedy than love let such persons love God heartily and all these terrors will vanish way like the vain images of a terrible dream when one awaketh Love begets love therefore we should love God becaâ—â—e he first loved us and love begets a confideâ—â—e of being loved again so that if we love Gâ—d we shall not long doubt but that we are â—â—ved by him and then all is well Anâ—â—f at first our hearts do not melt into devâ—â—â— affections and are not replenished with â—â—e sweetness and comfort of love let us not 〈◊〉 dismayed at it nor too much study our oâ—â— disturbed thoughts and apprehensions 〈◊〉 let us continue to give God demonstratiâ—â—â— of love to abstain from what he forbiâ—â— and to do that which he commands or 〈◊〉 which will please him though uncommaâ—â—ed and then either holy joys and extaâ—â—â—s will come or it will be as well without thâ—â— No man is afraid of his friends nor
be offered to him now that sacred fire must have fewel to entertain it it must be nourished by reading good books and especially by frequent and pious meditations Wherefore I have endeavoured as much as I could to feed those holy flames by representing things as they are and I would have every Christian seriously and often to consider what God is what he hath done what he doth and what he will do for us if we love him sincerely as also what we are whence we come whither we go and how easie it is for us to be eternally happy if we will set our affections upon God who deserves them so infinitely Doubtless inconsideration is the cause why God is not loved It is not possible men could resist the charms of his love if they would open the eys of their mind and of their faith to view them But how few is there that mind attentively their obligations to love God how few that seriously ponder how much it is their duty and their interest to love him heartily who is infinitely lovely in himself and infinitely good to us or rather how fully is the prophesie fulfilled Iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold Mat. 24.12 To how many Christians might our Blessed Saviour now say as once to the Jews I know you that you have not the love of God in you John 5.42 How justly might now S. Paul complain all men seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ's Phil. 2.21 And how justly might our Blessed Lord the great lover of men complain in the words of his Apostle I will gladly spend and be spent for you or rather I have gladly spent and been spent for you though the more abundantly I love you the less I be loved 2 Cor. 12.15 This want of Divine Charity is a very sad and general evil amongst us Christians in these worst of times and I have observed that even amongst them that hope for heaven the major part go no farther in their love than only to desire pardon and salvation without seeking to make any returns suitable to those undeserved and incomprehensible mercies Against so much stupidity and ingratitude I have opposed the following Treatise of Divine Love or the Love of JESUS which I hope will help to reinkindle or at least stir up the holy fire in some Christian souls by the argument it self if by no other means Whilest my Reader fixeth his mind on this most excellent and delightful subject his own thoughts will improve my considerations and many better may be suggested to him And if any ways I can occasion his spiritual advantage and the glory of my Blessed Lord I have attained my aim And now have no more to say by way of Preface but that if I have been so unhappy as to write any thing contrary to the Doctrine of the Church I disown and retract it before hand and would blot it out with my blood as for particular persons who may find fault with any thing herein I desire them to pass it by It matters not much if they like not every passage and expression if they do but follow what they judge to be good and approve my design and love Jesus with all their hearts it will be enough for their profit and my satisfaction He that loveth not knows not God for God is Love 1 John 4.9 THE Reformed Monastery Or the Love of JESUS The Introduction IT were as easie to find out the bottomless depth of the inexhaustible fountain of the Divine Bounty as to tell the Streams which run from it Gods mercies are over all his works and all things that are made are a demonstration as much of his goodness as of his being I will not therefore undertake to number what is innumerable or to express what we cannot so much as comprehend but only insist briefly upon some of the most general benefits of God to mankind and in the representing of them endeavour to make us read our duty and to inflame our hearts with love CHAP. I. Of the general Benefits of God to mankind and first of Creation 1. IT is God that hath made us and not we our selves we owe him our very being thine hands have made and fashioned me saith David thine eyes did see my substance being yet imperfect and in thy book were all my members written Psal 119.73 Let us say therefore with the same Prophet I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psal 134.16 and let us with him fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker You know that by the Laws of God and of all Nations there is an indispensable obligation upon all children to love and honour their Parents because they brought them into the world now certainly the obligation doubles upon every man in respect to his Father which is in heaven for our natural parents were but second causes under him his own power it was that form'd and created us they engendred our mortal bodies only he is the Father of spirits he himself gave being to our immortal souls Therefore let every man pay to his Maker those duties he would expect from his child If I am a Father saith God where is mine honour Mal. 1.6 If from our heavenly Father we have received our life and being let us pay that respect and love and obedience to him which thereby are become his due But there is yet more in this Creation is not a transient act the same power that once gave us our being doth still exert it self in the continuation thereof When a child is born he subsists by himself his parents need not take aay care that he returns not to his pristine condition but we have the same dependance upon God in our preservation as we had in our creation should he withdraw his Almighty hand we should return to our first nothing in him we live and move and have our being Therefore we are the more bound to serve and love him that he not only made us to be but gives us as it were a new being every moment by continuing our life and durati n by that Almighty will whereby he effected our first production Now if we consider further not onely that God made us but what he made us it will yet inforce those bonds of duty which Creation tied upon us For it was in our Makers power either to make us vile and abject as the vilest of beasts or to deny us those faculties and abilities which are most honourable and most useful to our nature but he made us Men the most wonderful of his creatures in us he joyned what heaven and earth had most excellent an immortal Spirit created after his image with the most elaborated the most perfect of material things Take a view of the marvellous organs of thy senses of the curious contrivance of those joints and ligaments which unite thy several members of those various and delicate channels which
more because his debt is also forgiven and yet he is freed from that trouble and sorrow which his fellow debtor underwent Why then thy gracious Redeemer by saving thee from the horrors and torments of Hell hath laid on thee at least as great obligations to love him as if he had brought thee out of it after thou hadst been long detained therein Therefore I desire thou wouldst bring thy thoughts back again to that unpleasant abode and consider thy self as if thou were shut up in that dismal dungeon and then express what thou wouldst give to be releast what thou wouldst do for him that should bring thee out of that horrible and bottomless pit I know that they that are afflicted with sharp pains and grievous sicknesses would purchase health with all the wealth they have and I believe no reward would hire a man to hold his hand in the fire but for one hours time therefore I doubt not but that if it were in a mans power he would give this and a thousand more worlds to be brought out of an ever burning furnace and I am perswaded that if thou wilt suffer thy fancy to be active in framing the black and dreadful scene of hellish horrors about thee thou wilt then heartily say Were I owner of the whole universe I would joyfully give it to come out of these ever-burning flames which torment my body and to be freed from this never dying worm the remorses of my guilty conscience which torture my soul but because I have nothing freely would I give my self to him that should bring me out of this woful place O I would follow him any where do any thing that he should command me imbrace his feet kiss the ground they tread on and give him all the demonstrations of a sincere and passionate Love Well thy petition is granted before 't was presented the Love and Mercy of JESUS hath prevented thy request and distress Now make good thy vows and resolutions Love and Serve JESUS thy Redeemer and give thy self up wholly to him I know that many may be good Christians without being snatcht out of the fire without these terrors and affrightments but I am shewing what our condition had been without a Saviour what is that gulf of perdition whence JESUS hath saved us if we will be saved by him and I mention these affrighting truths to perswade men to be motives of an active and a vehement Love For 't is too observable that few men seriously consider what Redemption means what it was we were redeemed from else they could not be so indevout so disobedient so unthankful to their Saviour S. Paul supposing as I do here that without Christ we were already dead and perisht makes it the reason of that Constraining Love which enabled him and other Primitive Christians to suffer so patiently and act so zealously for JESUS The love of Christ saith he constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead as if he should say we were certainly dead irrecoverably lost had not Christ died to purchase life and salvation for us therefore we cannot chuse but love him and it is no wonder if that love be strong and if we are governed and acted by it That thou maist therefore love affectionately and live religiously consider seriously that death the misery of that condition wherein thou wert and ever must have been hadst thou not a JESUS a merciful Saviour and Redeemer I might add that we were delivered from the power and slavery as well as from the condemnation of sin but this is included in the other it being impossible to be saved from the wrath to come without bringing forth fruits meet for repentance and as it is mercy and grace on Gods part so on ours it is matter of duty and earnest indeavour and must be the result and effect of our love first that we offend not and then that we serve diligently and faithfully him that redeemed us from our vain conversation and gave himself for us that we being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness CHAP. VI. How graciously and wonderfully we were redeemed A Further ingagement to love and obey will be to consider the manner how our redemption was effected and the price that was paid for it thus The Blessed Son of God the Second Person of the Ever glorious Trinity undertook that work himself which none else could perform for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man In this act of his miracles and mercies seem to vie one with another In praesepe jacet sed mundum continet ubera sugit sed angelos pascit Aug. Ser. de purific 2. that the God of eternity should be born in time that the Creator of all things should be the Son of a Creature that the most highest should abase himself to the low condition of a servant that God should become an infant is a miracle of Love which we can admire and adore but never fully comprehend The greatness of God is unsearchable his excellencies and perfections are incomprehensible he is infinitely good powerful wise and holy Man contrariwise is in himself wicked and weak ignorant impure and miserable there is so great a disproportion betwixt God and man so wide so immense a distance Haec est mensura amoris non solum quantum fecit nos quanta fecit pro nobis sed quantillus factus est pro nobis that nothing less than an infinite love could have filled up the gulf betwixt those two so different natures and united them into one person 'T was never seen that a shepherd would creep upon all four and cover himself with a sheep skin to call his flock out of danger and to expose himself for it but the good shepherd did much more When he came to lay down his life for his lost and wandering sheep and gather them into his fold he took on him not only the likeness but the very nature of them he became the Lamb of God that he might be the shepherd of mankind Though he was infinitely more above man then men are above beasts yet he became the Son of man that he might become the Saviour of men 'T was never seen that a Sovereign Prince would seek to reduce to loyalty the most abject of his rebellious subjects by mixing blooud with them uniting their families together but behold the Supreme Monarch of heaven and earth contracts a near affinity with his ungrateful rebels who are as vile and miserable as they are criminal that he may free them from their guilt and win them to their duty and their happiness Proud and wretched sinner thou wouldst be so far from entring into the kindred of meaner persons those that are much thine inferiors that thou canst hardly endure to be in their company and behold the most Glorious and Holy
united to God therefore in our holding Communion with the Church we are commanded to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Ephes 4.3 and we are taught that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us Rom 5.5 and that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost are all one 2 Cor. 13.14 so that to come to the highest pitch and finish the elogium of love we we may say with S. John that God is love and then we have said all God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 Joh. 4.16 that is God is an abyss of love and goodness by love he gives himself to us and by love we give up our selves to him and are transformed into him Wonder not therefore if the effects of love are so glorious and wonderful Deus charitas est brevis laus sed magna laus brevis in ser none magna in intellectu c. Aug. Tract 9. in Ep. Johan when it proceeds immediately from God and is the communication of himself to us when it is the grace of Jesus Christ and the most precious gift of the Divine Spirit when it is the Sanctification of our natures and the bettering and perfecting of the noblest of humane affections natural love that powerful passion whereby all things and all men are governed CHAP. XX. That love always pursues what it thinks good and is never satisfied till it hath obtained it THough the properties of love in general be better known by experience than they can be by discourse Ineffabilem prorsus ego sentio amorem Dei qui sentiri magis quam dici posset Basil yet it may serve to good purpose to say something of them the first whereof is that love always embraceth what is good either in truth or appearance for Mans inclinations are still the same as they were in the state of innocence though much depraved we still pursue after what we think will make us happy only we mistake Like the bramble in the fable which having lost a rich freight of the finest silks and now takes hold of the coarsest stuffs to recover its loss so have all men a secret sense that they are faln from a state of felicity and have lost a jewel of infinite value which still they esteem and love though they know it not and therefore now to recover the eminency of their first station they are climbing upon every molehil petty mountains of ambition to recover their lost jewel they pick up every pebble stone where they see a glimpse of beauty where they relish any thing of goodness there they set their love and affection as if that were the summum bonum which is but an imperfect shadow of it so that we are like an infortunate lover who being seized by a phrensy forgets and forsakes his Mistress and dotes on her picture We neglect God and fall in love with those things that have the least impress of his perfection and then like Idolaters we pay that worship to the work which is due to the maker only Therefore ought we to take great heed that we be not taken with every seeming beauty or goodness but that we examine whether that be the thing which will make us intirely happy and beyond which we shall wish for nothing For if it be not we must pass it by and seek further and never rest nor set our hearts on any thing till we have found that true and perfect good most obvious and easie to be found which being loved will be certainly possest and being possest will make us perfectly happy and that is God alone It is the meditation of S. Augustine Thou maist seek after honours and not obtain them thou maist labour for riches and remain poor thou maist dote on pleasures Amaturus honorem forte non perventurus quis me amavit non ad me pervenit quisquis me quaerit cum ipso sum c. Tract 10. in Ep. Johan and have many sorrows but our God the Supreme Goodness saith Who ever sought me and found me not who ever desired me and obtained me not who ever loved me and mist of me I am with him that seeks for me he hath me already that wisheth for me and he that loveth me is sure of me the way to come to me is neither long nor difficult love makes me present to every lover A second property of love is that it never rests and is never satisfied until it be possest of the beloved object This makes abused worldlings so busie so perpetually restless and active about the purchase of their beloved vanities and this makes devout Christians like S. Paul Phil. 3. never to count themselves to have apprehended but forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forth to those that are before to press forward towards the mark the price of their high calling the object of their love and most passionate desires This restlessness and activity of love found work enough for the Fathers of the Desarts whose indefatigable pains to mortifie their sinful appetites whose unwearied diligence to serve God whose swift and violent motion heaven-ward is the object of our wonder and upbraids our sloth and negligence They were almost wholly freed from the necessities of the body which is the endless task and work of other men and yet they were always employed they had almost nothing to do and yet were never idle the love of Eternity the love of JESUS kept them in action they dwelt in peace and yet were never at rest Our heart which is the seat of love can never be quiet till it returns within Gods embraces till it be possest of that infinite good which all men love though but a few know it See the several plots and undertakings of men in the world 't is love sets them at work 't is to obtain what their blind affections run after that they are so assiduous and so laborious See the prayers and pious exercises the self-denials and mortifications the manifold acts of charity and the great patience of Christians in the Church 't is love also hath set them their task and makes them so diligent so watchful till they have fulfilled it We sometimes wipe the tears from our eyes and our sorrows admit of joyful intervals our anger doth not last always and sometimes hatred is asleep but love like the heart wherein it dwells can never cease to act and move till it ceaseth to be Habet omnis amor vim suam nec potest vacare amor in anima amantis Aug. where ever love is it shews its life and power and is always doing CHAP. XXI That Love is strong and effective and sweetens all labours IN the third place as love is active so it is effective it doth not spend it self in useless
is now crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed that hencenceforth we should not serve sin Rom. 6. and S. Peter likewise makes it the purpose why Christ did hear our sins their punishment on his own body on the tree that we thereby being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 Christ gave himself fo us that he might redeem us from this present evil world Gal. 1.4 The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 John 3.8 Sin is that which God hates above all things sin is that which is most contrary to his nature and to our happiness and so JESUS was crucified that sin might be destroyed he died that sin might live no longer and therefore I renounced all sin the Devil and all his works when JESUS owned me for his friend and I owned him for my Lord and Master they are incompatible their inconsistency is irreconcilable If I hold to the one I must despise the other if I love one I must hate the other I will therefore as I am most bound and as I have promised forsake sin and follow JESUS I will fight against his enemies and side with him against my own corrupt affections while I have a being I will love and obey JESUS CHAP. XXIV Of outward helps and instruments of love and obedience NOw to effect these good resolutions we must use means to bring our hears to a devout and Religious Temper and so to keep them It will not suffice that we intend well except we perform We may soon be diverted from our best designs either by temptations or by the interruption of worldly business Therefore the revolutions of time which bring on us the snares and disturbances of this life must also bring with them the frequent returns of our pious excercises and Christian duties We must often recollect our thoughts and listen to the Divine Love of our Blessed JESUS We must entertain our Souls with him renew our religious purposes and call to mind those special considerations which use to affect us most of all We must often resort to those fountains of Grace which God hath opened to his Church in his publick Worship and the several dispensations of his Word and Sacraments by his Ministers To these we must be sure to add Fastings Alms and Prayers than which we can do nothing more acceptable to God nothing that can better declare how much we love him and how heartily we devote to him our bodies souls and estates All these are not only means but duties of Religion also not to be omitted upon any pretence whatever But now the following have more of indifferency less of necessity in them but yet may have a good influence upon the inner man may move our affections and declare or increase our devotion and our sincerity Such are the constant reading of good Books set times of meditation and mental prayer the enjoyning to our selves a strict silence for some convenient time to bridle our tongue and so to use it to discipline and as it were to unsay and retract inwardly by hearty repentance what we have said amiss Sometimes like Hezechiah to turn our selves to the wall to mourn in secret I mean to retire from the world and enter our closet there to confer with God and our own souls about Eternity and the way to a blessed one Every day or at least once a week to cast our eyes back and take an account of our lives especially of what we have done since our last examen that we may repent and rectifie our follies renew our good resolutions and increase our diligence and our care In our adorations and penitential prayers to cast our selve on the ground with the humblest prostration to hold our hands like criminals bound supplicating before their judge to look up to heaven to smite our breasts and so excite our zeal and contrition Some are much affected with watching with visible representations the sight of a dying man and such instructions and mementoes as enter the Soul by the eyes which being the quickest and most apprehensive sense we have Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures Quam quo sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus quae Ipse sibi tradit spectator conveys its objects to the mind with the greater force and makes the deeper impression Here in my first Edition I had mentioned the making on our selves the sign of the Cross which could not escape being taxt of Popery by some that call by that name every thing they dislike I should not be much concerned at the charge but that I find Popery is made a thing too ancient and too innocent and so mistaken It hath indeed abused that primitive Ceremony and made it subservient to superstition but the right use of it is not therefore unlawful Those zealous and holy Christians in the first ages who frequently signed themselves with that Sacred Sign intended it as a tacit invocation of the name of Christ as an outward profession that they owned him for their Lord and Saviour and as a signature to themselves that they were devoted to his service and ready to die for his sake I might produce and plead their reasons and example the Custom of our Church and its 30th Cannon but that I would perswade no man to a rite so indifferent If any will reiterate it on themselves where they give no offence to the same purpose as it was intended when they were made Christians In token that they will not be ashamed to profess the faith of Christ crucified c. I shall not condemn him and I shall in no wise quarrel with them that omit it If we sincerely love our Divine Master and are faithful and obedient to him it is no great matter what outward means and instruments we use But yet experience and the approbation of the best of men have recommended these I have now mentioned as many ways useful and profitable They and others of the like nature and Church ceremonies are said by Calvin to assist our infirmities to increase our devotion and to make Religion more solemn and more venerable Inst l. 4. c. 10. § 28. 31. So the great duties be secured these are indifferent and may vary according to circumstances but yet they are not useless nor totally to be rejected Those outward rites and actions have an influence upon our hearts they not only express our inward piety but they increase it Though they proceed from the affections Nescio quomodo cum hi motus corporis fieri nisi motu animi praecedente non possint iisdem rursus exterius visibiliter factis ille interior invisibilis qui eos fecit augeatur Aug. they re-act upon them as S. Augustine saith they augment that fervour which at first produced them And so said a Blessed Martyr of our Church that the true inward worship of God while we live in the Body needs external helps
and all little enough to keep it in any vigor These voluntary observations should not lead them to scruple or censoriousness that are pleased to use them and should not be clamoured against by others indiscreetly and uncharitably for in themselves they are adminicula pietatis handmaids to devotion and holy contrition And they that know themselves are sensible that they want all possible helps to stir them up and relieve their dulness When our understandings are convinced we have not quite done means must be used also to affect the fancy and to ingage the affections And he had need be very sure of his strength that refuseth the assistance of all auxiliaries CHAP. XXV A passionate Meditation on the Passion of our Blessed Saviour MY love is crucified said that loving and holy Martyr Ignatius declaring how earnestly he wished to die for JESUS and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 considering the passion of JESUS I meditate with him My love is crucified my dearest Saviour dies in most bitter pains he hath been rudely bound and drag'd from place to place he hath been stript tied to a post and whipt like a vile slave he hath been buffeted and caned and abused with all manner of contumelies and now I see him crowned with thorns all over spittle and blood I see him stretched upon the Cross where his hands and his feet are nailed his head hangs down I read in his pale face and his weeping eyes the extremity of his pain the anguish of his wounded soul Lord art thou he whom my soul loveth O Domine Jesu Christe si intelligentia quam mihi dedisti uti vellem sicut deberem cernerem manifeste quo modo â—â—o quam sine modo a me creatura tua amari merueris qui prior dilexisti me tantus tantum gratis tantillum talem ingratum Idiot art thou my dearest JESUS were it my father my brother my friend or my benefactor that should suffer this undeservedly how would I pity them but should they suffer this upon my account Lord I could not outlive such a sight if nothing else love would certainly wound my soul to death But behold it is so this crucified this dying man is my father he gave me my being he is my brother he came down from heaven and took humane flesh that he might have that relation to me he is my friend he lays down his life to save mine he is my greatest benefactor from him I receive all I have all the blessings the good things I enjoy I owe to his kindness But now my soul suppose that from his Cross thou shouldest hear him thus expressing his love and bespeaking thine Christian dearest Christian for whom here I die consider seriously imprint it it thine heart what in my words what in my mysteries thou readest of my suffering for thee consider who I am what I endure and to what end I am the eternal Son of God whom the Angels adore I became Man to make thee partaker of the Divine Nature I am infinitely rich the whole universe is mine I became thus destitute of all things to purchase true riches for thee I am of an Almighty Power the whole world was made and subsists by me I am now weak to make thee strong I am overcome of mine enemies to make thee conquer thine I am crowned with glory and clothed with Majesty I now were these thorns and am become naked to cloth thee with robes of righteousness and Crown thee with a Royal Diadem I am the inexhaustible fountain of joy and happiness I now indure sorrows and miseries to make thee joyful and happy I am infinitely pure and innocent I am become a sacrifice for sin to merit thy pardon and to sanctifie and make the holy I am the Author of life the first and the last I now die to make thee live for ever nothing but love moves me thus to suffer for thee and nothing but love I require for it Dearest soul thy sins are more grievous to me than my wounds Aspice serve Dei sic me posuere Judei Aspice mortalis pro te datur hostia talis Aspice devote quoniam sic pendeo pro te Introitum vitae reddo tibi redde mihi te In cruce sum pro te qui peccas desine pro me Desine do veniam dic culpam corrige vitam add not sorrow to my sorrow by remaining impenitent deny not this request to thy dying bleeding Saviour that thou wouldest mortifie thy lusts and forsake thy sins all that is past I heartily forgive if thou becomest true penitent I freely give my self for thee and beg that thou wouldst give thy self to me To this O my Soul with the greatest love and wonder thou maist thus reply What shall I say now dearest Lord Words cannot answer thee I am amazed I am astonished I know not how to speak my tongue cannot express what my heart feels Lord I will say nothing I will answer with sighs and tears with devout affections by resigning and giving up my body and soul to thee I will answer by obedience by actions by now falling to work to reform my life to mortifie my sinful lusts to cut off the members of the body of sin Sweetest JESU I will love thee with all the affections my heart can entertain no bosome sin shall be so dear to me but for thy sake I will heartily part with it no lust shall be so pleasing but I will kill it at thy request and command even my natural desires and inclinations will I gladly deny when they come in competition with that duty and love I owe and ever will pay my dearest JESUS Sweetest Lord it was I had deserved to be smitten to be covered with shame to be deprived of life and thou sufferest all these for me for me vile wretch for me my Lord was it for me O where shall I find such another friend or rather what shall I do to requite thy kindness and mercy I can give thee nothing but love and thanks and that will I do O my Blessed Lord who wast spet upon I humbly worship thee Thou wast reviled like a vile slave I praise thee and own my self thy servant The Jews refused thee for their King but thou art mine thou art my Blessed Master I care not what becomes of me here so I may come to bless and adore thee for ever Lord if there is a place where thou art not loved and magnified let me never come into it Assist me dearest Lord let no pleasure or pain no fear or hope no profit or loss no temptations within or without ever make me to offend thee O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous praise ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever O that I could but join with you to express worthily my thanks and gratitude O that all the world would join with me to praise and glorifie the Lord that died for us Blessed JESU cleanst
profitable in some cases absolutely necessary and always well pleasing to God They are instruments of Religion whereby our lusts are subdued the body kept under and the Spirit it self mortified They are marks of the sincerity of our sorrows and our regret to have offended God And they are testimonials of our love to JESUS and our earnest desire to secure our duty to him for the future All this is attested and proved true not only by holy Scripture and the injunctions of the Christian Church but also by the practice and experience of all devout persons affectionate lovers of the Blessed JESUS CHAP. XXX A short Meditation for penitential days REmember that Fasting and Alms are the two wings of Prayer and that all three must unite their strength to raise our heavy hearts from this earth and lift them up to the regions of Love All three together ascended as a memorial before God to plead for Cornelius And our Blessed Saviour in one Sermon Mat. 6. joined them all three and assigned to them one reward Thus therefore meditate O my Soul on thy days of humiliation My Blessed Lord I know that I have been too much addicted to sensual pleasures and now to speak my grief for it here I mourn and afflict my self judging my self unworthy even of those refreshments thou hast allowed me I have too much served Mammon and been too greedy of the world and now I devote all I have to thee giving this as an earnest that all I have is thine and that now I will use it for my self with more moderation and spend it on others with greater charity that thou maist be acknowledged and glorified for thy gracious gifts and I may speak my dependence on thee My heart hath been too far from thee and for my negligence in thy service thou mightst justly blot my name out of the list of thy Servants but here I return to thee with tears and prayers begging that still thou wouldst be my Lord and Master and I may be more faithful and active in waiting upon thee I pour out my soul before thee desiring it may evermore cleave unto thee most affectionately and that no creature whatever may ever be able to draw me from that love and duty I owe thee Lord had I offended any earthly Prince that had power on me in that grievous manner as I have offended thy Divine Majesty I should be loaded with irons cast into a dungeon and never admitted to see his face and to beg his pardon But thou givest me liberty and invitest me to plead for my self to come and prostrate my self at thy feet to implore thy mercy to retract my folly and shew how much I am grieved for it and if I am sincere in this I am assured of thy pardon and that thou wilt receive me to favour again Lord I beseech thee as it is written in thy Book that I have sinned so therein let it be registred that I truly repent that I judge and punish my self and indeavour what I can to undo and recall it again Let the penance I here perform my sighs and tears my prayers and bitter sorrows intitle me to the merits of thy precious blood let them stand on record that I may be justified at the last day to have been a true penitent that here the judgments I have deserved may be turned from me that having been here numbred among thy Servants who duly own thee before men I may hereafter be numbred among thy Saints in glory everlasting And Lord let my love to thee be proportionable to my sins and thy great mercies that I also may hear that blessed voice much is forgiven thee because thou lovedst much and I may go and sin no more CHAP. XXXI That repentance must loook forward to the securing of our duty for the time to come With instances and resolutions to that effect BUT one great half of repentance is yet behind that which is most to be attended to that which I must chiefly design in all acts of mortification is that I return no more to those sins for the which I grieve and afflict my self I must not only grieve that I have not forsaken those lusts and vanities I renounced when I became a Christian but I must now actually f rsake them and perform my vows Except I do this my repentance is vain and my love not sincere True contrition doth include love and love includes an hearty obedience But here lies the difficulty The occasions and inticements of sin will doubtless come again my thoughts will now always be fixt upon Divine Objects my mind will return to the world my passions will be disorderly and my appetite unruly again how shall I stand and resist and be safe in the time of danger in the hour of trial and temptation this I must do this I resolve to do devoutly to lift up my Soul to JESUS my Master and beg his assistance to remember my ingagements and my protestations and consider how much I am bound to love and obey my Lord and Saviour rather than my lusts and how infinitely much I shall gain by it to summon all the strength and all the powers of devout Love to my aid and to use all those means I have before resolved upon for the resisting of temptations and doing my duty Thus when a provocation to anger is given and I find my heart rise and my spirits take fire and grow turbulent instead of giving way to the mischievous passion or suffering that it should proceed to hatred and revenge I will turn aside and check my self with the remembrance of my meekest Saviour who was led as a Lamb to the slaughter and opened not his mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered the greatest injuries yet used no threatning leaving us an example that we should follow his steps I will remember how ill it becomes me to be angry with others who have so much reason to be angry with my self for having so highly and frequently provoked my God to anger I will consider how ill it becomes me to be revengeful and severe to others when all my hopes and all my happiness depend upon forbearance and mercy I will think of and fear that just exprobration of my Lord against the revengeful thou wicked servant shouldst not thou have had compassion on thy fellow servant as I had pity on thee and I will remember that it is JESUS who died for me JESUS for whom I would die who intercedes for mine enemies and so will rather rejoice that I have some of that kind of love to repay to my dearest Saviour which he shewed to me when I was his enemy If lust enticeth me to acts of impurity I will call to mind the corruption and dissolution of this vile body of sin I will think on my last account the day of judgment and the dreadful flames of hell and I will remember him who for me was crucified
and with whom my love hath crucified me and that now is the time to make it appear that I love him and to justifie the sincerity of my protestations And so for covetousness pride intemperance and all such temptations I will reject their attempts and proffers with indignation as a true friend would scorn the solicitations to betray his friend thus saying to my self What shall I be false to him I love to him that loveth me who hath shed his bloud for me and to whom I have often protested that I would even die for him shall I break the sacred bonds of love and my most sacred vows and put my soul into a state of regret unquietness shame and sorrow for this vile transitory profit or pleasure O my dearest JESUS thou knowest that I love thee I beseech thee make that love victorious against thine enemies and mine I would rather die than deny thee for any interest in the world and I hope thou wilt not deny me at the last day but own me among thy faithful servants Lord I serve thee not for nothing great are the reasons why I should obey thee thou hast done much for me and from thee I still expect much infinite rewards for such due and poor services Lord let me die before I deliberately over sin against thee and forfeit thy love by falling from mine Thus by love I resolve to conquer my self to deny and mortifie my lusts by love I will strive to overcome all unlawful desires all sinful motions and then I shall rejoice in the victory It shall not make me either proud or peevish or severe to others but rather humble and meek cheerful and contented so that it shall be seen by my outward deportment how much pleasure and tranquillity my soul hath inwardly that I rejoice in what I do for Christ that it is delicious to me to deny my self for his sake to oblige so great so true so generous a lover as JESUS who hath done all acts of friendship for me and owns me for his friend I call you not servants but friends ye are my friends indeed if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you Joh. 13.14 Those that are accounted gallant men in the world will venture their lives to second a friend in an idle an unchristian quarrel and their wound they bear with courage and count them honourable 'T was to serve a friend how much more should I rejoice in that violence I offer to my appetites and unruly desires in what I do or suffer for to please and serve my heavenly my best my dearest friend whom I can never love so much as he deserves and in loving of whom I am infinitely happier than if I should enjoy all the pleasures of sin as long as I live I only grieve and am displeased that I can do so little for him that I can requite his love no better I know that many persons have done far more for their less deserving friends than I do or can do for my Saviour JESUS CHAP. XXXII A singular example of humane Love with a short reflection upon it IT is reported by Greek historians of two loving sisters Eudoxia and Irenea daughters to the last unhappy Prince of Morea Niceph. Gregor Chalcondys who with his life lost his Crown and Country that an uncle saved them from the general desolation and captivity which soon succeeded the lost battel and carried them to old Andronicus their kinsman then Emperour of Constantinople There with pity they found a kind welcome and as great respects as they could wish Their beauty their vertues and accomplishment surpast their princely birth and were as eminent as their fortune was low so that young Andronicus who was to succeed in the Empire was in process of time taken with Eudoxia loved her passionately and obtained the Emperours consent to marry her This caused great troubles to Irenea who liked it well as she loved her sister but could not but grieve at it as she loved the Prince for unhappily she had setled her affections on him Upon this she fell sick and almost to death and it being observed that some distemper in her mind caused the distemper of her body her sister protesting of her love to her assuring her that Eudoxia should have only the title and the trouble but Irenea the priviledges and the power of an Empress conjured her to declare what caused her discontent Having understood what it was and grieving that she should be the occasion of her sisters danger and sorrow she presently took from her head a jewel the Prince had given her in form like a half-moon and with it she so wounded and disfigured her face that she cured the Prince of his love as she designed and afterwards retired to Galliopoli where she entred a Cloister and devoted the rest of her life to God The Prince finding in Irenea what he had lost in Eudoxia soon after entertained the same passion for her he had for her sister but Irenea remembring her sisters generosity forgot her affection to the Prince considering what Eudoxia had voluntarily suffered for her how great how tender a love she had exprest in what she had done resolves to forsake Andronicus to forgo her ease and pleasure and what she had so earnestly desired rather than be ungrateful Whereupon she steals away from the Court goes to Galliopoli enters her sisters Cloister and having exprest to her her love and acknowledgments she takes the same vows and resolves to live and die to God and with her beloved sister This story makes me grieve and blush that so little gratitude should be paid to JESUS for greater benefits for that incomparable love he hath shewed men in dying for them that I my self should so ill requite his much greater kindness so poorly and imperfectly return his most wonderful love What shall I think it much to refrain my intemperance for his sake who for mine fasted long and often and tasted vinegar and gall shall I think it much to mortifie my pride and anger for him who for my sake despised the shame of the Cross and returned nothing but meekness to the greatest provocations shall I think it much to refrain my worldly covetous desires for him who for me became poor naked destitute of all things though he were Lord of all shall I think it much to deny my self some momentary sensual pleasures for him who carried my sorrows who shed his blood and was crucified to save me No my dearest JESUS thy love hath overcome my heart I will be no more what I have been henceforth it shall be my wealth my delight my glory and ambition to serve and obey thee give thee all possible demonstrations of a devout a most passionate love CHAP. XXXIII Some Scriptures to shew the necessity of departing from Sin according to our Baptismal Vow With some protestations to conclude this first Part. THis Repentance and Reformation is what our Religion requires The
the dead are soon forgotten and that the world neither can nor indeed takes care to do any thing for its greatest slaves and admirers after they are gone and yet our greatest toil and vexation is to live here so as to please the world We are not pleased to have our wants supplied and to be free from pain except the world be pleased also That imaginary life which we live in the account of others is by far the more troublesome and the more uncertain for we are never well except others will think us to be so But O my soul why dost thou cumber thy self with so many things even with things that have no existence but in thine and other mens fancy one thing is necessary love God and seek his heavenly Kingdom and thou art rich and happy to the full Let thy thoughts wait one while on the most prosperous sinners in the world how empty is their soul how distracted their mind how restless their conscience Do they not live in a storm and hurry and at last sink into the grave with the greatest regret and bitterness and what would they not give in the day of vengeance that they might pass from the left to the right hand of their Judge Consider and tremble with what amazement and impotent rage they will struggle to change their place that they might change their doom But now turn and follow the just See their inward peace and their secret joy what comfort they have in their afflictions what hope in their lives what undaunted assurance in their death but who can express those endless pleasures those ravishing joys wherein they enter when they come to enjoy and see him face to face whom here they loved and sought after O my deluded heart be not deceived by vain appearances that is certainly true which shall be true at last and shall remain unchangeable to eternity If it be so that indeed thou must die and one of those two states must be thy portion for ever then put on now those affections which thou shalt certainly entertain when thou shalt be near to expire look upon things now as thou shalt at last and it will make thee wise and make thee see the Truth naked For that is certainly true which is true at last and all other appearancces are but varnish and illusion Dwell seriously upon this consideration and it will make thee clearly see that true wisdom is to love and fear God and the greatest happiness to live under his protection to be in his favour whose loving kindness is better than life That one consideration well weighed will make thee understand that there is no great worth or pleasure in those lusts and vanities thou didst renounce when thou becamest a Christian that thy vow was onely the renouncing of thy greatest misery 'T will make thee understand that it was no great hardship thou didst undertake when thou promisest to serve God and be a Souldier of JESUS under the Banner of the Cross That 't was only the obliging thy self to be truly happy and to enjoy perfect Freedom And now my soul considering that of necessity thou must either by sin serve the Devil and destroy thy self or by vertue and piety serve God and gain eternal bliss what shouldst thou do but intirely devore thy self to thy Blessed thy best Master Breathing out heavenward such Ejaculations as these My dearest Lord I was once brought and presented to thee when through the waters of Baptism I past into thy Family and became thy Servant Lord I do here repeat the same oblation and now again yield my self to be thine Here I do from my heart disown and bewail all those acts of mine whereby at any time I have disowned or displeased thee could the shedding of my blood recal or expiate them I could freely pour it out and die Wherein soever I have behaved my self as if I were not thine I here what I can retract it with regret and sorrow Lord pity my weakness and pardon my folly and let me be received again into the number of thy Servants I am ready to do or suffer any thing thou shalt please so I may still belong to thee O let our first contract my Baptismal ingagement stand notwithstanding my breach of it I resolve now to mind and observe it better assist me sweet JESU and let me ever live to thee Lord now I as heartily yield up my self to thee that I may love and obey thee as I shall when I die that thou maist save me I had rather serve thee than be the greatest Prince on earth I had rather obey thee than command all mankind I prefer thy favour to all the riches of this world I had rather suffer and even die for thee than without thee to have all the pleasures and the joys of this life Lord I will love and serve thee for ever CHAP. VI. That Christ having bought us hath now a just title to our love and service LOVE regards not so much what is commanded as who it is that commands it if it be the Beloved requires any thing love doth it chearfully without reluctancy another with earnest begging should not have that granted which the least word of a friend shall obtain The commands of Christianity are easie and most rational in keeping of them consisteth our present and future happiness Yet the true lover of JESUS looks farther he considess that it is his Lord and Saviour who would have him obey he to whom he belongs to whom he owes himself and infinitely more for every Christian-owes JESUS to JESUS who gave himself for him The old saying was emendus cui imperes buy your slaves buy those that will be commanded by you none of us can say so to the God whom we serve for he hath indeed bought us Ye are not your own saith S. Paul ye are bought with a price thence it is strongly infer'd therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods We are not at our own dispose our Divine Master hath a most just propriety in us we are wholly his and would to God we were his as much by affection and resignation as by right the price he hath paid for us is no less than himself he hath given his life that ours might be his We were redeemed from our vain conversation by the precious blood of Christ who died for us that we might live to him He could get nothing by that dear purchase but our love only for we were his before it is he that made us only we had estranged our selves from him and placed our love on other things and he could not count us his own while we loved him not CHAP. VII How much we are ingaged to serve our Blessed Lord with renewed promises to do it faithfully I Must therefore consider whose I am I am Christs by a strong and incontestable title while I serve hfm I do that proper work which belongs to
are Gods workmanshep created in Jesus Christ unto good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them Ephes 2.10 This then is the way wherein of necessity we must walk that as we ingaged and promised when we were baptized into Christ so we should live ever after which S. Paul expresseth thus As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Col. 2.6 and again walk worthy of the Lord being fruitful in every good work Col. 1.10 This is the rule whereby we must order the course of our lives that our conversation be as becomes the Gospel of Christ that our conversateon be in heaven whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Phil. 1.27 and 3.20 that whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely of good report any vertue any thing praise-worthy Phil. 4 8. may be our constant study and practice We must labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of our Lord because we shall all appear before him and receive according as we obey him now in his absence 2 Cor. 5.9 CHAP. X. Considerations to encourage us in the discharge of our Christian duty with a caution to the Reader ALL this and much more to the same purpose which I have read and observed in the Sacred Books of the new Testament hath convinced me that it is the design of Christian Religion to make me meek and humble sober and contented just and charitable devout and religious vertuous and holy this I own to be my duty and I will endeavour my self heartily to perform the same And that I may do it with cheerfulness and affection I will stir and quicken the holy fire of love in my heart by pious considerations When any duty to God or man calls upon me for action and performance and I find in my soul too much of dulness or reluctancy I will again by meditation suppose my dying Saviour present telling me how much he hath done and suffered for me and desiring me as I love him to do that duty which lies before me Christian if thou dost understand the greatness of my love which brought me here to die for thee if thou art sensible of it and wouldst make any return for it do this obey this command this may be the last thing thou shalt ever do for me this may be the last tryal of thy love sure it would grieve thee to have denied this small request to him that gives his life that gives himself for thee Or else I will suppose my self in the presence of my Divine Master sitting on his heavenly Throne with his glorified servants about him shewing me the crown he hath assigned to me and saying N. N. wilt thou deny to do this at my earnest request wiit thou be so unkind to me Sure I have deserved better at thy hands sure I who am much above thee have done much more for thee than that comes to but besides I would highly recompence thee These my friends I have rewarded with the bliss and glory they enjoy for having done such things for me and I would reward thee as bountifully here is eternal life eternal rest eternal glory for thy recompence as thou lovest me as thou lovest thy self obey that thou maist be happy To this what answer could I make but such as this Lord not only this but any thing else thou hast commanded I am willing to fulfil and obey I bewail my dulness and depraved nature that makes me so unready so unactive in thy service but Lord thou knowest that I love thee I would undertake any labour any trouble to make it appear I would die to justifie it Yet sweetest JESU I beg of thee to increase my love to increase it to such a degree that like thy heavenly attendants I may burn with that Divine fire and be all love to thee that so I may be always prepared and desirous to do thy will Stir up we beseech thee O Lord Sund. 25. after Trin. the wills of thy faithful people that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works may of thee be plenteously rewarded through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Christian I would here advise thee before I pass further That thou wouldst not judge of several things in this Book by thy present liking of them Devotional things are discerned more by the affections than by the judgment the relish of them doth depend upon the temper of the Soul And so those resolves and meditations which now it may be please thee not may hereafter be very acceptable when thou art otherwise disposed to be sure when thou art ready to leave the world and enter thy portion of Eternity If now therefore thou wilt bring thy mind to such a frame as then it will be in I need not fear but that what I have writ thou wilt also read and repeat heartily in the first Person for to that end I have thus contrived it to ingage thine affections to make thee speak as of thy self these soliloquies acts of love and acts of resolution which run throughout the whole discourse It may affect thee much and to good purpose frequently to confer with thy Soul and with thy Saviour about thy duty and thy happiness However be sure thou beest serious and sincere For certain it is that for thee N. N. by name JESUS was crucified and died and certain it is that thou thy self shalt die and be judged and rise again to an intolerable eternity if by carelesness and inconsideration thou hast been unmindful of thy Lord and thy soul or else rise again to eternal joys if thou hast sincerely loved and served JESUS If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love John 15.10 CHAP. XI That Love will prompt us to free-will offerings and things it never doth enough THus much of necessity must be done my duty as well as my love constrains me to it Not to break negative precepts and to obey positive ones that is to cease from sin and to work righteousness is required of me if I do it by love I have made my task pleasant but yet a task it is which must be fulfilled Not but that there is mercy for sins against the New-covenant for the transgression of Gospel precepts there is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner whatever his sins have been and it ought greatly to indear God to us that he is so willing to forgive so desirous to have us repent that we may be capable of his pardon but whether soon or late whether after crying guilts or ordinary sins still I say there must be a true contrition a sorrow and repentance for our sins proceeding from the love of God and a sincere endeavour to please and obey him for the future and so thus far we are drawn by a moral necessity by the desire of our own happiness which is
favour that thou wilt accept of me and my weak endeavours I know that if heaven were capable of any grief it would be only that we have not loved thee enough upon earth when thou fillest our souls with thy divine ravishing joys we shall wish we had done nothing here but serve and love thee O give me grace now whilst I live to do what I shall wish to have done when I die let me do now I am absent from thee what I shall wish to have done when I dwell with thee let me love thee infinitely and without measure Modus amandi Deum sine modo S. Bern. An offering of a free heart will I give thee and praise thy name O Lord because it is so comfortable Psal 54.6 CHAP. XII That our obedience to the Church is an excellent expression of our love to Christ THE first instance of our love in this way of free-will offerings should be a pious obedience to our Mother the Church not but that it is many ways required but because 't is almost wholly neglected What by pride and refractoriness what by ignorance and indevotion and what by loosness and ireligion that obedience which ought to be paid to those that have the rule over us in the Lord to the standing rules and orders of our Spiritual Governours is so generally laid aside that many that would yet dare not press it upon the people and that even they that obey do it secretly and as though 't were dishonourable are in a manner ashamed to own it Hence comes that great neglect of Confirmation that most necessary and ancient if not Apostolick constitution hence the desuetude of fasting upon appointed days and even of bidding of them and the non-observance of Holy days and times of solemn devotion hence the slight regard had to the publick worship of God and the seldom receiving of the Lords Supper hence the reservedness and unhappy secrecy or most people in not acquainting their spiritual guides with the state of their conscience when it needs and not receiving their comforts and directions hence the not sending for the Elders of the Church to do their office upon sick persons and the seldom desiring their absolution and hence even in too many of the Clergy the neglect of daily saying Divine Offices as they are commanded and observing other injunctions peculiar to them I may say that it fares with our Church as with some Princes who have their due sovereignty denied them because they are Christians as if by becoming members and defenders of the Church they were become subject to Pontifical Chairs and Puritan Synods for so many would not have this Church obeyed because 't is Reformed they would not have its laws observed because it makes them inferior to Gods as though by not imposing a blind superstitious and over severe obedience as Rome doth this Church were become uncapable of exercising any authority over her children and requiring any duty from them But I say let those that love JESUS amend this for his sake for the Church is his spouse and hath received her power from him let them yield a free and religious obedience to Ecclesiastical injunctions for his sake who hath said he that receiveth you receiveth me It is doubtless our duty so to do and I am sure it will be a good token of a pious heart when we shall obey them in the Lord whom the Lord hath set over us We shall make it appear that we own the Authority of our heavenly King when we are subject to those his officers by whom he now reigns over us to whom he hath given the keys of his kingdom and whom he hath appointed Stewards of his saving Mysteries we shall have a right and a share in the Mysterious representation of of the great expiatory sacrifice which by the Church is celebrated in the Eucharist and in those Divine Services and solemn Prayers which the Church offers to God daily and we shall receive the full benefit of being members of the Church and holding communion with it If this were not absolutely required yet I am sure it will be a very acceptable free-will offering if we do it devoutly and joyfully because we love JESUS and this Christian obedience to the known rational and pious orders of the Church will answer the best part of that ancient and so much magnified self-abnegation vowed by the Coenobites when they gave up themselves to be in all things ruled and commanded by their superiors and it will exercise those two heavenly graces meekness and humility which the world despiseth but all true Christians own to be most Divine as they that bring rest to the soul Mat. 11.29 and make us most conformable to the meek and humble JESUS Solomon knew the true mother by her love to the child and the true child of God may be known by his love and duty to his Mother the Church CHAP. XIII Of several voluntary Oblations AS for corporal austerities commanded or uncommanded I have said something of them already and the chiefest use and design of them is to mortifie sensual lusts and to keep under the body that the spirit may rule and be obeyed yet as they are exercises of repentance marks of the just indignation we conceive against our selves for having displeased God as they may effect or express a disrelish of temporal pleasures a longing for heavenly joys and an endeavour to take up our cross and follow JESUS they may be the matter of a free-will offering and they may find a gracious reward and acceptance insomuch as they proceed from a sincere love to JESUS Prayer also thanksgiving reading meditation acts of Religion though as to the substance they be the discharge of the greatest duty God requires of us the worship and adoration of his Divine Majesty yet as to the quantity they may become free oblations the expressions of a greater love He that with devout affections enlargeth his offices or counts the frequency of them by Canonical hours and wisht for opportunities and he that sets apart large portions for religious exercises or in the following of his necessary business doth often lift up his heart and thoughts to heaven and heavenly things makes a voluntary offering of some of his time to him of whose eternity he hopes to be partaker He that defalks some hours from the refreshment of his body to bestow them upon his soul he that chuseth a meaner condition and employment that having fewer avocations he may spend more time upon Religion and he that bears with some wrongs and injuries that being free from the distractions of quarrels and law suits he may be the better disposed to serve God hath bought the blessed opportunity of attending JESUS and indearing himself to him Charity likewise whether Spiritual or Corporal whether in giving or in forgiving may be carried further than is absolutely required and so become a free oblation He that takes great pains to instruct
and 1.6 Blessed Lord I rejoice that thou hast the disposal of me I willingly submit my self to thy good pleasure both to obey and to suffer I desire that my heart and all my affections may wholly be subject to thee O why is thy name dishonoured thy Church persecuted thy holy Religion despised or perverted and thou thy self rejected and rebelled against even by many of them that have sworn allegiance to thee O that it were in my power to advance thy Kingdom here among my Fellow-Servants to bring all men in subjection to thee But first my Blessed Lord let me sincerely submit to thy will in all things Let never one of my words or actions send thee that impious message of the rebellious Citizens We will not have this man to reign over us Luk. 19.14 but now thou art absent I beseech thee let me observe thy laws and own and reverence thy power in them to whom thou hast imparted it thy Church and Ministers Thou art my King dearest JESU let me never see that hour that I shall not heartily love and humbly obey thee Consider O my Soul how great is the happiness and honour to be one of the retinue of so great so good a Master Let nothing cast thee down thou shalt certainly reign above if thou art faithful here below Jacob and his sons were in fear to perish with hunger because they knew not that Joseph did reign in Aegypt but my timorous heart why shouldst thou fear any thing when thou knowest that JESUS doth reign in heaven God hath given him power over all flesh that he might give eternal life to all that will sincerely give themselves to him If thou art his thou canst not want to be protected and provided for All his servants are certainly prefer'd all his souldiers come to be Kings the Crown of life the Kingdom of heaven the glories of eternity are the recompences laid up for his humble subjects Live and Reign sweetest JESU for ever When I do consider that Legions of Angels millions of blessed Souls perpetually adore thee with the greatest extasie of love and divine joy that all pious men throughout all the world express their love and gratitude by daily worshipping and obeying of thee that all thy wicked enemies are seiz'd with fear and trembling before thee When thus I see thee blessed Lord with the eyes of my faith on the Throne of highest Majesty encircled with glory and power I then disdain the world and am raised above my self transported with pleasure to see thy labours and sufferings thus justly rewarded to think that mine for thee shall have the same reward according to the utmost of my capacity And now my gracious Lord this I make my request if I can add nothing to thy highest glory yet let me enter in and partake of thy joy for they that love thy name shall be joyful in thee Psal 5.12 CHAP. XVI Two general directions about the manifesting of our love to God IT is a Maxim in Morals quod cor non facit non fit what the heart doth not is reputed as not done it can deserve neither praise nor reward and it can signifie nothing to any purpose of vertue Now the heart is the fountain of humane affections and the seat of love so that the meaning is that what is not done out of love is insignificant and wholly unacceptable Which truth holds in Religion also God earnestly requires the heart of all his worshippers and without it he doth accept neither their services nor their oblations Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart Deut. 6.6 Love therefore must carry us through the whole course of our lives through all our duty that our actions bearing its stamp and signature may be pleasing to God and to us profitable So that in the discharge of our several callings in our intercourse with others at home or abroad and in the most common actions of our lives still we must act as being acted by a sincere love to God It is one of the best of those ancient Rules which were given to ascetick persons Let charity which abides for ever In omnibus quibus utitur transitura necessitas superemineat quae permanet charitas Reg. Aug. influence and govern the use we make of time and other transitory things let it go along with us in all our ways and we shall certainly go right But this like other general Rules will signifie nothing except it be applied to particulars My love to JESUS must appear in what I do this day and what I shall do to morrow The justice and charity of the words I speak and the work I am about must justifie it that indeed I own JESUS for my Lord his Gospel for my Rule and his love for my comfort and encouragements Let charity which abides for ever direct us in our use of transitory things It is the advice of some spiritual directors that we would single out some one eminent Christian vertue to the study whereof we should more particularly addict our selves and examine our growth in grace by our proficiency in it This may be much for our ease and for our advantage For the Duties and Graces of our Religion are very numerous not to be attained and attended to all at once and as they stand together whereas if we make choice of any one single which leads us to all the rest and includes them all our Christian advancement will be with greater speed and less difficulty and we shall be masters of all other vertues by having bent our strength and endeavours on the practice of one Such a one I am sure is the love of God the love of the Blessed JESUS which if well followed and attended to will bring us to the highest perfection to which any Christian can arrive in this life Let it therefore be our chiefest care to beget and entertain in our hearts that most blessed love and then to express and perfect it by these two general Rules 1. In all our actions to have respect to Gods will and to seek to fulfil it rather than our own This is recommended to us by the Example of our Blessed Saviour who professed that he came not to do his own will but the will of him that sent him and this was his great demonstration of love to the Father That the world may know that I love the Father Probatio dilectionis exhibitio est operis Greg. and as the Father gave me Commandment even so I do arise let us go hence Joh. 14.31 He would go and deliver himself into the hands of his crucifies rather than not comply with that order he had received from God his Father And thus if we chuse Gods will where it is most contradictory to our own desires we shall make it appear that indeed we love him Abraham was
will much increase thy diligence and thy sincerity Many in the Church of Rome put on when they die a Fryers habit and much confide therein do thou put on by times thy dying thoughts consider seriously and steal time as often as thou canst to sequester thy self from the world Gods secret voice is not heard in the croud and no man meditates in the Market Retire and think of death and put on the affections of a penitent humility shame and sorrow for thy past follies care and watchfulness for that rest of time which God gives thee to destroy thy sins Deus dat spatium ut pereant crimina non homines Prosp Aquit and to save thy soul S. Austin on his death bed would always have the penitential Psalms saying that every Christian must die a penitent Nominem Christianum absque poenitentia mori oportere So must he live that would live well for contrition and mortification will make thee charitable and contented will make thee despise the world and chuse the best and safest course of life Optimam vitae rationem deligendam brevi consuetudine fiet jucunda which if some thing hard at the first will soon by use become easie When men have an opportunity to eat and drink to obtain profit or pleasure they seldom neglect it and put it off to uncertain delays Now thou canst if thou wilt serve God shew thy love to JESUS and make sure of heaven defer it not till time be past or be worse Think what thou wouldst advise thy friend to do and do thou act accordingly Often think upon thy reward and look up to heaven hope sets the world at work Jacob's drudgery fourteen years seemed but a few days to him because he had Rachel before his eyes and loved her affectionately Gen. 29.30 All is not to be done to day go on in the way of love and duty Our life is a course not a leap therefore faint not and be not displeased with thy self Nunc paululum laborando manibus nunc genibus flexis orando deinde corpus reficiendo post quiescendo rursus iterum operando Anthoni sic fac tu salvus eris if thou hast not yet done what must not be finisht till thy life be so S. Anthony's impatience was thus reproved and cured by an Angel work now afterward pray then refresh thy wearied nature and after that return again to thy labour and devotion Let this be thy course all thy way and salvation shall be thy end Thus betwixt grace and nature betwixt labour and Religion distribute thy time and in all these let the love of JESUS accompany and direct thee and it will certainly bring thee to his glory after thou hast in this manner lived in his favour thou shalt enter into his joy I love them that love me saith the Lord and they that seek me early shall find me Prov. 8.17 CHAP. XIX That upon all accounts God should be loved above all things THE first Consideration is that it is most unjust and unreasonable to love any creature to the prejudice of the Creator As all things hare their being from God so they have from him all the goodness and beauty which makes them lovely to us and God drawing upon visible objects fair copies of his invisible perfections designed to be loved in them or that they should be loved in him and for his sake If men being delighted with the beauty of the heavenly host took them to be gods let them know how much better the Lord of them is for the first Author of beauty hath created them for by the beauty and greatness of the creatures proportionably the maker of them is seen Wisd 13.3 Beauty and goodness are the proper object of love and therefore God who is the first and supreme beauty and goodness should be loved before all things We indeed reverence Princes in their seals and arms in their meanest servants clothed with their livery but should a subject set up these in the royal Throne and transfer to them or even to the greatest Favorite those special honours which belong to the Prince only he should justly be deemed a Rebel and his proceedings would be as unjustifiable as the disloyal distinction of taking arms by the Kings Authority against his Person Yet such are the proceedings of all disorderly lovers I mean of all sinners who setting more of their affections upon the creatures than upon God the Creator pay them afterwards a greater veneration than they do to him having exalted honours pleasures and riches into the Imperial chair they do more for them than for the Sovereign himself nay they obey them to their prejudice and against his express command Thus vicious unreasonable men burn in the shade and freeze where the Sun shines they dote upon inferior beauties and neglect the highest and most perfect they take fire at dark shadows and find no heat in the brightest light Great men have a respect paid them in their degenerating posterity great Artists are respected in their liveless children we highly honour unhappy Pagans in those labours of theirs which adorn our closets and libraries God only is dishonoured in his works the more perfect he hath made them the more injurious they prove to him Phidias and Apelles are remembred with veneration in a fine picture or Statue God only is ingratefully forgotten in a lovely creature whereof he is Maker An absurd impiety this is Absurdum est genu posito simulacra adorare suspicere fabros vero qui ea feceâ—unt contemnere which Seneca reproved in his fellow heathen to worship and deifie the carved image and to take no notice of the Carver that made it God hath done like a loving father who jealous of his sons affection would have none to attend him but such as wear his livery would have the picture of himself hang in every room and all the goods in the house marked with his name and cypher So God who loves men tenderly and desires to be by them loved again hath put something of himself in all the creatures he hath appointed to serve us that which way soever we turn our eyes we might be put in mind of him he hath stamped his name in more or less legible Characters upon all the goods and utensils of this his great house the world wherein he hath placed us And now shall we do like a simple child who turning his back upon his father should look and smile on his picture and caress it and wait upon it and ask it blessing while he slights the original So absurd a thing would be counted madness and move pity or laughter but when we act the same folly in loving the world while we despise God we are highly criminal and we highly provoke our heavenly Father thus to return to him contempt and disobedience for the gracious tokens of his love From hence it follows that as we should
shall soon understand that God is to be loved above all things infinitely without measure and if we love our selves as we should we shall easily remove our affections from the world to set them upon God and Eternity upon JESUS and his Kingdom Love as we have seen will make it easie and delightful to do our duty will make the yoke of Christ light and enable us with strength and courage to bear our cross cheerfully like Christians it will lead us the shortest and the safest way to heaven and make our journey pleasant it will make us dear to God and to his Saints and blessed Angels and fill our hearts with peace and comforts it will abide with us when we are forsaken by the world and all our friends can do us no good it will accompany us when we go from hence and open heavens gate and enter in with us there to perfect our happiness which it here began to be there our reward as it was here our work and our duty I may now upon too too just an account use the words of S. Bernard Non quod ego ista faciam dico sed quod facere vellem c. Ber. Med. what I have written is not what I do but what I should do what I grieve that I do not what I endeavour to do and what I wish all others might do But withall I shall plead for my self the advice of a Greek Father not to judge too severely of those who teach excellent lessons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Joh. Clim grad 26. § 18. great and profitable truths which they themselves learn and practise but very imperfectly because the usefulness of their instructions may make some amends for the defects of their performance Ephes 6.24 Grace be with all them that love our LORD JESUS CHRIST in sincerity Amen FINIS THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART THe Introduction Pag. 1. CHAP. I. Of the general Benefits of God to mankind and first of Creation Pag. 2 CHAP. II. How much we are obliged to God for our Preservation Pag. 5 CHAP. III. Of the positive Blessings of this life Pag. 8 CHAP. IV. What returns we should make for temporal Blessings Pag. 10 CHAP. V. Of the mercies of Redemption and first a consideration of the infinite miseries we were redeemed from Pag. 12 CHAP. VI. How graciously and wonderfully we were redeemed Pag. 19 CHAP. VII A consideration of the Cross in its four dimensions Pag. 23 CHAP. VIII The breadth of the Cross or the manifold Sufferings of Christ for our Redemption Pag. 25 CHAP. IX The length of the Cross Pag. 29 CHAP. X. The depth of the Cross Pag. 31 CHAP. XI The height of the Cross Pag. 33 CHAP. XII What an infinite love is exprest by the Cross Pag. 35 CHAP. XIII Of the eternal happiness merited for us by the Cross of Christ and measured by it Pag. 37 CHAP. XIV That the mercies of our Redemption challenge our love and hearty obedience Pag. 42 CHAP. XV. An invitation to enter the Cloister of Love Pag. 44 CHAP. XVI The Vow to be taken at the entrance of Loves Monastery Pag. 47 CHAP. XVII Considerations of the nature of Love and first of Self-love Pag. 50 CHAP. XVIII That the Love of JESVS requires we should mortifie self-love Pag. 55 CHAP. XIX How great a vertue is Divine Charity or the Love of God Pag. 58 CHAP. XX. That love always pursues what it thinks good and is never satisfied till it hath obtained it Pag. 62 CHAP. XXI That Love is strong and effective and sweetens all labours Pag. 66 CHAP. XXII A farewel to all sinful desires Pag. 70 CHAP. XXIII That the love of JESVS and the love of Sin can never consist together Pag. 76 CHAP. XXIV Of outward helps and instruments of love and obedience Pag. 78 CHAP. XXV A passionate Meditation on the Passion of our Blessed Saviour Pag. 83 CHAP. XXVI Of a sincere amendment which must be wrought by proper means Pag. 88 CHAP. XXVII Love the best instrument of Self-Reformation and true penitence with an act of hearty contrition Pag. 92 CHAP. XXVIII That Love will sweeten as well as produce the truest penitence and that true wisdom not melancholy is the guide of sincere penitents Pag. 98 CHAP. XXIX That severities and mortifications well regulated are subservient to Repentance and the Love of JESVS Pag. 103 CHAP. XXX A short Meditation for penitential days Pag. 105 CHAP. XXXI That repentance must look forward to the securing of our duty for the time to come With instances and resolutions to that effect Pag. 108 CHAP. XXXII A singular example of humane Love with a short reflection upon it Pag. 113 CHAP. XXXIII Some Scriptures to shew the necessity of departing from Sin according to our Baptismal Vow With some protestations to conclude this first Part. Pag. 116 THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND PART CHAP. I. THat Love obligeth us also to fulfil the positive part of our Baptismal Vow with a protestation of obedience to it Pag. 1 CHAP. II. How great a happiness in Eternity follows our love and obedience Pag. 5 CHAP. III. That to win our hearts and duty God propounds great rewards to us Pag. 8 CHAP. IV. That Love hath a secret pleasure and reward in it self with a meditation to that purpose Pag. 11 CHAP. V. Reflections on the vanity of temporal things with some holy resolves and ejaculations Pag. 14 CHAP. VI. That Christ having bought us hath now a just title to our love and service Pag. 18 CHAP. VII How much we are ingaged to serve our Blessed Lord with renewed promises to do it faithfully Pag. 20 CHAP. VIII Meditation to excite us to a sincere and fervent love Pag. 23 CHAP. IX Christianity absolutely requires our love and strictest obedience Pag. 28 CHAP. X. Considerations to encourage us in the discharge of our Christian duty with a caution to the Reader Pag. 32 CHAP. XI That Love will prompt us to free-will offerings and thinks it never doth enough Pag. 36 CHAP. XII That our obedience to the Church is an excellent expression of our love to Christ Pag. 43 CHAP. XIII Of several voluntary Oblations Pag. 46 CHAP. XIV The true notion of Free-will Offerings vindicated with an Exhortation to abound in the work of the Lord. Pag. 50 CHAP. XV. Meditation on the Exaltation of the Blessed JESVS Pag. 57 CHAP. XVI Two general directions about the manifesting of our love to God Pag. 62 CHAP. XVII The two former Rules explained and enlarged Pag. 68 CHAP. XVIII Some more particular directions how to order our lives by the love of JESVS Pag. 74 CHAP. XIX That upon all accounts God should be loved above all things Pag. 78 CHAP. XX. That as it is most just so it is most easie to love God Pag. 84 CHAP. XXI An Objection answered which might be raised against this Book and its Subject Pag. 88 CHAP. XXII The second Objection concerning the love of JESVS answered Pag. 91 CHAP. XXIII That it is most pleasant and safe to love God Pag. 97 CHAP. XXIV That love brings the most lasting joy and satisfaction to the soul Pag. 105 CHAP. XXV The Conclusion Pag. 113 Books printed for Henry Brome Bishop Wilkins Natural Religion Dr. Comber on the Common Prayer in 4 Vol. Guide to Eternity Precepts and Practices for Christian Life Christianity no Enthusiasm or the several kinds of Inspirations and Revelations pretended to by the Quakers tried and found destructive to Holy Scripture and true Religion In Answer to Thomas Elwood's defence thereof in his Tract miscalled Truth prevailing c. Dr. Glanvill of Preaching Help to Prayer c. An Historical Account of the Reforma here in England Everlasting Fire no Fancy Dr. Ford in Gods Judgments Mr. Camfield's Discourse of Angels Dr. Woodford's Paraphrase on the Psalms his Divine Poems