soule is resolved of her choise for she hath fixed her love on that Spirit which is the true object of the love of spirits But even that excellency which draweth her love awaketh her fear and beholding admirable purity and majesty together with her owne impurity and lownesse shee is moved at once both to runne to happinesse and to fly from it Shee stands distracted and in this distraction asketh Will God indeede dwell with men and will the highest Spirit who inhabiteth eternity and cannot abide iniquity dwell with low spirits that are defiled and be full of impurity Who shall dwell with the devouring fire and who shall dwell with everlasting burnings But the Lord himselfe speaketh to her and saith Feare not for thy maker is thine husband the Lord of Hosts is his Name and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel the God of the whole earth It is the glory of the greatest spirit to blesse the lesser spirits as it is the happinesse of the lesser to bee blessed by the greatest Fulnesse is glorified most by filling the greatest emptinesse and majesty by succouring greatest infirmity As for thy impurity true it is that thou art indeed too uncleane to touch God in an immediate unity but there is a pure counterpart of thy nature and that pure humanity is immediatly knit to the purest Deity And by that immediate union thou maist come to a mediate union For the Deity and that humanity being united make one Savior Head and Husband of soules and thou being married to him who is God in him art also one with God He one by a personall union thou one by a mysticall And being thus united and married to him his spirit flowes into thy spirit and the sappe of the Deity sheds it selfe into the soule For as man and wife in a corporall marriage are one flesh so in this spirituall and mysticall marriage Christ and his spouse are one spirit The spirit of Christ entring into our spirits layes in them an immortal seed and from thenceforth those whom he found impure he makes pure even pure in heart so that they may see God The Sonne of God so loved the soules of men that hee would make them a wife and marry them And that hee might make this wife fit to be brought into his Fathers house hee left his Father to come to his wife that he might cleanse her frō spots blemishes and present her pure glorious to his Father By his precious blood he purgeth her from her guilt by his spirit he purifieth her from her uncleannesse and both of these hee bestoweth on her in his marriage with her And then the soule thus washed hath boldnesse to approach unto God through her husband the Sonne of God who hath loued her and giuen himselfe for her and giuen himselfe unto her For God beholds her and she beholds God as one with his Sonne euen as his Sonnes wife Then draw neere O soule to this husband of soules the Lord is the spirit that marieth spirits and makes them one spirit with him in a knot of eternall blessednes Cleare vp thine eye and fixe it on him as upon the fairest of men the perfection of spirituall beauty the treasure of heauenly joy the true object of most feruent loue and inflamed affections and accordingly fasten on him not thine eye only but thy mightiest loue and hottest affections Looke on him so that thou maiest lust after him for here it is a sinne not to looke that thou maist lust and not to lust hauing looked For the spirit hath his lust also it lusteth against things contrary to it and it lusteth for things connaturall to it Accordingly it lusteth against the flesh but it lusteth after spirituall objects wherof Christ Iesus is the chiefest Let thy spirit then looke and long and lust for this Lord who is the spirit the chiefest spirit let it cleaue to him let it hang about him and neuer leaue him till hee bee brought into the chambers of the soule Yea tell him resolutely thou wilt not leaue him untill thou here a voyce in thy soule saying My wellbeloved is mine and I am my wellbeloveds To this end bee still gazing on him and still calling on him Kisse me with the kisses of thy mouth Yea kisse my soule with such a kisse of thy spirit that they may be no longer two but one spirit say to him whom haue I in heauen but thee and whom haue I desired on earth besides thee My soule thirsteth and panteth for thee the liuing God Tell him that thou art sicke of loue Vexe him with Importunity and put him out of hope of ease as the widdow did the Iudge but onely by satisfiing thy desires It is the right-voyce of the spirit I found him whom my soule loveth I held him and would not let him go If then thou hast found him with thine eye hold him with thine heart and winde thy affections round about him And if he see thee all on flame with loue and obstinate in Importunity by loue he who is loue cannot deny the importunity of loue The bowels of loue in him melt at the sound of loue in thee as one string danceth at the sound of another agreeing with it Hee was great with loue before thou louedst him and hee looked but for a loue to draw his loue from him Hee was great with spirit and did but looke for spirits that by loue would draw some spirit from him And now when his loue meeteth with thine his loue joyneth with thine when his spirit meeteth with thine his spirit powreth it selfe out into thine hee is joyned to thee and thou art one spirit with him his spirit and thine being united and mingled in a blessed communion II. The soule hath but one husband at once THere is a law in heaven that the heavenly Bride may at one time have but one Husband The first marriage on earth was a patterne of this Law for then God gave one woman to one man God that made this first marriage gave not two women to one man nor two men to one woman but he gave one to one that two not three or foure may be one flesh Accordingly the heavenly marriage-makers espouse the Church to one husband and that they may doe so they doe teach that the former husband must be dead before the soule can marry with another No soule can marry with Christ Iesus but a widow for she must be freed from the law of her old husband by his death before shee can come to be subject to the law of the new Her olde husband was concupiscence to who she was married in carnall generation and this husband must be slaine and put off by death if Christ Iesus the new and true husband of the soule shall be put on in regeneration And indeede if the soule will give her consent this new and true husband will kill the old not so much an husband
to the increase of happines since the more happy shee is in time the greater shall her happinesse be in eternity CAP. IIII. The heavenly marriage is happy not onely in the pleasures but in the labours of love A WISE husband though most loving is not alwayes embracing hee doth love ever but doth not ever embrace For there is a time to embrace and a time to be farre from embracing There is the service and labour of love as well as the pleasure of love and accordingly as we reade once that Isaac sported with Rebekah so wee reade also that she made savoury meat such as her husband loved No doubt she had pleased him before by the like service that she pleased him so certainly now at least she was no better than Sarah who did her husband the service of making cakes for the entertainment of his guests So doth the mysticall wife also she thinkes sometimes how she may please her husband by service and not onely how she may take pleasure in him and of him For the soules husband will not onely please but be pleased hee will not onely give love but take it and the love which he takes shall be sometimes in the labours of love Hee is her Lord and therfore he expects service from her that shee may not call him Lord in words onely but in deedes even in doing his will Neither is this service a meere service or a thing onely of toyle and trouble but it is an easie yoake and a light burthen yea it is full of profit and advantage for it bringeth and increaseth rest and happinesse to the soule For indeede love ever seekes the good of the beloved and accordingly Christ Iesus who is love sets the soule on worke for her owne good For the soule hath many gaines annexed to her worke she gaines before she workes she gaines in her worke and she gaines after her worke She gaines before the worke for this is one maine cause why those weighty joyes sweete embracements and ravishing consolations are given her that she may cheerfully runne the race and performe the service set before her When Angels bring meate to Elijah it is because hee hath a great journey to goe so that he is beholding to his great journey for his Angels foode The outward Israel is fed with the bread of heaven to maintaine him in his walke unto Canaan and the inward Israel is fed with the true bread that commeth downe from heaven to enable him in his workes and walkes through this pilgrimage to heaven Neither doth this course holde onely in the service of doing but in the service of suffering in the passive as in the active obedience Christ Iesus shews his Disciples on the Mount a patterne of his heavenly glory and then to Christ thus gloriously transfigured Moses and Elias doe speake of the suffering which hee should accomplish at Ierusalem So to the Head himselfe the glory set before him is an encouragement to the enduring of the Crosse and despising the shame And if it be so to the head it should be such also to the body And such it is indeed to the true members of that body for they receive not the grace of God in vaine but can doe and will doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth thē For as they finde that they are strengthened with all might according to Gods glorious power so they know the end for which they are thus strengthened even unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulnesse Wherefore let us think that the parcels of glory joy and strength which we now receive in the visitations of Christ Iesus are a kind of wages paid aforehand to encourage us more cheerfully confidently to the worke of doing and suffering And accordingly having received them let us not dreame of rest but of labour not of setting up Tabernacles but of service and sufferings And let us not doubt but if the Angels foode be a preparation and call to a long or laborious journey of doing or suffering the same foode will also strengthen and enable us to performe the journey unto which it calls so that in the strength thereof we shall be able to walk even to the Mount of God Yet neither is all the comfort encouragement and gaine given to the soule before her worke but even in her worke she gaineth In the service of her husband is continuall gain and that not of strength onely but of pleasure and delight For the soule having tasted Christ in an heavenly communion so loves him that to please him is a pleasure and delight to her selfe Yea there is such a law of love shed into her by that communion that his commandements are so farre from being grievous to her that there is no pleasure in her taste comparable to them No sweet things no precious things in her judgement may be compared to the sweetnes and preciousnes of cōmandements Therefore it is the true voice of the Spouse and therein not so much her mouth as heart speaketh They are more to be desired than gold yea than much fine golde sweeter also than hony and the hony combe Behold how the soule married unto Christ delights in the law of her husband and no wonder if she love his law when she loves him neither if her heart be to his law when his law is written in her heart Besides the law of his lips is a law of grace and a law of grace is a lovely law So she loves his law because his law is lovely she loves it because it is his law whom she loves she loves it because the love of his law is written in her heart And as she loves his law so she loves to fulfill it for her love will not be quiet untill it see her words turned into her deedes And this she doth not negligently nor heavily but like a lover pleasantly and chearfully Looke but to a carnall lover and see how he affects the title of a servant and is more than glad even proud to receive and fulfill the commands of his beloved Give then spiritual love to a soule and she will rejoyce also to perform the spiritual commands of her beloved If a man know not this it is because hee loves not but let him love and then he will both know and doe it For the nature and law of love in the lover naturally moveth to the fulfilling of the law of the beloved And as the Sun in whom a law or covenant of motion is written rejoyceth like a gyant to runne the race and motion of that covenant so the soule in whom this law of love is written rejoyceth to runne the race and motion of this law Obedience is the kindly fruite of a loving soule and a loving soule bringeth forth this fruite as kindly as a good tree bringeth forth good fruite And as this law of love is active and laborious so is it strong and mighty Even
comforters that wound and smite her and if shee meete with that one of a thousand that speakes right words and tells her true comforts yet while the inward Comforter is wanting that should turne the words into deedes they remaine bare words and are like the white of an egge that hath no taste in it For the soule sayes still Call mee not Naomi but Marah for my Lord hath dealt bitterly with me Yet still she lookes out for her husband but sees him not shee calls to remembrance his former loves that so shee may enjoy him in the representations of her former enjoyings But then a world of fleshly and fearefull thoughts rush in upon her and with a cloud cover that sight of him which memorie would give her and if she yeeld not to them she is vexed with importunity and if she yeeld to thē she is vex't with guilt self-accusation the Tempter buffets her with sharp and thornie temptations to drive her to yeeld and when shee yeelds hee buffets her with fearful accusations Now what can bee added to her misery Her best friend is gone from her and her worst enemies are round about her yea her best friends seemes to have surrendred her into the hands of her worst enemies for shee feeles a mighty force of her enemies but no strength of her beloved Therefore her heart failes her and shee thinkes that shee hath wholly lost both her selfe and him I opened saith she to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawne himselfe and was gone I sought but I could not finde him I called him but hee gave no answer The watchmen that went about the City found me they smote me they wounded me But yet be of good comfort thou wearie wounded and distressed soule thy husband is a God that comforteth the abject that makes light to shine out of darknesse that gives refreshing to the weary and heavie-laden that brings life out of death Thy Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit and as a wife of youth when thou wast refused saith thy God For a small moment hath he forsaken thee but with great mercies will hee gather thee The mercies of God even when they seeme to faile thee then doe they gather thee yea they gather thee by their seeming to faile thee Thy husband is God and God is love and love doth ever good to the beloved Yea thou lovest him and he hath told thee that all things shall turne to good to them that love him therefore even these desertions though never so dreadfull and discomfortable the almightinesse of Gods love shall make usefull and advantageable This is so true that many of these uses and advantages may particularly be named and I doubt not but thy husband himselfe will teach them to thee experimentally yet because while the cloud of desertion is upon thy soule she can hardly see by her owne light another that hath light for the time though perchance clouded himselfe as much or more another time may tell her what hee sees by his light And indeede when the soule is in the darke and her owne light shines not she may doe well to get a guide and to take heede to borrowed light untill the day dawne and the day-starre arise in her owne heart A first advantage then that may come to the soule by the desertions of her husband is by desertions to prevent desertions for by loosing him shee may learne not to loose him and by the miseries of her former ill keeping him learne hereafter to keepe him better Perchance thou wast too careles in holding him when thou hadst him or in admitting him when he came to visite thee and to bring these thy faults to remembrance that by remembring them thou maist amend them he is now gone from thee Remember whether thou didst not heare such a voice as this Open to me my sister my love my dove my undefiled for my head is filled with deaw and my lockes with the drops of the night Remember also whether this was not thy answer I have put off my coate how shall I put it on I have washed my feete how shall I defile them Thou hadst taken up some rest in the flesh and hadst put thy selfe into a method of ease and then it was a marring of thy method and a fowling of thy feete to step into any action or passion for thy beloved Hee that was thy true happinesse was growne very cheape to thee and thou wast content to part from him rather than to give the price of a little paines for him And art thou not well worthy to lose him whom thou thoughtest so little worth the keeping But now thou art put to learne the value of him by absence whom thou didst so much undervalue being present And when by absence thou hast learned this lesson thou hast gained more by absence than thou wouldest have done by presence for thou hast gained the true valuation of thy Lord by absence which through thy fault and frailty thou forgatest in his presence so by this first gaine thou shalt come to a second for by absence thou shalt gaine his presence For absence having taught thee truly to value him and accordingly to desire and thirst after him and to give him due entertainment when he comes hereafter and offers his love unto thee then shalt thou by this benefit of absence come to enjoy his presence Thy fulnesse brought thee to hunger and thy hunger now brings thee to fulnesse for he filleth the hungry with good things and the full he sends empty away He will fill thee not onely with good things but with goodnesse it selfe for he wil fill thee with himselfe and hee is goodnes yea thou shalt yet have a farther gaine by this absence for when he comes againe thou wilt holde him faster and keepe him surer and so enjoy him nearer longer Now thou wilt embrace him and cleave to him and winde thy selfe about him and when thine eye sleepeth thy heart shall wake that thou maist still keepe his presence whose absence was so bitter unto thee Thou wilt bring him into the chamber of the soule and binde him with the cords of love thou wilt claspe thy affections about him and hold him fast that hee may no more escape from thee And being thus bound by the cords of love and love loving to be bound by love hee willingly abides in the bands which hee loveth for both love and faith are mighty with the Almighty and make the spouse an Israel even a prevailer with God Shee that loveth Christ much may embrace him much and kisse him much and holde him much and if any man doe trouble her hee himselfe will say Why trouble yee the woman And thus thrives the Spouse by her losses while by losing her husband for a time shee loves him better and being returned enjoyes him the more and holdes him stronger and longer But
buffeting it and so when thou lookest for a good spirit to exalt thee an evill spirit be sent to beate humble thee Christ comes into thee not to feede but to kill the flesh wherefore thy end and his are contrary if thou desire his cōing to feede that which he comes to kill If then thou wouldest have him come indeede into thee joyne with him in the proposall of one the same end even the exaltation of the Spirit and the death of the flesh allowe not fleshly swelling to bee an end no not a subsequent of thy meeting with Christ but kill it if after this meeting it arise in thee The flesh hath no part nor portion in this service but to bee slaine by it therefore let not this left hand of the flesh know what the right hand of the spirit doth in thee but be thou wholly spirituall in a spirituall in a spirituall busines and by it growe more spirituall and not more but lesse carnall Againe desire not these sweetnesses of spirituall vnion onely because they are sweete for in this the flesh also may have his part both in desire and fruition Be not like the children of Israell in the wildernes who desired meate for their lusts for of such a desire there is an il beginning an il end may be expected since lust is both the beginning and end of it But blessed is the land when her Princes eate for strength and not for riot blessed is the Church when her Nobles eate this spirituall foode for spirituall strength and not for lust and luxury It is a kinde of luxury to make taste and not strength the maine end of eating but let the sweetnesse of the taste bee used as an encouragement unto eating for strength Out of the strong one comes this sweetnesse that by this sweetnesse thou maist be made partaker of his strength Wherfore having foūd this honey eate with Ionathan that thou maist be strengthened in services to be done and against enemies to be resisted Eate that thou maist strengthen thy faith and that the eyes of the inner man being enlightened thou maist the more clearely discerne the riches of glory given to thee in Christ Iesus Strengthen thy faith also that thou maist more fully and closely cleave unto him with thy will whom thou hast seene with thy understanding to bee the treasure of perfect felicity Yea let not thy faith leave growing from strength to strength untill it bring thee beyond faith unto vision Eate that thou maist strengthen thy hope and that thou maist hope the more perfectly to receive the full fruition of that sweetnesse and blessednesse whereof here by this eating thou hast received the foretastes and pledges Eate that thou maist strengthen thy love and that thou maist love him with a love above all loves whom thou hast seene and tasted to be fairer and sweeter than all that can be loved And by strengthening thy love to him strengthen also thy love to his will and to his law the copie of his will The sweetnesse which thou tastest must needes love the law for they are twinnes this sweetnes being shed into our soules and the law written in our hearts by one and the same spirit And as the sweetnesse brings with it a love of the law making it sweete to us even sweeter than hony and the hony combe so doth the law leade us to the fulnes and fountain of this sweetnesse Be thou also strengthened by this sweetnes more strongly to resist the enemies of thy soule and of thy Lord and Saviour Let the sweetnesse of the spirit turne the sweetnesse of the flesh into bitternesse and the sweetnesse of the world into contempt and let it make thee to spit out against the taste of all tentations which the evill spirit shall offer thee for how sweete soever the same tentations may now seeme in thy mouth they shall at last be turned into an everlasting bitternesse and gnashing of teeth But the sweetnesse of thy husband groweth like a river untill it come and bring thee to a boundlesse Ocean of perpetuall sweetnesse Briefly let this sweetnesse now tasted by thee fill thy heart and soule and life with sweetnes Let thy garments smell of myrrhe cassia and frankincense let thy conversation yeeld forth the sweete fruites of righteousnes sweet figges and sweet grapes that cheare God and man Having received sweetnesse from Christ sweeten others also and being strengthened by this sweetnesse strengthen thy brethren Be not discouraged if he come not so often to thee nor stay so long with thee as thou desirest The baites of a traveller are short and his journey long The meales of Elijah were but two but his journey was forty dayes This kinde of foode hath in it an eternall nourishment and therfore it may strengthen long though but shortly taken Besides if thou hadst this meate so long and so fully as thou desirest it may be thou wouldest not so long and so fully desire and love it as now thou doest There is a loathing upon fulnesse and a restivenesse upon spirituall fatnesse as upon the bodily Therfore Iesburun being fat kicketh against him that made her fat and Israel being fully and daily fed with Manna falls to loathing it But thy husband who is wisedome in perfection and knowes thee better than thou knowest thy selfe prevents this dangerous fulnesse and fatnesse and carries his kindnesse in so temperate a moderation betweene glutting and starving that the soule be neither too fat nor too leane And indeede as shee is then most comely in the eye of her husband so is she then most healthy active and fit for the services of her husband Wherefore let her bee content with these turnes of comming and going with short meales and long journeyes If the meales be sufficient to bring us to our journeyes end even to Gods holy Mountaine we may well be contented For these journeyes and labours that here seeme to be long in regard of the rests that come betweene them shall bring us at last to an eternall rest which hath no interposition of labours And then it shall be no sorrow of heart to us that through short rests and long labours we have arrived to that state of happines which hath in it no labour but is all rest Againe bee not discouraged if hee come not still when thou thinkest that thou hast prepared thy soule and made the bed of loue for him Thou mayest perchance bee short of that fitnes which thou thinkest for he is a God of pure eyes and thou euen when thou knowest nothing by thy selfe art not free from Impurity Hee will haue thee yet more fitted for his comming by a narrower search of thy owne blemishes and vnfitnes yea hee will haue thee fitter for his comming by being composed and decent without his comming He will haue thee fitted and trimmed by faith as wel as by love and teach thee to
as betweene a woman and a serpent And I wish all this were sufficient to perswade the soule to give consent to the divorce and death of this usurping and bloudy husband without whose death there can be no marriage betweene her happines for though all reason and right doe joyne for his removal yet power and possession and union worke mightily for him The friends of the Bridegroome cry aloud Put off the olde man corrupt throgh deceiuable lusts put on the new created in righteousnes and holines And If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye mortifie the deedes of the flesh by the spirit ye shall live And Abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule The authority love and reasons of these voices deserve to be heard perswading the soule to no other but a separation from a deadly enemy who can give her no dower but death eternall And I wish that thus yet the soule may be perswaded And when the soule is come even to the point of perswasion even then will lust come weeping after the soule like the false husband of Michal hee will raise up in her remembrance the images of grosse and filthy pleasures to awake the old unhappy love and to cause a cruell and unmercifull pitty For a cruell pitty it is when the soule pitties her owne murtherer and not her owne murther But rather put on a mercifull cruelty being mercifull to thy selfe by killing him that would kill thee It is better he should endure one death who is not worthy to live than that a soule should be ever dying which should live for ever If thou kill not lust now hee must shortly die with the death of the body and this short life of his will cost thee everlasting death but if thou kill him presently who must die shortly by this small oddes of death thou preservest to thy selfe everlasting life Wherefore that which shall shortly be necessary make it presently voluntary and so shalt thou turne necessity into a sacrifice even a freewill offering and by his death thou shalt change thy owne death into life eternall And know that they are but false teares which lust doth shed and his cryes are lyes for there is no such happinesse in his union as his teares would tell thee but thy happines is then most when thou art gotten free from lust even when lust is dead and the soule new maried to her Saviour For the first soule was happy before she was maried to lust and miserable onely after that accursed mariage To bee without lust is a true Paradise for man had not this lust when hee was first placed in Paradise neither could Paradise endure man when this lust was placed in him Therefore the true way to returne to Paradise or the state of happines wherof it was a type is to put off this lust wherewith began our misery And lust being put off frō the soule by death and she new maried to the Lord of life then will she say that she was never happy till then and that her former imaginary happinesse was but painted and glittering misery She will looke on dead lust as on a loathsome carkasse and shee will loath the remembrance of her former not loves but adulteries she will be like one awaked from a foolish dreame or an inchanted love and shee will wonder that shee hath so long beene bewitched with vanity folly sinne and misery But withall in her new mariage having tasted how sweete her Lord is shee will wonder and lament that shee hath so long lacked this sweetnesse Excesse of joy will be to her a cause of sorrow for her joy is now so great that she is sorry shee was no sooner partaker of this joy And in this joyfull sorrow shee will kisse the feete of her Lord and weepe on them while she kisseth them The feete of her Lord are now more precious to her than the head and top of lust for therefore she kisseth them because she loveth thē and therefore she weepeth because she hath loved lust so long a time and her Lord so little For lust that once falsly appeared to her as her greatest joy now truly appeares to her as her greatest sorrow and her now Lord in whom before she tooke no delight now appeares to be her chiefest and truest joy And both these her teares doe tell us CAP. III. The happinesse of the soule in her second Marriage NAbal being dead David marries his wife lusts name is Nabal and folly is with him and folly being dead the Sonne of David yea the Sonne of God who is the highest wisdome marriage A right kindly and blessed marriage wherein a spirit marries with a spirit a derived spirit with the originall and and roote of spirits yea with a spirit that hath abundance of spirit and so can continually refresh and nourish her with a new supply of spirit For being thus fed and supplied with a sap of her owne kinde shee growing in being and well-being she is more spirituall by receiving more juice and fatnesse of the spirit and consequently more full of divine light beauty love vertue power life joy and glory Behold the highest knot of blessednesse on earth and a preparation yea a pledge of the highest happinesse in heaven And though this inchoate marriage here on earth compared to the consummate marriage in heaven seeme but like to a betrothing yet even this betrothing compared to earthly marriages casts a shadow of darknesse on them for all the beauty all the glory all the joy in the world are but beames rayes flashes of this King of glory beauty and joy By him were all things made that were made and therfore the goodnesse of the things that are made by him must be borrowed of him that made them and then must the borrowed goodnesse needes be ashamed to be compared with his goodnesse that gave or lent it Christ Iesus is all lights in one light all glories in one glory all beauties in one beauty all joyes in one joy Whē he gave light and glory and beauty and joy to the creature he left the roote of light and glory and beauty and joy in himselfe So did he leave infinitely more in himselfe than hee gave out of himselfe for an internall and infinite fountaine hath infinitely more in it than all the streames that ever issued from it and hee is a fountaine for largenes unlimited and for spring without beginning and ending The dew of his birth is of the wombe of the morning even of that morning which hath an everlasting rising and shall be free from setting for all eternities Thus the soule being united to him is united to an eternall roote and fountaine of blessednes she is lightened with the primitive light she enjoyeth the primitive beauty she is adorned with the primitive glory shee tasteth the radicall utmost and uppermost sweetnesse Being made one with him who is God she hath the
taste of God and God being tasted overfloweth and steepeth and drencheth the soule with overcomming and inebriating sweetnesse For a high and large and mighty joy poured into a low and measured and weake spirit overcommeth her with quantity and quality and so carries her away into extasie and ravishment she is too narrow and feeble to containe and beare a joy that is too large and strong for her and therefore having filled her to the utmost capacity it goes beyond and runnes over So is she blessed in that fulnesse which her measure containeth yea she is more than blessed even blessed in a kinde of excesse by being overcome and overflowed with blessednesse And if we will consider the quality of this joy as well as the quantity there is no joy to the spirituall joy the joyes of the body being base in comparison of it the spirituall joy is pure piercing and full of activity the joy of bodies is grosse heavie dull and earthy In the bodily wine it is the spirit of the wine that rejoyceth the spirits of the body But a wine that is all spirit and spirit in the height and top of spiritualnes and newly drawne and sucked from the prime and chiefest spirit how doth that rejoyce how doth that ravish the spirits that drinke it when mans highest part doth tast the highest good Man hath no higher part whereby to taste and receive happinesse neither is there any higher happinesse to be tasted and received Therefore the soule that tasteth this wine at her spirituall marriage saith as the Master of the Feast at the earthly marriage Lord Thou hast kept the best wine untill the last And this being best the soule gives it the best place in her judgement and affection she forgets that which is behinde and indeavours to that which is before she will not rest in the low and backward joyes of the bodie but strives toward the high and forward joyes of the spirit and having attained them she rests in them as in the best joyes yet so rests in them in this life of growth that she desires to grow by them presently to a greater capacity of them and finally to a full large and everlasting fruition of them in a nearer accesse unto the very spring and fountaine of joyes But when all is said of this marriage-happinesse one taste of it wil tell thee more than all that is or can be said The true knowledge of the sweetnes of God is gotten by tasting and therefore taste first and then see how sweet and gracious the Lord is The taste of it will truly tell him that tasteth it how sweet it is but hee that knoweth this sweetnes by tasting cannot deliver over the full and perfect image of this sweetnes to him that hath not tasted it For this sweetnes surmounts all knowne sweetnesse of the creatures and by that which is knowne must that which is unknowne be made knowne But if that which is knowne be lesse and lower than that which is unknown that which is knowne may teach and tell us what the unknowne is not but not what it is So the joy of love and union in an earthly marriage cannot expresse a heavenly joy that is spiritually pure and purely active Only these and the like comparisons may serve for staires whereby to ascend even above these comparisons and to set our foot on something beyond them For if the soule rests on these she rests short of the knowledge of the sweetnesse which is beyond these shee is still in the sweetnesse of the creature and hath not attained the sweetnesse of the Creatour Therefore when she hath gone as farre as she may in the sweetnesse of the creature let her advance one step more into that spirituall union wherein is to be tasted and seene by tasting the sweetnes of the Creatour and ther shall shee see more by tasting than all the creatures could shew her by resembling she hath met with that joy which onely can truly teach it selfe and therefore it is called unspeakable And whereas before it was tasted the being of it was doubted and much more the manner and shape of it was unknowne now it is both knowne to be and the shape and manner of it is also known And being knowne all other sweetnesses which before were alone knowne and esteemed are now despised as it were unknown For this is that blessed estate of spirituall love and union whereof the spouse of Christ truely saith If a man would give all the substance of his house for loue it would utterly bee contemned And indeed the spouse having Christs love she hath that which is better than all things and having Christ with his love how can she with him but have all things also Christ is the heire of all things and the soule having married this heire is a joynt-heire annexed with Christ. She hath him by whom the worlds were made and therefore she hath also the worlds made by him yet he that made the worlds being Infinitely better than the worlds made by him she despiseth the worlds in respect of him that made them she quencheth her thirst in the fountaine onely and she accounts it a folly and a losse to leave the fountaine and to run after the streames Therefore setting her mouth to this fountaine she is filled with the waters of life with the oyle of gladnesse with the new wine of the kingdome of God with the joy of the holy Ghost even a joy unspeakable and glorious In Christ Iesus she hath all-sufficiency all safety all supply shee receives from Christ that spirituall oyntment which gives her spiritual light power goodnesse love and life yea it adorneth the soule with the most excellent beauty even the likenesse and image of God himselfe And being thus lovely the bridegroom kisseth and embraceth her with spirituall visitations he tells her his counsailes and his eyes are ever toward her even when hee seemes to be turned from her For she is set as a signet upon his heart and much water cannot quench his love she also looketh on him and is changed from glory to glory as the Moon when with more open face shee beholdeth the Sunne But of the particular benefits ane advantages of this blessed Marriage more hereafter Thus happy and thus growing in happinesse shee walkes on in this life of marriage inchoate untill she come to the eternall life of marriage consummate She is happy now in her union with happinesse and she shall be happy hereafter in a full fruition of happinesse She is happy now in the earnests and peeces of that happinesse which shall be full hereafter yea daily more and more happy here by a daily enlarging of those earnests and peeces and shee shall be the more happy hereafter by how much more these earnests and peeces of happinesse have beene here enlarged And thus shall she walke by happines unto happines and by the increase of happines
secondly there is yet a farther use and benefit of desertions For it may be thou hast gone beyond neglect of thy beloved and hast proceeded unto some offensive crosse and contrary carriage toward him thou hast entertained some thought purpose or act which hee cannot endure and then it is best both for him and thee that he hide himselfe from thee If thou come once to entertaine his enemies and to lodge them in one roome with him how canst thou expect but that hee should leave that roome since there is no agreement betweene light and darknesse betweene Christ and Belial And surely hee should neither regard himselfe nor thee if hee should give thee his loves when thou entertainest his enemies For since thy husband is thy happinesse the enemies of thy husband are the enemies of thy happinesse and so both his and thine enemies Therefore is it good that thy friend should a while goe aside when that thou grievest him and hurtest thy selfe by the entertainment of his and thine enemies And while thus hee is hid from thee and thou art left to those enemies whom thou hast entertained in stead of him thou maist learne what odds there is betweene a friend and an enemy and what a folly it was to grieve him that loved thee by loving them that hate thee Thou hast perchance had a touch with thy olde husband the flesh and jealousie which is the rage of a man much more of a man that is a jealous God is angry with thy whorishnesse and puts a day of wrath upon thee wherin he seemes not to spare thee Therefore thy conscience is let loose upon thee and it teares thee to peeces it breakes thy bones and grindes thee to powder Satan also who tempted thee hath leave to set upon thee and to teare thee with vexations whom he had seduced by tentations And now art thou left as it were wholly in hell who wouldest entertaine a peece of hell into thy heaven And indeede it is both a just and mercifull dispensation to tyre thee with thine owne wayes to make the flesh to come out at thy nostrills to make thee weary of thine enemies and to make thee long and looke grone and cry for thy friend whom thou hast grieved and driven out of thy sight Therefore is heaven shut up and become as brasse unto thee and hell hath enlarged her mouth to swallow thee yea thou art like Ionah in the belly of hell thou art like Nebuchadnezzar cut downe by the commandement of the holy one and driven away from men to the beasts of the field thou art like Sampson when his lockes were cut off the good Spirit leaves thee and the evill Spirits like Philistims are upon thee But hath God forgotten to be mercifull and hath he shut up his tender mercies in an everlasting displeasure Will hee breake the bruised reede and deliver up the soule of his Turtle into the hands of her enemies Nay wee shall not die O Lord Thou hast ordained them for judgement and O mighty God thou hast established them for correction The enemies of the soule are suffered to scourge her for loving her enemies so to beate that love out of her and to beate her into that olde love from which in some great degree shee was fallen Thus is she beaten by her enemies from her enemies and the stripes sent her from her friend bring her backe to him that sent them Shee had grieved the spirit of her beloved and by the griefe of her owne spirit shee now learnes what the griefe of a grieved spirit is and thereby learnes to grieve him no more Hereupon she resolves to cast out whatsoever hath offended him and to put on that singlenes and purity of soule which makes her one for one and one fitted by holinesse for that one who is holy She will be his alone whose alone she is and from henceforth shee will scorne and hate any sinne that will offer to bee a rivall with her wellbeloved and especially that sinne whose rivalty hath lately cost her so deare as the losse of his familiarity And the soule being thus washed and trimmed by repentance holy resolutions and renewing her covenant the bridegroome of the soule appeareth to her againe and giveth her his loves And now is she like a garden watered after a scorching heate the heate being overcome by moysture makes her more flourishing and more fruitfull the belly of hell having vomited up the soule of a Saint because it could not digest her shee then runnes much more readily in the wayes of Gods cōmandements The stumpe of the tree for it was not pulled up by the rootes springeth and flourisheth againe being watered with the dew of heaven and is more glorious than before by a greater acknowledgement and glorifying of the Lord of glory The haire for it was onely polled groweth again so doth the strength of the spirit and greater exploits are done against the enemies of the soule than ever before For the soule having beene long kept fasting feedes more heartily on the bread of life and this being the true bread that strengthens the heart of man the more feeding on it the more strength of heart A long drynesse of spirit hath made her very thirsty and the more thirsty she is the more doth shee drinke of the waters of life and the more shee drinkes of life the more lively and active shee is The late breach of love increaseth her love and by love her union with her Lord and husband and the increase of that union is the increase of holinesse and happinesse There is yet a third profit by spirituall desertions and it is the preventing of pride which usually ariseth upon spirituall revelations or any other excellencies of the spirit It is a precious and a glorious thing to know the counsels of heaven and the secrecies of that kingdome and these mysteries doth the husband of the soule often reveale unto her in the bed of love There is a secret murmure of things inutterable and then the soule wonders at the deepe wisedome and unspeakeable truthes which are discovered to her yea anon she wonders at her selfe and her owne happinesse because they are discovered to her But then the flesh which is apt to swell upon the apprehension of any honour or eminence steps in too often and puts his swelling into the soule and then the thoughts of the soule are changed For whereas before shee was a spirit that did magnifie the Lord and rejoyced in God her Saviour because to her lowlinesse hee shewed high and great things now shee rejoyceth in her selfe because of that which she hath received even as if she had not received it She growes proud against the giver even by his owne gifts and boasts of a selfe-sufficiency even against him from whom her sufficiencie came and without whom she hath no sufficiency Accordingly as shee changeth her thoughts so she changeth her voice for now she speakes in
the language of Babel I sit as a Queene and of Laodicea I am rich and have neede of nothing But indeed this riches is the true way to poverty and nothing For the soule being once rich in her owne opinion turnes her eyes from her husband that onely gives her true riches and so lookes from riches unto poverty And againe her husband seeing her rich in her owne opinion strips her and sends her naked and empty away But what a folly and madnesse is it in the soule though indeede very agreeable to the blinde flesh that maddeth her to thinke highly of the secrets and mysteries revealed to her and withall to stoppe the current of such revelations For thus she doth by turning away the face and turning the backe unto the revealer But on the other side it is a great mercy and favour in the revealer to stop his current of revelations yea to send some spirituall affliction and desertion in stead of them to prevent or amend this turning away of the soule from her husband the giver because of his gifts For thus by a short absence of both she may recover both the sooner and keepe them the longer but if shee should have that which she will abuse the having of it would cast her into the danger of a greater and a longer losse If the Moone being full should grow proud in her fulnesse and out of that pride neglect the Sunne not caring though the earth did ever keepe him out of sight were not this a way by the pride of her light to bring her to an everlasting darknesse And were it not farre better for her that the Sunne by some short eclipse and interposition of the earth did shew her her owne darknesse being without his light that so she may the more steadily and continually be lightened by a stedfast and continuall looking on him from whom her light commeth And thus indeede doth the husband and Sunne of the soule Having sent light hee sends also some turne of darknes that by a short darknes he may prevent a longer and that by darknesse hee may send a greater light Having visited the soule with his graces hee gives a medicine and preservative against pride the poyson of grace and a restorative to humility the forerunner of grace Humility is the bed wherein the Bridegroome lyes downe and rests with the soule With whom shall I rest saith hee but with the humble contrite soule Wherfore let the soule account it a benefit when this bed is made by some spirituall affliction for the King of grace and glory is shortly comming to lodge with her in some gracious visitation he that giveth grace to the humble will visit her with abundance of consolations he will give her his loves and his loves shall againe tell her his counsailes And then shalt thou account thy selfe a gainer if affliction and desertion have beene so great as to bring forth a great humiliation for a great humiliation shall bee followed with a greatly gracious and glorious visitation Fourthly these desertions are profitable to try the truth of our love and the tryall of our love shewes us the faults of it and by shewing them calls upon us to amend them The husband of the soule will see whether his spouse love him with the love of a wife or of an harlot The love of an harlot loveth a man onely for his gifts and so in truth loveth not the man but the gifts And though this be secretly true when by outward fashion she seemes to love him yet it is manifestly true when the gifts cease for then her love to the man also ceaseth But the true wife loveth her husband even for himselfe and by himselfe shee loves him without gifts yea she loveth his gifts for his sake for she would nor take the same gifts from another man Yea the true love of a wife goes some degrees farther for shee doth nor onely love her husband when hee gives no gifts neither doth shee onely love his gifts for his sake but she loves him when he is absent from her even when she is without both his presence and his gifts for even then the memory of him is precious to her shee calls to remembrance his perfections his vertues and his loves And yet the true love of a wife goes farther for she loves her husband even whē hee chides her and is angry with her though in that case an husband seemes to be more absent being at home than an husband pleased being from home All these doth the true spirituall love of the spouse performe unto Christ and Christ delights to see them performed Christ Iesus loves his wife with a true love for he hath laid downe his true his true blood and life for her And greater love hath no man than he that laid downe his life for his beloved Now Christ thus truly loving his wife hee expects a returne of true and unfained love from his wife And that it may be tried to be true or amended and made true if it be not so these tryalls are sent to her in these desertions And indeede in most of these degrees of love are we often faulty the flesh having often too great a part and influence in our love For the flesh as mainly for things present and palpable and like Thomas is wholly for seeing and feeling And hence it is that our love dotes so much on the gifts of Christ Iesus that it cooles even to Christ Iesus himselfe without his gifts Wee are all for Christs light and knowledge for his kisses and embracements for his hony and his wine for his sweetnesses and ravishings and without these Christ is a dry and loathed husband as Manna to the fleshly Israelites was a dry and loathed food But when it is so with us how farre are we short of those higher degrees of love even of that love that loveth Christ being absent and hid out of sight or that loveth him being present in that utmost absence of anger chastisement and seeming enmity How farre short are we of that Canaanitish woman that kissed his rodds and made love out of those reproaches whereby Christ seemed to drive her away But since it is so is it not high time for Christ to remove his gifts to whom our hearts are removed from Christ that so our hearts may againe be removed to Christ from them It is a right proper cure of this adulterous love to remoue those things with which love did adulterate that so the right object of our best love may bee sought and found and constantly proposed And surely this cure is profitable to our soules as it is pleasing also to the husband of soules for by it Christ hath more interest in the soule and the soule in Christ. And if this be the fruit of desertions then art thou againer by desertions But that thou maist be sure to gaine by them be sure to learne that which they
the Queene come in boldly with her request though it be for a kingdome Yea this King likes it best If thou doe first seeke a kingdome wherefore whatsoever thou askest be sure to aske this kingdome yea to aske it first and the righteousnesse inseparably annexed to it It were a madnes in thee to offend him by asking a lesse gift when thou mayst please him by asking a greater especially since if thou aske and obtaine the greater the lesser by promise is annexed to the greater And accordingly thou maist come down in thy petitions from the greater to the lesser and having desired the mayne petitions that the King of glory may bee glorified by the comming of his kingdome of grace with the righteousnes therof then after mayst thou petition for dayly bread to bee given thee Yea know that thou art now in a high degree the Temple of the holy Ghost and whatsoever prayer or supplication shall be made in this Temple by a man that shall know the plague and griefe of his owne heart He that dwelleth in Heaven will heare the prayer made on earth he will forgive and doe according to that prayer The spirit of prayer supplication is in this Temple and he is most powerfull in these seasons of love he who gives this spirit of praier will heare the prayer of the spirit which himselfe giveth For he gave this spirit of purpose to make those prayers in vs which himself might approve grant We know not how to pray as wee ought for we are carnall and flesh will not aske so as it may bee pleasing to a spirit A spirit loves a spirituall prayer and therefore hee gives the spirit that he may have that spirituall prayer which he loves So when he heareth his spouse hee heareth himselfe and how can any one deny his owne prayers Christ and his Spouse are now and that in a height of eminence one spirit And if a man who is flesh do not hate his owne flesh but cherisheth it surely much more assuredly the Lord who is a spirit cannot hate his owne spirit but loveth and cherisheth and consequently heareth it Thirdly when the soule is visited by the spirit of the Bridegroome then set upon some good yea upon some great worke The spirit which we receive is a spirit of power and when the spirit floweth much into us in these tides of grace we receive much power Now great power can doe a great worke and it were both a losse and a shame to thee with a great power to doe a little worke when thou maist doe a great one Therefore if there be a worke which was before too great and too hard for thee yet now set upon it for when thy strength is greater thou maist doe that worke which thou couldest not doe when thy strength was lesse Our Saviour saith to Peter Thou canst not follow me yet but thou shalt follow me hereafter thou canst not follow mee yet untill thy strength be greater by a greater portion of the spirit But when thou art more strengthened by the spirit then thou shalt follow mee And accordingly he that before Christs resurrection denied Christ at the voice of a maid after his resurrection confessed him in the face of a Councell And no wonder for for it is then said of Peter that he was filled with the holy Ghost Neither is it true of Peter alone that a great measure of the spirit enables to a great worke but in others also When the spirit of the Lord comes mightily upon Sampson he doth mighty workes for hee breaketh cords as flax and slayes a thousand with the bone of an asse And Paul being filled with the holy Ghost worketh a miracle by which at once he confounded Elymas and converteth the Deputy Though two talents gaine but two yet five can gaine five Therefore marke when the spirit comes mightily upon thee and then attempt some mighty worke As the Seaman watcheth the naturall winde and tide so doe thou watch the winde and tide of the spirit The spirit bloweth when he lifteth and when hee listeth to blow then set forth on some noble action when the tide of the spirit floweth then put thy hand to the oare for then if thou rowe strongly thou maist advance mightily The soule lying in flesh and bloud is like a boate on ground all the rowing in the world will not move it but let the tide come and set him afloate the same tide that enables him to move will also mightily advance the motion which it first enabled VVherefore if there be any vertue or any worke of excellence not yet well done thinke upon it in these times and tides of grace now set upon them that so thou maist goe from vertue to vertue untill thou be skilfull active in all vertues and having attained the full number of them then strive to the fulnesse and perfection of degrees On the contrary if thou have some mighty enemie that hath beene too hard for thee even some raging and wasting concupiscence feare distrust or other tentation now set upon him mightily for now canst thou best see the way to conquer him and now hast thou most might to effect this conquest and to doe what thou seest Having tasted this honey thine eyes shall be opened and thy strength revived wherfore make thou now a more mighty slaughter of the enemies of God and thy soule And let thy fighting be against all these enemies though chiefly against the chiefest There are some little foxes that have strong holdes and these will ask some strength to be digged out and taken Remember that thy warfare is against the whole Nation of the Canaanites thou maist not suffer a little one to live Thou must strive against all sinne and strive for all righteousnesse for the fruite of the spirit is all goodnesse righteousnesse and truth It is the saying of a Saint I can doe all things through Christ that strengthens mee If therfore Christ strengthen thee strive thou to doe all things also Neither hast thou in these times onely a greater strength to encourage thee to great workes but also a great joy And indeede the joy of the Lord is our strength The joy that is in us is a peece and patterne of the joy set before us and by this peece of joy within us beholding the joy set before us we may despise the shame and endure the Crosse and runne with patience the race set before us As sure as wee have this pawne so sure shall wee have the performance and therefore we may labour comfortably in the workes of doing and suffering because our labour is not in vain in the Lord. The joy which we have excites us to labour because as this joy is followed with labour so shall the labour be followed with an over-waighing joy and the greater the labours are to which this joy of the spirit
parts of the soule to water the roote of her and to give her true kindly and reall increase As mudde is to the thirsty bodies so are these to thirsty soules they cannot drinke them in nor quench their thirst with them But the spirituall joyes enter in and enlarge the very soule of man they make her who is a spirit more spirituall for shee opens her mouth wide to them and then shee is filled with that spirituall and divine sappe which accompanieth them and wherein they are founded And then as shee hath heard so she hath seene and tasted that an heavenly joy is to the soule a restaurative medicine and that when she enjoyeth her Saviour in the contemplations and tastes of his love then is she filled with marrow and fatnesse But I hasten to a third Marke of spirituall visitations and that is holinesse For when Christ visiteth the soul as he doth clarifie her with light and ravish her with joy so he doth beautifie her with holinesse Externall joyes and joyes of the body have not this vertue neither can they give it to the soule but when Christ commeth into the soule by his spirit the same spirit that doth enlighten and glad her doth also hallow her yea as by the light she is directed to holinesse so by the gladnesse shee is lifted up encouraged and actuated unto holines In these accesses of Christ there are heights of union and the increases of union bring with them increases of uniformity The spirit of union is fire and fire turnes that into it selfe to which it is united and the fuller and closer this union is the more is this turning So Christ Iesus the more hee comes into a soule by his spirit the more spirituall doth he make her yea the more doth hee melt a soule into himselfe the more doth hee turne her will into his will and the more doth hee increase his owne image in her and wee know that his image is righteousnesse and true holinesse He brings with him those oyntments for which the Virgins love him and those oyntments also make them more lovely Hence are they inwardly more glorious and hence outwardly they smel more sweetly in their conversations The Kings daughter is all glorious within and her garments smell of myrrhe aloes and cassia In these touches of Christ if in any other there comes forth vertue frō him The spirit of the lover passeth into his beloved and makes her of one heart and will with him and this conformity of the will with Christ is true holinesse The spirit by which Christ visiteth his spouse is an holy spirit and a spirit of power and accordingly when this spirit is shed into the soule there is power holynes infused with him and by him And hēce it is that they who receaue the true oyntments of the spirit in true visitacions they passe beyond a speculatiue discoursing holynes even beyond a forme of godlines and advance to the power of it to a fruitful expression of this power Yea I may say that hereunto the very loue of Christ constrayneth vs. For in these visitacions and by them the loue of Christ is shed into our harts The spirit of power holines is the spirit of loue and this loue giuen by the spirit may be called holinesse for it is the fulfilling of the law They that love Christ are certainely willing to please him and to keep his commandements and they that have the spirit of love cannot but love him Yea they cannot but love him for the union they have with him and the joyes of this union And loving him they wil desire to bring forth fruite unto him and by him even fruite that may be like him The pleasure of love and union in outward marriage is a kinde of hire of fruitfulnes and in the spirituall marriage the joy of love and union is the hire of a fruitfull holinesse Wherefore those that truly enjoy Christ in these spiritual accesses both desire and obtaine this spirituall fruitfulnesse for the spouse of Christ is most truly that vine which is fruitfull by the sides of the house and whose children stand like olive plants yea in olde age is shee full of fruite Wherefore if with light and joy the soule doe feele that the spirit of Christ by spirituall heate power and love have wrought a powerfull and fruitfull holinesse in her let her know that Christ Iesus himselfe hath beene with her Carnall and corporall things cannot doe this evill Angels neither can nor will doe it good Angels though they rejoyce to see it done yet they doe it not but that spirit alone both can doe it doth it which is the power and right hand of God which onely writeth the lawes of God in the hearts and soules of men He it is alone that giveth the soule the new wine of the kingdome wherewith the soule being once refreshed shee rejoyceth as a gyant to runne the race of holinesse It is the spirit of Christ alone that so anoynteth the soule that shee runneth after Christ in the wayes of righteousnesse And as it was said to this Head and Husband of the Church Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anoynted thee with the oyle of gladnesse above thy fellowes So it may bee also said to the Spouse Thou hast loved righteousnesse and hated iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anoynted thee with the oyle of gladnes above all those that were thy fellowes by carnall generation For there is no oyle of gladnesse that hath with it the love of righteousnesse but that wherewith Christ Iesus the Head was principally anoynted and which dropping from Christ the Head to the Members and Spouse of Christ makes her to excell the rest in vertue and holinesse And as there was not any such spice as the Queen of Sheba brought unto Salomon so there are no such oyntments of grace and gladnesse as a greater than Salomon doth give to his Queen when hee and shee are met in the heates of a spirituall conjunction and the excesses of a fruitive union CAP. VIII A Corollary of counsailes and directions to those that are entred into the estate of this blessed Marriage LEt it be the maine endeavor of a soule married to Christ to keepe her selfe still in that point wherein she may keepe him and so keepe him that she may still say and feele what she sayes My well-beloved is mine and I am my well-beloveds To this end let her still cast and consider with her selfe what those things are which hee most loves and make her most lovely in his eyes for the spirit of this lover loves to be there where his love is Therefore if there be any praise any vertue thinke on those things and set them as pearles and jewells about thy soule to make her glorious and amiable in his sight Let the face
of the soule even the image of the most excellent Deity shine brightly in his eyes being anoynted with fresh oyle and let her be lovely to him by those oyntments which make him lovely to her Let her often goe out of the body yea out of the world by heavenly contemplations and treading on the top of the earth with the bottome of her feet stretch her selfe up to looke over the world into that upper world where her treasure her joy her beloved dwelleth Let her stand in this watch-tower and looke out for her lover as the watch-man looks out for the morning and then the day-spring from on high shall visite her Turne thy face away from the enchantments of this world from dreames of earthly profit and preferment and turne thy face to the wildernesse even turne this world into a wildernesse and a nothing before thy face and the spirit of God shall come upon thee and thou shalt see the vision of the Almighty And when this Sunne of the soule shineth upon her let the eye of the soule made cleare and piercing by faith like the eye of an Eagle looke on the Sunne for this Sunne looks on the eye that lookes on him yea he loves the eye of a faith working unto love and cries out that he is wounded by this one of her eyes It is his owne speech to the soule Seeke my face continually and it is an answer which he loves to receive from the soule Thy face O Lord will I seeke And thus beholding Christ Iesus with open face thou shalt see and feele things inutterable thou shalt also bee changed from beauty to beauty from glory to glory by the spirit of this Lord. The more the soule seeth and is seene of him the more lovely shall shee grow and the more lovely she is the more will hee delight to see and be seene of her Againe if with that hearty lover whose heart was according to the heart of his well-beloved thou canst truly say Mine eyes are alwayes to the Lord having procured his comming thou shalt also stay him from going Thy heart shall watch him and keepe him and holde him for where he is so watched and held from going he is willing to abide The story is well knowne that though hee seemed as though hee would have gone further yet when they constrained him hee went in to tarry with them And though he should after some tarrying vanish out of sight yet if our hearts be thinking and talking of him hee will eftsoones stand in the midst of them and bring his peace with him And that thou maist keep his love fresh and fervent to thee keepe thy owne love fresh and fervent to him For love draweth love and fervent love makes love fervent like it selfe Love is like burning coales and burning coales will kindle coales that are not burning Therefore kindle thy love and make it to flame by thinking on his beauty on his sweetnes on his goodnes Kindle it by renewing the olde tastes of him which thou hast formerly tasted Kindle thy love by reviving the images of loves past put thy selfe into the same thoughts wherein thou wast when thou didst enjoy him And so if thy minde be fitted and put into a state of enjoying it is likely that hee will come into a minde so fitted and thou shalt enjoy him And if hee come not yet into thee stirre up thy spirituall concupiscence and therewith let the soule lust mightily for him and let her lusts and desires ascend up to him in strong cryes and invocations then by his spirit he will descend unto thee Be carefull that there be a perpetuall consent of thy will unto his will and a perpetuall issuing of thoughts and actions from this consent and conformity In the house of this husband there must be but one will and that is the husbands The wifes will must be melted into the will of the husband and her will must not live but her husbands will must live in her And then this husband will delight to be much at home where he may be Master and he will delight often to give the unity of fruition where there is an unity of will and affection but where the wifes will doth crosse the will of the husband there is he wearied away and that house is to him as a place of continuall dropping offensive and indeed unfit to entertaine that Lord who is the King of glory A King loves to be in his Kingdome where he commandeth and is obeyed and therefore if thou wilt have this King to visit and dwell with thee let him command and reigne in thee for he hath told thee himselfe If any man love mee and keepe my commandements I will love him and will appeare plainly to him Wherefore if the soule desire to please her selfe by the fruition of his presence let her especially and mainely strive to please him for by pleasing him she shal be pleased by him whose pleasure is infinitely greater than that which ariseth out of her pleasing of her selfe Let her give away her owne will for his will and in so doing shee shall be a double gainer for she changeth a worse will for a better and withall gaines him whose the better will is and who is infinitely better than her selfe Wherefore strive to please him and to give him his will yea strive to give it much and mainly for the more thou givest it the more thou receivest into thee a most excellent will and a most excellent husband Thus shalt thou please thy selfe most by pleasing him and not thy selfe What husband is there who seeing his wife to neglect her selfe for him but hee will love and cherish that wife the more the more shee neglects her selfe for him And then by how much his love and cherishing is more advantageable and pleasing than her owne so much is her gaine advanced by loving and pleasing him more than her selfe And because there is some beauty and good in the creature though indeed subject to vanity and blasted with a curse and there is a law of the members reigning in the worst and not wholly rooted out of the best which loves to looke on the creature and by looking lusts after it let the soule married to Christ be very wary how she turnes her eye and fixeth it on the creature For if her eye goe much after it and fettle long upon it her love is likely to come after her eye She may looke on it and behold the goodnesse of it but in beholding the goodnesse of it shee must againe look from it to that transcendent originall and infinite goodnesse of her husband of whom this goodnesse was borrowed For by him all things were made that were made Againe she may looke on it to see the vanity of it that by seeing the vanity of it shee may looke from it to her Lord and Husband in whom is stability and perpetuall
felicity And yet againe she may looke on it to see the curse that is cast upon it and in the terriblenesse of that curse shee may see the horrour of sinne that looking from it againe to her Lord and Saviour she may see the excellency of his love and inestimable value of his person who hath taken away the curse and the sinne from his beloved Spouse and gives her a blessed use of the creature and full blessednesse in the eternall fruition of the Creatour Thus looking to the creature by looking to it shee lookes from it she rests not in it but passeth by it to her only true rest And indeed by these and the like removals the soule should ever bee kept loose from the world For as when we would not have things to glue and fasten we doe often touch and turne and moove them so the soule being apt to glue and fasten to the world wee must by these and the like meditations often touch and remove her that so she may be kept continually loose from it But because the cyment which joynes the soule to the world is the flesh and she must adulterate first with this old husband before she can prostitute her selfe to the world let the soule take especiall care to watch and resist the approaches of this fly but deadly enemy that commeth in the shape of a lover This is he whom the true husband whose name is jealous doth perfectly hate for there is a perfect contrariety betweene them Therefore so much as thou admittest the flesh so much thou expellest thy Lord and Saviour But so much as thou banishest the flesh so much roome doest thou make for Christ to come into thee by his spirit Therefore bee thou so farre from loosing thy husband for this old adulterer that thou gaine him the more by expelling and killing the other The flesh is good for nothing but to be slaine and therein there is this gaine that the more he dyeth the more thy love and life loveth thee and liveth in thee Therefore whereas the flesh would make it thy pleasure to live after the flesh doe thou make it thy pleasure to kill the flesh let the hunting pursuing and killing of the lusts of the flesh be thy pastime and pleasure even the hunting and destroying of these foxes that would destroy thy vineyard And then will the Lord of the vineyard get up early to his vineyard the vine shall flourish and the tender grape appeare and there shall he give thee his loves But if through thy owne remisnesse or the fleshes importunity the soule by concupiscence hath conceived sinne make haste to the fountaines set open for Iudah and Ierusalem to wash and to be cleane Wash thy selfe in teares and bloud the spirit of penitence contrition and conversion washeth white the bloud of the Lambe washeth whiter than snow And by the cleansing spirit is given to thee the cleansing bloud That false husband whom thou hast pleased hee hath defiled thee and thy true husband whō thou hast offended he it is that must wash thee therefore hee came by water and bloud to wash thy guilt with his bloud and thy filth by his spirit that thus being washed thou maist be without spot and blemish and againe lovely in his eyes and acceptable in the eyes of his Father And being thus made faire by his washing he will yet againe embrace thee and put thy evill out of his remembrance by his owne overcomming goodnesse But then let his goodnesse overcomming thy evill teach thee to overcome thy owne evill with goodnesse Hate and resist all sinne and especially that sinne by which thou hast most offended so loving a husband and hate and resist that false husband who tempted thee to this sin Love thy true husband the more the more thou hast offended him and the more he hath forgiven thee And the more thou lovest him the more strive not to offend him And if thus after thy sinne thou art the farther from sinne more faire in holinesse and fuller of love to thy heavenly husband thou shalt heare from his mouth the voice of ioy and gladnesse and shalt feele from his mouth a kisse of peace in thy soule And this spirituall kisse shall drop a spirituall oyntment the very pledge and seale of pardon and peace even a testimony of his spirit speaking to thy spirit Thy sinnes are forgiven thee And having regained him make thy selfe more one with him and increase thy communion with him Touch him hard with thy faith sucke him strongly with thy love that more vertue may come out of him to cure that issue of sinne yet abiding in the remnant of the flesh and to make thee more one and uniforme with him For as a bough the more hee suckes from the tree the larger is his union with the tree and the more is his likenesse to the tree so the more a soule draws from Christ the more is she one with him and the more is shee like him And againe the more shee is like him the more will hee delight to bee one with her and thus shall she goe on in an endlesse circle of happines The highest and happiest and sweetest harmony is when the soule is in an unizon with her Saviour and husband every touch and sound of the soule thus tuned to Christ Iesus resoundeth in him toucheth and moveth him And as with the sound of outward musicke the spirit of God came upon the Prophet so with the sound of this inward musicke be it in holy contemplations ardencies desires invocations resolutions the spirit of Christ Iesus commeth more powerfully and plentifully into the soule And when hee comes doe thou draw from him that spirituall sappe and nourishment by which thou maist grow up to the stature appointed thee By the supply of this head grow up to this head in a due proportion even to the fulnesse of that part which thou holdest in his body And let not the head be the head of a man yea of the fairest and goodliest of men and thou a starved dwarfish crooked or mishapen hand or foote but both in measure and shape strive to be a member proportionable to so comely an Head And that thou maist thus grow let not swelling but growth be the end of thy sucking Desire the sincere milke and hony and wine of the Deity that thou mayst growe thereby in solide substance not in frothy and puffy imaginations Growe thou in the reall excellence of a divine Nature and not in the empty swellings of a fleshly pride For the flesh hath sometimes a desire of spirituall excellencyes but it is for a fleshly end even to puffe it selfe up by thē But seeke not these pearls to cast it to these Swine nor this Bread of heaven to give it to such dogs Rather buffet this flesh and beate it downe lest a messenger of Satan be sent to buffet thee for not
let her ever be tasting of thy loves and ever love thee by tasting them Let the savour of thy oyntments whose very breath is love be ever in her nostrills that she may ever love thee for that savour and by it Give me the flagons of the new wine of the kingdome which may lift up my soule above her selfe in her loves and give her better loves than her owne where with to love him that is farre better than her selfe Yea let her drinke plentifully that she may be mounted up in a divine extasie above her carnall and earthy station that she may forget the low and base griefes and cares and distractions of carnall and worldly love and by an heavenly excesse be transported into an heavenly love to embrace her beloved who is the Lord from heaven with a love that is like him O my beloved thou art most lovely even when I love thee not yet then art thou most lovely and when my soule covered with flesh sees not thy beauty yet then art thou most beautifull and most worthy to be beloved But then thy lovelinesse is lost to me because love loves not what it sees not Therefore ever anoynt mine eyes with thine eye-salve that my soule may ever see thy lovelinesse and seeing it to be most lovely love it with her best loves and despise a world of beauties in comparison of thine and a world of loves in comparison of those loves wherewith shee loveth thee Let my love rest in nothing short of thee neither let it be content meerely to rest in thee but kindle it enflame it enlarge it that it may rest largely in thee Enlarge the crany which thy spirit hath bored through the flesh into my spirit that I may largely see thee and so largely love thee Enlarge the arteries and conduit pipes by which thou the head and fountaine of loves flowest into thy members that being abundantly quickened and watered with the spirit of love I may abundantly love thee And doe not onely come much but often into me and let my spirit often be one spirit with thee in communicative and fruitive unions For such often unions with thy spirit will make my spirit more spirituall and the more spirituall shee is the more will she love him who is a spirit Againe the more spirituall she is the more will he who is a spirit love her and the more he loves her the more will he visit her with his spirit and the more he visits her the more lovely and beloved shall she be Wherefore by often visitations put thy owne image and beauty more and more on my soule and then love thy owne beauty in my soule and my soule for thy owne beauty which thou hast put on her and let my soule love thee infinitely for being infinitely more beautifull than that beauty which thou hast put on my soule and therefore infinitely more lovely than that which thou lovest in my soule Wilt thou my Lord love the image and shall not the image much more love the patterne O thou most lovely my love to thee should be farre greater than thy love to me because my object of love in thee is infinitely greater than thine in me But I being a poore and narrow creature have not love enough to love thee sufficiently an infinite Creatour and indeed there is no love but thy owne sufficient to love thee whose love onely is equall to thy lovelinesse Thy being is lovelinesse it selfe and thy being is love it selfe for God is love Come therefore into me O thou that art love and love thy selfe in me Come into me and by thy owne most excellent love fitly love thy owne most excellent lovelinesse And while thou lovest thy selfe in my soule let my soule according to her measure taste and see and love that love Let her with all her might though that might be far too weake for this worke consent and approve that love of thine and on the torrent of thy love let her most active strongest and largest affections swimme to thee O thou Ocean and unbounded fulnesse both of lovelines and love And thus though shee cannot make her owne love sufficient to love thee yet let her make thy all-sufficient love her owne by receiving some of it into her according to her capacity by assenting to it by approving magnifying it and by a desire to resemble it as much as a poore measured creature may resemble that which is unmeasurable It is thy owne word O thou lover of soules that where there is a willing minde thou acceptest that which a soule hath and not that which she hath not But Lord though that love which I have attaine not to that measure which is unmeasurable yet Lord let it be a full measure which thou pourest into me and let there bee nothing void in my heart and unfilled with thy love Yea let thy spirit of love come so fully into my soule that it stretch and enlarge her measure and make her to grow from the measure in which she is unto the measure in which shee should be even to that stature which is appointed her in thy body And thus by fulnesse in a lesse measure let her grow to a fulnesse in a greater measure growing still in measure and growing still in that which filleth her measure Yea let the measure sometimes be not onely full but running over even running over to a spirituall drunkennesse but not unto drowning for these extasies and excesses of love shall somewhat advance my ability of loving thee For when my understanding will and affections are all overflowne overcome and amazed then shall my wonder gaze on thee and my very faintings shall be enflamed toward thee and melt me into thee Neyther doth my soule desire the pleasure of this loue and Ioyes of thy vnion meerly for pleasure But I desire that the ioy and sap of thy spirit powred into mine when they two are one spirit may be generatiue and fruitfull Far be it from my soule to loue thee like an harlot and not like a wife let mee desire vnion with thee because I love thee and because I love thee let mee desire to bring forth fruite vnto thee Yea I will not cease to cry vnto thee Give mee children or else I die For thou canst not reply vnto mee Am I in Gods stead to give the fruit of the wombe For verily thou art that God who giveth the fruite of the wombe both spirituall and corporall Give me therefore children by this vnion with thee euen fruites of thy spirit which may resemble thee and be pledges to me of thy vnion with me And when I have brought them forth let me give the praise vnto thee For thou onely makest the barren to beare and to be a fruitfull mother of children And when thou hast made mee fruitfull by coming to mee come more often to mee be cause thou hast made mee fruitfull It was the voice of a naturall