holiness in the fear of God because such onely are Capable of his Divine and Special Communications such onely are in a fit condition to Receive them such onely are meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light BUT yet there is a Love which God extendeth unto others also a Love of Benevolence a Sincere True and Unfeigned Affection which he beareth even to the Children of Disobedience although it be not so Extensive and Unmeasurable as that he expresseth to the Children of Light He is good and doth good unto every Man offers happiness unto the very worst of men desires them to accept of his offers intends to make them happy upon their hearty acceptance and doth all things on his part which are necessary and proper for a merciful God a Wise and Holy Lawgiver to do for Reasonable and voluntary Agents so that if they perish after all their destruction is of themselves O that my People had hearkned unto me that Israel had walked in my ways Psal 81. 13. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord God Ezek. 18. 23. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O house of Israel Ezek. 33. 11. He will have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth 1 Tim. 2. 4. He is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance 2 Pet. 3. 9. These few places of Scripture speak so positively and plainly that unless men will have the Front to Question the Veracity of God which is one of his Essential Attributes necessarily and naturally included in the Notion of a Deity they must needs acknowledge that God loveth all mankind and every one though he be the most Irreligious and Profligate amongst them He hath for all a Love of Benevolence whereby he wisheth every ones Good especially his everlasting Happiness I shall hereafter shew you how it cometh to pass that God's wishes have not their due effect at present my business is to explain the Notion of the Divine Philanthropy and to make it evident to such as are Teachable that more or less the God of Mercy and Compassion Loves us all without Partiality or Discrimination Though his Affections are of a Scantier Measure and a Lower Degree to some who harden their own hearts than they are to others whose Perswasions and ways please the Lord yet to all it is a Sincere Affection Love Unfeigned Inexpressible Unconceivable WHEN therefore our Blessed Saviour said God so loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Son his meaning was that though of Adam's Posterity some that held the Truth held it in Unrighteousness others had given themselves up to Lewdness and direct Apostasy and all were so Corrupt before God that Divine Vengeance might justly have passed upon all yet all their Impieties and Provocations notwithstanding God had so great a Love for all that of his meer Grace and Goodness he determined to do whatsoever was Needful for and Becoming him to act that he might Reclaim them and bring them into the ways of Righteousness and Peace and for that end gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life CHAP. II. The Point to be insisted on viz God's unfeigned Love to all Mankind Proved First from the Command touching the Universal Promulgation of the Gospel AND now the Point which ariseth hence is this That the Son of God's coming into the World was a strong Argument and an evident Expression of God's sincere and boundless Affection to all Mankind FOR the clearing of this important Article there are Two things for me to insist upon First The Amplitude of that Commission which was given the Apostles and their Successors for the Promulgation of the Gospel to all the World Secondly The Extensive Merit of our Holy Redeemer's Death 1. FIRST The Amplitude of that Commission which was given the Apostles and their Successors for the Promulgation of the Gospel The Directions given them when the Lord was ready to depart from them according to St. Matthew's Account runs thus Go ye and Teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you And loe I am with you always even unto the end of the World Math. 28. 19 20. Though by all Nations here may be meant Primarily all the Tribes of Israel and Christ's Purpose might be that the Apostles should begin their Preaching at Jerusalem and thence Proceed to the Jews that were dispersed among the Heathen yet no Nation under Heaven was to be Excluded but from Age to Age and from one Nation to another the Tidings of Peace were to be carried over all the Earth until the Consummation of all things Therefore not the Apostles onely but also their Successors for ever were intended in this Commission because the Lord's Spiritual Presence and Assistance was to be not for the Apostles time only but Perpetual to the very End of the World Which shews the Universality of the Divine Grace and that the Gospel was to be Preached every where before the close of all things that at the Day of final Account God may Judge the whole World by Jesus Christ in Righteousness according as they have obey'd or disobey'd the Gospel sent unto them Hence the Account St. Mark gives is this Go ye into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature Mark 16. 15. to shew that God's intention was that no People no not in the Heathen part of the World should be passed by But that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached in Christ's Name among all Nations begining at Jerusalem as St. Luke hath it Luk. 24. 47. Accordingly the Apostles went forth and Preached every where saith St. Mark meaning to all People and Nations within their reach because they were to be Witnesses unto Christ both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and in all Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the Earth saith St. Luke Act. 1. 8. And because God Commanded all Men every where to Repent saith St. Paul Act. 17. 30. And were it needful for me to Collect Observations to this purpose out of the Ancient Writers of the Christian Church I could shew you particularly when the Apostles parted Solemnly from one another to Execute their Redeemer's Commission how they took their particular Provinces and went every one into the Country that was assign'd him and how those Apostolical Persons who were engaged in the same weighty Employment some in the Apostles Days and many after all Travell'd into distant places and Territories that the sound of the Gospel might go forth into all Lands and
him as our Supream Good in feeding our Desires with the Ravishing Ideas of him in Delighting and being highly pleased with the Sense of him and in such other Beatifical Acts which are answerable to Rational Appetites Every Divine Lover hath something of all this in this Present Imperfect State 't is the Fruition which now Crowneth our Affections that Spiritual Fellowship of Communion with God which we enjoy in this Life To Express therefore our Love to him in this respect we should have him always in our Minds be full of worthy Conceptions of him and make the thoughts of his Glorious Essence and Attributes to dwell in our Hearts daily We should Exalt him in our Minds above all things and make our Souls sensible that we have none in Heaven but Him none upon Earth to be desired in Comparison of Him We should take Pleasure in Divine Contemplations and endeavour constantly to Satiate our Souls more and more with Delights of that Nature We should every day possess our Hearts with such Affecting Meditations as These O God! How Excellent is thy Name How Radiant is thy Glory How Adorable are thy Perfections How Wonderful are thy Works How Beautiful are all thy Ways How Righteous are thy Actions How Equal are thy Commands How Precious and Sweet are thy Promises How Infinite is thy Goodness How Astonishing are thy Mercies How Charming is thy Love How Helpfull and Saving is thy Power How Tender is thy Pity How Blessed and Praise-worthy and Desirable art Thou O Thou great Lover of Souls and Redeemer of the World To kindle in us such a Divine Flame and to raise our Desires still touching the Fruition of God we should Form our Hearts into a Devout Temper give our Selves to Prayer and to the Love of it daily Insensate and Careless People know not the Comforts the Pleasures the Divine Enjoyments which Transport the Minds of those who Pray to God with Stay'd Fervent and Affectionate Hearts Certainly what Happiness there is here below Men of Holy Humble and Devout Spirits have it And that our Fruitions thereby may be the greater and the more desirable we should evermore be mindful of Publick and Solemn Devotion Chiefly when Two or Three are gathered together in Christ's Name then is he in the midst of us and then is God with us then we Enjoy him in a more especial manner and measure in the Congregation in the Assembly of the Saints in his House of Prayer There he scatters his Blessings there he gives us participations of himself there he refresheth us with a portion of those Pleasures which are at his Right Hand And this was the Reason of those Raptures Wishes Groans and Longings of the Holy Psalmist which upon the like occasions we should be full of too My Heart is fixed O God my Heart is fixed I will Sing and give Praise Awake up my Glory I will go into this Sanctuary and fall low on my Knees at thy Footstool Like as the Heart desireth the Water-brooks so longeth my Soul after Thee O God My Soul is a Thirst for God yea even for the Living God When shall I come to appear before the Presence of God! O How Amiable are thy Dwellings O Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a Desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord for one Day in thy Courts is better than a Thousand I had rather be a Door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Now see how passionate that good Man's Love to God was though for the present Fruition of him And if the Gleanings of the Grapes be so desirable what is the whole Vintage I mean that abundant and Eternal Enjoyment which is Reserved for us till that Day when we shall have duly transacted all our Services here and shall pass from these Houses of Prayer into that Building of God not made with Hands the Everlasting Habitation of his Glory This Future Everlasting Fruition of God ought to be the chief Object of our Desires because it is our highest good and because it is the Ultimate end of the Divine Oeconomy and of all our Labours of Love in this World It is impossible for us truly and earnestly to Love God and not to groan within our Selves whilest we wait for this last Adoption the Redemption of our Bodies that we may be Cloathed upon all over with Immortality and have these our vile Bodies changed and fashioned like unto Christ's own Glorious Body that we may be in every Respect fit to be with that great Lover of our Souls and when we see him may rejoyce with him and with a joy like unto his when after all the Ignominy and Torments of the Cross he had this most Comfortable Reflection It is Finished PRAYERS OLord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy Stedfast Fear and Love Keep us we Beseech Thee under the Protection of thy good Providence and make us to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OGod who hast prepared for them that Love Thee such good things as pass Man's Understanding Pour into our Hearts such Love towards Thee that we loving Thee above all things may obtain thy Promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God who hatest nothing that Thou hast made and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are Penitent Create and make in us New and Contrite Hearts that we Worthily lamenting our Sins and acknowledging our Wretchedness may Obtain of Thee the God of all Mercy perfect Remission and Forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen OAlmighty God who alone canst Order the Unruly Wills and Affections of Sinful Men grant unto thy People that they may Love the thing which thou Commandest and desire that which thou dost Promise that so among the sundry and manifold Changes of the World our Hearts may surely There be fixed where true joys are to be found through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen GRant We beseech Thee Almighty God That like as We do Believe thy only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have Ascended into the Heavens So We may also in Heart and Mind thither Ascend and with Him continually dwell who liveth and raigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost one God World without End Amen FINIS Books lately Printed for W. Crook 1. A Practical Discourse upon the Blessed Sacrament shewing the Duties of the Communicant before at and after the Eucharist Octavo Price 3s 6d 2. A Practical Discourse upon Prayer in Octavo Price Is. 3. A Practical Discourse upon Charity in its several Branches and of the Reasonableness and Useful Nature of this great Christian Vertue Octavo Price 3s These three are also bound together having the Title of Dr. Pelling's Three Practical Discourses Vol. 1. Price 6s together 4. A Practical Discourse upon Humility wherein is shewn the Nature Reasonableness and Usefulness thereof together with the ways of Expressing and Increasing of it Price 2s 6d All Written by the Reverend Dr. Pelling Author of this Book
that there might be no People Nation or Language but the good News of it should be heard among them Indeed it was the great End for which the Miraculous Gift of Tongues was poured out on the Day of Pentecost and continued for several Years after that no means of instructing People in any Nation might be wanting any where NOW whence could all this come but from the Astonishing and Tender Love of God to a miserable and forlorn World and to every Generation of Men that then was or should be to the World's End And what could be the good God's design in all this but that every one should come to the Knowledge of the Truth and so be Converted and Live It was the End of John the Baptist's Preaching to give Knowledge of Salvation to his People for the Remission of their Sins through the Tender Mercy of God whereby the Day-spring from on high visited them to give Light to them that sate in Darkness and the shadow of Death and to guide their Feet into the Ways of Peace Luk. 1. 78 79. The same was the end of our Saviour's Preaching that all People might come unto him and by him might have Life because God sent not his Son into the World to Condemn the World but that the World through him might be Saved Jo. 3. 17. And the very same was the end of the Holy Apostles and their Successors Preaching that they might Save that which was Lost and Save all to the uttermost Because God's desire was to Bless them in turning away every one of them from their Iniquities Act. 3. 26. And because He Commanded all Men every where to Repent Act. 17. 30. AFTER all this so expresly and plainly told us in the Holy Scripture for Men to say as some have had the great Confidence to Publish to the World That God hath Absolutely and Irrevocably consigned the greater part of Mankind to Eternal Torments that he sendeth his Word to them that they may be yet more Deaf that he sets up a Light before them that they may be the more Blind that he gives them Remedies that they may refuse to be Healed that he knocks at their Hearts that they may deny him Entrance and this that in the end they may be all Damned and render'd Inexcusable These and many other the like bold Assertions do fix such a foul Imputation upon the Divine Being and are such an horrible Reproach to his most Glorious Attributes especially his Goodness Holyness Mercy Justice and Truth as I almost Tremble but to think of and can never Wonder sufficiently how it could enter into the Heads and Hearts of any Christians to Conceive such Abominable and Blasphemous Notions of God Blessed for ever more JUSTIN MARTYR tells us of some Princes who have been so Salvage that least Axes and Gibbets should be Idle they have laid Traps and Snares in Men's Way on purpose to sport and divert themselves with their Destruction And among divers base things which have been told of Tiberius the Emperor of Rome two barbarous Stories fall here into my Memory One was That having a vehement Desire to hang some Virgins because the Roman Government had that Honour for Chastity that they would not suffer Virgins to die after that Shameful manner he Order'd the Common Executioner first to Corrupt and Deflow'r them that then he might have them Strangl'd with a Non-Obstante to the Laws The other Story is That intending to Kill both the Sons of Germanicus he used all possible means of Provoking them to Defame him that he might have some Colour and Pretence for his Villainous Resolution MANY such Scandalous Instances there have been of Men who have so far put off all Humanity as to thirst for Blood and to delight in Acts of Cruelty and Oppression But they have been abhorred as so many Botches and plague Sores among Man-kind And for Men who are called by the Name of Christ to represent that most Perfect Being the Father of Spirits and the great Lover of all our Souls so as if he used Arts to draw his Poor Creatures into Eternal Perdition and then think to excuse it by a fulsome Distinction between God's Secret as contrary to one another and his Revealed Will. This is such Vileness and Blasphemy as I must beg all good Peoples Pardon for Offending their Ears by mentioning it only Indeed it is said that God giveth some a Spirit of Slumber Eyes that they should not See and Ears that they should not Hear But these and the like Expressions though at the first hearing they sound harsh yet they do not relate to any Antecedent Decree or Desire or Work of God but are only Declarative of the Event which sometimes falls out accidentally by the just Judgment of God upon Obstinate People who harden themselves so that in the End God gives them up to themselves so that they become Stupid Blind and Deaf But the Original of this is their own Willful Temper and Sinful Courses whereby their Hearts wax gross and their Ears become dull of Hearing and their Eyes they close themselves by repeated Acts of their own as if they were afraid least at any time they should See with their Eyes and Understand with their Hearts and should be Converted and Healed Such Phrases import the Perverseness of some Peoples Minds but nothing of any presumed purpose in God that they should be Eternally Miserable No far be that from the Righteous Judge of all the Earth Let God be True though all Men are Lyars Where the Word of God is Preached and People thereby are called on to Believe and Reform their Lives the call on God's part is Serious and Unfeigned and they that Disobey it will be severely Punisht at the last for despising the Riches of God's Goodness We are Embassadours for Christ saith St. Paul as though God did Beseech you by Us We pray you in Christ's stead be ye Reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5. 20. This is the great End of the whole Work of the Ministry to make Peace between a wronged and good God and wretched Men that they may be everlastingly Happy in the Fruition of God and if this End be not Accomplish'd Foolish and untoward People have none to blame but themselves In the Parable of the Sower the Fault was not in the Seeds-man nor in the Seed but in the Stony-ground it is for want of an Honest and Good Heart that the Devil and the World prevent a Crop In the Parable of the great Supper the Epulator was Kind and the Feast ready and nothing hinder'd an Happy Meeting but the Foolish Obstinacy of the Guests that were Invited BY these common and familiar Representations our Saviour was Pleased in Condescention to the weak Capacity of his Hearers to shew the Mysteries of God's Kingdom that God is Essentially and in his Nature Good and in his Actions Good and seeketh to do Good to all the Children of Men And in order thereunto
Redeem us from all Iniquity to deliver us from the Bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God that being made free from Sin we might become Servants unto God and have our Fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life Nothing can be clearer than this is from the Holy Scripture that God sent his Son into the World to this end and purpose and with this most gracious Intention and for this Reason the whole Race of Mankind ought with all Thankfulness of Heart to acknowledge and adore him as the Saviour of us all If notwithstanding all his tenders of Grace and Mercy some will be so wanting to their Eternal Interest as to continue still in Bondage and to go on in their Wicked and Ungodly Courses till they take their last Fortunes with the Devil and his Angels from whose Power and Damnation they might have been delivered This will be indeed an aggravation of their own Crimes and Folly and a demonstration of the Divine Justice but no Diminution at all of God's Love and Goodness by the various acts whereof he shews now his great and unwillingness to have any of us Perish And it shews the Reason why the Apostle said He is the Saviour especially of them that Believe because though he be loving unto all yet these make a special use of his general Love they walk worthy of their Vocation by their special Obedience they order all Actions in special conformity to his Commands and Laws and so a special Application of Christ's Merits is made unto Them that he becomes Finally and Effectually and in the Event and Issue the Saviour of them onely It concerns us therefore as much as our Eternal Comforts amount to to take great care of our Hearts and Actions because whatever Notions some are willing to please their Fancies with every ones Final State will be suitable to the Nature and Condition of his Works To be Prying into and to Depend on God's Secret Counsels and at the same time to neglect ones own Life is the ready way to a more fatal downfall than His who walks on gazing upon the Stars and presently breaks his Neck by tumbling down a rugged Precipice The Revealed things belong to us and this is the Revelation that If we will enter into Life we must keep the Commandments Mat. 19. 17. That in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him Act. 10. 35. That we must work out our Salvation with fear and Trembling Phil. 2. 12. That we must not be conformed to this World but be transformed by the renewing of our Minds Rom. 12. 2. That we must cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7. 1. That we must be Holy in all manner of Conversation as He which hath called us is Holy 1 Pet. 1. 15. And that if God so Loved us we ought also to Love one another 1 Joh. 4. 11. These things being so plain the great business of our Life should be to let all empty Speculations go and to Study the Practical Part of Religion For it is not our Opinions but solid Piety and Vertue that will carry us out in the day of God He hath shewed thee O Man what is good And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God Saith the Prophet Mic. 6. 8. And to what purpose hath the Grace Grace of God which bringeth Salvation appeared unto all Men Why That denying Ungodliness and worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World saith the Apostle Tit. 2. 12. If then we would answer the Love of God to us so as to be the better for it indeed and to reap benefit by it Everlastingly this is the true Way viz. to be led by the Goodness of God unto Repentance to bring forth Fruits Meet for Repentance to Eschew Evil to follow Peace and Holiness to have our Conversation Honest in the World to do those things that are Just and Pure and Lovely and of good Report to serve God acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear to lay aside all Bitterness Malice and Hatred to put on as the Elect of God Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any Man have a Quarrel against any and over all to put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness These are so many Branches of the whole Duty of Man and if ye do these things whatever Conceits uncharitable People may have of you ye shall never fall CHAP. IX That we must make God all possible Returns of love What love is How excellent when it is a Divine Affection Two things shewed First How we may Acquire the love of God Secondly How we are to Express it viz By Obeying him by Resembling him and by desiring the Present and Future Fruition of him Sixthly TO dispose our Minds throughly for these Religious performances we should above all things possess our Hearts with such a Sense of God's Love to us as will naturally excite us to return all possible degrees of Love to him Love is a most vigorous Affection of the Soul a Principle of Action that Works and Exerts it Self after an Omnipotent manner as if it resembled that miraculous Faith which removeth Mountains T is an Affection that bears up against all difficulties that breaks thorough all Opposition that spares no Cost that begrudgeth nothing either of Time or Labour and that engageth all the Faculties of the Soul in such generous Undertakings as Dull Selfish and Phlegmatick Natures are hardly capable of opening a Thought to In short it is such a commanding Passion as brings a Man into Captivity with his own Consent and makes him pleasantly and chearfully a Vassal witness that single instance of Love Jacob who notwithstanding the unworthy Artifices of his Unkle Laban looked upon his many Years Servitude but as a few Days for the Affection he bore to his Beloved Rachel Gen. 29 As this Affection is more and more Purified so it riseth in its Vigor and when it comes to be a Divine Love placed upon God and upon the Son of God it is a most Active Delightful Principle of Obedience to his Will in all things It is that which sets the Blessed Angels upon the Wing to Execute his Commands with such Pleasure and Alacrity The same Divine Principle inspired the Apostles and other such Saints of Christ especially in the Bâ—gining of Christianity to Do and to Suffer all that was possible for Christ's Name with that Resolution Chearfulness and Zeal which made them Renowned unto all Ages The Love of Christ constraineth us saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 14. And to omit other Instances I cannot but remember here the Ardent Zeal of that famous imitator of St. Paul Ignatius the Martyr Bishop of Antioch in the Apostolical Age who being Condemn'd
Pray to him and in the same Breath Asperse him that at once they Fear him and Hate him and that though they go to his Temples to Worship and to offer Sacrifices to him yet this is such a sort of Courtship wherewith Flatterers accost Tyrants they Hate and Curse them in their Hearts the very time they seem to Honour them Plutarch thought all frightful Ideas to be unsuitable to the Nature of a Deity God saith he is the Hope of Vertue not a Formidable Dreadful object Though Artificers are wont to represent him by Images that have a terrible Aspect yet Philosophers will tell you that God's Majesty is attended with Goodness with Benignity with a kind and careful Providence And he was of Pythagoras his Mind how slightly soever some thought of it That wise and Vertuous People are in the best Temper when they approach unto God because their Devotions are mixt with fair Opinions of him and with sincere Affections towards him These you will think were great things for an Heathen to say and so they were But we find by constant Experience that 't is natural for us to Hate those we are Afraid of and Nature will work after the same manner when we have to do with God if we conceive of him under such scaring notions as to believe him to be a Sowre Harsh Angry and Tyrannical Being Such Qualities are very Hateful they create Horror and Aversion but 't is impossible for them to beget any Love and therefore they must be utterly incompatible with the Glories and Excellencies of God whose Mercy is over all his Works and who sheweth his Almighty Power most chiefly by doing works of Pity and Compassion and to entertain such apprehensions of him as are a disparagement to his great Goodness is the ready way to bring us to the condition of those old Pagans who Worship'd Evil Doemons meerly for Fear lest they should Hurt them I deny not but there may be some Kind and Measure of Love in those who look upon God as a stern and rigorous Being if they can but perswade themselves into a Belief that God is so Partial to Their Souls as to make them his particular Favourites by a fixt and unconditional Decree But this degree and sort of Love is meerly a Passion of the Sensitive Soul raised by the power of Fancy because the Belief of this absolute purpose towards Them in particular wanteth the Authority of Divine Revelation Rational Affection or that Love towards God which is necessary to make all our performances a reasonable Service is quite another thing It is a fervour of Heart excited by the rational Faculty the Understanding upon full and clear Conviction of the Mind out of the Word of God which Conviction is wrought by the frequent Account we find in the Holy Scriptures touching the intrinsick Excellence and Goodness of God's Nature and touching his great Love and relative Goodness towards all Mankind This is the proper true Ground of that Divine Love I have spoken of and Ardent and Genuine affection of the Heart which the consideration of God's Universal Goodness is apt to kindle in the Soul of every Man who is not conscious of any willful and gross Wickedness which maketh him afraid of the Justice of God AS far as Nature could help them the wiser and more considerate Heathens attained to the Love of God by those weak discoveries they had of the Divine Goodness There are says Seneca de Ira lib. 2. cap. 27. Some things which cannot Hurt they are so Beneficent and Succouring in their Nature as the immortal Gods which neither will nor can be Mischievous because their Nature is Mild and Gentle He speaks in the Plural Number to gratifie the Humour of those Times but he means that one Supream God whom the more Intelligent Pagans Worshipp'd nay Worshipp'd with Affection as Seneca saith elsewhere de Benef. lib. 4. cap. 19. No Man in his right Senses will be horribly afraid of God because it is madness to Dread that which is Beneficial nor can any Man Love that object which they Fear after that manner Accordingly Maximus Tyrius tells us That the truly Religious Man is the Friend of God or one that loves God and that he is therefore Happy because he is a lover of God Dissert 4. Such considerable Notions those observing Men had of the Goodness of God as naturally produced great Affection to him And if we Christians who have besides the Book of Nature the Divine Writings would but attentively consider by what we read in them what a great lover of Souls that most Perfect Being is and what various Methods he hath used to save all our Souls from Perishing Everlastingly it would be the most Astonishing thing in the World if such considerations did not render him the most indearing Object since the very Publicans loved those who loved them nay since the very Ox knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Master 's Cribb 2dly HAVING thus shewed the proper way of Acquiring the Love of God I proceed now to consider how we are to Express it And that our Practice as to this may be Regular we must note what indeed is clear to all Men from the natural Operations of this Affection that Love excites us powerfully to these three Things 1st To observe the Will 2dly To resemble the Temper And 3dly To desire the Fruition of the Object we have an Ardent Affection for FIRST True Love makes us observe ones Pleasure seeing this Affection is made up of Esteem and Honour in the Judgment and of Complacency in the Heart a ready Compliance of the Will must be the next thing because this is only the Paying of that Deference which we Conceive to be Due and an Act of Respect whereby we are willing and delighted to Oblige In all Cases it makes us to be yielding But when it comes to be a Divine Love and hath the Blessed God for its Object it cannot but engage us to Entire and Universal Obedience because the Soul hath God's Soveraign Authority in its Eye besides those Beauties and Excellencies of his Nature which are so Amiable and so Powerful in their Influence God being the sole Governour of the World that hath a right to give Laws to our Souls and a Power to Dispose of them we are indispenfibly Obliged to make his Will when once it is Revealed the Rule and Measure of our Actions And the Necessity of this adds a mighty force to those Inclinations which Love alone createth evermore in the Mind to clasp with his Holy and Righteous Precepts Hence it is that the Scripture interprets Obedience as the only Sign and Argument of a Divine Love I will shew Mercy unto Thousands of them that Love me and keep my Commandments saith God Exod. 20. 6. If ye Love me keep my Commandments saith Christ Job 14. 15. This is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments saith the Divine Apostle 1 Joh. 5. 3.
THIS then is the first way of Expressing our Affections towards God in return of his great Love and Goodness to us and to all Mankind by Doing all things he requires of us with a ready and chearful Mind It is not a starch'd Gesture nor a Formal carriage nor an External Profession nor a waterish Look nor a furious Zeal for dry Opinions it is not these or any of these things that is the Sign of that Divine Love which is the Noble Principle of Religion For these outward shews may be consistent with the Hatred of God and Man and then they are only so many Glosses of Hypocrites void of that Rational and Generous Affection which God's Love calls for 'T is the entire subjection of the Heart Operating and Exerting all its Vigour by Religious Sober Honest and Charitable Actions 'T is the subduing our unreasonable Passions the denying all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts the cleansing of our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit the squaring of our Lives according to the Laws of God To this Pliant and Obediential frame of Soul that is the true Testimony and Fruit of that Love which God looks for and which is in the Sight of God of so great a Price We must call upon him daily with Faithful and Enflamed Spirits we must apply our Hearts to the Study and Practice of Religion we must do Justly Love Mercy and walk humbly with our God we must be sincere and without any Guile and deal truly with all Men as in the presence of God we must Love one another and Forgive one another For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 4. 20. In short to express our Love of God after a right manner we must obey him in all things and that with enlarged Hearts with Filial Reverence with Ingenuous Dutifulness with a ready Will and with such Alacrity Chearfulness and Pleasure of Mind as becometh those for whom God hath been pleased to do so many Miracles of Mercy SECONDLY Another proper Act of Love is to Study Imitation This proceeds from a Twofold Cause partly from the great Value we have of and the great Complacency we take in the Object of our Affections which being so Amiable in our Eye doth naturally Excite us to transform our selves into a Similitude of it And partly it proceeds from an innate Desire we all have of being Beloved again which being impracticable without an Harmony of Mind and Temper between both Parties it is necessary for the one that Love may be Reciprocal to suit himself to the disposition of the other especially if that other be a Superior in Dignity Excellence and Perfection Considering therefore that God is infinitely the most Excellent the most Excellent and Perfect of all Beings the Love which springs from a Sense of his Perfections and reacheth after a Plenary Communication of them must needs Stimulate ones Soul to put on a Disposition as far as 't is possible agreeable to the Mind and Spirit of God THEREFORE that we may Rightly and Eminently express our Love to God we must by all means endeavour to resemble him I mean in all those things that are Imitable by us We must be sincere in Heart as that most Blessed Being is According to the capacities and Powers of our Nature we must be Holy and Separate from all Moral Impurities as God is we must be Patient Long-suffering and slow to Anger as He is we must be Treatable and Reconcilable notwithstanding all Affronts and Injuries as he is we must be strict Observers of the Eternal Rules of Righteousness and Justice as He is we must be Steaddy and True to all our Promises as the Faithful God is we must be Merciful and Benign Compassionate and Tender-hearted Bountiful and Impartial Kind and Good to all Men even to our Enemies as that Gracious and Beneficent Being is who maketh his Sun to shine upon the Good and upon the Evil too and sendeth his Rain upon the Just and upon the Unjust also Those Ill-natured People who are Uncharitable Rigid Fierce Implacable Austere Cruel Revengeful and Outragious should look upon God's Glories the Perfections and Beauties of his Nature and should employ their time upon this great Study how to be like God according to those charming Ideas under which He is represented unto us in the Holy Scriptures Thou thoughtest Wickedly that I am even such a one as thy self saith God but I will reprove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done Psal 50. 21. God will not be served with our Vices nor must we be such Fools as to think we love him by entitling him to the Filth and Refuse of our Corrupt Nature Goodness is so bright a Beam of the Divine Glory and so easie to be seen in every part of the Creation that Men cannot but discover it by the Eye of Common Natural Reason The old Pagans Admired it and believed God to be the Best Being and therefore Ador'd him Prayed to him in all their Straits and Necessities and Celebrated his Praises as well as Nature could teach them For which Universal Custom amongst all Mankind there could not have been any sufficient Reason had they not Universally Believed not only the Existence of a Deity but moreover that the Divine Being is a God of Power and a God of great Clemency Benignity and Goodness This was the true Ground of their Religious Offices and of that Love which Nature wrought in their Hearts towards him And whatever any of us Christians may talk of our Loving God all is but Froth and Vanity Senseless and Ridiculous Profession unless we resemble him in Goodness Be ye Merciful even as your Father is Merciful as our Blessed Saviour said Luk. 6. 36. THIRDLY And Lastly to express our Love towards God we must earnestly desire the Fruition of him This every one seeth to be another natural Act of this Affection and the most Vehement Effort of it to be United to its Object and to have it in actual Possession and the Reason is because Happiness is Apprehended to consist in such Enjoyment Now God being the true Felicity of the Soul the only proper Object which the Faculties of the Soul can be Employed upon with satisfaction and which can fully Answer all our Desires it is impossible to Conceive how we can truly Love him especially under the notion of our Happiness without Ardent and Impatient Longings after the Fruition of him THIS being so clear the next thing we are to Note is that there is a Present and a Future Fruition of God The Present Fruition in respect of Degree is very Imperfect because we are yet in an Imperfect State but in respect of Quality and Kind is the same with that which is yet to come For it consisteth in Contemplating God according to our Capacities in Admiring the Perfections of his infinite Majesty in setting our Hearts on