worthy consideration like the inhabitants of Nilus wee will draw water in running We say then that this word heart is diversly taken in the Scripture First is taken for faith as Rom. 10. For with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation 2. It is taken for the thoughts and for the gift of regeneration as 1. Epist of Saint Peter Chap. 3. ver 4. The hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meeke and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price and estimation 3. For the understanding as Rom. 2. They shew the worke of the law written in their hearts 4. It is taken for the conscience as in the 1. of Sam. the 24. chap. 5. ver Davids heart smote him because he had cut off Sauls skirt And in the 1. to the Thessal chap. 3. To establish your hearts unblameable in holinesse before God Here is yet another very cleare passage in the 1. Epist of Saint Iohn chap. 3 ver 20. If our heart condemn us God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things and if our heart condemne us not wee have confidence towards God And in this last signification it is taken in our Text to wit for the Conscience as if Christ had said Blessed are those that possesse a holy pure and just soule a good cleane and spotlesse conscience David desirous to raise himselfe from his fall and to restore the temple of his body polluted by wicked adultery desired of God a new Altar praying him to create in him a cleane heart and to renew a right spirit within him Psal 51.12 Iudas Maccabeus having seene the Temple of Ierusalem prophaned by Antiochus his sacrilegious hands he purifieth it destroyes all the Altars where that Pagan had sacrificed to his Idols and called that the renewing of the Temple Our bodies are the living temples of the holy Ghost our hearts the Altars on the which having wickedly sacrificed to the Idols of our passions we must breake them and destroy them by our true repentance and conversion to God who despiseth not a broken and a contrite heart And afterward we must build new ones pure and clean on the which wee must offer to God Hecatombes of Iustice and solemne burnt offerings and sacrifices wherein hee delighteth The Etymologists hold that this word Cor is derived of Cura that is care because that part communicateth sendeth and doth distribute blood and life to the rest of the body Even so all our study all our exercise and occupation should be to seeke the meanes fit for the conservation of our soules for what will it profit a man if hee gaine the whole world and loose his soule Math. 16.26 As soone as the Embrion is conceived the first part which is formed is the heart being as it were the center whence the severall lines are drawne to the circumference of our bodies it is also the first member living and when the paines of death have compassed a man the blood from all parts retires to the heart as to a citadell so that it is also the last part that dieth in us according to that common saying Cor est primum vivens ultimum moriens So when the faithfull of the Lord resolveth to live piously he must cast for a sure and unmoveable foundation the righteousnesse of a pure and cleane conscience which must be the Ocean where all the rivers of his affections must runne and tend the corner and fundamentall stone on the which must be edified this his Pilgrimage All the building of this mortall and transitorie life must begin with the just mans beginning and never end till his death when it shall bee augmented and perfected in heaven It was Gods commandement under the law that all Israelites all the seed of Abraham should offer and consecrate to him the first borne both of man and beast now if wee unvayle the letter and consider what it therein figured unto us we may note among other things that God desired by this Decree whose letter and figure is abrogated though the truth and sence of it be eternall that wee should offer and consecrate unto him our hearts which are the first borne of our selues The greatest part of Physitians hold that the soule being generally all over the body hath her principall seat in the heart as the King hath in his Court although his power reach thorow all his Kingdome so that the soule being that very man which God requireth it is then not without reason that God demandeth our heart which is her throne My sonne give me thy heart The heart is knowne to bee the originall of naturall heat now God being a burning fire of love and affection towards his children wee ought to consecrate that part to him for his Tabernacle The heart is red and bloody to shew us the fervencie and zeale that should be in us to Gods service and glory and that our thoughts should alwayes burne with love to him and with charity to our neighbours It is little whence wee may learne not to puffe or swell it with pride but to keepe it alwayes humble and modest Vertues that seeke not after large and spacious Pallaces but are contented in the narrowest and remotest places His beating and panting is upwards so all our desires and thoughts should tend towards the end of our supernaturall vocation according to the Apostles advice Seeke the things that are above The heart is agitated by a continuall motion by reason of his vitall spirits that animate and nourish it So our thoughts should beare and conduct us to the actions of Iustice innocencie and godlinesse and to follow the steps of the Scripture Charity alwayes worketh and is never idle by reason of the spirit of grace dwelling in our soules who inspires continually in us holy and religious thoughts There is but one heart in man and yet his shape and forme is triangular a figure bearing proportion to his object that is God one in Essence and three in persons So our soules should bee adorned with these three beautifull vertues Faith hope and Charity He is open at the top and that way he receiveth his nourishment Which teacheth us that our soules should alwayes be open to proclaime the praises of our Creator and Redeemer that nourisheth them with the holy and wholsome meat of his sacred word sent downe from heaven The least angle or corner is turned downewards to shew us that our least care should bee for earthly things It is againe not hayrie to teach us that our soule which is his hostesse must be voyd of the foolish and light imaginations of the weake and unconstant considerations of this world that so she may hope and ayme at nothing but heaven her blessed Countrey wherein it is impossible to enter before our heart after Moses his example have pulled off the Shooes of our corruption and worldly
thither yet let our hearts ascend up if our soule be as yet bound and fastned within this mortall prison at the least let our faith flie up to those delicious places and there rest and stay untill our soules be perfectly pure cleane and white that one day both in body and soule wee may contemplate Gods divine Majestie and sing eternally with the holy Angels Holy holy is the Lord God of hosts for evermore AMEN O Most bountifull God and most mercifull King wee thy servants and children here prostrate and humbled before the high and holy tribunall of thy sacred and soveraigne Majestie doe ingenuously confesse that we are not worthy to lift up our eyes or our hands towards heaven to call upon thee in our necessities for our sinnes are raised over our heads like terrible mountaines which seeme to threaten and defie thy judgements from the top of their presumptuous impudencie Iniquity hath made our soules as black as firebrands and the transgression of thy divine commaundements hath made our consciences more red then scarlet in a word forgetting thee we haue forgotten our selues and remember but as a dreame our beginning derived from heaven Wherefore O good Iesus O sweet Saviour of our bodies and soules kindle in our hearts the fire of thy divine love and let it be a candle to our feete and a light unto our pathes that wee may safely escape out of these terrible downefalls which threaten unto us death and condemnation wash our soules in the precious blood issuing from thy wounds make them by thy favour whiter then snow and then washed wooll we cannot enter into thy Tabernacle before wee be cleansed of our faults graunt then unto us by thy mercy one onely drop of this large and vast ocean of thy great compassions wash our roabes in the blood of the Lambe that wee may be made worthy to follow him whither soever he goeth Change our eyes into two lively fountaines of penitent teares which may become a Iordane of griefe and displeasure for having beene so wicked before thy face within the which wee may dip our selues seaven times yea seaventy times seaven times that we may be delivered of the spirituall leprosie of sinne which makes us so foule and ugly in thy sight and presence And after thou hast pulled off from us the old man and cloathed us with the new which is with justice and holinesse when thou hast given us the wedding garment then we shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob at the delicate feast which thou hast prepared for us and the which must be kept upon the mountaine of the heavenly Sion where wee shall see thee face to face where we shall be ravished in this contemplation and shall bee quite exchanged and transformed into the extasie of this ravishment Amen The third way to Sion THE CROVVNE OF PEACE AND CONCORD MATH 5.9 Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God WHen two Kings to decide some quarrell are ready to take Armes they first of all enkindle the fire of warre in their subjects hearts through all their Dominions then all is in trouble combustion and disorder and all newes are sorrowfull and lamentable on the one side you may see desolate Parents poore olde men leaning on the brim of their graves considering with eyes overflowing with teares their deare children whom for the greatnes and multiplicity of their cruell wounds they can scarcely know On the other side you are frighted by the lamentable complaints by the loude cries and pitifull lamentations of the bewayling widowes over the dead bodies of their dearely beloved husbands In a word there is nothing but fire blood and slaughter to be seene so that one may properly say That Warre the mother of all mischiefe is as it were a feast celebrated to the honour of death to whom are continually offered up many pitifull and bloody sacrifices which she exactly keepes in the grave But when some great Prince of earthly Monarch undertaketh to agree them his Embassadors are every where received with open armes bone fires and triumphall arches erected in token of that joy and contentment which they receive by their mediation for peace according to that saying of the Lord Blessed are the feete of those that bring tidings of peace Rom. 10.16 Iesus Christ here continueth his Sermon to his Disciples where in a continued order hee sheweth them the perfection of blessednesse he maketh them scale the heavens by eight degrees which they must ascend here on earth And having spoken formerly of six hee commeth now to the seaventh saying Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God Which words by Gods assistance wee will divide into two principall parts 1. the proposition 2. the reason of it the proposition concerneth the Peacemakers and their felicity the reason of this beatitude is to be called the children of God Now for our better understanding of these words let us handle them all severally and let us for a while leave this concrete word Peace-maker and so come to his abstract to wit peace the which is diversly defined according to the severall sorts and degrees of it For there is the peace of the body which is a just temperature of the parts There is a peace of the irreasonable soule which is an inordinate rest of the appetite The is a peace of the reasonable soule which is a moderated consent of the action and understanding There is a peace of the soule and body which is a well governed life and the health of the living creature There is a peace of mortall man which is a well ordered obedience in faith under the government of the eternall and divine law There is a peace of the house which consisteth in a just concord of the domesticall both in commanding and obeying There is a peace of the Cite which is a concord among the Citizens There is a peace of the heavenly Citie which is a well governed Societie wholly and eternally to enjoy God There is a peace of men which is a mutuall concord And againe there is a peace of all things which is a perfect tranquillity of order now order is nothing else but a true disposition giving to every thing his true ranke and place The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shalom representeth unto us exceeding well her Essence for it signifieth a happy successe of all things in God Where we may note that every word hath his weight and inestimable value For first it is a successe and not a hazard which is happy and not unlucky of all and not of something onely in God and not in the world The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quiet sweet gracious as deserving that name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by excellencie because there is nothing in the world to bee compared to the excellencie of a publick and particular rest and tranquillity The Latines call it Pax quasi pacata because
honourable charge of deliverer Prince and lawgiver of his people The King and Prophet David had this vertue in great measure in him for which cause God changing his Sheepheards crooke into a Roy all Scepter gave him victory over a world of enemies that rose up continually against him which maketh him to cry out in one of his Psalmes Lord remember David and his mansuetude or clemencie In the booke of Leviticus God commandeth the Priests to offer him a Lambe without blemish for a peace offering a Lambe is the symbole of mildnesse then according to that command hee that will receive the peace-makers recompense from God must offer him his soule full of gentlenesse and mildnesse The Lambe in the Revelation of all living creatures was onely found worthy to open the booke sealed with seaven seales so among all men the faithfull onely and among the faithfull the meeke shall bee able to open the booke of life there to behold his name written before the foundation of the world The Bridegroome in the Canticles calleth thus his beloved Come my Dove that art in the clefts of the rocke thy eyes are like Doves eyes and thy checkes like Turtles my Dove is alone and perfect Now it is familiar and common enough that of all creatures Doves are the symbols of mildnesse and meekenesse for it is noted that they have no gall And here to apply these places to our designe let us know that the Bridegroome in this epithalamium or marriage song is Iesus Christ himselfe speaking to his Church setting her forth by her lively colours by the pensill of his love shewing us in this comparison of the Dove the perfections wherewith shee is adorned where if wee waigh and consider diligently the force of every word wee shall finde them all emphaticall and deseruing a more particular search and obseruation He saith first Veni Columba mea come my Dove hee doth not call her my Eagle or my Hawke for those are creatures too cruell loving nothing but blood and slaughter and their humour is incompatible with the Bridegroomes bounty who desireth that the Church his well beloved Spouse bee altogether like him and therefore he calleth her my Dove as having no gall nor bitternesse in her soule When that sweet IESVS was baptized by Iohn in Iordane the three divine persons of the glorious Trinity were clearely manifested for the majestuous voyce of the Father was heard speaking from heaven thus This is my well beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased Mathew 3.17 Iesus Christ was in Iordane and the holy Ghost descended from heaven like a Dove and lighted upon him from which place wee may draw this instruction that if wee desire to bee called the children of God if we wish to heare from heaven that gracious voyce speaking to our soules Thou art my well beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased If wee aspire to that great happinesse to receive the spirit of grace mildnesse and meekenesse in our consciences Let us remember that wee must be like unto sweet IESVS our example hee was naked so must we put off cruelty malice and hatred he was in the water even so to enjoy so great a favour we must plunge our selues in the rivers of our teares in the Iordane of a holy and true repentance which may open our hearts and continually touch them with griefe for our fore-past offences It was Gods ordinance under the law of Moses that when a man was uncleane hee should for his purification resort to the Temple and there offer two Turtle Doves That we may light the torch of truth within the shadow of Moses law let us say that there is nothing that more infecteth and soyleth the soule then cruelty debates and hatred It is a Gangrene that gnaweth and undermineth her untill it seeth her absolutely possessed by wicked spirits but the onely remedy to this obstinate disease is to runne to the sacred Temple of Gods divine mercy there to offer him the gift of a mild meeke and peaceable conscience When Noah would know if the waters were withdrawne from upon the face of the earth he sent forth a Dove which came to him in the evening with an Olive branch in her mouth also he sent forth a Raven which returned not because hee stayd on the dead bodies and stinking carcasses of those which died in this inundation God in this example is represented unto us by Noah our soule by the Dove peace by the Olive branch it is God that staying in the Arke of heaven sendeth our soules to visite the inundations of this world which message faithfully to performe they do not sit on the highest and loftiest tops of Cedars arid Pine trees for they love not vanity nor the glory of this world they doe not pearch upon the Iuniper nor thornes of quarrels and contentions but upon the Olive tree of mildnesse and meekenesse wherewith they adorne themselues and so prepare themselues to returne into their heavenly Country there to give a true account of their journey But the Ravens that stayed upon the carcasses drowned by the flood are those blacke and infected soules that delight in nothing but quarrels and contentions and who so excessively love the corruptions of this world that they never returne to heaven from whence they tooke their first flight The excellencie of this particular peace cannot be sufficiently knowne without we consider the privation of it that is contemplate her contrary let us judge it by our selues for there is no man that sinneth not there is nothing more extrauagant in the world then a seared conscience nothing more tossed up and downe then a soule troubled and vexed by the unquietnesse of sinne for example doe wee seeke the meanes to revenge some injurie presently our minde runneth and rangeth all about to obtaine a sufficient satisfaction Our eyes dart and cast forth burning flames of wrath and rage our mouth proffereth nothing but injuries and blasphemies our feete cannot stand still our hands itch our hearts vomit revenge and our braines are so preoccupated by this damnable passion that there is nothing but confusion to be seene as in a clocke out of order whose wheeles are dismounted these be the effects of sinne that never gives rest to soule never so little touched by the venome of his passion Consider I pray a malefactor how bold and secret soever his crime be hee thinks neverthelesse that all know it the least looke altereth his face and for his contenance If hee thinke that to keepe off be good for him when he is in the fields he thinketh every bush a Sergeant to lay hold on him every tree a Hangman that stayes for him and every leafe that stirreth a witnesse to testifie his wickednesse Now contrariwise let us see the sweet rest and tranquillity of a soule that hath made her peace with her God whom shee loves with all her strength and that cherisheth her neighbour as much as her selfe who is not
Church is naturally denoted and figured unto us By the holy place whereunto came onely the Levites and those which ministred at the Sacrifices are signified unto us the Ministers of the word of God who are chosen and put a part in his Church to be Heraulds and Embassadours of his holy will offering the ordinary Sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving which are his delectable and well accepted service By the Sanctum Sanctorum or the most holy place is truly figured unto us Heaven for as the high Priest entred not into that place before he had first purified washed himselfe according to the Divine ordinance so the faithfull cannot enter into heaven untill hee hath first divested sinne and be covered with the cloake of Iustice holinesse and innocencie therfore Iesus Christ himselfe declareth the same thing unto us with his owne sacred mouth saying Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see GOD. The Prophet David expresseth exceeding well the same words in the 15. Psalme saying Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousnesse and speaketh the truth in his heart And in the 24. Psalme Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place hee that hath cleane hands and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soule unto vanity nor sworne deceitfully Hee shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousnesse from the God of his salvation And in the 33. Chap. of Isaiah ver 14. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly he that despiseth the gaine of oppressions that shaketh his hands from receiving of bribes that stoppeth his eares from hearing of blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evill He shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of rockes bread shall be given him his waters shall be sure His eyes shall see the King in his beauty they shall behold the land that is very farre off O what admirable places how many faire and rare promises doe all these Prophets make to the faithfull who shall keepe his heart from sinne and his hands from iniquity and Iesus Christ himselfe commeth after to confirme their testimonie and to ratifie their words saying in this place Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see GOD. Words very energetically and significant as if hee had said Dearely beloved the onely and perfect way to possesse all happinesse all pleasures and all the advantages that you can wish and in a word to enjoy eternall felicity to contemplate face to face Gods divine Majestie wherein consisteth the fulnesse of happinesse and all contentment following the serpents example to cast off the olde skinne that is to pull off the olde coate of sinne infected with the leprosie of iniquity to fly and eschew evill to embrace good to hate vice and perfectly to love vertue which is the true way to heaven to the possession of heavenly graces and in a word to the fulnesse and perfection of all true happinesse Blessed are then the pure in heart for they shall see God Now to enter into a more particular explication of these words we will divide them into two principall parts and will consider 1. who are the pure in heart And secondly the cause why they are blessed The royall Prophet David in the 15. Psalme describeth perfectly unto us those that are pure in heart They are those saith hee that lye not and who live uprightly they who backbite not with their tongues nor doe evill to their neighbours and in whose eyes a vile person is contemned but they honour them that feare the Lord they that sweare to their owne hurt and change not they that put not out their money to usurie nor take bribes or reward against the innocent This is a very faire true and ample description of the Righteous man who hath a pure heart that is who hath his conscience pure and just and who lives in integrity justice and innocencie For this word heart is not here to be understood or taken for the materiall carnall heart placed in our breasts which is the fountaine and beginning of life the first living the last dying in man but for the soule that keepeth there her ordinary Sessions as we commonly say that is corne by showing onely the sacks that hold it there is the Kings Treasure by shewing onely the Exchequer Chamber where it is kept the place containing being called and taken by the name of the thing contained so must we understand a pure heart to bee taken for the conscience which therein makes her residence Where at the first sight we finde a thing very remarkable and worthy our consideration that to wit that sinne being as it were a black and venomous Inke or an infect d and corrupted poyson as soone as it comes neare our hearts the seate of our soules it defileth infecteth and makes them so stinking that God cannot endure them before his face so much abhorreth he the very sent and smell of sin and so much the very object of iniquity is noysome and troublesome to him Now Iesus Christ knowing that man brought into the world from his mothers wombe with life the cause of death that is originall sinne cursed sinne a disastrous blade or stalke which like the wilde and evill plants casteth continually forth so many young sprigges which doth so people and store the field of our soules that in the end in stead of a Garden of Eden where God tooke pleasure to walke in stead of a delightfull River where the Angels bathed it be comes a hideous and dreadfull wildernesse where the devils and wicked spirits keepe their Sabaths and criminall Assises and Sessions a filthy sinke where wicked and impious men like Hogges continually wallowe And therefore Iesus Christ I say to bring his Apostles to perfection and to put them and all the faithfull in the way to heaven he exhorts them to keepe their hearts pure cleane and naked from all sinne filthinesse and iniquity to extirpate the thistles bryers from the fields of their soules to plow and till it carefully with the share and harrow of contrition and repentance for their sinnes In a word to make it aground fit and fruitfull to receive the holy seed of the word of life and to make it beare fruites to immortality and eternall life As men would bee curious to sweepe and cleanse a house wherein a King resolues for a while to be resident and may justly accuse him of imprudence and impudence who having advice and notice of his comming would not make hast to perfume it to adorne and enrich it with the fairest furniture to embellish it with all the rarities and most pretious jewels they could recover So alas the hearts of the faithfull are nothing else but the house of God
And after we have quenched and put out the trouble of our hearts vexation of our soules caused by the fire of sinne when wee shall have scattered those flames that destroy and devoure that union and concord which God hath so strictly commanded us to keepe then shall wee be called to that heavenly Ierusalem which is the Citie of peace and there shall wee enter into the possession of the inheritance promised to adopted children in Iesus Christ our Lord wee shall partake with him eternall blessednesse hee shall be our head in those divine sessions and we shall be his members wee shall shine as the Sun the holy Ghost shall enlighten us and the God of peace shall be for ever with us Amen O Soveraigne Monarch of heaven and earth that governest all things by thy providence which to us is altogether incomprehensible we thy most humble Subjects calling unto thee from the bottome of our soules beseech thee by the greatnesse of thy compassions that it may please thee to plant in our hearts a holy and perfect justice which taking deepe rootes therein may bring forth fruites of peace and concord which thou straightly recommendest unto us in thy holy word Make us perfectly just that we may love peace perfectly as being the daughter of justice enkindle O good God the fire of thy love in our hearts and soules that we may love our brethren even as thou hast loved us give us a spirit of gentlenes meekenes that we may fly eschew quarrels contentions not only in our selues but also when we shal see them kindled among our brethren make us knowe O good Saviour that those enmities and dissentions are the devils daughters who loves nothing but noyse and disorder and that peace and mildnesse are the daughters of divine justice which thou lovest dearely which wee must embrace and practise if we will be honoured with the title of thy children and not onely be called so but also to be indeed children of God and heires of eternall and blessed life to the which the Father Sonne and holy Ghost bring us Amen The fourth way to Sion 1. PETER 2. 17. Feare God and honour the King AS rayes or Sunne-beames follow and beare observance to the Sunne As all rivers runne to the Sea and as many lines end and terminate in their center so there are many wayes to bring us to the Paradise of God to Ierusalem above which is our heavenly and happy Country Neverthelesse wee must herein use the Maxime of the Mathematicians who hold that the shortest line â—s still the rightest also in all these different wayes of new Sion the shortest is the best and surest When God gave his Law to Moses upon the Mountaine of Sinay he divided it into ten commandements which are so many perfect wayes to conduct and bring us to heaven for IESVS CHRIST the sweet Saviour of our soules being himselfe descended from Heaven to shew and point us out this way hee drew a short Compendium and Abridgement of all these Ten Commandements of the Law and reduced them to two as wee shall finde it written in the 22. Chapter of St. Mathew where wee see him disputing against a Doctor of the Law who demanded of him which was the first and greatest Commaundement and Iesus answered him Thou shalt love God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde which is the first and greatest commandement and the second is like unto it which is Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe and of these two Commaundements depend the whole Law and the Prophets as our Apostle Saint Peter in the imitation of his blessed Master Christ after hee had instructed and admonished his faithfull flocke in all their duties in the precedent verses of our Text hee drawes an abridgement of all which concerned their saluation when he said Feare God and honour the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In these words we have all the instructions which we must practise in our soules and bodies concerning those divine and humane duties which wee must convert and reduce into practise which wordes naturally divide themselues into two severall branches or heads to wit 1. the feare which wee ought to beare unto God and 2. The honour which wee must obserue and give to the King The sweetest and most pleasingst sacrifice which we can offer up unto the Lord Almighty is a heart replenished and fraughted with the feare of his holy name a minde trembling before his sacred Majestie and a soule terrified with the sublimity and greatnesse of his fearefull judgements as the royall Prophet affirmeth in Psal 2.11 Serue the Lord with feare and reioyce with trembling And againe Psal 2.7 I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy and in thy feare will I worship towards thy holy Temple We can offer up no sacrifice so pleasing nor performe no action or duty so acceptable to God as when wee adore him in all feare and reverence him in all astonishment trembling which lively depaynteth and prefigureth his Greatnesse and Magnificence perfectly demonstrateth us our Duties and witnesseth our humility and obedience which is exceeding delightfull and pleasing to him That Romane Emperour perspicuously expressed and deciphered the excellent power and effects of this feare when he caried for his Motto and Devise Oderint dum metuant Let those hate me that will so they feare me shewing thereby what small account and esteeme hee made of the hatred and how dearely he prised and respected the feare which hee would have given and borne to him Morall Philosophers affirme and say That Love and feare are two fister germanes because the one is conjoyned to the other and both linked together produce one the same effects for still the Lover is in care and feare of the thing beloved whereas wee never feare to lose that which wee hate but that Which wee love dearely and cherish tenderly and both of these together produce the conseruation of their object But this distinction takes no place but here on earth among creatures and doth neither regard nor looke up towards Heaven to God the Creator For God is all Love but he can never be capable of alteration or defect as is that feare which he hath left and given unto man for his portion and inheritance So he which is possessed with a perfect feare to offend his God or to lose his favour he is linked and joyned to God with the Gordian knots of his love which are then wholly made indivisible and inseparable and the Love of God conjoyned with the feare of man cause the conservation of the soule and this it is where the Apostle Saint Peter tells us in our text Feare God By which word feare wee must not understand a cowardize a pusillanimity or any irregular passion which freezeth our blood in our veines which causeth our hearts to pant and beat with an incessant motion which calls and attracts