the envenomed wounds of their Husbands who have breathed out their last upon the Graves of those who first gave them heart and affections and of those who have forsaken all their friends renounced their fortunes and exposed themselves to the greatest hazards envie or time could bring upon them But alas saith the poor soul what is all this if heaped together to the love of my Saviour How far is it from that beatifical love How small a drop to that Deluge of his mysterious and adorable love Now those that desire to profit in this love must by fervent prayer beg it of God they must value and esteem it above all earthly things and apply all their actions thereunto since it will no way be entertained in a soul sullyed with worldly and terrestrial affections They must render him fervency and earnestness in all their meditations and devotion no hour must pass without some ejaculation in all companies we must publish his greatness we must refer all objects all creatures to his love and love nothing but in him and for him yea we must engrave all his words wounds and actions in the bottom of our hear And O that we could often present unto our selves as the principal means whereby we may come to this heavenly obedience that infinite love of Jesus Christ Oh that we could here be raised on the highest Region of Grace and poize our selves on the wings of Faith there being no tongue so eloquent no pen so learned sufficiently to express it But oh the deadness and dulness of our spirits Could we but here reflect and a little lift up our eyes surcharged with so many earthly humours and vanities to behold that president which he hath given for the rule of our Love What secrets What mysteries of love should we there finde What greatness and purity must we needs conceive therein And oh how much shame ought we then to have so to defile our love with the impurities of the earth This this alone is it which hath made many forsake the shaddows of Diadems and Scepters which so easily deceive the credulity of the most passionately ambitious by their fond illusions and have thereby attain'd Renown on earth and a Crown in heaven These are Celestial fires which ever proceed from God as being their proper Sphere It is he that begetteth them and breedeth them being no way constrained to descend upon earth to seek nourishment from perishing creatures Those indeed which seek nothing in the world but sensual pleasures which are more thin then smoak and lighter then Wind cannot imagine how much these fair amities which are the daughters of Vertues nourish holy delights The love of God saith one is an influence of Eternity because coming from an Eternal God It is rather inspired then studied It is given to us by the favour of heaven Though good Books and Discourses contribute much to this purpose yet they who think to learn the love of God only by precepts have little in them that is solid And those Lovers who have the ardours of heaven who entertain chaste and spiritual love for things divine partake of those pleasures which the jealous eye cannot espye the slanderous tongue cannot hite And when we thus love God we finde him every where we serve him every where and every where meet with the recompence of our services we may Jonah with Jonah cry unto him out of the Whales 2.2 Belly as from a Chappel and talk with him with the three children in the midst of flames Dan. 3.25 Surely to love truly is to love aloft and to love him who made us when once we are come thus far we shall finde all the greatness of the world lower then our feet Let us not then put a Balm so precious into an unclean Vessel Let us retain no Idols or passions in our hearts to oppose or withstand this excellent Guest Let us entertain this Love with all the strength and vigour of our heart and soul yea make it our continual practice Shall we set our Affections so eagerly on the despicable and inconsiderable affairs of the world Shall we slight a matter of so great importance as the love of God Shall worldly Lovens espouse all occasions use all ways and diligence transform themselves into all shapes and humours pass through fire ice tears blood fearful Torrents enraged Seas enflamed Serpents to attain their hearts wish and arive at the least of their desires and pretensions and shall not we with the greatest applications of minde and soul use all possible industry to profit in a more divine and heavenly Love O shameful reproach That all this should be done for a vain and worldly love which ends always in bitterness and endangers our souls and there is none but Jesus who is chiefly to be loved for whom we will not stir a hand or a foot Out alas Why are we so blinde as to love servitude and to make a Goddess of the Worlds Beauties Why should we make it our glory to sacrifice our Liberty and kiss the Fetters of our slavery Alas How dear doth it cost us to destroy our poor souls Did the man of uncleanness but think that whiles he is in the embraces of his fulsome Mistris that his soul is waited on by death and death by eternity Did he but think that those eyes which did burn in Lust should in a bottomless Furnace be scorched with Brimstone That those ears which here were wont to wanton it with Minstrels shall there be filled with nothing else but the groans of Divels and the shrill screetches of the damned that the Tongue which delighted in the relation of fond and idle Stories should there cry out for water to cool it and the whole Body which was here clothed in rich and fantastique garbs should be hereafter enwrapped in a mantle at once of darkness and yet of flames and the Voice which here was taken up with the Songs and Ditties of Love should there nothing but complain of Torments Would he I say but consider all this it were impossible that he which thus loves pleasure and cannot endure to be tormented should delight to thrust himself into the fire or that he which fears to lose one drop of blood should delight in the wounding of his whole Body Stand amazed then O poor Soul and bewail thy self that thou shouldest no better value so inestimable a favour as thy Saviours love and resolve for the remaining part of thy life to be crucified unto all those Objects of pleasure profit and honour which have heretofore transported thee O sweet Jesus Thy Beauties are without stain and shall I be of the number of those souls which are distasted with Manna Shall I languish after the Onyons of Aegypt O make me rather dear Saviour to sanctifie all that is esteemed profane If my Eyes have been the cause to entertain fond love O let them now become Vessels of Water to wash away the spots of all unchaste
know ah little indeed the glory and blessedness of this love little dost thou know the excellency of this Love Is there any thing here below but baseness in espect of thy enjoyments above are the heavy sufferings the unsatisfying vanities of this world really sutable to thy desires or canst thou find any place more sutable to thy misery then that of mercy or of nearer interest or Relation then that of Heaven Come away then O my Soul stop thine ears to the ignorant language of the world what is the Beauty the Riches the Honours thou hast so much admired Canst thou but even close thine eyes and thou wilt think it all darkness and deformity What is the beauty thou hast so much admired alas when the night comes it will be nothing to thee whilst thou hast gazed on it it hath withered away doâ—h not the wrinkles of consuming sickness or of age or some other deformity make it as loathsome as it was once delightful Ah then O miserable man that thou art unworthy Soul how canst thou love a skinful of dirt and canst no more love the heavenly Glory art thou not a Soul is not heaven the onely lovely Object art thou not a Spirit and is not Earth a Dungeon to Celestial Glory shall Gold or Greatness or worldly Pomp be thy Idols vvhich are all dirt and dung to Christ come forth then O my dull and drowsie Soul thou hast lain long enough in these earthly Cells where cares have been thy Fetters where sorrows have been thy lodgings and Satan thy Jaylor The Soul calling to mind the infinite Love of her Saviour bewailes her ungratefulness and the coldness of her returns WHen holy David considered the vvorks of Gods hands the Sun and the Moou which he had made Psal 8.3 4. he immediately breaks forth into thoughts of humility touching the frail and sad estate of man But blessed Lord what can we say for our great neglect of that Love which hath stretched it self for us even to the death of the Cross and what stupidity is it to forget that that bloody Banquet which was to us the source of life should bring with it the Edict of death O poor Sinner What hast thou done look upon a Deed that vvas worthy of none but thy cruelty stretch out thy hands put thy fingers into those wounds vvhich thou hast made bedew thy hands like unbelieving Thomas in that sacred stream vvhich flowed from thy Saviours side Drink miserable vvretch of that River vvhich there thou seest glide to quench thy thirst Look and behold those dead eyes which accuse thy nakedness and which thou still dost wound with the aspect of thy wickedness alas they are not shut so much by the necessity of death as by the horrour of thy Luxury Behold the great temper of thy Saviours Soul in his most horrible sufferings what could be invented which he endured not what could be undergon which he met not vvith Oh high effect of an infinite Love vvhich found no belief in senses no perswasion in minds no example in manners nor resemblance in nature It is storied of a Prince vvho being desirous to offer himself to death for the preservation of his Subjects took the habite of a Clown the better to facilitate his death he laid down his Crown and Purple and all the Ensigns of Royalty onely retaining those of Love and lost his life in his Enemies hands But alas this was but a mortal life and in giving it he onely paid that tribute to Nature which at last he must of necessity yield But where have we read that a man glorious by Birth and immortal by condition hath espoused that humility which all the world despiseth that mortality which all must partake of that mercy which none can equalize and for no other occasion then to dye for his friend O dear Jesus thou wert by nature immortal and impregnable against all exterior violences thou took'st not the Body of a Peasant nor a body of Air but a true body of Flesh personally united to the word of God Thou O blessed Saviour consumedst thy body with Travails thou quailedst it with toils thou castedst tottered Rags over thy Purpleâ— thou laid'st our miseries upon thy own shoulders and at last resignedst thy selfe as a Prey to a most dolorous death My God! What a Prodigie is this Thou foundest a way to accord infirmity with Soveraignty Honour with Ignomy Life with Death and Time with Eternity O God of Glory O mild Saviour all this hast thou done it was not possible that sole God should suffer death nor sole Man should vanquish it but God and Man hath overcome it Ought not then thy pains to be as much adored by our wills as they are incomprehensible to our understandings And alas how much ought we to be ashamed since instead of enkindling our Affections with the sacred fires of thy Eternal Love we have sought after prophane fire from the eyes of earthly Beautie and have opened our hearts to Forreign flames Ah ungrateful Soul art thou not afraid to hear those heart-piercing words Cant. 5.6 I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when I spake I sought him but I could not find him Shall the love of God be so communicative as to stream forth by those two conduit-pipes of Glory and Beauty and art thou not hereupon even confounded to see thy heart so narrow and streightned in the exercise of holiness and good works Oh blessed Saviour thou didst spend thy time in continual pain and labours here on Earth for the redemption of the world Many were the scorns reproaches and miseries thou endurest for us Thou didst even melt and dissolve under the ardors of unspeakable affection and zeal for our salvation and at last exposedst thy self to languors sorrows extasies and the cruel punishment of the Cross and shall ingratitude be all the return thou reapest for such infinite mercy How justly maist thou many many times question with me as thou did once with S. Peter Joh. 21.17 Lovest thon me Thou seemest indeed poor soul to love me But why then dost thou not keepe my Commandements Doth not fond love which ordinarily delights to see what it cannot attain find too much admiration for thy eyes and food for its flame Ah that ever thou shouldst spend so many hours endure so much pain and run so many hazards to seek after an unhappy loathsomness Oh that ever thou shouldst take away thy love from me to place it on Creatures which so little deserve it And why should the faculties of the eye which was ordained for light be thus applyed to darkness Shall that which was Created for the use of Life be the cause of Death Alas what canst thou gain by imbracing thy Lusts O poor deceived Soul what Snares what Traps what Tempests beset thee on all sides O Man miserable wretch drenched in the waters of bitter Tears where alas wilt
friends Ranters Gamesters Amorists and all the delights of former Companies since from this moment we shall be for ever separated Whereas far otherwise shall it be with those heavenly and victorious souls who have lived to God Time and the Laws of Death have nothing to affright them with All that they have to do is but to go out of a dark Dungeon and a streight Prison to leave a world of sadness and misery and enter into a spacious Temple of Eternal Splendors where their Being shall have no end their knowledge no ignorance nor their love suffer change Repair then unto him O my Soul who is all-sufficient and though the discharge of thy duty be above the power of thy ability yet can he give thee a heart to perform what he requireth from thee There is no Prison for a Soul whom God hath set at liberty The whole world belongs to him who knows how to misprise it God seeketh thy conversion and he is able to turn thee He requireth thy faith and he is able to make thee believe he requireth thy love and by knocking at the door of thy heart he is able to get entrance into it Be not sad then O my Soul but adore that infinite mercy which doth at any time chastise thee with Temporary punishments being not willing to make thee an Object of that fury which is kindled by Eternity of Flames Why shouldst thou not bend all thy affections to Jesus who is onely able to delight thee Why shouldst not thou be enamoured of his Beauties Why shouldst thou not sigh after his Attractives If we behold the Sun we cannot chuse but love God that Glorious Light being the Image of the Soveraign King the Eye of the which enlightneth the Stars in Heaven createth the Fruits and Flowers upon Earth and giveth strength to all living Creatures How pleasant a thing also is it to behold those goodly Forrests to trace those flourishing Woods to be delighted with the murmuring Waters to hear the pleasant notes and warbling of Birds in the sweetness of solitude and retirement But O my Soul rest not here Let thy Spirit fly to that hidden Spirit which thus distributeth it self through so many melodious Divisions throughout the whole world When thou contemplatest the world and all things thereto belonging think on that secret Spirit which insinuateth it self thereunto with such admirable power ravishing sweetness and incomparable harmony Oh love thy Jesus because he is fair and made all these Beauties presented before thee Love him because he is good and communicateth himself unto thee Love him because he is thine and thou art wholly his O be thou still touched with his beauty his wisdom and goodness and let his mercy still soften thy heart And how a thousand times wilt thou bless the hour of this Resolution Ah Jesus why should I argue any longer with my vain Thoughts Why should I dispute any longer with my sinful Lusts Why do I not fly away weigh Anchor set Sails and go forward towards my Eternal happiness Shall I create unto my self an Empire in my Banishment shall I suppose my self in a Haven in the midst of shipwrack surely the Soul which is ravished with the contemplation of Heaven will not stay upon Flesh She hath nothing to do with the standing puddles of Egypt which do onely enflame thirst in her veins but is ever seeking refreshment in the Cisterns of Bethel No more will she ask where is her God become not a tract of a Tear will be visible on those cheeks where Flouds and Billowes of sorrow had formerly appeared Though formerly she went weeping under the heavy load of her sinnes she at last returns with precious seed she soons recovers her joy Psal 51.10.11 and peace and loseth no Graines Psal 126.6 but rather gets ground in the fire of Temptation she receives double with Iob for all her losses for a Cup of Affliction Vessels of joy and for a few disconsolate dayes moneths and years of delight and comfort in Heaven where she no longer complains of her frailties but cryes out It is enough Lord it is enough what am I or what is my Fathers House that thou shouldst thus deal with me And oh if there be such pleasures in the Kingdom of Grace how unspeakable are those laid up for us in the Kingdom of Glory The Soul is ravished upon the Return of her Saviours Presence THough the Soul of Man may live at uncertainties upon a certain Faith and in time of desertion trembling may accompany the people of God yet it truly relies upon Christs mercy Job 13.15.16 Psal 6.8 it shews a true saving and justifying faith in the very act of Reliance and dependance And though Gods Afflictions are oftentimes like hot Spices comfortable to the stomack though hot in the mouth yet the Soul with the Spouse is ever waking whensoever it falls into any spiritual slumber The greatest darkness ordinarily as we use to say is about the break of day And it is not impossble but that when sadness and melancholly which is many times the Nurse of doubting shall pervert our Reason and clad the Soul in mourning weeds there may be an Eclipse at the fairest Noon through the with-drawment of Gods favour and the interposition of Satans Temptations The dark Cloud which sometimes comes between God and the Soul is again cleared with many Lights and most sweet consolations insomuch that being again gilded over with the most radient Splendors and admirable Beauty of her beloved she breaks out with profusions of heart not to be expressed Holy Asaph may complain Will the Lord absent himself for ever Will he be favourable no more hath God forgotten to be Gracious hath he in anger shut up his tender mercy Psal 77.7.8 9. and yet all this expostulating with God is not because he suspects the truth of his Promises but because at such times the Soul cannot so plainly see it it looks upon its sinnes in a multiplying-Glass and in the gloomy day of Affliction is ready to behold them as an evidence that it wants that interest in God it should have and thinks with David and the Church it is wholly cast off Psal 43.2 44 9 80 1. But after those fainting and soul-swounding fits and too much eying and poaring on sin without observing the nature of God in his Covenant when the poor Soul as well looks upwards with one eye towards Gods mercy as with the other downward on her sins she is kept from being over-powred with Satans temptations she concludes there is yet some help in her God she still layes hold on the merits of her Saviour And however her stomack may be gone for a time yet when she awakes out of her spiritual Desertion she cryes out Surely the Lord is in this place though I knew it not Ps 4.3.8 I shall again sit at Davids Table who bids me to come and taste and see how good the Lord is
small burden to which he is tyed by duty and nature when he beholds this great Abyss of love of mercy of dolours of ignomy of blood of lowliness of admiration and amazement which swalloweth up all thoughts dryeth up all mouths and stayeth all Pens and hands And canst thou O my Soul after all this think any cross heavie any affliction hard to endure Canst thou chuse but be vexed and enraged at thy repinings O my great and only good Suppress those unreasonable follies which boyl in my Breast Make me know that whatsoever happens good or bad to me is my best portion because it comes from thee O rich Treasure O mass of glory In proportion to which all the labours and tribulations which Men or Divels can heap on me are nothing considerable Thou hast seen also O my Soul with what unparallell'd addresses and exquisite inventions the Lord hath sought thee and wooed thy love He gave thee heaven and earth with all their creatures for thy motives to serve and love him He made himself thy fellow and brother in flesh and blood yea he hath heaped on thee all the Names and Titles of Endearment which either Nature or Use have introduced among mankinde He is thy Father thy Spouse thy Friend thy Ransomer out of danger thy Redeemer from thraldome and slavery thy Saviour from death and misery yea he is thy food thy drink thy self O Eternal Wisdomed How truly then didst thou say It was thy delight to be with the Sons of men Can Angels boast of such Priviledges of such tendernesses of such Extasies of Love No None but so weak a Nature as Ours was able to necessitate Goodness it self to so deep a condescendence as this and none but all goodness could so appropriate it self to all infirmities O melting goodness that fillest every Corner thou findest capable of thy perfection We find the holy Phrenzie of Love to have possessed many of the Saints of God here on earth Moses out of his extream love to his Country-men wished himself blotted out of the Book of God Exod. 32.32 S. Paul wished himselfe accursed unless his brethren might be saved with him Rom. 9.3 But if ever any exceeded in Love above all the Love that was in the world it was thou O Saviour Joh. 10.20 who in the excess of thy Love to thy very Enemies wouldest suffer thy Self to be taken delivered up and shamefully put to death for them And in consideration whereof it seems S. Hierom cryes out Oh ungrateful man to thy God whosoever thou art considerest thou not the wonderful Love of him who is the Lord of heaven to be delighted thus to do and to suffer for thee And thinkest thou thy selfe better when thou art in the company of the wicked and prophane Return Shunamite return And surely methinks we should not here so greedily seek after the delights and contentments of Nature seeing the God of Nature so roughly handled in the world which he built with his own hands Ah! should not the Example of our Saviour make us ashamed when we nearly consider the sorrow of his life and the ignomy of his death We read of one further who considering this height of mercy which aboundeth with all Riches and hath the plenitude of all happiness cryeth out in a great Extasie O Love What hast thou done Thou hast changed God into man thou hast drawn him out of the lustre of his Majesty to make him a Pilgrim here on Earth thou hast shut him nine moneths in the wombe of a Virgin Tu deum in hominem demutatum voluisti tu deum abbreviatum paul sper à majestatis suae immenfitate c. Zeno. Ser. de Fide Spe. Charit thou hast annihilated the Kingdom of Death when thou taughtest God to dye Ah Love indeed which drowneth all humane thoughts which swalloweth all earthly affections which causeth the Spirit to forget it selfe and to look on nothing but Heaven A Love which Angels study and admire whichman could not be without and conceived in that fire which Jesus came to enkindâ—e on earth to enflamethe whole world Alas who can chuse but admire to think how thou O blessed Jesus descendest from the highest part of Heaven to take our Nature upon thee to charge thy self with our debts to lay our Burdens and Miseries on thy own shoulders to lodge in the silly Cottage of our Heart to be dispoiled of all for us to become our Riches by thy Poverty Strength to us by thy weakness To become Contemptible to make us Glorious and full of Sufferings to ease our servitude To make thy selfe of a King of Glory a man of Sorrows and to purchase our happiness with as many wounds as thou hadst â—embers And shall none of those Arrowes and shafts flying on every side of thee O my Soul wound thee to him shall none of his Favours Benefits and Affections descend into thee to fill and replenish thee with flames of thankfulness and love Canst thou still continue obdurate in the midst of those burning ardors and not be wholly captivated with his Bounty yea altogether inebriated with the Extasies of his Love Canst thou think of the infinite love of thy Saviour in suffering for thee and not admire his goodness Canst thou read the History of his life a life of Dolours from the Cradle to his Grave and peruse it without compassion canst thou think of his death and not commix the waters of thine eyes with those of his water and blood Ah! canst thou consider all this and not perpetually languish with fervent desires yea cause thy soul to melt and dissolve with spiritual languour on the heart of thy beloved O mirrour O Perfection mine eyes dazel in beholding thy Love my Pen fails in writing thy Praises O blind if thou knowest not O insensible if thou neglectest it and O unfortunate if thou loosest it Go and see the Ashes of those who have been burnt with the worlds love and thou shalt see nothing comparable to his Love who came to put us into the possession of all his greatness by surcharging himselfe with our miseries It may be thou hast seen some to die on an Earthly Scaffold who with the sweetness of their countenances terrified the most terrible aspects of their Executioners They did they spake they suffered they ordered their death as matter of triumph They comforted others in a time when they had much to do not to complain themselves But here here is a Banquet which carries with it all the benefits of Life yet attended with an Edict of Death Here 's Cruelty mingled with Delights Joy with Sorrow and Pleasures with Funerals Ah! what more could he possibly have done then thus to suffer for us He hath washed us in his blood he hath regenerated us into his Love If we endure any thing for him he endureth with us he weepeth for us he prepareth eternal springs of consolations for us yea he mingleth all our griefs in the
give up that amorous heart which hath been the corrupt fountain of so many Lusts onely to be washed and clensed with the blood of her Saviour O Lord said she my heart was created for thee and it will be restless until it return unto thee Do I hunger thou art the bread of life Do I thirst thou art the waters whereof whosoever drinks shall never thirst Am I Naked thy Righteousness is my Robe Isai 25.4 Thou art a Refuge from the storm and a shadow from the heat If I am Ignorant thou art Wisdome to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent is Eternal life Joh. 17.3 Since therefore all things are nothing unto me without thy self be thou all things unto me O God! true God of my salvation my heart which feels it self moved with an affectionate zeal thinks alwaies upon thee O let the breathings of my heart fill my lips with the sounds of Love The * Lingua amoris Tuba Tongue is Loves Trumpet and that love whic his sweetly in the bosome sounds sweetly in the breath O therefore let my voyce be the silver Trumpet loudly to sound thy praise Love is the commanding affection of the Soul consisting in the expansion and going out of the heart towards a person or thing it wishes well to It is the Queen Regent of the Soul and sits upon the Throne commanding all where then can the distressed Soul better fix her affections and but upon her Saviour the ends of whose love â—ike so many several Lines in a Compass meet all in Love as in their alone Center who alas but the shaking hand trembling for fear of guilt of sinne and the wrath of God is fittest then to lay hold upon him He is all comfort who should partake of him but such as are ready to faint He is our Physick and who should receive him but such as are diseased In this manner will the Soul which is ever longing after her Saviour be ever seriously meditating upon the spotless innocence and unblameable conversation of its Lord and Master It will consider what it is through the defilement of sinne it will frequently converse with the word of God it will still keep communion with God in prayer it will often participate of his holy Supper and if at any time it be surprised with Temptation and overtaken in a fault oh how vigilant is it at all times and in all places privately by her self and publickly with others And when any inordinate Passion Lust or Distemper doth begin to stir in her how doth she fly to the rich mercy and free Grace of her Saviour for strength to crush it in the very first rising that she be not given ovet to impetuous desires nor that sinnes of a high hand get dominion over her The thoughts also of a Gracious Soul will be ever frequent towards Jesus Christ If she lie down all things are commended to his protection If she rise she desireth his guidance If she read or meditate she craves his help If she ear she intreates his blessing When she is satisfied she praiseth his Bountie In the beginning of her Work she labours in his fear in the end thereof she referres it to his Glory In scarcity she is contented with his fulness in plenty she distributeth it to his Glory All things are nothing without him and he is all things unto her if she have nothing else And though she oftentimes labour under spirituall affliction when God is pleased to turn her mid-day into Night and many times afflict her with barrenness in her Soul yet will she still be setting forth the praises of her God If she cannot chant with the Nightingale she will chirp with the Black-bird she 'l chatter with the Swallow yea croak with the Raven rather then the sighes and groans of her heart shall want pouring out A serious survey of her manifold slips and failings shall be taken She will be deeply humbled loathing and detesting what she hath done amiss confessing her offences with a mournful heart and a weeping eye unto the Redeemer of Men who onely is able to comfort her How doth she complain that her sinnes have even excluded all the comforts of her God and all his Graces from her Soul once she injoyed a sweet communion with him but now she sinks in the Valley of sorrow For why he passeth by as a Wayfaring man is become a stranger to her and takes her for his Enemy Ah they are my sins they are my sins saith she which have thus occasion'd the withdrawment of my Saviour And what shall my dearest comforts be thus driven away by my self woe is me that I am constrained to live in thy Anger and to have such a sad habitation in the dark Tents of thy heavy displeasure My God! my God! why comes thy wrath so fast upon me O what Billowes of disquietness arise within my heart what sad thoughts arise within my Soul I know not what to doe I know not what to answer so unworthy am I not having any thing in me to move thy affections to me Alas how unfit am I to perform any service to thee How dull how poor and liveless therein yea with what vanity and distractions are my best Actions accompanied And will Christ stoop to uphold such a worm as I am Yes sure Lord my eyes are toward thee It s true I am a sink of sin but thou art a Gracious God I am the chief of sinners yet such thou cam'st to save What though I am darkness yet thou art light and however thou now seemest farre from me thou canst again fill me with light and refreshment If thou once appear the Tempest of my weather-beaten Soul will cease Thus at last through a true humiliation having found her Conscience appeased her bloody Issue stanched her heart enlarged her foot-steps ordered with delight to run the wayes of God and her poor and almost ship-wrack't Vessel arrived at the Haven of Gods amiable Presence she comfortably concludes that God had heard the requests of her lips saying unto her by the testimony of his Spirit as once Christ did to the sick of the Palsie Mark 2.5 Son thy sins are forgiven thee And here we see how that God who many times enricheth us by our losses enobles us by our disasters and raiseth us by our Ruines brings us low that we may not * Fecitque cadendo ne caderes fall into the Precipice of everlasting misery He leaves us here for a time to behold dying Creatures who fade wither and shrink insensibly into nothing when once unsupported by the divine hand that the House of God and the Palace of Essences may be the more welcome to us where all things are immortal vigorous perfect and incorruptible In this world we see but with the two Eyes of Flesh the whole world being still tottering and altogether imperfect But there it is where the blessed behold all things stable equal and absolute
the Pilgrimage of a perfect Christian following his Saviour home to the Cross Briefly Here maist thou be wrapt in the contemplation of his Bounties and ravisht in the consideration of his Beauties It having been my desire and endeavour by setting forth the Vanities of the World and the Excellencies and Riches which are in Christ to draw the heart of his Spouse to be sick of Love to him and to be enflamed with longings to enjoy him until by the sacred ardors of love he dive into our hearts and make us enter with him into the great Abyss of delights which he hath reserved for the most purified Souls The CONTENTS THat Love in its self is not a Vice but the Soul of all Vertues when it is tyed to its proper Object which is the Soveraign Good Page 6. Of the Nature and Qualities of Divine Love and wherein it exceeds all other Love p. 10. That our love to God ought to precede and exceed all other Loves p. 16. That the Soul can take pleasure in nothing until it meet with satisfaction from its Maker p. 24. That many may have their eyes Love-proof and their hearts shut up against all the assaults of Fond-Love p. 30. The Misery of those who have yeilded to the Passion of Love and the Glory of Souls which have overcome it p. 39. How we may avoid the Snares of Love p. 44. That Outward Ornaments should not invite our Love p. 53. That when all Loves fail the Love of God remains p. 55. Temporal Goods cannot content the Soul and therefore deserve not our Love p. 61. The Soul complaineth of her Condition and Misery by reason of the darkness and ignorance of sin p. 77. The Souls solitude and content in her Separation from the great enticements of the world p. 72. The Soul admires the infinite Riches of her Saviours Love in taking Humane Nature upon him p. 83. The Soul checks her selfe for her backwardness and too much neglect of her Saviours invitations p. 92. The Soul repents the time that ever she was Cloistered up in the walls of Clay and thrown into the Dungeon of that corrupt mass of Flesh p. 96. The Soul calling to mind the infinite Love of her Saviour bewailes her ungratefulness and the coldness of her returns p. 104. The Soul breaks into Sighes and dissolves into desires for the presence of God p. 111. The Soul filled with Heavenly Love sends forth the pure flames of her Affection p. 117. The Soul contemplates and sets forth her Folly in hazarding Eternal Joyes by preferring Earthly Vanities p. 124. The Soul being ready to sink under the weight and apprehension of her Sins bemoanes the weakness of her Faith and desires help from her Saviour p. 130. The Sin-sick Soul can take no rest until she be further reconciled to her Saviour p. 140. The Soul is ravished upon the Return of her Saviours Presence p. 150. The Soul being re-advanced on the wings of Faith sends up her choicest Affections towards Heaven p. 159 The Soul in a Phrensey breaks out into admiration of Gods love in being freed from the misery of everlasting flames p. 164. The Soul being sensible of its former Mercies sits weeping under the Cross of her Saviour and resolves to partake with him in his Sufferings p. 169. In Imitation of our Saviours great Patience under his Passion the Soul resolves for ever to yield an humble submission to his Will. p. 181. Of LOVE in General IF we go about to describe fond love what better resemblance may we have then to that man who is bitten with a Tarantula or hath eaten a weed which is called Sardoa and so laughs himself to death being murthered by that which looks like merriment or like a mouth wounded with a sting dipt in honey the Taste enjoying what the Touch suffers Or may we not compare it to him who through too much wantonness is tickled to his Grave And surely had we as many eyes opened towards heaven as heaven openeth towards us to behold the sleights and danger thereof we should be strucken with horrour to see a deprâ—ved soul to change all his abilities as incentives to sin and to make suâ—h delights and pleasure the true snares to entice it to Eternal misery O God of purity How many now adays do we see who through too fond and free a conversation receive as many wounds as glances yea as many deaths as Beauty shoots Arrows against them Solomon who well knew the effect of this Possion Prov 23.33 said Thy eyes shall behold strange women and thy heart shall utter perverse things And in another place he saith With much fair spee ch she caused him to yeild with the flattering of her lips she forced him He goeth after her as an Ox to the slaughter and as a fool to the correction of the stocks till a Dart strike thorow his Liver as a Bird hastneth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Prov. 7.21 23. See how a senseless soul like a lazie Pilot or one fast asleep in the midst of the Sea being oppressed with drowsiness and having lost his Helm deludeth it self It 's true saith he I am struck but I feel no pain they have drawn me this and that way but I am not sensible of it when shall I be awaked to be again drunk with love and to return to my accustomed pleasures Alas poor soul How dost thou not having well guarded thy senses in the first Assault deliver thy heart over as a Prey whereby it sinks into the bottom of misery Our Love being indiscreetly tyed to women at first presents us shews which are fair and specious seeming bright with a pleasing serenity and full of Beauty whilst all this while we do but consult with Spirits and strange Apparitions full of obscurity and darknes and the issues thereof dismal and hideous or as a stone thrown into the water makes first a small Circle which causeth many to follow until it fill up the total superficies so hapneth it in Love it falls into our heart not perceived nor foreseen giving a slight touch in the beginning which multiplies and distends it self over our Soul with Chains and Arrows which will require much labour to dissolve and unloose The most generous spirit becomes a Captive when this tempting and imperious visage and Commandress comes and knocks at the door of his heart It exerciseth our discourse it enflameth our desires it busieth our thoughts to go to speak to visit to complement yea it insinuateth into Prayer and our best Devotions with distractions pleasingly troublesome Love in the heart is an exhalation in a cloud It cannot continue there idle it formeth a thousand imaginations it brings forth a thousand cares and necessarily is accompanied with anxieties and trouble Yea fond Love is like the heart of a wicked man which saith the Prophet is a troubled Sea whose waters cast up myre and dirt Isa 57.20 And what Hipocrates said
deploring the evil effects of Covetousness namely That the life of man was miserable because Avarice like a spirit of Storms and Tempests had poured it self on Mortals and that it were to be wished that the best Physicians might meet together to cure the Disease The same may we say of Love since it is the fatal Plague among all Passions and no simple malady but one composed of all the evils in the world A Passion which maketh charms and illusions to march before it and draggeth on Furies disasters and rapines after it Was it not this which sharpned the sword which transfixed Ammon Which shaved and blinded Sampson Which gave a Halter to Phillis Alas How many wretched and caitif souls how many ship-wracked Spectacles may we behold standing on Promontory tops who tell us of the ruines which this Passion hath caused Simon Magus was undone by a Hellen being more bewitched by her love then he enchanted others by his Sorcery Apelles was corrupted by Phylumene Donatus by Lucilia Montanus by Maximilla Women having ended amongst all these what Heresie and Magick had but begun which made one wittily to say That Heaven was most happy in having a God In Coelo Angelus Angela c. Tertul. adversus Val. and Angels and no Goddesses since it might be feared that if there were diversity of Sex it would alter somthing of its tranquility Was it not the love of Women which caused Sampson's David's and Solomon's shipwracks Hath it not besotted the wise conquered the strong deceived the prudent corrupted Saints and humbled the mighty Hath it not trodden down Scepters and Crowns blasted the Lawrels of the greatest Conquerours troubled the most flourishing States Hath it not thrown Schism into Churches corruption among Judges and the greatest cruelties into Arms Hath it not acted Treasons Furies firings poysons murthers and ransackings And how should it spare its enemy since it is so cruel to its self It kills and murders those that have most constantly served it drinking their blood and insensibly devouring them and making many to sink in the twinkling of an eye It will open a Flood-gate to a Deluge of miseries and cares It will by some invisible hand as it were shoot Arrows amidst the Vermilion of Roses and the whiteness of Lilies It is the worm which gnaweth all our great actions the moth which eateth all the vigour of our spirit the Labyrinth which hindreth our chief designs yea it is the true snare of our soul which too often hides poison and death under a seeming sweetness See here the goodly sacrifices of Lust Behold the transfigurations of sottish Love What Nothing but Poyson Gibbets Massacres and Precipices Nothing to be seen but smoak flames darkness despairs and the sad complaints of unfortunate Lovers O God! What is he who beholding these Pictures would ever betray his soul heaven and his God to yeild obedience to loathsome lust In time then let us behold the disasters which wait on the experience of this miserable sin which is so ruinous to our body soul estate and reputation so full of fetters and snares It being impossible to write all the Tragedies which arise from this Passion for which all Pens are too weak all Wits too dull and all Tongues would be dryed up Neither is it to be wondred at what the Wise man said That the too free familiarity with Women was a firebrand in the bosome Prov. 6.27 and as another said It was as easie to live among burning coals as to converse with this Sex and not to wound the soul How careful then should we be to avoid whatsoever may endanger the scortching not only of our Body but our precious Soul yea how should we fear our Relapses and shun all occasions which may re-enkindle the flame For if vain Love be a Tree the fruit flowers and leaves whereof are nothing but sorrows if it be a Sea full of Tempests and Storms where a Haven is not to be hoped for but with the loss of our selves If it be a Passion which causeth a continual drunkenness of Reason If this Banquet which seems to be the source of life brings an Edict of Death with it and the best sports thereof are ordinarily bloody why should we embrace such cruelty as is mingled with delights Or that pleasure which is attended with Funerals O my Make us to bury all our concupiscences before we go to the Grave and so strive to live as that when death comes it may finde us prepared and that we may have little other business then to die That Love in its self is not a Vice but the Soul of all Vertues when it is tyed to its proper Object which is the Soveraign Good NEver shall the soul of man act any thing great in this world if he retain not holy fire in his veins since from the beginning of the world all things are held together by this Divine tye Concord which in its union causeth the happiness of all things and those sacred influences of Love have woven eternal chains to tye indissolubly all the parts of the Vniverse True joy is nothing else but a satisfaction of the soul in enjoying what it loves neither is the accomplishment of Pleasure any thing but the presence possession and fruition of the good which is known to us and which we love We cannot have one silly spark of love for God unless it be inspired into us by himself That which the Ayr is in the Elementary world the Sun in the Celestial and the Soul in the Intelligible the same is he throughout All He is the Ayr which all the afflicted desire to breathe in the Sun which dispelleth all our clouds the Soul which giveth life to all things and therefore he that is thus the Lover of our souls ought really to be the object with which our soul ought everlastingly to be in love And oh how happy are they who entertain this chaste and spiritual love for things Divine who embrace the wisdom of heaven which is so far beyond all humane Beauties as the light of the Stars surpass the petty sparklings and flitting fires of the earth but miserable are those who mount not above the flatteries and fading Beauty of the world From hence it was that the beauties of Solomon's Mistresses were no sooner adored but that through the neglect of his former Zeal and Courage Idols were worshipped That Sampson was no sooner blinded with love but that Dalilah forthwith blinded the eyes of his reason and body together Hence was it that David paid so dear for that unhappy cast of his eye on Bathsheba all which God is pleas'd to place as broken masts on the top of a mountain to make others take heed of the shipwracks of love And great care surely ought to be taken in the whole course and progress of our life sin being usually killed by flying the occasions of it Absence resistance coldness silence labour and diversion have overcome many assaults
glances If my Hairs have been Nets to captivate any soul under the yoke of wanton Love O let them be trampled under feet as the Ensigns and Standards of wicked Cupid Let those Embraces which carried nothing but the poyson of a luxurious passion now clasp him under whose shelter I shall eternally rest secure Briefly let me breathe nothing but the delicacies of Chastity and let those pleasing Odours which were once vowed to sensuality at last become the sweetest exhalation of odoriferous persume at the Altar of my Saviour that so I may practise a sanctified revenge on my self and my Repentance never end but with my life That our love to God ought to precede and exceed all other Loves SO many and great are the delights and enticements of the Flesh the Divel and the World to withdraw man's love from God as that he hath not only imprinted in his heart that he was solely to love his Creator but such was his infinite goodness to the end man might never forget it as to leave him his spiritual Law written in Tables of Stone Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy might Deut. 6. Neither do we finde any Law or Precept so strongly and largely enjoyn'd as this binding the heart tongue hand eyes and the faculties of our soul to love God How then can we answer our own Soul without blushing here or without confusion or condemnation at the last day Or can we render any thing less then love Can any price be set too high for so infinite a ransome whereby both soul and body forfeited by our sins to Satan and eternal Hell fire are freed through the shameful tortures the disgraceful usage and cruel murthering of a merciful Saviour Had God as justly he might in return of his infinite love commanded thee to offer unto him all thy Wealth to sacrifice all thy Children as some Heathen have done and as once he tempted Abraham Had he required thee with stripes and fastings to mortifie and kill thy body Had he commanded bounty to the poor the poor man might have said I cannot give it If labour or fasting the sick and infirm or if knowledge the simple might have said I have them not in my power But if in lieu of all this he require only that which is the least thy love and which without expence pain or labour thou mayest easily afford O my soul How canst thou make a better purchase then by love to make God Heaven and Earth to be wholly thine All that God Courts and Wooes man for is his Heart Prov. 23.26 and wilt thou not grant him this desire O my soul He might have required all thy substance all thy actions to be spent in his immediate service and worship He grants thee thy wealth and the fruits of thy honest labour and bids thee give only what thou canst best spare of all thy Increase he takes only a Tenth and from all thy worldly labours only a sevonth part Love and the affection of thy heart being all that he entirely calls for Thy blessed Saviour so highly valued this Treasure of love as that even then when he was to depart and leave the world he left it as his last Will and Testament to his Disciples and that as he had loved them so they should love one another John 13.34 Ah! saith he being at the last point as it were before his Possion to his Disciples and in them to us my time is but short and I finde death approaching before which I have one only remembrance to give you That you love one another It was not long before that he desired them that If they did love him they would keep his Commandments Love being as it were the Embassadour of God and hath not only proclaimed the Fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 but as our Saviour himself pronounced thereon depends the Law and the Prophets O then my God! my Jesus make me to keep the Law of thy Love and nothing else Thy love is a yoke which brings with it more honour then burden It is a yoke that hath no weariness in it O my sweet Saviour My soul is weary and greatly distasted with all the fading delights of this transitory world and doth incessantly languish after thee Shew me then my stains and give me water to wash them out Let the night cease to cast a dark Vail over my mortal body but let the Sun be advanced high and the break of day begin to guild the mountains where my Soul hovereth and is ashamed to see its self so dark before light and smutted over before thy immortal whiteness Alas I am altogether but one stain and thou art all purity do not however write me on the ground as a childe of the earth but write me in heaven since I am the portion which thou hast purchased with thy precious blood Thy love is the Center of all our true love on which our heart as on the point of a Compass being set the other part moves about the Circumference of the World Is it not the Almighty whose mercies are without number Where hath it been well with us without him Or How can it be ill with us where he is present I had rather saith one be a Pilgrim here on earth with him then be in heaven without him And blessed then sure are they who delight to attend his service and cast from him all the fetters and impediments of worldly love For what will all things avail if we be forsaken of our Creatour Can we live without the Fountain of Life All places are solitary where he is not and where he is there only is fulness of pleasure O Jesus the author of all Glories henceforth be unto me my only Crown For oh how vain is the rest and solace of man who though nothing brings joy and comfort without God and that he finds so little entertainment in all worldly treasures as that the vanity in possession will soon reprove the violence of his appetite is notwithstanding still sullying himself in the puddles thereof How often do we cry out with the perverse Jews not Christ but Barrabas not God but Mammon How often with the Idolatrous Israelites do we say of our Covetousness Honours Greatness and the rest of our Lusts Ye are our Gods whereas alas God cannot endure that one Temple should receive both his Ark and the Idol Dagon He will not have the Divel the Flesh and the World should come in and lodge in his Bed-chamber thy heart it being but just with God to require it But oh how unreasonable art thou in dividing it between him and his enemies between God and Baal between Light and Darkness 1 Cor. 6.14 Fond Worldlings Can you be so great enemies to your souls as being once unloosed from slavery to sigh wither and languish for your fetters for shame then forsake the love of these poor Cottages these