agreeable passion of love is too often exercised upon unworthy objects pursued and enjoyed after an unreasonable manner But notwithstanding that whether the object be wisely chosen or foolishly whether the beauty apprehended be real or imaginary wheresoever delight and desire are there beauty or goodness in the object is however apprehended and supposed And from this general account of the nature and Principles of Love we may most firmly establish the notion of Love to God Wherefore then to Love the Lord our God is so to apprehend the excellencies of the Divine nature his absolute perfections in themselves and his infinite grace and goodness towards us as that we most sincerely and heartily admire and adore his Majesty and earnestly desire the most intimate enjoyment of Him and the most perfect union with Him that we are capable of This is the nature of the Duty in the general And the Qualifications with which it ought to be exercised are three with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind The Text is taken out of Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might St. Mark Luke 10.27 and St. Luke express it with all thy Strength And because of this indifferent variation of the phrase and because the same thing is sometimes expressed by one of these phrases only as with all thy Heart 1 Sam. 7.3 Sometimes the Heart and Soul without the Mind or Strength as in the 2 Kings 23.3 Therefore some Expositors consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as words of the same or of equal signification accumulated only to press and inculcate the duty more effectually upon us but not as a Climax of perfection in the practice of it But because we may observe a real and material difference in the common use and acceptation of the words expressing the degrees of Intention and desire in the acts and operations of the Soul and because it will very much administer to the just explication of the duty therefore I shall presume and with good authority to consider the Heart the Soul and Mind as qualifications of gradual Excellency as a Scale of Perfection in the practice and exercise of Love to God And first With all thy Heart By the Heart according to the usual signification of that Metaphor we understand Integrity Sincerity of affection Ye have obeyed from the heart Rom. 6.17 the form of doctrine that was delivered you that is sincerely and without hypocrisie And innumerable other places Secondly with all thy Soul that is with Understanding and Knowledge that our Love of God be not only Sincere but grounded well proceeding from Causes proper and considered not with Passion only but with Judgment The Soul here may be understood of Reason and Discretion whereby we distinguish of Good and Evil base and worthy and to whose determinations the Will Desires and instruments of Action are obedient Thirdly with all thy Mind By the Mind may be understood the more Spiritual Principle in Man whereby he feels and enjoys the truth of such Propositions as Reason by comparing one thing with another shall discover Reason is as it were an Artificial Mechanical deduction of Conclusions from Premises but the Mind enjoys them really by an intire agreement with the Proposition And upon this account the wicked in Scripture are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are able to collect the truths of Religion or any other Propositions by Scholastick inference but the Pious and Regenerate have an inward sensation of things Intellectual and Divine and are therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whose Body and Soul is added Mind or Spirit Wherefore then to Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind is sincerely to Adore and Delight in God from a distinct perception from an inward sensation as well of his absolute Perfections in themselves as of His infinite Bounty and Goodness towards us And thus I have explained the Terms and stated the Nature of the duty in general I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of Love to God First with all our Heart and with all our Soul Secondly with all our Mind And First the particular acts implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul are chiefly these First the Preference of God to all other objects whatsoever He that loves with Judgment esteems and values according to weight and measure according to the degrees of beauty and excellence in the object As he readily acknowledges whatsoever worth or goodness he any where discerns so he suffers not his Passion and desire to go before his understanding But God is a Being that exists of himself in whom is implied whatsoever can be supposed to be and in whom all being is resolved as into its proper and most perfect cause Defect supposes impotence and controul but Omnipotence implies the most absolute perfection Desire of Good when known is necessary But can any instance of goodness or perfection be hid from his knowledge or kept from his possession who is the cause of all things Wherefore then since all perfections are essential to this first and Original Good one of the necessary acts of Love to such a being is the preference of him to all other Beings whatsoever If our Love of God be with all the Soul with judgment and understanding then we know that there is none in heaven but God and none upon earth to be desired in comparison of Him That he is the fountain of all the imperfect excellencies of all created Beings that he is the most constant and the most potent friend and benefactor who made us by his Power and sustains us by his Providence guides us by his Council assists us by his Spirit pities our Weakness pardons our Sins and is ready at last to receive us into Glory Wheresoever therefore He is understood all other objects habits and desires will necessarily fall before him For whatsoever beauty or goodness may be found in any other object they are all derived from God in whom all fullness dwells That is the first The Second particular implyed in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul is a stedfast Faith in whatsoever he reveals A sincere affection is apt in its nature to beget an unreasonable credulity It is very difficult to perswade our selves that our friend whose happiness we know is our greatest pleasure should abuse our Passion by deceit and guile to sport or private ends and therefore notwithstanding all the infirmities of humane Nature all the insincerities which may proceed from wicked dispositions and violent temptations yet Love creates an intire and perfect confidence in one another How much more if our Love of God be with all our Heart and Soul shall we
to those on a level with him ready to support the weak and assist the needy And as he is kind to all so he is not easily provoked into displeasure against any man He is not quick and forward to discern the injuries and ingratitude of brutish people he is not apt to aggravate but excuse a fault he is ready to believe that it proceeded of mistake of rashness or inadvertency rather than of malice or evil will For so says the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 4. Love is of a gentle easie disposition believeth hopeth all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is not presently in a flame or feaver but resents an injury with a calm and steddy mind and studies no revenge for Charity will cover the multitude of sins Pro. 10 12. Pet. 4.8 Thirdly To love our Neighbour as our selves implies a regard to his Fame and Reputation A good name is better than life it self says Solomon We prefer it to all other interests whatsoever by the instincts of our very Nature No man can endure to be represented ill because it is the parent of contempt and neglect which of all other things is the most abhorr'd And therefore a man of universal Charity will be tender of his Neighbours Credit He heartily wishes that all men would behave themselves as they ought to do and live with decency and honour in the World Charity rejoyceth not in the wickedness of the wicked but rejoyceth in the truth that is in the upright conversation of men so Grotius upon the place He is more ready to discern the vertues and excellencies of others than his own He chearfully acknowledges worth and allows sufficient praise wheresoever it is due He puts the best interpretation upon any action that the nature of the thing will bear He judgeth no man till he understands the course of his Conversation nor any particular action till he knows the circumstances and affections of it Affectus tuus imponit nomen operi tuo as S. Ambrose speaks de offic He follows the rule of Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ench. does any man drink much wine say not that he drinks to a debauch but simply that he uses to drink much because the same action may proceed from a good as well as from an evil cause He that strikes another as Simplicius in his Exposition of the place may do him good and he that feeds him may be his enemy He that steals as the case may be may do no ill and he that relieves another may do unjustly And therefore a charitable man is ever slow and sparing of his censures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hopeth all things and is willing to believe the best His Ears are shut to idle tales and evil reflections upon any man or if he is forced to hear them he endeavours to stifle the report and clear the imputation that if it be possible it may stop with him He is troubled for so much of it as he finds to be true and with an angry countenance he drives away the back biters tongue saith Solomon as the North wind driveth away rain Pro. 25.23 And thus by covering a transgression he seeketh love Prov. 17.9 Fourthly and Lastly As the result of all these instances of universal Charity a man that is really a friend to all will be courteous and easie gentle and civil in his outward conversation and deportment Haughtiness or elation of mind proceeds from an undue account a distinct unreasonable opinion of our selves above our Neighbours And all morose and supercilious conversation are the effects of conceitedness and pride of discontent and jealousie that we are not valued according to the price we have set upon our selves But a man that is frank and ingenuous that loves his Neighbour as himself treats and uses every man with the chearfulness and civility of a friend His own desires and expectations from his betters are the measure of his deportment towards those below him He then that loves his Neighbour as himself will be easie of access courteous and sincere in speech civil and obliging in all his conversation with him Since he is a friend to all he will not ruffle provoke or discourage any man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charity is benign yielding and complaisant knows no supercilium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is not full of himself V. 4. he is not puffed up This is to love our Neighbour as our selves as we understand it of loving him in all the several instances wherein we love our selves comprehended chiefly under his Soul his Life his Estate and Reputation But Secondly the Duty Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self not only obliges us to have a true respect to all his interests but to love him also after the same manner that we love our selves to pursue his good with the same affections and dispositions of mind which we find in our selves in the prosecution of our own It is always to be supposed that the Rule or Exemplar is more excellent than the Copy The love of a Man to himself is so unmixt and pure the unity so perfect that it is not possible he should confer it upon another in the same degree unless he could really and naturally unite him to himself Thus God Almighty is proposed to us the most imperfect of rational Beings as the Pattern of our Vertue Be ye Holy as God is Holy 1 Pet. 1.24 says St. Peter Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect St. Matt. 5. ult But in these and several other places we must not understand the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as denoting an exact Identity but only that our Principle be sincere our vertue true though far inferiour in degree Wherefore in our present case the qualification of the duty as thy self though it may not import an equality of love which is impossible yet at least it signifies that we love our Neighbour with the same kind of affections and dispositions of mind with which we love our selves and therefore Erasmus expounds the words by perinde ac teipsum in like manner as thou lovest thy self First With the greatest Tenderness and Sense every Man is affected intimately with his own affairs he feels every motion that concerns them because he knows he must enjoy or endure the event of his designs And thus we are enjoyn'd to love our Neighbour as our selves Not only to do him no hurt in any interest neither yet to do him service only but to be inwardly moved and affected with his case that we be Men of Bowels 1 Pet. 1.22 apt to be wrought into pity compassion and desire to do him good into Joy and delight at any prosperous event Secondly We love and pursue our own particular happiness with solicitude and diligence Our sensible apprehension and innate desire of good provoke and encourage our most earnest endeavours according to our knowledge to promote it No Man is indifferent
pursue his favour and most earnestly desire to be loved again because we know that our Love of God if it be sincere and pure will be returned in the most ravishing delights we know that his Love is Life that it is not an empty Passion but exerted in the most substantial effects and happy instances And therefore that we should have sinned against him must needs be the most insupportable affliction because in proportion to the nature of our offence our chief design of obtaining his favour and the light of his countenance will be hindred and all our work of so great importance may be to begin again And as we shall be deeply sensible of our offence so shall we also be very sollicitous to be reconciled One of the most essential acts of Love is a desire of the good opinion of the object nor is any thing more directly contrary to that Passion than stoutness and indifference No man can sit down and be satisfied under the displeasure of his friend till he has acknowledged his offence dimulced his anger by sutable mediations and all such other acts as reason in his case will suggest unto him Thus as our Love of God will make us very careful to obtain and preserve his favour so shall we also be extremely solicitous in case of offences to be reconciled If our love of God was ever real it can never be withdrawn when once we have understood and have been warmed with the love of God it is not possible in the nature of the thing that we should ever be reduced to indifference for the glory of God is immutable and his Beauty perfect which where they are understood will of necessity both attract and continue Desire and Love as being the only object that can fully delight and satisfie the faculty Neither is this all but we know moreover that we cannot be happy without his Love if He hide his face we are wretched and undone that Impartial Justice towards offenders is as certain an Attribute of God as Infinite Goodness Nothing therefore can discourage us we shall never give over our Confessions and Tears our Vows and Resolutions and the tender of all such satisfactions as are possible for us to make till we have reason to hope that our sins are pardoned and our persons are again received into his favour These are the essential parts the necessary acts of Love to God viz. That we prefer Him to all other objects whatsoever believe his Word and rely upon his Promises imitate his Life and obey his Laws be deeply sorrowful whensoever we offend him and earnestly endeavour to be reconciled All these several expressions are of the essence of Love and flow from the nature of the thing And so I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the more perfect exercises of Love to God with all thy Mind Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Mind In the explication of the Words it has been already noted that the Love of God with all the soul is such an adoration of God as proceeds from a sense of the Glories and excellencies of His Being as they are apprehended by reason and inferr'd from his Definition Nature and Operations but the Love of God with all the mind is with a more quick and sensible perception of the Divine perfections with reason improved into a more lively apprehension of the object A young Philosopher shall acknowledge the benefits of frugality suppose or of any other Vertue and shall be able himself to deduce the advantages of it by the rules of Logic and shall believe his deductions to be regular and true But a man of Age and Experience besides what reason suggests from causes to effects has a sense and feeling of the thing he is affected with it it has seized and taken possession of him he is one with the Notion Thus Reason infers the Perfections of God from necessary Principles the Judgment is satisfied and the Will performs such acts as are sutable and consonant to such opinions and apprehensions of the Soul But he whose knowledge has affected his mind not only knows believes and acts accordingly but he has also a more quick and sensible perception and enjoyment of the Divine Perfections by an inexplicable agreement harmony and delight he is one with them ravished and overcome of Desire and Love And the particular acts implied in the Love of God with all the Mind are chiefly Three The first is frequent Meditation and a due intention of the Mind upon the beauty and excellencies of the object This is both an act and a cause of the love of God with all the Mind Where our affections are fixed there all our faculties will be employed Love therefore will provoke us to the meditation of God and Meditation will improve our Knowledge and perfect our Love For since it is impossible to discover a blemish in absolute perfection the more we pry into Him the more of necessity we shall love him Whosoever then is affected sensibly and in his Mind with the love of God will separate considerable portions of his time for the contemplation of the Divine Perfections He will abstract his mind from sensible things that it may be purer and more free more apt to apprehend more easily impressed by objects Divine and Spiritual Nothing hinders our clearer Knowledge and more ardent love of God but the prepossession of our affections by the beauty and goodness of the World These we converse with these we admire and court but as for the infinite perfections of God we believe them as the Doctrine of the Church and hope to enjoy them through the merits of Christ according to the Tradition of the Fathers We resolve that God is incomprehensible as indeed He is and therefore we never endeavour to find out so much of his beauty as by a due disposition of Soul without revelation or ecstasie we might Whereas if our lives were more retired castigate and sober our spirits would be purer our minds more quick and vigorous objects Divine and Spiritual would be more agreeable more easily felt and enjoyed by us It were easie to consider particulars and show how a due intention of mind upon the attributes of God will more sensibly affect us Do we adore Him for so much of his Infinite Goodness as appears at the first view in the general or towards our selves How much more should we be affected if we look it round and consider throughly this perfection of the will of God That God who is Omnipotent and under no controle should be bounded in his Will by the Laws of Goodness Righteousness and Mercy That He should vouchsafe to communicate his own likeness and subject the whole Creation to the use and convenience of Man that He should love us when we were his enemies and restore our corrupted nature to its first integrity by the passion of his only Son That He should still follow us