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
those that are as obstinate and wilful as himself And when once these causes namely Pride Self-will and Humour are removed we shall return of course to the Lenity and Goodness of the humane nature a great many injuries will vanish into nothing Great ones will appear indifferent and the greatest may be easily supported Finally Let us set before us the Examples of great and holy Men who when their enemies have been under their power when they might have taken their utmost revenge upon them have pass'd over all their injuries and affronts with neglect and pity And thus we may encourage our selves by the experience and success of others as well as by the reason of the thing Time would fail me to tell of Joseph David Job the Publican St. Stephen and the rest whose stories are recorded in the Holy Scripture it is enough Heb. 12.1 that we look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the shame and prayed for those who insulted over him and slew him Father forgive them for they know not what they do If you say says Saint Augustine How shall I ever hope to do as our Lord has done Consider where he did it on the Cross T. 10. 2da fer in Rog. Serm. 1. where he acted altogether as a man and proposed himself to our imitation And now I hope upon the strength of so many considerable Motives we may be all perswaded at least to attempt the mastery of our selves The end is so considerable and the means so reasonable and likely to attain it that our best endeavours will be both justified and rewarded It may be difficult at first to change a habit that is riveted by long indulgence but pertinacity and time will overcome it Nature delights and hastens to throw off all obstructions and when once we have made a little way we shall then proceed secundo flumine and be over-joyed at the recovery of our primitive our proper disposition Besides the ready assistances of God who will facilitate our difficulties assist us by his Wisdom support us by his Power and refresh us by the irradiations of his Love till the Victory be obtained and we at last triumph in that most Perfect and Eternal state of Bliss which is prepared for those who by patient continuance in well doing Rom. 2. seek for Glory and Immortality To which of his mercy may he bring us all for Jesus Christ his sake the Righteous To whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be ascribed all Honour Glory Praise Dominion and Obedience now and for ever Amen FINIS BOOKS Printed for W. Kettilby A Sermon preached before the King at Windsor June 13. 1680. on Matt. xvi 26. A Sermon preach'd before the Lord Mayor Feb. 5. 1681. on Ps 119. 165. The Liberty of Humane Nature discuss'd stated and limited in a Sermon on 1 Cor. 6.12 A Sermon preached before the King and Queen at Whitehal Jan. 19. 1689. on Prov. 22.4 All four by the Rev. Mr. J. Lamb. Mr. Hesketh's serious exhortation to frequent Communion Octav. 's Case of Eating and Drinking unworthily Oct. 's Piety the best Rule of Orthodoxy Religion the Perfection of Man Oct. Pattern of pure undefiled Religion Exposition on the Church Catechism The Faith and practice of a Church of England man Edit 3. Bishop Overal's Convocation Book MDCVI concerning the Government of God's Catholick Church and the Kingd of the whole world