Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A41751
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Theophilie, or, A discourse of the saints amitie with God in Christ by Theophilus Gale.
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Gale, Theophilus, 1628-1678.
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1671
(1671)
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Wing G149; ESTC R27378
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246,253
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474
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Interest is the worst in the world to make a friend of because he usually fails his friend most when he has most need of his friendship namely in times of difficultie The selfish man wil part with his best friend Self violates al the laws of friendship rather than with his carnal Interest Yea inordinate lawlesse self will not stick to offer violence to al the fundamental and essential Laws of true Amitie and friendship For 1. q Arist Rhet. l. 2. c. 4. A friend is to be chosen for himself i. e. not for what good we are to receive from him but for what good we see and enjoy in him This a selfish man minds not he sees nothing desirable in his friend but what good he receives from him 2. Again true Amitie requires a likenes yea some kind of unitie and onenesse in principles humours dispositions wils and Affections But a selfish man can no longer conforme to his friend than his friend conformes to his Interest Irregular self is ful of crosse principles humors dispositions and Affections 3. The Philosopher as well as Reason tels us that al true Amitie is founded in virtue and thence that there is no sound friendship but among virtuous persons but now the selfish person knows no virtue but what promotes his great Idol self 4. Farther true friendship requires mutual communion communication and resignation of al things This a selfish person can no way approve of mine and Thine are his fundamental Laws he chuseth rather to enjoy his carnal interest than his friend he had much rather break a thousand times with his friend than once with carnal self 5. Again confidence and dependence is essential to true friendship but a selfish man has no confident but self he can trust his best friends no longer than he has trial of them Jelousie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suspicion and disbelief is the first Article of his Creed 6. True friendship requires that we do or suffer any thing for our friend But now a selfish person can do but little and suffer much lesse for his friend 7. Lastly Fidelitie and constance is fundamental and necessary to true Amitie But alas how mutable how inconstant how disloyal is a selfish man to his best friends Hence the Philosopher concludes q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Conviv fol. 184. That friendship is not to be taken up for riches or any politick Interest because such an Amitie has nothing stable in it but its Instabilitie or inconstance And thus much experience tels us that friendship taken up on base selfish Interests is most inconstant for the least mistakes prejudices crosse humors passions or dissatisfactions oft' turnes such friendship into secret if not open enmitie By al which it appears that they who enter into a league of friendship for base selfish ends wil soon come to an end of their friendship Whence also it is manifest that self-denial is essential and fundamental to al true friendship Neither is this self-abnegation fundamentally necessary to human friendship only but also to Divine Self-love Christ's greatest enemie in 7 regards Spiritual Amitie with Christ is no interessed Love that lawlesse Lord or rather Tyrant Self-love is the greatest enemie Christ has For 1. whatsoever pretensions of Amitie to Christ it may make yet the intrinsick and secret mesure of al its kindnes to Christ is self-interest so much the Philosopher assures us r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist that the self-lover acts wholly for himself either according to his proffit or pleasure 2. Again self-love fils the heart with a world of prejudices against Christ O! What unbelieving Jelousies what groundles surmises and suspicions what cruel severe and hard thoughts of Christ have self-seeking professors 3. Whence also comes that obstinacie contumacie stout-heartednes and inflexibilitie or stubbornes of wil which is in many pretenders of friendship to Christ but from proud self ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suidas for self is the proudest thing in the world it affects no lesse than a Deitie or equalitie with God and Christ and therefore its wil must be its law it is impatient of any yoke though never so sweet and easie 4. Self-love is the greatest enemie to Christ because it is ful of self-flatterie presumtion and carnal securitie Holy Self-despair is the best foundation for friendship with Christ because it makes sinners see and feel their absolute necessitie of Christ I must have Christ or I die saies the self-despairing soul t Coecus sui amor hominibu◠persuadet Nihil odiosum sibi inesse Calv. But now self-love fils the soul with groundles presumtions and carnal confidences if sin be but asleep or sick self persuades the sinner that sin is dead if there be but a few seeming good actions self-self-love presumes that there are also good Affections If there be some legal sorrow for sin this affection of self-self-love falsely concludes there is an hatred of sin c. 5. Lawlesse self is a great bar to friendship with Christ in that it is the cause of al sin and so of difformitie from and rebellion against Christ That self-self-love is the cause of al sin the poor blind u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Plato Leg. 5. f. 731. Philosopher can instruct us for saith he he that loves is blind about that he loves and so he imagines there is greater honor due to himself than truth Again al sin springs from an inordinate appetite of some lower good and the true cause why any do inordinately love any lower good is because they do inordinately love themselves Hence 6. self-Self-love puts another bar to Divine Amitie with Christ in that it is the cause of al manner of confusion and disorder in the soul Friendship with Christ is as we have before Chap. 2. shewn a very barmonious regular and orderly thing But now that lawlesse Tyrant self breeds al kind of confusion So Plato excellently philosophiseth shewing w 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Plato Repub. 9. fol. 575 577. how Tyrannick self-self-love lives as an absolute Monarch in al manner of confusion and irregularitie c. 7. Lastly lawlesse self is most obstructive of Divine Amitie with Christ in that it makes men double minded disloyal and unconstant in al the offices and duties of friendship towards Christ Self-seeking professors are indeed friends to none but their own humors lusts and Interests whatever fair pretences they make to Christ yet in truth al their friendship is concluded within their own sphere self is the centre and circumference where al the lines terminate 'T is true they wil perhaps in some lesser concernes where self is not invaded appear for Christ that so they may in concernes of greater consequence act for themselves they live and die within the circle of their own private Interests they really adore and worship no God but self Whence 't is impossible that such whose ends differ so vastly
By Endeavors to please Christ p. 422 5. By Longings after Christ p. 423 6. By laboring against sinking Despondences p. 423 7. By making Deprivements of Grace a Means of Grace p. 423 8. What is wanting in Sense make up by Faith p. 423 2. The Advantages of faith in suffering for Christ p. 424 Directions for a life of faith under the Crosse p. 425 1. Give not way to hard Thoughts of the Crosse p. 425 2. Keep under Lawlesse Self and Soft Nature p. 426 3. Faith must Espouse Christ's Crosse p. 427 4. Faith must Triumph over the Crosse p. 427 5. Faith must Improve every Crosse p. 428 TABLE OF SCRIPTURES EXPLICATED Chap. Ver. Page Genesis 8 21 179 1 Kings 4 29 149 2 Kings 10 16 29 31 62 63 1 Chronicles 4 9 10 164 Jeb 42 5 6 66 Psalmes 16 7 17 45 10 11 38 73 25 404 73 26 358 81 10 11 250 251 254 84 10 105 106 119 2 328 119 45 154 119 57 58 59 60. 22 119 80 324 119 133 33 119 139 375 119 158 375 Proverbs 3 7 8 157 4 23 156 Canticles 1 2 95 96 2 7 365 2 16 96 346 3 3 3â—8 4 8 37 38 4 12 37 5 6 370 5 9 10 334 6 3 96 Esaias 40 9 228 65 1 228 229 Hosea 3 1 2 3 41 3 5 374 4 16 106 10 11 106 107 11 12 152 Zephanie 1 5 47 Matthew 6 24 76 15 22 23 24 25 26 27. 416 417 418 19 11 75 76 Luke 10 40 41 31 32 14 31 32 21 18 13 66 John 1 11 12 86 1 14 183 184 185 1 16 186 187 3 13 225 3 26 30 70 71 5 22 23 181 6 27 175 6 67 396 10 4 92 14 6 93 14 16 17 103 15 14 5 20 15 369 Acts. 2 36 37 177 178 11 23 357 Romans 7 1 4 81 12 1 2 387 1 Corinthians 3 16 17 233 3 21 23 168 169 7 22 150 151 15 10 147 2 Corinthians 3 18 214 218 4 4 212 213 4 6 209 212 5 14 15 144 Ephesians 5 1 380 5 2 178 179 6 2 332 Philippians 2 5 381 Colossians 2 6 347 2 7 355 2 9 191 195 Hebrews 1 3 196 208 2 5 6 7 8 171 175 3 2 176 5 4 5 176 5 6 9 90 91 10 28 29 260 ERRATA PAge 32. line 4. for two read too p. 47. l. 31. for or r. and. p. 96. l. 23. r. Cant. 6 3. p 185. l 15. blot out generation and p. 192. marg l. 8. r plena p. 241. l. ult r. Worldly p. 287. l 3. before Sum insert the. p. 288. Contents l. 4. blot out a before Christ p. 288. l. â— r. Use 3. p. 311. l. 9. blot out the first Soul Memorandum Reader IF thou find in the following Discourse some Words above thy Capacitie to apprehend be pleased to remember that the following word or words do for the most part Interpret and Explain the same THEOPHILIE OR A Discourse of the Saints Amitie with God in Christ PART I. Of CHRISTOLOGIE Or Concerning the right constitution of the Object How Christ is to be Elected by his Friends BOOK I. Of the first Fundamental Law of Friendship with Christ Consisting in a prudent Election of a single complete Christ for Himself CHAP. I. Of Friendship in General with the Explication of Joh. 15.14 Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you SECT 1. Of Friendship in General EVery Good whether natural civil Of Friendship in general or Divine is by so much the better by how much the more Vniversal and Communicative it is and the more universal and communicative any Good is the more amicable or friendly it is There is a kind of natural Friendship amongst Inanimates Natural friendship The Elements of Nature are under such an essential combination of natural friendship as that to preserve the Interest of the whole they oft denie yea move contrary to their proper natural inclinations Amongst the four elements Fire seems the most noble and friendly because most publicly active and communicative of its good Yea the Sun a That the Sun is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a celestial fire is the persuasion of the greatest Philosophers both Pagan and Christian as wel moderne as ancient not to mention many Reverend Divines and learned men of this Age Of which else where which is supposed to be no other than a celestial fire is of al Inanimates most noble and friendly because most universally active and communicative of its heat and influence according to that description of the Psalmist Ps 19.5 6. where the Sun is brought in under the shadow of a friendly Bridegroom rejoycing in his amicable communications to the Creatures yea it s said there is nothing hid from the heat thereof i. e. not only the beautie of the Rose and virtues of al plants but also the perfections of Minerals the lustre of Gold and Silver the sparkling of the Diamond with other precious stones which lie hid in the bowels of the earth owe their original to the Sun 's friendly communications of heat and influence The proper seat of Human Friendship is civil Societie Human friendship either personal domestick or more politick and the more publick-spirited and communicative men are the more noble and friendly Narrow-spirited and selfish persons such as are wholly clung to their own Interests as they are the reproches of al societies so likewise the most unfit to make friends He that cannot denie himself wil soon denie his friend he who is wholly wedded to himself wil not stick to break with his best friends if they stand in the way of self-exaltation It is the generous noble self-denying spirit that makes the best friend in al societies and relations whether conjugal or more commun But of this more anon As for Divine Amitie or friendship Divine friendship God in Christ must necessarily be the best friend because the most b The Philosophers make this one character of their chiefest Good that it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most diffusive or communicative of it self Whence Plato saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that The chief Idea of Good is the productive cause of al Good universal diffusive and communicative Good God is such a Good as is commun to al and yet proper to each of his friends Christ has no Interest of his own Crosse to the main Interest of his friends Sin is therefore the worst evil and that which most obstructs the course of friendship because it most contracts and narrows the heart which in it self is an universal infinite appetite unto private selfish ends and Interests Whereas Grace so far as it is predominant makes men generous publick-spirited and communicative in al designs and actions and therefore it makes the best friends in al relations conditions and stations For Grace being the Ressemblance or Image of God the most universal best good and friend the more it prevails in any soul the