by his Father It pleased God to give him up to the cruelties of wicked men and the sorrows of death and that his Divine Nature though personally and inseparably united to his humanity should for a time suspend the effects of its beatifying union and leave him suffer as a man in soul and body the greatest pains without the least comforts They that saw our Crucified Saviour suffer so patiently as not to open his mouth to complain might have thought that he had no sense of pain therefore he crys out so bitterly My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why dost thou suffer me to be plung'd into this gulf of sorrow so that I have nothing but anguish within and without Why dost thou suffer me to be almost overwhelm'd by so great a distress and art so far from helping me and from the words of my complaint Psal 22. Lord we had deserved to sink and evermore to cry and groan in the bottomless pit and to rescue us Thou art pleas'd to descend very low and with strong crying and tears to say de profundis clamavi out of the depths have I cryed unto thee Psal 130. O Lord hear my voyce be pleased to hear us dearest Lord when we call upon thee and make thy voice sink into our hearts and there find a cheerful admission and a constant and sincere obedience §. 12. The height Now we have only the heigth of the Cross to look on that is the sublimity the greatness of the torments of Christs crucifixion that in this sense his Cross was very high appears already by what hath been said and yet we may consider further that he being conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost of a most pure Virgin was therefore of a most healthful constitution so that his senses being very quick and apprehensive were sensible of pain beyond other men's and so all the blows and wounds he receiv'd and his being nail'd and stretch'd three long hours on the Cross as upon the rack must needs have been a most exquisite torture Also the vigor of his nature being neither weakned nor spent by age or distempers he being full of strength and in the flower of his age was capable to taste the smart and sharpness of his pain to the very last moment of his life and so 't is written by S. Luke that he cryed with a loud voice when he gave up the ghost to shew that he was still very strong and that his death was bitter and violent to extremity There was likewise an invisible Cross which afflicted his soul and made it sorrowful even unto death his heart was like wax Psal 22. melted in the midst of his bowels and in the midst of so many and such intollerable pains his murtherers shook their heads made mouthes at him scoft at his sorrows by cruel and insulting mockeries and by their tongues and derisions aggravated those sufferings which their hands could hardly increase but that the Cross of Christ was higher in the greatness of it's pains than that of any Martyr of any man that ever suffered is evident enough only by considering who it was that was crucified on it for it was more that JESUS being perfect God as well as Man should shed one drop of blood than that all Men and Angels should for Millions of years bear the greatest torments Lord we were wonderfully made by thy power but we are yet more wonderfully redeem'd by thy mercy Lord what is man that thou shouldst thus be mindful of him or rather what is man that he is unmindful of thee §. 13. What an infinite love is exprest by the Cross Now we have seen the whole frame of the Cross writ all over in blood with characters of love expressions of the greatest kindness for a testimony that JESUS lov'd us unto death Not any sorrow or anguish in his soul not any gap or wound in his body but are as many mouthes to cry aloud in the ears of all men Behold what manner of love God had for his enemies his sinful and unworthy creatures to suffer such things to die in such a manner for to redeem them and make them happy Now let us if we can comprehend the breadth and the length O dilectio quam magnum est vinculum tuum quo ligari potuit Deus Idiot the heighth and the depth of the love of JESUS that love which bound him much harder than the cords of the Jews and nail'd him to his cross much faster than those Irons which pierc't his hands and feet for he that could with one word cast his enemies to the ground could easily have broke their bands and escap't from them but that his love did constrain him and make him desirous and willing thus to die What man would suffer one half of what Christ did for his dearest Benefactor And then how immense and wonderful was that charity which he exprest in suffering the ignominy and pains of the Cross for those that were his enemies and had highly injur'd him and from whom he could expect no reward but only to be lov'd again Let us therefore remember it throughout this whole book or rather throughout our whole life that we have been redeem'd from eternal despair and misery and from our vain and sinful conversation not by any corruptible thing as silver and gold but by the precious Blood of Christ shed with great pain and great ignominy §. 14. Of the eternal happiness Jesus merited for us by his death This love of JESUS is more already by far than ours can answer Could our hearts burn perpetually with those brightest flames of love which beatifie the Cherubims could they contain all the most passionate affections of all Saints both in heaven and earth yet we could not love JESUS so much as he deserves for having died to save us from eternal death and yet he did more he suffer'd death that we might have life that we might have eternal life Not only that we might not be intirely miserable but also that we might be perfectly happy Heaven is the purchase of the Blood of Christ as well as Redemption from hell God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in trespasses and sins hath quickned us together with Christ and hath rais'd us up Ephes 2.5 together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Let us meditate a while upon that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory reserv'd in heaven for us 2 Cor. 4.17 and in it consider the same dimensions as in the price wherewith it was bought the Cross of our Saviour and it will greatly press and increase our obligations to love him It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Paul calls it each word is a part of its dimension First the Breadth it comprehends all joys and pleasures all things that are good and desirable all that can yield satisfaction and create
so far mistook them as to suspect they might be in earnest when they profest to advance the power of Godliness Decay of Christian Piety Pag. 198. in the general hath occasion'd the distinction of Regular and Secular persons and perhaps the prophaneness and debauchery of too too many amongst us who are in the Church as the tares in the field among the wheat hath partly caus'd the unjust distribution our late Pharisees had made of our people into two parties the Godly and the Wicked though many are of opinion that discontent or melancholy makes men for the most part both Monks and Schismaticks or else spiritual pride or wordly interest However it be I will not make exprobrations against either of them with disâ—bliging truths but rather commend what is praise-worthy in them because I would have every Christian to be really devout and precise without entring the Cloister or the Conventicle I am indeed somewhat jealous that the ingaging men to be Religious and Vertuous by other considerations besides their Christian duty hath done some prejudice to Religion for now there be some that fansie self-denial and contempt of the world to belong only to Friers and others that to abstein from swearing and drunkenness is only the part of a Puritan Whereas Christianity binds those duties upon all its professors and every one by his Baptismal vow is bound to perform them though he doth not submit himself to the Rule of S. Francis or the dictates of the Assembly The heavenly mindedness of Carthusians the zeal and laborious preaching of Carmelites and Dominicans the penitent mortifications of Franciscans Non desiderabit tria illa vota ab hominibus reperta qui primum illud unicum votum quod in Baptismo non homini sed Christo nuncupavimus sinceriter pureque servaverit Eras Ench. and the sobriety of Non-Conformists are all contain'd in the Christian Rule and whosoever owns it needs not make new vows wear distinct habits or separate from the Church the better to discharge them but only seriously mind and study the obligations of his Religion and with diligence and sincerity live according to them My design therefore is not to Incloister particular persons Vellem universos Christianos ita vivevere ut qui nunc soli Religiosi vocantur parum Religiosi viderentur but to make a large Monastery of the whole Commonwealth at least to make every family a School of Vertue and Piety and every man an Ascetick and strict liver wishing heartily with Erasmus that they who hitherto have been call'd Precise and Religious by way of appropriation might justly lose that name by the more exemplary lives of all other Christians But though it be my wish it is not my hope in the least to see any such thing come to pass by means of this little volume Many much bigger and better have not been able to effect it they that will not hear Moses and the Prophets nay Christ the Lord himself will be far enough from being perswaded by the meanest of his servants and the truth is it may be the matter of our desires but must never be expected that a general Reformation of manners should follow that of Doctrine among us Nevertheless our indeavours ought not to be wanting though our sanctification be never consummated here below yet we are commanded 2 Cor. 7.1 and should strive to perfect holiness in the fear of God and so though we know that many will so live as that the end of them shall be destruction yet ought we like S. Paul to try all means that by any means we may save some If we convert none of the impenitent we may benefit some better Christians and if our instructing our brethren by word or writing profits none of them yet it may make us take the better heed that after we have preached to others we our selves be not cast-aways Now to this end my chiefest indeavour is to make a Christian devout to make him love God with a sincere love and then make it appear by a hearty obedience a devout love is not only the best part but also the best instrument of Religion as being an irreconcilable enemy to sin a friend or rather a nurse to all vertue No inticement could have drawn penitent Magdalene to her former impurities whilst she washed her dearest Saviours feet with her tears and 't is known by experience that when reading meditation the sight of a dying friend or any such thing hath softned a mans heart into a Religious temper temptations would be then so far from prevailing that they durst not so much as appear before him But when he returns to mind earthly things and hath his thoughts taken up with the concerns of this life he finds that his spiritual strength decays by the same proportions that his love becomes cold and he grows indevout again Love is the queen if not the fountain of passions the great mover and governor of actions and affections could we keep the fire of Divine Love always burning in our breasts it would be the most powerful and best instrument of Holy-living it would make self-denial and the yoke of Christ easie it would make acts of vertue and Religion pleasant and it would make us delight in pleasing God as much as we naturally do in pleasing our selves Therefore I have made it my aim and design in the following Pages to seize upon the affections to inkindle in the hearts of Christians the heavenly flames of the love of God To that end I have represented the more general benefits of God to mankind and especially that of Redemption by the greatest demonstration of love that ever was given the death of Jesus which if duly consider'd would be an irresistible motive to love him I have shewed the power the pleasure and the great advantages of love and I have us'd devout meditations and ejaculations as it were to transport our souls to heaven by love for to adore that God whom love brought down from thence to save us 'T is certain that most of them that perish perish for want of consideration and I have heard dying men wonder at themselves how they could be so stupid as not to mind those things which are of an infinite concern and should rather take up all our thoughts and our cares than be neglected or forgot one only moment Israel doth not understand Isa 1.3 my people doth not consider Love may be said to be that fire which God would have always to burn upon his altar that is Lev. 6.12 in our hearts which are his temple where the sacrifices of good works and the incense of devotion should always be offer'd to him now that sacred fire must have fewel to entertain it it must be nourish'd by reading good books and especially by frequent and pious meditations Wherefore I have indeavour'd as much as I could to feed those holy flames by representing things as they are and I would have every Christian seriously
to man for a Saviour Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And likewise man is enabled or rather forc't by love to do and suffer any thing as soon as Divine Love enters a mans heart of proud it makes him humble of lustful and intemperate it makes him chaste and sober of covetous it makes him charitable of dainty and effeminate it makes him a Martyr No ill habits so deeply rooted but love can pluck them up no cross so heavy but love can bear it Many waters cannot quench love saith Solomon neither can the floods drown it Cant. 8.7 No the strongest torrent of affliction is but like drops of water sprinkled upon the fire it increaseth the flames and ardency thereof 6. Love is as strong as death and death is very strong Magnum verbum fortis ut mors dilectio magnificentius exprimi non potuit fortitudo charitatis quis enim morti resistat ignibus undis ferro regibus resistitur venit una mors quis ei resistit nihil illa fortius propterea viribus ejus charitas comparatur Aug. in Psal 121. stronger than all visible creatures We daily fight against death and beat it back by rest and food and Physick we dispute the victory with it many years but it is ever victorious at last so is love it never gives over till it hath conquer'd all oppositions it 's courage increaseth together with difficulties the more obstacles in its way the greater it's indeavours the more fierce it's contentions Death severs a man from himself and disunites what seems inseparable love also takes the lovers soul from him and unites it to the beloved so that he lives more in what he loves than in himself love is as strong as death Death converts the greatest sinners or at least keeps them from sinning at all any longer so doth love it certainly mortifies all even the most reigning sins it will not suffer them to sin that love God We can tame wild beasts by industry overcome the barrenness of the earth by labour resist the angry elements by Art and Physick no evil but hath a remedy only death hath none there is no striving against it so that nothing can better express the irresistible power of love than to say that it is as strong as death §. 24. The fourth The last property of love I shall now mention is that love sweetens bitter things makes our labours pleasant and even our sufferings delightful How heavy is that yoke which is impos'd by an ungrateful hand the Souldier prest to the service can hardly bear his arms but he that is inrol'd by love thinks them light and bears them with pleasure the slave that works in the Mines counts his very life a burthen the niggard that works much harder likes well his drudgery because the love of riches is his task-master he that serves his master out of fear works faintly and with a heavy heart he that serves him out of love doth it diligently and yet with chearfulness the Christian pilgrim who is driven heaven-ward with fears and terrors goeth on with much reluctancy and a sorrowful heart he that is drawn with the cords of love follows with joyfulness minds not the ruggedness of his way and even rejoyceth in his weariness because it brings him nearer and nearer to his beloved he that could say the love of Christ constraineth us could say also we rejoyce in tribulations 'T was the love of JESUS made primitive Christians work hard and suffer much Nullomodo sunt oncrosi labores amantium sed etiam ipsi delectant sicut venantium piscantium interest ergo quid ametur nam in eo quod amatur aut non laboratur aut laber amatur Aug. with comfort and unspeakable joy and 't is for want of that sweet and Divine Love that Christians now find sorrow and great difficulty in that little they do or suffer for JESUS The labours of love are ever pleasant nothing is hard that love binds upon us §. 25. A farewel to all sinful desires These considerations are now to be reduc'd into practice And so I come to enter upon the work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 I come to profess my self a lover of JESUS and so to approve my self by deeds and actions The love of JESUS hath prevail'd I find my heart wounded I can no longer resist the charms of his love he hath woed me so long and with so much kindness that now my heart is his I will love him because he first loved me Now it repenteth me that ever I rejected his sute that ever I was unkind to him it grieveth me that ever I countenanc'd and prefer'd his rivals the lusts of sensuality covetousness and pride which I renounc'd in my Baptism I will now exclude them wholly this is the first mark JESUS shall receive of my sincere affection to him that I will entertain nor caress no longer those his enemies with whom I have had an unhappy intelligence for too long a time henceforth if they come near me I will indeavour to drive them away if they come after me I will flee if they persevere in their attempts they shall get nothing else but shame and denials Away from me then ye wicked spirits with all your tempting allurements worldly vanities deceitful riches sensual pleasures I remember that I renounc'd you all when first I gave up my name to JESUS when he first began to shew and seal his love to me and to ingage mine I then renounc'd the devil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of the world with all covetous desires of the same and the carnal desires of the flesh I now remember those my ingagements and grieve that I have not kept them and therefore will hate you the more that you made me forget my promises and break my holy vows Now will I be reveng'd of you ye proud and ambitious designs lustful thoughts greedy desires of wealth I will now kill and crucifie you Henceforth it shall be my honour that I am a Servant of JESUS it shall be my delight and pleasure that I am a lover of JESUS and it shall be my wealth that he is mine as I am his JESUS hath done and suffered much to declare his love and to deserve mine he hath come down from heaven and humbled himself to my mean and low condition he hath liv'd poor and despised he hath been afflicted and persecuted he hath died for me hereby I know that he loves me because he laid down his life for me but ye his unworthy rivals never gave me any assurance of your affection never did or suffered any thing for me JESUS expos'd himself to shame that I might become glorious indur'd pains that I might have pleasures he became poor that I might be enrich'd but covetousness offers me riches to pierce
to cut off my right hand and pluck out mine eye when they offend is more than barely to resolve Gal. 5.24 and promise high and proceed no further They that are Christs have not only verbally renounc'd but actually crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts therefore now I have given up my self to Christ and desire ever to be his I must pray heartily and watch diligently against my sins those especially that are most pleasing and customary to me I must like S. Paul not fight in the air against generals but keep under my body be temperate in all things and strive to the utmost for the incorruptible crown I must use that violence to my self such harsh applications acts of penance and mortification of my own or the Spiritual Physicians appointment as are fit and requisite to cure my distemper to expel or reform that evil inclination which is inconsistent with my love to JESUS To that end it will be very useful frequently to meditate on the passion of Christ the day of our change our appearance in judgement the joys of heaven the torments of hell and the amazing consideration of Eternity and I am perswaded and will therefore speak it plain though to the dislike of most Dissenters that it might be very profitable a great token of sincerity and an excellent instrument of reformation to acquaint the Spiritual Judge and Physician with the state of our Conscience and the distempers of our souls to submit to his impositions to follow his counsels and carefully observe his prescriptions This is recommended to us by Divine Authority the general practice of the Christian Church while of late and the greater Piety of our Ancestors and it would be a good remedy against our ignorance the wrong judgment we make of our selves our self-love and partiality our inward doubts and tormenting fears and our reigning lusts and most common temptations Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible He that would vanquish his antagonist was in the first place to vanquish himself to indure hardship and severity and use all indeavours for the victory for a fading garland so he that will overcome his lusts and master himself and obtain that heavenly crown which never fadeth must use great industry many arts all means that can conduce to that end §. 31. Love will work the best Reformation But the voluminous directions of Casuists and Confessionists cannot reach all cases and all particulars to shorten our labour therefore let the love of JESUS do the work of self-reformation and it will be soonest and best done Love will find out the most effectual means for the extermination of our sins and love will use them to the best purpose Certain it is that love in all instances sets men upon acts of self-denial as great Generals and many more who forego the peaceable injoyment of the comforts they might have at home and expose themselves to dangers because they love honour merchants who forsake their dearest relations and run through many great troubles and perils because they love gain and the more generous love of friendship which hath caus'd many to chuse great inconveniences and even death to serve their friends and therefore certain it is also that the love of JESUS will make his yoke and even his cross easie will make us deny our selves and forbear what displeaseth him though otherwise pleasing to us That men might be without excuse God hath made a short work upon the earth Vt nemo habet excusationem in die judicii voluit Dous sicut scriptum est consummare abbreviare verbum super terram Aug. de Doct. Christiana l. 1. c. 1. saith S. Aug. by contracting his immensity into the narrow dimensions of man he hath abbreviated his doctrine and our talk JESUS is the Center and the sum of our Faith and Religion and the love of JESUS is the content of our duty I have determined 1 Cor. 2.2 saith S. Paul not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified 1.24 and we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness but to them that are called Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God that is in whom God fully reveals his will and gives us full power to fulfil it Gal. 6.14 Therefore saith the Apostle God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of Jesus Christ my Lord by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world The knowledge and love of JESUS our Crucified Saviour is the most proper means to teach us our duty the greatest motive to undertake it and the best instrument to perform and effect it withal it will kill our lusts crucifie the members of the body of sin and carry us through the labours and difficulties of penitence and sincere amendment it will be the fulfilling of repentance as it is the fulfilling of the law For as love is strong to overcome strong enemies to kill the greatest sins so it is wise and quicksighted to see and to find out the least A loving friend will not only not slander and defame his friend not rob or strike or murther him but will forbear all words and actions which might bring him the least grief or inconvenience love will not only not give the greatest provocations but even not disoblige or displease in the least instances And so if my love to JESUS be sincere it will not only keep me from confederation with his profest and greatest enemies but even make me shun and forsake the most secret and contemptible of them I mean that the love of JESUS will never suffer me to entertain any the least sin and whenever I find that I have been unhappily seduc'd to commit any it will cause me to grieve and sadly to repent that I have displeased my dearest Saviour and wounded that tender love I have for him And indeed it is reported of many devout persons great lovers of JESUS that they would sorrow and weep for ordinary failings for small omissions more than others would for much greater sins Divine Love like a bright burning flame will feel a commotion and disturbance by the least drop of water that falls upon it a small irregularity will be more grievous to a pious lover of JESUS than great crimes to another Therefore he that could say the love of Christ constraineth us would also highly complain and groan under the sense of our unavoidable imperfections Rom. 7.24 O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Nothing will make us more sensible of our least and most common sins than the love of JESUS it will make us angry at and impatient of them and earnest and severe in reforming of them §. 32. The exercise of repentance So then as I profess my self a
therefore let us shew to God all the love we can and by words and actions protest that we seek to please him and our hearts will soon be possest with a blessed assurance that we are dear to him and he will never be cruel and severe to us 'T is reported of a Religious Person whose soul was griev'd and wounded with doubts and fears and with sadness that while he was one day weeping and praying thus O that I were sure that I shall persevere and never fall from God O that I were sure that God loves me and that I shall one day see his Blessed Face how zealous then should I be in mortifying my sins and doing my duty how cheerfully should I serve God every day and take pleasure in suffering for him how would I despise the world and its vanities and fix my thoughts and affections on things above while he was thus expressing the sorrows of his troubled mind he heard the whispers of a secret voice which told him fac quod faceres do now what thou wouldst do if thou hadst all those assurances With this he found himself so affected and refresh'd that he took it as an Oracle from heaven and in obeying of it found those comforts he begg'd Better counsel I cannot give thee fac quod faceres do what thou wouldst do if thy diffident timorousness and jealousies were confuted by a voice from heaven and they 'll soon be remov'd Let thy meek submission thy sincere obedience and thy free-will-offerings speak thy love to God and thou shalt soon find thy self perswaded that God loves thee dearly and that thy condition is safe and happy Other assurance we are not to expect in this world and this is not to be obtain'd any other way should thy comfort proceed from any thing else but thine humble and devout love to God it would be fansie and presumption whereas so it is well-grounded and never can deceive thee 1 Joh. 4.18 There is no fear in love saith Divine S. John but perfect love casteth out fear 't is never otherwise grace and nature joyn together to make the effect infallible that a Holy Love should ever produce a Holy Peace if we love indeed and in truth 1 Joh. 3.18 thereby not by new and secret revelations we shall know that we are of the truth and we shall assure our hearts before God Love may well work confidence and joy in our souls for it injoys already what it loves it is affectuosa unitas unitiva affectio love is inseparable from its object and the essence thereof consists in their union if not unity Though God be exalted infinitely above all things in a sphere of Glory and Majesty so high that the Cherubim with their many wings cannot flie up to it Qui mente integra Deum desiderat profecto jam habet quem amat Greg. Mag. yet thither love sores up and takes God and holds him as his own so that every one that loves God is already possest of him and may say with the spouse I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Cant. 6.3 We come to God by love S. Aug. amando non ambulando and to him we are united by love Magna res est amor quo anima per semetipsam fiducialiter accedit ad Deum c. amore Deo conjungimur therefore love is a great thing saith that devout father it brings the soul to God with an holy confidence and makes it trust in him and cleave stedfastly to him and rejoyce in him and represent her needs and beg his mercies with fiducial and devout affections And this is so great a truth that death it self with its pains and sorrows alters nothing of it even then in the last agonies the love of God sweetens the bitter cup and still entertains the soul with joy and holy comforts It was the saying of S. Aug. that because the soul hath willingly forsaken God whom she should love infinitely she is forc'd therefore with grief and regret to forsake her body which she loves too much and that because she voluntarily departed from God who is her life Aug. de Trin. lib. 4. cap. 13. she therefore departeth from the body whose life she is with sadness and much reluctancy Now we may say that when the soul returns to God by love Charitis libertatem donat timorem pellit c. S. Bern. she is freed from this punishment and restor'd to her first liberty she is willing to die for to be with Christ and then comes a cheerful cupio dissolvi O when shall I come and appear before God Happy is he who living doth so manifest his love to God by Piety and Charity that dying he can say with Theodosius Dilexi love hath been the business and delight of my life I have daily indeavour'd by my actions to declare the sincerity of my love to God he is doubtless of the number of those that love the appearing of JESUS and so he goes out to meet him with joy and confidence expecting a kind reception from him Nemo se amari diffidat qui jam amat libenter Dei amar nostrum quem praevenit subsequitur c. Bern. whom having not seen yet he lov'd and worship'd and serv'd affectionately Let no man that loves God doubt of God's Love to him for he that lov'd us when we were his enemies so as to die for us will much more love us when we have for him the hearty affections of friends It is the joy of heaven the joy of the Holy JESUS when his loving kindness hath won and conquer'd our hearts and 't is our greatest joy 't is for us a heaven upon earth when we love him faithfully and fervently with all our souls and affections The love of God brings that peace to the soul which the world can neither give nor take away Her sins which are many Luke 7.47 are forgiven because she loved much §. 19. The Close Now who can refuse to love God when 't is a thing so just and reasonable so pleasant and easie so safe and advantageous something of necessity we must love every mans heart is full of that passion and every mans life is govern'd by it 't is but considering who hath done most for us and whom we are most oblig'd to love who is most lovely and who will best reward our love and we shall soon understand that God is to be lov'd above all things infinitely without measure and if we love our selves as we should we shall easily remove our affections from the world to set them upon God and Eternity upon JESUS and his kingdom Love as we have seen will make it easie and delightful to do our duty Onus sine onere portat Kemp. will make the yoke of Christ light and enable us with strength and courage to bear our cross cheerfully like Christians it will lead us the shortest and the safest way to
necessity and comeliness and then admire the great goodness as well as wisdom of thy creator and say with the Psalmist that thou art fearfully and wonderfully made and that Gods works are very marvellous After this let thy thoughts dive deeper and consider thine interior senses the mysterious union of thy soul and body with the beauty of that Divine Light which we call Reason thy memory thy will thine understanding which are the faculties of thy precious soul which is not only created after Gods image but is capable and desirous to enjoy him and then see how numerous or rather innumerable are the benefits which God hath bestowed upon us in our creation and how just it is that we should love him that we should glorifie God in our Body and in our Spirits which are Gods §. 3. Of Preservation Preservation comes next to be consider'd a benefit of very large extent and well deserving that rank the Church hath plac'd it in in making it the subject of our daily thanksgiving for ever since man chang'd the impenetrable armour of Original Righteousness for a thin covering of fig-leaves he became so defensless and yet expos'd to so many sharp and wounding arrows that should not Divine Protection interpose for to shelter and secure him his temporal Life would be a true and a sad emblem of Eternal Death It appears by the history of Patient Job that if we were not senc'd about with the hedge of a gracious providence we should find that all creatures conspire our vexation and ruine God had no sooner broke the inclosure but afflictions crowded in so fast upon that happy man that in a short time there remained nothing of his former prosperity but a bare and bitter remembrance to make the sense of his present misery more grievous There is no man but is expos'd to all the greatest Calamities that ever befel any of the Sons of Adam and there is none able by his own power to defend himself against the least of them Fortune and accidents sport themselves if I may so speak with our goods and estates Moths fret our garments rust cankers our mettals thieves break through and steal our riches or else they make to themselves wings and fly away besides their own corruptibility which of its self would consume them they are expos'd to so many hazards that it would be as impertinent as 't is impossible to number all the ways and means whereby men are afflicted with losses and brought to poverty only from hence we may justly infer that the same God who gives us all things richly to enjoy must also secure them in our possession or else we certainly lose them If we look on our selves we shall like the Prophets man in Dothan 2 King 6. see armed enemies on all sides of us our spiritual enemies are many strong and full of rage and malice and yet we have no defence against them but that God makes his heavenly host to wait on our safety incamps his Angels about us to be an invisible guard against our invisible enemies and not only so but to secure us also from thousands of sudden and sad accidents which might every moment befal us All creatures are now furnish'd with a sting wherewith they may either vex or kill us The elements and all compounded bodies the air we breath and the food that nourisheth us all things in nature and all things in chance may become our tormentors or murthers Nay we carry swords and daggers in our own bosoms we have within our selves the matter of all sorts of distempers not one joynt in our bodies but may be afflicted with the gout Not one humour but may overflow its banks and quench the light of Reason or the fire of Life Not one pore or part within or without but may unexpectedly at all times and in all places become an entrance to death and sorrow In the midst of so many and great dangers it were impossible for us to stand one moment but that God defends us under his wings and keeps us safe under his feathers Psal 90. as the Psalmist speaks and so the blessings of immunity which most men slight or over-look are never enough to be acknowledg'd but deserve the thanks of a whole life We dwell under the defence of the most high and abide under the shadow of the Almighty therefore let us set our love upon him and glorifie him §. 4. The Positive blessings of this life The Positive blessings of this life are now to be exposed to view but of them I may use the words of the Psalmist Psal 40. If I would reckon and speak of them they are more in number than can be numbred Health and strength and comliness with industry and learning are shar'd among the sons of men in several proportions and so are good friends and a good name peace plenty and pleasures any one of those single might make a rich portion for one man for each within it self contains many rich and precious blessings yet oftentimes God unites all or most of these together to crown us with loving kindness and tender mercies Psal 103. The works of creation and the works of providence are not more numerous then the graces and gifts of God to mankind any one that should seriously meditate upon this subject would find it multiply and increase almost to immensity and would be forc'd to break off with the exclamation of David Lord Psal 8.4 what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou so regardest him God renews his mercies to us every day together with our lives every hour Psal 36. we eat of the fatness of his house drink of the river of his pleasure and receive the sweet emanations that flow continually from the fountain of life But of those benefits which God pours open hands upon us how many are there that pass unregarded we usually mind not what we receive but what we desire Let heaven rain Manna never so thick upon us if we wish for Quails Angels food shall be unsavory and perhaps distastful They that long for great and well covered tables find no relish in their daily bread they that pursue after wealth look not on the blessings of competency they that aspire to honour receive health food and raiments rather with a disdainful anger than with thankfulness all the favours we receive from God are unobserved or slighted as long as he doth not gratifie our humour with what we desire and even these gifts whereof we are most sensible are soon laid in oblivion an hours pain will cause many longer pleasures to be forgotten and if God sends evil upon us only for one day it makes us forget the many good things which we for many years received from him This I say because many mens unsatiableness and ingratitude makes them overlook most of Gods blessings despise what they have and value only what they have not and
but nothing less than his death would satisfie their inrag'd cruelty therefore he was condemn'd and then abus'd afresh by the Souldiers and loaded with his Cross and driven out of the City to Mount Golgotha Now here begins a new scene of sorrows the afflicted Son of Man having lost much blood and suffer'd so much having been rudely hal'd from the garden to Annas from Annas to Caiphas from Caiphas to Pilate from Pilate to Herod from Herod to Pilate again and from thence to the place of his Execution arives at last faint and weary and sorrowful upon Mount Calvary where he was to die here his hands and feet which are most sensible parts of our bodies by being most full of nerves were pierc't through and nail'd to the Cross and though there was a seat where to rest his body as the Ancients say yet the Cross being lift up and put into the hollowness of the ground to make it stand upright his wounded body was shaken and affected doubtless with a most acute pain he was expos'd naked not only to the view of the multitudes but also to the open air which was extreamly cold in that the Sun was hid he was burnt inwardly with an excessive heat and driness being tir'd with so many journies and being exhausted of spirits and moisture by his sorrows and bleeding insomuch that he complain'd of this above all his other sufferings crying out I thirst though we may say that he thirsted most our happiness that he thirsted to drink out the dregs of his bitter cup that we might drink the cup of Salvation he wanted the use of his hands and feet being tied to suffer so that he could not so much as stir nor wipe the blood off of his face he was afflicted with the fight of his afflicted Mother who from her wounded soul reflected sorrow upon her dying Son and Saviour His soul was also as it were crucified by the sense of the Divine Anger against the sins of men for the which he was making expiation insomuch that he complain'd that God had forsaken him And lastly his heart strings were broke and his body depriv'd of life by a most violent and bitter death And now who shall not love JESUS and who shall not admire that love which is exprest in the breath of the Cross Lord how exceeding broad was thy Cross which contain'd so many sorts of torments Nothing can be compar'd to it but thy charity which made thee take it up that we might be charg'd with nothing but a pleasant and easie yoke But Lord why do we most vile and sinful creatures refuse to bear thy light burthen when thou the Most Holy and Most Highest hast born for us so sad and intollerable a load §. 10. The length We are now to measure the length of the Cross that is the time of Christs bitter passion the tedious duration of his sufferings which began with his birth and continued to his last breath The Life of JESUS as we have seen was as it were a chain of miseries every link every connection had something grievous and afflictive he was a Man of sorrows therefore we no where read that ever he laught or injoy'd the pleasures and the mirth of this world but that he suffer'd much and wept several times is recorded by the Evangelists Every day was in some manner the day of his Crucifixion which to us is Good but to him was sad Friday for he knowing all along what he was to suffer and living in expectation of that cruel death we may say that his fears did in some manner prevent his murtherers and by anticipation acted upon him while he liv'd what they were to inflict on him to put him to death for he was pleas'd to assume together with our nature our innocent passions and infirmities I have a Baptism saith he to be Baptiz'd with and how am I constrain'd until it be accomplished that was the Baptism of his Blood which he wisht for because of his love to mankind his great desire of paying our ransoms but fear'd because of the repugnance of his humane nature to such bitter sufferings wherefore saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am constrained I am in a streight betwixt two I wish and yet I fear to die But that which we most properly call his passion because it exceeded the rest of his sufferings lasted eighteen hours without intermission nine of Thursday-night and nine of Friday from the time of his agony in the garden about nine at night while three in the afternoon of the day following all that time he suffered those several sorts of pains and tortures which are already mention'd all that time he drank full draughts of that bitter cup the fear whereof made him sweat drops of blood when he began to taste of it all that time he suffered what no tongue can express but what all hearts should indeavour to feel and to think of daily Lord JESU thou wert tormented a long time that we might not be tormented to all Eternity grant that we may indure any thing for thee and from thee our God who didst indure so much for men and from men §. 11. The depth We have seen that bar of the Cross on which the hands of our Blessed Saviour were nail'd the breadth and the length that is the variety and the tediousness of the pains and sufferings he underwent for us Now we are to consider the biggest piece which stood upright whereon his body rested and his feet were nail'd the depth and the height that is the pureness and the greatness of his sorrows If we read with attention the passion of Christ in the four Gospels we shall see our Blessed Redeemer as it were sunk into a deep abyss of misery by the heavy burthen of our sins he might well cry by his Prophet See whether there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow for the greatest of humane afflictions admit of many comforts whereas he was depriv'd of all as there was no part in us but was infected with sin there was none in him but was affected with pain he was all over stripes and sores an universal wound within and without he suffered in all his capacities in his outward and inward senses in all the parts and faculties of his soul and body the very circumstances of his passion did all concur to make it more bitter and afflictive He was depriv'd of that ordinary comfort of being assisted by his friends all the Disciples forsook him and fled as the Prophet had foretold of him I have trodden the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me Isa 63. I looked and there was none to help I wondred that there was none to uphold He was like a mild and deffence-less-lamb in the midst of ravenous wolves there were none about him but such as thirsted for his blood And no wonder if man forsook him when he was in some manner forsaken even