Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	see_v	soul_n	14,522	5	5.2397	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76021	Unum necessarium, or, The great duty of a Christian in two tracts : the one, Of adhering to God, written in Latin, by Albertus Magnus, the other, Of the love of God, written in high- Dutch, by John Staupitz / both faithfully translated into English for the promoting of primitive Christianity.; De adhaerendo Deo. English. 1692	Albertus, Magnus, Saint, 1193?-1280.; Johannes von Kastl, 15th cent.; Staupitz, Johann von, d. 1524.	1692 (1692)	Wing A878; ESTC R42992	62,774	183

present by his Essence to every thing than the thing is to it self in whom all things are united and one and in whom they live Eternally Moreover if by reason of weakness or the unaccustomedness of the understanding any Man be oblig'd to Meditate or Contemplate on the Creatures then this will be the best truest and most profitable way for him that at least in all his Contemplations and Meditations whether about Creatures or about the Creator a delight in the Creator himself the One and Trine God may arise within him and that the fire of Divine Love and true Life may thence flame forth in himself and in others for the obtaining of Eternal Felicity And here we may observe the difference there is between the Contemplation of Christian Believers and that of the Heathen Philosophers For the Contemplation of Philosophers is intended only for the perfection of the Contemplator and therefore stops in the understanding and so their end herein is intellectual Knowledge But the Contemplation of the Saints is taken up for the Love of him whom they Contemplation that is of God and therefore does not stop in the Intellect by Knowledge as in its ultimate end but passeth over into the affection by Love Wherefore the Saints in their Contemplation have the Love of God for their principal end and aim because it is far more happy and blissful to know and have the Lord Jesus Christ Spiritually by Grace than without Grace corporally or essentially Now whilst the Soul thus abstracts it self from all things and reflects into it self the eye of Contemplation by this means becomes dilated and raiseth it self like a Ladder whereby she mounts to the Vision of God From which beholding the Soul becomes inflamed with the Love of Coelestial and Divine Good Things and looks upon all Temporal Things aloof as if they were just nothing Thus when we draw near to God by the way of Negation or removing from him all that is perceptible or comprehensible in the first place we remove from him all that is Bodily Sensible or Imaginable in the next place all that is Intelligible and last of of all Essence or Being it self as it is in the Creatures And by this means according to St. Dionysius the Areopagite we approach nearest to the Divine Essence and are in the ready way of being joyn'd to him And this is that thick Darkness where God is said to dwell and into which Moses entred and through it passed to his inaccessible Light But that which is Spiritual is not first but that which is Animal so that according to the natural and accustomed Order we are to proceed from the Labour of Action to the Rest of Contemplation and from the Moral Virtues to the Theorical and Speculative Wherefore O my Soul why is it that thou busiest thy self to no purpose about the many vain and superfluous Things where thou art always in want And dost not rather fix thy intention and love upon that one Best and Soveraign Good which contains all Good and is only sufficient for thee and all things Unhappy therefore yea thrice unhappy he who knows and has all things besides him but is ignorant of him For if a Man should be supposed to know all things and him yet would not he be the happier for knowing them but him only whence St. John tells us and this is Life Eternal Joh. 17. v. 3. Psalm 17. v. 15. that they know thee the only true God c. And the Psalmist I shall be satisfied at the appearance of thy Glory or according to the Hebrew when thy image or likeness shall awake in me CHAP. X. Actual and sensible Devotion is not so much to be minded as the adhering or cleaving to God with our Will MOreover do not thou greatly mind actual Devotion sensible sweetness or tears but let it suffice thee to be by good will in thy intellect with thy Mind united to God within thy self forasmuch as nothing is more pleasing to God than a Mind strip'd naked of Phantasms Images and Reptesentations of the Creatures It becomes therefore a truly devout Person to estrange himself from all Creatures that he may nakedly and readily intend apply himself and adhere to God alone within himself Wherefore deny thy self that thou mayest nakedly follow Christ thy Lord God who being truly Poor Obedient and Chast humbled himself and suffered for us and at whose Life and Death many were greatly offended as appears from the History of the Gospel Now as we see that a Soul separate from its Body doth not mind or take notice what becomes of it whether it be burnt hang'd abus'd or cursed and is not at all troubled or grieved for any injuries that are done to it but has all its thoughts fixed upon that ever present Now of Eternity and the one thing necessary our Saviour speaks of in the Gospel In like manner be thou also affected to thy Body being so unconcern'd with it as if thou wast already out of the Body and have always thy mind fixed upon the Eternity of thy Soul in God and earnestly direct and level thy thoughts at that one thing of which Christ saith But one thing is needful Luke 10.42 and by this means thou wilt feel great incomes and assistance of Grace for the attainment of true nakedness of Mind and simplification of Heart And most certain it is that this one thing is most present to thee and will appear so as soon as thou shalt have rid thy self from thy imaginary representations and all other intanglements and thou wilt soon find that now thou canst with a naked free and ready mind apply thy self and cleave to God and by this means thou shalt be invincible in all things whatsoever that can happen to thee as the Holy Martyrs Fathers and all the Elect and Blessed Saints were who despising and rejecting all things only minded the Eternal Salvation of their Souls in God And being thus armed within and united to God by Good will they contemned all the Things of the World even as if their Souls already had been actually separated from their Bodies Consider well therefore how great the power is of a good will united to God yea how by this impression of God upon the Soul as by its virtual and spiritual Division from the Flesh the Soul comes to look upon the outward Man as if it were none of hers and is so unconcern'd at any thing that is done to it or its flesh as if they were done to another Body for he that cleaves to God becomes one Spirit with him Wherefore do thou never dare in the least to think or imagine any thing in the presence of the Lord thy God within thee which thou wouldest blush that Men should hear or see and that because of the highest Reverence which is due to the Divine Majesty in his Holy Temple It is also fit and just that all thy thoughts be erect and lifted up to

God alone and that the view of thy mind be fixed only upon him as if there were nothing at all besides him and by close cleaving unto him enjoy him which is a perfect Commencement and Anticipation of the Life to come CHAP. XI How we are to resist Temptations and to bear Tribulations THere is no man that draws near to God with a true and sincere heart but he must expect to be tried and proved with manifold Vexations and Temptations Now in all Temptations let this Precept be observed that whenever thou feelest any Temptation that thou do not assent to it and that thou bear it patiently and quietly with humility and long sufferance And if they chance to be Blasphemous and Filthy injections take it for a certain Rule that there is no way better to overcome and be rid of them than by despising them though they be never so horrible filthy and abominable Blasphemies let this be thy sole Armour of defence against them to neglect them account them as nothing and despise them without imputing them to thy self or charging thy Conscience therewith For thou wilt find this a sure way to put the Enemy to flight if thou treat him and his endeavours with the greatest scorn and contempt for he is exceeding proud and cannot endure to be despis'd and set at naught Wherefore be sure to make use of this as the best and surest Remedy against all such injections never to mind them or be troubled at them any more than thou art at flies that buzz about thee against thy will Wherefore let the Servant of Jesus Christ take care not to run so easily from the face of the Lord by being angry murmuring and vexing himself about the buzzing of a silly Flie I mean for some slight temptation suspicion sorrow detraction weakness or any other kind of Adversity seeing that by the hand only of Good Will lift up to God all these and a thousand such like may be easily chased away and put to flight For by Good Will Man has God to be his Possessor and Owner the Holy Angels his Guardians and Protectors and moreover by the same all Temptations are as easily overcome as a Flie is chased away with the least motion of the hand Peace therefore is the portion of the Men of Good Will neither can any more worthy present be offer'd to God than it for as much as Good Will in the Soul is the Original of all good and the Mother of all Virtues which whosoever begins to be possessed of he hath without care whatsoever is necessary to a good and happy Life wherefore if thou willest that which is good without being able to perform it God will make up from himself what is wanting in thee and accept the will for the deed for an Eternal Law has unchangeably decreed and establisht that all Merit should consist and be in the Will alone as reward or punishment are in happiness or misery For Love is a strong will to serve God a sweet affection of pleasing God and a most burning desire of enjoying God Besides it is no Sin to be tempted but rather an occasion of exercising ones Virtues for certain it is that we get much good by Temptation seeing that our whole Life here upon Earth is but one long continual Temptation CHAP. XII Concerning the Love of God and how Powerful it is NOW all these things above said and whatsoever else are necessary to Salvation cannot be better more readily or more savingly performed than by Love by which the want o● every thing that is needful to Salvation is easily supplyed and in it is the abundance of all Good neither does it wan the presence of the most desirable Object For it is Love alone whereby we are turn'd to God transformed into God cleave to God and are united to him to that degree as to become on Spirit with him and so are made happy here in Grace and hereafter in Glory from him in him and by him For Love never rests but in the beloved Object when it is possest of the same with a full and peaceable possession Love or Charity is the way of God to Men and of Men to God and God cannot take up his Habitation any where but where Charity is If therefore we have Charity we have God himself for God is Love or Charity There is nothing more sharp than Love nothing more subtle nothing more penetrating than Love neither doth it ever rest until naturally it have penetrated the whole virtue profundity and totality of the amiable Object it will make it self one with its Beloved and if possible would be the the very same thing with it and therefore it will not endure any thing to mediate or come between it and the Object it loves which is God but doth with vehemence press into him and never rests 'till it have past by all things and be come not only to him but into him For Love is an uniting and transforming Power or Vertue transforming the Lover into the Beloved and the Beloved into the Lover so that one Lover is in the other after the most intimate and presential manner imaginable Which is very apparent in the first place with reference to the apprehensive Powers viz. That the Beloved is in the Lover forasmuch as the Beloved Object is always sweetly and delightfully recall'd and represented in the apprehension of the Lover and on the other hand forasmuch as the Lover endeavours not superficially but intrinsically to discern and penetrate t● the most inward parts of the beloved Object And as to the appetitive and desiring Powers the Beloved in said to be in the Lover forasmuch as it is most intimately rooted by an affectionate conplacency and pleasurable delectation it him And on-the other hand the Love is in the Beloved by means of a tota● desire and conformity as having but on willing and nilling one grief and joy as if they were indeed one and the same and no longer two distinct Beings Cam. 8.6 For Love which 〈◊〉 strong as Death draws th● Lover out of himself and placeth him in the Beloved Object making him to close most intimately therewith For the Soul is more truly where it loves than where it moves because it is in the Beloved according to its own proper nature reason and will but in that which it moves or animates it is only so far forth as it is a form which is also competible to Beasts There is therefore nothing else that can draw us from all outward sensibles and make us retire within our selves and from thence into the heart and inmost Divinity of Jesus Christ but the Love of Christ and the longing desire after the sweetness of Christ to feel perceive and to taste the intimate presence of Christ's Divinity It is nothing else but the immense power of Love which mounts a Man from the dregs of Earth to the High Glory of Heaven Neither is it possible for any one

discharge of which Exercise and Duty will follow the Remission of our Sins the Expulsion of all Bitterness the Collation of Sweetness Peace and Security the infusion of Grace and Mercy the attraction and strengthening of Familiarity and Communion with most abundant Comfort in him and firm cleaving to and Union with him But by no means let us be willing to imitate those who through Hypocrisie and Pharisaical Pride make it their Endeavour to be seen esteemed and to appear more Holy outwardly before Men than the Truth within them bears Witness to which certainly is a piece of the extremest Folly and Madness to desire and long for Humane Praise and Glory from ones self or others when at the same time we are inwardly full of the flickering inticements of this World and most Grievous Sins And certainly whoever pursues these most vain things the foresaid Goods will fly from him and he will fall into Shame and Disgrace Wherefore have thou always before thine Eyes thy manifold Sins and Wickedness and thy unfitness for any thing that is good and endeavour to know thy self that thou mayst be Humbled and don't refuse or be afraid to be esteemed and judged by all as the vilest unworthiest and most abject Off-scouring and Filth because of thy most Grievous Sins and great Iniquities Do thou therefore repute thy self amongst others as Dross amongst Gold as Tares amongst Wheat as Chaff amongst Corn as a Wolf amongst Sheep and as Satan amongst the Sons of God Neither do thou in the least desire to be Reverenc'd or Honour'd by Men or to be preferr'd before others but rather with thy whole Heart and Spirit flee from the Infections of this Pestilence the Poyson of Praise and the Pride of Boasting and Ostentation Psal 10.3 lest the Wicked should be Praised in the desire of his Heart and so be in the condition of those of whom the Prophet faith Isa 3.12 O my People they which call thee Blessed cause thee to erre and overturn the way of thy going or fall under that Curse of our Lord Luke 6.26 Wo unto you when all Men shall speak well of you for so did their Fathere to the false Prophets CHAP. XV. How we may arrive to a thorough Contempt of our selves and how profitable it is THE more therefore that any Man knows his own Vileness the more distinct and clear is his View and Vision of the Divine Majesty and the more Base and Vile any one appears in his own Eyes for God Truth and Righteousness the more Precious he is in the Eyes of God Wherefore let us strive with the total Effort of our desire to think our selves the Vilest of all Men and to believe our selves unworthy of every Benefit to displease our selves and to please God alone and be willing to be judged by others the most inconsiderable and despicable Creatures Moreover let us endeavour not to be moved by any Tribulations Afflictions or Injuries nor to be troubled at those that bring them upon us nor to entertain any hard Thoughts or to have indignation against them but with an even and quiet Mind to believe that we do well deserve all Injuries slightings Chastisements and Derelictions For certainly he who truly Mourns and is Penitent according to God he abhorrs to be Honour'd or Belov'd by others and doth not avoid or refuse to be hated trod upon and wholly despis'd to the end that he may be truly humbled and with a Pure Heart may sincerely cleave to his Lord God alone Now that we may arrive to this Loving of the Lord God alone and the abhorring of our selves above all Things and to the desire of being despis'd by othess there is not required any outward Labour or Health and Strength of Body but rather solitude of Body Labour of the Heart and Quiet of the Mind That by Labour of the Heart and Affection of the inmost Mind we may raise our selves above and Bodily withdraw our selves from these inferious Things and so rise and mount up to those that are Heavenly and Divine For doing this we change our selves into God And this is then chiefly done when we choose from our Hearts without any judging Condemning or Contemning of our Neighbour to be esteem'd by all Men as meer Off-scouring Filth and Reproach yea to be abhorred and trampled upon by all as the Dirt in the Streets rather than to abound in Pleasures and Deliciousness or to be Honoured and lifted up by Men or to enjoy any Corporal and Transitory Health or Advantages Or to desire any other Comfort in this present Mortality and Bodily Life but to Mourn Lament and bewail our Offences Faults and Sins without ceasing perfectly to set at naught and Annihilate our selves and to be esteemed daily still Viler and Viler by others and appear daily more unworthy in our own Eyes That we may please God alone Love him only and cleave unto him Being unwilling to be Affected with any thing save only with our Lord Jesus Christ himself not being sollicitous or careful about any thing but him under whose Rule and Providence all things subsist and have their Course Know then that henceforward it is not for thee to delight thy self but to Mourn with thy whole Heart wherefore if so be thou dost not yet Mourn Mourn for that and if thou dost Mourn Mourn and Lament the more for that thou hast brought upon thy self this Cause of Grief and Sorrow because of thy most Griveous Offences and Infinite Sins For as a Malefactor who receives his Sentence of Death is not concern'd about the ranging of the Sherifs Men or the Multitude of the Spectators So he who in good earnest Mourns and Bewails his Sins cannot give his Mind to Pleasures or Anger or vain Glory or Indignation or any other such like And as the Habitations of Citizens and Condemned Malefactors are very different So the State Manner and Behaviour of those that Mourn for being Guilty of Sins that bind them over and make them obnoxious to Punishment ought to be very different from those who are Innocent and not Guilty For otherwise there would be no difference made between a Guilty and Innocent Person by reward and Punishment and Unrighteousness would be more free than Innocence So that all things are to be denied all things are to be Contemned all things are to be cast away and avoided That with full Faith a good and sure Foundation may be laid for the Sorrow of Repentance Wherefore he that Loves Jesus Christ in Truth and that Mourns after him and that bears him in his Heart and in his Body that truly Mourns for his Sins and Offences and earnestly seeks for the Kingdom to come and in true Faith possesseth the Memory of the Torments of Hell and of Eternal Judgement and imprinteth firmly and perfectly in his Heart the Sense and Fear of his own Death such a one will no farther strive care or be sollicitous about any other thing whatsoever

forasmuch as the Divine Love only flows forth from Gods Love revealed and manifested to us it for the most part happens that we through our vehement earnestness and eager pursuit after her hinder our selves from rellishing her sweet Savour which is best tasted and perceived when we are silent and introverted inwardly attentive when we open our Mouths wide expecting the Heavenly Food when we work or do neither Good nor Evil but attend the Working of the Holy Spirit in us In this manner David hearkned and heard what God spake in him and found him speaking Peace He opened his Mouth wide and experienc'd Gods filling it was silent and waited upon God and received Incomes of Spiritual Strength and Power Ps 81.10.40 1.85.8 For the Almighty VVord saith the Wise King Wisd 18.14,15 comes not down from Heaven his Royal Throne nor suffers it self to be heard till all things be in quiet silence Therefore for a conclusion we must above all things labour and endeavour for inward stillness and quiet of Heart and to reduce our Prayer and other outward and inward Exercises to Rest and Silence that so we may hear the Heavenly Voice of God and perceive his Lovely Motions Thus thou seest how our good God permits himself to be overtaken by a soft or slow Pace but never by Running according as we read concerning the Divine Spouse Cant. 3.1 2 4. c. 5.2 3 4 5 6. That when she laid down on her Bed and had no Desire after her Bridegroom but rather seem'd to be troubled at his knocking yet was this the time he took to manifest himself in all Friendliness and Love towards her whereas when she run out after him he hid himself from her CHAP. XVI The Degrees of the Love of God alter and are changed according to the Will and Pleasure of the Self-subsisting Love of God suitable to what he knows to be most Vseful for Men. TO Love God above all things therefore is a perpetual and constant Work always abiding the same as long as the Lover abides in the true Love yet not always at the same Height or in the same Degree but sometimes more and at other times less as God knows it will be most Profitable for the Beloved Person To Paul was given a thorn in the Flesh an Angel of Satan to buffet him that he might not be exalted above measure by reason of the abundance of Revelations vouchsafed unto him 2 Cor. 12.7 And on the other hand we see the Robber was assured of his part in Paradice Luk. 23.43 and had a clear sight given him that he was a Child of Salvation and was favoured with a joyful Death to the end the Depth of his Sins might not overwhelm him At one time Paul crys out Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death And not long after we hear him boasting and triumphing at such a rate as this Rom. 8.38 39. for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall separate me from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This was a perfect Word proceeding from a perfect Love Thus it happens still at this day that God often in an Hours time yea in a much shorter space doth oft alter the degrees of Love in us Sometimes we find in our selves a perfect Elevation of our Minds with entire and total Resignation and soon after experience a frightful and doubting Heart and an unstable Will and many are in the same Moment comforted again with Courageousness and a Peaceful and Joyful Mind which makes them break forth with David Psalm 56.11 In God have I put my Trust and will not fear what all mine Enemies can do unto me So that a Man here upon Earth is not constant in any degree of Love but sometimes is raised above himself and at other times sinks beneath himself according as the Holy Ghost draws him Furthermore we are to know to our great comfort that the Love which God hath towards us doth neither admit of encrease dminution and frequently is doing the very best for us when we least of all perceive or understand it We are also for the most part most sweet and well pleasing to him when he seems most bitter and harsh to us here upon Earth where his Divine Love more exerts its self for our Cross and Suffering than for our Joy Heaven is the place where God continually manifests and displays himself in everlasting Joys not this Earth Forasmuch therefore as there is more advantage and profit in Poverty than in Riches more in Suffering than in enjoyment more in Weeping than in Laughter more in Hunger than in Fulness or Satiety more in Communion of Suffering than in Communion of Comfort it follows that the Love of God manifests it self in a fuller and greater Measure to us when it procures us Lamentation Sorrow Suffering and Misery than when it affords us pleasure and delight Wherefore altho' the feeling of that Quiet and Peace of Heart which is the Portion of those who are Perfect in Love be Sweeter and more delightful yet is the Love of Proficients wherein God manifests himself for the strengthning and encouraging of the Mind more profitable for Advantage and Amendment Besides it is far more profitable and advantagious to our Salvation that we despair of our own Strength than that we confide in our own Works or Labour For which Cause also God of his great Grace doth frequently take away from us the Love of Proficients and drives us into the acknowledgment of our disability and into fearfulness and despairing of our selves to the end that as little helpless Children we might run to him as our only Redeemer accounting our selves nothing and magnifying his Grace and Power alone When it is thus with us then from the great Love of God to us ward the Love of Beginners proves of greatest use and advantage to us and we do experience by so much the more comfort from God by how much the more we despair of our own Power when we do not trust in our Strength nor take upon us to strive and struggle but only six our eye upon the Lifted up Brazen Serpent Numb 21.6 7 8 9. as in the Figure it is very comfortably held forth to us When the Children of Israel were dangerously and mortally hurt by the poysonful stinging of the Fiery Serpents God was pleased to give them a Brazen Serpent lifted up on a Pole even a Serpent without Poyson made of Brass and whosoever did only behold the same became immediately healed and all the Serpents fled away from him without any more ado Which Figure imports thus much that there is no more ready or compendious way for a Man to get rid of the Poyson of Diabolical Temptation than when he despairs of any opposition himself can make

against it and lays hold only on the Cross trusting and confiding in that Fight and Combat which Christ without Sin maintained against the Sins of Men to exterminate the Diabolical Poyson and in the same came off a Conqueror and Triumphator And thus a Christian boasteth of Christ alone and wholly despairs of himself Wherefore it is much better for a Man to commit and resign himself wholly to God neither Praying for this or the other feeling or Perception of the Divine Love but that he would order all things according to his own good Pleasure When a Man comes to this State he enjoys a constant and abiding Peace Tranquility and Comfort founded and bottom'd on the unchangeable Love God bears towards us however Dead Barren or Heavy he may find himself But they who will not rest save in the highest degrees of Love and who do not believe God is with them when they do not feel in themselves the Sweetness of his Love or at least some Comfort and Solace of his Spirit such as these have no constant abiding Comfort here on Earth and are in Eminent Danger both as to Soul and Body CHAP. XVII That all things work together for the best of the Elect that Love God above all things ALL things and all Creatures are theirs who belong to Christ and are his as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 3. v. 21 22 23. The Apostles the World Life Death Things present and things to come and in a Word all Creatures are his who himself is Christs and Christ without a mean is Gods but we are his through or by means of Christ Wherefore also the Elect Soul is by means of Christ so highly Seated in Gods favour that all Evil yea even Sin it self is not only not hurtful to her but also conducive and helpful in the hand of God her great Physitian to her best State Verily a true Christian is a Miraculous Creature of God with whom God from Eternity in the highest Love has so intimately United himself that tho' as David saith Psalm 89.30 31 32. He forsake the Divine Law and walks not in his Judgments tho he prophane his Statutes and keep not his Commandments yet God for all this will only Chastise him Temporally and not utterly take away his loving kindness from him So that even his Sin must be helpful to his Salvation For what God hath once determined can never fail and whatsoever he hath once promised must Eternally be true whom God Loves and Favours to him Heaven and Hell Good and Evil must be helpful and advantagious And for this Reason it is that we are very Subject to be mistaken and confounded in our Reflecting on the Works of other Men and find that we are not able in the least to pass a true Judgment or Estimate what is profitable or hurtful to Men forasmuch as we find by experience that God sometimes out of great and faithful Love permits him that stands to fall Who doubts but that Peters Fall wherein he denied his Lord and Master was far more profitable and advantagious for him than to have continued and persevered in his self-confidence Our Lord and God has a greater Interest and is more concerned to manifest and display the glory of his own Grace Mercy than to maintain and keep up our Righteousness His least suffering was sufficient to reconcile his Heavenly Father to us to Justifie to Preserve or make us persevere in Righteousness and to save us but this would not have been sufficient to hold forth the unmeasurableness of his Love or the unalterableness of his Mercy Therefore Paul tells us Rom. 11.32 That God hath concluded all under Vnbelief and Sin that he might have Mercy upon all If you take away Sin who then will be able clearly to understand that Gods Mercy is above and beyond all his Works or that Christ the true Son of God is the Redeemer of the World Which no other way could ever have been manifested but by his unalterable Love and by that great instance of his Transcendent Pity and Compassion to us miserable Sinners And therefore Gregory calls Sin Salutary or Saving because by Divine Mercy it procur'd us so glorious a Saviour and Redeemer Forasmuch then as God makes use of Sin for the advancement of his Divine Glory it is no longer any Wonder that he makes the same also advantagious to the Sinner But we must not argue from hence that if it be so we may therefore freely sin without Danger by no means but on the contrary it is our Duty at all times with our utmost Diligence and Strength to avoid Sin as we would the most deadly Poyson for to cover Sin with Mercy is the Work of God alone 'T is he only that can bring good out of Evil we can fall of our selves but not rise again of our selves this rests only in the gracious Mercifulness of God which excells and surmounts all his Works CHAP. XVIII Whosoever hath not received the Love of God above all things to him all the Temporal good things that God affords him are of no Profit ST Paul faith 1 Cor 13 1 2 3. Tho' I speak with the Tongues of Men and Angels and have not Love or Charity I am become like a sounding-Brass or a loud Cymbol and tho' I have the gift of Prophesie and understand all Mysteries and Knowledge and tho I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains and have no Charity I am nothing Moreover tho I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor and though I give my Body to be burned if I have not Charity it profiteth me nothing Yea what 's still more where Love is not it is to a persons Hurt and Loss that ever he was born a Man and the highest Gifts or Benefits God hath bestowed upon him serve only for his greater condemnation It had been better for Judas he had neverbeen born as Christ himself testifies that he had never been an Apostle that he had never wrought any Miracles that he had never seen or heard of Jesus and had never eaten the sweet Food with him at the same Table than that after such great and inestimable Favours received he should become his Betrayer sell him and deliver him to the Jews From whence we may take notice that our dearest Lord God bestows that often in his Wrath which he denies in his Love From whence also follows that the higher the Gifts are we receive from God the more they engage us to the Duty of loving God above all things tho they cannot make us to Love God so and therefore are rather Poyson than Gifts if Love does not come along with them neither can they certainly assure us of that love wherewith God loves us to Salvation Moreover these Gifts when they ate separate from Love are the cause of a puft up Spirit Pround Mind censorious judging arrogant Actions imprudent Behaviour and converse Self conceitedness Hypocrisie and Contempt of the simple

so freely and powerfully move his own work or how the unutterable Loveliness of God tasted and felt in the Heart doth sublime and raise the spirit in Love kindle it melt it and make it triumphantly joyful and full of Jubilee Doth the stone draw the Iron to it self without so much as touching it how much more then must needs the most Rocky and obdurate Soul being touched by the Eternal Heavenly Load-stone be raised above it self and run into the Embraces of this powerful Drawer Cantic 1.4 Or how can it be otherwise but that after this taste of the transcendent Divine sweetness all Tribulation and Suffering strewed over with this Sugar must needs become sweet and desirable Or how is it possible but that all the sweetness of the Love opposite to this must needs lose its taste and become bitter and loathsome seeing the common Proverb assures us that to him who rellisheth the Spirit the Flesh becomes ditasteful and abominable For the Nature and Property of the Holy Spirit of the self-subsisting Love of God is this that wheresoever she touches she draws and allures where she is rellished she drives and impells where she is felt and experienced she rejoyceth the Heart Moreover she has this particular property that she robs the Flesh of all its sweetness like as the Meridian Brightness of the Sun discountenances and darkens the Light of a Candle Furthermore she hath this also amongst the rest of her properties that she sweetens all pains and griefs comforts and relieves Misery and Wretchedness restores all weakness makes all labour light and easie turns weeping into laughter and sorrow into joy He that experimentally finds her rejoyceth to suffer for the sake of Christ from his very heart desires to bear the Cross with Christ and longs for the Fire of Temptation that therein his Love being tried and refined from all Dross may purely and nakedly cleave to God and therefore cries out with the divine Spouse Ca●tic 4.16 Arise thou North wind and come on East wind and blow upon my Garden that my Spices may flow forth and give their sweet Odour As if she had said come Temptation from all quarters try and prove my Vertues and Graces that they may become pure Gold and be for the amendment and edification of all that hear or see them O Holy and Divine Spirit O sweetest Guest and Inmate of the Soul O only life of men He that wants thee tho' alive is dead before God and he that hath got thee can never die with God tho the world be carrying him forth to his grave Thou art far more necessary to the Soul then the Soul is to the Body VVhere thou art not there the outward dying is the beginning of Eternal death but where thou art of Eternal Life In thee most Holy God we are in thee we live in thee we are savingly moved and all this from the Merits and Satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ the only Redeemer of the VVorld in whom the unutterable Mercy of God and over great Love to us is so clearly manifested and through thee O Holy Ghost so plainly imaged and deeply imprinted in our hearts that we cannot look for any thing else but Love from the Father Son and Spirit so that it is now no more possible for us to take any strange God for our God than it is possible for any one else to shew us such transcendent and unmeasurable Mercy Kindness and Love as thou hast made us partakers of It is possible and it hath oft happened that even wicked Men have wrought Miracles being the same thing Scripture testifies that Antichrist shall do at his coming It is also possible that the Enemies of God may in outward Gifts of Charity shew themselves more liberal to the Eyes of Men than ever thou hast done and to make others by their Liberality rich and powerful and such like But all these are but uncertain signs and marks of the right true Love To suffer and die for the sake of the Beloved Object is a true and infallible sign of Love when this is done for Gods sake it shews a Love sufficient to Salvation and if it be done for the sake of a Friend then is it an expression of the highest degree of Human Love as the Lord Jesus witnesseth No Man can have greater Love than this that he lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.31 But if this Love rise get higher even to that degree as to make a Man willing to suffer and die for his Enemy then is it a certain Mark of the Love of God alone VVe read of Antichrist that he shall do his utmost endeavour and diligence as far as is possible to appear outwardly like to Christ in Miracles VVorks of VVonder and in all his other Actions and Behaviour yea to be more kind and beneficent in outward Gifts and Liberality He will as was before hinted by his Liberality make those Rich and Powerful that believe in him and will also draw to his Party such as are Rich and Powerful with rigour and severity and by fear compel them for he will horribly afflict torment and put to Death such as will not believe in him But it will never please him to suffer for his Enemies and to die for those that hate him by which it appears that his Love is so far from being the true Divine Love that it is not so much as the highest Degree of Human Love VVherefore also all these pompous Shews of his Love will be of no force with the Elect of God to deceive them Out of Christ alone as was said before the highest Love of God breaks forth and manifests it self out of him alone flow forth the waters of Grace Neither is there any other Name under Heaven wherein and whereby we may be saved save only the sweetest Name Jesu to whom alone therefore we point and direct all who are desirous to be inflamed with the Love of God for in him alone we meet with all that ought and must be sought for in order to our Salvation CHAP. XXI The most sure and certain Sign of all as well of our entire Love to God as of his Gracious Love to us is a perfect Emptiness or Exinanition of Spirit THE Heart of a true Lover of God above all things becomes emptied and void of all Creatures as soon as it is arrived to the degree of Perfect Love so that nothing but God free and alone remains in his Spirit all Creatures whatsoever soever being driven thence But as long as this is not yet come to pass in our Souls all the most specious and apparent Signs of Gods dwelling in us are uncertain doubtful and to be suspected But when a Man is become void and empty of himself and all Creatures when he forgets his own Life his Merits his Salvation and seeks nothing but the Honour of God when he is only well pleased with his Will whether it be to