4.1 that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God 2. so ye would abound more and more for ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord JESUS for this is the will of God even your sanctification Again Eph. 4.20 but ye have not so learned Christ as to follow the greediness and lusts of the Gentiles If so be that ye have heard of him and have been taught by him 21 c. as the truth is in JESUS that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness And in another place this change being so absolutely necessary is absolutely suppos'd to be wrought in us If ye are risen with Christ seek those things which are above for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth Coloss 3.1 fornication uncleanness 2 c. inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry in the which ye walked sometime when ye lived in them but now you also put off these anger wrath malice blasphemy evil communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Here is nothing to countenance those frightful fanatical pangs of the New-birth which proceed from Enthusiasm or melancholy nothing to countenance the fansieful applications of a borrowed or rather snatcht-away righteousness but a real change in our affections and our manners is suppos'd and recommended And indeed Tit. 2.11 that grace of God which bringeth salvation teacheth none of these odd and new-devised doctrines but that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts 12. we should live in this present world soberly righteously and godly which is the sum of our duty that we should be temperate in our bodies and minds just and charitable in our intercourse with other men and pious in our minds devout in acts of Religion and worship to God The learning and practising this lesson is that and that alone whereby the offered salvation is obtained and laid hold on §. 40. A protestation of being faithful unto death So now I must remember that I am not mine own I am his that made and redeemed me I am his to whom I have given my self when I undertook manfully to fight under his banner against sin the world and the Devil to me is addrest that exhortation Thou O man of God flee these things strifes disputes and covetousness before mentioned and follow after righteousness godliness faith 1 Tim. 6.11 love patience meekness fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life 12. I am become a Souldier of JESUS to me S. Paul speaks as well as to Timothy 2 Tim. 2.3 Thou therefore indure hardness as a good Souldier of JESUS Christ no man that warreth intangles himself with the affairs of this life 4. that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a Souldier If I were in the Militia of any other Prince I might indure hardness enough before I could obtain his favour or indeed be taken notice of heat and cold hunger thirst and weariness sleepless nights and perpetual dangers all this and much more I might indure many years and not be look'd upon here my General prevented me with his kindness he first fought against mine enemies he first loved me and indured hardship for me and he notes every thing I suffer for him sets it down and assigns a reward to it Under another commander I might do brave actions behave my self valiantly and yet not be seen here my General hath always his eyes upon me he incourageth me and rejoyceth to see my fortitude he is always ready to help me and is most delighted when he sees me zealous and diligent I might fight long enough for an earthly King I could only get a poor subsistence or an empty fame but never so much as one province of his dominions here fighting for my heavenly King I shall get unvaluable treasures immortal glory and a kingdom which shall have no end Rev. 3.21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne I will therefore never again fight against the captain of my salvation and I will never forsake him I will often renew my vows often swear allegiance to him upon that sacred blood which he shed for me and which he gives me to comfort and strengthen my heart I will daily think on those things that may increase my zeal and diligence and help me to resist temptations and I will suffer any thing use all means possible to perform these resolutions and approve my self unto death a lover of JESUS 1 Cor. 16.22 if any man loves not the Lord JESUS let him be Anathema Maranatha FINIS Claustrum Animae THE Reformed Monastery OR THE LOVE OF JESUS The Second Part. LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in S. Paul's Church-yard the West-End MDCLXXVI THE PREFACF I Have now gone through half of my task the negative part of our Baptismal vow and of our duty and would to God Reader I had inkindled of the Divine fire of love in thy heart and mine but enough to secure us from works of darkness enough to quench and to consume our lusts I would not doubt but it would soon burn light inflame our hearts with a pious zeal and make us so fruitful in good works that men seeing them would glorifie our father which is in heaven I may with a just cause complain of my self concerning this Tractate of mine Eras Epist ad Volus as one did of Erasmus about his Enchiridion that there is more piety in the book than in the Author and withal I may complain of the book also that it is many ways defective that is it supposeth many things previous to the use of it Christian instruction a pious mind pious books pious meditations all helps and instruments of Religion and Holy Living and even in what it handles it falls far short of what the subject would bear The caution therefore I would give is this that no person would think that no other appetites are to be restrain'd no other sins forsaken than those I mention or that no other means to master our lusts and secure our duty are to be us'd than those I specified or that no other acts and expressions of love are to be given than those I have prescrib'd No my design is not to run over particulars and indeed 't is next to impossible for love hath a general intendance over all actions That little I have said concerning Self-Reformations abstaining from that which is
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
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
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
lover a sincere and affectionate lover of JESUS I am oblig'd to undo as much as may be what I have done amiss and to do it no more this I heartily resolve to do and I hope shall really perform by the grace and assistance of my God I will make amends and restitution to those I have damnified in body goods or name and even ask their pardon for the injury and then bewail my sins grieve that I have offended my Divine and loving Master and beg his forgiveness and indeavour by tears and contrition to wash away the stains and spots wherewith my soul is polluted and displeaseth the holy eyes of the Holy JESUS and so to love JESUS binds upon me the whole exercise of repentance which now must be work of my life I am henceforth to live the life of a penitent and I resolve so to do therefore every night I must call my ways to remembrance and besides those greater provocations wherewith I offended my God in the days of my folly and inconsideration I am to take notice of those sins of daily incursion I am fallen into the last day and weep over them all and beg for pardon this especially upon those times appointed for mortification and acts of punitive repentance Fridays Lent and others wherein devout Christians make it their more solemn indeavours to soften their hearts and make them melt into penitent tears which must be done by Religious exercises and such meditations as this My dearest JESUS I owe to thy kindest goodness my being and all the blessings I injoy and I know that thou didst come down from heaven to die on the Cross that I might not die in hell to eternity to suffer a bitter and shameful death that I might live in eternal joys I hope to see thy glorious face one day I hope to receive a crown from thy gracious hands I hope to dwell in thy blissful society for ever dearest Saviour if thou wer 't upon earth I would go all the world over to prostrate my self before thee to kiss the ground thy Holy Feet should tread to serve thee to shew my love and gratitude to thee Dearest Lord I would now joyfully give up my life for thee I would lose the last drop of my blood to please and glorifie thee I would die rather than deny thee Why then unhappy wretch that I am do I offend thee to whom I owe my self and all that I have Why do I wound thee by my transgressions who was wounded for them by thy love Why do I grieve thee who purchasest eternal joys for me Why do I displease thee with whom I hope to live and dwell and from whom I expect mercy and Salvation Why do I sin against thee whom I love with all my soul and why do not I live to thee for whom I would die §. 33. Is made easie by love Such considerations and soliloquies as these will produce not only lachrymas doloris tears of grief but also lachrymas amoris tears of love and true contrition and moreover all the severities of repentance which are so unacceptable and so repugnant to nature will be made pleasant those things that would be ungrateful as acts of justice and obedience will become delightful as acts of love in amore nihil amari in love all things are sweet that are done or suffer'd for the sake of the beloved I take pleasure in infirmities 2 Cor. 12.10 in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake saith S. Paul that great lover of JESUS not that those things are of their own nature pleasant whether inflicted by our selves or others 't was for Christs sake that he like't them He that by penitent sorrow and acts of self-denial shews his love to JESUS is certainly delighted with the most afflictive of those voluntary sufferings as they are expressions of his love Accordingly 'tis said of the Religious of S. Bernard that their watchings and fastings and all the severities of their rule were become so pleasant to them by the devoutness of their affections that they were afraid of having their paradise in this world and consulted S. Bernard about it And certainly nothing but love could carry the primitive solitaries and Coenobites through that uneasiness and hardship they willingly undertook and indur'd many years and rejoyc'd in and would not have exchang'd for all the pleasures in the world §. 34. And proceeds not from melancholy Perhaps it will be said that such things are the effect of melancholy or a forward and misguided zeal not of true piety But let it be consider'd that natural love it self hath done and still doth wonderful things The love of friendship the love of lust the love of riches and ambition have set men upon difficult attempts have made them despise great dangers have carried them through many labours and sufferings and perhaps as great as the most mortified Christian ever undertook for JESUS and Eternity This hath been and is still the effect of Natural Love and sure Divine Love whose object is so infinitely more excellent may do at least as much Besides things temporal seem great at a distance but near at hand they appear as they are indeed mean and contemptible whereas contrariwise things eternal as they seem small and despicable afar off so near at hand they appear great and immense they overwhelm the mind Hence it is that dying men who are on the brink of eternity are amaz'd at the thoughts and near prospect of it and express great regret for their past inconsideration and promise great things for the future if they might live longer looking upon the world as an empty nothing not to be regarded where eternity appears and hence it is also that they who approach things eternal and view them by meditation and contemplation are of the same mind have the same apprehensions of them and act accordingly doing those things which dying men repent they have not doue for indeed it is no illusion or deceit but a great and real truth that the world and all it 's concerns are nothing compar'd to eternity and that we can never be too careful to obtain eternal joys and avoid eternal sorrows How much the Blessed Apostles and primitive Christians were acted by this consideration 2 Cor. 4.16 c. S. Paul gives us to understand saying that whilst they look't not on things visible and transitory but on things invisible and eternal then their afflictions were light and but for a moment though they lasted many years and were so great that the very thoughts of them can make us tremble yet they were light momentary whilst they look'd on eternity and they fainted not though their outward man decay'd daily by their great mortifications and their laborious zeal to serve God and all this whilst we look not on the things that are seen but on the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the
that is begotten and so reciprocally The Divine Essence is but one it admits of no division therefore whatever honour is paid to one of the Divine Persons is paid to all Three the Ever-glorious Trinity is honour'd by it But then it must be consider'd that JESUS the second Person of that Blessed and Glorious Trinity is not only God but also Man and so Mediator betwixt God and Man so that by and through him we pray we worship we love God As God manifested his love to men in JESUS so in JESUS men offer the returns of their love to God 1 Joh. 4.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him and in this is manifested our love towards God that we receive and love and obey that Son With this God is in no wise offended but rather infinitely well pleas'd Joh. 14.21 he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father saith our Blessed Saviour 23. If a man love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him and again If any man serve me Joh. 12.26 him will my Father honour Though we owe our redemption to the infinite mercies of God Father Son and Holy Ghost yet in a more especial manner we are ingaged to the Son who personally came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation JESUS is the Author and finisher of our faith he is the Founder of our Holy Religion it is he hath reveal'd those doctrines we are to believe it is he hath given us those laws and precepts whereby we are to live it is he from whom we are called Christians it is he who for us despised the shame and indured the Cross who hath shed his blood and given his life a ransom for ours it is he who by contracting a near relation with us becoming our brother hath caus'd us to be adopted Sons of God and heirs with him of an eternal kingdom it is he who is our Lord and Master and will be our judge and our rewarder if we be faithful to him Rom. 14.9 For this end Christ died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living saith S. Paul Act. 2.36 God hath made that same JESUS whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ him God hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour saith S. Peter 5.31 All power is given him in heaven and earth and he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet Hence the frequent and urgent exhortations to follow and imitate to serve and obey JESUS Hence those Pathetick words of S. Paul The love of Christ 2 Cor. 5.14 Phil. 3.7 constraineth us and again what things were gain to me I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things loss 8. for the excellency of JESUS CHRIST my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ 'T is JESUS hath won our hearts to God 't is he hath reconcil'd us from a state of enmity to a state of love besides that God was justly angry for our rebellions his glories are so bright so amazing his Divine Majesty so high that to love a being so infinitely above us might have been thought prophaneness or presumption Non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur Majestas amor respect not friendship is the affection of subjects to Princes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an ordinary Epithete for the heathen Gods and even the Israelites were amaz'd and terrified at the sight of a heavenly messenger crying we shall die for we have seen God 't is the great humiliation of JESUS hath procur'd and establish'd an everlasting reconciliation and friendship betwixt God and man Rom. 5.8 God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and now there is neither death Rom. 8.39 nor life nor angels nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD Therefore for a reward for the great sufferings and abasement of JESUS God hath given him a supreme authority over all the world Men and Angels being made subject unto him because he made himself of no reputation Phil. 2.7 8 c. and took on him the form of a servant and humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of JESUS every thing should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father Our love and obedience to JESUS derogates nothing from but belongs to God 'T is to the glory of God the Father God hath highly exalted JESUS for his humiliation and for the same cause we ought also to love and exalt him as much as possibly we can because it was for us not only bow at his name but ever kneel and kiss the ground when he only sees us no fear of exceeding here no fear of superstition we can never shew him too much love or respect Psal 72. All Kings shall fall down before him all nations shall do him service prayer shall be made unto him and daily shall he be praised Amen §. 17. 'T is most pleasant and safe to love God A third consideration will be that it is most pleasant and safe to love God Love may cause trouble but it certainly is the spring or parent of all joy and satisfaction He that hath an affection to nothing hath pleasure in nothing could the imaginary apathy of the Stoicks really seize upon any man if he could never be miserable he would also be uncapable of all happiness 'T is true indeed that the love of worldly things in that they are vain and perishing is it self vanity and vexation qui multum amat plus dolet is certainly true of all but the Divine Love He that hath many friends hath many sorrows he that loves many things hath many things to fear for 'T is only God that hath those infinite excellencies which can fully replenish our minds and desires 'T is only God that admits of no variableness neither shadow of turning and therefore 't is the love of God alone that can make us eternally and intirely happy It is reported of a person of great sanctity that an evil spirit confest to him that were it possible for one who loves God to come into hell yet it were impossible he should be miserable but that it would rather sink hell it self and make it disappear or else make it a paradise for him Though the relation