and insignificant attempts its strength is great as well as its endeavours Great are the dangers and difficulties which love overcomes it carries the ambitious lover of honour through many uneasie perils to a fading laurel it carries the covetous lover of riches through the most hard and slavish labours to his false and treacherous Mammon and it carries likewise the devour lover of JESUS through obedience and self humiliation through briars and uneasie crosses through patience and the greatest sufferings to the enjoyment of his Beloved Love can do all things since it brought God down from heaven to become man and die for man Who shall separate us from the love of Christ saith S. Paul Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us 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 be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Rom. 8.35 c. As much as to say that the power of love is irresistible that it answers all objections and conquers all obstacles notwithstanding mans high provocations and great unworthiness love made the Almighty lay down the arms of his just vengeance and open his bosom of mercy to give his dear and only Son to man for a Saviour God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 And likewise man is enabled or rather forced 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 fits him to be 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 Soloman 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 the ardency thereof Love is as strong as death verse 6. and death is very strong Magnum verbum fortis ut mors dilectio magnificentius exprimi non potuit fortitudo charitatis quis enim morti resistat ignibus undis ferre regibus resistitur venit una mors quis et 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 conquered all oppositions its courage increaseth together with its difficulties the more obstacles in its way the greater its endeavours the more fierce its 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 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 imposed by an ungrateful hand The Souldier prest to the service can hardly bear his arms but he that is inrolled 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 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 Nullo modo sunt onerosi labores amantium sed etiam ipsi delectant sicut venantium piscantium interest ergo quid ametur nam in eo quod amatur aut non laboratur aut labor 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 CHAP. XXII A farewel to all sinful desires THis great power of love is now to be drawn into act and these considerations to be reduced into practice Now therefore enter more seriously than ever this Cloister of love ingage thy self further into the society of the true lovers of JESUS enter now actually and affectionately upon the work and labour of love Remember now thy Baptismal Vows remember them I say now that the love of Christ constrains binds thee to fulfil them Things are best preserved by that which first gave them being And now thy making good that stipulation thy part of that gracious Covenant whereby thou art related to Christ that according to the design of that Sign of the Cross which was drawn upon thee as the badge of thy profession thou wouldest not be ashamed to profess the Faith of Christ crucified and manfully to fight under his banner against sin the world and the devil and to continue his faithful Souldier and Servant unto thy lives end So now thou shouldest accomplish this promise by faith working by love Now then retire a while and enter thy Closet sequester thy thoughts from the world and confer with thy Soul about thy duty and thy great interest Call to mind the obligations the love of JESUS hath laid upon thee and how thou hast promised to requite it by renouncing all things that are contrary to thy love and
duty to him By renouncing the devil and all his works the vain pomps and vanities of the world and the covetous desires of the same as also the sinful lusts of thy flesh Now thou art to approve thy self a true lover and servant of JESUS by departing from these by repentance and amendment Leave them therefore and forsake them these enemies of thy Saviour of thy love and of thy happiness Let thy Soul full of the love of JESUS thus meditate and resolve and express thy devout affections to him that died for thee The love of JESUS hath prevailed 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 countenanced and preferred his rivals the lusts of sensuality covetousness and pride which I renounced 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 endeavour 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 renounced 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 renounced 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 revenged 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 lived 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 exposed himself to shame that I might become glorious endured pains that I might have pleasure he became poor that I might be enriched but covetousness offers me riches to pierce me through with many sorrows lust enticeth me to wound me when I have consented to it and pride promiseth me honours to cumber me and expose me to envy JESUS is infinitely lovely he is all perfection and goodness and he desires to be loved not for any advantage of his own but to make his lovers intirely and eternally happy but you painted idols of abused mortals are in your selves ugly and even loathsome though at a great distance ye may seem somewhat fair yet near at hand ye are nothing but deformity ye always prove vain and vexatious ye seek to enter mens hearts only to tyrannize and torment them and betray them to eternal sorrows JESUS is a true and constant lover he ever owns his friends he never fails them that love him he helps them in their distresses he comforts them in their sorrows and when they die he stands by them but ye temporal deceitful pleasures are false and inconstant ye forsake your friends in their greatest need ye flatter them for a few Summer days while the Sun shines kindly upon them but in the rigors of Winter when an unprosperous storm ariseth you are gone you leave them to die comfortless they carry nothing of you when they go from hence but the bitter remembrance of your treacherousness JESUS is a most grateful lover he ever returns love for love he is ever found of them that seek him to them that desire him he ever gives himself every true lover of JESUS is sure to enjoy him but you worldly enjoyments are generally most unkind to your most passionate lovers ye flee from them that run after you ye grieve and vex your greatest admirers ye are ever uncertain false and ungrateful I will therefore never love you again nay I resolve to hate and persecute you to mortifie and watch against my lusts my pride and covetous desires But JESUS shall reign in my heart him will I love him will I serve him will I endeavour to please in all things I will be wholly his therefore I renounce all friendship with you that are his enemies there can be no agreement betwixt the Holy JESUS and this sinful world If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him 1 John 2.15 Lord we beseech thee grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world the flesh and the devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen CHAP. XXIII That the Love of JESVS and the love of Sin can never consist together FUrther consider O my Soul that JESUS my Blessed Master is the Prince of purity he will never abide in the same heart with intemperance and with fleshly lusts He is meek and lowly pride cannot follow him By works of mercy and charity he calls us to the possession of heavenly treasures therefore greedy worldly mindedness can never entertain nor prefer his promise Lust Pride Covetousness can never abide with the love of Christ they can never be reconciled JESUS and they are mortal enemies Mortal I may call them because they were his murtherers or rather because he died to put them to death We were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ JESUS shed his blood to redeem us as well from the practice and commission as from the punishment and destruction of sin Or rather of both together for they are not to be put asunder Moral and natural evil ever go hand in hand as happiness is inseparable from Goodness and vertue Blessed are the the pure in heart for without holiness no man shall see God S. Paul therefore saying that Christ died unto sin that is to take away sin infers from thence that we being baptized into Christs death our old man
many mens unsatiableness and ingratitude makes them overlook most of Gods blessings despise what they have and value only what they have not and so murmur and complain when they should give thanks But whoever shall diligently observe all the gracious distributions of that God who always giveth to all men being debtor to none all the supplies and comforts we receive from him will heartily say with the Psalmist O love the Lord all ye his Saints and O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doth for the children of men that they would exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the seat of the elders Psal 31.107 CHAP. IV. What returns we should make for temporal Blessings THose Benefits we have hitherto mentioned we receive as we are men and that from the free goodness of our gracious God we are his people and the sheep of his pasture we are and we have nothing that is good but it comes from him he made us he preserves us and he provides for us therefore O go your way into his gates with thansgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his name It was Jacob's vow that if God would keep him and give him food and raiment whilst he sojourned in Haran then the Lord should be his God Now what was his vow should be our resolution and practice God feeds and cloaths and defends us therefore ought he to be our God That is we ought to own him for such by faithful service and hearty obedience Therefore 1. Let us pay our bounteous Benefactor the just and easie tribute of Praise and Thansgiving for our creation preservation and all the blessings of this life 2. Let us set apart daily some of that time which he gives us for acts of Worship and Religion 3. Let us honour the Lord with our substance either in secret charities or publick offerings paying him an acknowledgment that he is our Land-lord and lastly let us apply our selves to observe his Laws to do what pleaseth him because we are not our own we owe our selves to him we are his he gave us our being These are acts of natural Religion and them we owe to God as he is our Creator and Benefactor CHAP. V. Of the mercies of Redemption and first a consideration of the infinite miseries we were redeemed from NOw are to be considered the benefits we receive from God as we are sinners the mercies of our Redemption how God our Creator is become JESUS our Saviour how after having given us many good things he at last gave himself for us And that we may the better understand the greatness of this unspeakable and Divine Mercy let our meditation descend a while into that bottomless gulf of perdition wherein we were plunged by nature in this plain manner Represent to thy self a man in Job's condition having added to his ulcers and poverty all the saddest calamities that ever afflicted any man upon earth especially the remorses and horrors of a guilty and tormented conscience crying out of impatience and despair with Cain my pain is greater than I can bear This unhappy creature having for many years born the uneasie weight of his miseries linger'd out a tedious and disconsolate life is at last struck to the heart with a mortal wound and dies and so passeth from temporal to eternal sorrows he falls into a lake of fire and brimstone a place where there is nothing but woe and darkness weeping and gnashing of teeth where there is no company but of tormented and tormentors nothing to be seen but what is frightful no voices to be heard but curses shrieks and lamentations where there is the absence of all good and the presence of all evil where men desire to die and death flees away from them This is the fulness of his misery that it shall have no end that he must dwell with everlasting burnings their fire is not quenched and their worm dies not If weeping but one tear every day he might expect to be releast after he had wept as much as would make an ocean it would be some comfort but at the end of so many millions of years as would suffice to weep a Sea his torments will be as far from ending as the first day they began and if after this manner in process of time he should shed tears enough to make many more seas yet still it might be truly said this is but the beginning of sorrows still there is an intolerable Eternity to come for after as many thousands of millions of years as tongue can express or heart comprehend Eternity is nothing lessened still it is what it was before an abyss of duration that can have no end this excludes all comfort this fills his soul with a woful despair this is another hell in the midst of hell which inrageth him and perpetually tortures his mind to think that there will be no end of his sufferings that he can conceive no hope of being delivered but that he must bear to all Eternity what every moment is intolerable O dreadful eternity who can seriously think of thee and not tremble Now if thou dost ask for what reason this wretched creature is thus tormented know that it is for sin because his first parents broke the Law of their Creation and he followed their footsteps they involved him first in the guilt of a wicked rebellion against God and afterwards by his own acts he made himself yet more criminal by nature he was a child of wrath and then he became so yet more by his own transgressions he was sold under sin and then he became a willing slave to it his own thoughts words and works being evil and that continually he forsook God and dishonoured him and profest enmity against him and opposed his depraved will to Gods Holy Will and so became obnoxious to the infinite justice of God which therefore justly inflicts this deserved punishment upon him And now if knowing the reason thou dost inquire after the person who by being so unholy is become so extremely unhappy I could say with the Prophet thou art the man this is thy patrimony as thou art a child of Adam this thou art by nature but the divine mercy hath rescued thee from this misery and therefore I must say thou wert the man this must have been thy case had not the Holy JESUS workt thy Redemption by means as wonderful as was his pity and charity But before I proceed I must also propound one question Two men are equally indebted and equally unable to pay the one is patiently forborn and at last freely acquitted the other is cast into the dungeon and a while after compassionately releast and set at liberty I demand is not he that never entred the prison as much bound to love his generous creditor as he that was delivered out of it yes doubtless or rather
more because his debt is also forgiven and yet he is freed from that trouble and sorrow which his fellow debtor underwent Why then thy gracious Redeemer by saving thee from the horrors and torments of Hell hath laid on thee at least as great obligations to love him as if he had brought thee out of it after thou hadst been long detained therein Therefore I desire thou wouldst bring thy thoughts back again to that unpleasant abode and consider thy self as if thou were shut up in that dismal dungeon and then express what thou wouldst give to be releast what thou wouldst do for him that should bring thee out of that horrible and bottomless pit I know that they that are afflicted with sharp pains and grievous sicknesses would purchase health with all the wealth they have and I believe no reward would hire a man to hold his hand in the fire but for one hours time therefore I doubt not but that if it were in a mans power he would give this and a thousand more worlds to be brought out of an ever burning furnace and I am perswaded that if thou wilt suffer thy fancy to be active in framing the black and dreadful scene of hellish horrors about thee thou wilt then heartily say Were I owner of the whole universe I would joyfully give it to come out of these ever-burning flames which torment my body and to be freed from this never dying worm the remorses of my guilty conscience which torture my soul but because I have nothing freely would I give my self to him that should bring me out of this woful place O I would follow him any where do any thing that he should command me imbrace his feet kiss the ground they tread on and give him all the demonstrations of a sincere and passionate Love Well thy petition is granted before 't was presented the Love and Mercy of JESUS hath prevented thy request and distress Now make good thy vows and resolutions Love and Serve JESUS thy Redeemer and give thy self up wholly to him I know that many may be good Christians without being snatcht out of the fire without these terrors and affrightments but I am shewing what our condition had been without a Saviour what is that gulf of perdition whence JESUS hath saved us if we will be saved by him and I mention these affrighting truths to perswade men to be motives of an active and a vehement Love For 't is too observable that few men seriously consider what Redemption means what it was we were redeemed from else they could not be so indevout so disobedient so unthankful to their Saviour S. Paul supposing as I do here that without Christ we were already dead and perisht makes it the reason of that Constraining Love which enabled him and other Primitive Christians to suffer so patiently and act so zealously for JESUS The love of Christ saith he constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead as if he should say we were certainly dead irrecoverably lost had not Christ died to purchase life and salvation for us therefore we cannot chuse but love him and it is no wonder if that love be strong and if we are governed and acted by it That thou maist therefore love affectionately and live religiously consider seriously that death the misery of that condition wherein thou wert and ever must have been hadst thou not a JESUS a merciful Saviour and Redeemer I might add that we were delivered from the power and slavery as well as from the condemnation of sin but this is included in the other it being impossible to be saved from the wrath to come without bringing forth fruits meet for repentance and as it is mercy and grace on Gods part so on ours it is matter of duty and earnest indeavour and must be the result and effect of our love first that we offend not and then that we serve diligently and faithfully him that redeemed us from our vain conversation and gave himself for us that we being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness CHAP. VI. How graciously and wonderfully we were redeemed A Further ingagement to love and obey will be to consider the manner how our redemption was effected and the price that was paid for it thus The Blessed Son of God the Second Person of the Ever glorious Trinity undertook that work himself which none else could perform for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man In this act of his miracles and mercies seem to vie one with another In praesepe jacet sed mundum continet ubera sugit sed angelos pascit Aug. Ser. de purific 2. that the God of eternity should be born in time that the Creator of all things should be the Son of a Creature that the most highest should abase himself to the low condition of a servant that God should become an infant is a miracle of Love which we can admire and adore but never fully comprehend The greatness of God is unsearchable his excellencies and perfections are incomprehensible he is infinitely good powerful wise and holy Man contrariwise is in himself wicked and weak ignorant impure and miserable there is so great a disproportion betwixt God and man so wide so immense a distance Haec est mensura amoris non solum quantum fecit nos quanta fecit pro nobis sed quantillus factus est pro nobis that nothing less than an infinite love could have filled up the gulf betwixt those two so different natures and united them into one person 'T was never seen that a shepherd would creep upon all four and cover himself with a sheep skin to call his flock out of danger and to expose himself for it but the good shepherd did much more When he came to lay down his life for his lost and wandering sheep and gather them into his fold he took on him not only the likeness but the very nature of them he became the Lamb of God that he might be the shepherd of mankind Though he was infinitely more above man then men are above beasts yet he became the Son of man that he might become the Saviour of men 'T was never seen that a Sovereign Prince would seek to reduce to loyalty the most abject of his rebellious subjects by mixing blooud with them uniting their families together but behold the Supreme Monarch of heaven and earth contracts a near affinity with his ungrateful rebels who are as vile and miserable as they are criminal that he may free them from their guilt and win them to their duty and their happiness Proud and wretched sinner thou wouldst be so far from entring into the kindred of meaner persons those that are much thine inferiors that thou canst hardly endure to be in their company and behold the most Glorious and Holy
there was none to help I wondred that there was none to uphold Isa 63. He was like a mild and defenceless 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 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 cries out so bitterly My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Why dost thou suffer me to be plunged into this gulf of sorrow so that I have nothing but anguish within and without Why dost thou suffer me to be almost overwhelmed 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 pleased to descend very low and with strong crying and tears to say de profundis clamavi out of the depths have I cried unto thee O Lord hear my voice Psal 130. 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 CHAP. XI The height of the Cross NOw we have only the height 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 conceived 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 received and his being nailed and stretched 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 melted in the midst of his bowels Psal 22. and in the midst of so many and such intolerable pains his murtherers shook their heads made mouths 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 thaâ— the Cross of Christ was higher in the greatness of its 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 redeemed 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 CHAP. XII 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 loved us unto death Not any sorrow or anguish in his soul not any gap or wound in his body but are as many mouths 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 height and the depth of the love of JESUS that love which bound him much harder than the cords of the Jews and nailed him to his Cross much faster than those Irons which pierced his hands and feet for he that could with one word cast his enemies to the ground could easily have broke their bands and escaped 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 injured him and from whom he could expect no reward but only to be loved again Let us therefore remember it throughout this whole book or rather throughout our whole life that we have been redeemed 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 CHAP. XIII Of the eternal happiness merited for us by the Cross of Christ and measured by it 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 suffered 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 raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2.5 Let us meditate a while upon that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory reserved 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
it withall 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 is it 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 now my soul I must apply this home and thereby examine how true are my resolves and protestations if my love to JESUS my Lord 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 seduced 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 owe him and profess ever to 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 imperfection O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Rom. 7.24 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 Now therefore as I profess my self a sincere and affectionate lover of JESUS I am obliged to undo as much as may be what I have done amiss and to do it no more this earnestly and vigorously I must now resolve and beg the divine grace an assistance to perform it I must make amends and restitution to those I have any ways 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 stain and spots wherewith my soul is polluted and displeaseth the holy eyes of the Holy JESUS And so to own and to love JESUS my Master binds upon me all the duties of holy penitence repentance must now be my my work and I must live like a true penitent Especially on Lent Fridays and such other times as the Church appointed and devout Christians use for mortification and more solemn devotion I must then and even every night call my ways to remembrance And besides those greater provocations wherewith I have offended my Lord in the days of my folly and inconsideration I ought also to take notice of those sins of daily incursion I last committed and weep over them all and beg for pardon and this I say especially on penitential days For though true contrition should always abide in the heart of every one that truly loves JESUS yet there are occasions and proper times to bring it forth when we are to make it our business to soften our hearts and make them melt into penitent tears Which must be done by religious exercises pious meditations and such acts of contrition as this My dearest JESUS I owe to thy kindest goodness my being and all the blessings I enjoy 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 wert 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 wast 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 Lord if what thou hast done and suffered for me be not able to win my heart what canst thou do more but O break and yield sinful heart of mine open the way to tears and grief and let the love of thy dearest Saviour enter and fill and ever possess thee CHAP. XXVIII That Love will sweeten as well as produce the truest penitence and that true wisdom not melancholly is the guide of sincere penitents SUch considerations and soliloquies as these will produce not only lacrymas doloris tears of grief but also lacrymas amoris tears of love and true contrition and moreover will make pleasant all the severities of repentance which are so unacceptable and so repugnant to nature those things that would be ungrateful as acts of justice on our selves or obedience and submission to a severe Master will become delightful as acts of love to a gracious beloved Lord. In amore nihil amari in love all things are sweet that are done or suffered for the sake of the beloved I take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for Christs sake saith S. Paul 2 Cor. 12.10 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 liked them He likewise that by self-denial and revenge on himself expressing his sorrow for his sins 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 some Religious persons that their watchings and fastings and all the severities to
affection thou canst daily repeat these few words which have been frequently in the mouth of some devout persons I love thee dear JESUS I love thee dear JESUS thou hast learned that which will teach thee both to live and die well Then thou wilt value nothing not life it self but so far as it is subservient to love and thou shalt be so far from being afraid of death that thou shalt wish with a primitive Saint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God in S. Basil it were in thy power to die many times for JESUS A devout love for him will make thee find that true peace and satisfaction which the world with endless labour vainly seeks in earthly enjoyments It will make thee say but without fear of change or disappointment with the rich man in the Gospel Soul eat and drink be merry take thine ease thou hast much goods laid up for many years Luk. 12. yea for eternity Worldly men as though they had a dropsie the more they drink out of their broken Cisterns the more they thirst the more unsatisfied they remain but they that love and fear God lack nothing they drink living waters out of that fountain which is never drie they have him in their souls with whom true peace and felicity is ever enjoyed O fortunanatissime cui quod amas domi est O happy soul that art possest of that which thou lovest thou hast enough at home to make thee intirely happy without ever seeking abroad O my soul entertain that blessed guest which instead of being chargeable will discharge thee of all thy wants and fears and troublesome burthens Love will strengthen thee against temptations Poterant leges delicta punire cons ientiam munire non poterant Lact. and secure thee from sin It will deliver thee from the terrors and bondage of the Law and bring thee to the rest Brevis differentia inter legem Evangelium timor amor Aug. and freedom of the Gospel-yoke As it self grows on towards perfection So will it still increase thy hapiness till its consummation But my Soul suffer not thy love to be fantastick and to spend it self in thoughts and wishes the expressions of love are obedience and submission with a devout life Whoso keepeth his word in him is the love of God perfected hereby know we that we are in him 1 John 2.5 Princes have many flatterers and but a few friends JESUS also hath many pretenders and but a few lovers Multitudes will wait upon him in Mount Gerizim to receive his blessing in Sinai where he gives his Law he hath but a few attendants and fewer yet in Golgotha where he himself suffers and calls us to take up his Cross Therefore my Soul by obedience self-denial and an humble patience justifie the sincerity of thy love and protestations Follow now thy Saviour by love and a sincere imitation and thou shalt certainly come to see his face and to dwell with him in glory for where he is there shall his servant be John 12.26 They that be faithful in love shall abide with him Wisd 3.9 CHAP. IX Christianity absolutely requires our love and strictest obedience THis double duty of dying unto sin and living unto righteousness abstaining from that which is evil and doing that which is good I am obliged to perform by strong and indispensable obligations If I do not I certainly perish When we say in common speaking that we do things out of love we mean that we are free and may chuse whether we do them or no we are not bound to it but here all along where I undertake to discharge the duties of Religion out of love I do not in the least mean so I acknowledge my self under the greatest necessity of discharging my Baptismal Vow of living according to the Gospel Rule otherwise my neglect of 〈◊〉 would be my ruine I should perish in my disobedience Love it self is a duty the first and greatest commandment thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Mat. 22.37 I recommend love therefore â—s the noblest the most powerful moâ—ive to a religious obedience Meliores quos dirigit amor plures quos corrigit timor Aug. as that which makes our duty easie and pleasant and gives a value to what we do or suffer â—or God I know there is those who teach that by our well doing we must not seek for salvation and that our obedience is not required to our justification but may be a mark or an effect of it faith having done the work before but this groundless and mischievous opinion is contradicted by thousands of plain express Scriptures He that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not is like the man that built his house upon the sand Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven If thou wilt enter life keep the Commandments and innumerable others with all those that affirm that God shall judge and reward every man according as his works have been No the holy Religion we profess requires a conformity betwixt the Holy JESUS and his followers that by a devout imitation we should copy his example that we should be fruitful in good works and by a sincere and universal obedience serve God all the days of our life For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a full recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation Heb. 2.2 3. by being disobedient to our Lord JESUS who having wrought and revealed it offers it to us on the condition of an affectionate obedience to his Gospel The earth which drinketh the rain that cometh upon it and beareth thorns and briers is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burnt such is their condition who receiving the heavenly dew of Divine Grace in their admission into and profession of Christianity yet still remain barren or bring forth evil fruit But beloved saith the Apostle we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name and we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end Heb. 6. 7 c. He says not we desire that you may be confident and perswaded of your salvation but that by love and diligent obedience ye may ascertain your hope make your calling and election sure as S. Peter speaks 1 Pet. 1.10 for indeed God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether We wake or sleep we should live together with him 1 Thes 5.9.10 in holiness of life worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called Ephes 4.1 for we
love to men in JESUS so in JESUS men offer the returns of their love to God 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 1 Joh. 4.9 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 pleased he that loveth me shall be loved of my father saith our Blessed Saviour Joh. 14.21 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 ver 23. and again If any man serve me him will my father honour Joh. 12.26 nay he expresly tells his disciples that the Father loved them because they loved him whom the Father had sent The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me John 16.27 For though we owe our redemption to the infinite mercies of God Father Son and Holy Ghost yet in a more especial manner we are engaged 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 revealed 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 endured 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 caused us to be adopted Sons of God and heirs with him of an eternal kingdom it is he who can save them to the uttermost that come to God by him it is he who is the head of the Church Caput positum in coelestiâ—us corpus suum gubernaâ— separatum quidem visione sed annexum charitate Aug. to whom we must be united by Love that we may be his members and derive life from him it is he who is our Lord and Master and will be our judge and our rewarder if we be faithful to him For this end Christ died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living saith S. Paul Rom. 14.9 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 Act. 2.36 and 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 constraineth us 2 Cor. 5.14 and again what things were gain to me I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things loss for the excellency of the Knowledge 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 Phil. 3.7 8. 'T is JESUS hath won our hearts to God 't is he hath reconciled 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 ΦθονεÏὸ Θεὸς was an ordinary Epithete for the heathen gods who were thought to be envious rather than loving to men and even the Israelites were amazed 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 procured and established an everlasting reconciliation and friendship betwixt God and man God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinnerr Christ died for us Rom. 5.8 and now there is neither death nor life nor Angels nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD Rom. 8.39 Therefore for a reward of 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 and took on him the form of a servant and humbled himself and became obedi 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 Phil. 2.7 8 c. 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 even 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 CHAP. XXIII That it 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 insensibleness 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 were it impossible he should be miserable but that it would rather sink hell it self and make it
is now crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed that hencenceforth we should not serve sin Rom. 6. and S. Peter likewise makes it the purpose why Christ did hear our sins their punishment on his own body on the tree that we thereby being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness 1 Pet. 2.24 Christ gave himself fo us that he might redeem us from this present evil world Gal. 1.4 The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 John 3.8 Sin is that which God hates above all things sin is that which is most contrary to his nature and to our happiness and so JESUS was crucified that sin might be destroyed he died that sin might live no longer and therefore I renounced all sin the Devil and all his works when JESUS owned me for his friend and I owned him for my Lord and Master they are incompatible their inconsistency is irreconcilable If I hold to the one I must despise the other if I love one I must hate the other I will therefore as I am most bound and as I have promised forsake sin and follow JESUS I will fight against his enemies and side with him against my own corrupt affections while I have a being I will love and obey JESUS CHAP. XXIV Of outward helps and instruments of love and obedience NOw to effect these good resolutions we must use means to bring our hears to a devout and Religious Temper and so to keep them It will not suffice that we intend well except we perform We may soon be diverted from our best designs either by temptations or by the interruption of worldly business Therefore the revolutions of time which bring on us the snares and disturbances of this life must also bring with them the frequent returns of our pious excercises and Christian duties We must often recollect our thoughts and listen to the Divine Love of our Blessed JESUS We must entertain our Souls with him renew our religious purposes and call to mind those special considerations which use to affect us most of all We must often resort to those fountains of Grace which God hath opened to his Church in his publick Worship and the several dispensations of his Word and Sacraments by his Ministers To these we must be sure to add Fastings Alms and Prayers than which we can do nothing more acceptable to God nothing that can better declare how much we love him and how heartily we devote to him our bodies souls and estates All these are not only means but duties of Religion also not to be omitted upon any pretence whatever But now the following have more of indifferency less of necessity in them but yet may have a good influence upon the inner man may move our affections and declare or increase our devotion and our sincerity Such are the constant reading of good Books set times of meditation and mental prayer the enjoyning to our selves a strict silence for some convenient time to bridle our tongue and so to use it to discipline and as it were to unsay and retract inwardly by hearty repentance what we have said amiss Sometimes like Hezechiah to turn our selves to the wall to mourn in secret I mean to retire from the world and enter our closet there to confer with God and our own souls about Eternity and the way to a blessed one Every day or at least once a week to cast our eyes back and take an account of our lives especially of what we have done since our last examen that we may repent and rectifie our follies renew our good resolutions and increase our diligence and our care In our adorations and penitential prayers to cast our selve on the ground with the humblest prostration to hold our hands like criminals bound supplicating before their judge to look up to heaven to smite our breasts and so excite our zeal and contrition Some are much affected with watching with visible representations the sight of a dying man and such instructions and mementoes as enter the Soul by the eyes which being the quickest and most apprehensive sense we have Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures Quam quo sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus quae Ipse sibi tradit spectator conveys its objects to the mind with the greater force and makes the deeper impression Here in my first Edition I had mentioned the making on our selves the sign of the Cross which could not escape being taxt of Popery by some that call by that name every thing they dislike I should not be much concerned at the charge but that I find Popery is made a thing too ancient and too innocent and so mistaken It hath indeed abused that primitive Ceremony and made it subservient to superstition but the right use of it is not therefore unlawful Those zealous and holy Christians in the first ages who frequently signed themselves with that Sacred Sign intended it as a tacit invocation of the name of Christ as an outward profession that they owned him for their Lord and Saviour and as a signature to themselves that they were devoted to his service and ready to die for his sake I might produce and plead their reasons and example the Custom of our Church and its 30th Cannon but that I would perswade no man to a rite so indifferent If any will reiterate it on themselves where they give no offence to the same purpose as it was intended when they were made Christians In token that they will not be ashamed to profess the faith of Christ crucified c. I shall not condemn him and I shall in no wise quarrel with them that omit it If we sincerely love our Divine Master and are faithful and obedient to him it is no great matter what outward means and instruments we use But yet experience and the approbation of the best of men have recommended these I have now mentioned as many ways useful and profitable They and others of the like nature and Church ceremonies are said by Calvin to assist our infirmities to increase our devotion and to make Religion more solemn and more venerable Inst l. 4. c. 10. § 28. 31. So the great duties be secured these are indifferent and may vary according to circumstances but yet they are not useless nor totally to be rejected Those outward rites and actions have an influence upon our hearts they not only express our inward piety but they increase it Though they proceed from the affections Nescio quomodo cum hi motus corporis fieri nisi motu animi praecedente non possint iisdem rursus exterius visibiliter factis ille interior invisibilis qui eos fecit augeatur Aug. they re-act upon them as S. Augustine saith they augment that fervour which at first produced them And so said a Blessed Martyr of our Church that the true inward worship of God while we live in the Body needs external helps