valiant what should then become of women olde men and children which are weake and feeble If God should regarde none but the riche and wealthie what should then become of the poore and needy To conclude if God should make choice of none but such as were of noble parentage what should wee do that are the common people But now hee requireth such a thing of vs as the poorest simplest may performed as well as the wealthiest or wisest man in all the world for if we cannot loue we can do nothing specially if wee cannot loue God that hath so loued vs we go not so farre as the wicked doe for sinners also loue their louers Luc. 6.32 And therefore blessed be God that for the performance of so small a worke hath proposed such a great rewarde and for the obtayning of such a happy state hath imposed such an easie taske The eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither can the heart conceiue what God hath prepared for them that loue him Esay 64. chap. 4. verse 1. Corinthians 2. chap. 9. verse And for all these vnspeakeable ioyes which God hath prepared hee requireth no more of vs but loue How is God enamoured of our loue and how vnkinde shall wee bee to withholde it from him He hath an innumerable company of Angels which are inflamed with his loue and not content therewith he sues to haue the loue of men God hath no neede of our loue no more then Elisa had neede of Naamans cleansing but as Elisa bad Naaman wash that he might become cleane in the second booke of Kings the fift chapter so God bids vs loue that wee might be saued It is for our good altogether that God requires our loue in earth because he meanes to set his loue on vs in heauen If the man of God had willed Naaman doe some great thing ought he not to haue done it So if God had willed vs doe some great thing ought wee not to haue done it How much more when he saieth vnto vs Loue and you shall liue for euer Nowe if you would knowe whether you haue this loue of God in you examine your actions whether they bee done with delight and comfort In amore nihil amari In loue there is no mislike T is like the waters of Iordane wherein Naaman washed for as his flesh which before was leprous became faire and tender after his washing so all our actions and labours and afflictions which before were tedious and irkesome become ioyous and pleasaunt and comfortable after wee are once bathed in the loue of God It is like the Salte that Elisa cast into the noysome waters to make them wholesome in the 2. Kings and second chapter or like the meale that Elisa put into the bitter pottage to make them sweete as in the 2. Kings the 4. chap. So the loue of God being shed in our hearts by the holy Ghost dooth make all anguish and sicknesse and pouerty and labours and watchings and losses and iniuries and famishment and banishment and persecutions imprisonment yea death it selfe to be welcome vnto vs. Such was the loue of that chosen vessell who for the loue that he bare vnto God waded through all these afflictions 2. Cor. 12. and could not for all these and many more be separated from the loue of God as he protesteth Rom. 8. Wherefore beloued seeing God that hath done so much for vs requireth no more but loue of vs which euery one may easily affoord let him be our loue our ioy and whole delight and then all our life will seeme delightfull As Iaacob serued seauen yeares for Rachaell Gen. 29.20 and they seemed to him but a few daies for the loue that he bare vnto hir so when we haue once set our loue vpon God our paine will be pleasure our sorrow will be ioy our mourning will be mirth our seruice will be freedome and all our crosses shall be counted so many comforts for his sake whom we loue a great deale more then Iaacob loued Rachell because his loue to vs is like Ionathans loue to Dauid passing the loue of women 2. Samuel 1.26 Thus we haue heard what it is that the Lord requireth of vs namely loue Nowe let vs see what manner of loue he requireth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule with all thy strength and with all thy thought Here the Lord setteth downe the measure of that loue which he requireth of vs that first it must be true and vnfained as proceding from the hart minde secondly that it must be sound and perfect with all the heart with all the minde The Lorde which is a spirit and trueth Iohn 4. will be serued in spirit and in the truth He cannot away with hypocrites which drawe neere vnto him with their lips but their hearts are farre from him Matth. 15. He cannot abide dissemblers which flatter with their lips and dissemble in their double heart Psal. 12. and therefore though he requireth all the heart yet he requireth not a double heart to signifie that a single heart is pleasing vnto him and that he detesteth a double hart As there is a glosing tongue a wanton eye an idle eare a wicked hand and a wandring foote so there is a false and dissembling heart which marreth all the rest As is the eye such is the light if the eye be single the body is full of light if the eye be wicked the body is full of darkenesse Matth. 6.22 So as is the heart such are the actions of the body which proceede from the heart A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth foorth good things and an euill man out of the euill treasure of the heart bringeth foorth euill things Matth. 12.35 therefore as Christ saith Make cleane within and all will be cleane Luc. 11. So I say vnto you looke that your heart be sincere and single and then your tongue your eye your eare your hand your foote that is all your actions will be holy to the Lord. The heart of man is the storehouse wherein his treasure lyeth and therefore God seeking to haue the treasure requires the heart For where the treasure is there will the heart be also Matth. 6.21 But he will haue it freely not by constraint and therefore he requires the heart because whatsoeuer is done with the hart is done willingly and that which is done against the heart is done as it were against the haire Therefore in requiring the heart God sheweth that hee delighteth in voluntary seruice Among all the offerings that the Lorde in his lawe required of his people he liketh none so well as the free-will offerings of their hande Princes require helpe of their subiects because they stand in neede of helpe not regarding whether they doe it willingly or against their willes but God requireth the heart because he needeth not our helpe As God giues to all men
indifferently casteth no man in the teeth Iame. 1. chap. 5. verse so hee would haue vs to giue that which we giue vnto him willingly without grutching If we giue him loue we must giue it louingly if we giue him our heart we must doe it heartily if we giue him our almes we must doe it cheerefully for as he loueth a cheerefull giuer 1. Cor. 9.7 so he loues a cheerfull louer but he that loues not with the heart loues not cheerefully for out of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Matth. 12.34 the head deuiseth the eye seeth the eare heareth the hand worketh the foot walketh If the heart be enditing of a good matter the tongue will be as the pen of a ready writer Psal. 45.2 but if the heart be vnwilling euery thing will be yrkesome like the gift of Ananias that was loth to part from the price of his land because Sathan had filled his heart with couetousnesse Acts. 5. chap. 2. ver Such are the gifts of many now a dayes which either giue not so much as their abilitie might affoorde or if they do then presently they begin to repent that they gaue so much and as Iudas murmured that the oyle was not soulde and giuen to the poore Iohn 12. chapter so they greeue that their almes was not spared and put to some other vse Thus though they giue sometime as Ananias did for fashion sake because they see other giue yet is their gift nothing worth because it comes not with a willing minde God more regarded the sheapheards sacrifice of the first fruites of his sheepe Genesis 4. chapter and 4.5 ver than the husbandmans oblation of the first fruites of his ground because Abel offered sincerely with all his heart and Caine offered like an hypocrite for an outward shew The widdowes mite Luc. 21. was more esteemed than the riche mens much because she offered of her penury with a willing minde they of their superfluitie for ostentation A cup of colde water or a morsell of bread that is giuen with cheerefulnesse is better then a fat Oxe with hatred ill will When we giue to the poore we lend vnto the Lord and the Lord to whom we lend measureth the gift by the minde of the giuer and not by the worth of the gift A small thing saith Dauid Psal. 37.16 that the righteous haue is better then great riches of the vngodly so a small thing that the righteous giue is better then great gifts of the vngodly because they giue for the loue of God with all their heart but the vngodly giue for other respects either for the loue of the man to whom they giue or like the Pharises Matth. 6.1 for the praise of men before whom they giue Some will not giue at all wherin they declare that they haue no loue at all When a poore man comes to their doore or to their pue then as Naball answered Dauid when he desired reliefe for himself and his company 1. Sam. 23.10 VVho is Dauid or who is the sonne of Isai There be many seruants now a daies that breake euerie man away from his maister shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I haue killed for my shearers and giue it vnto men whom I know not whence they are so they aunswer the poore man who art thou whence commest thou there are too many such as you are in euery place we haue poore enough of our owne to helpe I must bestow mine almes on them and I haue not for you Thus do they excuse their niggardise and vnmercifulnesse by the poore that dwell among them vppon whome God knows they bestowe no more than that which law compels them to bestowe and that for the most part against their will Where is the loue of God my bretheen If you say you loue God shew not your loue to your brethren you lye for if you loue not your brother whom you see you cannot loue God whome you haue not seene 1. Iohn 4.20 As we must loue God with the heart that is sincerely so we must loue him with all the heart that is with a perfect loue God is like a iealous husband lothe to haue a partner in his loue Exod. 20. He will not haue halfe the heart nor a peece of the heart but all the heart When the heart is deuided it dieth therfore God will not haue the heart deuided least it die because he desireth a liuing and not a dying heart He is not like the vnkinde mother that would haue the childe deuided 1. Kin. 26. but like the naturall mother who rather than it should be deuided would forgoe the childe So God will haue all or none if he may not haue all the heart and all the soule and all the strength all the thought he will haue none at all The diuell or the worlde or the flesh will play small game as we vse to say before they will sit out if they cannot get full possession of our hearts thē they are content to haue some part of our loue as it were a litle roome in our hearts a wicked thought or a consent to sinne like Pharao the king of Egipt who when he could not keep the Israelits still in bondage would keep their wiues and children back and when this would not be granted then he was content to let them go doe sacrifice but their sheepe and their cattell must stay behinde and when this might not be obtained then he desired them onely to blesse him before they went Exod. 10. But God is of another minde he that made all the hearts of men trieth them and knoweth them and renueth them and mollifieth them and lighteneth them and ruleth them and turneth them which way it pleaseth him wil haue all the heart because he hath best right to all Therefore as Moses answered Pharao There shall not a hoofe be left behinde vs so whensoeuer the deuill the world or the flesh are suters vnto vs for any part of our heart as commonly they are when we haue any sacrifice or seruice to performe vnto the Lorde our God then we must aunswer them as Moses answered Pharao Thou shalt haue neither hand nor hoofe in this action Exod. 10.26 or as Peter answered Simon Magus when he offered mony for the holy ghost Thou hast neither part nor felowship in this businesse Acts 8.20.21 I must not yeeld one iot to your suggestions for I must loue the Lord my God with all my heart with all my soule c. That God may be our God he will haue the greatest loue because whatsoeuer we loue best we make our God we may loue our parents or our wiues or our children or our friends or our neighbors aswell as we loue our selues with a true vnfained loue but we must loue God better thā our parents or our wiues or our childrē or our friends or our neighbors or our selues with all our
hearts with all our soule that is with a sound perfect loue As we loue a ring or a iewell for his sake that gaue it so we must loue althings of this life for his sake that gaue them for his own sake aboue all the rest This perfect loue we can bestow but once and but one can haue it and who so hath it must be our God if we set our hart vpō riches we make riches our God therfore Dauid saith Psal. 62 If riches increase set not your heart vpon them if our whole delight be in eating drinking then we make a god of our belly and the Apostle tels vs Phil. 3. that our end is damnation if we be giuen to wantonnesse and fleshly pleasure then Venus is our goddesse and Salomon tels vs Prou. 6. cha 26. ver that our end will be beggerie But if we haue set our loue on God the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man what God hath prepared for them that loue him 1. Cor. 2.9 Nowe if you woulde know how you must loue God with all your hart thus you must doo it When the diuell or the world or the flesh shal set any thing before thee to loue wherewith thou shalt offend thy God thou must bee content to loose and forgoe the same be it neuer so precious be it neuer so louely He loueth God aboue all which not for the loue of any thing that is created can be brought to sinne against his Creator So Ioseph loued God aboue all who though hee might haue had the loue of his Ladie and Mistresse without suspition of man yet he would not consent and so to loose the loue of God Gen. 39. Such was Dauids loue to God 1. Kings 24. who when hee had gotten Saul his greatest enemy that sought his life into a Caue where hee might at once haue beene reuenged on him for all his iniuries was content onely to cut off the lap of his garment and so to let him goe vnhurt rather than hee woulde sinne against the Lord in laying his handes vppon the Lords annointed Such also was the loue of chast Susanna Dan. 13. who when shee might haue gained the loue and fauour of the Elders without any note of infamie chose rather to vndergoe the danger of hir life than to sinne in the sight of the Lorde Therefore thou mayest loue the things of this life thy parents thy wife thy children and the rest the Lorde giues thee good leaue to loue them so long as thou maiest loue them without offence to God But if once they be vnto thee an occasion to sinne thou must leaue to loue them and rather choose to susteine any losse though it bee to the cutting off thy hande or thy foote or to the plucking out of thine eye Math. 5.29 or to the hazard of thy life than thou wouldst offend so diuine a Maiestie Now thou seest if thou be not wilfully blind how farre thou art from this perfect loue which God requireth of thee Thou hast not alwaies preferred God before all thy worldly profit thou hast not alwaies preferred God before all thy fleshly pleasure when thou hast gotten oportunity to be reuenged of thine enemie thou hast not spared him when thou hast gotten oportunitie to commit wickednes thy loue to God hath not restrained thee where God required all thy heart thou hast giuen him no part of thy heart Somtime all thy heart runneth after thy couetousnesse Ezech. 33.31 Sometime thy soule is wholly set vpon-delight and ease sometime thy minde is all vppon thy corne Luke 12. or thy cattle or thy pasture and sometime thy thoughts are all vpon thy merchandise seldome thou thinkest vppon God but when thou commest into the Church of God and then thy minde is so distracted with diuers thoughts and eares and affaires of this life that thou canst not thinke vpon God one houre together Therefore what remaineth in this case for thee to doo but confesse thine owne imperfection and flie to Christ to supplie thy wants and earnestly to desire the Lorde to change thy heart to take from thee thy old heart thy vaine thy wandring heart which hath loued other things more than God and in stead therof to giue thee a new heart and to create a right spirite within thee Psal. 51. wherwith thou maist loue God aboue all things in this life that in the life to come thou maiest finde the rewarde of thy loue such ioyes and comforts as cannot be expressed Thus we haue heard what duety wee owe vnto God himselfe Now wee shall heare what duety we owe vnto our neighbour That which we owe vnto them both is loue but yet the loue which we owe vnto them is not alike For albeit the second commaundement bee like vnto the first Matthew 22. for the necessitie thereof and in respect of the subiect or qualitie which is required namely loue yet in respect of the obiect which is God and the measure of our loue which must bee perfect there is great odds betweene them In that they both require but loue they are both alike but in that the first requireth loue to God the second loue to men the first requireth a greater loue than the second there is the difference But here a doubt ariseth seeing God requireth the loue of all the heart soule c. what loue remaineth for our neighbour If God must haue all our loue what loue is left for any other Whereunto I answere that the loue of our neighbour doth not derogate nor detract from the loue of God As the light of a candle doth not dazel but rather commend the light of the sunne so our loue to our neighbour doth not diminish but rather accomplish our loue to God He that loueth the frute will loue the tree whereon it groweth and hee that loueth the streame will loue the fountaine from whence it floweth euen so he that loueth man which is a creature will much more loue God that hath created him But let vs examine the words Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Heere are foure thinges to bee obserued First what is required namely loue Secondly who must loue thou that is euery man Thirdly whome wee must loue namely our neighbour And lastly howe and in what manner wee must loue him as we loue our selues Concerning the first as in the former precept so in this also the Lord requireth loue wherein hee dealeth as a kinde father with his children who desirous to haue them so to resemble him as by their conditions euery man may knowe whose they are Therefore our louing father desirous to haue vs like himselfe requireth vs to be kinde and louing one to another as he is kind to the vnkind to the euill to the iust and to the vniust Matt. 5. He will haue vs perfect as he is perfect he will haue vs holy as he is holy he will haue vs