limmes did showre downe streames of bloud or that in any agony the face of man should stand beset with drops of crimson bloud Neither doth this content the holy wisdome of God but that also wee should see this loue of Christ resembled yea testified vnto vs againe in reference euen in his mysticall members that is in the beleeuers by forgiuing whos 's sinnes he hath made them pure and white in his fight and giuing also many of them grace and honouring them so farre that they willingly suffered as martyrs whereby they also became purple red Of the first white this is vnderstood Purge me with hyssop and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter then snow This is the perfect beauty indeed to be purged from sinne Of the second it is said of his beloued martyrs That they were prodigall of their liues euen vnto the death for the testimony of the Lord Iesus Such were Iames Antipas Ignatius Polycarpus in the former ages and all other euen those thousands in hose Mariana tempora whom fire and faggot deuoured and all other exquisite torments that could be deuised by the wicked bloudy butcherlike mindes of Gods enemies All which blessed soules were translated to God whom they loued in fierie chariots of persecution and were rapt vp with Elias to the vision of the eternall God This being indeed their matchlesse felicitie that they were so greatly honored of their God that they should shadow out vnto him his Christ whipped stocked striken stoned tormented tortured and bloudily butchered Let not then the vaine and gallant minions of the world boast of their venereous ladies or of their bright curtizans or Helenaes on whom they dote which are but as the dunghils vnsauory salt of the earth for behold here is a lillie and a rose from heauen euen our Lord Iesus a white lillie deuoide of sinne and a damaske rose in his pure and crimson passion And let them againe behold his martyrs as pure lillies cloathed with his righteousnesse and as red roses in their sacred martyrdomes into whose calendar euery beleeuing soule should desire rather to be registred then in the catalogue of all the worlds misbeleeuing or misperswaded Magnificoes And seeing beloued that we are come to bloud let vs pause a little and stand still awhile as the people did when in the wars they came and saw Azael lie weltring in his bloud and let vs see the godly suffer for the godles the guiltlesse for the guilty Let vs looke vp to the crosse and see our Sauiour lie weltring gasping crying bathing strugling and dying in his bloud Dauid could say when he saw the Angell of the Lord kill the people with the plague of pestilence I haue sinned what haue these sheepe done But Christ might haue said otherwise These sheepe haue sinned what haue I done I am constrained to pay the things I neuer tooke What more blessed brethren could he haue done for his vineyard what greater loue can be shewed then for a man to die for his friends yet our welbeloued died for vs his enemies But what doth the Lord require at our hands in retribution for all these blessings Surely onely faith and feruency of zeale by which we also shall become white and ruddie by his sanctifying and by his sauing grace Faith is as Iacobs hand which will not let the Angell go vntill he haue the blessing It is also as Iacobs robe put on to gaine our elder brother Christ Iesus his blessings and it is the wedding garment wherewith we must enter into the wedding house of our spouse And feruency of zeale is an effect of our loue and is an heroicall and magnanimious vertue shed in our hearts by the holy Ghost whereby we are moued to holy anger when either the glory of God his truth or his honor is violated Behold the zealous and ruddy beautified Christians in this kind Who will rise with me against the wicked or who will take my part against the euill doers saith Dauid the Lords worthy And in another Psalme I fainted because men kept not thy law And againe The zeale of thine house hath euen eaten me vp The zeale of God doth eate one vp when God giueth such courage and magnanimity of heart vnto some one man that he withstands many mightie and malicious transgressors and yet is not remoued from his holy valour and resolution though the earth be moued and the mountaines caried into the midst of the sea Such an one was Elias against all Baals false prophets and Micheas against the foure hundred false prophets of Ahab and of late yeares Martin Luther against the Pope and all his complices But we in our last and worst age eate vp the zeale of God because wee do not resist the euill wherein totus mundus ponitur the whole world lieth nor the arrogancie of the presumptuous nor the malice of the mighty nor the haughtines of the proud nor the tyrannie of the oppressors but like bastards and not children declaring to our owne selues that we haue not one drop of the good bloud of our heauenly Father in vs for bonus sanguis non mentitur honorable bloud cannot dissemble we suffer God to be blasphemed in our hearing Christ to be scorned his sacred Ministrie to be despised and we in the meane while either assent thereunto or neglect to rebuke it which sheweth that we partake not at all of this diuine and roselike beautie O that the Seraphicall zeale of God had inflamed the Princes the Prelates and people of the Christian world as it did Dauid not a martiall zeale which is a feruour without discretion but a zeale according to knowledge not anger per vitium but holy anger by zeale not priuate grudge but zeale appertaining to the vocation and calling we are of which hath both a good roote and a good end Such as was Elias zeale for the Lord of hoastes against idolatrie Such as was Phineas zeale against the beastlinesse of Zmiri the sonne of Sale and Cozbi Such as was Ezechias zeale for the peoples reuolt Such as was good king Iosias zeale for the Lords dishonor among the Priests Such as was Nehemiahs zeale when he heard the people speake halfe Hebrew halfe Ashdod halfe Sur halfe Sion halfe Christ halfe Belial Oh to these holy Cherubicall zeales I exhort you beloued in the name of the Lord. Be you angrie with those that are angrie with God when tribulation befals them or if their hearts bee not glutted with all the delights they desire or if God do not fill their bellies with onions and garlike and other such like grosnesse Be angrie with preachers that lie as Ionah did vnder the gourd and preach not Be angrie with the dogs that returne to their vomit and with hogs that wallow in the mire albeit they haue bene ten times purged Be angrie with vice that ruleth with the diuell that rageth with vanity that reigneth with lies that sway almost
Come and see THE BLISSE OF BRIGHTEST BEAVTIE SHINING OVT OF SION IN PERFECT GLORIE Being the summe of foure sermons preached in the Cathedrall Church of Glocester at commandment of superiours BY WILLIAM LOE Imprinted at London by Richard Field for Mathew Law 1614. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL AND RIGHT WORTHY GENTLEman Sir William Sandis Knight and to that wel-disposed very Christian Ladie the Ladie Margaret Sandis his vertuous wife and ioyfull consort grace and glorie be multiplied in Christs kingdomes of grace and glorie MVch honored The Christian neighborhood and kind commerce both of bountifull liberalitie and gracious respect which my selfe and mine receiued from you and yours this time tweluemoneth by our contiguous vicinitie hath occasioned me to be thus bold in saluting you after long silēce with a paper token the onely miniment and memoriall of a Scholer in this last and worst age that hath nothing for vs but bookes amongst the best and by-words amongst the worst as her onely bequest and our legacie Howsoeuer notwithstanding it is the heartie ioy of Israel the vnspeakeable comfort of Iacob that still some of the precious balme of Gilead that falls vpon Aarons head doth distill downe euen vnto the skirts of his priestly clothing And whereas others may haue spices and balmes to preserue their bodies for a time and monuments of brasse and stone to continue a future glorie to their memorials yet euer those haue bene most enobled whose remembrances the tokens of vertue and godlinesse haue endeuored to eternize and keepe from the rottennesse of corrupted baserie and obscure obliuion And albeit the purport of this whole proiect is but the turning of my tongue into my pen and the matter it selfe is but a preaching againe as it were the same words another saboth day as the Gentiles besought Paule in the Acts yet I pray you entertaine them as the presence of my spirit the pledge of mine heart and the earnest of that affection and loue which I iustly beare vnto you And whereas before I spake in a great auditory in the presence and countenance of a liuing man am now content in this my paines to bury my selfe in a dead letter of lesse effectuall perswasion But principally I protest to this only end and purpose that God might be magnified if it be his holy will in me the weakest meanest of his seruāts both by the meditations of mine heart and in the endeauors of mine hand The Treatise is of the loue of God deuoted vnto your selues in whom I haue obserued much loue toward God toward your brethren without and amongst your selues at home Goe on then blessed in the Lord Iesu in this sacred vettue that disposeth you to God so amiablie and you shall find these holy encreases in you 1. You shall euer desire to thinke on him that made you 2. Gladly and willingly to frequent his house the pallace of praier 3. Duly to speake talke of him 4. Often to heare of him by his messengers and to meditate of that you heare 5. Readie will you be to giue for his sake 6. Ioyfull that you suffer whatsoeuer it be for Gods honour 7. Duly to bowe your hearts to the obedience of his holy lawes 8. Yea you wil loue them that loue the Lord and despise and hate them that hate him 9. Neither will you loue this world nor anything therein vnlesse it be for the Lords cause 10. Yea in a word you will loue your friend in the Lord and your enemie for the Lord. Long may the blessing of this diuine loue which is the beautifull Idea of your soules sparkle and flame in you Let the God of heauen grant that the distempered humours of misperswasion may neuer quench it within you nor the ouerflowings of vngodlinesse in the world euer put it out but let the light of Gods owne most blessed countenance for euer and euer shine vpon you and cause it to be enflamed eternally I beseech the God of heauen and of earth to multiplie his richest blessings vpon your selfe your Ladie and your children for euermore Euen so Lord Iesu be it The Colledge of Glou. Febru 20. 1611. Yours because you are of Christ. WILLIAM LOE TO THE CHRISTIAN READER BVT ESPECIALLY TO E. B. HIS VERY much respected friend Grace and Glory LEt God arise and let his enemies be scattered let them that hate him flie before him As the smoke vanisheth so let them perish at thy presence ô Lord that haue euill will at Sion But let them that loue and seeke the Lord be euer ioyfull and glad in him let them be telling his praises from day to daie And if there be any man so brutish that loueth not the Lord Iesus let him be had in execration Maranatha Seeing man being fallen is raised by Christ onely man is returned to God hauing turned awaie from all good The Angels that fell are damned man that sinned is pardoned To man God hath giuen a motion neuer to ceasse vntill he rest in him grace to guide him goodnes to imbrace him messengers of glad tidings to instruct him faith to furnish him with the fulnesse of perswasion sanctimony to dignifie him in this life glorie to deifie him in the other life Seeing with Iesus Christ also is the fulnesse of ioy whose name is saluation whose passion redemption whose sacrifice satisfaction whose bloud purgation whose resurrectiō sanctification whose ascension eternall glorification And seeing that the Lord Iesus Christ is loue substantially hauing nothing in him selfe but himselfe being loue it selfe essentially not accidentally he is also loue causally causing it in others as in the Elements in the creatures in the sweete symphonie of the whole vniuerse and in the bitter iarres of mans corrupted nature making men to be of one mind in an house and of one heart in a common-wealth He is loue actiuely louing all things he hath made man more particularly his redeemed most especially with a loue to the end in the end without end Louing them in their election when they could not loue him louing them in their redemption when they would not loue him louing them externally for they haue a promise to enioy their outward blessings louing them internally for their hearts shall be comforted louing them eternally for they shall euer be blessed with him in heauenly things He is loue passiuely most worthie to be beloued being louing euerie daie in multiplying his blessings being louing euery way in magnifying his mercies louing vs first in preuenting vs mercifully louing vs in continuance in guiding vs powerfully louing vs last in perfecting vs eternally Yea so louing that if he go to punish he walkes a soft pace he comes in the coole of the day but to shew mercie he runnes for he is gracious righteous yea our God is mercifull punishing three or fowre of the generation of the godlesse but shewing mercy to thousands that loue him and
liue in his feare Taste then and see how gracious the Lord Iesus is and how plentifull is his goodnesse which he hath layed vp for them that feare him and prepared for them that trust in him euen before the sonnes of men He being the perfection of Priesthood and prophecie of sacrifice and sacrament so that now who so setteth his heart vpon any thing but vpon the Lord Iesus is liable to the extreme curse of Gods desertion Set not then your hearts on beautie beloued it is but a forward blossome soone nipt nor on pleasure it is but a bitter pill lapt in sugar nor on your belly it is but the pantrie for the draft house nor on riches they are but guiles and baites to insnare vs which while they are in getting wearie vs while they are possessed befoole vs and when we lose them they crucifie vs. Set not your hearts on the fauour of Princes or Potentates for they are but the sonnes of men nor on ambition it is but a feather tossed with the wind nor on gay apparell it is but rags nor on goodly houses they are but so many bonefiers against the day of doome nor on any thing vnder the sunne but only like and loue them in and for the Lord Iesus sake as they are either remedies for sin or directions in ordine ad Deum for our vsefull necessities and furtherances to further our future happinesse But as for those who despite the spirit of grace and trample the blessed bloud of the new Testament vnder their feete as do all sycophantizing Papists schismatizing Puritans neutralizing Atheists satanizing scorners of all godlinesse truth and honestie I will euer pray against their wickednesse Psal. 69. Let their table be their snare their eies dimmed their habitation voide their backes bowed downe let them heape vp iniquitie vpon iniquitie and let their names be razed out of the booke of life Let them be vnto vs as paganish Ethnicks and Publicans as vncleane leapers put out of the campe of Israel as rotten members cut off from the bodie of the Church as dead branches broken off from the true vine as vncleane dogges put out of the holy Citie and as those of the Concision of whom we must beware Phil. 3. 2. Yea let all that is about them be hatefull vnto vs. Let the goods of such be as the cursed things of Iericho their houses as odious as a iakes their possessions as direfull as Acheldama their gaines as vile as the Pharisies Corban their name as branded and as infamous as was Ieroboams their posteritie as obscure as the vntimely fruite of a woman which neuer seeth the sunne If they be honourable and do not honor Christ ô Lord lay their honor in the dust If noble let them be accompted base vnlesse they be ennobled in Iesus Christ. If learned let their learning be a by-word and a fable among the vulgar that studie not to be students in Christs schoole If they be a whole nation let their portion be as the men of Ashdod 1. Sam. 5. If a king let him be made as Nebuchadnezzar that he may know the Almightie If a Courtier let him be despised in the sight of the king yea let all them be deliuered ouer that loue not the Lord Iesus but despise him vnto Sathan by excommunication that confession at least may be wrested from them as it was from Simon Magus and Elimas the Bariesu who craued aide of the Church which formerly they desperatly despised that if it be the will of the Lord they may be saued by repentance in this day of grace before that fatall and finall diuorce from the Lord of their soules and bodies be denounced before the curses of separation Depart from me of indignation ye cursed of dolor into fire of desperatiō into hell fire of confusion prepared for the deuil and his angels be in the last iudgement awarded against them for their contempt of the Lord Iesus Christ. But to them that seeke the Lord Iesus mella fluant illis and all the beatitudes of mount Gerazim let their eares neuer heare the horrors of the vale of the children of Hinnon but let Sions rayes shine vpon them all their life and let the Lord Iesus appeare vnto them in his second coming to saluation who loue him and looke for him from heauen and long for him from the bottome of their hearts crying come Lord Iesu. Let them heare ô Lord thy perfect blessings of association Come of benediction ye blessed of inheritance possesse of glory the kingdome of election prepared for you before the foundations of the world were layed And God perswade Iaphet to dwell in the tents of blessed Sem. Euen so ô Lord be it Amen My welbeloued is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand Cant. 5. 10. YOu may iustly demand of me blessed and beloued in the Lord Iesus as the daughters or faithfull people of Ierusalem do here of the spouse in the Canticles concerning her beloued saying What is thy beloued more then other beloued what is thy beloued more then another louer that thou dost so charge vs because of late I denounced from this place before you not against you for I am perswaded better things of you my brethren and such as accompanie saluation Paule his fearefull curse of Anathema Maranatha to wit If any man loue not the Lord Iesus let him be accursed when the Lord shall come And my reply vnto you must be my text which the spouse here maketh to the like demand that is My beloued is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand The words are few the matter manifold Out of Sion saith Dauid hath God appeared in perfect beautie for what higher and more heauenly perfection can be imagined or was euer hard of then Sions sacred rayes which giue bright splendor and most glorious lustre to the whole Christian world The rigor of the law frō Sinay is satisfied in the righteousnesse of the Gospell from mount Sion If any thē be affectionate let him come hither here is loue and if he haue grace here is his welbeloued also and this commencement and commerce of sweet loue will be the whetstone of true perfect and perpetuall loue If any be curious here is amiable beautie white and ruddie white answering the purenesse he would haue and ruddie corresponding the zealous hartines he would craue And further if he shall be curious and be elegans formarum spectator here is choice euen the chiefest of ten thousand For here he may behold the spouse first shewing her deere affection then her true loues description her affection she vttereth by appellation of vnfained loue welbeloued and also by application thus My welbeloued she then describes him generally as thus is white and ruddie the chiefest of ten thousand And then particularly in his parts as in the verses following of this Chapter In her generall description she sets him downe in