God Fol. 254. CHAP. I. Of true and false Loue. LOue is that point of our spirites whereby she ioyneth her selfe vnto obiects That which is weight in heauie things Loue is the verie same in our soules For as weight moueth earthly bodyes towardes the place of their rest so loue moueth our soules towardes that obiect which promiseth rest contentment Whereupon it followeth that as heauie things doe moue in a direct line towards the place of their rest so if we will attaine vnto any perfect repose our loue must go right and haue an equall motion 1 True loue then is that same which giueth rest and contentment vnto the soule whereas false loue is an irregular agitation and endlesse motion Such is worldly loue which we see to be filled with vnquietnesse and not to stay his agitation but through wearisomnesse or despaire which is no rest but an vnablenesse to moue because that force failing desire doth still continue like vnto a tied horse which gnaweth his bit Such are almost all men they haue many desires and little power they most desire that they can least do neither being able to obey or command their couetousnes They cannot obey it because of their weaknes nor commaund it because of their incontinencie So that if a man enioy without any let that which he loueth that verie easinesse it selfe bringeth him a distast withal For worldly loue is enflamed by resistaÌ„ce and nourished with difficulties like vnto those fishes which loue to be in violent streames and floud-gates but do die in a still water The cause of this vnquietnesse is because that our loue chuseth false obiects and which cannot satisfy couetousnesse For if you passe your eie vpon all which is best and most pleasing in the world you shall not finde therein any firme and stable quiet but a chaine of cares linked together a web of perpetuall vnrest The most graue sweetes are sowâ—ed in bitternes The atcheiuement of riches pleasure and honour is painfull and many perish in the pursuite therof the possession is vncertaine but the losse certaine For if these things leaue not vs by some accident we shall leaue theÌ„ by death These are things which are bestowed not onely vpon the wicked but euen because they are bad as being rewards of wickednesse To expose a mans loue towards these things is but a pursuing of the winde and a perpetuall trauell For euen when these things might be termed alwaies good yet are they vncertaine A man cannot take good aime at a flying fowle nor haue any assured designement aiming after transitorie goods and pleasures We must seek our rest then some other where theÌ„ on earth and turne the edge of our loue towards heauen For euen as the lower part of the elementary region is the seate of windes tempests and earthquakes but that part towards heauen is alwaies peaceable stil so our loue shall be euer full of vnquietnes whilest it setteth it self vpon base things but it shall find rest if it raise it selfe towards heaueÌ„ Gods promises And for this cause is it that in the middest of tempestuous wether at sea the needle of the Compasse remaineth alwayes vnmoueable and stayed vpon one point namely be cause it gouerneth it self by the Pole In like sort the soule of a faithfull Christian in the midst of the confusioÌ„s of this world most grieuous afflictions shall enioy a most assured peace because his loue aimeth at heauen and stayeth it selfe vpon Gods promises which is the true obiect of our loue which alone is to be chiefly loued which can make vs louely in louing vs and which alone can yea will make them happie who loue them As the Apostle S. Paul saith The eie of man hath not seene his eares heard nor hath euer entred into his hart what things God hath prepared for those which loue him Also he promiseth in S. Iohn To come vnto him which loueth him and to dwell with him Admirable loue which maketh our soules to be the pallace of the King of heauen and the sanctuarie of his Spirit 2 Philosophie leadeth vs hereunto at vnawares for it hath for a generall Maxime that God and nature make nothing in vaine Now this infinit desire this vn satiable appetite which is in man should be in vaine if there were not something to content it which being not found vpon earth must be sought for in heauen and towards God who is infinite goodnesse 3 Adde hereunto that God hauing created the world for mans vse hath without all doubt created man for some better thing then the world to wit for God himselfe 4 And that amongst all creatures God hath created man alone vnto his Image alone with vpright stature visage erected vpwards to the end he might loue him whose resemblance hee beareth and that his desire and his loue might aime at heauenly things 5 Adde we hereunto that the perfection of our spirits cannot be but in the vnion with the Chiefe of spirits which communicateth his vertue vnto the creature in like fashioÌ„ as the Sunne darteth out his beames that is giueth it in such sort that it yet dependeth vpon him after hauing giuen it 6 Moreouer true loue is that which transformeth the louer into the thing beloued Now if a deformed man loue a corporall beautie neuer shall hee by that loue correct his owne imperfection contrariwise by louing God we become like to him and as the Apostle saith in the 2. Corinth chap. 3. Beholding as in a mirrour the glorie of the Lord with open face we are changed into the same image 7 Finally beauty being the first sparke of loue we shall see hereby how that which we call loue is not so but only a superficial colour which couereth filth but that light is true beautie God then being the first light father of lights is also the chiefe beautie and by consequent hee that we ought chiefly to loue Yet humane Philosophie disagreeth here in one point from diuine which is the word of God For naturall Philosophie holdeth that naturall motion is alwayes better then that which is against nature On the coÌ„trarie in matter of loue the Scripture teacheth vs that the loue contrarie vnto our nature is better then the natural For sithence Sathan by seducing Adam hath disfigured the Image of God in man mans desires haue turned towards the world and in a maner our loue hath bene fallen headlong downe from heauen to earth The affections of the flesh are enmity with God Rom. 8. If any one loue God it is not of his owne nature but it is a gift of God Wherefore our Lord Iesus in the eight of Saint Iohn saith that none can come to him if his Father draw him not And the Apostle S. Paul pulling vs out of the mire and thicke mud commandeth vs to seeke the things which are on high Coloss 3. ver 1 2. For the saying of the Apostle S. Iohn is most true
Word eternall Wisedom God euerlastinglie blessed That Sonne which Esay calleth the Father of Eternitie would make himselfe the Sonne of man to the end that we might be children of God yea was content to be borne in a stable to the end that wee might be receiued into heauen to be borne amongst beasts to the end that wee might be companions with Angels Hee who is the Word it selfe was content to stammer as a childe to the end that wee might speake vnto God in all libertie He who is the bread of life was content to be an hungred to the end we might be satisfied He who is the fountaine of life was content to be athirst to the end our soules might be moistned Briefly he who is life it selfe hath suffered death that hee might giue vs life All this for vile creatures yea enemies vnto God that he might make them of slaues vnto Sathan his owne children and transport them from hel into his kingdom These are the bottomlesse pits of the bountie goodnesse of God which do gently swallow vp our soules there is pleasure to lose ones selfe therein For these are the bottomlesse depths of the grace of God which passe our vnderstanding but doe recreate our hearts which giue matter of admiration and also no lesse subiect of consolation Here are the highest witnesses of his loue here are all his fatherly affections layed open all the riches of that grace which the Angels themselues admire and as Saint Peter saith endeuour to pry profoundly into louing in this case the goodnesse of God not for their owne profit but in respect of God himselfe for Iesus Christ is not come into the world for their redemption Now to what end all this but that wee should loue him who hath so much loued vs and admire with ioy the treasures of his grace O God as thy greatnesse is incomprehensible so also thy bountie is infinite our spirits are stopped with this contemplation our words are beneath our thoughts and our thoughts yet much lower then the truth We speake of this greatnesse but stammeringly our praises do abase thee we draw the picture of the Sun with a coale But ô God raise vp our soules to thee and if our spirits be too weake to know thee make our affections ardent to loue thee Thou who wast pleased to be our Father touch our hearts with a filiall affection Thou which giuest vs occasion to loue thee giue vs also the motions thereof For as much as we are poore in meanes so much are we vncapable to receiue them and to loue thee after hauing receiued them if thou thy selfe doest not plant thy loue in vs. All these considerations do raise vp our spirits to loue God not for our selues but for his owne sake which appeareth also in this that our loue to God cannot be well directed if it be not formed vpon the modell of that loue wherewith God hath loued vs. Now God loueth vs for the loue of himselfe as he saith by the mouth of Esay It is I it is I that blotteth out thy sinnes for mine owne sake And it is the prayer which Daniel maketh in his ninth chapter Lord heare Lord pardon Lord tarrie not but hasten for thine owne sake for thy name hath bene called vpon this citie and vpon thy people God considereth that we beare his image hee considereth that wee are vnworthy of his grace but that it is a thing worthy of his bountie to do good vnto the vnworthy and which is more to make them worthy by doing them good He considereth that his Church is like vnto a flock which carieth his name and is called the people of God and therefore he will not let it be Sathans prey nor a matter of triumph vnto the aduersarie The third degree of the loue of God THe third degree or step is so to loue God aboue all things that we should loue nothing in the world but for his sake For example there are many persons and many things in the world that wee cannot keepe our selues from louing yea and it would be ill done not to loue them So a father loueth his children a wife her husband our kindred allies neighbours and friends haue part in this amitie So a man loueth his health his house his land his studie c. To go about to dispossesse a man of the loue of these things would be an inhumane doctrine and more then tending to brutalitie He is worse then an infidell that hath not care of his familie saith the Apostle Pietie rooteth not out these affections but doth husband them and of mistrisses which they were maketh them but handmaids vnto the loue and feare of the Lord. No more then Iosua would kill the Gibeonites but subiected them vnto the seruice of Gods house For then doth a father loue his children as hee ought if in bringing them vp he purpose to vse them as mē do yong plants which shall one day bring forth fruite to the glorie of God If he so remember himself to be their father that he be yet more mindfull that God is his Then a man loueth his friends as he ought when he loueth them because they loue God and because hee seeth the image of God shining in them So we shall then iustly loue health when wee shall loue it not because it is more gamesom and without paine but because it bringeth vigour vnto our bodies and libertie vnto our mindes to serue God in our vocation The like ought to be said of riches of honours of knowledge things which one may honestly loue prouided that their loue doe not distract vs from the loue of God but may rather thereto aduance help vs to performe good workes And as there is not any so little brooke but it leadeth vnto the sea so let these goodnesses of God seeme they neuer so smal leade our thoughts to this great depth of the goodnes and greatnesse of God Briefly all our liues and affections towards our neighbours shal be well squared out when they shal be branches brooks of Gods loue and a reflection of our sight which from God glanceth vpon his image Neuer loue the persons for that which is about them but for what is in them Esteem not of men as of purses for the money which is therein If you honour a man because he is well clothed by consequēce ought we to salute sattin in whole peeces If you account of a man for his honours sake you tie his dignitie to his titles and to his habite which things being takē away there is no more of any thing which ought to be loued as a horse which carieth an idoll which being takē away hath no more reuerences done about him On the contrary if you loue a man because he feareth God because he is firme in the faith forward in the knowledge of God true in his words iust in his actions charitable towards the afflicted burning with the
hast made him where is thy mindfulnesse of his benefits Is this the way to the kingdome of heauen Art thou assured that being fallen thou shalt rise againe For a little pleasure mingled with bitternesse wilt thou trouble the peace of thy conscience For a little porttage of herbes wilt thou neglect thy birth-right At these suggestions the faithfull wil stay himselfe he will sigh before God and like Sampson he will breake the bonds of his desires but all is not yet done nor this rebellious flesh is not yet quelled For after these holy resolutions we haue for certain spaces great dulnesse againe Then the diuell espieth occasion if he see vs in bad companie if he see vs idle if we haue discontinued praier reading or hearing of the word of God then our desires doe rouse themselues vp againe then the contrarie suggestions of the flesh and the spirit struggle together for masterie which maketh the life of the faithful oftentimes seem bitter euen to the desiring of death to end this combat O miserable nature enemie to it owne selfe ô ingrafted and deepe rooted corruption O mutinous seditiō which woldest bring vs back into Egypt which after our coming out of Sodome makest vs look backe againe like vnto Lots wife and makest vs loth to leaue the euill we are come from Corruptiō which troubleth our best actions by bad suggestions and besmeareth them with some euill If we thinke vpon death our flesh suggesteth vnto vs that there is yet time inough to thinke thereon If we heare or reade the reprehensions of Gods word it perswadeth vs that it is spoken vnto others If we thinke of heauen it saith we shal come time enough thither If thou thinkest to giue almes it will softly suggest in thine eare What know I that I shall haue no need thereof my selfe If thou wouldest reprehend thy friend for his amendment it will draw thee by a cruel respect namely for feare of offending him Each good affectiō hath as it were two eares like a pot by which the flesh and the world take hold to hinder the execution thereof Here then wee must carefully haue recourse to Gods assistance and imitate Rebecca who had recourse vnto prayer when two children stroue in her wombe a most expresse figure of these two men which are in euery faithful person the one which is the old the other which is the new man the one our corrupted nature the other the regenerate spirit which do couet one against another as saith the Apostle S. Paul Wherfore also God answered Rebecca The elder shall serue the younger For the old man must be subiected vnto the new vntill he be fully ranked in due obedience vnto God The fift degree of the loue of God THere remayneth now the last and chiefest degree or step which is the loue wherwith we shall loue God in the glorie celestiall For we loue things according as wee know them We shall therfore loue God much more then because wee shall much better know him Now saith the Apostle we know in part now we see as in a glasse obscurely but then we shall see face to face Our loue which seeth from a farre off and which is distracted by diuers obiects shall then see neare at hand and shall wholy be fixed vpon God And as whē two great high swelling riuers come to encounter one another they make a maruellous inundation so the loue of our selues and the loue of God are like two streames which neuer ioyne themselues together on earth but shall meete in heauen What then shall the vehemencie be of both these affections when they shal be mingled both together and ioyned in one loue For then in louing God we shall loue our selues because God shall dwell in vs and because that saith the Apostle S. Iohn we shall be like vnto him Nor are we not to doubt but that the Angels and Saints do loue themselues ardently but with a loue which distilleth from the loue of God O happie and admirable loue of ones selfe which is mingled with the loue of God! Let vs forbeare to loue our selues vntill that time and let vs loue nothing in our selues but what doth prepare vs and entertain vs with the hope of this loue But because this loue with which we shal loue God in Paradice doth grow from the view contemplation of his face for loue is kindled by the sight let vs learne what sight this shall be that shall cause this our loue Our bodily eies see things by two meanes either by receiuing their images for so we see the bodies exposed to our view or by receiuing into our eyes the thing it selfe which wee see so wee see the light which wee see in such sort as that it entereth euen into our eyes Now God who is the chiefest of lights will make our soules to see him in heauen in this latter fashion For he dwelleth in his Saints and is in them all in all But in this life he causeth himselfe to be seene by images that is by the contemplation of his works in which hee hath imprinted a picture as it were of himselfe and the expresse markes of his vertue Therfore we shal then see our God in such sort as we now see the light but that now we see it not but by the windowes of the bodie that is by the eyes for then wee shall receiue throughout all our parts the light of God which shall enlighten vs on all sides with the beames of his holinesse Euen as if a man were all eye throughout and should receiue light in himselfe on all sides This same sight of God will make vs like vnto God as Saint Iohn saith We shall be like vnto him for we shall see him as he is For as a looking-glasse cannot be exposed to the Sunne but it will shine like the same so God receiueth none to contemplate his face but hee transformeth them into his owne likenesse by the irradiation of his light and perfection And as God is charitie and loue it selfe as the same Apostle teacheth it is necessary that the creature being by this view made like vnto God should also be seized with this loue and enflamed with this spirituall fire A fire which hath giuen name vnto the Seraphins so called because of their ardour which is nothing else but the loue of God the feruour of their zeale and their readines to do him seruice Here necessarily must end these degrees or steps of loue and our meditation can mount no higher it is the last steppe of Iacobs ladder by which we mount vp vnto God CHAP. III. Of the markes and effects of the loue of God WE all make profession to loue God but few loue him seriously By this professiō we deceiue men yea we deceiue our selues but cānot deceiue God Wherefore it is necessarie to bring hither the touchstone to discerne the true and pure loue of God from the false and
of base allay As there are fiue degrees of true loue so are there also fiue markes to discerne it 1 The first mark of the true loue of God is that it quencheth all vnchast loues 2 The second mark and effect of this loue is that it bringeth peace and tranquillitie to the mind 3 The third is charitie towards our neighbours 4 The fourth is the pleasure to communicate often with God 5 The fift is the Zeale of the glorie of God which reioyceth or sorroweth according as God is honored or dishonored Whosoeuer feeleth in himselfe these effects may assure himselfe that hee loueth God with a true affection yea although that some coldnesse chance amongst this holy ardour and that the loue of himselfe be mingled withall yet this loue for being weak shall not let to be true prouided it do dayly go on tending vnto perfection Let vs runne ouer againe each one of these markes that wee may know them more perfectly The first marke of Gods Loue. THere are three sorts of loue the one whereof is euer good the other is euer bad the third good of his owne nature but accidentally bad because of our bad disposition That which is alwayes good is the loue of God in which it is impossible to sinne through excesse and in this point it is good to let slip the reines of our desires The measure of louing God is to loue him without measure The loue which is alwayes bad is the loue of murder of theft and of vnchaste pleasures c. The loue which being good of it owne nature becometh euill by accident is the loue of meate of drinke of ease or recreation appetites which are naturally good and necessarie but which we make to be bad by excesse and intemperance The loue of God doth diuersly behaue it selfe towards the other two sorts of loue For it ranketh the latter within the limits of mediocritie teacheth vs to satisfy our necessitie and not our curiositie It reiecteth all farre-fetched delicates being the distaste of a proud stomacke which awakeneth it selfe with artificiall meanes teaching vs to nourish this bodie so that it may not be a hinderance to the soule to watch and be sober lest we enter into temptation As for the second loue it can in no wise remaine with the loue of God but the feare of God doth wholy cut it off because that in a thing entirely bad we are not to seeke for any mediocritie None can be a fornicator an adulterer or a murderer by measure for the least inclination vnto these things is sinne against God But aboue all the strength of Gods loue is shewne in rooting out of our hearts vnchaste loue which kindleth in the mindes of worldly men a firebrand of filthy desires which defile our soules with a thousand beastly thoughts and importunate which of our bodies dedicated to be temples of God make an infectious brothell and as saith Saint Paul of the members of Christ do make them the members of a harlot Pleasures which weaken the bodie coole the spirit and abate courage which after the strength is consumed leaue yet a desire Infamous pleasures which place men beneath beasts of which man in this point ought to learne the laws of continencie and sobrietie Traiterous pleasures which embrace men to strangle them dally with him on the lap of delight as Dalilah played with Sampson that they may deliuer him not to the Philistians but vnto the diuell who hauing poaked out the sinners eyes oftentimes leade him this way vnto the temple of the Idoll Yet as if this were not enough man hath chosen out a painefull way vnto his pleasures they are not esteemed if not troublesome The stollen waters are sweetest saith Salomon and the malice of man supposeth all other entries better then the legitimate The loue of God entring into the spirit of any one for to purge it doth presently void out this filth and smothereth vp this loue by his greater force which teacheth vs to loue in our neighbors not their bodily beautie but their soules ornaments This holy loue hauing for his obiect the chiefe of spirits loueth consequently in men their spirituall beautie a beautie which cōsisteth in the image of God an image whose principall lineaments are iustice and holinesse A beautie which is not superficial as that of the bodie which hideth within it selfe bloud brain and things which one may not behold without horror but it is a beautie which extendeth it self vnto the bottome as the beautie of a diamond or of the light it selfe The beautie of the body is but a flower which is withered with age but the beautie of the soule is not subiect vnto time and which is more the wrinkles which it hath are done out with time Many women might haue bin more happie if they had bene lesse beautifull for their beautie hath plentifully afflicted them but spirituall beautie is alwayes accompanied with Gods blessing Besides consider attentiuely the fairest visage of the world and you will becom neuer a whit the more faire your self but shall rather seem the fouler being neare it But carefully to contemplate a soule which God hath embellished with vertue will make you become vertuous and will forme you according to his example Carnall eyes perceiue not this beautie and pleasure knoweth not what it is For as a horse louing a mare thinketh that in the world there is no other beautie so the carnall and sensuall man thinketh there is no other beautie but that which through the sight toucheth his desires But the view of the faithfull pierceth further and oftentimes cleane through a corporall beáutie seeth the vetie image of the diuell Cōtrariwise the inward beauty is oftentimes vnder an exteriour foulenesse as that of a slubbered diamond As that of Iesus Christ during his opprobrious handling whereof Esay in the 53. chap. saith that there was not in him either forme or beautie and yet in the 45. Psalme he is called the most faire amongst the sonnes of men As the beautie of the Church whereof it is said in the first of Canticles that she is browne and yet faire being blacke without and burnt with afflictions which notwithstanding blot not out her inward beautie Therfore that women curious of their beautie may rather studie to adorne themselues inwardly as it is said in the 45. Psalm The Kings daughter is full of glorie within Let them take heed lest in decking artificially their bodies they become a snare of desires an instrument in the diuels hand A souldier hauing a sword that hath surely serued him in many combats will be careful to scowre and polish it and doe wee maruell if the woman hauing serued Sathan to ouerthrow Adam be carefully decked embellished by him and that women are so curious in ornaments by the suggestion of the diuell But we whom God hath honored with his knowledge to the end we might be inflamed with this loue let vs shut our eyes
of goods ill gotten who hauing enriched himself by fraudulent meanes and extortion thinks to appease God by giuing part of his robberies in alms goes about to corrupt God with presents cal him to take part of the spoile As in the law God receiued not as an offring neither the price of a dog nor the hire of the letcher so in the Gospell God will that almes which the Apostle to the Hebrews calleth a sacrifice should be of iust things and gotten by labour that he who hath stollen steale no more but rather labor with his hands that he may haue to giue vnto him that hath neede Ephes 4. Wherfore when Iesus Christ in the 16. of S. Luke wil that we giue almes of vniust riches hee calleth riches there euill not because they were vniustly gottē but because that ordinarily they are enticements baits of iniquitie otherwise hee would sooner haue commanded them to be rendered vnto such as they had bene wrongfully taken from This same loue of God produceth peace and concord amongst brethren For it is impossible to loue God without imitating him Now he is the God of peace Rom. 16. Wee must therefore be children of peace in imitation of him for so are the faithful called in the 10. of Luke To this purpose in the 19. of the first of Kings God is represented as not being in the storme and boisterous winde but in the still and quiet sound because God is not amongst confusions and quarrels amongst persons which eate vp one another but amongst those which be at peace and vnitie But the diuel liueth vpon discord and is friend vnto strife Euen as men cause two dogges or two cocks to fight together for pleasure the lookers on encouraging them to the combat so doubt you not but when two men fight together the diuel pricketh them on and taketh pleasure thereat Let vs take heed lest before we be aware we make our selues the diuels bable or pastime We I say that be brothers who haue all the world on our skirts who by one selfe same combat do tend to one selfe same hope called to repaire the breaches of Ierusalem to build againe the house of God in the view and despite of the diuel It is written in the 1. of Kings chap. 6. that Salomons temple was builded without any noise there was not one stroake of a hammer heard Let vs labour in the worke of God without any noise and without strife And here may and ought to be remembred the aduertisement which Ioseph gaue to his brethren at their going out of Egypt to return to their father he sent them away and said vnto them Fall not out by the way For what is the life of a faithful man but an issue out of Egypt a voyage to return home to our father Let vs not quarrell then on the way let vs liue in peace and the God of peace will remaine with vs whom we shall loue the more ardently whē we are ioyned in affections for to loue him The fourth marke of the Loue of God WE presume that such are friends whom wee ordinarily see together Communication and familiarity are the nurses of friendship yea more then good turnes He which doth a pleasure with a seueritie withdrawing his companie from all who giueth with a refusing countenance like one that should fling his bread at a beggers head doth vnbind in binding and is paied wel enough if his benefits be pardoned Friendship also requireth that a friend should in all things be aduised by his friend discharge vnto him his cares discouer his sorrowes and powre all his griefe into his bosome to take counsell of him if there be any remedie and to ease himselfe if there be none This is then also one of the markes of the loue of God to wit a frequent communication by the which the faithful Christian doth counsell or consolate himselfe with God For the man which loueth God being to deliberate vpō any thing of importance doth first consult with the oracle of Gods mouth and enquireth after his will As for example vpon the choise of religion he wil not call the belly to coūsell nor worldly hopes he will not imitate the Shechemites which tooke the seale of Gods couenant vpon them to haue the substance and cattell of the children of Iacob nor the Iewes which in the 6. of Saint Iohn follow Christ to haue bread he will not make Iesus Christ serue him for a puruey or nor religion to be a merchādize of the time or a dependancie of his domesticall affaires The feare of men shame respect worldly honours couetousnesse like blind and traiterous coūsellers shal not be admitted vnto this counsell but he will withdraw himselfe vnto God after hauing ardently craued his grace he wil resolue to beleeue nothing but what hee teacheth vs in his word wherein if there be any difficulty yet that which remaineth cleare is sufficient for our instructiō Adde hereunto that if he demand faithfully in Iesus Christ his name the grace to vnderstand inough for his saluation Iesus Christ promiseth that all which we shall so demand in his name he will giue vs. Likewise if he be to make a match or chuse any vocation he wil first counsell himselfe with God that he may chuse that vocation in which he shal be least sollicited to offend God and in which he shal haue most meanes to glorifie him After this consultation humane wisedome may be heard in her rank not as a mistris to rule the rost but as a seruant who speaketh when he is questioned she shall propound what our forces are what the present necessitie is what the courses of the time and the circumstāces of places and persons In like sort if there be any question of mariage the faithfull wil before all other things consult with Gods mouth and will heare the Apostle Saint Paul 1. Corin. 7. commanding that it be done in the Lord. And God himself in the 7. of Deuteronomie charging vs not to contract mariage but with true beleeuers So Isaac and Iacob were maried by the commandement of their fathers but Esau took vnto him wiues of the Gentiles which were a bitternesse vnto Isaac and Rebecca I passe ouer the consideration of the inconueniences which doe spring thereof for at this time we do seeke onely after the proofes and effects of the true loue of God For if a friend should marrie himselfe without cōmunicating the matter vnto his friēd might he not take occasion to say You doe mistrust me and do all your businesse without speaking thereof vnto me Now if God hath cōmunicated vnto vs all his coūsel as saith S. Paul Acts 20 shall we make difficultie to let him know ours His counsell I say which is a bottomlesse depth of wisedome full of wholesome and holy mysteries on the contrarie our coūsels which are but light things and wherein he will be our counseller for our good and
that we must loue God because he hath loued vs first This is also one of the effects of the loue of God towards vs to wit our loue towards him And there is nothing that we ought to demaund of God with more feruencie then to haue the grace to loue him for this is vnto the faithfull a witnesse that God loueth him it is the first effect of faith it is a most expresse trace of Gods image it is the most liuely marke of Gods children This loue is the soule of other vertues the rule of our actions the summary of the law This loue is the vpholder of Martyrs the ladder of heauen the peace of conscience yea I dare say it is a tast and a beginning of the vnion and communication which we shal haue with God in heauen Our meditation cannot chuse a more excellent subiect for what is there which is greater then God or more sweete thē his loue The profit likewise is no lesse then the sweetnesse for men are good or bad not because they beleeue but because they loue Those be good which loue good things and amongst good things what is there like vnto God who not onely is soueraignely good but who also maketh them good which loue him Let vs then endeuour so to do and to be disciples vnto the holy Spirit which is loue it selfe and which will forme our hearts vnto loue lest we be deceiued vnder this name of loue and lest we should take for this true loue a corporall loue an importunate itching a furious heate to wit the worst of vices for the chiefe of vertues a brutall sicknesse for an Angelicall perfection I know truly that he who shall dispose himselfe to loue God with al his heart to neglect all other considerations in regard of his seruice shall necessarily incurre the hatred of the world whose loue is enmitie with God as the Apostle Saint Iames saith But God causeth this hatred of the world to profite vs for as the Apostle saith All things together one with another turne to the good of those which loue God Euils become blessings vnto them corporall afflictions are so many spiritual exercises vnto them the sicknesses of the bodie are medicines vnto their soules for in the hands of this soueraigne Physitiō verie poison it selfe becometh a medicine his strokes are balme as Dauid saith and in suffering for Gods cause there is not onely matter of patience but euen occasion of glory They are like scarres on the forehead honorable maimes conformities vnto Iesus Christ liueries of a Christian souldier And all through the vnderpropping of this loue whose sweetnesse tempereth this bitternesse and maketh vs reioyce for his names sake Some one will say that the loue of God is an excellent vertue indeed but that to loue him we must know him before and that we cannot know him in this life but with a slender obscure knowledge This is true but for all this we must not let to study the same we must not suffer ignorance to be cause of negligence for wee cannot haue so litle knowledge of God but it will profit vs and stirre vs vp vnto the loue of God One beame of his light is worth the whole Sun A man were better to haue an obscure knowledge of God then a cleare vnderstanding of naturall things If a beam of the Sun do enter into an obscure den or dungeō the prisoner by this little snip knoweth the beautie of light so the little which wee haue of the knowledge of God is sufficient to giue vs a taste of his excellencie and to inflame vs with his loue Moreouer the knowledge which Gods giues vs of himselfe is not so small but it is sufficient vnto saluation and the obligations which we owe vnto the goodnesse of God the causes of our loue are fully represented vnto vs in the word of God where the Apostle Saint Paul herald of the said word saith That vnto vs is declared all the counsell of God Acts 20. 27. CHAP. II. Fiue degrees of the Loue of God WE are so vncapable of the loue of God that we are euen ignorant what it is This herbe groweth not in our garden it is a gift from aboue comming from the Father of lights who is loue charitie it selfe as saith Saint Iohn It is a licour which God powreth into our soules by drops as into narrow mouthed vessels Wherefore to deale with our selues according to our owne slownesse we will endeuour to receiue it into our mindes by little and little and by easie steps to bring our selues to the highest degree of loue There are fiue degrees of this loue the lowest whereof being the most imperfect doth serue notwithstāding to raise vs to the highest 1 The first degree is to loue God because of the good which hee doth vs and which we hope to receiue of him 2 The second degree is to loue him for his owne sake because he is soueraignely excellent and most excellently amiable 3 The third is not only to loue God aboue al things and more then our selues but also not to loue any thing in the world but for Gods loue 4 The fourth is to hate our selues for Gods sake 5 Aboue all which degrees that loue of God excelleth wherewith we shall loue him in the life to come A loue which burneth in the breasts of Saints and Angels which stand before his throne of glorie We call these sorts of loue degrees and not kinds because the higher degrees containe the inferiour euen as the most excellēt white differeth frō other whitenesse lesse cleare not in kinde of colour but in degree steps vpō which wee must get vp and vpon each of them stay a little our spirits The first degree THe first and lowest step is to loue God because of the good which he doth vs. Vpon this degree of loue was Dauid when in the 116 Psalme he saith I loue the Lord because he hath heard my voice and so in the 18. Psalme For God will be loued for doing good vnto vs. It is God which hath made vs which keepeth and guideth vs which nourisheth our bodies and instructeth our soules redeemeth vs by his Sonne gouerneth vs by his holy Spirit teacheth vs by his word maketh vs his seruants yea his friends yea his children yea euen one with himselfe Plato philosophizing vpon the grace of God according as he was able gaue thankes vnto him for three things 1. For that he had created him a mā not a beast 2. That he was borne a Grecian and not a Barbarian 3. That not onely so but a Philosopher also We that are instructed in a better schoole do otherwise distribute our thanksgiuing and do praise him for three things also 1. That amongst all his creatures he hath made vs men created after his owne image 2. That frō amongst all sorts of men hee hath made vs Christians 3. That amongst those which beare
zeale of Gods house you shall neuer want occasion to loue him Take away from him his goods his honours yea his cloathes yea euen his bodie all these ornaments will remaine and that excellencie which consisteth in the image of God and the graces of his Spirit I am not ignorant that the secrets of mens hearts are very deep and oftentimes the friends which a man chuseth for vertuous do becom vicious or else shew they were neuer otherwise In this case the man which loueth God ought to reprehend his friend and to reforme him if he can possible Flatterie hath takē away from true friendship all his termes except the libertie to reprehend To be afraid to chide ones friend lest wee should offend him is a respect full of crueltie as if whē hee were readie to be drowned thou shouldst feare to catch him by the haire of the head lest hee should leese a haire or two If by these reprehēsions thy friend do not amēd the friendship of a man must then giue place vnto Gods loue We must do like Moses who made vse of his rod whilest it was a rod but fled from before it when it became a serpent And yet in this case it were better to separate our selues by little and little and to vnsow friendship rather then to teare it asunder Vnto all these difficulties the loue of God serueth as a rule Many heathen haue gathered a number of precepts of friendship but haue not discouered this secret which ruleth all their rules that is to learne first to loue God and to cause our friendships to be deriued frō his loue Such as the braine is vnto the sinewes the liuer vnto the veines and the heart vnto the arteries that very same is the loue of God vnto humane friendships that is to say they are but threds and branches which depend thereon This diuine loue not being therein friendships are no friendships but a conspiration an accord or agreemēt to disagree with God friendships grounded vpon pleasure or vpon gaine which ceasse when pleasures leese their taste through age or when profite diminisheth or is not equally distributed but friendships groūded vpon the loue of God are firme because they are grounded vpon a sure foundatiō Which loue ought so far to aduance it selfe that for the loue of God we ought not onely to loue our friends but euen our enemies because God willeth it Matth. 5. Because that amongst these enmities some marks of Gods image do yet appeare because they are as it were rods in Gods hand for our amendment and inforcements vnto his feare The fourth degree of the loue of God WE are not yet at the highest For we must come euen to the hating of our selues for the loue of God For euen as there is not in man any loue more strong or more naturall then the loue of our selues so is it that same which most resisteth the loue of God and which is most vneasy to be surmounted That which the shirt is in our cloathing the same is the loue of our selues in our affections to wit that which is last put off There we are to fight a great combat it is as it were Sathans last intrenchment frō whence he is vneasily driuen away Yet none can loue God as he ought who hateth not his owne nature who is not grieued at his owne desires and maketh not mortall war against them being desirous to finish this combat by death to be dissolued that he might be with God readie to be prodigall of his bloud that he may be sparing of Gods glorie waxing wearie of this bodie of ours as of a mouing prison or portable sepulcher Like vnto him that being in prison looketh through the grates desiring his libertie so looke you not to get out at the doore you shall onely get out through the ruines thereof by the destructiō of this body as whē the prison sinketh the prisoner escapeth at some breach thereof Hee which shall haue most made warre with himselfe shall haue the more peace with God he which shall not haue pardoned himself God shall pardon him he which shall haue despised yea hated his owne life he shall saue it Here is the fourth degree or step of loue and the highest that man can reach vnto in this life It was this degree of loue which made the Apostle to crie out Alas miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death It was this degree of loue which caused Dauid hauing a scepter in his hand being vanquisher of his enemies and filled with earthly riches and honor to acknowledge himselfe but a stranger and way faring man vpō earth It is this degree of loue which hath sustained Martyrs in their torments the heate wherof hath bene hoter then the heate of the fire can you think that they had their muscles of steele or bodies vncapable of torment and paine it is not so But as the heate of a feauer drieth vp outward vlcers and a lesser heate is surmounted by a greater so the interior heate of Gods loue did surmount the heate of the flame and had more strength to sustain them then paine had power to preuaile against them Martyrs whose vertues do yet vnto this day sustaine our vices whose ashes do yet heate our coldnesse whose bloud doth yet crie speaking both for the truth of the Gospell and against our slacknesse who in a litle time are so farre degenerate from their constancy Surely if they do not serue vs for an example they will serue vs for a reproach and condemnation Now to come to this degree of loue we must haue a long and hard combat for our flesh is rebellious mutinous and couetousnes so rooted therein that to pluck it vp as witnesseth the Son of God himselfe is as if a man should cut off a hand or plucke out an eye And Saint Paul also calleth our desires our members Notwithstanding God saith that he will make an end of his worke in our infirmitie he maketh vs to be victorious but after many fals Oftentimes man being placed as in a crosse-way betweene the spirit and the flesh betweene the loue of God and the loue of the world hee feeleth contrarie suggestions and a maruellous combat How many times commeth it to passe that after the loue of God hath had the vpper hand and that the faithful hath resolued to be good by and by his desires doe reassemble thēselues giue a new assault vnto the feare of God The faithful being thus assailed either with some appetite of reuenge of rapine or lust shall feele this loue of God speaking thus vnto him in his heart Miserable man whither goest thou doth not God see this despisest thou his threatnings reiectest thou his promises forgettest thou thy vocation Wherfore wouldest thou grieue the Spirit of God wherefore wouldest thou bring a scandall vpon his Church Where are the promises which thou
wold he haue bin rauished if himselfe had bene transfigured as the Apostle saith that Iesus Christ shall transforme our vile bodies that they may be made like vnto his glorious bodie Who doubteth but that when this glorie vanished S. Peter was seized with great sorrow and so indeede the heart of the faithfull comming from this meditation againe to consider these base and earthly things is necessarily touched with a great distast and base esteeme of them and is grieued to see himselfe tied thereunto and to say with Dauid Psal 42. O when shall I present my self before the face of God It was these thoughts which made the Prophet greedie and thirstie after the Lord. These were the thoughts which made Paul desire to be dislodged and to be with Christ which made him thinke that which was gaine vnto others to be losse vnto him These are the thoughts which haue euen in our time sustained the Martyrs which haue made them go vnto death as cheerfully as those which come thence For loue is strong saith Salomon as death yea stronger seeing it maketh one to despise life This ardour of loue is entertayned in our soules by a frequent cōmunication with God and wee may easily see that the cause of our slacknesse and coldnesse in this loue is because wee speake not often with God The most exquisite friendships doe waxe cold for want of communication how much more if friendship neuer hath bene as indeed man is naturally borne and inclined vnto enmitie with God This is a common euill to wit that wee are much exercised in speaking with others but very litle with our selues and yet lesse with God If some houres of leisure do steale vs from men they giue vs not any whit the more vnto God If we enter alone into our closet we enter not euer the sooner into our selues to examine our consciēces to search our wounds to feele the pulses of our consciences or to talk with God And yet none shall see him aboue who hath not carefully sought him here below and hath not carefully walked with him by prayers meditations and by the studie and reading of the word This let vs study and from our life which is deuided into a thousand parts amongst a thousand occupatiōs suites solicitations publicke and domesticke affaires let vs withdraw some houres to giue our selues vnto God retiring our selues out of the throng and noise of this world quietly to meditate on those things which pertaine to our saluation As if by a litle channell we wold diuert a part of the troubled waters of a stream that they may run more gently and cleerly A running brooke presenteth not any images nor a spirit which is euer in action alwaies pussed with businesse hardly can hee frame himselfe vnto the image of God We must then separate some houres to speake with God All the time of our life is lost except that which is thus husbanded That time alone is only ours which we giue to God Let none here alledge his domesticke affaires For if we be Gods children his seruice is part of our domesticall affaires yea and whilest we are doing our handy workes what hindereth vs that we may not think of God and send him vp by our broken sighes those sort of prayers which the ancient Fathers called eiaculatoriae short praiers which may be said euery where prayers lanced forth spiritual sallies borne of the present occasion prayers which haue no other ornament but feruency whose clauses haue no other contexture but necessitie Who doubteth but that the Prophet Eliseus ploughing of his field of that verie labour of his tooke occasion to say We sow here in teares but we shall reape in heauen with ioy Or that the Apostle S. Paul labouring with his hands to make tents of this earthly trauell tooke occasion to thinke of our heauenly rest The way is euery where open vnto praier and the loue of God is ingenious to suggest thoughts which like sparkes of pietie mount vp vnto God The fift marke of the Loue of God THe life of the bodie is discerned by these two markes 1. by motion 2. by feeling The loue of God being the life of our soules is also knowne by these two things The foure marks of this loue which wee haue hitherto presented are the motions of our soules for they are holy actions and spirituall motions produced by the loue of God but this fift marke is the feeling to wit an affection which maketh a man sensible to be moued either with griefe or with ioy according as God is blasphemed or glorified Carnall and vicious loue may serue vs for an example We reade of the sonne of king Antigonus that being grieuously sicke and none knowing the cause of his maladie his Physitian perceiued the cause to be the loue of his mother in law because that she being entred into the chamber his pulse began to beate extraordinarily The like happeneth in the loue of God All men that are therewith possessed when that they see God glorified or his name his truth blasphemed although hee intend to containe himselfe yet will the pulse of his conscience be extraordinarily moued either with ioy or sorow and impatience It will chance him as it happened vnto Croesus his sonne who hauing bene euer dumbe came suddenly to his speech seeing his father assailed feare and griefe hauing ouercome all naturall hinderances For the Spirit of Iesus Christ dwelling in him produceth the same effects in him as in himselfe of whom it is written The zeale of thy house hath eaten me vp This affection did exulcerate the Apostle Saint Paul being at Athens and grieued his soule to see the Towne so giuen to idolatry This same zeale was it which seized on the soule of Eli his daughter in law so as in her death she was not so much afflicted either for his or for her husbands as for the Arke of the couenant which was taken by the infidels It is of this alone that she speaketh dying The glorie of the Lord saith she is departed frō Israel There is no more certain effect of the loue of God then this here for if at one time we receiue seuerall newes the one of the losse of a law-suite the other of the reuolt of some persons bought and are more grieued with the last then the first Or if we be more angrie to heare Gods name blasphemed then to heare our selues euill spoken of then haue we in vs an assured witnesse that the loue of God is liuely imprinted in our soules Good bloud will not bely it selfe All wel-borne children are touched at the quicke with the iniuries are done vnto their fathers who so is not moued therewith confesseth himselfe a bastard or a stranger This is an euill which we see before our eyes to our great griefe that vnto them which make profession to carrie weapons and to vnderstand the termes of reputatiō if one speake the least crosse
diuell comforting himselfe in the meane time in God and relying on his loue This same friendship among the faithfull will serue the better to make them know themselues For seeing we be blind in our imperfections we ought to borrow our friends eyes and lend them ours to the end we may mutually reprehend and correct one another The serious reprehensions of a friend do more good then praises were they neuer so true Whoso shall take away from friendship the libertie of reprehending leaueth nothing that may distinguish it from flatterie And seeing that we are naturally lame and benūmed in things touching Gods seruice we must employ the helpe of our friēds to the end they may bring vs into this bath to receiue healing For God communicateth not his graces vnto vs that they should fade and vanish with vs but that we might multiply our talent and that the spring of his spiritual benedictions which he causeth to breake forth in vs may run out and serue for instruction to our neighbors as Christ saith to S. Peter But thou being conuerted confirme thy brethren For if God command vs to take vp our enemies strayed beast how much more to reforme the soule of our friend when it wandereth out of the way of saluation This communication also among the faithfull bringeth comfort in affliction which being deuided among many is more easily borne Many small brooks reunited in one channell carrie great vessels many afflicted spirits ioyning thēselues together by concord mutuall support will easily beare an affliction And the word of God witnesseth vnto vs that God looketh on hearkneth vnto and taketh pleasure in the consolations and mutuall exhortations of his children So the Prophet Malachie in the 3. chapter saith that when the proud are esteemed happie and the bad aduanced then those which feared the Lord spake one vnto another the Lord was attentiue and heard and a booke of remembrance was written before him for them which feare the Lord and think on his name and they shall be mine said the Lord when I shall lay apart my most precious iewels O how precious a treasure is a vertuous friend fearing God! And would to God that as we are vsed to know by certaine markes the goodnesse and courage of a horse so also in the choise of friends that we might with the sight of a man know his vertue but the lurking holes of the spirit of a man are so deep that he deceiueth both himselfe and others and he is hidden euen from himselfe Yet by a mans innocencie of his actiōs sobrietie of his words by the simplicitie of his habit by his zeale and ardour in Gods cause by his disesteem of gain by his eschuing of pleasures you may very probably know the puritie of his mind within euē as by the sparks coming forth of a heape of ashes men know the hidden fire The third helpe of the loue of God THe disesteeme likewise and hatred of the world doth not a litle aide vnto the loue of God For the loue of the world saith S. Iames is enmitie against God And S. Iohn likewise If anie one loue the world the loue of the Father is not in him By the world I vnderstand humane busines worldly pomp carnall enticements earthly desires deceitful and vncertaine hopes who so loueth God will looke on these things with disdaine He wil passe ouer all the ages of man from his conception vnto his rotten sepulcher he will consider in all the conditions and states of his life his certaine miserie his vncertain hopes vnfruitfull gaine that he may say with Salomon Vanitie of vanities all is vanitie Looking on these things with a disdaine mingled with compassion a disdaine extending euen vnto hatred when he shall consider wickednesse to be mingled with vanitie and the diuell to haue so established his reigne in the world that it is a kind of miracle and prodigie to see therein a good man So as the Prophet Esay acknowledgeth chap. 8. Behold me saith he and the children which the Lord hath giuen me for a signe and for a miracle in Israel Now if it were a miracle in Israel to see a familie instructed in the feare of the Lord how much more amongst infidels and if in Ierusalem how much more in Babylon It is then without reason that we wonder when wee see examples of disloyaltie crueltie vncleannesse seeing that on the contrary the Spirit of God teacheth vs to hold the example of pietie and the feare of God for a miraculous and vnusual thing These and such like considerations ioyned vnto the feeling of the excellencie of the children of God will cause the faithfull to esteeme himselfe better then the world and looking on the earth as a place cursed will liue therin as a passenger and traueller as an Englishman that should trauell ouer Persia or Tartaria intending to returne into his countrey For hee will not answer as that Philosopher who being enquired of what countrey he was answered that he was a citizen of the world but the faithfull saith he is a stranger in this world and a citizen of heauen and therfore withdrawing his affection from the world and raising vp his heart vnto God he doth like him who from the top of the Alpes where the aire is cleer looketh vpō the fields beaten with tempest the country all about foggie and mistie and there reioyceth him self resting himselfe vpō the loue of God which hath deliuered him frō this general male dictiō So in the 29. Psalme after hauing represented the tearing of the Cedars the shaking of the mountaines and the discouering of the forrests by the force of the thundering voice of God he withdraweth the children of God out of this confusiō and assembles them into Gods pallace where hee is glorified and assures himselfe that God wil giue peace and strength vnto his people For in this pallace of God which is his church doth sound that voice not which shaketh the mountains but which assureth our hearts not that voice which rooteth vp the Cedars but that which comforteth our consciences not that which causeth the Hindes to cast their yong ones but which maketh vs to conceiue hope It is the word of the Gospell in which God layeth open the treasures of his loue in which whosoeuer shall take a relish he shall finde the sweetes of the world to be bitternesse and hating the same wil learne to loue God Now we say this not to discharge our selues of all earthly things this carelesnes of the world hindereth not the loue of our children nor the care of our family nor our endeuour in the administration of our magistracie but the faithful will do these things as a passenger fits himselfe in the best manner he may at some Inne He who is not to stay there aboue a night will not stand to build a wall and if he suffer there any discommodity he wil patiently digest it because it is but a
passage For the faithfull wil follow domesticall and ciuil affaires not as if he meant there to set vp his staffe to tie therunto his desseignes or therein to place his hope His thoughts will euer be in some other place and during his businesse will euer think of the vanitie of his trauell He will alwayes begin his actions with the seruice of God and inuocation of his name and that shal euer be the first which he will haue last whilest worldlings after the example of Martha paine themselues excessiuely in domesticke affaires he after Maries example will chuse the good part which shall not be taken from him placing himselfe at Christs feete to heare his word If hee haue any worldly feares they wil giue place vnto the feare of God If he haue any hopes they will giue place vnto his hope of the kingdom of heauen If he haue any sorrowes they will be swallowed vp of a greater sorrow proceeding from the sence of his sinnes or the bruisings of Ioseph God himselfe herein is an example vnto vs. For in building of the world he hath done cōtrary vnto men which do build also men begin at the foundation but God beginneth at the top He stretched out the heauens before he laied the foundations of the earth The naturall workes of God are spirituall instructions vnto vs. To the end that wee may follow this order and that wee may euer begin by the care of heauenly things the earthly will present themselues in the second rank to be thought on not of loue or of purpose but by necessitie and as much as is required for not seeming cruell vnto those which be ours or enemies to our selues Seeke ye first the kingdom of God and the righteousnes thereof and all other things shal be administred vnto you Math. 6. 33. The fourth aide of the loue of God FRequent and often prayers doe likewise nourish this loue I mean as well publicke as priuate for the publick are a quire of sighes a harmonie of affections sent vp with one accord vnto God which imitateth that holy consort of the Angels soules of the Saints sounding on their harps in heauen wherof mention is made in the 5. of the Apocalypse In our priuate prayers the faithfull man being hidden from mans eies discouereth himselfe vnto God maketh his complaints to him with a child-like familiaritie prayeth vnto him not of custome but with affectiō with words broken off with sighes which are vsed euen in the midst of businesse through a gentle distraction and wholesom interruption which prayers haue no other motiue but loue nor other subiect but necessitie or other eloquence but affection None craueth an almes with the flowers of Rhetoricke Familiar simplicitie is verie comely in prayer To make these solitary praiers Isaac went out into the fields So king Ezechias turned his face vnto the wall for feare to be troubled in his praier So the Apostle S. Peter went vp vnto an high roome of the house to pray alone Iesus Christ himself in the 6. of Luke withdrew himselfe into a mountain to make his prayers and continued therein all night Both these sorts of prayers haue promise of God to be heard As touching the publick our Sauiour promiseth vs that there where two or three be gathered together in his name he will be in the midst of them and that all which they shall aske with one accord shall be ganted them As for the priuate he also speaketh thus in the 6. of S. Matth. When thou prayest enter into the closet and hauing shut the doore pray vnto thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which is in secret shall reward thee openlie These prayers are so many matches of the loue of God For as soone as God will be prayed vnto by vs this is a great witnes vnto vs that he loues vs. Our importunitie is pleasing vnto him he giueth by his commandemēt free accesse vnto our praiers That wee may obtaine his graces hee demandeth no other price of vs but our prayers For riuers of his goodnesse he demandeth but some drops of our thankfulnes He is attentiue vnto the crie of the afflicted He is nigh vnto them which call vpon him If the crie of dead Abels bloud came vp vnto him how much more the cry of his liuing childrē which cal vpon him in the name of Iesus Christ If he reckon our haires how much more our sighes and our prayers which hee himselfe hath prescribed vs Adde hereunto that prayer is a strong bridle vnto vs to hold vs in the feare of God For this onelie thought that it is before him that we present our selues before him who knoweth our harts who seeth all our filthinesse through the cloake of hypocrisie obligeth vs to purifie our hearts and our hands to wit our thoughts and actions according to the commandement of the Apostle I will saith he that all men make praiers in all places heauing vp pure hands without anger or debate On the contrarie God by the Prophet Esai reiecteth hāds full of bloud euen when they lengthen out their praiers Then when we come to frame our prayers each word that we say is a lesson or a reproach For example we thus begin the Lords prayer Our Father which art in heauen In calling him our Father wee learne on the one part to be his obedient children and to be perswaded of his loue on the other side to despise the world as inferiour to our dignitie seeing wee be the children of God This word also of Our frameth vs vnto charity towards our neighbors to procure their good not only in our prayers but in all our actions And these words which art in heauen aduertise vs to seeke for heauenly things and that our conuersation should be as that of heauenly citizens and children of the heauenly King Then when the faithful shall come to propose his demaunds he will chide himselfe on this sort I craue of God that his name may be hallowed and yet I profane and dishonor it I desire that his kingdome may come and be aduanced and notwithstanding I resist and foreslow it as much as lieth in me vnwilling that he should reigne in me not subiecting my selfe vnto the scepter of his kingdome which is his word nor contributing any thing to his Church which is called in the Gospell Gods kingdome Item I pray his will may be done and yet I resist this wil. I beg my bread and yet couet another mans My dailie bread and yet my couetous care extends it selfe vnto many yeares So likewise wee craue that God would forgiue vs as wee forgiue them which haue trespassed against vs and for all that wee are vnreconcileable our hatred is mortall or to say better immortall and yet feare not that God should heare vs pardoning vs according as we pardon our neighbours So we desire not to be led into temptation and yet we runne after temptations