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
our haires how much more care will hee haue of our soules for which his Sonne hath died This same loue made Dauid say Psal 23. Euen when I should walke in the way of the shadow of death I would feare none euill for thou art with me thy rod and staffe do comfort me Hereby we may iudge what difference there is betweene louing God and men Let vs not speake of the weaknesse of our friends to deliuer vs their little constancie in their loue yea and of the cruel officiousnes of some friends who desire to see their friends in trouble to make them beholding vnto them for succouring them And let vs talke that which is best and honestest in our friendships I say then if there be any one who loueth a douzen persons faithfully he must then necessarily be miserable for it is a very likely matter that one of a douzen persons will euer be in trouble or sicke or afflicted If then a man shall according to the lawes of friendship participate of his friends afflictions shall he not by hauing many friends be in perpetuall miserie And if any one of them be absent it is a subiect of continuall apprehension So that many are of opinion that to be obdurate and without compassion is commodious Faithfull friendships are kindes of sicknesses ingenious to feare and which from diuers parts draw vnto themselues griefe and compassion The loue of God hath none of these incōmodities for we loue him for whom we can be in no feare and who puts vs out of all feare for our selues and warranteth vs from all euill Now if the loue of God be so full of rest in comparison of the most faithful honest friendships amongst mē how much more then in comparison of vnhonest loues which torture the conscience which hide themselues for shame where spending riot ielousie lyings in waite alteration of humors torment the mind with a perpetuall vnquietnes The third marke of the loue of God IN the third place the loue of God is manifested by the loue of ones neighbor It is impossible to loue God hate his image to loue Iesus Christ who is the head hate our neighbours who are his members it were as if a man kissing another should tread on his toes things vnsufferable as saith the Apostle Saint Iohn He who saith he loueth God and hateth his brother is a lier for who so loueth not his brother whom he seeth how can he loue God whom he hath not seene That is to say if he haue not so much as naturall loue how can he haue the supernatural Wherfore in the summarie of the law expressed in the Gospell vnto the loue of God is adioyned the loue of our neighbor as a necessary consequent an vndoubted proofe And the Apostle S. Paul saith that all the law is accomplished in this word alone Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy self Not that it is enough to loue ones neighbour without louing God but because the loue of ones neighbor doth necessarily presuppose the loue of God Now if we ought to loue our neighbours for Gods sake it followeth that aboue all we ought to loue those which loue God following the commandement of the Apostle vnto the Galathians chap. 6. Let vs do good vnto all but principally vnto the houshold of faith with whom we haue many good things in common to be together children of one Father and likewise brethren of Iesus Christ nourished with the same meate which is the word of one houshold namely the Church trauellers and pilgrims together combattants for one selfesame cause called vnto one selfesame hope coheires of one selfesame kingdom All which are consideratiōs resembling many lines which doe all meete in one point for these are obligations to loue one another who doe all of vs meete in Iesus Christ in whom we are all one because we are one with him This charity amongst the faithfull is extended two wayes The one is the charitable relieuing of our afflicted brethrē The other is peace and concord amongst our selues As touching our brotherly reliefe it necessarily commeth from the loue of God as S. Iohn saith Who so shall haue goods in this world and see his brother in necessitie and shall shut vp his compassion how shall the loue of God dwell in him Also God appointeth himselfe a rewarder of almes as done vnto him self yea euen vnto a cup of cold water Math. 10. To giue vnto the poore is to lend out money for vsurie vnto God Prouer. 19. Of all that we possesse wee shall saue nothing but that which we shall haue thus giuen By this meanes sayth Iesus Christ in Luke 16. we make our selues friends which shal receiue vs into the euerlasting tabernacles Thou fearest to leese thy money by giuing it and yet the bestowing it in almes is the meanes to keepe it Thou fearest to leese thy mony by giuing it and fearest not to leese thy selfe by keeping it For our goods auariciously reserued are not only spoiled but do also spoile and corrupt our spirits It will be for this sinne that God will iudge the wicked at the latter day Math. 25. The wicked rich man who despised the poore Lazarus crauing a morsell of bread doth now beg of Lazarus a droppe of water to allay his heate An heate begun by the retentiō of those goods which were due to the poore which as Saint Iames saith shal consume the flesh of the rich like fire and are as a treasure gathered for them against the latter day And iustly are they ranked with murderers For as there is two wayes to put out a lampe either by blowing it or not powring in oile in good time so the couetous man if he take not away the life of the poore by killing him at least he suffereth him to wither and drie away for lacke of powring into him some liberalitie The roote of this dutie is the loue of God which redounds vpon his members wherfore also as the loue of God is free and voluntarie so also must not our almes be forced or vnwillingly done but free and voluntarie God loueth a cheerfull giuer 2. Cor. 9. 7. saith the Apostle Saint Paul And to this purpose he calleth there in that same place almes-deeds a seede A seed which wee cast in the earth but gather the crop in heauen Seeing then wee must giue cheerfully it is here the contrarie of that which is said in the 126. Psalm Those which shall sow in teares shall reape in ioy and triumph For hee who shal sow this reliefe with teares shall reape with griefe None shall reape with ioy in heauen if he haue not ioyfully sowed vpon earth An almes giuen vnwillingly doth not onely leese all reward but also deserueth no pardon It fareth alike with almes which are vaingloriously giuen and to be seene of men which our Lord condemneth in the 6. of Matthew Also it fares alike with almes done
which God hath giuē you serueth you but to feele griefe more sensibly or that God hath made you great that your teares might haue the greater fall Time which easeth the most ignorant people of their euils cannot it finish the sighes of a person whom God hath so much enriched with his knowledge Shall it not be better to ioy in future good things which are great and certaine then to afflict our selues for euils past which are remediles Herein surely God is offended if in worldly crosses we find more occasion of griefe then matter of ioy in heauēly riches And wrongfully do we complaine of our afflictions seeing we hurt our selues we doe vnderhand as it were confesse that God hath not afflicted vs enough The Psalmist saith indeed that God putteth vp our teares into his bottels as precious things but he speaketh of teares bred of repentance or of griefe to see God blasphemed and despised amongst men For God gathereth not vp obstinate tears which extending themselues beyond their limits occupie the time due to consolation How many times giuing your selfe to reading haue you bedewed the holie scripture with your teares and yet this booke containeth the matter of our ioy And in the booke of Psalmes the tunes wherof you loue and yet much more the matter where you see your own picture and the anatomie of your inward affections Haue you not obserued that all the Psalmes which haue their beginnings troubled and whose first lines containe nothing but profoūd sighes and broken complaints do end in delight and termes which witnes contentment and peace of conscience Let your tears Madame be formed vpon this example and let them end in spirituall ioy Let your faith raise her selfe from vnder her burthen and let the sluces of afflictions which God hath stopped her course withal make her to runne forth with the greater impetuousnes let her take strēgth from resistance Hereunto the meditation of Gods graces will much serue you the which if you coūterballance with your euils they will mightily weigh them downe The onely attention of future glorie which you apprehend by faith can it not digest all bitternesse That faith which filled the Martyrs with ioy in the midst of their present torments may she not in our rest comfort vs against the memorie of passed euils And you who acknowledge what seruitude those people liue in which are dragged into perdition by the inuisible chaines of opiniō and custome can you sufficiently magnifie the grace which God hath giuen you in honoring you with his alliance and enlightning you with his truth Yea and in your life time how many of Gods assistances how many difficulties happily ouergone God hauing giuē you the grace to be alone in your family an example of constancie and holy perseuerance in the profession of his truth hauing made you great that in the contradiction of the world you might be an example of firmenesse and constancie And yet admit your wounds were more grieuous as taking all at the worst our liues being so short they cānot long last for you are not troubled to seeke consolations against death seeing that death it selfe is a consolation vnto vs. For God if he receiue the sighs which wee powre foorth in our praiers much more regardeth he the sighes which our soules giue vp vnto him in our deaths Which being a place of shelter and which putteth our soules into securitie we ought not onely looke for his coming but euen go forth to meete him hastening his comming by our desires by the example of S. Paul who saith that his desire tendeth to dislodge and be with Christ And to say with Dauid O when shall I present my selfe before Gods face For our soules being bound vnto our bodies by two bonds wherof the one is naturall and the other voluntarie if through hatred and contempt of life present we vntie the voluntary bond waiting the time when God shall breake the naturall death then coming shall find the businesse begun and our soules prepared to this dissolution These cogitations Madame and such like haue hitherto giuen you consolation the which although you be sufficiently prouided of and haue alwayes readie many spirituall remedies yet you borrow from other the receipts and haue thought that I could contribute something to your consolation And to this effect hauing heard talke of some of my Sermons vpon the Loue of God you would needs make vse of the power you haue ouer me demanding them of me in writing knowing well that of the discontentments of this life there is no such gentle remouall as the loue of God or more stronger remedy then that he loueth vs. Herefrom I drew backe a long time partly through idlenesse accompanied with some other distractions partly through feare apprehending your iudgement which far surpassing ordinarie spirits feedeth it self not vpon vulgar meates At length after long delay being not any longer able to striue against your instant requests which are vnto me as so many commandements I haue let this discourse come forth in publick vnder the protection of your name to the end that the imperfections thereof may likewise be imputed vnto you and that you might beare also a part of the blame for hauing assisted at the birth of that which ought not to haue seene the light but I shall be easily excused as hauing obeyed you For honor shal it euer be vnto me to execute your cōmandements and to employ my selfe to do you most humble seruice as being your Most humble and most obedient seruant Peter du Moulin A Table of the Chapters and principall points contained in this Treatise of the Loue of God OF true and false loue Chap. 1. fol. 1. Fiue degrees of the loue of God Chap. 2. fol. 24. 1. Degree to loue God because of the good he doth vs and which we hope to receiue of him fol. 28. 2. To loue God for his own sake because he is soueraignlie excellent and chieflie to be beloued fol. 45. 3. Not onlie to loue God aboue all things and more then our selues but also not to loue anie thing in this world but for his sake Fol. 67. 4. To hate our selues for the loue of God Fol. 79. 5. Is the loue wherewith we shall loue God in the life to come Fol. 94. Of the marks and effects of the loue of God Cha. 3. Fol. 102. 1. Marke is that it extinguisheth all voluptuous loue Fol. 105. 2. That it is the peace and tranquillitie of the soule Fol. 122. 3. That it is charitie to our neighbours Fol. 136. 4. And the pleasure to cōmunicate often with God Fol. 153. 5. It is the zeale of the glorie of God Fol. 184. Fiue meanes or aids to inflame vs in this loue of God Chap. 4. Fol. 202. 1. Meanes is the image of vices Fol. 206. 2. The choise of friends Fol. 215. 3. The hatred of the world Fol. 226. 4. Prayer Fol. 238. 5. The hearing and reading of the word of
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
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
the name of Christians he hath made vs faithfull ones Herunto you may adde if you will the 4. that he hath adopted elected vs in his Sonne before the foundation of the worlde hauing had care of vs not onely before we were borne but euen before the world was made For if a woman lately conceiuing loue her future fruite much more doth she so when it is borne and embraced in her armes so if God loued vs before wee had any being how much more when we call vpon him and loue him with a filiall loue Now in this grace the lesse our number is the greater is our priuiledge the greater his bountie and mercie towards vs to be like a few wel sighted amōgst a throng of blind men like the portion of Iacob in Egypt alone enlightned in the midst of that darknesse which couered all the countrey like Gedeons fleece alonely watered with his blessing whilest all the rest of the earth is drie and destitute of his grace God hath enuironed vs with examples of blindnesse to the end wee might make the more account of light and that wee should go on in the way of righteousnes whilest the day lasteth whilest he enlighteneth vs by his word All these graces depend vpon one speciall grace which is our reconciliation with God by the death of Iesus Christ it is he that is the conduit-pipe through which the graces of God do flow vnto vs it is Iacobs ladder which ioyneth earth vnto heauen which ioineth man againe with God The Angels ascending this ladder do signifie our prayers The Angels descending signifie Gods blessings Iacobs sleeping at the foote of this ladder representeth the rest of our consciences vnder the shadow of his intercession For before on what side soeuer man could turne his eyes he could see nothing but matter of feare and astonishment If he looked on God he saw a consuming fire and a soueraigne iustice armed against sinners If he looked on the law hee saw the sentence of his condemnation if on the heauē he said I am shut out thereof by my sins if on the world he saw himselfe fallen from the empire he before had ouer the creatures if on himselfe he saw a thousand corporall and spirituall infirmities By the signes in heauen and earthquakes he was seized with trembling and feare then Satan death and hell were the enemies which either drew him to perdition or tortured him with their apprehension But now each man which hath an assured trust in Iesus Christ looketh on all these things with another eye and singeth another song If he looke vpon God he will say It is my Father who hath adopted me in his Sonne If he thinke on the iudgement seate of the last day he will say My elder brother sitteth thereon and he who is my Iudge is also my aduocate If he thinke on the Angels he will say These are my keepers Psal 34. If he looke on heauen he will say It is my house If he heare it thunder from aboue he will say It is my Fathers voice If he consider the law he saith The Sonne of God hath fulfilled it for me If he be in prosperitie on earth he will say God hath yet better things for me in store If he be in aduersitie he wil say Iesus Christ hath suffered much more hereof for my sake God exerciseth me proueth me or correcteth me or rather honoureth mee making me like vnto his Sonne If he thinke on the diuell death or hell then he will triumph ouer all saying with the Apostle 1. Cor. 15. O death where is thy victorie O graue where is thy sting Thankes be to God who hath giuen vs victorie through Iesus Christ our Lord. If these things buzze and keepe a noise like angrie waspes yet haue they lost their sting If the old Serpent pricke our heele yet is his head bruised If the diuell through persecutions giue vs a false alarme yet belong we to Iesus Christ who hath bought vs and none shall snatch vs out of his hand Who wil feare hauing such a patron who not onely maketh intercession for sinners but of sinners maketh them iust who not only pleadeth for a bad case but also of bad maketh it good because that hee doth not only pray but also pay for vs so that to pardon vs is not onely a worke of his mercie but also an effect of his iustice These obligations vnto the louing God are common vnto all the faithfull But I thinke if each one would looke backe into the course of his life and call to mind the time passed there is none of vs but should finde iust cause to acknowledg besides these common benefites manie particular witnesses of the care and loue of God towards vs Of deliuerances out of many dangers vnhoped for good chances commodious afflictions our purposes crossed but for our good extraordinary meanes to bring vs vnto the knowledge of his truth Shall it be said that the blessings of God haue rained vpon the sands without making vs more fruitful of good works Shall we be like vnto beasts which drink of the brooke without thinking of the spring without raising vp our thoughts vnto God the wel-spring of all blessing Meane while when we say that God doth vs good to the end we should loue him it is not because he hath any need of our loue but because he would saue vs he would that we should loue him because it is impossible to be saued whilst we hate him Moreouer our louing him also is partly his gift for it is he which kindleth his loue in vs. God doth not only giue vs his graces but giueth also grace to demaund them the hand to apprehend them grace to make good vse thereof the vertue to glorifie him for the same in such sort as to acknowledge that we owe vnto him not only those his good things but euen our selues also God doth good vnto the vnworthy but he maketh them worthy by this doing them good his spiritual graces being of such nature as that they transforme such as receiue them This first degree of loue being holy and necessary is not for all that any more then a beginning of the loue of God and as the first stroke of true pietie For he who loueth God but for his profite is like vnto little children who say their prayers that they may breake their fasts and to speake properly they loue not God but themselues Such a loue if it extend it selfe no further is a mercenary loue yea and iniurious vnto God For it may be alwayes thought that the end is better then those things which tend therunto If then the loue of God haue no other end but our owne profit we place the same aboue God and make our interest more exellēt then his seruice Let him then which is come to this first degree of loue if he passe on no further know that God pardoneth vs much if he punish not that which is
grounded but vpon the loue of our selues wherfore wee must mount higher and come to the second step The second degree of Gods loue THe second step of Gods loue is to loue him not onely for our profits sake but euen for his owne sake to wit that laying aside all consideration of his benefites yea and our hope of any profit from him yet to loue him aboue all things Dauid speaketh of this loue in the 69. Psalme ver 37. Let all them which loue thy name reioyce Hee wold haue vs loue God for his names sake that is to say because he is soueraigne Lord wise in his counsels iust in his actions true in his promises dwelling in glory which none can attaine vnto possessing a soueraigne perfection God whose life is without beginning and ending his eternitie without change his greatnesse without measure his power without resistance who hath made the world by his word gouerneth it by his sight and shall ruinate it by his will who in one vertue and perfection which is his essence incloseth all vertue which is euery where dispersed in the creatures as diuers lines which meete in one center do disperse thēselues by their extentiō For these considerations God ought to be loued more then for the good which he doth vs. Iesus Christ himselfe teacheth vs the same in the prayer he formed for vs in which he appointeth vs to demaund the sanctifying of his name and the aduancement of his kingdome before we craue any thing for our profit A desire which so possessed the spirit of Moses and the Apostle S. Paul that forgetting themselues they desired rather to be blotted out of the booke of life and to be accursed then that God should not be glorified Wherefore to plant in vs this loue which loueth God for his owne sake it is necessarie to know so farre forth as we may what he is in himselfe and wherefore soueraignly to be beloued Wee naturally loue beautie now light is the chiefe of beauties without which all other beauties do nothing differ from deformities God then being the chiefe light is necessarily the chiefest beautie He is the Father of lights saith S. Iames. The fountaine of light is in him and through his light we see crearly saith Dauid in the 36. Psalme For this cause when hee first set his hand vnto the creation he began with the light as a thing best representing his nature He is the Sunne of iustice the Sunne which setteth not which maketh no shadow vnto which all things are transparent which not onely enlighteneth the eyes but euen giueth sight And iudge you what this soueraigne brightnesse is seeing that the Scraphins standing before the Throne are dazeled and faine to couer their faces with their wings as Esay saith being not able to endure so great a splendor For if at the glorious apparition of the humanitie of Iesus Christ the Sunne shall be darkened as some litle light at the appearing of a greater what may be the splendor of his Diuinitie If you will consider the life of God ours is but a shadow and nothing in comparison For our life is a flowing and succession of parts but God possesseth his life entirely at one instant and all at once He who wil know what the life of God is in comparison of mans life let him compare the sea with some litle brooke 1. The sea is very great and the brooke very little 2. The sea budgeth not from his place but the brooke runneth still forth and is alwayes a new water 3. The waters of the Sea come from no other place but all running waters come from the sea and return thither The like is the life of God compared with ours 1. His life is infinite and ours verie short 2. His life consisteth in rest and to possesse all his life at one instant but our life is a fluxe and succession of parts 3. His life commeth from none other but our life commeth from him Acts 17. ver 28. and returneth vnto him againe as Salomon saith in the 12. of Ecclesiastes The earth returneth vnto the earth as it was before and the spirit vnto God which gaue it Gods knowledge is also a bottomlesse pit He knoweth all things yea euen such as are not Things passed are not passed vnto him the future are present before him He soundeth the heart he seeth through the cloake of hypocrisie We behold things one after another but he seeth them all at one view as if a man were all eye and should see all that were about him without turning himselfe We see things because they are on the contrarie things are because God seeth them For in God to see is as much as to will and his will is to do To know things we looke vpon them but God to know things looketh on himselfe because that in his wisedome hee hath the models of all things and in his will the sentence of all chances How admirable also is his holinesse It infinitely surpasseth the holinesse of Angels and Saints as it is said in the booke of Iob chap. 15. Behold he hath no assurance in his Saints and the heauens are not pure in his sight how much more abhominable and vile is man who drinketh iniquitie like water Euen as the holy Scripture calleth the highest heauen the heauen of heauens because it incloseth the inferiour so also it calleth God the holie of holies because his holinesse incloseth that of all the Saints as being infinitely inferiour The holinesse of the creature is a qualitie that of God is his substance God is holy of himselfe but men and Angels are not Saints but because God hath sanctified them Also after a cleane contrarie manner vnto men is he iust For men are iust because they do iust things In God it is otherwise for the things are iust because God doth them For he is iustice it selfe Wherefore he is iust for no other cause but for that hee doth according to his wil according to which he hath giuen vs his law the perfect rule of iustice which he not only setteth before vs but also writeth it in vs and engraueth it with his finger in the stone as he promiseth vs in the 31. of Ieremie I will put my law into them and will write it in their harts He loueth iustice and truth He hateth the workers of iniquitie he rooteth out liers he hateth the bloud-thirsty and deceitful man Psal 5. What shall we say of his goodnesse through which he loueth them which hate him by which hee causeth his Sunne to shine vpon the iust and vniust the good and bad by which hee raineth down his goodnesse euen into the mouthes which are open to blaspheme him Aboue all this infinite goodnes shineth in the person of his Son This Sonne so begotten before all eternitie that he yet now begetteth him Sonne without beginning of time Sonne of the like age as his Father Essentiall
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
to these allurements possessing as saith Saint Paul our vessels in holinesse abstain your selues not onely from euill but also from all appearance and occasions of euill Eschue idlenesse for it is the pillow of vices Let Satan coming to assaile you find you euer occupied Flie bad companie filthy talke books of loue for they are fire-brands of lust the hookes and baits of the diuel None cometh to do euill but by these accessaries yea the euill is alreadie in these accessaries Many will say that they are chast of bodie but their eyes their eares and their thoughts are culpable of lust Yet Christ saith that he who looketh on his neighbours wife to lust after her hath already committed adultery The best companie and the best busines to diuert our minds from this euill is the carefull reading of the word of God ioyned vnto prayer Saint Augustine in the eight book of his Confessions cap. 8. 12. saith that when he was vpon termes of rendering himselfe a Christian that which most troubled him was that hee must leaue his fornication and that in this combatfull anguish hee withdrew himselfe into a garden where twice he heard the voice of a child as it were coming from the houses hard by saying Take and reade At this voice he tooke the booke of the Epistles of S. Paul and chanced at the first opening of the booke on this text of the 13. chapter to the Romains where he saith Let vs walke honestlie as in the day time not in riot and drunkēnesse not in chambering and wantonnesse neither in strife or enuie but put you on the Lord Iesus Christ and haue no care of the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof There was enough for him and thereupon were it that this voice came from God or that it chanced by other meanes he resolued to follow the counsell of the Apostle who without looking for any reuelation therupon doth sufficiently manifest vnto vs the wil of God touching the laying off of these desires The second marke of the loue of God THis same loue bringeth forth another effect by which it is to be knowne to wit the peace and tranquillitie of the soule it chaseth away feares asswageth cares sweetneth afflictions For what euill soeuer happeneth him who loueth God he wil euer remember the sentence of the Apostle Rom. 8. That all things turne to the best for them which loue God Euen their crosses becom blessings their bodily pouerty is a spiritual diet vnto them their banishments teach them to leaue the world their sequestring from honors is their approch vnto God their enemies are their Physitions causing them to be warie and to liue in Gods feare Their corporall diseases are spirituall cares death is an entrie into life and a bringing forth by which the soule is deliuered of the bodie as of her last after-birth and cometh forth of a darke den to enter into Gods light The passage through afflictions resembleth the passage of the red sea for the wicked are ouerwhelmed therein they are vnto them forerunners of damnation but the faithfull and Gods people finde that way a passage vnto the land of promise This verie same loue of God will suggest vnto the faithfull this thought Seeing that I loue God it is certaine that he loueth me For Saint Iohn saith that we loue him because he loued vs first For I had not naturally in me any inclination to loue him but it was hee who louing me framed my heart to loue him Now if God loue mee he intendeth my good and he can do all that he will nothing hapneth but according to his will He will not then permit that any euill happen me he will turne my euils vnto good for my saluation he will leade me thereunto through a way thornie vnto flesh but healthfull to my soule Briefly the loue of God excludeth feares and is the prop of our assurance as saith the Apostle Saint Iohn There is no feare in charitie but perfect charitie driueth forth feare This same loue sweetneth afflictions and maketh our Lords yoake easie and tollerable For you shall see by experience that in a house where loue is great betweene the husband and the wife they passe the bad time ouer with content and haue mutuall consolatiō one of another yea to haue a faithfull friend into whose bosome you may shed your teares and powre forth your complaints doth bring a man much ease although it bring no remedy How much more shall the faithfull soule find feele in the loue of his God of God who not onely knoweth our euils counteth our sighes layeth vp our teares in his vessels but who can and will remedie them and not onely remedie them but turne them to good giuing vs in our afflictions not onely occasion to suffer but euen matter of reioycing So the faithfull speake in the 46. Psalm Let the waters of the sea make a noise and let the mountaines shake by the rising of his waues in the meane time the brookes of the riuer shall reioyce the city of God These troblesome waters are the people banded against God as is expounded in the Apocalypse chapter 17. These brookes which in the meane time do reioyce the holy citie are the instructiōs of Gods word whose voice is our consolation For in his afflictions the faithfull will turne aside his eyes from his enemies and from all second causes and will say Lord it is thou that hast done it I receiue this affliction at thy hand make this proue healthfull vnto me and permit not that I euer come to murmur against thee or to kicke against the pricke We swallow with the better resolution a bitter potion when it is presented vs by a friendly hand whose ignorance or falshood we feare not We finde all these things in God who moreouer maketh venomes themselues to prooue good medicines So the loue of God is a retraite and shelter against all anguish it is the groūd of true peace it is the prop of our assurance which causeth vs to despise the threatnings of men to looke on the enterprises of great men and the risings of people with disdaine which causeth vs to find ease on the rack and to looke on deaths face with assurance and take off his maske to see Iesus Christ which cometh vnto vs vnder that shew which maketh the faithful to stand vpright in the middest of the ruines of his country This holy loue made S. Paul to say Rom. 8. If God be with vs who shall be against vs He which hath not spared his owne Sonne but deliuered him ouer for vs how shall not he giue vs all things with him Let vs likewise say He that laieth vp our teares wil not he gather vp our prayers He without whose prouidēce a sparrow lighteth not on the ground wold he permit that our soules should fall into hell for lacke of caring for them Hee who extendeth his care to gather vp our teares yea to count
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
word it is inough to cut one anothers throate so that they confesse their liues to be litle worth seeing they will hazard them for so litle making it an euerie dayes exercise but if God be blasphemed his truth slandered if his name be abused before their eyes they remaine vnmoueable and beare a part therein We are leapers without feeling in spirituall things but verie sensible in carnall We go for curiositie vnto sermons where Gods truth is opposed against and our presence by the weake taken for an approbation but we wold be loth to be found i◠a place or companie where the honor of our house should be defamed but to contradict the same Let vs vndergo in this point a voluntary condemnatiō and let vs acknowledge that this spirituall feeling is verie feeble in vs to the end we may craue of God to awaken it by quickening vs with his loue From these fiue degrees and fiue markes you may easily gather that the loue of God consisteth not onely in hauing a good opinion of him or to haue a good feeling or to speak well of him but that chiefly it consisteth in obeying him and conforming vs to his wil. So God in his law saith that he sheweth mercie vnto them which loue him but he addeth which keep my commandements And Iesus Christ Ioh. 14. Who so loueth me will keep my sayings And the same Apostle in another place My litle children loue not in word neither in tongue onely but in deed and in truth So S. Iames saith That pure and vnderfield religion before God is to visit the fatherlesse and widows in their aduersitie and to keepe our selues vnspotted of the world But there be many that are religious in speech not in actions and who studie to be more skilfull not more wise who confesse God with their lips but denie him in their hearts Like vnto those which struck Iesus Christ saying Haile maister or to Rabshakeh who spake not the language of the people of God but for to dishonour him withall He knoweth not God who loueth him not he loueth him not who obeieth not his wil. The children of Eli were instructed in the will of God for being Priests they taught it vnto others and yet the Scripture saith 1 Sam. 2. 12. that they knew not God because they loued him not The kingdome of God saith S. Paul lieth not in words but in power It is euen so with his loue So Dauid in the 33. Psal saith that praises are very comely but he addeth in the mouths of iust men As for the wicked God saith vnto him in the 50 Psalme Wherefore takest thou my words into thy mouth For this cause was it that Iesus Christ when the diuell confessed him said vnto him Hold thy peace hold thy peace For the praise of God and the truth of religion are vilified and debased in the mouth of the wicked and therby lose their authoritie for shee is made a companion of vice and the liuerie of Gods children becometh by this meanes a cloake of impietie Thou saist I loue God but doest despise his will I loue God but doest hate the image of God Canst thou loue God without following him or follow such as do good to their enemies whilest thou liuest in discord with thy brethren We protest all of vs to loue God but we better loue the increase of our monies then the aduancement of his cause Wee protest to feare him but we do not feare to do before him such things as we would shame to do before men Who is that quarreller or theefe that wil strike or steale in the presence of the Iudge and for all this what do we not in Gods sight the Iudge not onely of our actions but also of our thoughts We protest to loue Iesus Christ and yet abandon his members which are the poore We spend more in a quarter of an houre at play then in a whole yeare in almes The superfluitie of our attire would cloathe a great number of poore All is spent in pleasure and nothing in pietie All is for our couetousnes nothing for Gods sake Doth that man loue God which wil not willingly speake vnto him nor of him or who taketh no counsell of God in his distresse or who is not touched with the zeale of his glory In the mean time there is none amongst vs who maketh not profession to loue God which sheweth that wee loue him in grosse but hate him in retaile this being in generall and gainsaid in particular We speake of heauen but haue our hearts on the earth By this meanes if one mark apart our loue to God it may be found some speciall matter but if we ballance it with our loue of the world our pleasures our riches our preferments it is found verie light so that our loue is a kinde of disesteeme and almost an hatred Let vs take heed to our selues for we shal not be iudged according to this general profession but according to our particular actions And if so it be that we loue not God as we ought or if wee loue some other thing with him otherwise then for his sake how shall we subsist before him louing any thing better better then he yea euen against him louing that which God hateth to wit the world and the desires thereof and cherishing his enemies in his presence CHAP. IV. Fiue meanes or helpes to inflame vs in the loue of God NOw we are to treat of the meanes to nourish in vs this loue It is surely an effect of the Spirit of sanctification which God giueth onely to his children whereupon this spirit is called the spirit of adoption by the Apostle Rom. 8. because it is not giuen to any other then the children of God which he hath adopted in Iesus Christ and that therefore hee frameth their hearts vnto a child-like loue and to haue recourse vnto God as their Father It is requisite that the grace of God should preuēt our wils to make them willing that it may accompanie them that they may will feruently and that it follow them to the end they may not will in vaine and without fruite It is God which bringeth forth in vs with efficacie both the will and the deede according to his good pleasure Notwithstanding God moueth vs not like stones he maketh vs follow willingly he bendeth our wils by an vnconstrained necessitie For this cause is it that we are called workers together with God that in the same place where S. Paul saith that God giueth the will and the deede according to his good pleasure he willeth notwithstanding that we should worke out our owne saluation with feare and trembling Phil. 2. 12. 13. The meanes then which we haue to employ our selues in the nourishing and cherishing of this loue of God in vs is in generall to giue our selues to good workes which be pleasing vnto him But in this trauell I finde fiue helpes
by which wisedome ioyned with pietie through a holy industrie do quicken this loue in vs and doe put matches as it were vnto our hearts thereby to kindle this spirituall flame These meanes or aids are I. The image of vices II. The choice of friends III. Hatred of the world IV. Prayer V. The hearing and reading of the word The first helpe or aide of the Loue of God THose who void out of their lodgings their stable dung do fatten their fields withall and by ridding themselues of this infection doe otherwise make a profit thereof The faithfull Christian ought to follow this example For it is the dutie of pietie to discharge our selues of those vices which are of ill sauor before God but Christian wisedom findeth meanes to draw euē from this filth some commoditie He then which would seek some model whereon to form the loue of his God ought to obserue amongst all the rest the most monstrous and the most obstinate vices they are so all indeede Yet I think that extreme auarice doth some deale beare away the bell Let it then be exposed to open view and let this monster which corrupteth man when it is within him teach man being thrust forth and instruct him afarre off For will you loue God as you ought loue him then as a man extremely couetous loueth his money Auarice taketh away rest and troubleth sleepe his money is the first thought at his waking so let the loue of God breake our sleepe possesse our thoughts in the night let it be the first of our thoughts at our awaking to meditate on his former graces to dispose of our future life to bewaile our sinnes at the cock-crowing Couetousnes doth shut the heart of the couetous into his coffer where his treasure is so also let the loue of God fixe our hearts in heauen to the end that there where our treasures be there may our hearts be also Auarice snatcheth out of the niggards hand the bread he should eate and maketh him be content with little so must the loue of God teach vs abstinēce and how to bring vnder our bodies to liue with litle and to depriue our selues when it is requisite of temporall commodities for his seruice The auaricious man vndertaketh for gaine long voyages sequestring himselfe from his wife and children so must the loue of God prepare vs to endure banishmēt to leaue wife and children to follow God remembring the saying of our Lord Mat. 10. Who so loueth father or mother more then me is not worthie of me or who so loueth sonne or daughter more then me is not worthie of me The couetous man hauing put his money vnto vsurie calculateth the time and with impatience attēdeth the terme so we that know that God hath in his hands our pledge and that hee will render vs our almes with vsurie ought with impatience to attend the time of payment and in the meane time very preciously keepe his obligation which is the doctrine of the Gospell The couetous man the older hee waxeth the more greedy he is to gather he liueth poorely that he may die rich his purpose to gather is at the greatest when the terme of his life is at the shortest so must the old man fearing God make more carefull prouision of faith and good works Let him liue poore in worldly goods that he may die rich in heauenly Old age is the groūds and lees of life but in the faithfull man it reneweth as vnto an Eagle for then he feeleth more liuely and certainly the motions of the life to come then hath he the wager almost in his hand being neere the end of his course Whē the riuers are neer their end and approach vnto the sea the tide cometh towards them and meeteth them so when the course of a faithfull mans life commeth neare his end then God cometh to meete him and before death giueth him some taste and feeling of the life to come Then it is that we ought to haue a holy couetousnesse to husband our time make a stocke of faith send our good workes before vs and to make our selues friends which may receiue vs into the euerlasting habitations This meditation which giueth vice a double construction and maketh it look both waies enforceth it to be an example and helpe vnto vertue as Amorrheā captiues to cleanse decke the tabernacle as a woman of Hethe whose haire and nailes are cut off Deut. 21. For vertue is so feeble in vs that to raise it selfe vp it boroweth helpe of vice it passeth ouer to the Philistiās to whet her tools Because we cānot comprehend how much we owe vnto God but through the consideration of that which we giue vnto our concupiscence for all that is stolen from him The second helpe vnto the Loue of God THe sheepe of Iacob brought forth spotted lambes according to the colour of the rods were layd before them so men produce workes conformable vnto the obiects which they haue before their eyes And this is a great euill that good examples haue nothing like so great force to forme vs vnto goodnesse as bad haue to induce vs vnto euill For as a man strucken with the pestilence will sooner infect a douzen sound men which shall approach to him then these whole men can helpe him in like sort a vicious man will sooner infect many honest mē then he wil correct him selfe by their example For vice is here in his own soile it cometh vp without plāting it groweth without pain much more then being fortified from without wel laboured but vertue is a stranger and resembleth a graine brought from the East which after much care and labour doth yet little prosper but degenerate especially in the contagion of these times which is as the dregges and sinke of all seasons and ages in which vertue is a prodigie and pietie a crime or simplicitie For thus do men call foolishnesse in this age in which that they may rēder or make vertue to be odious they cloath brutishnesse with his habit Euen as it is vneasie that the flocks feeding amongst the thornie bushes should not leaue some of their wooll so is it hard for an honest man liuing amongst so great corruption but he must leaue some of his innocencie We fall away insensibly we go on in badnesse without being aware thereof like people sleeping in a boate and caried downe the stream which make much way without thinking thereon Wherefore we are to looke to our selues and in so contagious an aire to prouide our selues of preseruatiues of which the best is the loue feare of God And this loue is nourished by hanting those which loue him We must acquaint our selues with such as wee should be like to the end that the faithfull with some few friends louing God withdrawing himselfe as it were from vices may looke with horrour vpon them as from a far off vpon this ouerflowing torrent and powerfull reigne of the
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
bad companies bookes of loue-tales after enticements and occasions of doing ill Finally we finish this praier with mention of the kingdome and glorie of God by which this same prayer began that it might warne vs that euē as our praiers so also al our affectiōs ought to begin and end with the glorie of God So many petitions so many aduertisements for Iesus Christ most artificially by teaching vs how to craue for good teacheth vs also to do it In ordering our praiers hee also ordereth our actions so as speaking to God we also speake to our selues by praying vnto God we learne also to feare him And surely when you shall see vnrulinesse in a household either by disobedience of the children or by dissention betweene man and wife it is a certen witnesse that God is not there called vpon as hee ought For this only action of lifting vp of hearts and hands together vnto God might haue sufficed to reunite their diuided affections and entertaine from day to day their familie in the feare of God For by speaking often to God we learne to loue him and louing him to follow him Moses his face became shining for hauing spoken with God so our soules wil becom enlightned in the knowledge of God when we and counsell all the ambition of so great a monarch and making him contribute at vnawares vnto the accomplishment of the prophesies That which is the greatest of the world employeth it selfe for the least of his children and serueth for the executiō of his loue The holy Scripture being full of such examples rightly may it be called the booke of true loue seeing that therein God not onely vnfoldeth his loue but also bindeth vs to loue him and not only exhorteth vs to this loue but also produceth it in vs by this same word accompanying the preaching of the same with the efficacy of his holy Spirit And to say true I thinke that the most part of vs haue had experiēce that after the hearing of the word the sparks of loue do kindle in our hearts and that hearing God speake or speaking of God we are inflamed with his loue So the two disciples being in Emaus after Iesus Christ was vanished said Did not our harts burn within vs when he spake vnto vs on the waie and preached the Scriptures And Ieremie in the 20. chap. desiring to reserue the word of God in his hart without vttering it saith that he felt it in his heart like a burning fire Wherefore so but because this word receiued into the hearts of the auditors heateth them with the like ardour as also the tongues of fire descending vpon the Apostles witnessed that God gaue them burning tongues and a word full of efficacie to enflame mens hearts Wherefore those which being caried away with their busines or withheld by feare or perswaded of their sufficiencie neglect coming to sermons shall insensibly feele that this heate waxeth coole and that a caule groweth ouer their consciences This negligence will grow to a distast this distast to a disdaine this disesteeme vnto a hardnes of heart enmitie against God Whosoeuer will entertaine the loue of God in his heart ought dayly to come heare his word the which he hath chosen as a wholsom means to moue our hearts and to purge our spirits as Christ saith to his Apostles You are cleane through the word which I haue spoken vnto you Being there we must hearken to the preaching with greedinesse suffer reprehensions gently receiue exhortations with ardor And euē as those vpon whom men mean to make some incision suffer themselues to be bound and pinioned by the Chirurgion lest the motion of the patient should hinder the operation so must we when the seruants of God are occupied about pricking the apostumes of our vices and cutting off our concupiscences which S. Paul calleth our members stay our mouing lightnesse and inconstancie lest it hinder the efficacy of this word by our impatiencie To the hearing of the word we must adde the reading according to the example of those of Beroea who after they had heard S. Pauls preaching went and consulted with the Scriptures to see the conformitie therof with the writings of the Prophets although that the Apostle being powerfull in miracles and in words did preach with authoritie enough to be beleeued as might be thought how much more ought we now a dayes at our coming frō the sermon content our curiosity to know if that we heare that day be true Wee which heare Pastors which are not receiueable but so farre forth as they proue their sayings by the word of God Amongst all the books of holy Scripture the most obscure is the Apocalypse and yet it is said in the first chapter that happie are they that reade and those which heare the words of this prophesie In the 17. of Deuter. God commandeth Kings to reade the booke of the law all the dayes of their life Reading thereof was the exercise of the Queene Candaces Eunuch as he rode in his chariot If he read being a pagā how much more being become a Christian And if he read when he vnderstood not how much more when he began to vnderstand If he read in his chariot how much more in his house Also God hath tendered him his hand by the ministery of Philip and vpon the reading the light of the Gospell is come vnto him for an argument vnto vs of hope that in reading carefully the holy Scriptures God wil enlighten vs. He which accuseth it of obscuritie accuseth it also of leasing for it saith of it selfe that it enlightneth the eyes that it giueth wisedome to the poore and simple that it is a lanterne to our feet a light vnto our paths If it be obscure it is saith the Apostle to those of whō the god of this world hath blinded the vnderstandings At least let vs haue good opinion of God our Father Let vs not thinke that he hath written his Testament in obscure termes and ambiguous clauses to intangle vs in suites The Father of lights in neuer cause of obscuritie Let vs not endeuor to make this word suspitious vnto the people as if the reading thereof were dangerous as doe those profanely fearful people who vnder euerie stone imagine a Scorpion to lurke If there be any difficulties the rest which is cleare is sufficient vnto saluation If it appertaine but vnto the learned to reade the Scriptures it appertaineth then vnto none to reade them for no bodie is skilfull before he haue read them Wee reade not the word of God because we are learned but to become so Now here we passe ouer an infinite number of profits which we gather of this reading as is the confirmation of our faith consolation in affliction a gentle diuerting a maister which flattereth not a cōpanie which is not troublesome a spirituall munition house which containeth all sorts of weapons against temptations which furnisheth wherewithall
to resist against error following the exāple of our Lord euer resisting the diuell by Scripture and saying vnto him It is written it is written c. Onely we will stay our selues vpon this to wit that the reading kindleth in our hearts the loue of God This is knowne by experience For after a man once begins to take a tast in reading the holy Scriptures other studies begin to proue without relish you shall see no more vpon the Carpet bookes of loue the ridiculous Romanes and tales of Amadis do flie before the Bible more then the diuell before holywater all these pleasing and vaine readings which busied the spirit and tickled the imagination do leese their taste after this spirituall nourishment Another kind of loue is kindled in the spirits of those which dayly propose vnto thēselues the witnesses of the loue of God towards vs contained in his word This meditation furnisheth vs with a iust subiect of complaint For then whē they burned vs for reading the Scripture wee burned with zeale to be reading them Now with our libertie is bread also our negligence disesteem thereof We are barbarous and new to seeke in the language of Gods Spirit Our hearts then resemble flint-stones which cast no sparks but when they are strucken Many will haue a Bible well bound gilt lying vpon a cupboord more for shew then for instruction we loue but the outside thereof Wee adorne the holy Scriptures outwardly but it were better it might decke vs within It were better it were torn with often reading that thy conscience might be more entire for it is more easie for thee to haue another then it is easie for thee to be an honest man without it Wee desire a faire impression but the fairest impression is that which is made with the finger of God in our soules The matrices of these characters are in heauen This loue of God is ingrauen in our hearts with his hand and is formed vpon the model of that loue which hee hath borne vs in his Son according as he saith in the 15. of Saint Iohn As my Father loued me so haue I loued you remaine in my loue FINIS Heb. 9. 4. 1. Pet. 4. 17. Heb. 5. 8. Phil. 1. 23. Psal 42. 2. Seuen reasons to proue that the loue of God is the onely true loue 1. Cor. 2. 9. Ioh. 14. 23. Rom. 8. Ephes 3. 19. Austins Enchiridion to Laurentius cap. 117. Iam. 4. 4. Rom. 8. Psal 141. 5 To loue God for his blessings Ioh. 15. 15. Ioh. 17. 17. To loue God for Gods owne sake Psal 69. 37 Psal 146. 8 Esay 6. 2. The life of God The knowledge of God what it is His holines His iustice His goodnes Esay 9. 1. Pet. 1. 12. Esay 43. Osea 2. To hate ones owne selfe for the loue of God Luk. 9. 14. Rom. 7. 24. Psal 39. 129. Math. 5. Coloss 3. 2. Cor. 12. Gal. 5. Gal. 5. 17. How the Saints in glorie do loue God 1. Cor. 13. 12. 1. Ioh. 3. 1. Ioh. 3. Vrim Thumim 1. Ioh. 4. 8. That vnchast loues must be extinguished What is true beauty Peace and tranquility of the soule 1. Ioh. 4 1. Ioh. 4 3. Loue is a thing full of care and feare The loue of our neighbour 1. Ioh. 4. 20. Gal. 5. 14. 1. Ioh. 3. 17. Brotherly reliefe Iames 5. Heb. 13. 16. Agreement among brethren Gen. 45. 24. Often communication with God Gen. 34 23. Gen. 26. 35. 2. Sam. 16. Phil. 3. 21. Zeale of the glorie of God Ioh. 2. 17. Rom. 15. 3. Act. 17. 26. Sam. 4. 21. 1. Ioh. 3. Cha. 1. v. 17 1. Cor. 4. 20. Phil. 2. 13. 1 Cor. 3. 9. The image of vices Psal 103. 1. Sam. 13. 20. Choise of friends Contempt and hatred of the world 1. Ioh. 2. Eccles 1. Prayer Gen. 24. 63. Esay 38. 2. Act. 10. 9. Matth. 18. v. 19. 20. Psal 45. 18 1. Tim. 2. Esay 1. Ioh. 15. 3. Coloss 3. 5. Act. 17. 11. Psal 19. v. 9 10. Psal 119. v. 103. 1. Cor. 3. Mat. 4. Luk. 4.