full barne and an overflowing cruse nor can any plenty worke in us a gladnesse in any degree equal to that which the one glance of Gods countenance can fill us with Psal 4.6.7 Conjugall love exceeds all comforts and when the soul injoys here spouse it is not capable of an addition of delight 3. This will worke an affection to Christs Church Love to the Church and highly conduce to a mutual peace and concord My goodnesse extendeth not unto thee cryes David Psal 16.2 But to the Saints that are in the earth and to the excellent in whom is all my delight If we consider why every corner is so full of rash peremptory judging of one another why so bitter revilings hard censures mercylesse oppression and bloody persecutions are so much in fashion even with those who pretend otherwise Christ affords us the reason of it Joh. 16.3 Because they know not the Father nor me though their lips may owne yet their heart totally denyes him whereas He whose Spirit hath experimentally tasted Gods goodnesse in it self will never be injurious to others least he may harm those who may be dearly related to God and a touch of whome may be esteem'd a thrust at the apple of Gods eye Thus an experimental knowledge of Gods goodnesse will produce Lenity Meeknesse Justice Charity and Peace towards others Vse 2. Gods goodnesse should perswade us to constancy 2. If Gods especial goodnesse fills once our souls Let us persevere and continue therein Let us consider that that word of Truth which assures us that the Catholique Church invisible shall not faile do's exhort particular Churches unto a Continuance Whether this may arise that a single Arrow is not in that same case with a bundle or that the promise of absolute perseverance is to the universal Church onely I will not now discusse Yet certainly unto perseverance are invited and advised 1. Particular Churches Thus Smirna is advised to be faithfull to the end Revel 2.12 And Thyatira to hold fast till I come Vers 25. The same counsel Individuals are the objects of too Joh. 8.31 If they continue in my love And in many more places Joh. 15. If they abide c. 2 Pet. 3.17 If you fall not from the stedfastnesse Vse 3. From His goodnesse here we may gather the greatnesse of his goodnesse hereafter and Rom. 11.22 Behold Gods goodnesse to thee if thou continuest in his goodnesse Lastly If God be so good unto his Israel here whilest they are in their clayey houses in some respect absent from him whilest they are in their melancholy Pilgrammage here supported by faith the substance of things not seene and breathing in hopes of a better Country How great then how transcendently high shall this goodnesse be to them in the great day of retribution when he shall perfectly accomplish all that ever is promised How great When the fier shall restore that which it's prodigious flames devour'd the earth open it 's vast bosome and the Sea deliuer unto them their consumed bodies when that which was sowne in Corruption shall be rays'd up in incorruption that which was sowne in dishonour appear in honour and that which lay downe in impotency and weaknesse mount up in power 1 Cor. 15.42.43 How great When they carry death about in Triumph challenging it for it's sting or the devouring grave for it's victory How great When the Lord Jesus appearing in all his royalty with the splended equipage of Saints and Angels comes in Majesty and Glory when they shall see Him whom they so stedfastly beleiv'd and sincerly obeyed bringing his Reward with him How great When that comfortable sentence come ye blessed of my Father receive a Kingdome prepar'd for you fills them with joy How great When that which is perfect is come and that which is imperfect be done away when their souls shall be inriched with the most absolute treasures of grace and glory when their understandings Triumph in the full clearnesse of a Divine light How great When they shall see the chained Lyon trod underfoot and their mercilesse persecuters rouling in flames and begging the mountains for a covering and the hills for a sepulcher How great When fears are banisht and sorrw flies away How great When the seate of Divine Majesty shall be their place of residence and habitation when the noble Prophets the blessed Apostles the victorious Martyrs the Holy Angels shall be their dayly companions and when they shall perfectly injoy Him who is the Author and finisher of their faith and salvation How great when God with all his glory Majesty Mercies comforts and beauties incomprehensible shall dwell with them in that fulnesse of perfection How great Lastly when they shall bath themselves in these Ravishing streames possesse all these inutterable glories to all eternity World without end Thus from all this discourse there is a short view given unto us of Gods high eminent goodnesse We have been first lead into the outward Court the Nations abroad and seene there His goodnesse in Atrio Gentium eminently dispens't there We have been next in the inner Court the Church visible where high and comfortable rayes of goodnesse shined upon us We have op'ned the Temple doors and entred into a contemplation of the invisible Church of Christ where still greater expressions of goodnesse appeard before us And Lastly We have been brought within the vail into the sanctum sanctorum The Holy of Holies the Glorious Heavenly Kingdome where goodnesse it self in open full streames communicates it self to the Church Triumphant If to these low concepts and weaker expressions too dull though helpt by an Angels utterance for so high a subject as Gods goodnesse every man please to adde both this discourse and what either a Cherubin can expresse to his own thoughts all will come too short and we may all take up the Psalmists admiration for our conclusion Psal 31.19 How great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid up for them that feare thee which thou hast wrought in them that trust in thee before the Sons of Men. CAP. II. VErs 2. But as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slipt V. 3. I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked V. 4. They have no bands in their death but their strength is firme V. 5. They are not in trouble as other Mens neither are they plagued like other Men. V. 12. Behold these are the ungodly who increase in Riches V. 10. Therefore his people returne thither and waters of a full cup are wrung out unto them V. 7. Their eyes stand out with fatnesse they have more then heart could wish CONTENTS The first occasion from without of the Prophets temptation is wicked mens prosperity in 6. degrees 1. Particular discourses upon each Cases of conscience resolv'd How far good men are subject to errour and passion How far there may be a compliance with wicked great Men What
we may conclude that it is far more safe to relie on God who cannot deceive then to leane upon our own broken Reeds to stick to our selves who may both erre and be deceived Vbi sentitis vos non intelligere credite tamen divinis eloquiis Aug. ep 46. advinc p. 105. If secondly it be not want of apprehension but crosse arguments which move us to inferre conclusions contrary to Gods truth these two things may be interposed 1. That these argmuments are of our own coyning and so are but chaines fetters of our own Making from which if we cannot unwinde our selves the blame must lie at our own doores He who by a pernicious Custome contracts upon himselfe an habit of drunkennesse though in respect of that habit he sins necessarily and is not easily able to leave that vicious deboistnesse yet this shall rather condemne then excuse him in that he hath brought so unhappy a necessity upon himselfe He who binds his own hands and feet and then casts himselfe headlong into the Sea will not be excused by a plea that he was drowned because he could not swim So when men entertaine fleshly corrupt Principles and ensnare themselves therewith though thus taken they necessarily erre yet can they not be excused since they have framed the fetters wherewith they are chained for themselves 2. The second thing which may be offered is this certainty That all that God reveales being truth every conclusion contrary thereto must be false and if the conclusion be false the Premises one or both must be so too Thus as in matters of Practice Gods commands are good and therefore what motives or Arguments soever draw us to sin though taken from the most specious profit largest pleasure and highest preferment though they seem never so conformable to our desires and maske themselves under a demure look yet they are really and in themselves Bad and unrighteous so the Arguments proving any Heresy though they may appeare in reasonable colours and carry applause with them yet they are direct untruths and containe falsehood as is evident in the case in hand for suppose the Prophets Argument were thus framed If the wicked thrive and good men be afflicted in this life then Religion is vaine But so it is c. Here the Assumption is not altogether True for all wicked men do not thrive and for the Proposition the consequence is wholly denyable as being false for it will not follow that because the wicked are exalted and the good oppress 't Religion is vaine but of this more fully hereafter In a word the arguments brought against any one article of the Creed for instance may be easily found false and unreasonable And therefore as is formerly mentioned Gods truth is a rock from which neither tempests nor flatteries must remove us Ipse dixit is to beare us out and will do it against the suggestions of our own ignorance or the plausible perswasions of flesh and blood and though whilst we are clouded with a veile of flesh we cannot attaine to a full satisfaction yet when that which is imperfect shall be done away we shall find cause of Triumph that we have taken God upon his bare word and not expected demonstration in mysteries of faith Then shall we receive the reward of our selfe denyall and constancy the end of our Faith the Salvation of our soules Whilst men that glory in Sophistry and Sceptically dispute every thing either wish they had lesse reason or used it Better Vers 17. Vntill I went into the Sanctuary of God then understood I their end The Prophet having shewed how his first attempt for satisfaction succeeded not proceeds now to a positive declaration of that which procured it to him when he found his own abilities too short to fathome and the greatest search of his understanding to shallow to comprehend this Mystery He presently makes recourse to Gods sanctuary where he understood their end In which words three particulars are observable 1. The Proper subject wherein this satisfaction was received His Vnderstanding I understood 2. The Author of this satisfaction God 3. The place wherin he found it the Sanctuary of God For the 1. Though his Vnderstanding as an agent was insufficient to worke out this satisfaction yet was it not de facto indeed or esteemed by him a needlesse or unprofitable faculty Satisfaction of doubts is made by clearing the understanding and judgement for therein as a Patient shines the light and from what was received there in did arise his full and contenting satisfaction This with Him is common to all men The beginning of all satisfaction must issue from the Illumination of the Vnderstanding and right clearing of the Judgement He that doubts must be made to understand before he be satisfied the eye must receive sight befor it can apprehend any other object and those arguments which convince must affect the Vnderstanding and cleare the Judgement otherwise they will have no great effect It may be granted That for the Reforming of men Good examples have their efficiency and afflictions are commended as excellent prescriptions but we may observe that these all doe that worke mediante Intellectu Afflictions do therefore induce an amendment because they open mans scaled understanding discover what he saw not before his own Guilt weakenesse and miserie Dat intellectum vexatio And reformation cannot find an admission There where there is a resolution of shutting the eyes against the Truth They that make their faces harder then a Rock will not grieve though they be smitten but will refuse to returne Jerem. 5.3 4. These are the foolish for they know not the way of the Lord. And as for examples they have no farther Influence then as they are apprehended either possible or fit for our Imitation From hence may be confidently concluded that they take not a right course to cleare men or the Church from erroneous opinions who use such meanes as deprive men of their Vnderstandings which they are guilty of who violently rob men of their lives because they are different in opinions from them mens thoughts expiring with their breath Did men rightly consider they would acknowledge that course of physick to be too desperate and to conduce to a confirmation Reformation by violence or death or such Means as take away the understanding rather then a taking away of Error A word may seperate body and soul but not faith or opinion from the soul He that uses violence gives us cause to distrust the opinions he would move us to since we see him more confident of the strength of his sword then the truth he pretends to and the power of his reasons Experience makes it good that persecution usually amongst men is more prevalent to render the sufferers objects of commiseration and pity then different opinions can make them odious And whatsoever the opinions of Servetus were yet we finde that he was more pittied for his being burned then
perfect sence meaning by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glory Blessednesse and a state made up of the confluence of all good things suitable to it 1. The lustre beauty and light of the Body is called Glory hence 1 Cor. 15.41 there is one Glory of the Sun another of the Moon and another glory of the Starrs 2. The Perfections and endowments of the mind are called glory as it is Dan. 4.36 my reason and my glory and hence Christian joy is said to be a joy unspeakable full of glory 3. lastly height wealth and a full prosperous estate is called Glory hence the liberty of the children of God is termed a Glorious liberty Rom. 8.1 and in this full comprehensive acception we may take glory here for this future reward wants nothing of that which deserves the name of Glory 1. This Glory shall appeare in the body as the Apostle tels us Phil. 3.21 1. This reward is a Glory 1. Of Bodies who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body The particulars are power honour beauty incorruption whereby shall be abolished all diseases weaknesses wearinesses deformities corruption paine death of which last the Apostle expresly tels us 1 Cor. 15.26 the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death 2. The soule shall be made glorious in the perfection of all its faculties thus 1 Cor. 13.10 2. Of the Soule but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away from which will arise perfection of Love and all other graces faith and hope swallowed up in full fruition the feare of sin quite taken away for all sin arising either from corruption of the mind judgement or rebellion of the will and affections when the most noble faculties of the soule shall be void of defect and the inferiour affections of disorder there can there will be no place or occasion for sin 3. Of estate Lastly they shall enjoy a Glory of estate too that is riches honour praise joy they shall have a Crown of righteousness and what can the most covetuous ambition long for more the praise that is from God what greater Euge can we desire that joy which cannot be taken away and what pleasure can be greater then that which doth still fill us with raptures those not transcient but eternall when our Jubilee shall be everlasting and our consolation endlesse we shall then find and enjoy that which cannot here be found or the world bestow a full and perfect satisfaction of mind for the naturall desire of the soule shall be then fulfilled and the creature attaine to the end it was made for And this content will appeare the more full and satisfactory if you consider two things 1. the place 2. the time Quamdiu In Heaven 1. The place shall be the Heaven of Heavens where the Throne of God is where his Majesty and Glory is most fully revealed 2. The Duration of time shall be forever set out in the promise eternall life and described 2 Cor. 4.18 but the things which are not seen are eternall Hens Arist Sacer. Some Ecclesiasticall writers are very confident that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in a high and heavenly sence signifies majestatem divinam or presentiam majestatis divinae and therefore is Nonnus the Greek Paraphrast of the Gospell of Saint John blamed by Hensius that he expresses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the glory of Christ by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that glory of the only begotten of the Father is saith he the Deity or divine Majesty of the Son of God indeed where Moses desires to see the glory of God Exod. 33.18 He is answered by God no man can see my face and live the Glory of God is the face of God and this is God Himselfe And now being that our future reward consists in seeing of God as is expressed Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God And as the Apostle tells us 1 Thess 4.17 We shall be ever with the Lord they may well be said to want nothing and presumed to have a glorious body a beautifull soul a perfectly blessed estate and a never interrupted contentment that enjoy the Lord God himselfe the Ocean an originall of all Glory the Author of all happinesse Behold the reward then of Gods Servants how infinite and transcendent it is Mans Blessednesse in the Injoyment of God See the end of all their pious labours the invaluable reward of Religion and the love of God whom none shall serve for nought and what ye shall receive he tells you before hand to encourage your performances this made the Ancient fathers foregoe their inheritances and undervalue the world counting themselves but Pilgrims and strangers for a more durable and happy abode Saint Paul scorned the world and its Treasures as dung for those riches that cannot be taken away and with joy welcomed his dissolution for this admission that he might be with Christ nor need we wonder that so many Saints even courted their deaths if we consider the Glory that was set before them such a glory as none shall faile of that faithfully believes and adores the Giver There remaines the third particular to be now treated of which is the way and manner whereby the Servants of God are made partakers of this glory which is by being received or assumed thereto Thou shalt receive Doctn 1. The Saints receive glory notwithstanding Affliction And here consider it first with relation unto part of the preceding verse neverthelesse and you shall finde this generall doctrine Trouble and Calamity shall not hinder the Saints being received unto Glory This is clear'd out of the promises before spoken of for since God hath engaged his Word and Promise his faithfullnesse obliges both his Justice and Power to make it good and indeed what can hinder the powerfull execution of his righteousnesse The Apostle tells us in triumph Rom. 8. vers 31. If God be for us who can be against us 2. Nothing can hinder Receipt of Glory but that which workes man into disfavour with God and this is sin but as often I told you there is no sin in suffering for rightoousnesse sake but a hapinesse rather as the Apostle tells us 1 Pet. 3 4. and in the 4.14 the spirit of Glory resteth on pious sufferers all our stormes here cannot Shipwrack This no cloud can obscure Heaven from a pious eye or ecclips the glory of his obedience and future felicitie nay not to conceale a nobler mysterie from you calamities are so farre from hindring that they elevate us more to increase our Glory working out for us as the Apostle assures us 2 Cor. 4.17 a farre more eternall and exceeding weight of Glory Calamities increase Glory Which though it may seem not onely improbable but ridiculous in the
eys of carnall men that apprehend and esteem nothing more contemptible then a suffering persecuted Christian yet the grounds of it are 1. That Calamities prove as Phisick to purge out the old leaven of corruption that may remaine vexatio dat intellectum trouble makes men more wise and less secure or unadvised and therefore David tells Psal 119. before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy word 2. They give occasion to the exereise of many eminent and excellent vertues which otherwise would not appeare They worke strong confidence manifest patience assured experience and the Hope which maketh not ashamed it is much to believe and obey but to suffer for the name of Christ will be a greater increase of Glory according to the mercifull providence that gives unto him that hath and more abundantly to him whose works are more abounding in the Lord. And these thoughts taught the Apostle to overcome all his suffrings when he tels 2 Cor. 4.8 that his troubles could not make him despaire because he knew the glory that attended them Calamities rob worldlings of that which they count their felicity casts a cloud on their brighest enjoyments and makes their treasures unpleasant a powerfull argument would they but consider it that felicity consists not in the fruition of these sublunary things and is not to be found in such fading possessions but no trouble can deprive us of our future Glory no imprisonment can sequester Heaven nor any losle bereave us of an invaluable Reward Why then should we be as men without hope what cause can there be either of despaire or disbeliefe our confidence is better seated then to be so shaken our hopes are just if our Consciences be pure nor can we suspect the truth of our future hapinesse whilst we cheerfully lay hold on Jesus the Author thereof waiting for his appearance whom the world may as soon divert and hinder from coming to Judgement as from bringing along with him the reward of the faithfull 2. Doctr. Saints are meer Passive Receivers of Glory A second generall conclusion from these words is this That the Servants of God are meerly passive receivers of Glory at the hand of God for the Prophet saies not I will ascend or mount up and assume glory to my selfe but in a more humble straine Afterward thou wilt receive me to Glory And how litle the best of meere men doe or can contribuhe to their own advancement unto glory how worthily they may be accounted meer Receivers thereof not efficients or Agents therein these following reasons may evince 1. To and before the attainment to Glory there is required a double Resurrection in either of which how small is mans efficiency will be known by the particulars One is that which in the phrase of Scripture is called the first Resurrection Revel 20.6 and though that which is there spoken of is not it may be that which I meane yet that which I now intend may well borrow that name I meane Conversion Regeneration and Sanctification by Grace For observe The estate of unconverted men is described by this expression amongst many others that they are dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2.1 where also the contrary estate is exprest by a quickning and being raised in another place by the having a new life but alive unto God by Jesus Christ Rom. 6.11 And that conversion and regeneration must go before Glory is made evident to us Rom. 8.8 They that are in the flesh cannot please God and vers 9. if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and in the 30. verse of the same chapter he tells us that calling and Justification which do both comprehend full conversion is before being Glorifyed Now that in Conversion man is meerly passive is not able to convert himself I need no other proofs then that of death Resurrection which expressions tell us that as Lazarus contributed nothing to his own revivall so in conversion man is of himselfe breathlesse t is the life of Grace must restore him and produce so powerfull a change as a returne from sin and a more endlesse death the same thing is also intimated by Regeneration new creation man makes not himselfe it is God that worketh in us to will and to doe of his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 If then man be passive in resurrection and conversion which is the meanes to glory he cannot bring himselfe to glory but is a Receiver of it as of grace Secondly unto Glory it is requisite that there be a Resurrection of the Body from the grave and the power of death of which the Apostle gives us a large account 1 Cor. 15. from whence observe 1. That though the soule live after death yet can we not properly say the whole person is in glory whilst the body is in the grave and sees corruption Now glory is promised to the whole person Secondly Though the soule be capable of a better well being in Heaven then this life can afford yet is it not in its perfect and compleat estate without the body as having a naturall desire and inclination to be united to it wherein as it had its first being so with it it desires stil to be Thirdly the necessity and lasting dominion of death was brought in by sin and till all the effects of sin be done away there cannot be full glory and therefore man cannot be compleatly happy till he can triumphantly say O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Now there is no worke nor wisdome in the grave when man returnes to his dust againe the body submits to a dissolution and enlivens that corruption and dishonour it was borne to This is a privation totall from which no returne can be made by mans own efficiency for how can he revive himselfe that is altogether livelesse or act to his own recovery that is insensible and movelesse in this then is man a mere passive receiver And thus much of the first reason Reas 2 The second Reason is taken from the modus agendi Gods manner of working man receives and God gives but what is the ground of Gods giving and the manner is it necessary nay is it not free and voluntary of his owne good will pleasure in this we may well say with the Apostle Rom. 9.16 it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Object And if it be objected that there is in the soule of man naturally a desire of blessednesse which providence is engaged to answer Answ I answer Providence answers the naturall desire of each species and Kind by and in the individuals and to this end the individualls must be such as they were created else providence is not obliged as it is not engaged to make this or that Tree worm-eaten fruitfull Had man continued in that Estate which creation set him in it might be thought
but in dependence to that love and relation unto him is fully evident by this Testimony That when this relation of the object unto God ceaseth and when love cannot have footing in such dependence and relation then love desire and the expressions thereof do likewise cease as if it be not Gods gift or cannot be obtained without sin if it make not for his glory or he forbid it if it should be an occasion of withdrawing their affections from that love and duty they owe unto God Job hated not his wife yet when shee tempted him to so high and ungratefull a crime as to curse God he then testifies his disaffection and dislike by giving her the just character of a foolish Woman The many injuries David received from Saul might well have tempted his revenge to a full execution when he had him at an advantage but the very thought and memory of his relation to God in being his anointed locked up all his resentments and he no longer lookes upon him as his Enemie but as a person more sacred and inviolable Nor had the primitive Christians any great reason to love their cruell Idolatrous persecutors whose fury was not satisfied with whole sacrifices of their Bodies in stead of Rebelling they releeve their Emperours bury the dead and returne their Ethnick persecutors offices of love and all for the relation they had to God The powers that were were his ordinance and both they and their Enemies were enlisted together by Christ within the Commandment of that love which men are obliged by to bear and expresse to one another And this is farther observeable in that league which Josuah made with the Gibeonites which though it seemed to carry many flawes in it as being made without any necessity without any direction from God with a people with whom no league was to be made obtained by fraud onely and so prejudiciall in all its concessions that many of the people murmured against it and against the Princes of the congregation for it yet they soon not onely submitted but approved and vindicated it and that 1. because it was done by Josuah and advice of the Princes whom God had placed in Authority and to whom he had given commission for the management of peace and war 2ly It was a Peace confirmed by an oath before the Lord So that now God had relation thereto and was a witnesse thereof which quickly satisfied their resentment and disarmed their mutinous passions in humbler submissions By all which testimonies it is abundantly manifest that the Saints love God first and all other things in reference onely and subordination unto him Give me leave now to recollect a little what hath been spoken and present you in short with the three reasons why the Saints upon Earth may be truly said to chuse God alone with utter refusall of all other things 1. Because they make God the sole object of their desire properly and cheifly desiring to have him alone 2. Because that every thing that is loved is loved in subordination to this love of him 3. Which followes from hence because the love of the creature then ceaseth when it consists not with the love of God And by these three particulars may every man examine the sincerity of his heart and the truth of his love to God if thou lovest him so as that thou desirest nothing in Heaven or Earth besides him if thy affections to all other objects be with Reference and subordination of thy love to him if for his sake thou canst relinquish all that thou callest thine and nobly throw away whatsoever is most pleasing to thee for him But if after the mode of the World thou runnest with open armes after its enjoyments and for a perishing fruition ar't carelesse of thy God or if though thou lovest him yet if thy love of Him and other things like two rivers from diverse fountaines be but separated affections and thou canst not yet forsake thy carnall interests for Him Thou art not yet made perfect in Love nor canst beare a part with the Prophet here in this ravishing profession Whom have I in Heaven but Thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee I shall conclude this point with this one observation more The justice and reasonablenesse of this command That the Commandement in these three particulars is Consonant unto all justice and reason it is as Righteous as it is expresse and peremptory the command of making God alone the object of the desire of our hearts I formerly shewed you and that for the actuall exercise of our love other things are not excluded For we are also commanded to Love our Neighbour as our selves but when by the commandment All the heart All the Soule All the mind All the strength is required this effectually intimatës that God alone is the object of our desire And the reason hereof is likewise powerfull For 1. When other things without Him are desired they shall never be able to satisfy the soule but God can 2. Since desire is the height and perfection of Affection and God as hath been before said is the best of beings it is but just that the most perfect object should meet with the best of our hearts 3. This command of loving God with the whole Soule is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the First and greatest Commandement the fountaine and foundation of all the rest all love from this What thing soever hath any truth or goodnesse which renders it desireable it hath it from God and therefore if the effect win our respect it must be with reference to the cause it will be but injustice and ingratitude to tast the streames and disparage the Fountain The benefits of subordination of our desires to God Lastly consider the great benefit and advantage of this dependance and subordination in our desires and affections 1. It will cause the love and affection that is due to other things to be right and constant such as it ought to be when men desire or affect the things of the world independantly for reasons meerly taken frō the creature their love proves partiall and languishing neither satisfactory nor lasting but if we take the method to love God first and ohter things with reference unto him we shall find comfort both in the reality and perpetuity of our affections 2. This method being observed we shall in the strength of divine love be able to performe noble things we shall as the Apostle tells us Rom. 5.3 even glory in our tribulations overcome our suffrings with a kind of delight and that which is so difficult to the heart of man to forgive or forget an injurie will be to us a pleasure 3. Without this Method in our love all our enjoiments will quite loose their lustre and become unserviceable and indeed when any thing looseth its relation and subordination unto God it then ceaseth to be any more desireable and becomes an object of neglect