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
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
wold he haue bin rauished if himselfe had bene transfigured as the Apostle saith that Iesus Christ shall transforme our vile bodies that they may be made like vnto his glorious bodie Who doubteth but that when this glorie vanished S. Peter was seized with great sorrow and so indeede the heart of the faithfull comming from this meditation againe to consider these base and earthly things is necessarily touched with a great distast and base esteeme of them and is grieued to see himselfe tied thereunto and to say with Dauid Psal 42. O when shall I present my self before the face of God It was these thoughts which made the Prophet greedie and thirstie after the Lord. These were the thoughts which made Paul desire to be dislodged and to be with Christ which made him thinke that which was gaine vnto others to be losse vnto him These are the thoughts which haue euen in our time sustained the Martyrs which haue made them go vnto death as cheerfully as those which come thence For loue is strong saith Salomon as death yea stronger seeing it maketh one to despise life This ardour of loue is entertayned in our soules by a frequent cōmunication with God and wee may easily see that the cause of our slacknesse and coldnesse in this loue is because wee speake not often with God The most exquisite friendships doe waxe cold for want of communication how much more if friendship neuer hath bene as indeed man is naturally borne and inclined vnto enmitie with God This is a common euill to wit that wee are much exercised in speaking with others but very litle with our selues and yet lesse with God If some houres of leisure do steale vs from men they giue vs not any whit the more vnto God If we enter alone into our closet we enter not euer the sooner into our selues to examine our consciēces to search our wounds to feele the pulses of our consciences or to talk with God And yet none shall see him aboue who hath not carefully sought him here below and hath not carefully walked with him by prayers meditations and by the studie and reading of the word This let vs study and from our life which is deuided into a thousand parts amongst a thousand occupatiōs suites solicitations publicke and domesticke affaires let vs withdraw some houres to giue our selues vnto God retiring our selues out of the throng and noise of this world quietly to meditate on those things which pertaine to our saluation As if by a litle channell we wold diuert a part of the troubled waters of a stream that they may run more gently and cleerly A running brooke presenteth not any images nor a spirit which is euer in action alwaies pussed with businesse hardly can hee frame himselfe vnto the image of God We must then separate some houres to speake with God All the time of our life is lost except that which is thus husbanded That time alone is only ours which we giue to God Let none here alledge his domesticke affaires For if we be Gods children his seruice is part of our domesticall affaires yea and whilest we are doing our handy workes what hindereth vs that we may not think of God and send him vp by our broken sighes those sort of prayers which the ancient Fathers called eiaculatoriae short praiers which may be said euery where prayers lanced forth spiritual sallies borne of the present occasion prayers which haue no other ornament but feruency whose clauses haue no other contexture but necessitie Who doubteth but that the Prophet Eliseus ploughing of his field of that verie labour of his tooke occasion to say We sow here in teares but we shall reape in heauen with ioy Or that the Apostle S. Paul labouring with his hands to make tents of this earthly trauell tooke occasion to thinke of our heauenly rest The way is euery where open vnto praier and the loue of God is ingenious to suggest thoughts which like sparkes of pietie mount vp vnto God The fift marke of the Loue of God THe life of the bodie is discerned by these two markes 1. by motion 2. by feeling The loue of God being the life of our soules is also knowne by these two things The foure marks of this loue which wee haue hitherto presented are the motions of our soules for they are holy actions and spirituall motions produced by the loue of God but this fift marke is the feeling to wit an affection which maketh a man sensible to be moued either with griefe or with ioy according as God is blasphemed or glorified Carnall and vicious loue may serue vs for an example We reade of the sonne of king Antigonus that being grieuously sicke and none knowing the cause of his maladie his Physitian perceiued the cause to be the loue of his mother in law because that she being entred into the chamber his pulse began to beate extraordinarily The like happeneth in the loue of God All men that are therewith possessed when that they see God glorified or his name his truth blasphemed although hee intend to containe himselfe yet will the pulse of his conscience be extraordinarily moued either with ioy or sorow and impatience It will chance him as it happened vnto Croesus his sonne who hauing bene euer dumbe came suddenly to his speech seeing his father assailed feare and griefe hauing ouercome all naturall hinderances For the Spirit of Iesus Christ dwelling in him produceth the same effects in him as in himselfe of whom it is written The zeale of thy house hath eaten me vp This affection did exulcerate the Apostle Saint Paul being at Athens and grieued his soule to see the Towne so giuen to idolatry This same zeale was it which seized on the soule of Eli his daughter in law so as in her death she was not so much afflicted either for his or for her husbands as for the Arke of the couenant which was taken by the infidels It is of this alone that she speaketh dying The glorie of the Lord saith she is departed frō Israel There is no more certain effect of the loue of God then this here for if at one time we receiue seuerall newes the one of the losse of a law-suite the other of the reuolt of some persons bought and are more grieued with the last then the first Or if we be more angrie to heare Gods name blasphemed then to heare our selues euill spoken of then haue we in vs an assured witnesse that the loue of God is liuely imprinted in our soules Good bloud will not bely it selfe All wel-borne children are touched at the quicke with the iniuries are done vnto their fathers who so is not moued therewith confesseth himselfe a bastard or a stranger This is an euill which we see before our eyes to our great griefe that vnto them which make profession to carrie weapons and to vnderstand the termes of reputatiō if one speake the least crosse