thou save thy self if thou put not thy selfe under the shelter of thy Saviours Cross If thou lose him thou hast nothing left to comfort thee In him thou hast all things If thou art Hungry thou needest but to taste of his love if Thirsty the light of his countenance is farre better then the Corn and Wine of this world We read of many accomplished Beauties in former ages which have drawn the affections of those that beheld them but what are those but fading shadows to the love of Jesus which winneth whole Nations and Monarchies to it From hence it is that so many Kings Queens and great Personages have forsaken the Pomp and Beauty of the World and followed him through Thornes and Rocks that so many millions of the wisest and most purified Souls upon Earth have abandoned themselves and loved him even to the suffering of Flames and Wheeles yea the dismembring of their whole Body Oh that our hearts could then dissolve for him Oh that they could dayly melt in his service without consuming since there is nothing which equalizeth the excellency of this Celestial Love But wretched Creatures as we are can we chuse but grievc to see them torn and divided by so many vile and base Objects which divert our Affections and hinder us from giving them to God for which they were made Oh how much should we blush thus to contaminate our hearts with the wickedness and impurities of the Earth The heart of Man should be as a fortunate Island wherein there is nothing but God and it Or like the Nest of that little Bird which cannot hold one silly Fly more then it self But alas what Creatures are there there lodged to the prejudice of our Creator O poor Soul really miserable do but once open thine eyes and thou shalt soon see the head-long ruine which threatneth thee Carnal Souls have much ado to conceive how a man may become passionate in the love of God it is a love too high say they to transfer our Affections into Heaven we know no affection but for temporal and visible things O blinded Spirits ignorant of the glorious Mysteries of Heaven How do ye thus argue with your selves O sad Souls is Heaven a Country wherein they have no commerce Doth God speak to thee in all his Creatures nay doth he seek for thee dost thou behold him through the veil of Nature in somany various Objects Dost thou daily see him in the Image of his Bounty and Greatness of his power and the splendor of his Beauty and in the lively Characters of his Majesty and wilt thou be so much charmed with the present pleasures and delighted so with the Workmanship as to forget the Workman Wilt thou embrace the shadow for the body and momentary Beauties for Eternal verities Oh! but thou objectest that he is a secret so hidden and invisible to men that our poor spirits finde more confusion then light in seeking him I answer hold thy peace O thou ignorant and mis-judging Soul God shews himself in as many mirrours as there are Creatures in the world All that we see hear touch or handle cease not to recount unto us the love of our Maker Do we not find the daily experience of his love in every minutes preservation Do we not hear the sweetness of his voice and harmonies in the chirping of every little Bird and Nightingale yea the least silly Fly holds forth a tone which all the art of the world cannot frame If we behold the murmuring of those silver streams which so sweetly charme and delight our senses if we cast an eye upon those various party-coloured Flowers with what an exquisite delicacie shall we find them adorn'd insomuch that as we have it from the sacred lips of Eternal Wisdom Solomon in all his Royalty was not like one of these But when we cast our eyes towards Heaven when we behold the Sun the Moon and those silver sparcles which shew themselves as soon as the Night spreads its Mantle over the inferior Regions of the World Ah! how may we with the Princely Prophet cry out The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work Expose not then the loss of thy innocency and sanctity O poor Soul to the alluring occasions of this tempting world and thou needest not fear but in him to find salve forall thy wounds It may be thou fearest Poverty alas hath not thy Saviour consecrated it in the Crib and in Clouts Dost thou fear Reproaches he hath sanctified them in the loss of his Reputation Dost thou fear dolours he hath lodged them in his own flesh Dost thou fear Death he hath overcome it for thee only let thy heart be devested from the ardent affections thou hast towards worldly enablements beholding them as an inconstant moving of shadowes and Spirits which with a swift course glide before our eyes And lastly let us look towards the eye of God which perpetually beholdeth us Let us behold it as our Pole-star and flaming Pillar whereby at last we shall learn to repose our selves in his bosome slumber upon his heart and sleep eternally between his Arms. The Soul breaks into Sighes and dissolves into desires for the presence of God THe Soul of Man being made to the Image of God and for the possession and fruition of God will never rest but in the conformity of its understanding and will to its Creator It casts its eyes indeed oftentimes on the Sea the Earth with so many Rivers which moisten it so many Trees which cover it so many living Creatures which furnish it so many men which inhabite and dress it but yet rests not there It figures also the Air in its thoughts with all its Birds so different in shape so various in colour so diversified in their Notes but alas like Noahs Dove she finds no rest for her footing It glanceth up further to those Christaline and azure Vaults where the Sun the Moon and so many silver Stars perform their career with such measure as God hath determined yet finds not God in any of them It contemplates those innumerable Legions of Angels Spirits of Fire and light which resplendently shine as Lamps before the face of God yet ever cryes out it is not be God onely being he who comprehendeth all things and not onely bounds them but incomparably surpasseth them What do I here then O Jesus without thee but sail without Stars and labour without the Sun Alas if I can do nothing here without thee if without the Sun-shine of thy presence I am but an unprofitable servant and burden to the Earth what do I here All that satisfieth the desires of the curious all that which inviteth the admiration of the wisest all that which enflameth the hearts of the most passionate yea Land and Sea Thrones and Scepters Arms and Empires are but as a silly drop of dew before thy face And wilt thou yet O disloyal Soul entertain in thy heart a mass of
deploring the evil effects of Covetousness namely That the life of man was miserable because Avarice like a spirit of Storms and Tempests had poured it self on Mortals and that it were to be wished that the best Physicians might meet together to cure the Disease The same may we say of Love since it is the fatal Plague among all Passions and no simple malady but one composed of all the evils in the world A Passion which maketh charms and illusions to march before it and draggeth on Furies disasters and rapines after it Was it not this which sharpned the sword which transfixed Ammon Which shaved and blinded Sampson Which gave a Halter to Phillis Alas How many wretched and caitif souls how many ship-wracked Spectacles may we behold standing on Promontory tops who tell us of the ruines which this Passion hath caused Simon Magus was undone by a Hellen being more bewitched by her love then he enchanted others by his Sorcery Apelles was corrupted by Phylumene Donatus by Lucilia Montanus by Maximilla Women having ended amongst all these what Heresie and Magick had but begun which made one wittily to say That Heaven was most happy in having a God In Coelo Angelus Angela c. Tertul. adversus Val. and Angels and no Goddesses since it might be feared that if there were diversity of Sex it would alter somthing of its tranquility Was it not the love of Women which caused Sampson's David's and Solomon's shipwracks Hath it not besotted the wise conquered the strong deceived the prudent corrupted Saints and humbled the mighty Hath it not trodden down Scepters and Crowns blasted the Lawrels of the greatest Conquerours troubled the most flourishing States Hath it not thrown Schism into Churches corruption among Judges and the greatest cruelties into Arms Hath it not acted Treasons Furies firings poysons murthers and ransackings And how should it spare its enemy since it is so cruel to its self It kills and murders those that have most constantly served it drinking their blood and insensibly devouring them and making many to sink in the twinkling of an eye It will open a Flood-gate to a Deluge of miseries and cares It will by some invisible hand as it were shoot Arrows amidst the Vermilion of Roses and the whiteness of Lilies It is the worm which gnaweth all our great actions the moth which eateth all the vigour of our spirit the Labyrinth which hindreth our chief designs yea it is the true snare of our soul which too often hides poison and death under a seeming sweetness See here the goodly sacrifices of Lust Behold the transfigurations of sottish Love What Nothing but Poyson Gibbets Massacres and Precipices Nothing to be seen but smoak flames darkness despairs and the sad complaints of unfortunate Lovers O God! What is he who beholding these Pictures would ever betray his soul heaven and his God to yeild obedience to loathsome lust In time then let us behold the disasters which wait on the experience of this miserable sin which is so ruinous to our body soul estate and reputation so full of fetters and snares It being impossible to write all the Tragedies which arise from this Passion for which all Pens are too weak all Wits too dull and all Tongues would be dryed up Neither is it to be wondred at what the Wise man said That the too free familiarity with Women was a firebrand in the bosome Prov. 6.27 and as another said It was as easie to live among burning coals as to converse with this Sex and not to wound the soul How careful then should we be to avoid whatsoever may endanger the scortching not only of our Body but our precious Soul yea how should we fear our Relapses and shun all occasions which may re-enkindle the flame For if vain Love be a Tree the fruit flowers and leaves whereof are nothing but sorrows if it be a Sea full of Tempests and Storms where a Haven is not to be hoped for but with the loss of our selves If it be a Passion which causeth a continual drunkenness of Reason If this Banquet which seems to be the source of life brings an Edict of Death with it and the best sports thereof are ordinarily bloody why should we embrace such cruelty as is mingled with delights Or that pleasure which is attended with Funerals O my Make us to bury all our concupiscences before we go to the Grave and so strive to live as that when death comes it may finde us prepared and that we may have little other business then to die That Love in its self is not a Vice but the Soul of all Vertues when it is tyed to its proper Object which is the Soveraign Good NEver shall the soul of man act any thing great in this world if he retain not holy fire in his veins since from the beginning of the world all things are held together by this Divine tye Concord which in its union causeth the happiness of all things and those sacred influences of Love have woven eternal chains to tye indissolubly all the parts of the Vniverse True joy is nothing else but a satisfaction of the soul in enjoying what it loves neither is the accomplishment of Pleasure any thing but the presence possession and fruition of the good which is known to us and which we love We cannot have one silly spark of love for God unless it be inspired into us by himself That which the Ayr is in the Elementary world the Sun in the Celestial and the Soul in the Intelligible the same is he throughout All He is the Ayr which all the afflicted desire to breathe in the Sun which dispelleth all our clouds the Soul which giveth life to all things and therefore he that is thus the Lover of our souls ought really to be the object with which our soul ought everlastingly to be in love And oh how happy are they who entertain this chaste and spiritual love for things Divine who embrace the wisdom of heaven which is so far beyond all humane Beauties as the light of the Stars surpass the petty sparklings and flitting fires of the earth but miserable are those who mount not above the flatteries and fading Beauty of the world From hence it was that the beauties of Solomon's Mistresses were no sooner adored but that through the neglect of his former Zeal and Courage Idols were worshipped That Sampson was no sooner blinded with love but that Dalilah forthwith blinded the eyes of his reason and body together Hence was it that David paid so dear for that unhappy cast of his eye on Bathsheba all which God is pleas'd to place as broken masts on the top of a mountain to make others take heed of the shipwracks of love And great care surely ought to be taken in the whole course and progress of our life sin being usually killed by flying the occasions of it Absence resistance coldness silence labour and diversion have overcome many assaults
fading pleasures these little Ant-hills which enflame thy heart Thy Country is no longer Earth behold the great Globe of Heaven all replenished with glorious Lights why do we so extreamly torment our poor life running after this worlds shadows which we cannot follow without trouble nor possess without fear nor lose without sorrow He that cloaths the flowers of the Meadows more gorgeously then Monarchs who lodgeth so many little Fishes in golden and azure shells He who but openeth his hand and replenisheth all Nature with his blessings will never forsake us at our need if we love him and keep his Commandments A man that must die needs very few worldly things but whole Kingdoms will not satisfie covetousness O my God Shall I always then fly after that which flies from me and never follow Jesus who follows me and even loves me when I am ungrateful Ah no more let me run after the vanishing Beauties of a deceitful world Our love to Jesus should be like the Needle in the Seamans Chard which though it be ever moving and casting about as it were to several parts yet it still returns and retains its whole setled course to the true Pole-star It should be like the Oak the Hart and the Elephant which as Naturalists observe are long liv'd and not like Pincks Roses and Tulips flowers of sight and smell but delightful only for a few hours If you will examine King David the man after Gods own heart he will tell you he hath conquered the Bear and the Lyon and that great Gyant Goliah yet was not satisfied He had stept from a Sheep fold to a Crown yet was not contented He had subdued all his Enemies and Rebels yet had he no rest until he enjoyed Heaven I have a goodly Heritage saith he but the Lord is the fulness of my Inheritance in whose presence there is fulness of joy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore Psal 16. And therefore it is that he again saith Psal 73.24 There is none O Lord upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee We finde all sublunary bodies compounded of the four Elements and all the goods of the Body reduced to four heads First Life under which we understand health strength and beauty of Body Secondly Honour under which may be comprised Titles Offices Priviledges and Retinue Thirdly Wealth Lands Money and Revenues have place Fourthly Pleasures which are as various as there are objects of our senses pleasing to our taste sight touch hearing and smell Now though all these ordinately desired and lawfully used may be both useful and lawful yet are they not able to satisfie the soul longer then a wind or lightning And therefore man should not and indeed truly he cannot set his love upon them And alas O poor soul What canst thou finde in all other loves which prove no other then that of Sampson who paid so dearly for relying on his trecherous Dalilah or as the Prodigals Lovers in the Gospel who like Mice Whores and Swallows make love and frequent the house in the Summer of prosperity or like Lice who continue no longer then there is sweat to nourish them but in the end like Actaeon's hounds prove your destroyers The like we finde of Job's friends and of those the Prophet mentions Isa 1.23 Who loved gifts and followed after Rewards Not much unlike to those were the seeming friends of King David of whom he so often complains and prays against as being of his Council and eating his bread Psal 54. yet while they had butter and oyl on their lips their hearts and tongues were spears swords and very poyson And as these to David were more dangerous then his publique enemies for of those saith he I could have taken heed so are all the false Loves of Delight Feature Beauty or other parts or gifts Yea their Loves are like the Apples of Sodom or like that creature called Acucena which at twice handling yeilds out an ill savour or as the flowers of the Garden which long hold neither colour nor scent Ye then which cry Come and let us crown our selves with Roses Let us eat drink and take our fill of love Ah! How suddenly are you and your loves vanished And your place no where to be found How do ye starve like Tantalus in the midst of all your glory and abundance How doth that which seemeth so much to encrease your felicity occasion your punishment Yea How doth the pain you meet with mix gall and bitterness with all the sweet appearances of the world What wanted Solomon of all the desireable things under heaven He had seven hundred Wives and three hundred Concubines He built himself stately Palaces adorn'd them with variety of Orchards and Gardens He had Attendants answerable to his Wealth and Glory yet when he weighed all together instead of proclaiâ—ing himself happy he cryed out All is but vanity and vexation of spirit Prov. 1.1 How great then alas is our folly to seek and expect our happiness here in the best enjoyments and most pleasing delights the world holds forth unto us Sit no longer then O my Soul by the fire of earthly comforts where the cold of carn I fears and sorrows do still afflict thee Wilt thou house thy self still on worldly thoughts and confine thy self to worldly dulness Away with those Soul-tormenting cares and fears Away with those Heart-vexing worldly sorrows Stand by a little O forbear to trouble my aspiring soul whilst I look up and see my eternal happiness whilst I lay aside my mourning robes and partake the joys of an everlasting Spring Happy change to leave these clods of earth and perpetually enjoy the glory of the Sun Blessed Conquest to tryumph on earth and enjoy heaven to conquer death and enjoy life to withdraw thy love from a wretched world and wholly fix it on thy Saviour the Fountain of all true love and goodness O that I were able O that I could feelingly say I love thee But ah Lord What is a Feast without an appetite Thou must give me a stomack as well as meat Thou mayst set the Dainties of Heaven before me but alas I am blinde and cannot see them I am sick and cannot relish them I am benummed and cannot receive them O then thou Spirit of Life breathe thy Graces upon me Take me by the hand and lead me up from earth to thy self that I may see by faith what thou hast laid up for them that love and wait for thee That the Soul can take pleasure in nothing until it meet with satisfaction from its Maker GOd having concluded our salvation in Love shews us that the best and speediest way to be happy is to love him who is the Author of our felicity and the immoveable Sun about which so many changes and agitations of all Creatures circumvolve which continually groan and aim at this first Beauty as the true Center of everlasting repose Oh this is the most assured way
thou canst think on here below When all things leave thee the love of God and a good Conscience will be thy familiar friends and which must ever attend thee That Balmof Gilead which must chear thee and that Palm of Peace which must at last crown thee And truly we have daylie need of God and not of man to help us One cries out here Wretch that I am who will help me out of misery Where shall I finde Tears enow to save me Another cries out What shall I do Must I needs leave my only Father my dear Husband my loving Brother my sweet and only Childe Oh let me die Some good body or other make an end of me The black clouds of sorrow somtimes so sadly overshadow us as that with Jacob we rend our clothes and will needs go down with sorrow to our Grave We often cry out What for ever In aeternum valedicere What to part for ever To forsake the world and all our friends what more troublesome What To take this young betrothed this poor Maid this intended Husband What To lay hold on one so well beloved in the flower of his age so fresh so flourishing so full of Honour and Prosperity O cruel and malicious Death What Hast thou Ears of Brass and Diamonds and wilt not hear our cries Alas What do I here I am but a living death and an unprofitable burden to the earth Why hadst thou not rather taken away this Begger that Cripple who hath not wherewith to live Ah Death Now shoot the utmost of thy Darts Thus do our humane respects too often seem to withstand the Divine Providence But oh thou that art thus unwilling to part with a Dunghil an earthly Cottage to enjoy a life of perpetual Beauty and felicity What alas may we think of thee That Heaven should open it self to thee and thou wilt neither embrace it nor open thy heart to love him that offers it Alas O Soul many times ungrateful and disloyal what wilt thou answer for so great a neglect when God shall call thee to an account Ah! If we love any thing in the world let us love it for life eternal The joys of heaven are without example Oh that we might then know our names to be written in the book of Life Oh how should we finde our Spirits ravished with those beautiful Ideas of glory Where can we more fitly commend our selves then unto so vast a bosom of Compassion as shall set a period to all the miseries of this sinful life To God I say who is an endless Ocean and boundless Sea of mercy How can we better fix our thoughts then on our crucified Saviour and in his countenance to read the lively characters of that infinite love he bears us the remembrance of death it self being sweet to those who lead their life so as to meet him comfortably as their Judge at the last day It will be no more to him to die then is one nights sweet repose on a bed of Roses Who can but behold the spirit of Jesus amongst those great Convulsions of the world moving round about the Cross in the midst of those bloody dolours insolent cries and insupportable blasphemies O behold and see him there as in a Sanctuary bleeding weeping and praying yea mingling his prayers with his tears and blood and at last to die unmoveably upon the Throne of his patience Oh madness of men That spend all their time encrease their account and lose so many fair opportunities when they might have gotten heaven for a tear a sigh or a groan from a penitent heart for the attaining of that which not only proves their eternal ruine hereafter but occasions their miserable vexation here O worldlings Thus to deceive your selves Who shall weep over you since you know not how to lament and bewail your selves Why alas are you so careful and tender of your bodies yet daylie entangle your poor souls in a thousand vanities a thousand Courtships and a thousand worldly loves which defile you and must one day be discharged at a dear rate Miserable wretches How will you then cry out what have we done Once had we time to have wrought out our salvation O precious time but these golden days are past And have we thus miserably undone our selves Come Rocks and fall upon us Come ye Furies and tear us until we moulder into nothing Sad creatures then as we are to procrastinate and put off our Repentance Since the Sun which goes so many miles in a minute and the Stars in the Firmament which go many more make not so much speed as our body hastens to the Grave The devouring sword the consuming fire the winds from the Wilderness the Diseases of the Body and all that afflicted holy Job are still at our heels what daylie reports do we hear Such a man is slain another is drowned a third breaks his neck this man died eating that man playing another sleeping this by accident that by his own hands Oh how great an Elephant and yet how small a Mouse can destroy us a pin a comb a hair pulled out hath gangren'd Nay our joy our mirth and laughter our shame and blushing may ruine us and in the very flower of our youth and blossome of our age we may be untimely nipt and sent down into the dust And alas If God but a little withdraw our breath vain is the power of art vain is the Physitians skill vain and fruitless are the sighs and tears of thy friends yea vain and helpless are the wishes of all our kinsfolk Here sits one weeping there another lamenting yet all to no purpose Neither is it Beauty or the Damask skin that can help us when we feel the slow pace of our panting pulse It is not mirth nor greatness which can then affect us when death in a moment shall dissolve all our honour into darkness The whole world cannot afford us content when our Soul is expiring from our body Neither can all her alluring baits smiling blandishments and beautiful temptations avail thee when thy spirits shall tremble with affrightful pangs when all thy senses shall decline and all the faculties of thy soul attempt which way soonest to leave thy body O then that we did but present unto our selves the sad and miserable condition at present and the happiness which is to come How effectual it would be to raise up our thoughts from the fading blossoms and perishing pleasures of this transitory world How would it comfort us in all conditions whatsoever How little would we care for the losses and crosses of this world did we think of a heavenly kingdom We are all in the time of our absence from God but strangers upon earth Let us then pass the time of our sojourning here in fear 1 Pet. 1.17 and then he needs not care for ill usage in his pilgrimage here who knows he is a King at home But alas We too often eat husks when we should
affliction being but the chafing of thewax whereby he means to seal us nearer to himself and the spots of our infirmities but the Letters wherein to write his Name He makes his servants more eminent in their sufferings then actions yea makes them remarkable with the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.4 5. In much Patience in Afflictions in Necessities in Distresses in Stripes in Imprisonments c. And as in worldly Amities it is not enough to have affections languours and lip complements without some better effects so the Souls love consisteth not in slight affectations or idle Devotion She knows that whosoever doth truly love must serve Jesus whose will must be executed his Cross carried and our selves wholly transformed into him by imitation of his Example She looks no more upon a withered and rotten Gourd upon the seducements and flatteries of a most odious and decayed Prostitute But Heaven is still in her Eye where wealth without want delight without distaste and joy without sorrow like undefiled and uncorruptible Virgins sit cloathed and crowned with Glory A devout Soul resembles those Rivers which run under the Earth It steals from the eyes of the world to seek for the eyes of God It studies solitude and retirement and is wholly shut up within it self Whence it often happens that those of whom we speak least on Earth are the best known in Heaven and while the world thinks they lie upon Thornes their Beds are made of Roses Yea God usually makes Ladders and Footstools of our Tribulations to lead us unto Heaven Happy then is that life which hath no eyes for carnal Beauties it being a shame for us still to tread on Flowers and think to attain Heaven without being acquainted with the troubles of Earth to be embarqued in the great Ship of Christianity and not sometimes to cast our eyes on the Rocks but like Jonah and the outcasts from Gods Presence to sleep securely under the Hatches And for ever blessed is that life which is no way dazeled with the sun-shine of worldly vanities How freely doth it taste the comforts of Heaven How doth it forsake the painted pieces of the world what pleasures will it one day take in this one Pleasure what joy is it to derive all our Joys from this one Fountain Why say we not then with S. Austin O Fountain of Life when shall we come to thy Delights and eternall sweetness I sigh here on Earth holy Hierusaleus in a dry Land O dear City with weeping eyes we behold thee afar off Tell me then if thou canst O fond worldling what is it that thou so strangely sets thy thoughts on What alas is it that thou so passionately seekest Wilt thou have Honours who hath more then God to whom so many States Kingdoms and Empires are but a drop of dew Hast thou high thoughts with thy self who more high then thy Saviour who makes Heaven to bow under the shadow of his Majesty who sits upon Thrones and shall at last come with his Angels to judge the World Oh but thou wouldst have power in thy hands Alas who more great then this Judge who makes the Thunder to roar the Lightning to fly the Rocks to rent the Earth to quake the Elements to melt there being neither Place Time nor Power which can deliver any out of his hands If wisdome affect thee who more wise then that God who hath the Riches of Eternal wisdom who seeth all within himself and to whom all things past present and to come are at one instant represented But it may be O wavering Soul thou art wearied with the cares griefs vexations and anxieties of the world If so where canst thou find repose out of God Hath he not all the contentments for the Soul and body But thou saist again thou art no body without Pleasures yea the desires of thy heart are unsatisfied without them And is there not a fulness of joy in thy dear Saviour Is he not an abundance which never fails a sweetness which never corrupteth a Feast which never consumes Is he not a perpetual Treasury of Comforts and an unexhaustible fountain of all contentments Methinks oh unsatisfied Soul I hear thee yet further to complain thou wantest Riches And dost thou think to receive them anyway but from him who possesseth all He is the Beauty of fields the lustre of Flowers the pleasantness of Fruits the wealth of Minerals and the Magazin of total Nature Cannot he whose care it is every year to make Garments all besprinkled over with the pearls of so many Meadow flowers satiate thy hungry desires Surely would we but thus by continual familiarity adore that most pure Spirit which thus enlivens us and disperseth it self throughout the whole world we should not look upon the Sun but break out into desire for that eternal Light wherein there is neither blemish nor darkness We should not behold the Sea but admire the secret depths of the Judgements of God We should not cast our eyes upon the Fields but in so many sorts of Hearbs and Flowers different in colour and quality behold the beautiful eyes of him that hath ordained them neither should we hear a Bird to sing but we will conceit it to speak the love of our Maker The Soul being re-advanced on the wings of Faith sends up her choicest Affections towards Heaven THose that are throughly wounded with heavenly love Cant. 3.1 2 3. are sending out their sighs and groans their thoughts and tears to seek out the welbeloved of their Souls No return nor Letter pleaseth them wherein the Name of Jesus is not comprised They pretend not any more to the Greatness and pleasures of the world after their former affliction but throw themselves between the arms of the Cross that they may there find those of their Saviour daily dissolving themselves into Tears and meeting no comfort but in the wounds of their Saviour and a heavenly Retirement And O how great is the comfort in seeking the remedies of our wounds in the Mercies of an infinite God! who being in his Nature most wise and bountiful hath not so given man over as a prey to grief and calamities but hath withal reserved a life of spirits to himself whereby to please and adore him He wipes the eyes of those that are his so many times drenched in Tears and makes them see through their greatest sufferings a glory and happiness not imaginable which expects their Soul in another life Ah welcome welcome that affliction which is raised from our Saviours Love Happy is that chastisment which comes from so fatherly a hand What though I smart though I bleed under the stripes of my heavenly Father sure there cannot be so much pain in them as comfort in the love of him that layes them on Did he not use to chastise every one whom he doth receive Heb. 12.6 8. Alas I might suspect my self But O repining Soul must thou alwayes feed upon dainties will not the Crums which fall from
freedom of conversation height of diet courting musick idleness night-watchings solitude and other incitements are joyned to it Surely we need require no other charms to work the ruine of a Soul And since fond Love thus sets our reason to sale if it carefully take not heed and insensibly draweth it to its side and thereby fighteth against our selves making use of our members as of the instruments of its battels and the organ of its wiles since without the singular grace of God it causeth Sedition within War without and never any true repose Since we have all one Domestick Enemy which is our own Body that perpetually almost opposeth the dispositions of the spirit how great should be our resistance how notable our victories Conscience and Honour indeed many times make some resistance and glimmering flashes yet how quickly doth the understanding create to it self many new and evil Lights and the will too much false fire did not the fire of God awaken us and make us even ashamed to tell our own thoughts to our proper heart Oh this Feaver this perpetual Frenzy this wandring of the Soul this neglect of the true God and setting up of Idols How can it be sufficiently deplored How is reason hereby weakned shamefac'dness banished passion entertained good counsel abandoned yea at last how do they impute to the Stars to Destiny to Necessity what is nothing else but their own folly It is thought by some that in great Storms evil Spirits shuffle to stir up Lightning-flashes whereby the Tempests become more dreadful and pernicious And may we not well suppose that the Angel of Darkness involveth himself in the great Tempests of Love and many times maketh use of the abominable help of Magicians Is it not the Rock which wracketh the greatest Vessels yea the Gulph which devoureth our Bodies and Souls Let no man then flatter you in the passion of sensual Love as if it were a prime vertue of your profession which is the stain that defileth all the ornaments of your life Neither among all the qualities of a vertuous life is there any sweeter odour then that Temperance which represseth the voluptuous pleasure of the body That many may have their eyes Love-proof and their hearts shut up against all the assaults of Fond-Love IT is not impossible but that the Soul wholly propending to the thing beloved vertuous and civil Amities may be between persons of different Sex who are endowed with singular and excellent Vertues and who manage their Affections with great discretion the which though rarely done yet if there be any which abuse themselves by ill placing their Love through want of discretion it doth not follow neither is it fit by reason of blasted members we should blame sound parts there being not a few who with much prudence and chariness have therein comported themselves yea very many great Souls who are so powerfully possessed by the love of God which replenisheth their hearts and who live a conversation in continual exercises of Prayer and mortification as by a conversation sweetly grave and simply prudent to converse with women without changing the Love which they bear to the vertue of Chastity And therefore Democritus needed not have voluntarily made himself blinde by looking stedfastly on the Beams of the Sun to free himself from the importunities of the love of women who perchance shut up two gates against Love and opened a thousand to his Imagination Neither needed Origen to have deprived himself of the distinction of Sex to rebate the stings of sensuality which bred him much mischief It being a better way of repulse given by her who being importuned by a young man with all the violent assaults this Passion could suggest told him she had resolved to fast forty days with bread and water desiring him therein also to give a Tryal of his Love which being accepted in few days thought more of his death then precedent folly Neither let us think Chastity to be onely found in Cloisters but every where where the fear of God is And though as Justin Martyr faith a singular discretion ought to be had to treat with women and he doth very much who can love their Vertues without danger yet we see there is sometimes need but of a Spiders web to beat back the Darts of Love that at other times the Ramparts of Semiramis are not strong enough against and that a well fortified heart is like the Bed of a Phoenix which takes no fire but from the beams of the Sun yea that Chastity is often times impenetrable by the darts of Love amidst all the delights and temptations of the World A large president whereof we have in pious Joseph who having opportunities enow to advance himself in the Court of Pharaoh by satisfying the desires of his Mistris who had tempted him to sin accounted it the greatest tryal of his Vertues to have sin in his power and innocence in his will neither would raise fortunes of Glass upon the foundations of Iniquity But preferring Reason before Passion Grace before Nature and God before any thing else represented the faithfulness he had promised to his Master to himself and leaving his garment behinde him came out of the Chamber where the snare was laid as a Ruby out of burning flames without losing any thing of his integrity And surely as they who will with profit make use of the proper instruments of Vertue must so live as if they were always under the Physicians hands so ought we so to live as if we were still to give an account for every word of our mouth every thought of our heart every glance of our eye every minute of our time every duty we have omitted and every sin we have committed Jesus our great Master hath by the account of some abridged six hundred and thirteen Precepts of the Old Testament within the Law of Love Do but Love saith St. Austin and do what you will onely let your love go to the right Fountain which is God Be not afraid to shew him thy heart stark naked that he may pierce it with his Arrows His wounds are more precious then Rubies thou shalt gain all by loving him and death it self which comes from his love is the gate of life Our Love being once thus fixed we need not fear the extravagancy thereof With this excellent and holy temper of spirit it was that Hester changed King Ahasuerus into a Lamb that Abigal was much stronger then the Arms of David and that the eye of Judith triumphing over Holofernes and with a little Ray of its flames burning up a whole Army did more then her hand which destroyed 100000 men by cutting off one only head O what magnificent employments had Love in these Acts And to say truth even consecrating its Arrows never was it so innocent in its Combates never was it so glorious in its Triumphs We finde in the Ecclesiastical History that Athanasius being with rage and fury persecuted by
of thy eternal happiness That when all Loves fail the Love of God remains THe Soul of man is unsatisfied nothing but the Creator thereof will content it It walks but sadly amongst the Riches Honours and Dignities of the world all the joys glories and beatitudes of the earth afford it no comfort It wholly represents God as the beginning and end of all things and is ravished with its glory as poor creatures use to be with the heat of the Sun It is he alone which the soul seeks esteems and honours All that she sees hears or understands besides is nothing to her if it carry not his Name and take colour from his Beauty she well knows she shall get all by loving him and death it self which comes from his Love is the gate of Life Here we every night finde a little death in our sleep sickness and pains are still subject to overtake us neither indeed do we know what belongs to a Crown Scepter or Kingdom while we are in this base life But surely had we talked only one quarter of an hour with a blessed Soul departed and discoursed of the State of the other life Oh! How would our heart dissolve into desires How would we hasten to go out of that ruinous house where of we are but Tenants How would we be ravished to hear these words Go faithful soul out of this Body go out with joy in full peace and safety the eternal mountains those glorious Heavens and all the goodly company of Angels and blessed Spirits which there inhabite will there receive thee Go on confidently behold God is ready to wipe away all thy Tears No more sorrows no more clamours behold an Estate altogether new Oh What Repose What Peace What cessation of Troubles shall we there meet with Our Saviour met the Young-man that was carried to Burial at the Gate of Naim Luke 7.11 which is interpreted The Town of Beauties to shew us that neither Beauty nor Youth are freed from the Laws of Death And it was not impertinately storyed of a young man who going eagerly after the pursuit of his Lusts met a dead Corps in his way which occasion'd his return and the future amendment of that and other his exorbitant and lascivious courses And truly as the consideration of our ashes will humble us under the greatest Pride so will it abate and consume our burning Lust he being very strong by Nature or wicked by his own choice who will not amend himself having ashes for his Glass and death for his Mistris Oh! What then is it silly dust and ashes that thus strangely enflames thy swelling veins when the least breath or shew of death is like Belshazzar's hand-writing on the Wall ever ready to affright thee Wilt thou then pursue those seeming joys and fancies which will at last vanish into a dejected Melancholy Wilt thou unadvisedly let loose the Reins of thy affections towards the enjoyment of such perishing Pleasures If so oh How dearly wilt thou buy thy folly What are we alas and what is all we call ours To day we flourish and are well spoken of we please and are in favour with men But out alas our flower will fade to morrow and we shall be evil spoken of and out of favour with God and man And whither tends all this O my soul but to tell thee that thou art made to wait on thy Lord and Spouse and wholly to thirst after Divine things neither must thou ever think to attain perfect rest and happiness in the troublesome Bed of this world Three cubits of earth will suffice us and how little or much soever we possess how beautiful or deformed soever we are this is all shall be left us Yet how often O God! doth it come to pass that for a little deceitful Beauty a little fugitive honour a little filthy pleasure and that not long we so slightly regard the joys of heaven neither dread the everlasting pains of hell He that but truly be-thinks himself of Haman's pride of Belshazzar's sacriledge Ahab's covetousness Absolon's hair Sampson's locks and Dives riches shall quickly finde that these things wherein we most presum'd and which we esteem'd our best support may suddenly become the occasion of our ruine and destruction You then that say Come and let us enjoy the pleasures that are let us take our fill of precious wine and sweet perfumes and no way lose the flower of our time let us crown our selves with Roses before they fade away and let no meadow be untraversed by us O that ye would but a little apprehend that what this way seems most to afford you content exposeth you a hundred times a day to the hazard of your lives For how little alas is the continuance at best of all the favours of Fortune When one Sun-shine of pleasure is past in comes a Tempest and when one storm is dispersed how are we again cast into new despairs and at last with what dreadful complaints able to rend Rocks and Marbles asunder will we lament our sins then presented unto us like so many Furies which heretofore we esteemed so light If then at any time thou art taken with the Syren and pleasing smiles of the world if thou seem here to content thy self in the beholding of earthly Palaces rich furniture exquisite pictures and sweet Perfumes if thou seem here to please thy melancholy Fancy in high Mountains goodly Forrests rich Marbles fair Meadows pleasant Rivers and beautiful Flowers O do but be-think thy self What are these What is this to Heaven What is this to Eternity All being but a little Atome to the unspeakable joys of the Celestial Paradice Earthly delights may I confess astonish but can never satiate our senses Temporal Beauty is but a transitory charm an illusion of our senses a Flower which hath but a moment of life and a Dyal which we never look on but when the Sun shines What is humane glory but a Dunghil covered with snow a Glass painted with false colours a sugar'd Fruit gilded with poyson or a dangerous Hostess in a fair House Shall we then trust so fading a good Shall we hazard our Souls in so unhappy a snare Or shall we tye out contentments to so slippery a knot Or dote upon temporal goods which like chirping Birds give us only a little Musick in the Summer and so fly away There are some who upon these words of the Psalmist By the waters of Babylon we sate down and wept have compared the temporal goods and delights of the world to these Waters not only for their swift running away and never returning but for their trouble in procuring and their sorrow in losing and well may we therefore hang up our Harps and sit down weeping while we live in this Babylon of Captivity And surely Wisdom tells us that such is the vanity of all earthly goods as that there is nothing so great in this Vale of Tears whose loss should any way disquiet us VVhat
inexplicable sweetnesses of his bounty O the excellency of divine Love which thus causeth a Calm to be found in a Tempest Safety in the midst of Dangers Life on the brinck of Death Comfort in Disasters an Upholding in the midst of Weakness and which protects so many people under the shadow of its Branches Happy Souls which flyes hence into heaven enricht with the purple stains of so heavenly a Fountain yea happy are the wounds from whence flow so much virtue and goodness What greater mercy could there be then to see a Humane Nature sought unto by God which was once despoiled of the Robe of Honour and Diadem of Glory as a just chastisement of its Rebellions and condemned to a Prison of Flames and Darkness even then when it was unable to free it selfe and when neither Angel nor Man could deliver it from the misery whereinto it was plunged To see it I say sought unto by God when it flew from him and to consider how so heavenly a Father transported with unspeakable love said unto it Take my only Son to redeem thee from thy many remediless calamities And this onely Son disdaineth not to become its Ransom and delivered himself for it to Torments so enormious and Confusions so hideous What shall we further admire in the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation Can there be any thing in the world greater then a Man-God If we cast our eyes on our heavenly Father we there see a work of the power of his Arm wherein he seems to have exhausted all his strength The Heaven and the Stars saith Gregory Nyssen were but the works of the Fingers of this divine Majesty but in the Incarnation he proceedeth with all the extent of his might with all the Engines of his power and Miracles of his greatness Blessed Jesus who can chuse but love and adore thee who wert not content onely to reconcile us to thy Father but espousedst our Nature and unitedst it to thy selfe by an indissoluble Band we naturally use to shew an aversion and dislike to such persons as are loathsome mishapen and infected and if with those defects we find a Soul wicked ungrateful and an Enemy to God we conceive him with such horror as that we had need be more then men to endure him But were not we in as bad estate as this for besides the mis-fortunes and calamities which encompassed us on all sides were we not Enemies to God by being too much a friend to our selves and yet all this while he accepteth us and appropriateth us unto himselfe amongst all these contrarieties The Soul checks her selfe for her backwardness and too much neglect of her Saviours invitations WHat imagination is sufficiently powerful to figure to its selfe the ardent dolours of a wounded Soul who desiring to be free and purified from the contagions of the earth and apprehending the shadows of the least sinnes hath its spirit seised on with the consciousness of some more hainous and grosser omissions How hard a matter is it for the Soul to guid the Helm of Reason in so tempestuous a storm of disturbances and in so dead a night of misery to adore the Ray of Gods Providence since almost swallowed in the depth of her sorrows But Nature having at last evicted a huge Tide of Tears she thus sighs out the other in Complaints My God! how justly have my sins deserved this desolate condition yea to endure the Trial of those sorrows which might ever befall the thoughts of a wretched Creature How happy alas are those pure and innocent Souls who have departed from their Bodies when they were ignorant of the sinnes which have approached my knowledge and defiled my thoughts They like little blossoms were cut off in the tenderness of their Age and thrice happy had my Soul been to have been transported into the other world before I had felt that trouble and anguish of Spirit which through the sense and horrour of my sinnes in refusing those gracious tenders of a mercifull Saviour now so sadly afflicts me O wicked and ungrateful heart it is thou which art the source and spring of all my disasters wretch whether goest thou what hast thou to do with the things of the world which will at last ruine thee wilt thou thus cast underfoot the Laws of thy God! Is it not madness to let pass so many golden Harvests which time presents thee and to sow nothing but wind and vanity which onely return thee thorns and sorrows and at last abandons thee as a Pilgrime rob'd and dispoil'd by a Thief O poor Soul wilt thou live rather amongst feavers and burning coals in an inconstant world then tie thy self to the will of God Miserable man to have thy heart fill'd with such restless desires wilt thou like Ravens be ever feeding upon Carrion Is it for such infamous pleasures thou renouncest the delights of heaven unhappy man where wilt thou find place to rest on at the last Dost thou forget the words of the Prophet Jer. 17.11 Silly Partridge thou broodest borrowed Eggs thou hast hatched Birds which were not thine let them fly since thou canst not hold them And canst thou yet fix thy beatitude upon this Gold that Silver that Beauty that Profit and Pleasure as on a little Divinity Is not Jesus thy Saviour enough to content thee must a world be made of Gold and Roses to please thee Alas senseless Soul canst thou have any better Object to behold then a Saviour on the Cross all naked and who in his nakedness giveth all things Oh! how little are all things mortall with him who looks upon a God immortal Blessed Jesus having thee for my guid I will walk confidently in the shades of death since they cannot separate me from the fountain of life I came not into the world glittering with precious Stones neither can I go out poorer then I came Let Poverty then come against me with all its terrours I shall account it a Glory to die poor for a God so dispoiled If Banishment come what need I care what Land be under my feet so my eyes be fixed in Heaven Or what at last can Imprisonment Fetters Gibbets yea death it selfe take from me but a life of Pismires and Flies and a miserable Carkass subject to a thousand deaths And woe unto that Soul the darkness of whose understanding is so great that though Jesus be all light he cannot see him how deprived is that will who though he be all goodness he cannot love How are his affections perverted who though he be all power will yet refuse to submit unto him Alas how art thou estranged from him when thou wert created it was by his power If thou live it is by his bounty if thou move it is by his assistance If thou lie down he sustaineth thee if thou sleep he refresheth thee if thou awake he enlightneth thee if thou read he teacheth thee if thou eat he nourisheth thee if thou art cloathed he warms
know ah little indeed the glory and blessedness of this love little dost thou know the excellency of this Love Is there any thing here below but baseness in espect of thy enjoyments above are the heavy sufferings the unsatisfying vanities of this world really sutable to thy desires or canst thou find any place more sutable to thy misery then that of mercy or of nearer interest or Relation then that of Heaven Come away then O my Soul stop thine ears to the ignorant language of the world what is the Beauty the Riches the Honours thou hast so much admired Canst thou but even close thine eyes and thou wilt think it all darkness and deformity What is the beauty thou hast so much admired alas when the night comes it will be nothing to thee whilst thou hast gazed on it it hath withered away doâ—h not the wrinkles of consuming sickness or of age or some other deformity make it as loathsome as it was once delightful Ah then O miserable man that thou art unworthy Soul how canst thou love a skinful of dirt and canst no more love the heavenly Glory art thou not a Soul is not heaven the onely lovely Object art thou not a Spirit and is not Earth a Dungeon to Celestial Glory shall Gold or Greatness or worldly Pomp be thy Idols vvhich are all dirt and dung to Christ come forth then O my dull and drowsie Soul thou hast lain long enough in these earthly Cells where cares have been thy Fetters where sorrows have been thy lodgings and Satan thy Jaylor The Soul calling to mind the infinite Love of her Saviour bewailes her ungratefulness and the coldness of her returns WHen holy David considered the vvorks of Gods hands the Sun and the Moou which he had made Psal 8.3 4. he immediately breaks forth into thoughts of humility touching the frail and sad estate of man But blessed Lord what can we say for our great neglect of that Love which hath stretched it self for us even to the death of the Cross and what stupidity is it to forget that that bloody Banquet which was to us the source of life should bring with it the Edict of death O poor Sinner What hast thou done look upon a Deed that vvas worthy of none but thy cruelty stretch out thy hands put thy fingers into those wounds vvhich thou hast made bedew thy hands like unbelieving Thomas in that sacred stream vvhich flowed from thy Saviours side Drink miserable vvretch of that River vvhich there thou seest glide to quench thy thirst Look and behold those dead eyes which accuse thy nakedness and which thou still dost wound with the aspect of thy wickedness alas they are not shut so much by the necessity of death as by the horrour of thy Luxury Behold the great temper of thy Saviours Soul in his most horrible sufferings what could be invented which he endured not what could be undergon which he met not vvith Oh high effect of an infinite Love vvhich found no belief in senses no perswasion in minds no example in manners nor resemblance in nature It is storied of a Prince vvho being desirous to offer himself to death for the preservation of his Subjects took the habite of a Clown the better to facilitate his death he laid down his Crown and Purple and all the Ensigns of Royalty onely retaining those of Love and lost his life in his Enemies hands But alas this was but a mortal life and in giving it he onely paid that tribute to Nature which at last he must of necessity yield But where have we read that a man glorious by Birth and immortal by condition hath espoused that humility which all the world despiseth that mortality which all must partake of that mercy which none can equalize and for no other occasion then to dye for his friend O dear Jesus thou wert by nature immortal and impregnable against all exterior violences thou took'st not the Body of a Peasant nor a body of Air but a true body of Flesh personally united to the word of God Thou O blessed Saviour consumedst thy body with Travails thou quailedst it with toils thou castedst tottered Rags over thy Purpleâ— thou laid'st our miseries upon thy own shoulders and at last resignedst thy selfe as a Prey to a most dolorous death My God! What a Prodigie is this Thou foundest a way to accord infirmity with Soveraignty Honour with Ignomy Life with Death and Time with Eternity O God of Glory O mild Saviour all this hast thou done it was not possible that sole God should suffer death nor sole Man should vanquish it but God and Man hath overcome it Ought not then thy pains to be as much adored by our wills as they are incomprehensible to our understandings And alas how much ought we to be ashamed since instead of enkindling our Affections with the sacred fires of thy Eternal Love we have sought after prophane fire from the eyes of earthly Beautie and have opened our hearts to Forreign flames Ah ungrateful Soul art thou not afraid to hear those heart-piercing words Cant. 5.6 I opened to my beloved but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when I spake I sought him but I could not find him Shall the love of God be so communicative as to stream forth by those two conduit-pipes of Glory and Beauty and art thou not hereupon even confounded to see thy heart so narrow and streightned in the exercise of holiness and good works Oh blessed Saviour thou didst spend thy time in continual pain and labours here on Earth for the redemption of the world Many were the scorns reproaches and miseries thou endurest for us Thou didst even melt and dissolve under the ardors of unspeakable affection and zeal for our salvation and at last exposedst thy self to languors sorrows extasies and the cruel punishment of the Cross and shall ingratitude be all the return thou reapest for such infinite mercy How justly maist thou many many times question with me as thou did once with S. Peter Joh. 21.17 Lovest thon me Thou seemest indeed poor soul to love me But why then dost thou not keepe my Commandements Doth not fond love which ordinarily delights to see what it cannot attain find too much admiration for thy eyes and food for its flame Ah that ever thou shouldst spend so many hours endure so much pain and run so many hazards to seek after an unhappy loathsomness Oh that ever thou shouldst take away thy love from me to place it on Creatures which so little deserve it And why should the faculties of the eye which was ordained for light be thus applyed to darkness Shall that which was Created for the use of Life be the cause of Death Alas what canst thou gain by imbracing thy Lusts O poor deceived Soul what Snares what Traps what Tempests beset thee on all sides O Man miserable wretch drenched in the waters of bitter Tears where alas wilt
state wherein thou wouldst die to fear Hell always that thou maist not fear it ar all to frame a tender and timerous conscience to thy self and to call thy self often to account in this manner Ah poor Soul if thou wert now at this instant to dislodge out of this world art thou in an estate to be presented before the Throne of the supream Judge hast thou not some sinnes unrepented of some restitution to make do there not some vain thoughts and worldly lusts lodge and remain within thy heart Say further to thy self alas what is a little time when it is gone how quickly shall I be in another world how speedily will our years pass how will our minutes of pleasure be then repaid with everlasting sufferings what have I then to do but to provide for heaven And let me think that time lost wherein Nothing is done to that end And seeing all the pleasure of sinne here in this world is but to converse with Swine and feed on Husks O that we had but a right apprehension of the fulness and pollution thereof and how momentary and uncertain that delight is vvhich vve reap by it The Soul being ready to sink under the weight and apprehension of her Sins bemoanes the weakness of her Faith and desires help from her Saviour THough Prosperity and the Beauty of the world doth not easily corrupt Souls which have once taken upon them to live in the fear of God yet notwithstanding they oftentimes vvould and in some sort change them every sin being a tripping off of the Souls heels The poor labouring and industrious Bee sometimes goes so long upon her hony as that by much walking she there entangles her feet So a Soul yea one of those who are most devout being continually soothed by a long sequel of pleasing successes and the delights of the world taketh some small flight out of it self and seeketh content in the smiling and delicate aire of the worlds delights though at last they prove nothing but the Objects of grief and sorrow But no sooner doth adversity strike and God hold up his finger but the Soul re-entereth into it self it raiseth it self above the wayes of the Moon and compass of the Sun to the goodly Temple of Eternity where Spirits live dispoiled from these Masses of flesh and Bones which we draw along with us in the midst of the various revolutions of this mortal life This is the way which the Soul taketh so soon as through sinne she is alienated from the Court of Heaven She entereth into a sad retirement and in this manner bespeaks her self O Lord this World is irksome to me I cry unto thee Lord unto thee do I fly O thou whose clemency reacheth from Heaven to Earth set my sinnes from me as wide as the East is from the West It is thou onely O Jesus that canst cure the ardours of my Sufferings It is thou onely that canst dry up my Tears break my Fetters and dissipate all my Troubles If I am in darkness thou art light if in doubt thou art my councel if in danger of shipwrack thou art my Haven if in a Labyrinth of Dangers thou art the Thread to guide me out yea if at the Gates of death thou art my Life O suffer me not dear Saviour now to sink under the grievous weight of my many infirmities Then she looks about her as if it seemed Nature had displayed the Mountains Valleys the Woods Forrests and Rivers and the great Theatre of the works of God altogether to assist and further her in the height of her sadness She that formerly seemed like those that shined in the Majesty of sumptuous attire was now covered with course Cloth She who seemed like those that altogether sparkled with precious Stones appeared now in a Livery of Sackcloth and since he had formerly entertained a mortal beauty was now wholly taken up and wasted with sadness and mortification of the Flesh Methinks I hear how the Soul reasoning with her self and being ever perplexed and involved finding pain in repose thirst in abundance and seeming separated from the fountain of true comfort sadly cries out My God! I know that no good can be had without thee the true and soveraign Good In every place that I am without thee I am in pain All the Riches which are not in thee seem to be meer poverty All the greatness pleasures and profits of the World are nothing to me unless I can call thee Saviour From thee onely comes that joy which all the Saints have studied with pain with delight and tasted with Glory It is that which S. Peter calls 1. Pet. 1.8 A joy vnspeakable and full of Glory It is that which S. James said contained the consummation of all comforts Iam. 1.2 which S. Paul found in the Caverns of the Earth which some have found upon Wheels others in Flames some in Gibbets others on Gredirons and lastly it is that which descenderh from Heaven and with Eternal streams of comfort watereth the dry and parched hearts of distressed Souls Thus was the divine Soul like the Moon in an Eclipse which appeareth wholly dark on the side towards the Earth but faileth not to be most bright in that part which looketh towards Heaven And though some who behold her with carnal eyes in such a state may think her totally darkned yet God in this retirement and sweetness of repose darts his glorious Rayes upon her through the Cloud of the Body and causeth her to see the eyes of Angels as a Soul wholly invested with the Sun of Righteousness In the mean time she relisheth this retreat as Manna from Heaven and tasteth this deep silence with incredible delight after so many confused clamours of a troubled Conscience It seemeth unto her that she then speaks to God face to face and that she saw all the pride of the Earth much lower then her feet Her Soul was whitened in her Tears and purified in her desires pouring out all unto God as it were through the Limbeck of her ardent Devotion and drawing the Curtain over all worldly affairs to be onely entertained with God And from this time forward she lives beyond the sense of worldly affections Time seems to have no Sythe for her Death is unprovided with Darts Calumny loseth its Teeth at her and Glory spreads throughout the Ensigns of Immortality She seems onely to live on Extasies turning that little breath which remained on her lips to the praises of God She now also sees it a matter very reasonable that God should make use of all manner of Arms to prosecute a Fugitive from his Providence who hath made a divore from its Creator and seeks to save himself in a Region of nothing She can bethink of no better way to purifie those eyes then with tears which are now wholly bent towards Heaven neither any better course then mortifyings and fastings to whither the beautiful Roses of her face and at last to
in all its dimensions Here it is that our Reason is Eclipsed and we often stray from our chiefest good but there it is that after an admirable Transformation the Soul is wholly absorpt in Felicity And as a small drop of water pouted into the Sea instantly takes the colour and taste there of so the Souls taste is fully inebriated and coloured with the divine Glory O Beauty O Greatness O Goodness Beauty to inhabite in the Idea of God as in a Paradise of Glory and Greatness to have capacity infinite and truly apprehensive of divine Majesty Hence also may we take notice that as there is ever some weakness in humane things which sticketh to the most smiling Felicities and never giveth us wine but with a mixture of dregs so never doth the day of God shine clearly in a Soul which hath too much light of man and sips too deeply in the fading vanities of the world such dayes being seldom without Clouds For O deceitful Riches O fading Beauty O Phantasms of Honour How painful are ye to those that sue for you How Traiterous are ye to those that possess you and dolorous to those that leave you unhappy are those that prize you through error that court you through vanity and obtain you by iniquity How much better is it to put our hands in flames then to lay them on Crowns covered with injustice what will it avail us to have worn Purple when we arrive at the period of Death if we have defiled it with the spots of uncleaness and that we must make an Exchange of all our glory and greatness for a habite of Flames which shall no more wear out then Eternity And who so blind as those who behold not the Diamonds of a Royal Crown to sweat with horrour upon a Head poisoned with Pride and Ambition Who is so weak as sees it not his best course to withdraw from the great conversations of the world from the imbroilment of affairs wherein is so little profit from the Court from specious Offices Preferments and Negotiations from all worldly Ambitions and to cultivate a sweet repose and quiet in the service of Jesus O God of the Patient and Eternal mirrour of Patience may my Soul for ever hover in that Region where thou inhabitest may it speedily arrive to that fortunate Island where divine tranquility dwelleth and where there is an everlasting springof Beauty and Glory may it enter into the Temple and may the continual odours of the Sacrifice of Reconciliation Mercy and Propitiation mount up to thy Throne which thou taughtest us upon Calvary in the bitter and sharp dolours of thy body amidst the sorrow of Heaven the darkness of the Sun the opening of Sepulchres the breaking of Stones the effusion of thy Blood and the desolation of thy Soul And as thy arms Blessed Lord were stretched out upon the Cross so at last receive me into the stretched-out arms of thy mercy The Sin-sick Soul can take no rest until she be further reconciled to her Saviour AS there is never any thing good without the experience of evil so God is often pleased here to afflict his Children the berter to make them relish his comforts And hence is it that as David saith Psal 55.19 The wicked fear not God because they have no changes God sending troubles to his Children in mercy but gives prosperity to the wicked in his wrath And hence it is that while the workers of iniquity do flourish the children of God being heavy loaden with the weight and burden of their sinnes cry out Lay on us O God! any affliction rather then suffer us to prosper in the way that is evil As the little Nightingale which lives innocently by some little seeds of Plants sings sweetly while we see all those Birds of Prey which feed upon the flesh of Beasts send forth a horrid cry And as the poor Turtle ceaseth not to groan having lost her Mate and often beholds her self in the silver streams where in every wave she sees she laments the waving Image of her misfortune yet is far more secure since the memelancholly Object of pitty then those who are more obvious to the eye of the Fowler so a pious Soul though seemingly deprived of her sweet liberty and seeing her self severed from all commerce with Man kind to be banished into a Desert where nothing but Rocks are witnesses of her sufferings is notwithstanding still fastned unto God by Chains not to be dissolved whom she fervently desires to vouchsafe her comfort and to confirm her spirit which was descended into the bottom of the miseries of this world When the poor Soul hath offended her God she can never be friends with her self untill she be reconciled to him and conceive his countenance to be turned again to her If he once but hide himself she looks forward if he be there on the right hand and on the left if she may find him She takes all ocasions of holy Conferences and useth all means with the Spouse to enquire for her Beloved which way he was gone and whether he was turned aside Early and late doth she seek the Lord of her life she takes no rest in traversing the Forrests the Woods the Meadows the Mountains and Floods Cant. 1.3 and 6.3 She seeks him by night whom her Soul loveth she will arise and look about the streets with groans and cryes with sighes and prayers in her Chamber and Closet in Church and Chappel she sends up her vowes to the God of her salvation How powerfully also doth she desire God first bedewing her own eyes to water the barrenness of her Soul what sad complaints being all swoln with Tears doth she pour out What is Heaven turn'd Brass that neither Tears nor sighes can enter Shall there be no more commerce between Heaven and the unhappy Progeny of sinfull Adam Alas O God! saith the forlorn Soul Wilt thou alwayes be hidden from me Shall I never see that face which with one glimpse of splendor can make me eternally happy where am I what do I Alas my soul is in night and darkness and I sadly feel O blessed Saviour that thou art far from me My heart is near sinkingin a sea of sorrow I row strongly but can advance nothing except thou come into my Soul Come then O my most blessed Saviour walk upon this tempestuous Sea of my heart say unto me It is I be not afraid O come speedily and Reign within me to disperse those cares to enlighten my understanding to enflame my will to cure my Infirmities and recover my decayed Senses Many and bitter no doubt are the assaults of Satan all this while within the poor Soul Can God love thee saith he and leave thee thus to my power Why then is all this befaln thee where are all his mercies thou boastest of sure he hath now forsaken and delivered thee into my hand why then shouldst thou wait any longer But still doth the Soul stop her ears
Fear not O Spouse thy Beloved is not wholly departed Be not troubled if thy journey to Canaan be through the wilderness of this world and if in thy way to Sion thou pass through the valley of Baca since Christ is a Cloud and Pillar to direct thee Thus by the Gates of Hell doth God oftentimes shew us the way to Heaven He who is not tyed alwayes to bring a Soul thither by one and the same Road can make Death the way to life The Sun of Righteousness is stil bright though behind a Cloud and not seen to us The Nurse is withdrawn oftentimes that the Mother may get the chiefest affections of the Child And though God leave a poor Soul labouring in the Pangs of Desertion yet through the Sun-shine of Gods countenance ripening its Graces cloudy weather still advantageth her growth and her Barrenness at last yeelds a fruitful Harvest Gods relief comming alwaies in the best time and she patiently attends his help from Heaven even until the fourth which is the last watch of the Night And when vvith Peter she is freed out of the Prison of strong Temptation and God is pleased to come in unto her with abundance of comfort Oh! how is she raised to bless the Lord who hath forgiven her sinnes and healed all her infirmities The waves of Terrours and flouds of Afflictions never beat so violently upon her neither did she so much complain of spiritual wants as now she saw the wonders of God in the deep and the infinitenefs of his Wisdom in the dispensations of comfort and joy of grief and terrour The Souls complaint now is no longer Where is my God become or that There is no soundness in her flesh because of his anger All her distempers seem but as so much Physick to clense her from her manifold sins Yea she now seems even drown'd in sweetness and in sinking cryes out Oh the breadth of thy unfathomable love what Saint what Tongue what Angel can speak out thy unexpressible kindness Ephes 5.17 Thou hast loosed my Bonds Oh that my heart could burn in love towards thee Oh that I could as I desire make known to others hovv good thou hast been to me in preserving strengthning and fixing my fiath on a Rock not to be over-born vvith the storms and swelling Surges of Satans Temptations Methinks I meet thee every where O blessed Jesus with a hundred arms unfolded to do me good what place what time what moment is not filled vvith thy Bounty Though passions have for a time assailed my mind and thy Terrours have affrighted my spirits yet behold now thy Grace hath shot through the dark Clouds of my Sin and doubting thy Darts have pierced the Center of my heart with quickning sparklings my spirits are come again Ah how my Soul is fill'd with joy ravishment and admiration Oh God! who is he who beholds the fading shadows of the world this dismal place where cares and sorrows are still growing young and never die that would ever betray his Soul Heaven and his God to yield obedience thereunto who vvould betray an Eternity of blessing for a Pleasure so short and wretched who would build Tabernacles here to lose a Mansion among Celestial Souls where Love onely Reigns who would not give a farewel to those earthly Cottages to ascend those mounts of Bliss vvhere every season is a constant Spring who vvould desire to make his name great here on Earth and desire to have them enrolled among the Saints in Heaven O what Celestial mirth what an expansion of all the faculties of the Spirit yea what rejoycing is there in the heart of Man vvhen Christ begins to make it his Throne all Powers do him homage all Passions render him service Who can conceive what joy passeth in the Soul vvhen Jesus is pleased to take up his lodging in it Hovv is the heart excited awakened and enflamed towards Heaven what distaste is there of all things in the world It is as light to bleared eyes It is as food to hungry Travellers It is the repose to the wearied the Country of poor Pilgrims and the Crown of all our happiness Nothing but Fires Desires Sweetness Affections Joyes and Admirations will transport our Souls having once regained our wel-beloved our thoughts will wholly be employed upon Jesus we shall be dead and insensible to all the Objects of the world All the Thornes wherewith it is encompassed will seem as Roses If we swim in the Tears of Wotmwood it will be no other then sweet water All the wounds we receive will be but like Rubies and Pearls Our Maladies will prove but sports our Calumnies will be our blessings yea Death it self no other then a happy life When the Soul sleeps Jesus is in her sleep vvhen she speaks Jesus is under her Tongue when she Writes Jesus is under her Pen and when she is merry she chaunts forth the praises of her Jesus in her solitude she seems all environed with Raptures And vvhen any reproves her for being alone she cries out nothing less before she vvas interrupted with their company In the morning she grieves to think how often she shall offend God before Night Being about to rest she bitterly vvith scalding Tears laments that she shall have no more power over her Dreams but offend her Saviour while she slept Thus is her mind alwayes running after her dear Spouse Se is in a prison of Love vvhere her Thoughts her Hopes her Joyes were Chains And still doth she elevate her self upon the wings of Faith in the highest postures she can towards Heaven taking the choisest affections vvith her vvhereby to ascend that Mountain of pure and inexpressible light She vvell knew that true Pleasure vvas to be found no vvhere but in God vvhose Joyes are like those Gardens which never vvither but are perpetually watered vvith immortal Graces And oh How if it vvere possible vvould she express her love to him by daily offering her self a hundred times for him in as many Sacrifices as she hath Thoughts and Body Members Never Ship laden vvith Gold arrived more gladly at the Haven after many tedious Tempests and a thousand disasters among Pirates at Sea as the poor soul novv seems to take content in the love of God And having spun out all the Web vvhich he gave her cryes out I have ended all the hopes of the vvorld why stayest thou O my God! to receive my Soul which I bear in my lips O Jesus at whose name the Heaven the Earth and Hell do bend the knee I now care not what I suffer for thee so I sin not against thee so I may for ever injoy thee Thus the love of God is like Lightning in a Cloud still striving to break forth and suffers the Soul to take little rest in any thing but what it undertakes for the glory of her Maker Joh. 11. who many times defers the cure that his power may be the more manifest the heats of
canst thou love more or express it beyond this yet to all these and infinitely more tortures and unspeakable miseries was thy Saviour expos'd O my Soul for thy sake for thine my soul that thou maist not complain thou wantest an Object a Motive a Pattern or invitation to love O mirrour of Love Love it self Christ our Saviour Hovv earnest wert thou nay how delighted wert thou to Treat of thy Passion It were thy sweet words not long before thy death With desire have I desired to eat And when S. Peter would have disswaded thee from thy last Sufferings thou reprovedst him more for this then for his denyal of thee in the High Priests Hall Thou only castedst thy eye upon him for the first as minding him thereby of his great promise made never to deny him but for the other thou bidst him avaunt yea call'st him Satan as being the hinderer of thy much desired and longed for death Ah! incomparable Love who can think on and not admire the Extasies of our sweet Saviour How is he even ravished with the object of his Death and transported with the Idea of his sufferings Behold how he encourageth himself in this combate How troubled he is at all those that hinder it How confident doth he look on the Cross as the Fountain of his Glory And shall we not love his Cross which Jesus hath cherished every place is a Paradise to him that knows how to love the Cross and every thing a Hell to those that fly it Oh blessed Saviour then who canst lift up all the Earth with the least finger of thy power raise up a little this sinful mass of my Body which so sadly weighs it self down by its sinnes O my God fix thine eyes upon me and thou shalt thereby bring me to the fountain of true happiness The Father hath given me to thee and I am the conquest of thy precious bloud and wilt thou suffer a Soul to be taken away from thee that hath cost thee so many sweats and sufferings Alas Lord thou hast but one life and I see 1000 instruments of death that have taken it away Was there need of so many bloudy Doors to let out thy innocent Soul Could it not part from thy Body without making on all sides so many wounds which after they had served for the Objects of mens Cruelty serve now for those of thy mercy O Lance cruel Lance why didst thou open his most tender side But in thus playing the Murtherer thou hast made a Sepulchre wherein I will from henceforth bury my Soul When I behold the wounds of my dear Saviour I do acknowledge the stroaks of my own hand and will therefore likewise there engrave my Repentance Give me then O sacred mouth give me that Gall which I see upon thy lips to sprinckle all my pleasures divide with me O beautiful head thy dolorous Crown of Thorns seeing it were my sinnes which sowed them Lend me O sacred hands and adored feet the Nails that have pierced them and while I live let me never breathe any other life but that onely which shall be produced from my Crucified Saviour Surely we shall never be worthy of him until we thus bear the Ensigns of his War and Ornaments of our Peace And alas what reason hath wretched man to complain Is not suffering our Trade our Vow our Profession As the Clock goeth on by the help of its counnter-poise so a Christians life never proceedeth so much in virtue as by the counter-ballance of its Crosses Make me then to serve thee to imitate thee yea to suffer for thee O thou King of the afflicted Ah that I had a Sea of sweet odours to empty on an Object so worthy of love Art thou unwilling to bear part of thy Saviours Cross yet give O my Soul give at least tears to him who satisfied for thy sins Consider that thy miscalled Sufferings ifrightly used are indeed Blessings What if thou lose thy fortunes it is to make thee know thy self what if thy Health be empaired it will make thee disaffect this world What if thou lose thy Riches is it not to make thee seek out better By all which God is pleased to shew us the straightest way to that life which he hath promised us and to assure us by his own Tribulation who could not but know and embrace what is best that the way of Tribulation is the high-way to Heaven We find indeed Tertullian in one place thus complaining Eternal Wisdom which thus cuts thy childrens Threats and use them as Sacrifices as if thou couldest not Crown them but by their Torments or Honour them but by their punishments But alas he that will love must serve And Behold August Serm. 19. de verb. Apost saith S. Au-gustine The foolish Lovers and Amorists of the world are not they who are surprised therewith ready to serve to endure all commands in Attire in Habite and behaviour for a Mistress sake Oh foul confusion of life and prostitution of spirit God who promiseth never to behold us with a good eye unless we keep his Commandments deserves to be loved above all things Love that cannot suffer is not Love Yea the last Character of love to our Saviour is to suffer for him the Prince of Sufferings Our Souls are engaged by Oath saith Tertullian to this warfare so soon as we first enter into Christianity Tertul. ad Scap. Besides know we not that all Creatures of the world groan and bring forth that all the Elements are in Travell and in a ceaseless agitation The Air it self say the Philosophers is perpetually struck with the motion of Heaven to prevent the hatching of Poyson The Rivers are purified by their streaming current One deep must call upon another the deep of Afflictions calls for that of Honour and the heights of Honour are prepared according to the measure of our Tribulations In this world Cruelty is mingled with Lights and Pleasures with Funerals Gods Prison is a School of Wisdome In this Captivity are we free under these Bonds and Irons our Soul can walk with God in the midst of Groans and sighs our heart can rejoyce it can talk with him though with the three Children in the midst of the fiery Furnace And as the most rigorous of Punishments became a Throne of Honour to those three Champions the fire forgetting it self to be fire and the Furnace strewing it self with Roses so all the Thorny paths of our Pilgrimage here seem but like a Meadow enamelled over with Flowers If we here make Jesus the Object of our present Dolours he will hereafter prove the Fountain of our Eternall Joyes Behold then the exact method which providence keeps in the conduct of her chosen ones Behold the Character of an humble Soul persecuted by the Tongues of Slanderers by the Arms of his kindred by the contempt of his friends by the ingratitude of his Enemies yea of those upon whom he had still heaped good turns without
having the least motion to revenge alwayes rendering good for evil And last of all behold him pouring out Tears of joy under his Saviours Cross Here onely is the Sanctuary of rest where wearied Souls may lay their heads Here shall we be sure to meet with comfortable embraces Here shall the banished live more contented then Kings in their greatest Royalty Farewel Honours farewel Empires Riches Reputation Pleasures and gorgious Habiliments Farewel stately Buildings great Possessions Gold Silver precious Stones Feasts and all earthly Pastimes But welcome that Sickness Banishment welcome those Chains Reproaches Punishments yea Death it self which at last brings us asleep under our Saviours Cross O happy Cross O welcome Troubles why blessed Jesus should I grieve to have those shoulders wounded with such a load as through thy aid will become so pleasant unto me The world is an uncertain Sea where usually a Tempest doth arise when a Calm is expected But here 's Constancy in a good course of life Here 's Patience in Tribulation Here 's Courage to support injuries and Comfort against distresses O the poor Treasures that can be hoarded in Caves in Houses in Towers What proportion do they bear to this Heavenly Treasure O the scant presence and jealous absence of all the Goods and Delights of the world How fleeting and momentary are they how changeable are their inclinations how hungry are the Benefits and how pinching their Prodigalities How base their Ends and aims in their most real Professions how weak and frivolous their Passions yea how easily are all consum'd in a few trivial distasts O my onely God! what miserable penurious blasts are these to blow the Coals of my love unto thee Henceforth for ever make me to run with Mary Magdalen after the sweet odours of thy glorious presence make it all my pleasure to sit dayes nights and hours weighing the greatness of thy Excellency the richness of thy Glory and the beautifulness of thy Attributes Make me to spend all my strength in blessing thee for thy goodness in rejoycing at thy Mercies in admiring thy Justice and adoring thy Truth and in an awful Reverence of thy Eternal Majesty Thus doth the Soul filled with Humility and the zeal of Devotion often and not without groans speak unto her self What shall I triumph where my Master hath been covered with Reproaches Shall I take glory on my head where my Saviour hath taken the Cross upon his Shoulders shall I adorn that head with Crowns of Pearl where he received one of Thornes No O Jesus I have too long in deep draughts drank of the poysonous sweets of this worlds alurements Now will I hang all Honours at the feet of thy Cross What is Beauty Strength Valour Wisdom Industry Eloquence or all the things in the world but Dung in comparison of thy Cross O beloved Jesus there can I sit and condemn whatloever the world doth honour and esteem O my Saviour what sweetness and allurements are there in thy Sufferings Here is our Wisdome our Justice our Sanctification and Redemption Here is the splendor of the celestial Father and the Character of his substance who by his Word doth support the world And shall I not take up my Cross and follow him as he hath commanded amidst the many great Affronts Disgraces and Persecutions suffered by him Shall I not therein also accompany his Prophets the glorious company of his Apostles and the Noble Army of Martyrs Did my Saviour fly from Scepters and run to the Cross would he have no worldly Kingdoms because their Thrones were made of Ice and their Crowns of Glass and shall I not believe that where he is there can be no Desert or solitude See see then how the Characters of a suffering God are the dearest delights of a sanctified Soul which is no more it self but altogether transfigured with a heavenly transmutation It lives wholly on the bloud of its Saviour it breathes not but by his spirit it speaks not but by his words it thinks not but by his Meditations It defies Tribulation Anguish Pain Nakedness and Dangers It adventures amongst bloody Swords and Persecutions and is no way affrighted with burning Faggots and boyling Cauldrons And if thou O my Soul art at any time unwilling to part with this Earthly Tabernacle think but how willingly the glorious Martyrs of Christ sacrificed themselves in as many Torments as they had members They preached on Crosses sang in Flames triumphed on Wheeles Deserts and Tears Scorchings and Snows were nothing to them in the way to that Glory for which thou art unwilling to forsake a Dung-hil But O my God! if thou think it fit to exercise my patience to try my faith to correct my sin by the wickedness of men give me grave never to be so disturbed with the injustice of Creatures but that I may consider the justice of thee who art the most righteous Creator O let me not be vanquished and suppressed by the burden of the Cross but rather enabled by the weight of it to walk more steadily in all holiness Justice and sobriety before thee And though Affliction here seem like the Cloud which the Prophet saw to carry winds and storms in it but was environed with a golden Circle yet let it at last be encompassed with the brightness and smiling felicity of that day wherein Calumny shall change it selfe into Adoration Rage into astonishment and those that are thought lost in the Labyrinth of misery shall see themselves consecrated and carried through their punishments into the Haven of Eternal safety Be not dismayed then O faithful Soul in the Sufferings and troubles of this life suffer not thy self to be overcome with those Temptations which will snatch so rich a Crown out of thy hands Happy and for ever blessed wilt thou be to enter into so incomparable a Glory vvhen it shall be said unto thee having left the Deserts of this world come now and dwell in the everlasting delights of thy God! O throw away those vanities which too much too much flattered thee with the splendors of a deceitful world Raise up thy self and say O when will that day come which will restore me a body to render it to God a body no longer of frail pondorous and perishable Earth but a body immortal and gilded with the splendors and sufferings of my Saviour Yea let us more fix our Thoughts on an Immortality a Resurrection an Eternal Life a life of God gained for us by the pains sweats and blood of Jesus to which he daily invites us a life which will charm all our Troubles sweeten all our rigours purifie all our intentions animate our virtues and at last after so many hardships and Travels of a wretched life so many Calumnies and Reproaches and after so great a Tumult of miseries Crown us with happiness rest our weather beaten Ark and bring us into a sweet and quiet repose In Imitation of our Saviours great Patience under his Passion the