bad companies bookes of loue-tales after enticements and occasions of doing ill Finally we finish this praier with mention of the kingdome and glorie of God by which this same prayer began that it might warne vs that euē as our praiers so also al our affectiōs ought to begin and end with the glorie of God So many petitions so many aduertisements for Iesus Christ most artificially by teaching vs how to craue for good teacheth vs also to do it In ordering our praiers hee also ordereth our actions so as speaking to God we also speake to our selues by praying vnto God we learne also to feare him And surely when you shall see vnrulinesse in a household either by disobedience of the children or by dissention betweene man and wife it is a certen witnesse that God is not there called vpon as hee ought For this only action of lifting vp of hearts and hands together vnto God might haue sufficed to reunite their diuided affections and entertaine from day to day their familie in the feare of God For by speaking often to God we learne to loue him and louing him to follow him Moses his face became shining for hauing spoken with God so our soules wil becom enlightned in the knowledge of God when we and counsell all the ambition of so great a monarch and making him contribute at vnawares vnto the accomplishment of the prophesies That which is the greatest of the world employeth it selfe for the least of his children and serueth for the executiō of his loue The holy Scripture being full of such examples rightly may it be called the booke of true loue seeing that therein God not onely vnfoldeth his loue but also bindeth vs to loue him and not only exhorteth vs to this loue but also produceth it in vs by this same word accompanying the preaching of the same with the efficacy of his holy Spirit And to say true I thinke that the most part of vs haue had experiēce that after the hearing of the word the sparks of loue do kindle in our hearts and that hearing God speake or speaking of God we are inflamed with his loue So the two disciples being in Emaus after Iesus Christ was vanished said Did not our harts burn within vs when he spake vnto vs on the waie and preached the Scriptures And Ieremie in the 20. chap. desiring to reserue the word of God in his hart without vttering it saith that he felt it in his heart like a burning fire Wherefore so but because this word receiued into the hearts of the auditors heateth them with the like ardour as also the tongues of fire descending vpon the Apostles witnessed that God gaue them burning tongues and a word full of efficacie to enflame mens hearts Wherefore those which being caried away with their busines or withheld by feare or perswaded of their sufficiencie neglect coming to sermons shall insensibly feele that this heate waxeth coole and that a caule groweth ouer their consciences This negligence will grow to a distast this distast to a disdaine this disesteeme vnto a hardnes of heart enmitie against God Whosoeuer will entertaine the loue of God in his heart ought dayly to come heare his word the which he hath chosen as a wholsom means to moue our hearts and to purge our spirits as Christ saith to his Apostles You are cleane through the word which I haue spoken vnto you Being there we must hearken to the preaching with greedinesse suffer reprehensions gently receiue exhortations with ardor And euē as those vpon whom men mean to make some incision suffer themselues to be bound and pinioned by the Chirurgion lest the motion of the patient should hinder the operation so must we when the seruants of God are occupied about pricking the apostumes of our vices and cutting off our concupiscences which S. Paul calleth our members stay our mouing lightnesse and inconstancie lest it hinder the efficacy of this word by our impatiencie To the hearing of the word we must adde the reading according to the example of those of Beroea who after they had heard S. Pauls preaching went and consulted with the Scriptures to see the conformitie therof with the writings of the Prophets although that the Apostle being powerfull in miracles and in words did preach with authoritie enough to be beleeued as might be thought how much more ought we now a dayes at our coming frō the sermon content our curiosity to know if that we heare that day be true Wee which heare Pastors which are not receiueable but so farre forth as they proue their sayings by the word of God Amongst all the books of holy Scripture the most obscure is the Apocalypse and yet it is said in the first chapter that happie are they that reade and those which heare the words of this prophesie In the 17. of Deuter. God commandeth Kings to reade the booke of the law all the dayes of their life Reading thereof was the exercise of the Queene Candaces Eunuch as he rode in his chariot If he read being a pagā how much more being become a Christian And if he read when he vnderstood not how much more when he began to vnderstand If he read in his chariot how much more in his house Also God hath tendered him his hand by the ministery of Philip and vpon the reading the light of the Gospell is come vnto him for an argument vnto vs of hope that in reading carefully the holy Scriptures God wil enlighten vs. He which accuseth it of obscuritie accuseth it also of leasing for it saith of it selfe that it enlightneth the eyes that it giueth wisedome to the poore and simple that it is a lanterne to our feet a light vnto our paths If it be obscure it is saith the Apostle to those of whō the god of this world hath blinded the vnderstandings At least let vs haue good opinion of God our Father Let vs not thinke that he hath written his Testament in obscure termes and ambiguous clauses to intangle vs in suites The Father of lights in neuer cause of obscuritie Let vs not endeuor to make this word suspitious vnto the people as if the reading thereof were dangerous as doe those profanely fearful people who vnder euerie stone imagine a Scorpion to lurke If there be any difficulties the rest which is cleare is sufficient vnto saluation If it appertaine but vnto the learned to reade the Scriptures it appertaineth then vnto none to reade them for no bodie is skilfull before he haue read them Wee reade not the word of God because we are learned but to become so Now here we passe ouer an infinite number of profits which we gather of this reading as is the confirmation of our faith consolation in affliction a gentle diuerting a maister which flattereth not a cōpanie which is not troublesome a spirituall munition house which containeth all sorts of weapons against temptations which furnisheth wherewithall
Word eternall Wisedom God euerlastinglie blessed That Sonne which Esay calleth the Father of Eternitie would make himselfe the Sonne of man to the end that we might be children of God yea was content to be borne in a stable to the end that wee might be receiued into heauen to be borne amongst beasts to the end that wee might be companions with Angels Hee who is the Word it selfe was content to stammer as a childe to the end that wee might speake vnto God in all libertie He who is the bread of life was content to be an hungred to the end we might be satisfied He who is the fountaine of life was content to be athirst to the end our soules might be moistned Briefly he who is life it selfe hath suffered death that hee might giue vs life All this for vile creatures yea enemies vnto God that he might make them of slaues vnto Sathan his owne children and transport them from hel into his kingdom These are the bottomlesse pits of the bountie goodnesse of God which do gently swallow vp our soules there is pleasure to lose ones selfe therein For these are the bottomlesse depths of the grace of God which passe our vnderstanding but doe recreate our hearts which giue matter of admiration and also no lesse subiect of consolation Here are the highest witnesses of his loue here are all his fatherly affections layed open all the riches of that grace which the Angels themselues admire and as Saint Peter saith endeuour to pry profoundly into louing in this case the goodnesse of God not for their owne profit but in respect of God himselfe for Iesus Christ is not come into the world for their redemption Now to what end all this but that wee should loue him who hath so much loued vs and admire with ioy the treasures of his grace O God as thy greatnesse is incomprehensible so also thy bountie is infinite our spirits are stopped with this contemplation our words are beneath our thoughts and our thoughts yet much lower then the truth We speake of this greatnesse but stammeringly our praises do abase thee we draw the picture of the Sun with a coale But ô God raise vp our soules to thee and if our spirits be too weake to know thee make our affections ardent to loue thee Thou who wast pleased to be our Father touch our hearts with a filiall affection Thou which giuest vs occasion to loue thee giue vs also the motions thereof For as much as we are poore in meanes so much are we vncapable to receiue them and to loue thee after hauing receiued them if thou thy selfe doest not plant thy loue in vs. All these considerations do raise vp our spirits to loue God not for our selues but for his owne sake which appeareth also in this that our loue to God cannot be well directed if it be not formed vpon the modell of that loue wherewith God hath loued vs. Now God loueth vs for the loue of himselfe as he saith by the mouth of Esay It is I it is I that blotteth out thy sinnes for mine owne sake And it is the prayer which Daniel maketh in his ninth chapter Lord heare Lord pardon Lord tarrie not but hasten for thine owne sake for thy name hath bene called vpon this citie and vpon thy people God considereth that we beare his image hee considereth that wee are vnworthy of his grace but that it is a thing worthy of his bountie to do good vnto the vnworthy and which is more to make them worthy by doing them good He considereth that his Church is like vnto a flock which carieth his name and is called the people of God and therefore he will not let it be Sathans prey nor a matter of triumph vnto the aduersarie The third degree of the loue of God THe third degree or step is so to loue God aboue all things that we should loue nothing in the world but for his sake For example there are many persons and many things in the world that wee cannot keepe our selues from louing yea and it would be ill done not to loue them So a father loueth his children a wife her husband our kindred allies neighbours and friends haue part in this amitie So a man loueth his health his house his land his studie c. To go about to dispossesse a man of the loue of these things would be an inhumane doctrine and more then tending to brutalitie He is worse then an infidell that hath not care of his familie saith the Apostle Pietie rooteth not out these affections but doth husband them and of mistrisses which they were maketh them but handmaids vnto the loue and feare of the Lord. No more then Iosua would kill the Gibeonites but subiected them vnto the seruice of Gods house For then doth a father loue his children as hee ought if in bringing them vp he purpose to vse them as mē do yong plants which shall one day bring forth fruite to the glorie of God If he so remember himself to be their father that he be yet more mindfull that God is his Then a man loueth his friends as he ought when he loueth them because they loue God and because hee seeth the image of God shining in them So we shall then iustly loue health when wee shall loue it not because it is more gamesom and without paine but because it bringeth vigour vnto our bodies and libertie vnto our mindes to serue God in our vocation The like ought to be said of riches of honours of knowledge things which one may honestly loue prouided that their loue doe not distract vs from the loue of God but may rather thereto aduance help vs to performe good workes And as there is not any so little brooke but it leadeth vnto the sea so let these goodnesses of God seeme they neuer so smal leade our thoughts to this great depth of the goodnes and greatnesse of God Briefly all our liues and affections towards our neighbours shal be well squared out when they shal be branches brooks of Gods loue and a reflection of our sight which from God glanceth vpon his image Neuer loue the persons for that which is about them but for what is in them Esteem not of men as of purses for the money which is therein If you honour a man because he is well clothed by consequēce ought we to salute sattin in whole peeces If you account of a man for his honours sake you tie his dignitie to his titles and to his habite which things being takē away there is no more of any thing which ought to be loued as a horse which carieth an idoll which being takē away hath no more reuerences done about him On the contrary if you loue a man because he feareth God because he is firme in the faith forward in the knowledge of God true in his words iust in his actions charitable towards the afflicted burning with the
zeale of Gods house you shall neuer want occasion to loue him Take away from him his goods his honours yea his cloathes yea euen his bodie all these ornaments will remaine and that excellencie which consisteth in the image of God and the graces of his Spirit I am not ignorant that the secrets of mens hearts are very deep and oftentimes the friends which a man chuseth for vertuous do becom vicious or else shew they were neuer otherwise In this case the man which loueth God ought to reprehend his friend and to reforme him if he can possible Flatterie hath takē away from true friendship all his termes except the libertie to reprehend To be afraid to chide ones friend lest wee should offend him is a respect full of crueltie as if whē hee were readie to be drowned thou shouldst feare to catch him by the haire of the head lest hee should leese a haire or two If by these reprehēsions thy friend do not amēd the friendship of a man must then giue place vnto Gods loue We must do like Moses who made vse of his rod whilest it was a rod but fled from before it when it became a serpent And yet in this case it were better to separate our selues by little and little and to vnsow friendship rather then to teare it asunder Vnto all these difficulties the loue of God serueth as a rule Many heathen haue gathered a number of precepts of friendship but haue not discouered this secret which ruleth all their rules that is to learne first to loue God and to cause our friendships to be deriued frō his loue Such as the braine is vnto the sinewes the liuer vnto the veines and the heart vnto the arteries that very same is the loue of God vnto humane friendships that is to say they are but threds and branches which depend thereon This diuine loue not being therein friendships are no friendships but a conspiration an accord or agreemēt to disagree with God friendships grounded vpon pleasure or vpon gaine which ceasse when pleasures leese their taste through age or when profite diminisheth or is not equally distributed but friendships groūded vpon the loue of God are firme because they are grounded vpon a sure foundatiō Which loue ought so far to aduance it selfe that for the loue of God we ought not onely to loue our friends but euen our enemies because God willeth it Matth. 5. Because that amongst these enmities some marks of Gods image do yet appeare because they are as it were rods in Gods hand for our amendment and inforcements vnto his feare The fourth degree of the loue of God WE are not yet at the highest For we must come euen to the hating of our selues for the loue of God For euen as there is not in man any loue more strong or more naturall then the loue of our selues so is it that same which most resisteth the loue of God and which is most vneasy to be surmounted That which the shirt is in our cloathing the same is the loue of our selues in our affections to wit that which is last put off There we are to fight a great combat it is as it were Sathans last intrenchment frō whence he is vneasily driuen away Yet none can loue God as he ought who hateth not his owne nature who is not grieued at his owne desires and maketh not mortall war against them being desirous to finish this combat by death to be dissolued that he might be with God readie to be prodigall of his bloud that he may be sparing of Gods glorie waxing wearie of this bodie of ours as of a mouing prison or portable sepulcher Like vnto him that being in prison looketh through the grates desiring his libertie so looke you not to get out at the doore you shall onely get out through the ruines thereof by the destructiō of this body as whē the prison sinketh the prisoner escapeth at some breach thereof Hee which shall haue most made warre with himselfe shall haue the more peace with God he which shall not haue pardoned himself God shall pardon him he which shall haue despised yea hated his owne life he shall saue it Here is the fourth degree or step of loue and the highest that man can reach vnto in this life It was this degree of loue which made the Apostle to crie out Alas miserable man that I am who shall deliuer me from the bodie of this death It was this degree of loue which caused Dauid hauing a scepter in his hand being vanquisher of his enemies and filled with earthly riches and honor to acknowledge himselfe but a stranger and way faring man vpō earth It is this degree of loue which hath sustained Martyrs in their torments the heate wherof hath bene hoter then the heate of the fire can you think that they had their muscles of steele or bodies vncapable of torment and paine it is not so But as the heate of a feauer drieth vp outward vlcers and a lesser heate is surmounted by a greater so the interior heate of Gods loue did surmount the heate of the flame and had more strength to sustain them then paine had power to preuaile against them Martyrs whose vertues do yet vnto this day sustaine our vices whose ashes do yet heate our coldnesse whose bloud doth yet crie speaking both for the truth of the Gospell and against our slacknesse who in a litle time are so farre degenerate from their constancy Surely if they do not serue vs for an example they will serue vs for a reproach and condemnation Now to come to this degree of loue we must haue a long and hard combat for our flesh is rebellious mutinous and couetousnes so rooted therein that to pluck it vp as witnesseth the Son of God himselfe is as if a man should cut off a hand or plucke out an eye And Saint Paul also calleth our desires our members Notwithstanding God saith that he will make an end of his worke in our infirmitie he maketh vs to be victorious but after many fals Oftentimes man being placed as in a crosse-way betweene the spirit and the flesh betweene the loue of God and the loue of the world hee feeleth contrarie suggestions and a maruellous combat How many times commeth it to passe that after the loue of God hath had the vpper hand and that the faithful hath resolued to be good by and by his desires doe reassemble thēselues giue a new assault vnto the feare of God The faithful being thus assailed either with some appetite of reuenge of rapine or lust shall feele this loue of God speaking thus vnto him in his heart Miserable man whither goest thou doth not God see this despisest thou his threatnings reiectest thou his promises forgettest thou thy vocation Wherfore wouldest thou grieue the Spirit of God wherefore wouldest thou bring a scandall vpon his Church Where are the promises which thou
that we must loue God because he hath loued vs first This is also one of the effects of the loue of God towards vs to wit our loue towards him And there is nothing that we ought to demaund of God with more feruencie then to haue the grace to loue him for this is vnto the faithfull a witnesse that God loueth him it is the first effect of faith it is a most expresse trace of Gods image it is the most liuely marke of Gods children This loue is the soule of other vertues the rule of our actions the summary of the law This loue is the vpholder of Martyrs the ladder of heauen the peace of conscience yea I dare say it is a tast and a beginning of the vnion and communication which we shal haue with God in heauen Our meditation cannot chuse a more excellent subiect for what is there which is greater then God or more sweete thē his loue The profit likewise is no lesse then the sweetnesse for men are good or bad not because they beleeue but because they loue Those be good which loue good things and amongst good things what is there like vnto God who not onely is soueraignely good but who also maketh them good which loue him Let vs then endeuour so to do and to be disciples vnto the holy Spirit which is loue it selfe and which will forme our hearts vnto loue lest we be deceiued vnder this name of loue and lest we should take for this true loue a corporall loue an importunate itching a furious heate to wit the worst of vices for the chiefe of vertues a brutall sicknesse for an Angelicall perfection I know truly that he who shall dispose himselfe to loue God with al his heart to neglect all other considerations in regard of his seruice shall necessarily incurre the hatred of the world whose loue is enmitie with God as the Apostle Saint Iames saith But God causeth this hatred of the world to profite vs for as the Apostle saith All things together one with another turne to the good of those which loue God Euils become blessings vnto them corporall afflictions are so many spiritual exercises vnto them the sicknesses of the bodie are medicines vnto their soules for in the hands of this soueraigne Physitiō verie poison it selfe becometh a medicine his strokes are balme as Dauid saith and in suffering for Gods cause there is not onely matter of patience but euen occasion of glory They are like scarres on the forehead honorable maimes conformities vnto Iesus Christ liueries of a Christian souldier And all through the vnderpropping of this loue whose sweetnesse tempereth this bitternesse and maketh vs reioyce for his names sake Some one will say that the loue of God is an excellent vertue indeed but that to loue him we must know him before and that we cannot know him in this life but with a slender obscure knowledge This is true but for all this we must not let to study the same we must not suffer ignorance to be cause of negligence for wee cannot haue so litle knowledge of God but it will profit vs and stirre vs vp vnto the loue of God One beame of his light is worth the whole Sun A man were better to haue an obscure knowledge of God then a cleare vnderstanding of naturall things If a beam of the Sun do enter into an obscure den or dungeō the prisoner by this little snip knoweth the beautie of light so the little which wee haue of the knowledge of God is sufficient to giue vs a taste of his excellencie and to inflame vs with his loue Moreouer the knowledge which Gods giues vs of himselfe is not so small but it is sufficient vnto saluation and the obligations which we owe vnto the goodnesse of God the causes of our loue are fully represented vnto vs in the word of God where the Apostle Saint Paul herald of the said word saith That vnto vs is declared all the counsell of God Acts 20. 27. CHAP. II. Fiue degrees of the Loue of God WE are so vncapable of the loue of God that we are euen ignorant what it is This herbe groweth not in our garden it is a gift from aboue comming from the Father of lights who is loue charitie it selfe as saith Saint Iohn It is a licour which God powreth into our soules by drops as into narrow mouthed vessels Wherefore to deale with our selues according to our owne slownesse we will endeuour to receiue it into our mindes by little and little and by easie steps to bring our selues to the highest degree of loue There are fiue degrees of this loue the lowest whereof being the most imperfect doth serue notwithstāding to raise vs to the highest 1 The first degree is to loue God because of the good which hee doth vs and which we hope to receiue of him 2 The second degree is to loue him for his owne sake because he is soueraignely excellent and most excellently amiable 3 The third is not only to loue God aboue al things and more then our selues but also not to loue any thing in the world but for Gods loue 4 The fourth is to hate our selues for Gods sake 5 Aboue all which degrees that loue of God excelleth wherewith we shall loue him in the life to come A loue which burneth in the breasts of Saints and Angels which stand before his throne of glorie We call these sorts of loue degrees and not kinds because the higher degrees containe the inferiour euen as the most excellēt white differeth frō other whitenesse lesse cleare not in kinde of colour but in degree steps vpō which wee must get vp and vpon each of them stay a little our spirits The first degree THe first and lowest step is to loue God because of the good which he doth vs. Vpon this degree of loue was Dauid when in the 116 Psalme he saith I loue the Lord because he hath heard my voice and so in the 18. Psalme For God will be loued for doing good vnto vs. It is God which hath made vs which keepeth and guideth vs which nourisheth our bodies and instructeth our soules redeemeth vs by his Sonne gouerneth vs by his holy Spirit teacheth vs by his word maketh vs his seruants yea his friends yea his children yea euen one with himselfe Plato philosophizing vpon the grace of God according as he was able gaue thankes vnto him for three things 1. For that he had created him a mā not a beast 2. That he was borne a Grecian and not a Barbarian 3. That not onely so but a Philosopher also We that are instructed in a better schoole do otherwise distribute our thanksgiuing and do praise him for three things also 1. That amongst all his creatures he hath made vs men created after his owne image 2. That frō amongst all sorts of men hee hath made vs Christians 3. That amongst those which beare
diuell comforting himselfe in the meane time in God and relying on his loue This same friendship among the faithfull will serue the better to make them know themselues For seeing we be blind in our imperfections we ought to borrow our friends eyes and lend them ours to the end we may mutually reprehend and correct one another The serious reprehensions of a friend do more good then praises were they neuer so true Whoso shall take away from friendship the libertie of reprehending leaueth nothing that may distinguish it from flatterie And seeing that we are naturally lame and benūmed in things touching Gods seruice we must employ the helpe of our friēds to the end they may bring vs into this bath to receiue healing For God communicateth not his graces vnto vs that they should fade and vanish with vs but that we might multiply our talent and that the spring of his spiritual benedictions which he causeth to breake forth in vs may run out and serue for instruction to our neighbors as Christ saith to S. Peter But thou being conuerted confirme thy brethren For if God command vs to take vp our enemies strayed beast how much more to reforme the soule of our friend when it wandereth out of the way of saluation This communication also among the faithfull bringeth comfort in affliction which being deuided among many is more easily borne Many small brooks reunited in one channell carrie great vessels many afflicted spirits ioyning thēselues together by concord mutuall support will easily beare an affliction And the word of God witnesseth vnto vs that God looketh on hearkneth vnto and taketh pleasure in the consolations and mutuall exhortations of his children So the Prophet Malachie in the 3. chapter saith that when the proud are esteemed happie and the bad aduanced then those which feared the Lord spake one vnto another the Lord was attentiue and heard and a booke of remembrance was written before him for them which feare the Lord and think on his name and they shall be mine said the Lord when I shall lay apart my most precious iewels O how precious a treasure is a vertuous friend fearing God! And would to God that as we are vsed to know by certaine markes the goodnesse and courage of a horse so also in the choise of friends that we might with the sight of a man know his vertue but the lurking holes of the spirit of a man are so deep that he deceiueth both himselfe and others and he is hidden euen from himselfe Yet by a mans innocencie of his actiōs sobrietie of his words by the simplicitie of his habit by his zeale and ardour in Gods cause by his disesteem of gain by his eschuing of pleasures you may very probably know the puritie of his mind within euē as by the sparks coming forth of a heape of ashes men know the hidden fire The third helpe of the loue of God THe disesteeme likewise and hatred of the world doth not a litle aide vnto the loue of God For the loue of the world saith S. Iames is enmitie against God And S. Iohn likewise If anie one loue the world the loue of the Father is not in him By the world I vnderstand humane busines worldly pomp carnall enticements earthly desires deceitful and vncertaine hopes who so loueth God will looke on these things with disdaine He wil passe ouer all the ages of man from his conception vnto his rotten sepulcher he will consider in all the conditions and states of his life his certaine miserie his vncertain hopes vnfruitfull gaine that he may say with Salomon Vanitie of vanities all is vanitie Looking on these things with a disdaine mingled with compassion a disdaine extending euen vnto hatred when he shall consider wickednesse to be mingled with vanitie and the diuell to haue so established his reigne in the world that it is a kind of miracle and prodigie to see therein a good man So as the Prophet Esay acknowledgeth chap. 8. Behold me saith he and the children which the Lord hath giuen me for a signe and for a miracle in Israel Now if it were a miracle in Israel to see a familie instructed in the feare of the Lord how much more amongst infidels and if in Ierusalem how much more in Babylon It is then without reason that we wonder when wee see examples of disloyaltie crueltie vncleannesse seeing that on the contrary the Spirit of God teacheth vs to hold the example of pietie and the feare of God for a miraculous and vnusual thing These and such like considerations ioyned vnto the feeling of the excellencie of the children of God will cause the faithfull to esteeme himselfe better then the world and looking on the earth as a place cursed will liue therin as a passenger and traueller as an Englishman that should trauell ouer Persia or Tartaria intending to returne into his countrey For hee will not answer as that Philosopher who being enquired of what countrey he was answered that he was a citizen of the world but the faithfull saith he is a stranger in this world and a citizen of heauen and therfore withdrawing his affection from the world and raising vp his heart vnto God he doth like him who from the top of the Alpes where the aire is cleer looketh vpō the fields beaten with tempest the country all about foggie and mistie and there reioyceth him self resting himselfe vpō the loue of God which hath deliuered him frō this general male dictiō So in the 29. Psalme after hauing represented the tearing of the Cedars the shaking of the mountaines and the discouering of the forrests by the force of the thundering voice of God he withdraweth the children of God out of this confusiō and assembles them into Gods pallace where hee is glorified and assures himselfe that God wil giue peace and strength vnto his people For in this pallace of God which is his church doth sound that voice not which shaketh the mountains but which assureth our hearts not that voice which rooteth vp the Cedars but that which comforteth our consciences not that which causeth the Hindes to cast their yong ones but which maketh vs to conceiue hope It is the word of the Gospell in which God layeth open the treasures of his loue in which whosoeuer shall take a relish he shall finde the sweetes of the world to be bitternesse and hating the same wil learne to loue God Now we say this not to discharge our selues of all earthly things this carelesnes of the world hindereth not the loue of our children nor the care of our family nor our endeuour in the administration of our magistracie but the faithful will do these things as a passenger fits himselfe in the best manner he may at some Inne He who is not to stay there aboue a night will not stand to build a wall and if he suffer there any discommodity he wil patiently digest it because it is but a
to resist against error following the exāple of our Lord euer resisting the diuell by Scripture and saying vnto him It is written it is written c. Onely we will stay our selues vpon this to wit that the reading kindleth in our hearts the loue of God This is knowne by experience For after a man once begins to take a tast in reading the holy Scriptures other studies begin to proue without relish you shall see no more vpon the Carpet bookes of loue the ridiculous Romanes and tales of Amadis do flie before the Bible more then the diuell before holywater all these pleasing and vaine readings which busied the spirit and tickled the imagination do leese their taste after this spirituall nourishment Another kind of loue is kindled in the spirits of those which dayly propose vnto thēselues the witnesses of the loue of God towards vs contained in his word This meditation furnisheth vs with a iust subiect of complaint For then whē they burned vs for reading the Scripture wee burned with zeale to be reading them Now with our libertie is bread also our negligence disesteem thereof We are barbarous and new to seeke in the language of Gods Spirit Our hearts then resemble flint-stones which cast no sparks but when they are strucken Many will haue a Bible well bound gilt lying vpon a cupboord more for shew then for instruction we loue but the outside thereof Wee adorne the holy Scriptures outwardly but it were better it might decke vs within It were better it were torn with often reading that thy conscience might be more entire for it is more easie for thee to haue another then it is easie for thee to be an honest man without it Wee desire a faire impression but the fairest impression is that which is made with the finger of God in our soules The matrices of these characters are in heauen This loue of God is ingrauen in our hearts with his hand and is formed vpon the model of that loue which hee hath borne vs in his Son according as he saith in the 15. of Saint Iohn As my Father loued me so haue I loued you remaine in my loue FINIS Heb. 9. 4. 1. Pet. 4. 17. Heb. 5. 8. Phil. 1. 23. Psal 42. 2. Seuen reasons to proue that the loue of God is the onely true loue 1. Cor. 2. 9. Ioh. 14. 23. Rom. 8. Ephes 3. 19. Austins Enchiridion to Laurentius cap. 117. Iam. 4. 4. Rom. 8. Psal 141. 5 To loue God for his blessings Ioh. 15. 15. Ioh. 17. 17. To loue God for Gods owne sake Psal 69. 37 Psal 146. 8 Esay 6. 2. The life of God The knowledge of God what it is His holines His iustice His goodnes Esay 9. 1. Pet. 1. 12. Esay 43. Osea 2. To hate ones owne selfe for the loue of God Luk. 9. 14. Rom. 7. 24. Psal 39. 129. Math. 5. Coloss 3. 2. Cor. 12. Gal. 5. Gal. 5. 17. How the Saints in glorie do loue God 1. Cor. 13. 12. 1. Ioh. 3. 1. Ioh. 3. Vrim Thumim 1. Ioh. 4. 8. That vnchast loues must be extinguished What is true beauty Peace and tranquility of the soule 1. Ioh. 4 1. Ioh. 4 3. Loue is a thing full of care and feare The loue of our neighbour 1. Ioh. 4. 20. Gal. 5. 14. 1. Ioh. 3. 17. Brotherly reliefe Iames 5. Heb. 13. 16. Agreement among brethren Gen. 45. 24. Often communication with God Gen. 34 23. Gen. 26. 35. 2. Sam. 16. Phil. 3. 21. Zeale of the glorie of God Ioh. 2. 17. Rom. 15. 3. Act. 17. 26. Sam. 4. 21. 1. Ioh. 3. Cha. 1. v. 17 1. Cor. 4. 20. Phil. 2. 13. 1 Cor. 3. 9. The image of vices Psal 103. 1. Sam. 13. 20. Choise of friends Contempt and hatred of the world 1. Ioh. 2. Eccles 1. Prayer Gen. 24. 63. Esay 38. 2. Act. 10. 9. Matth. 18. v. 19. 20. Psal 45. 18 1. Tim. 2. Esay 1. Ioh. 15. 3. Coloss 3. 5. Act. 17. 11. Psal 19. v. 9 10. Psal 119. v. 103. 1. Cor. 3. Mat. 4. Luk. 4.