and therefore were in a more damnable condition than the Heathens They had received many more benefits from him than from any one besides but yet did not love him in the highest degree who had loved them to the utmost so as to give his Life for them And thus at this day we frequently find that those who have Christ most in their Tongues have him least in their Hearts whence follows that they also communicate or impart him to others so as they have him themselves viz. on the Tongue and not in the Heart they teach them to talk much of him but to love little by which means the poor simple People are much hindred in the way to true Perfection and happiness CHAP. VII The Love of God above all things cannot enter into a Man except the Holy Ghost be there before SAint Paul saith The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost which is given unto us even the Spirit of our heavenly Father the Spirit of Christ whom he that hath not is none of Christs neither is it possible for such an one to love God above all things Wherefore we are to take notice that the first the greatest and the highest Favor God bestows upon a chosen Soul is that he vouchsafes to take up his Dwelling in him By this means it is that the essential Self subsisting Love which is God himself is always in Man before his own Love or any thing that can be called Good and much the same thing happens to every pious Soul as befel the blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of God when it was told her by the Angel That she should conceive and be with child of God whereupon when the Virgin demanded how this should come to pass and by whom seeing it was not to be according to the Order of Nature To which question she and all holy Souls with her received this Answer The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall over-shadow thee Luk. 1.35 As if he had said a Child of God is not born of Blood nor of the Lust of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but is born of God alone Job 1.13 In which Birth the Soul is endued with Divine Power to fulfil all things and all Commands through the Love of God Wherefore if at any time any thing that is holy or good be done by us we must not attribute and appropriate it to our selves but to God only who is the only Father of all good Fruits and Gifts in us Upon which Account also the Angel gives us this further Information saying therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God O happy yea more than happy is that Man into whom the Holy Ghost is come down from above in whom the self-subsisting essential Love which is God himself hath taken up his abode for in him continually and for ever Divine Fruits grow and spring forth whether he knows it or not for the Holy Ghost is never idle Sometimes he stirs in us motions of Anger to reprehend and reprove that which he will have reproved sometimes he moves us to mirth and jocose words to revive and rejoyce those whom he will have comforted c. and frequently makes us in those very things his Fruits and Children whereby we are apt to fear that we were become his Enemies Many very many Fruits of our Salvation doth he work in us whereof we know nothing neither more nor less Could we now in this manner always see him in our selves and clearly discern and know him this would be to be happy indeed here on Earth but it hath rather pleased him and seemed good in his Eyes to be hidden and concealed in us according to the Saying of the Prophet David Ps 18.11 He bowed the Heavens and came down and Darkness was under his Feet he made Darkness his hiding Place his covering round about him were dark Waters c. CHAP. VIII From the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost first proceeds the Light of true Christian Faith THat no Man can reach the Sense and Power of the Holy Scriptures or the Love of God above all things from any outward Learning or Information whatsoever our Lord Jesus Christ himself plainly declares when he saith to his Disciples Job 16.12 I have yet many things to say to you but ye cannot bear them now It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Holy Ghost will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him to you And when He the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth and teach you all things and will open to you the hidden mystical Vnderstanding of the things I have spoke to you Christ must depart and pass away from the Eyes into the Heart from the Flesh into the Spirit before ever he can be known to Salvation Upon which Account he himself disowns the Fruit of his outward Doctrine when the same is separated and divided from the inward Teaching It is in this sense St. Paul declares that as well his Teaching as that of all the other Apostles was nothing except God himself teacheth in the Heart Neither can any man with any words how high and choice soever they may be declare make out or represent the above measure lovely Love of God if God do not first reveal himself in the Heart Wherefore it is without all doubt that God himself brings into the Soul of those by whom he will be loved above all things that Light whereby his great Loveliness and Kindness are clearly seen and discerned through a firm Faith without doubting before ever we know or understand what is right and good Wherefore we must conclude that the knowledge of the True Christian Faith is a pure meer Grace of God CHAP. IX That Man is never comforted in hope whom the Spirit of God himself doth not comfort ALL the comfort of this World is Vain Useless and Empty all confidence in the Creature is deceitful for which reason the Holy Scriptures denounce Curses against all those who confide in their own Jer. 17.5 6. or others created power or ability and by this means seek their comfort in and from the Creature The only true comfort upon Earth is founded and grounded in this as St. Paul assures us that we boast our selves and Triumph in the Glory of the Children of God Rom. 5.2 11. that is in our indubitable assurance that we are the Children of God foreknown and Elected to Eternal glory This is the comfort which no Creature can give neither can any deserve it it must and can only be given by the Holy Ghost the Comforter to whom only it belongs to comfort his People and whose property it is to convey a lively hope into the heart of his chosen and this even before there is any Merit in them Neither hath our saving hope
struck and smitten him to the end that nothing but Love might flow from him and that the substantial and essential Love which is God himself which is given unto us before all gifts and graces without any merit of ours for Righteousness might through the Holy Ghost flow through and wholely penetrate our hearts From all which we may gather this Conclusion that to love God above all is a meer pure Grace and Favour above all our Arts or Abilities and above all our Works and Merits CHAP. XI To love God above all things is not vouchsaved to all Beloved ones in the same Measure or Degree TO love God above all things is to love him Savingly now forasmuch as even in Saving Love there be higher and lower greater and less degrees it will not be in vain or unprofitable to make mention of the said difference or diversity There are some in this Love of God above all things that are called Incipientes i.e. Beginners others Proficientes Proficients or goers forward and some again Perfecti that are arrived to the Perfection of it Of which three sorts the first love God least the second more the third or last most of all yet all of them Love him above all things for did they love any thing more than God or equal with him their Love would rather be Hatred of God because therein they do not render him his true and due Honour as Gods Love saith Men indeed may build Straw Hay and Wood Gold Silver and Pretious Stones upon the Rock but for all that the Foundation doth not suffer it self to be shaken or removed Christ must still be Christ and God must be beloved as God that is above all things this is the true Foundation of all Love and good Desires and this is common to all true Lovers of what rank soever But the Reason of the diversity of some loving more some less some in a higher and others in a lower degree is this because Gods kind and amiable Manifestation of himself doth not act necessarily like Nature according to its utmost Power and Ability but more or less as the Holy Ghost pleaseth and how and when he pleaseth Therefore to Love God above all things is not only Free Grace but every degree of Love is so likewise CHAP. XII How or in what manner the Beginner loves God above all things THE first degree of Love manifests it self in this manner when the Loveliness of God is so deeply imprinted on the heart that a Man begins to love God above all things then such a Love infallibly brings along with it a loathing or dislike of whatsoever is contrary to God as of all deadly Sin and more especially of Pride whereby Man takes upon him to place himself on even ground with or above God which every Man does when he loves himself as much as or more than God This Love brings along with it Humility in Honour Temperance in Lusts and holy Fear not such as Servants stand in of their Master but such as young Children have for their Father In these Beginners there is a mixture of Fear and Love and a Conjunction of Heavenly and Earthly Desires they love many things together with God Therefore the vertue or goodness of these consists only in this that the Love of God that is in them continually brings forth Heavenly Desires and that tho' they love God together with other things yet they love him above and more than them Wherefore also the Beginner falls often into many lesser Sins by the delight he takes in Temporal Profit Honour and Pleasure and into strong Fears and Apprehensions of Temporal Losses and Trouble finds also in himself strong Inclinations to Deadly Sins so that often he is ready to sin but that the Friendly and Lovely Perception of God in his heart doth hinder him Wherefore it still appears that whatsoever the Love of God above all things begets or brings forth in the Heart is nothing else but meer Grace CHAP. XIII How the Proficient Loves God above all things MOreover it oft happens that God from Heaven doth manifest himself yet more friendly and amiably to the Heart and thereby inflames the Will to that degree that now the Soul doth not only love God above all things but also make use of all other things in subordination and with reference to the Love of God in all things aiming at his Praise and Glory Such an one is more concern'd how he may please God than about Sins displeasing of him Now he to whom it is given to love God in this Degree or to speak more exact he in whom the Holy Ghost thus loves in him this Love is immediately followed by the Love of Righteousness great Strength and Courage of Mind a Liberal Heart Prudent Converse wise Purposes and Undertakings and other such like Vertues that help to raise a Man above himself I have said that Man being so highly excited and moved with the Divine Kindness and Loveliness doth love God in this manner or rather that the Holy Ghost thus loves in him to the end that no body might attribute his Proficiency or rising higher to himself but appropriate and impute it to God alone Even as Christ instructed his Disciples and in them all of us When ye shall be brought before Kings and Governors for my sake take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you Mat. 10.18 19 20. These are the Words of Eternal Truth Now if it be true that he does not speak whom we see moving his Tongue and Lips whose Voice we hear and perceive his Breath why should not we then for the same reason appropriate and impute the Love we feel in our hearts to God alone acknowledging it to be his only The moving or motion is from the Holy Ghost but the perceiving of it is ours as when any one tickleth us the Tickling is anothers but the Sensation it produces is our own From all which it appears that the Love of Proficients together with the Vertues flowing from it are meer Grace as well as that of the Beginner CHAP. XIV How the Perfect Lover loves God above all things HE is called Perfect in Love to whom God manifests and represents himself so kind so sweet and so amiable that he becomes wholely of the mind that there is nothing lovely but God nothing kind sweet and friendly but God Such a Man as this loatheth and is burthen'd with himself hateth this Life and longs for Death that nothing might hinder him in his Love Wherefore also strange and wonderful Works proceed from such an one all which God by Love works in him He is full of Joy Peace and Rest he doth not trouble himself about either Heaven or Hell Angel or Devil Friend or Foe he hates Father and Mother Wife and
forasmuch as the Divine Love only flows forth from Gods Love revealed and manifested to us it for the most part happens that we through our vehement earnestness and eager pursuit after her hinder our selves from rellishing her sweet Savour which is best tasted and perceived when we are silent and introverted inwardly attentive when we open our Mouths wide expecting the Heavenly Food when we work or do neither Good nor Evil but attend the Working of the Holy Spirit in us In this manner David hearkned and heard what God spake in him and found him speaking Peace He opened his Mouth wide and experienc'd Gods filling it was silent and waited upon God and received Incomes of Spiritual Strength and Power Ps 81.10.40 1.85.8 For the Almighty VVord saith the Wise King Wisd 18.14,15 comes not down from Heaven his Royal Throne nor suffers it self to be heard till all things be in quiet silence Therefore for a conclusion we must above all things labour and endeavour for inward stillness and quiet of Heart and to reduce our Prayer and other outward and inward Exercises to Rest and Silence that so we may hear the Heavenly Voice of God and perceive his Lovely Motions Thus thou seest how our good God permits himself to be overtaken by a soft or slow Pace but never by Running according as we read concerning the Divine Spouse Cant. 3.1 2 4. c. 5.2 3 4 5 6. That when she laid down on her Bed and had no Desire after her Bridegroom but rather seem'd to be troubled at his knocking yet was this the time he took to manifest himself in all Friendliness and Love towards her whereas when she run out after him he hid himself from her CHAP. XVI The Degrees of the Love of God alter and are changed according to the Will and Pleasure of the Self-subsisting Love of God suitable to what he knows to be most Vseful for Men. TO Love God above all things therefore is a perpetual and constant Work always abiding the same as long as the Lover abides in the true Love yet not always at the same Height or in the same Degree but sometimes more and at other times less as God knows it will be most Profitable for the Beloved Person To Paul was given a thorn in the Flesh an Angel of Satan to buffet him that he might not be exalted above measure by reason of the abundance of Revelations vouchsafed unto him 2 Cor. 12.7 And on the other hand we see the Robber was assured of his part in Paradice Luk. 23.43 and had a clear sight given him that he was a Child of Salvation and was favoured with a joyful Death to the end the Depth of his Sins might not overwhelm him At one time Paul crys out Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death And not long after we hear him boasting and triumphing at such a rate as this Rom. 8.38 39. for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall separate me from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This was a perfect Word proceeding from a perfect Love Thus it happens still at this day that God often in an Hours time yea in a much shorter space doth oft alter the degrees of Love in us Sometimes we find in our selves a perfect Elevation of our Minds with entire and total Resignation and soon after experience a frightful and doubting Heart and an unstable Will and many are in the same Moment comforted again with Courageousness and a Peaceful and Joyful Mind which makes them break forth with David Psalm 56.11 In God have I put my Trust and will not fear what all mine Enemies can do unto me So that a Man here upon Earth is not constant in any degree of Love but sometimes is raised above himself and at other times sinks beneath himself according as the Holy Ghost draws him Furthermore we are to know to our great comfort that the Love which God hath towards us doth neither admit of encrease dminution and frequently is doing the very best for us when we least of all perceive or understand it We are also for the most part most sweet and well pleasing to him when he seems most bitter and harsh to us here upon Earth where his Divine Love more exerts its self for our Cross and Suffering than for our Joy Heaven is the place where God continually manifests and displays himself in everlasting Joys not this Earth Forasmuch therefore as there is more advantage and profit in Poverty than in Riches more in Suffering than in enjoyment more in Weeping than in Laughter more in Hunger than in Fulness or Satiety more in Communion of Suffering than in Communion of Comfort it follows that the Love of God manifests it self in a fuller and greater Measure to us when it procures us Lamentation Sorrow Suffering and Misery than when it affords us pleasure and delight Wherefore altho' the feeling of that Quiet and Peace of Heart which is the Portion of those who are Perfect in Love be Sweeter and more delightful yet is the Love of Proficients wherein God manifests himself for the strengthning and encouraging of the Mind more profitable for Advantage and Amendment Besides it is far more profitable and advantagious to our Salvation that we despair of our own Strength than that we confide in our own Works or Labour For which Cause also God of his great Grace doth frequently take away from us the Love of Proficients and drives us into the acknowledgment of our disability and into fearfulness and despairing of our selves to the end that as little helpless Children we might run to him as our only Redeemer accounting our selves nothing and magnifying his Grace and Power alone When it is thus with us then from the great Love of God to us ward the Love of Beginners proves of greatest use and advantage to us and we do experience by so much the more comfort from God by how much the more we despair of our own Power when we do not trust in our Strength nor take upon us to strive and struggle but only six our eye upon the Lifted up Brazen Serpent Numb 21.6 7 8 9. as in the Figure it is very comfortably held forth to us When the Children of Israel were dangerously and mortally hurt by the poysonful stinging of the Fiery Serpents God was pleased to give them a Brazen Serpent lifted up on a Pole even a Serpent without Poyson made of Brass and whosoever did only behold the same became immediately healed and all the Serpents fled away from him without any more ado Which Figure imports thus much that there is no more ready or compendious way for a Man to get rid of the Poyson of Diabolical Temptation than when he despairs of any opposition himself can make
Another is that his Words be few necessary simple and concerning Divine things the Third is that his whole life all his VVorks and whatever he doth be so compleat and blameless that in nothing he may be reprehended by any one And of the Internal the first is that his Thoughts be pure and Heavenly the Second that he purely seek and intend God alone the Third that he be able easily and readily without any Trouble to bid farewel to all for God that is that whatever befalls him an Unmoveable undisturbed and true Peace be in his mind that as Water not moved with any blast of wind is quiet so his Soul may in all things persevere calm and immoveable For as in water so long as it swells with VVaves and is stirr'd with continual motion no man can behold himself so that most simple and most pure Good which is God can never direct the Rayes of his Light into his Soul into his Spirit or Interior part so long as he is moved with prosperous or advers occurrences For no Prosperity or Honour tho never so great for no Riches or Friends or whatever fortunate accideâ—â— must our heart yield to Levity Dissoluteness 〈◊〉 vain Joys Again on the other side he must perâ—â—… undaunted and immoveable against all Adversiâ—… so that he be not disturbed or hindred in his Souâ— by any damage done him nor wish any Evil Withiâ— or without to any other whatever he suffers from him whether he deprive him of all his Goodâ— whether Honour or Friends or Commodities or aâ—… his comforts yea tho he pull out his Eyes fire 〈◊〉 House or whatever other mischief he do him hâ—… must by no means bear an Evil thought againsâ— him nor defire Revenge but taking all not from Man but from the hand of God render him devouâ— thanks that he is in any thing made conformable to him Yet notwithstanding we must know that there is none so happy or holy Christ only and thâ— Glorious Virgin excepted but he may sometimes suffer at least the first motions of passion for all the Saints have suffered them But as soon as ever they perceived them they knew how by the Grace of God so to suppress them so as that they could not easily be perceived either in their Countenance in their VVords or their Gestures Lastly to this Quiet condition this also is required that he be so affected so disposed that tho he be encumbered with Diversity and multiplicity of business is soon as ever he turns himself to God in Prayer no Image thereof no appearance not so much as any shadow of it may remain whence in his Intellect or mind he may become indisposed or hindered Our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that to these things we may all in time attain Amen A TREATISE OF Albertus Magnus of adhering to God CHAP. I. Of the Vltimate and highest Perfection of Man as far as the same is attainable in this Life I Have purposed with my self with the greatest accuracy as far as it is possible in this our Exile and Pilgrim State to give a description of the Absolute and Plenary Abstraction from all things and our ready secure naked and firm adhering to our Lord God alone And this the rather because the very End of Christian Perfection is Charity or Divine Love whereby we cleave to and are made one with the Lord our God To which Divine Adhesion by Love every one is bound that hopes for Salvation and is performed by the observance of the Precepts and Conformity with the Will of God the observance whereof excludes whatsoever is repugnant to the Essence and Habit of Charity such as are all Mortal Sins But those that are in Religious Orders have over and above this bound themselves to the Practice of Evangelical Perfection and of those things which are matter of Evangelical Councel and Advice rather than strict Imposition and by means whereof we more readily arrive to our ultimate End which is God by the observance of which are likewise excluded all those things which clog and hinder the Activity and Fervor of Charity from carrying us up into our Lord God such as are the denying of all things yea even of our own Soul and Body for seeing that our Lord God is a Spirit they that would worship him Joh. 4.24 must do it in Spirit and in Truth That is with Knowledge and Love with the Understanding and Affection devoid of all Phantasms or Images To this purpose is that Command of our Lord But thou when thou Prayest Math. 6.6 enter into thy Closet that is the inmost retreat of thy Heart and when thou hast shut thy door viz. the door of thy Senses upon thee there do thou with a Pure Heart and Good Conscience and Faith unfeigned pray to thy Father which is in Secret in Spirit and in Truth Which is then best done when a Man being disentangled and divested of all other things and wholly retir'd within himself and having forgot and shut out all and every thing in the Presence of Jesus Christ the Mind alone doth in silence with Faith and Assurance lay open her Desires before her Lord God and thus by the entirest Affection of her Heart and Love doth most sincerely and fully pour forth and plunge her self into God with the inmost Marrow and Strength of all her Powers dilating inflaming and dissolving her self wholly into him CHAP. II. How a Man may despising all other things adhere to and intend Christ alone NOw whosoever Desires and makes it his Business to undertake and enter upon this State or kind of Life it is needful that he as it were shutting his Eyes and Senses do not concern or trouble himself with or be careful and sollicitous about any thing whatsoever but totally reject and renounce all things as impertinent hurtful and pernicious and in the next place that he wholly retire within himself and in that Retirement entertain no other Object but Jesus Christ alone and him Crucified and so press on through him into him i. e. through Man into God through the Wounds of his Humanity into the inmost recess of his Divinity and there without any further disputing readily and securely commit himself and all his Concerns to his indefatigable Providence according to that of St. Peter Casting all your care upon him 1 Pet. 5.7 who can do all And again Be sollicitous for nothing Phil. 4 6. And that of the Psalmist Cast thy care upon the Lord Ps 55.22 and he shall sustain thee And again But it is good for me to Ps 73.28 cleave unto God And again I have set the Lord always before me Ps 16.8 And with the Spouse in the Canticles Cant. 3.4 I have found him whom my Soul loveth because Wisd 7.11 as Wisdom saith All good things come together with it This is that hidden Heavenly Treasure and that precious Pearl which cannot be purchased Mat. 13.44 5 6. but
relish those things that are above do thou endeavour to quit all Phantasms and imaginary Representations of Bodily Things because nothing is more pleasing and acceptable to God than a Mind divested of all such like Forms and Images for his Delights are with the Sons of Men that is such who with a Calm Mind Purified and Simplified from all these Occupations Distractions and Passions do intend apply and cleave to him making this their whole business For otherwise if thy Memory Imagination and Thoughts be often busied about these things it must needs be inveigled either with some new things or the remains of some formerly entertained or be variously affected and distracted with other occurring Objects Wisd 1.5 For the holy Spirit of Discipline as the Wise Man saith removes its self from thoughts that are without Understanding Wherefore a true Lover of Jesus Christ must be so united in his Intellect through good Will to the Divine Will and Goodness and be so naked and stript of all Phantasms and Passions as not so much as to take notice whether he be derided and flouted at or Loved and Honoured or whether any thing else happen to him For a good Will makes up all and is above and beyond all Wherefore if there be a good Will and that the same in the Intellect be purely conform and united to God it can do no hurt tho' the Flesh or Sensuality and the outward Man should incline to Sin and be backward and dead to that which is good yea even though the inward Man also should be dead and listless to any thing of Devotion for in this case it is sufficient for a Man by Faith and good Will nakedly to cleave to God in the Intellect or Supreme part of the Soul And this he will do if he throughly perceive and be sensible of his own imperfection and nothingness and know that all his good consists and is in his Creator and if with all his Powers and Faculties he abandon himself and all Creatures and totally plunge his whole self into his Creator so as to direct all his Actions purely and entirely to his Lord God as the sole end and scope of them all seeking nor desiring any thing besides him in whom he perceives himself to have found all Good with all Happiness and Perfection And by this process he becomes in a manner transformed into God to that degree that he can neither think nor understand nor love nor remember any thing but God and the things of God nor doth he see himself and other Creatures save only in God Neither doth he love any thing save God alone nor remember or make mention of them or of himself but in God Now this knowledge of the Truth makes a Soul very humble judging it self but not another whereas on the contrary the Worldly Wisdom makes the Soul proud Vain Arrogant and pufft up with Wind. Let us lay down this therefore for a Spiritual and Fundamental Doctrine that he who would draw near to the Knowledge Service and Familiarity or Communion with God and that would really possess him must of necessity wholly strip and divest his Heart from all sensible Love not only of every Person whatsoever but of every Creature to the end that with a simple and entire Heart he may reach forward and press into the Lord God his Creator freely without all Duplicity Care or Sollicitousness with a full assured Trust and Confidence in his Providence as to all his Concerns CHAP. VII How the Heart is to be gathered up or recollected into it self MOREOVER as it is said in the Book of the Spirit and Soul Chapter 21. To mount up to God iâ— to enter into ones self For he who inwardly entring and intimately penetrating into himself gets above or beyond himself he truly mounts up to God Let us therefore gather up our Hearts from the various Distractions oâ— this World and recall them to the joyâ— within that we may at last be able to fix them in the light of Divine Contemplation For this is the true Life and Rest of our Heart when by Desire it is fix'd in the Love of God and sweetly refresh'd with his Divine Comfort But the reason why in the experimental taste and relish hereof we are manifoldly hindered so as that we can by no means reach to him is plainly this because the Mind of Man being distracted with solicitousness doth not enter into it self by the Memory being overshadowed clouded with Phantasms doth not retire into her self through the Intellect being allur'd by Lusts and Concupiscence doth not turn in to her self through the desire of internal sweetness and Spiritual joys and being thus wholly taken up with these sensible and present Things she can never enter in to her self viz the Image of God in her self It behoveth therefore above all things and is necessary that with humble Reverence and great Confidence the Mind raise it self above it self and every Creature by a total denying and renouncing of them all and say within her self he whom of all things before all things and above all things I seek love long for and desire is neither sensible nor imaginable but above every thing that is sensible and intelligible too He is not to be perceived by any sence but wholly desirable by full and perfect desire neither is he figurable or representable but to be most perfectly long'd for by the most intimate affection He is not to be rated or valued but wholly to be affected with a pure heart as being above all things amiable and delectable and of infinite Goodness and Perfection And thus she is carried into the darkness of the Mind and becomes higher raised within her self and enters deeper into her self And this manner of ascending to the Aenigmatical or obscure Vision of the most Holy Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity in Jesu Christ is by so much the more fervent by how much the power of Elevation is more intimate to the mind and so much the more fruitful and profitable by how much it is nearer and stronger in Affection For in Spiritual Things those are accounted higher which are more inward as to Spiritual Experience Wherefore do thou never leave never rest until thou get a taste of some Pledges or foretastes of the fulness that is to come and 'till thou perceive the sweetness of the Divine Loveliness by some little first Fruits and do not cease running after her in the perfume of her good Ointments unti thou come to see the God of Gods in Sion For in thy Spiritual Progress and in this Union with and cleaving to God within thy self thou must neither desist nor give back until thou hast obtained what thou lookest for whereof we may take an Example from those who are going up an high Hill For if in this ascent our Spirit through Lust and Desire comes to plunge it self into the Transitory Things here below it immediately is led out of the way
by infinite Distractions and crooked winding Paths and being manifoldly divided is scatter'd in it self according to the multiplicity of the Objects its Concupiscence desires Whence necessary follows Motion without steadiness Running without attaining and Labour without Rest But if on the other side our Heart and Spirit do withdraw it self by Desire and Love from the infinite distraction of inferior Things here below wholly quitting them and by little and little gathering up her self into that one Unchangeable All-sufficient Good learn and accustom her self to stay at home and with her whole affection do inseparably cleave unto it so much the more she is gathered up into one and fortified by how much she is elevated by understanding and desire to the Things that are above and becomes so habitually fixed and established in the true Supream Good within her self 'till at length she be made altogether immutable and arrive to that true Life which is the Lord God himself so as that perpetually without any vicissitude of Change or Time she now reposeth her self in that inward Quiet and secret Mansion of the Deity being perfectly fix'd and setled within her self in Christ Jesus who is the Way to those that come to him John 14.6 the Truth and the Life CHAP. VIII How a Devout Person must Commit himself to God in all Events and in all his Concerns I Suppose that from what hath been already said thou dost perceive that the more thou shalt divest thy self from Images and all Worldly and Created Things and by Good Will be united in thy Intellect to God the nearer thou wilt approach to the State of Innocence and Perfection Than which what can be conceived better more happy or more delightful To which purpose nothing can be of more avail than that thou keep thy mind naked of all manner of Phantasms and Images and from all Intanglements whatsoever so as not to be concerned or trouble thy self neither about the World nor about Friends or Relations nor about Prosperity or Adversity neither about any thing past present or to come either in thy self or in others No nor over much about thine own Sins but with a certain pure simplicity suppose thy self to be naked and alone with God without the World for if thy Soul were already launched into Eternity and separated from the Body surely it would not be busied about Secular Matters nor would it be concern'd about the course of the World neither about Peace nor War fair or foul weather or any other Temporal Thing but would uniformly and totally intend be at leisure for and cleave to God alone In like manner do thou now according to the present possibility leave thy Body and all Creatures present and to come and steadily fix the view of thy Mind and Spirit according to thy utmost power nakedly and readily upon that increated Light that thy Spirit may be so stript and divested from all Phantasms and from all Intanglements and clowdy overshadowings as may be suppos'd that of an Angel tyed to a Body who is not hindred by the activity of the Flesh neither is intangled with vain and hurrying Thoughts Let thy Spirit therefore fortifie it self against all Temptations Vexations Injuries and Affronts whatsoever so that with the greatest unconcernedness and evenness of Temper it may immoveably persevere in God in Adversity as well as Prosperity And when any thing of trouble listlessness to any thing that is good or confusion of Mind do chance to seize thee do not thou therefore think strange or be discouraged neither run thou upon this account to vocal Prayers or other ways of comfort but let this only be thy exercise that thou awaken and stir up thy self through good will in the Intellect that so thou mayst cleave to God with thy mind whether thy sensual Part will or not For a Devout and truly Religious Soul ought to be so intimately united to God and to have and make his Will so conform to the Divine Will that it may not busie it self with nor cleave to any Creature whatsoever any more than she did before she was Created and as if there were nothing at all besides God and the Soul and that it may with an even temper take all and every thing that happens to it securely and infallibly from the gracious hand of the Divine Providence in all things uniformly suffering the Lord in Patience Tranquility and Silence Wherefore it appears that to strip the mind of all Phantasms doth above any other Exercise whatsoever avail and conduce to a Spiritual Life in which by good will thou mayst be united to and become like to God in thy intellect For by this means there will be nothing to mediate or intervene betwixt thee and God Consider therefore how greatly thou dost degenerate from the Nobility of thy Being and how highly thou Sinnest against the Lord thy God and against all his Righteousness if thou with thy Will and Love do cleave unto the Creature rather than to the Creator by this means preferring the Creature before the Creator CHAP. IX That Divine Contemplation is to be preferr'd before all other Religious Exercises whatsoever FOrasmuch therefore as all things besides God are the Effect and Work of the Creator having their Power and Being and whatsoever they are or can stinted and limited and as at first they were produc'd out of Nothing so are still surrounded with nullities and nothingness and of themselves tend to nothing it follows that they must necessarily every moment receive their existence conservation activity and whatsoever else may be in them from the Soveraign Workman God as being in and of themselves insufficient for themselves and others to whose Divine Working they being compared have the same proportion as Nothing to Something or a Finite thing to that which is Infinite Wherefore let all our Contemplation Life and Operation be in him alone and about him and for him and to him who with one hint of his Will is able and knows to produce things infinitely more perfect than those Creatures we now see There can be therefore neither with respect to the Intellect or to the Will any Contemplation and Fruition of Love more profitable perfect happy and delightful than that which hath for its Object the Creator the true and Soveraign Good from whom in whom through whom and to whom are all things who alone is infinitely sufficient for himself and all things Who most simply fully and supereminently contains and has concentred in himself from Eternity the Perfections of all things in whom there is nothing that is not himself with whom and through whom the Causes of all unstable things have their lasting subsistence and establishment In whom are the Immutable Ideas and Principles of all Mutable Things and in whom the Eternal Reasons of all Rational and Irrational and Temporal Things do live for ever who fulfills all and essentially fills all and every thing with himself and who is more intimately
discharge of which Exercise and Duty will follow the Remission of our Sins the Expulsion of all Bitterness the Collation of Sweetness Peace and Security the infusion of Grace and Mercy the attraction and strengthening of Familiarity and Communion with most abundant Comfort in him and firm cleaving to and Union with him But by no means let us be willing to imitate those who through Hypocrisie and Pharisaical Pride make it their Endeavour to be seen esteemed and to appear more Holy outwardly before Men than the Truth within them bears Witness to which certainly is a piece of the extremest Folly and Madness to desire and long for Humane Praise and Glory from ones self or others when at the same time we are inwardly full of the flickering inticements of this World and most Grievous Sins And certainly whoever pursues these most vain things the foresaid Goods will fly from him and he will fall into Shame and Disgrace Wherefore have thou always before thine Eyes thy manifold Sins and Wickedness and thy unfitness for any thing that is good and endeavour to know thy self that thou mayst be Humbled and don't refuse or be afraid to be esteemed and judged by all as the vilest unworthiest and most abject Off-scouring and Filth because of thy most Grievous Sins and great Iniquities Do thou therefore repute thy self amongst others as Dross amongst Gold as Tares amongst Wheat as Chaff amongst Corn as a Wolf amongst Sheep and as Satan amongst the Sons of God Neither do thou in the least desire to be Reverenc'd or Honour'd by Men or to be preferr'd before others but rather with thy whole Heart and Spirit flee from the Infections of this Pestilence the Poyson of Praise and the Pride of Boasting and Ostentation Psal 10.3 lest the Wicked should be Praised in the desire of his Heart and so be in the condition of those of whom the Prophet faith Isa 3.12 O my People they which call thee Blessed cause thee to erre and overturn the way of thy going or fall under that Curse of our Lord Luke 6.26 Wo unto you when all Men shall speak well of you for so did their Fathere to the false Prophets CHAP. XV. How we may arrive to a thorough Contempt of our selves and how profitable it is THE more therefore that any Man knows his own Vileness the more distinct and clear is his View and Vision of the Divine Majesty and the more Base and Vile any one appears in his own Eyes for God Truth and Righteousness the more Precious he is in the Eyes of God Wherefore let us strive with the total Effort of our desire to think our selves the Vilest of all Men and to believe our selves unworthy of every Benefit to displease our selves and to please God alone and be willing to be judged by others the most inconsiderable and despicable Creatures Moreover let us endeavour not to be moved by any Tribulations Afflictions or Injuries nor to be troubled at those that bring them upon us nor to entertain any hard Thoughts or to have indignation against them but with an even and quiet Mind to believe that we do well deserve all Injuries slightings Chastisements and Derelictions For certainly he who truly Mourns and is Penitent according to God he abhorrs to be Honour'd or Belov'd by others and doth not avoid or refuse to be hated trod upon and wholly despis'd to the end that he may be truly humbled and with a Pure Heart may sincerely cleave to his Lord God alone Now that we may arrive to this Loving of the Lord God alone and the abhorring of our selves above all Things and to the desire of being despis'd by othess there is not required any outward Labour or Health and Strength of Body but rather solitude of Body Labour of the Heart and Quiet of the Mind That by Labour of the Heart and Affection of the inmost Mind we may raise our selves above and Bodily withdraw our selves from these inferious Things and so rise and mount up to those that are Heavenly and Divine For doing this we change our selves into God And this is then chiefly done when we choose from our Hearts without any judging Condemning or Contemning of our Neighbour to be esteem'd by all Men as meer Off-scouring Filth and Reproach yea to be abhorred and trampled upon by all as the Dirt in the Streets rather than to abound in Pleasures and Deliciousness or to be Honoured and lifted up by Men or to enjoy any Corporal and Transitory Health or Advantages Or to desire any other Comfort in this present Mortality and Bodily Life but to Mourn Lament and bewail our Offences Faults and Sins without ceasing perfectly to set at naught and Annihilate our selves and to be esteemed daily still Viler and Viler by others and appear daily more unworthy in our own Eyes That we may please God alone Love him only and cleave unto him Being unwilling to be Affected with any thing save only with our Lord Jesus Christ himself not being sollicitous or careful about any thing but him under whose Rule and Providence all things subsist and have their Course Know then that henceforward it is not for thee to delight thy self but to Mourn with thy whole Heart wherefore if so be thou dost not yet Mourn Mourn for that and if thou dost Mourn Mourn and Lament the more for that thou hast brought upon thy self this Cause of Grief and Sorrow because of thy most Griveous Offences and Infinite Sins For as a Malefactor who receives his Sentence of Death is not concern'd about the ranging of the Sherifs Men or the Multitude of the Spectators So he who in good earnest Mourns and Bewails his Sins cannot give his Mind to Pleasures or Anger or vain Glory or Indignation or any other such like And as the Habitations of Citizens and Condemned Malefactors are very different So the State Manner and Behaviour of those that Mourn for being Guilty of Sins that bind them over and make them obnoxious to Punishment ought to be very different from those who are Innocent and not Guilty For otherwise there would be no difference made between a Guilty and Innocent Person by reward and Punishment and Unrighteousness would be more free than Innocence So that all things are to be denied all things are to be Contemned all things are to be cast away and avoided That with full Faith a good and sure Foundation may be laid for the Sorrow of Repentance Wherefore he that Loves Jesus Christ in Truth and that Mourns after him and that bears him in his Heart and in his Body that truly Mourns for his Sins and Offences and earnestly seeks for the Kingdom to come and in true Faith possesseth the Memory of the Torments of Hell and of Eternal Judgement and imprinteth firmly and perfectly in his Heart the Sense and Fear of his own Death such a one will no farther strive care or be sollicitous about any other thing whatsoever
things cannot be learned of Men. NO Man can teach another the things that can no other ways be known but by Sense and Experience no Man can teach another to see hear smell taste feel or experience and much less to love rejoyce to be sorrowful and such like which must be felt and experienced before they can be known We must taste it in our selves and God must work it in us And therefore David saith Taste and see that the Lord is Good Ps 34.8 sweet or gracious We may indeed inform others of the visibility of colors and of the qualifications that are required in the eye to perceive its proper Objects but by all our diligence we can never teach others to see so we may discourse much and at large concerning the perfect and supreme Goodness of God and the manifestation of his Love which also is very good and commendable In like manner we may discourse of the property of the will of purity of heart of a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned as St. Paul saith 1 Tim. 1.5 The end of the command is Love out of a pure heart a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned But we can never teach another how to love and much less to love above all things for this is a work of God and reserved to him as his peculiar Royalty who has the heart in his hand and the will in his power Pro. 21.1 to turn and incline them how and which way it pleaseth him CHAP. V. To Love God above all things a Man cannot learn of himself IT is true that the natural Understanding of Man may from the knowledg of the Creatures raise it self to the knowledg of God and of his eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1.20 and accordingly the Philosopher tells us that there is nothing better than God but forasmuch as they only continue in the speculation hereof without feeling and experiencing the Love and Goodness of God operatively in themselves which must be before that knowledg can beget or kindle Divine Love wherefore neither do they know God aright Accordingly St. Paul tells us Rom. 1.21 That tho they knew God they glorifyed him not as God neither were thankful wherefore also this their knowledg turns to their greater hurt and prejudice particularly in that in renders them inexcusable making them to become vain in their imagination and darkning their foolish hearts to that degree that they bestow the honour which is due to him alone viz. Love above all things upon the Creature wherefore also God suffers them to fall into Sin and Shame and to defile themselves with unnatural Lusts that they may receive in themselves the recompence due to their Error and because they do not like or value the true knowledg of God God gives them over to a reprobate mind so as to fall from one Sin into another and do those things which are not convenient Wherefore certainly it is much better for a Man never to know God than not to glorifie the known God as God or not to love him above all things CHAP. VI. To Love God above all things cannot be learnt from the Letter of the Scripture IN the Old Testament we are taught the written Law of God and therein also we find wise Instructions how the said Law must be kept or observed As likewise the good and advantage which accrues to Men by keeping of the same as well as the loss and evil that happens to Men for transgressing of it But when we come to compare our duty with our performance then it appears that we never kept any one of the Divine Commands and that we are throughout defiled with Sin We know also that no Man can keep the Law except he love God above all things and that the Letter of the Scripture can never teach us this for if the Love of God above all things did grow out of the Letter of the Old Law then it would follow that none did love God more than the Jews who abound in the knowledg of the Letter of the Law But the Apostle tells us that the Law never brought any one to Perfection that is to the Love of God above all things which is the highest perfection of Man for the Letter of the Old Law brings forth nothing but the Knowledg of our Duty that we ought to keep the Commandments of God the knowledg of our Sin that we have transgressed them the knowledg of our weakness and inability that we are not able to keep them and knowledg of the eternal punishment we must suffer for it whence fear and bondage is engendred and more than this the Letter cannot do wherefore also the Letter kills as St. Paul tells us but cannot-quicken it discovers our sickness but cannot recover us to health it manifests Sin and declares the greatness of our Fall but cannot raise us up again yet there is this comfort in it for that under this Letter the Spirit lyes hid and because the Old Law is big with child of Christ through whom the Grace of Loving God above all things is conferred They who have found this Spirit and who know and acknowledg Christ to be hid in the Law to those I say the Scripture is a profitable Doctrine and as St. Paul saith full of comfort and particularly in this that such as these as they find their Sickness in the Scriptures so likewise their Strength and Health as they find the Death of Nature so likewise the quickening of Grace through Jesus Christ our Lord in whom also they love God above all things and are able perfectly to fulfil and perform the Law From all which we see that the Law is only an Affrightment or Terror driving us from Nature to Grace from our selves into God from Flesh into the Spirit in and by whom we cry to God Abba Father and come to desire or long for God above all things In like manner also is the Letter of the New Testament a Murtherer of Souls more than the Letter of the Old Law because it represents God more lovely than that doth even as our Redeemer and who for our sakes was made Man suffered was crucified dead and buried upon all which accounts we cannot but acknowledg our selves in the highest degree bound to love him above all things Now it is evident that we make our selves lyable to greater Sins and Damnation when after so unexpressible great mercy and benefits received we continue unthankful and go on in our Sins These and such like are the effects of the Letter of the New Testament and therefore it kills as well as that of the Law For tho it represents Christ to the Eye and his Doctrine to the Ear yet forasmuch as it is unable to bring the Spirit of Christ into the heart it serves only to work a more grievous Death The Jews had Christ before their Eyes in their Ears and in their Hands but they had not the Spirit of Christ in their Hearts
and single hearted and other such like Wherefore also Jesus said to his Disciples when they boasted themselves because of the High gifts of God bestowed upon them and more espicially because the Devils were subject and obedient to them through his Name I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven and added this following Lesson true it is I have given you Power to tread upon Serpents and Scorpions and over all the Power of the Enemy notwithstanding for this rejoyce not nor in particular for that the Evil Spirits are subject to you but ratherrejoyce because your Names are written in Heaven Luke 10.17 18 19. It is very probable that Judas as well as Peter healed the fick cast out Devils and wrought other Miracles but forasmuch as he wanted Love all this was of no avail to him Wherefore it behoves us always to walk with Fear and Trembling and to be so much the more humble as we enjoy more of these Divine Gifts and Graces whereof we must give an Account to God how we have employ'd them CHAP. XIX Whosoever hath a true Love to God he undoubtedly keeps all his Commands A true Mark of the Love of God is the fulfilling of the Commands of God according to the Doctrine of the Wiseman for love begets likeness and conformity makes one Heart one Will one Soul in the Lover and the Beloved When Love raiseth her self above her self she frames her self into the will of her Beloved and if she stoops beneath her self she moulds all things into her own likeness and esteems or values nothing according to its natural goodness but according to her own good liking or pleasure And so makes that Evil which was by God created good in Nature He who loves God above all things is well pleased with whatsoever is well pleasing to God and is troubled at every thing that displeaseth him and therefore he loves Righteousness and hates Iniquity does that which is Good and avoids Evil I say he does that which is good tho not always according to the works of the Law yet always in conformity with the end of the Law for it happens sometimes that a man in doing contrary to the works of the Law yet does that which is right and good with reference to the end of the Law Now the end of the Law is the Love of God above all things with which no manner of Evil doing may consist So that he who truly loves God keeps all that God hath commanded him even whaâ—soever is contain'd in the Divine Word â—ccording to the Doctrine of St. Austin who expresseth himself in these following Words Love but and then do what thou wilt Art thou silent be silent for Love dost thou cry aloud Cry aloud for love Dost thou reprove Reprove for Love Dost thou reconcile Reconcile out of Love keep but this Root in thy heart even true Divine Love and Charity and than nothing but what 's good can ever come from thee nothing can be done by thee but what is saving or tends to Salvation Wherefore Men can never be Divinely taught by any one save only in the School of Love with her alone are found the doers of of the Divine Word all other Arts and Learning whatsoever make nothing but Hearers only To this Art of Arts even the Love of God Parents should draw and allure their Children The Masters their Schollars the spiritual Pastors their Sheep or rather the Sheep of Christ Whatsoever it is they teach besides this is nothing but Labour and Vexation of Spirit Neither indeed is there any other Art necessary to Salvation Yet it is true too that no body can effectually teach this Divine Art of Love but God himself as before hath been declar'd wherefore aiso our Lord Jesus Christ forbids us to look out for any other Master for to attain the Art of Salvation save himself alone CHAP. XX. They who love God in the Highest degree do not think the Yoak and Burthen of Christ to be Heavy or Troublesome but rather Easie and Light ALas How many heavy and intollerable Burthens do we see which in this miserable State the Love of this World and our Fleshly uncleanness and corrupt inclinations make very easie and desirable In order to get Riches we see the Merchant exposeth himself to the Raging Sea breaks his Sleep and shortens his Life To arrive to Honour and Dignity a man abandons himself to a continual slavery at Court and to all that which is hurtful and grievous to Soul and Body For the sake of Lust and impure Love more especially that which men bear to Women and Women to Men what intolerable burthens are not readily willingly and gladly Born For Love alas is so fast rooted and riveted in our Flesh and Blood that beyond any other thing whatsoever no body without the special Grace and Assurance of God can any longer moderate curb or restrain it much less quite root it our The inclination of the heart brought the Love of Women along with it into Paradise and we suck the same from our Mothers Breasts yea we take it from our Mothers hearts whilst we are yet hid in the Womb. For the sake of Women saithâ— Zorobabel as we find it in 1 Esdras 4.14 15 16. Men forsake and abandon their Honour Lives and Goods yea Vertue and Reason and become captivated yea senseless and distracted by Reason of the Love they bear to them This inborn and inbred Love neither Frock nor Cowl neither Church nor Convent neither Cell nor Dungeon can keep out except the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ come in to our help But indeed when that once comes the work is Light and Easie for if that once sweetly impresseth and ingraves the unutterable Love of God on the heart then all other Loves must pack up and be gone and the more clearly she manifests her self and the more amiably she imageth or forms her self in the Soul so much the more speedily must Flesh and Blood sink and perish Yea sometimes she appears so sweet to the Soul that all Creatures become distastful to it Here it is that our Iron-hard heart becomes soft pliant and yielding the heavy and troublesome yoak becomes sweet and easie and insuportable Burthen light and pleasurable and all this because God doth amiably move and affect our Spirits VVould you have me Communicate this Art to you and tell you how it is able to perform these great things Pray resolve me first of a matter which is a thousand times less How comes it to pass that he heavy lumpish Iron runs to the embraces of the Load Stone and why as soon as a dish or bason wherein Iron lies is touched with the Load stone doth the Iron raise it self and begin to move that way to which the Load Stone draws it Dost thou say the Stone is able to do this tho thou canst not tell me how or by what means Then wonder no more how the Creator of Nature can
so freely and powerfully move his own work or how the unutterable Loveliness of God tasted and felt in the Heart doth sublime and raise the spirit in Love kindle it melt it and make it triumphantly joyful and full of Jubilee Doth the stone draw the Iron to it self without so much as touching it how much more then must needs the most Rocky and obdurate Soul being touched by the Eternal Heavenly Load-stone be raised above it self and run into the Embraces of this powerful Drawer Cantic 1.4 Or how can it be otherwise but that after this taste of the transcendent Divine sweetness all Tribulation and Suffering strewed over with this Sugar must needs become sweet and desirable Or how is it possible but that all the sweetness of the Love opposite to this must needs lose its taste and become bitter and loathsome seeing the common Proverb assures us that to him who rellisheth the Spirit the Flesh becomes ditasteful and abominable For the Nature and Property of the Holy Spirit of the self-subsisting Love of God is this that wheresoever she touches she draws and allures where she is rellished she drives and impells where she is felt and experienced she rejoyceth the Heart Moreover she has this particular property that she robs the Flesh of all its sweetness like as the Meridian Brightness of the Sun discountenances and darkens the Light of a Candle Furthermore she hath this also amongst the rest of her properties that she sweetens all pains and griefs comforts and relieves Misery and Wretchedness restores all weakness makes all labour light and easie turns weeping into laughter and sorrow into joy He that experimentally finds her rejoyceth to suffer for the sake of Christ from his very heart desires to bear the Cross with Christ and longs for the Fire of Temptation that therein his Love being tried and refined from all Dross may purely and nakedly cleave to God and therefore cries out with the divine Spouse Caâ—tic 4.16 Arise thou North wind and come on East wind and blow upon my Garden that my Spices may flow forth and give their sweet Odour As if she had said come Temptation from all quarters try and prove my Vertues and Graces that they may become pure Gold and be for the amendment and edification of all that hear or see them O Holy and Divine Spirit O sweetest Guest and Inmate of the Soul O only life of men He that wants thee tho' alive is dead before God and he that hath got thee can never die with God tho the world be carrying him forth to his grave Thou art far more necessary to the Soul then the Soul is to the Body VVhere thou art not there the outward dying is the beginning of Eternal death but where thou art of Eternal Life In thee most Holy God we are in thee we live in thee we are savingly moved and all this from the Merits and Satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ the only Redeemer of the VVorld in whom the unutterable Mercy of God and over great Love to us is so clearly manifested and through thee O Holy Ghost so plainly imaged and deeply imprinted in our hearts that we cannot look for any thing else but Love from the Father Son and Spirit so that it is now no more possible for us to take any strange God for our God than it is possible for any one else to shew us such transcendent and unmeasurable Mercy Kindness and Love as thou hast made us partakers of It is possible and it hath oft happened that even wicked Men have wrought Miracles being the same thing Scripture testifies that Antichrist shall do at his coming It is also possible that the Enemies of God may in outward Gifts of Charity shew themselves more liberal to the Eyes of Men than ever thou hast done and to make others by their Liberality rich and powerful and such like But all these are but uncertain signs and marks of the right true Love To suffer and die for the sake of the Beloved Object is a true and infallible sign of Love when this is done for Gods sake it shews a Love sufficient to Salvation and if it be done for the sake of a Friend then is it an expression of the highest degree of Human Love as the Lord Jesus witnesseth No Man can have greater Love than this that he lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.31 But if this Love rise get higher even to that degree as to make a Man willing to suffer and die for his Enemy then is it a certain Mark of the Love of God alone VVe read of Antichrist that he shall do his utmost endeavour and diligence as far as is possible to appear outwardly like to Christ in Miracles VVorks of VVonder and in all his other Actions and Behaviour yea to be more kind and beneficent in outward Gifts and Liberality He will as was before hinted by his Liberality make those Rich and Powerful that believe in him and will also draw to his Party such as are Rich and Powerful with rigour and severity and by fear compel them for he will horribly afflict torment and put to Death such as will not believe in him But it will never please him to suffer for his Enemies and to die for those that hate him by which it appears that his Love is so far from being the true Divine Love that it is not so much as the highest Degree of Human Love VVherefore also all these pompous Shews of his Love will be of no force with the Elect of God to deceive them Out of Christ alone as was said before the highest Love of God breaks forth and manifests it self out of him alone flow forth the waters of Grace Neither is there any other Name under Heaven wherein and whereby we may be saved save only the sweetest Name Jesu to whom alone therefore we point and direct all who are desirous to be inflamed with the Love of God for in him alone we meet with all that ought and must be sought for in order to our Salvation CHAP. XXI The most sure and certain Sign of all as well of our entire Love to God as of his Gracious Love to us is a perfect Emptiness or Exinanition of Spirit THE Heart of a true Lover of God above all things becomes emptied and void of all Creatures as soon as it is arrived to the degree of Perfect Love so that nothing but God free and alone remains in his Spirit all Creatures whatsoever soever being driven thence But as long as this is not yet come to pass in our Souls all the most specious and apparent Signs of Gods dwelling in us are uncertain doubtful and to be suspected But when a Man is become void and empty of himself and all Creatures when he forgets his own Life his Merits his Salvation and seeks nothing but the Honour of God when he is only well pleased with his Will whether it be to