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<DATE>2013-04-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Geremy Carnes</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P><HI>Claustrum Animae:</HI> THE Reformed Mona&s;tery; OR, THE LOVE OF JESUS.</P>
<P>A &s;ure and &s;hort, plea&s;ant and ea&s;ie way to HEAVEN.</P>
<P>IN Meditations, Directions, and Re&s;o|lutions to Love and Obey JESUS unto Death.</P>
<P>In two Parts.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Henry Brome,</HI> at the Gun in S. <HI>Paul's</HI> Church-yard the We&s;t-End. MDCLXXVII.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="2">
<P>Imprimatur.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Antonius Saunders,</HI> Reverendi&s;&s;imo in Chri&s;to Patri ac Domino Domino <HI>GILBERTO</HI> Archiepi&s;copo <HI>Cant.</HI> &agrave; Sacris Dome&s;ticis.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><HI>Ex Aed.</HI> Lambeth. <DATE><HI>Febr.</HI> 16. 1675/6.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE Right Reverend Father in God JOHN, Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>Oxford.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>My LORD,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>'_TIs not in regard of my Obligations to you, though I own them with grateful acknowledge|ments; 'tis not in regard of your late mo&s;t de&s;erved advancement, though I hear|tily rejoyce at it: 'Tis in re|gard of your intrin&s;ick good|ne&s;s, that this Dedication begs your acceptance, and humbly offers it &s;elf to you. Before <HI>Lord&s;hip</HI> and <HI>Pater|nity</HI> were added to your Ho|nourable
<PB REF="3">Titles, you was in|titled to this book: your dignities being dignified by you, I con&s;idered not their eminency, but the eminency of your Vertue and Piety. I know, My Lord, that you aim at a better reward than this world can give; but that a great light &s;et on a high place cannot be hid from the eyes of Men, Angels alone &s;hould rejoyce in the brightne&s;s of yours: you &s;hun prai&s;e as much as you de&s;erve it: you neither de&s;ire nor want any thing of Fame. But, My Lord, I wanted a living ex|ample of a &s;incere and de|vout lover of JES&V;S to exemplifie my Di&s;cour&s;e: and though (God be prai|&s;ed)
<PB REF="3">many more might be found in this Church, yet you are one of the faire&s;t and mo&s;t attractive: in &s;o much that though it be ea&s;ier to write than to do well, yet a better Pattern of a Religious Life might be drawn from your actions than from my directions.</P>
<P>My Lord, I have ju&s;t cau&s;e to fear that I have in|dulg'd my genius too far, and perhaps &s;ome will think that I would have Godline&s;s to be <HI>Shorn</HI> and devotion a <HI>Re|clu&s;e</HI> from the world, which is far from my thoughts or de&s;ires: though I mu&s;t con|fe&s;s that at fir&s;t I intended a much different and le&s;s defective Treati&s;e on this &s;o
<PB REF="4">good a &s;ubject, had not other nece&s;&s;ary helps as well as abi|lities been wanting. How|ever at the be&s;t I could have added nothing to &s;uch per|&s;ons as your Lord&s;hip; the Holy flames of Divine Love that burn in your heart have too much light and fervency to have receiv'd any increa&s;e from me: and therefore I have not aim'd at any thing higher than only to a&s;&s;i&s;t the weak and fix the incon&s;ide|rate. But, My Lord; though I can not in the lea&s;t profit you by this my poor labour, yet its being own'd by you may be very advantageous to me: Your Reverend and much Honoured name will not only credit me, but which
<PB REF="4">is more, will recommend my Book, and al&s;o promote its de&s;ign of winning affe|ctionate Servants and lo|vers to JES&V;S. This I know you will rejoyce to do: Wherefore in pre|&s;enting my Book to your Lord&s;hip, I humbly beg your ble&s;&s;ing on it and its Author. Who is with due re&s;pect and affection,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Lord&s;hips mo&s;t dutiful Son and mo&s;t humble Servant <HI>L. B.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="5">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>'_TIs probable that they, who the&s;e many years, have cry'd out <HI>Popery</HI> (till they made way for it to come) upon every thing they lik'd or under&s;tood not, will &s;tart and think that their fears are come upon them, at the &s;ight of the fir&s;t Title-page: and po&s;|&s;ibly our Lay-Abbots will al&s;o be frighted at it, as though the di&s;|po&s;&s;e&s;t <HI>Coenobites</HI> were coming again to lay claim to their old Man&s;ions and fat indowments. For my part I wi&s;h that theirs may be but pannick terrors: yet
<PB REF="6">withal, I wi&s;h they might &s;o far affect them, as to make the fir&s;t have a greater value for that <HI>Reform'd Religion,</HI> and purer wor&s;hip which then they would certainly lo&s;e; and the la&s;t pay Tithes <HI>Con&s;cienciou&s;ly</HI> out of tho&s;e e&s;tates, which then they would be forc'd to re&s;ign. And yet I may, and do a&s;&s;ure them, that if they will Read not only the Title, but the book al&s;o, it will certainly cure them of their fears, if it works no better change upon them: for its de&s;ign is not to alter the e&s;tabli&s;h'd Religion, but to make us more devout and &s;in|cere in the profe&s;&s;ion thereof; nor yet to inrich any per&s;ons with temporal e&s;tates, but to make us <HI>gather trea&s;ures in heaven,</HI> and <HI>&s;et our affections on things a|bove.</HI></P>
<P>That the age we live in, is great|ly deprav'd, is no ob&s;ervation of
<PB REF="6">mine, there are almo&s;t as many that complain of it, as there are that contribute to the increa&s;ing of its wickedne&s;s: 'tis in every mans mouth that vertue being di&s;|grac'd, vice is countenanc'd, and that the numerou&s;ne&s;s of its vo|taries, makes it now impudent, as well as fa&s;hionable. Therefore it &s;hould be no difficult matter, to per&s;wade tho&s;e that have any &s;en&s;e of Religion, or longing after its rewards, that they ought not <HI>to conform them&s;elves to this pre|&s;ent evil world,</HI> but chu&s;e a bet|ter pattern to live by. And the truth is, it matters not much, whether the&s;e be wor&s;e than the former times; for the way to life hath all along been <HI>&s;treight and narrow,</HI> and found and fol|low'd but by <HI>few:</HI> as that to de&s;truction <HI>wide</HI> and &s;pacious, and yet crouded by the <HI>many.</HI> Good men have always liv'd in a
<PB REF="7"><HI>perver&s;e and crooked genera|tion:</HI> So that if it be now, as it hath ever been, tho&s;e that will enter into life, mu&s;t follow the <HI>narrow</HI> path, though they have but few fellow travellers: and if it be wor&s;e, they mu&s;t walk with the greater care and wari|ne&s;s. However it be, the dif|ference mu&s;t needs be very great, betwixt the lives and works of tho&s;e, who&s;e reward and con|dition will be &s;o va&s;tly dif|ferent at la&s;t. And therefore whoever will go to heaven, had need keep at a great di|&s;tance from that <HI>world which lieth in wickedne&s;s,</HI> and take a much contrary cour&s;e, to tho&s;e <HI>many</HI> who go to de&s;tru|ction.</P>
<P>But how then? Mu&s;t we retire into <HI>Thebais,</HI> with the Fathers of the de&s;ert? Mu&s;t we confine our &s;elves to the
<PB REF="7">&s;olitude of a <HI>Mona&s;tick Cell?</HI> Or &s;hall we become Quakers, and profe&s;s the &s;ullenne&s;s of Melancholy Fanaticks? Why, truly in Popi&s;h Countreys, the Cloi&s;ter hath ingro&s;s'd the name of Religion, and they that would be, or be thought to be, devout beyond others, do u&s;ually put on a Fryers hood, and imbrace the Rule of &s;ome <HI>Religious Order:</HI> and a|mong&s;t us Puritani&s;m hath u|&s;urp'd the Name of <HI>Godli|ne&s;s;</HI> and &s;ome who, in truth or in pretence, abhor loo&s;e|ne&s;s, or are reclaim'd from a vicious life, will too often for&s;ake not the world, but the Church; as it were to pre|&s;erve the &s;trictne&s;s of a &s;e|verer vertue, in the Society of a Separated Brother-hood. 'Tis po&s;&s;ible that the irreligi|on and imm<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">rality of Chri&s;ti|ans
<PB REF="8">abroad,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">It may be matter of inquiry whether that demure pre|tence of holine&s;s, the adver&s;aries had put on, did not more avert &s;ome of our li|bertines from them, than all their real crimes; they per|haps &s;o far mi&s;took them, as to &s;u&s;pect they might be in earne&s;t, when they profe&s;t to advance the power of God|line&s;s. <HI>Decay of Chri&s;tian Piety.</HI> Pag. 198.</NOTE> in the ge|neral, hath occa&s;ion'd the di&s;tinction of <HI>Regu|lar</HI> and <HI>Secular</HI> per|&s;ons; and perhaps the prophanene&s;s and de|bauchery of too too ma|ny among&s;t us, who are in the Church, as the <HI>tares</HI> in the <HI>field,</HI> among the <HI>wheat</HI> hath partly caus'd the un|ju&s;t di&s;tribution, our late <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> had made of our people, into two parties, the <HI>Godly</HI> and the <HI>Wicked:</HI> though many are of opinion, that di&s;|content or melancholy makes men, for the mo&s;t part, both Monks and Schi&s;maticks, or el&s;e &s;piritual pride or wordly inter|e&s;t. However it be, I will not make exprobrations again&s;t ei|ther of them, with di&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">bliging
<PB REF="8">truths, but rather commend what is prai&s;e-worthy in them: be|cau&s;e I would have every Chri&s;ti|an, to be really devout and preci&s;e, without entring the Cloi|&s;ter or the Conventicle.</P>
<P>I am indeed &s;omewhat jea|lous, that the ingaging men to be Religious and Vertuous, by other con&s;iderations be&s;ides their Chri&s;tian duty hath done &s;ome prejudice to Religion; for now there be &s;ome that fan&s;ie, &s;elf-denial and contempt of the world to belong only to Friers, and others, that to ab&s;tein from &s;wearing and drunkenne&s;s, is only the part of a Puritan: Whereas Chri&s;tianity binds tho&s;e duties upon all its profe&s;&s;ors, and every one, by his Bapti&s;mal vow is bound to perform them; though he doth not &s;ubmit him|&s;elf to the Rule of S. <HI>Francis,</HI> or the dictates of the <HI>A&s;&s;embly.</HI> The
<PB REF="9">heavenly mindedne&s;s of <HI>Carthu|&s;ians,</HI> the zeal and laborious preaching of <HI>Carmelites</HI> and <HI>Dominicans,</HI> the pe|nitent mortifications of <HI>Franci&s;cans,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Non de&s;iderabit tria illa vota ab ho|minibus reperta, qui primum, illud &amp; unicum votum, quod in Bapti&s;mo, non homini &s;ed Chri&s;to nuncupavi|mus &s;inceriter pu|reque &s;ervaverit. <HI>Era&s;. Ench.</HI></NOTE> and the &s;obriety of <HI>Non-Con|formi&s;ts</HI> are all con|tain'd in the Chri&s;tian Rule: and who&s;oever owns it, needs not make new vows, wear di|&s;tinct habits, or &s;epa|rate from the Church, the better to di&s;charge them: but only, &s;eriou&s;ly mind and &s;tudy the obligations of his Religion, and, with diligence and &s;incerity, live according to them. My de&s;ign therefore is not to Incloi|&s;ter particular per&s;ons,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vellem univer&s;os Chri&s;tianos ita vive|vere, ut qui nunc &s;o|li Religio&s;i vocantur parum Religio&s;i vi|derentur.</NOTE> but to make a large Mo|na&s;tery of the whole Commonwealth, at lea&s;t to make every family a
<PB REF="9">School of Vertue and Piety, and every man an <HI>A&s;cetick</HI> and &s;trict liver: wi&s;hing heartily with <HI>Era&s;|mus</HI> that they, who hitherto, have been call'd <HI>Preci&s;e</HI> and <HI>Religi|ous,</HI> by way of appropriation, might ju&s;tly lo&s;e that name, by the more exemplary lives of all other Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>But though it be my wi&s;h, it is not my hope in the lea&s;t, to &s;ee any &s;uch thing come to pa&s;s, by means of this little volume. Many much bigger and better have not been able to effect it; they that will not hear <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Prophets, nay, Chri&s;t the Lord him&s;elf, will be far enough from being per&s;waded by the meane&s;t of his &s;ervants: and the truth is, it may be the matter of our de&s;ires, but mu&s;t never be expected, that a general Reformation of manners &s;hould follow that of Doctrine among us. Neverthele&s;s our indeavours ought
<PB REF="10">not to be wanting; though our &s;anctification be never con&s;umma|ted here below, yet we are com|manded,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 7.1.</NOTE> and &s;hould &s;trive <HI>to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of God:</HI> and &s;o, though we know that many will &s;o live, as that the end of them &s;hall be de&s;tructi|on, yet ought we like S. <HI>Paul,</HI> to try all means, <HI>that by any means we may &s;ave &s;ome.</HI> If we con|vert none of the impenitent, we may benefit &s;ome better Chri&s;ti|ans: and if our in&s;tructing our brethren by word or writing, pro|fits none of them, yet it may make us take the better heed, <HI>that after we have preached to others, we our &s;elves be not ca&s;t-aways.</HI></P>
<P>Now to this end, my chiefe&s;t indeavour, is to make a Chri&s;tian devout, to make him love God with a &s;incere love, and then make it appear by a hearty obedience; a
<PB REF="10">devout love is not only the be&s;t part, but al&s;o the be&s;t in&s;trument of Religion, as being an irreconci|lable enemy to &s;in, a friend, or rather a nur&s;e to all vertue: No inticement could have drawn peni|tent <HI>Magdalene</HI> to her former im|purities, whil&s;t &s;he wa&s;hed her deare&s;t Saviours feet with her tears: and 'tis known by experi|ence that when reading, medita|tion, the &s;ight of a dying friend, or any &s;uch thing, hath &s;oftned a mans heart into a Religious tem|per, temptations would be then &s;o far from prevailing, that they dur&s;t not &s;o much as appear before him. But when he returns to mind earthly things, and hath his thoughts taken up with the con|cerns of this life, he finds that his &s;piritual &s;trength decays, by the &s;ame proportions that his love be|comes cold, and he grows inde|vout again.</P>
<PB REF="11">
<P>Love is the queen, if not the foun|tain of pa&s;&s;ions, the great mover and governor of actions and affections: could we keep the fire of Divine Love always burning in our brea&s;ts, it would be the mo&s;t powerful and be&s;t in&s;trument of Holy-living; it would make &s;elf-denial and the yoke of Chri&s;t ea&s;ie, it would make acts of ver|tue and Religion plea&s;ant; and it would make us delight in plea|&s;ing God, as much as we natu|rally do in plea&s;ing our &s;elves. Therefore I have made it my aim and de&s;ign in the following Pages, to &s;eize upon the affections, to in|kindle in the hearts of Chri&s;tians the heavenly flames of the love of God. To that end, I have repre|&s;ented the more general benefits of God to mankind, and e&s;pecially that of Redemption, by the great|e&s;t demon&s;tration of love that ever was given, the death of Je&s;us:
<PB REF="11">which if duly con&s;ider'd, would be an irre&s;i&s;tible motive to love him; I have &s;hewed the power, the plea&s;ure, and the great ad|vantages of love; and I have us'd devout meditations and eja|culations, as it were to tran&s;port our &s;ouls to heaven by love, for to adore that God, whom love brought down from thence to &s;ave us. 'Tis certain that mo&s;t of them that pe|ri&s;h, peri&s;h for want of con&s;idera|tion; and I have heard dying men wonder at them&s;elves, how they could be &s;o &s;tupid, as not to mind tho&s;e things which are of an infinite concern, and &s;hould rather take up all our thoughts and our cares, than be neglected or forgot one only moment. <HI>I&s;rael doth not under&s;tand,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.3.</NOTE> <HI>my people doth not con&s;ider.</HI></P>
<P>Love may be &s;aid to be that fire which God would have always to burn upon his altar, that is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 6.12.</NOTE> in
<PB REF="12">our hearts, which are his temple, where the &s;acrifices of good works and the incen&s;e of devotion &s;hould always be offer'd to him: now that &s;acred fire mu&s;t have fewel to entertain it; it mu&s;t be nouri&s;h'd by reading good books, and e&s;pe|cially by frequent and pious me|ditations. Wherefore I have in|deavour'd as much as I could to feed tho&s;e holy flames, by repre|&s;enting things as they are; and I would have every Chri&s;tian, &s;eri|ou&s;ly and often to con&s;ider, what God is, what he hath done, what he doth, and what he will do for us, if we love him &s;incerely: as al&s;o, what we are, whence we come, whither we go, and how ea&s;ie it is for us to be eternally hap|py, if we will &s;et our affections up|on God, who de&s;erves them &s;o infi|nitely. Doubtle&s;s incon&s;iderati|on is the cau&s;e why God is not lo|ved! It is not po&s;&s;ible men could
<PB REF="12">re&s;i&s;t the charms of his love, if they would open the eyes of their mind and of their faith to view them!</P>
<P>But how few are there that do it? How fully is the prophe&s;ie ful|fill'd,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 24.12</NOTE> Iniquity &s;hall abound and the love of many &s;hall wax cold? To how many Chri&s;tians might our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour &s;ay, as once to the Jews, <HI>I know you,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 5.42.</NOTE> <HI>that you have not the love of God in you?</HI> How ju&s;tly might now S. <HI>Paul</HI> complain,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.21.</NOTE> <HI>all men &s;eek their own, not the things which are Je&s;us Chri&s;ts?</HI> And how ju&s;tly might our Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, the great lover of men, complain in the words of his Apo&s;tle, <HI>I will glad|ly &s;pend and be &s;pent for you;</HI> (or rather, I have gladly &s;pent, and been &s;pent for you) <HI>though the more abundantly I love you,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.15.</NOTE> <HI>the le&s;s I be loved?</HI> Want of love is a ve|ry &s;ad &amp; general evil among Chri|&s;tians,
<PB REF="13">in the&s;e wor&s;t of times! and I hope &s;ome will be by me per&s;waded, not carele&s;ly to &s;ay, that they &s;hall do as well as others: but, as wi&s;e men would in pe&s;tilent times, carefully to provide Antidotes, to prevent or cure the infection. But ala&s;s, how &s;hould I per&s;wade others? <HI>de ingratis etiam ingrati que|runtur: Phy&s;ician cure thy &s;elf;</HI> I help to propagate the di&s;temper, and therefore am very unfit to pre&s;cribe again&s;t it. Shall the unthankful teach gratitude? Shall the <HI>Phari&s;ee</HI> per&s;wade others, when he &s;aith and doth not? If it be as one &s;aith, <HI>qui non ardet non accendit,</HI> that he that burns not with the Divine Fire of love, cannot inflame others with it; then I may well cry out with him, <HI>vae mihi frigenti;</HI> wo is me unhappy creature, who am &s;o far from burn|ing, that I am almo&s;t quite cold! and
<PB REF="13">indeed, I know and grieve the defects and imperfections of my love, and have writ for my &s;elf, more than for any others: and I heartily wi&s;h, better hearts and pens would treat of this &s;ubject, and help, that way among&s;t others, to reinkindle that almo&s;t extinct fire of charity and devo|tion in the hearts of men; and in mine own, who would thankfully u&s;e their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and heartily pray for a reward to them.</P>
<P>I have no more to &s;ay by way of Preface, but that if I have been &s;o unhappy as to write any thing contrary to the Doctrine of the Church; I di&s;own and retract it before hand, and would blot it out with my blood: as for particular per&s;ons, who may find fault with any thing herein, I de&s;ire them to pa&s;s it by. It matters not much, if they like not every pa&s;&s;age and expre&s;&s;ion; if they do but follow
<PB REF="14">what they judge to be good, and approve my de&s;ign, and love Je|&s;us with all their hearts; it will be enough for their profit and my &s;atisfaction.</P>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>1 John 4.9.</BIBL> He that loveth not, knows not God, for God is Love.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="14">
<HEAD><HI>Claustrum Animae:</HI> THE Reformed Mona&s;tery; Or, the Love of JESUS.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 1. Of the be|nefits of God to mankind.</HEAD>
<P>_IT were as ea&s;ie to find out the bottom|le&s;s depth of the in|exhau&s;tible fountain of the Divine Bounty, as to tell the Streams which run from it; Gods mercies are over all his works, and all things that are made, are a demon&s;tration as much of his goodne&s;s as of his being. I will not therefore under|take to number what is innumerable, or to expre&s;s what we cannot &s;o much as comprehend: but only in|&s;i&s;t
<PB N="2" REF="15">briefly upon &s;ome of the mo&s;t general benefits of God to mankind, and in the repre&s;enting of them, en|deavour to make us read our duty, and to inflame our hearts with love.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 2. Of Creati|on.</HEAD>
<P>Fir&s;t, <HI>It is God that hath made us and not we our &s;elves,</HI> we owe him our very being; <HI>thine hands have made and fa&s;hioned me:</HI> (&s;aith <HI>David</HI>) <HI>thine eyes did &s;ee my &s;ub&s;tance being yet imperfect,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.13.</NOTE> <HI>and in thy book were all my members written.</HI> Let us &s;ay therefore with the &s;ame Prophet,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">134.16.</NOTE> <HI>I will prai&s;e thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:</HI> and let us with him, <HI>fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.</HI> You know that by the Laws of God and of all Nations, there is an in|di&s;pen&s;able obligation upon all chil|dren to love and honour their Pa|rents, becau&s;e they brought them in|to the world: now certainly the ob|ligation doubles upon every man, in re&s;pect to his <HI>Father which is in hea|ven;</HI> for our natural parents were but &s;econd cau&s;es under him, his own power it was that form'd and created us: they ingendred our mor|tal bodies only, he is <HI>the Father of Spirits,</HI> he him&s;elf gave being to our
<PB N="3" REF="15">immortal &s;ouls. Therefore let every man pay to his Maker tho&s;e duties he would expect from his child:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mal.</HI> 1.6.</NOTE> <HI>if I am a Father</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>where is mine honour?</HI> If from our heavenly Father we have receiv'd our life and being, let us pay that re&s;pect, and love and obedience to him, which thereby are become his due.</P>
<P>But there is yet more in this; Creation is not a tran&s;ient act; the &s;ame power that once gave us our being, doth &s;till exert it &s;elf in the continuation thereof. When a child is born, he &s;ub&s;i&s;ts by him&s;elf, his parents need not take any care, that he returns not to his pri&s;tine condi|tion: but we have the &s;ame depen|dance upon God in our pre&s;ervation as we had in our creation; &s;hould he withdraw his Almighty hand, we &s;hould return to our fir&s;t nothing; <HI>in him we live and move, and have our being;</HI> Therefore we are the more bound to &s;erve and love him, that he not only made us to be; but gives us, as it were, a new being every mo|ment, by continuing our life and duration, by that Almighty will, whereby he effected our fir&s;t pro|duction.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="16">
<P>Now if we con&s;ider further, not only that God made us, but what he made us, it will yet inforce tho&s;e bonds of duty, which Creation tied upon us. For it was in our Makers power, either to make us vile and abject as the vile&s;t of bea&s;ts, or to deny us tho&s;e faculties and abilities, which are mo&s;t honourable and mo&s;t u&s;eful to our nature: but he made us Men, the mo&s;t wonderful of his creatures; in us he joyn'd what hea|ven and earth had mo&s;t excellent, an immortal Spirit, created after his image, with the mo&s;t elabora|ted, the mo&s;t perfect of material things: Take a view of the marvel|lous organs of thy &s;en&s;es, of the cu|rious contrivance of tho&s;e joints and ligaments which unite thy &s;everal members, of tho&s;e various and deli|cate channels which contain thy blood and &s;pirits; in a word of all the parts and pa&s;&s;ions of thy body, which are all made for nece&s;&s;ity and come|line&s;s; and then admire the great goodne&s;s, as well as wi&s;dom of thy creator; and &s;ay with the P&s;almi&s;t, that thou art <HI>fearfully and wonderfully made,</HI> and that Gods works <HI>are very marvellous.</HI></P>
<PB N="5" REF="16">
<P>After this let thy thoughts dive deeper, and con&s;ider thine interior &s;en&s;es; the my&s;terious union of thy &s;oul and body, with the beauty of that Divine Light which we call Rea|&s;on; thy memory, thy will, thine under&s;tanding, which are the fa|culties of thy precious &s;oul, which is not only created after Gods im|age; but is capable and de&s;irous to enjoy him: and then &s;ee how nu|merous, or rather innumerable are the benefits which God hath be&s;towed upon us in our creation, and how ju&s;t it is that we &s;hould love him, that <HI>we &s;hould glorifie God, in our Body and in our Spirits, which are Gods.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 3. Of Pre&s;er|vation.</HEAD>
<P>Pre&s;ervation comes next to be con&s;ider'd; a benefit of very large extent, and well de&s;erving that rank, the Church hath plac'd it in, in making it the &s;ubject of our daily thank&s;giving; for ever &s;ince man chang'd the impenetrable armour of Original Righteou&s;ne&s;s, for a thin covering of fig-leaves, he became &s;o defen&s;le&s;s, and yet expos'd to &s;o many &s;harp and wounding arrows, that &s;hould not Divine Protection in|terpo&s;e
<PB N="6" REF="17">for to &s;helter and &s;ecure him, his temporal Life would be a true and a &s;ad emblem of Eternal Death. It appears by the hi&s;tory of Patient <HI>Job,</HI> that if we were not &s;enc'd about with the hedge of a gracious providence, we &s;hould find that all creatures con&s;pire our vexa|tion and ruine. God had no &s;ooner broke the inclo&s;ure; but afflictions crowded in &s;o fa&s;t upon that happy man, that in a &s;hort time there re|mained nothing of his former pro|&s;perity, but a bare and bitter re|membrance, to make the &s;en&s;e of his pre&s;ent mi&s;ery more grievous. There is no man, but is expos'd to all the greate&s;t Calamities that ever befel any of the Sons of <HI>Adam:</HI> and there is none able by his own power, to defend him&s;elf again&s;t the lea&s;t of them. Fortune and accidents &s;port them&s;elves (if I may &s;o &s;peak) with our goods and e&s;tates; Moths fret our garments, ru&s;t cankers our met|tals, thieves break through and &s;teal our riches, or el&s;e <HI>they make to them|&s;elves wings and fly away;</HI> be&s;ides their own corruptibility which of its &s;elf would con&s;ume them, they are expos'd to &s;o many hazards, that it
<PB N="7" REF="17">would be as impertinent, as 'tis im|po&s;&s;ible to number all the ways and means, whereby men are afflicted with lo&s;&s;es, and brought to poverty: only from hence, we may ju&s;tly in|fer, that the &s;ame God <HI>who gives us all things richly to enjoy,</HI> mu&s;t al&s;o &s;e|cure them in our po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, or el&s;e we certainly lo&s;e them.</P>
<P>If we look on our &s;elves, we &s;hall like the Prophets man in <HI>Dothan,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>King.</HI> 6.</NOTE> &s;ee armed enemies on all &s;ides of us, our &s;piritual enemies are many, &s;trong, and full of rage and malice; and yet we have no defence again&s;t them: but that God makes his hea|venly ho&s;t, to wait on our &s;afety, incamps his Angels about us, to be an invi&s;ible guard again&s;t our invi&s;ible enemies, and not only &s;o, but to &s;e|cure us al&s;o from thou&s;ands of &s;ud|den and &s;ad accidents, which might, every moment befal us. All crea|tures are now furni&s;h'd with a &s;ting wherewith they may either vex or kill us. The elements and all com|pounded bodies, the air we breath, and the food that nouri&s;heth us, all things in nature, and all things in chance, may become our tormentors or murthers. Nay, we carry &s;words
<PB N="8" REF="18">and daggers in our own bo&s;oms; we have within our &s;elves the matter of all &s;orts of di&s;tempers; not one joynt in our bodies, but may be af|flicted with the gout; Not one hu|mour, but may overflow its banks, and quench the light of Rea&s;on, or the fire of Life; Not one pore or part within or without, but may unex|pectedly, at all times, and in all places, become an entrance to death and &s;orrow. In the mid&s;t of &s;o ma|ny and great dangers, it were im|po&s;&s;ible for us to &s;tand one moment, but that <HI>God defends us under his wings</HI> and <HI>keeps us &s;afe under his fea|thers,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 90.</NOTE> as the P&s;almi&s;t &s;peaks, and &s;o the ble&s;&s;ings of immunity, which mo&s;t men &s;light, or over-look, are never enough to be acknowledg'd, but de&s;erve the thanks of a whole life. <HI>We dwell under the defence of the mo&s;t high, and abide under the &s;ha|dow of the Almighty: therefore let us &s;et our love upon him and glorifie him.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 4. The Po&s;i|tive ble&s;|&s;ings of this life.</HEAD>
<P>The Po&s;itive ble&s;&s;ings of this life, are now to be expo&s;ed to view; but of them, I may u&s;e the words of the P&s;almi&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 40.</NOTE> <HI>If I would reckon and &s;peak of them, they are more in number than can be
<PB N="9" REF="18">numbred.</HI> Health and &s;trength, and comline&s;s, with indu&s;try and learning, are &s;har'd among the &s;ons of men in &s;everal proportions: and &s;o are good friends, and a good name, peace, plenty, and plea&s;ures; any one of tho&s;e &s;ingle, might make a rich por|tion for one man, for each, within it &s;elf contains many rich and precious ble&s;&s;ings: yet oftentimes, God unites all, or mo&s;t of the&s;e together, <HI>to crown us with loving kindne&s;s and ten|der mercies.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 103.</NOTE> The works of creation, and the works of providence are not more numerous, then the graces and gifts of God to mankind; any one that &s;hould &s;eriou&s;ly meditate upon this &s;ubject, would find it multiply and increa&s;e almo&s;t to immen&s;ity, and would be forc'd to break off with the exclamation of <HI>David; Lord,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 8.4.</NOTE> <HI>what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the &s;on of man, that thou &s;o re|garde&s;t him:</HI> God renews his mercies to us every day together with our lives; every hour,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 36.</NOTE> <HI>we eat of the fat|ne&s;s of his hou&s;e, drink of the river of his plea&s;ure,</HI> and receive the &s;weet ema|nations that flow continually from <HI>the fountain of life.</HI> But of tho&s;e bene|fits which God pours open hands up|on
<PB N="10" REF="19">us, how many are there that pa&s;s unregarded! we u&s;ually mind, not what we receive, but what we de&s;ire. Let heaven rain Manna never &s;o thick upon us, if we wi&s;h for Quails, An|gels food &s;hall be un&s;avory, and per|haps di&s;ta&s;tful. They that long for great and well covered tables, find no reli&s;h in their daily bread; they that pur&s;ue after wealth, look not on the ble&s;&s;ings of competency; they that a&s;pire to honour, receive health, food and raiments, rather with a di&s;dain|ful anger, than with thankfulne&s;s; all the favours we receive from God, are unob&s;erved or &s;lighted as long as he doth not gratifie our humour with what we de&s;ire, and even the&s;e gifts whereof we are mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible, are &s;oon laid in oblivion; an hours pain will cau&s;e many longer plea&s;ures to be forgotten; and if God &s;ends evil up|on us only for one day, it makes us forget the many good things, which we for many years received from him. This I &s;ay, becau&s;e many mens un&s;atiablene&s;s and ingratitude makes them overlook mo&s;t of Gods ble&s;|&s;ings; de&s;pi&s;e what they have, and value only what they have not; and &s;o murmur and complain when
<PB N="11" REF="19" MS="y">they &s;hould give thanks. But who|ever &s;hall diligently ob&s;erve all the gracious di&s;tributions of that God, who always giveth to all men, being debtor to none, all the &s;upplies and comforts we receive from him, will heartily &s;ay with the P&s;almi&s;t,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 31.107.</NOTE> <HI>O love the Lord all ye his Saints;</HI> and, <HI>O that men would therefore prai&s;e the Lord, for his goodne&s;s, and declare the won|ders that he doth for the children of men; that they would exalt him in the congre|gation of the people, and prai&s;e him in the &s;eat of the elders.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&s;ect;. 5. What re|turns we &s;hould make for them.</HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e Benefits we have hitherto mention'd, we receive as we are men, and that, from the free goodne&s;s of our gracious God, <HI>we are his people, and the &s;heep of his pa&s;ture;</HI> we are, and we have nothing that is good, but it comes from him; he made us, he pre&s;erves us, and he provides for us: therefore, <HI>O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with prai&s;e, be thankful unto him, and &s;peak good of his name.</HI> It was <HI>Jacob's</HI> vow, that if God would keep him, and give him food and rai|ment, whil&s;t he &s;ojourn'd in <HI>Haran, then the Lord &s;hould be his God:</HI> Now
<PB N="12" REF="20">what was his vow &s;hould be our re&s;o|lution and practice; God feeds, and clothes, and defends us, therefore ought he to be our God; That is, we ought to own him for &s;uch by faithful &s;ervice and hearty obedience. There|fore, 1. Let us pay our bounteous Benefactor, the ju&s;t and ea&s;ie tri|bute of Prai&s;e and Thank&s;giving, for our creation, pre&s;ervation, and all the ble&s;&s;ings of this life. 2. Let us &s;et apart daily, &s;ome of that time which he gives us, for acts of Wor|&s;hip and Religion. 3. <HI>Let us honour the Lord with our &s;ub&s;tance;</HI> either in &s;ecret charities or publick offerings, paying him an acknowledgement, that he is our land-lord; and la&s;tly, let us apply our &s;elves to ob&s;erve his Laws, to do what plea&s;eth him; be|cau&s;e we are not our own, we owe our &s;elves to him, we are his, he gave us our being. The&s;e are acts of natural Religion, and them we owe to God, as he is our Creator and Benefactor.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 6. Of Redemp|tion and fir&s;t of the infinite mi&s;eries we are redeem|ed from.</HEAD>
<P>Now are to be con&s;idered the be|nefits we receive from God as we are &s;inners; the mercies of our Redemp|tion; how God our Creator is be|come <HI>JESUS,</HI> our Saviour; how
<PB N="13" REF="20">after having given us many good things, he at la&s;t gave him&s;elf for us. And that we may the better under|&s;tand the greatne&s;s of this un&s;peak|able and Divine Mercy, let our me|ditation de&s;cend a while into that bottomle&s;s gulf of perdition wherein we were plunged by nature, in this plain manner. Repre&s;ent to thy &s;elf a man in <HI>Job's</HI> condition, having ad|ded to his ulcers and poverty all the &s;adde&s;t calamities that ever afflicted any man upon earth, e&s;pecially the remor&s;es and horrors of a guilty and tormented con&s;cience, crying out of impatience and de&s;pair with <HI>Cain, my pain is greater than I can bear.</HI> This unhappy creature having for many years born the unea&s;ie weight of his mi&s;eries, linger'd out a tedious and di&s;con&s;olate life, is at la&s;t &s;truck to the heart with a mortal wound and dies, and &s;o pa&s;&s;eth from temporal to eternal &s;orrows; he falls into a lake of fire and brim&s;tone, a place where there is nothing but woe and darkne&s;s, weeping and gna&s;hing of teeth; where there is no company but of tormented and tormentors; nothing to be &s;een, but what is fright|ful, no voices to be heard but cur&s;es,
<PB N="14" REF="21">&s;hrieks and lamentations, where there is the ab&s;ence of all good and the pre&s;ence of all evil; where <HI>men de|&s;ire to die,</HI> and <HI>death flees away from them.</HI> This is the fulne&s;s of his mi&s;e|ry, that it &s;hall have no end, that he mu&s;t dwell with everla&s;ting burn|ings; <HI>their fire is not quenched, and their worm dies not.</HI> If weeping but one tear every day, he might expect to be relea&s;t, after he had wept as much as would make an ocean, it would be &s;ome comfort! but at the end of &s;o many millions of years as would &s;uf|fice to weep a Sea, his torments will be as far from ending as the fir&s;t day they began: and if after this manner in proce&s;s of time, he &s;hould &s;hed tears enough to make many more &s;eas, yet &s;till it might be truly &s;aid, <HI>this is but the beginning of &s;orrows;</HI> &s;till there is an intolerable Eternity to come; for after as many thou|&s;ands of millions of years as tongue can expre&s;s or heart comprehend; Eternity is nothing le&s;&s;ened; &s;till it is what is was before, an aby&s;s of du|ration that can have no end; this ex|cludes all comfort, this fills his &s;oul with a woful de&s;pair, this is another hell in the mid&s;t of hell, which in|rageth
<PB N="15" REF="21">him, and perpetually tortures his mind, to think that there will be no end of his &s;ufferings, that he can conceive no hope of being deliver'd: but that he mu&s;t bear to all Eternity, what every moment is intolerable! O dreadful Eternity, who can &s;eriou&s;ly think of thee and not tremble! Now if thou do&s;t ask for what rea&s;on this wretched creature is thus tormented, know that it is for &s;in; becau&s;e his fir&s;t parents broke the Law of their Creation, and he followed their foot|&s;teps; they involv'd him fir&s;t in the guilt of a wicked rebellion again&s;t God, and afterwards by his own acts he made him&s;elf yet more criminal; by nature he was a <HI>child of wrath,</HI> and then he became &s;o, yet more by his own tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions; he was <HI>&s;old under &s;in,</HI> and then he became a willing &s;lave to it; his own thoughts, words, and works being evil, and that continually, he for&s;ook God, and di&s;|honor'd him, and profe&s;t enmity again&s;t him, and oppos'd his depra|ved will to Gods Holy Will, and &s;o be|came obnoxious to the infinite ju&s;tice of God, which therefore ju&s;tly in|flicts this de&s;erved puni&s;hment upon him.</P>
<PB N="16" REF="22">
<P>And now, if knowing the rea&s;on, thou do&s;t inquire after the per&s;on, who by being &s;o unholy, is become &s;o extremely unhappy; I could &s;ay with the Prophet, <HI>thou art the man,</HI> this is thy patrimony, as thou art a child of <HI>Adam;</HI> this thou art by nature: but the Divine Mercy hath re&s;cu'd thee from this mi&s;ery, and therefore I mu&s;t &s;ay, <HI>thou wert the man,</HI> this mu&s;t have been thy ca&s;e, had not the Holy <HI>JESUS</HI> work't thy Redemption by means as wonderful, as was his pity and charity.</P>
<P>But before I proceed I mu&s;t al&s;o propound one que&s;tion. Two men are equally indebted, and equally un|able to pay; the one is patiently for|born and at la&s;t freely acquitted, the other is ca&s;t into the dungeon, and a while after compa&s;&s;ionately relea&s;t and &s;et at liberty; I demand, is not he that never entred the Pri&s;on, as much bound to love his generous creditor, as he that was deliver'd out of it? yes doubtle&s;s, or rather more: becau&s;e his debt is al&s;o forgiven, and yet he is freed from that trouble and &s;orrow, which his fellow debtor un|derwent. Why then, thy gracious Redeemer, by &s;aving thee from the horrors and torments of Hell, hath
<PB N="17" REF="22">laid on thee, at lea&s;t as great obligati|ons to love him, as if he had brought thee out of it, after thou had&s;t been long detain'd therein. Therefore I de|&s;ire, thou would&s;t bring thy thoughts back again to that unplea&s;ant a|bode, and con&s;ider thy &s;elf as if thou wert &s;hut up in that di&s;mal dungeon, and then expre&s;s what thou would&s;t give to be relea&s;t, what thou would&s;t do for him that &s;hould bring thee out of that horrible and bottom|le&s;s pit.</P>
<P>I know that they that are afflicted with &s;harp pains and grievous &s;ick|ne&s;&s;es, would purcha&s;e health with all the wealth they have; and I believe no reward would hire a man, to hold his hand in the fire but for one hours time: therefore I doubt not but that, if it were in a mans power, he would give this, and a thou&s;and more worlds, to be brought out of an ever-burning furnace: and I am per&s;waded, that if thou wilt &s;uffer thy fan&s;y to be active in framing the black and dreadful &s;cene of helli&s;h horrors about thee, thou wilt then heartily &s;ay, were I owner of the whole univer&s;e, I would joyfully give it, to come out of the&s;e ever-burn|ing
<PB N="18" REF="23">flames which torment my body, and to be freed from this never dy|ing worm, the remor&s;es of my guilty con&s;cience, which torture my &s;oul: but becau&s;e I have nothing, freely would I give my &s;elf to him, that &s;hould bring me out of this woful place. O I would follow him any where, do any thing that he &s;hould command me, imbrace his feet, ki&s;s the ground they tread on, and give him all the demon&s;trations of a &s;incere and pa&s;&s;ionate Love! Well, thy petition is granted, before 'twas pre&s;ented; the Love and Mercy of <HI>JESUS</HI> hath prevented thy re|que&s;t, and di&s;tre&s;s: New make good thy vows and re&s;olutions; Love and Serve <HI>JESUS</HI> thy Redeemer, and give thy &s;elf up wholly to him. I know that many may be good Chri|&s;tians, without <HI>being &s;natch't out of the fire,</HI> without the&s;e terrors and af|frightments: but I am &s;hewing what our condition had been without a Sa|viour, what is that gulf of perdition, whence <HI>JESUS</HI> hath &s;av'd us, if we will be &s;aved by him: and I men|tion the&s;e <HI>terrors of the Lord,</HI> as S. <HI>Paul</HI> calls them, <HI>to per&s;wade men;</HI> to be mo|tives of an active and vehement
<PB N="19" REF="23">Love. For 'tis too ob&s;ervable, that few men &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider what <HI>Redemption</HI> means, what it was we were redeemed from, el&s;e they could no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> be &s;o indevout, &s;o di&s;obedient, &s;o unthankful to their Saviour. S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;uppo&s;ing, as I do here, that without Chri&s;t we were already dead and peri&s;h't, makes it the rea&s;on of that <HI>Con&s;training Love</HI> which enabled him and other Primitive Chri&s;tians, to &s;uffer &s;o patiently, and act &s;o zea|lou&s;ly for <HI>JESUS; the love of Chri&s;t</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>con&s;traineth us, be|cau&s;e we thus judge, that if one died for all then were all dead;</HI> as if he &s;hould &s;ay, we were certainly dead, irrecoverably lo&s;t, had not Chri&s;t died, to purcha&s;e life and &s;alvation for us: therefore we cannot chu&s;e but love him, and it is no wonder if that love be &s;trong, and if we are govern'd and acted by it. That thou mai&s;t therefore love affectionately and live devoutly, con&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly that death, the mi&s;ery of that condi|tion wherein thou wert, and ever mu&s;t have been, had&s;t thou not a <HI>JESUS.</HI> I might add, that we were delivered from the power and &s;lavery, as well as from the condem|nation
<PB N="20" REF="24">of &s;in: but this is included in the other, it being impo&s;&s;ible <HI>to be &s;aved from the wrath to come,</HI> without <HI>bringing forth fruits meet for repentance:</HI> and as it is mercy and grace on God's part, &s;o on ours, it is matter of duty and earne&s;t indeavour, and mu&s;t be the re&s;ult and effect of our love, fir&s;t that we offend not, and then that we &s;erve diligently, and faithful|ly him that <HI>redeemed us from our vain conver&s;ation, and gave him&s;elf for us, that we being dead unto &s;in, might live unto righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 7. How we were Re|deemed.</HEAD>
<P>A further ingagement to love and obey, will be to con&s;ider the manner how our redemption was effected, and the price that was paid for it, thus, The Ble&s;&s;ed Son of God, the Second Per&s;on of the Ever-glorious Trinity undertook that work him&s;elf which none el&s;e could perform: <HI>for us men, and for our &s;alvation, he came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Gho&s;t of the Virgin Mary,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>In prae&s;epe ja|cet, &s;ed mun|dum continet ubera &s;ugit, &s;ed angeles pa|&s;eit.</HI> Aug. Ser. de purific. 2.</NOTE> and was made man.</HI> In this act of his, mira|cles and mercies &s;eem to vie one with another; that the God of Eternity &s;hould be born in time, that the Creator of all things &s;hould be the
<PB N="21" REF="24">Son of a Creature; that the mo&s;t highe&s;t &s;hould aba&s;e him&s;elf to the low condition of a &s;ervant; that God &s;hould become an infant, is a mira|cle of Love, which we can admire and adore, but never fully compre|hend. The greatne&s;s of God is un|&s;earchable, his excellencies and per|fections are incomprehen&s;ible, he is infinitely good, powerful, wi&s;e, and holy: Man contrariwi&s;e, is in him&s;elf wicked and weak, ignorant, im|pure and mi&s;erable, there is &s;o great a di&s;proportion betwixt God and man,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Haec e&s;t men|&s;ura amoris, non &s;olum quantum fe|cit nos, quan|ta fecit pro nobis, &s;ed &amp; quantillus factus e&s;t pro nobis.</NOTE> &s;o wide, &s;o immen&s;e a di&s;tance, that no|thing le&s;s than an infinite love could have fill'd up the gulf betwixt tho&s;e two &s;o different natures, and united them into one per&s;on. 'Twas never &s;een that a &s;hepherd would creep up|on all four, and cover him&s;elf with a &s;heep-skin, to call his flock out of danger, and to expo&s;e him&s;elf for it: but <HI>the good &s;hepherd</HI> did much more! When he came <HI>to lay down his life for his</HI> lo&s;t and wandering <HI>&s;heep,</HI> and ga|ther them into his fold; he took on him, not only the likene&s;s, but the very nature of them: he became <HI>the lamb of God,</HI> that he might be the &s;hepherd of mankind. Though he
<PB N="22" REF="25">was infinitely more above man, then men are above bea&s;ts, yet he became <HI>the &s;on of man,</HI> that he might become the Saviour of men: 'Twas never &s;een that a Sovereign Prince would &s;eek to reduce to loyalty the mo&s;t ab|ject of his rebellious &s;ubjects, by mixing blood with them, uniting their families together: but behold the Supreme Monarch of heaven and earth contracts a near affinity with his ungrateful rebels, who are as vile and mi&s;erable, as they are criminal, that he may free them from their guilt, and win them to their duty and their happine&s;s. Proud and wretched &s;in|ner! thou would&s;t be &s;o far from en|tring into the kindred of meaner per&s;ons, tho&s;e that are much thine inferiors, that thou can&s;t hardly in|dure to be in their company: and be|hold, the mo&s;t Glorious and Holy God, thine offended Sovereign, is become thy near relation, is be|come thy Brother, that he may win thine affections and become thy Saviour!</P>
<P>His life, all along, was a continuati|on of his great mercy and humility, <HI>he went about doing good,</HI> healing all manner of di&s;ea&s;es Corporal and Spi|ritual,
<PB N="23" REF="25">giving excellent in&s;tructions and great examples of vertue. But what we now con&s;ider, and what &s;hould mo&s;t affect us, is, that for our &s;akes <HI>he was a man of &s;orrows and acquainted with grief,</HI> all the time of his abode here below. At his fir&s;t entrance into the world, he was degraded, even below the condition of the meane&s;t infants, being born in a Stable and laid in a Manger; eight days after he began <HI>to be numbred a|mong the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors,</HI> receiving the bloody and painful Sacrament of Cir|cumci&s;ion, which belong'd only to &s;inners; in his youth he lived in po|verty and ob&s;curity, and was &s;ubject to his Parents; when he manife&s;ted him&s;elf to the world, then he perpe|tually <HI>indur'd the contradiction of &s;in|ners;</HI> be&s;ides that he liv'd upon alms, <HI>becoming poor for us, who was Lord of all:</HI> he wanted even time to eat what the charity of pious per&s;ons afforded him, and had not &s;o much as <HI>a place where he might re&s;t his head.</HI> He was tempted of Satan, <HI>that he might &s;uc|cour tho&s;e that are tempted,</HI> he often watcht whole nights to Prayer, and was often faint with tire&s;ome jour|neys, and hunger, and thir&s;t: and
<PB N="24" REF="26">what is yet wor&s;e, he was daily per|&s;ecuted by ingrateful men, for whom he indur'd all this. They &s;lander'd him with fal&s;e imputations of being a glutton and a wine-bibber; his kind and charitable affability in conver&s;ing with noted &s;inners, was made matter of accu&s;ation, as if he had con&s;ented to their evil deeds; his Divine Do|ctrine was derided, as if proceeding from madne&s;s; the miracles which he wrought in their behalf, were &s;aid to be done by &s;orcery, and pact with <HI>Beelzebub:</HI> and to all the&s;e di&s;graces and contumelies, they would often have added violence, and &s;ton'd him to death, had he not e&s;cap'd out of their hands by a ha&s;ty flight.</P>
<P>Lord,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 15.32.</NOTE> thou had&s;t compa&s;&s;ion on the multitudes, becau&s;e they had follow'd <HI>thee three days, and had nothing to eat,</HI> and thou lived&s;t above three and thir|ty years, waiting upon thy ba&s;e and fu|gitive &s;ervants, who were become thine enemies, &s;eeking to prevent their ruine, by the a&s;&s;iduity of thy care and kindne&s;s! O &s;ad ingratitude, that we &s;hould be &s;o &s;oon weary in &s;erving thee, when thou wert &s;o patient and indefatigable in acting and &s;uffering for us, for our happine&s;s and &s;alvation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<PB N="25" REF="26">
<HEAD>&sect;. 8. A con&s;ide|ration of the Cro&s;s in its four dimen&s;ions.</HEAD>
<P>But if we de&s;ire <HI>to be rooted and grounded in love,</HI> and to comprehend and to comprehend with all Saints the immen&s;e charity of the Son of God,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eph.</HI> 3.17.</NOTE> <HI>which pa&s;&s;eth know|ledge,</HI> which infinitely exceedeth all Learning in profitablene&s;s and ex|cellency, then mea&s;ure the love of Chri&s;t, by the dimen&s;ions of his Cro&s;s, the breadth and the length, the depth and the height thereof, for therein love appears in its full ex|tent, &s;o that nothing can be added to it. That the eternal Son of God would become our Brother, by be|coming Man, and would-live in Po|verty and Contempt, was very much: but that afterwards he would die for us, in that manner as he did, is the greate&s;t wonder that ever the world &s;aw. And indeed, there hapned more prodigies when he died, than at all other times of his humiliation; the &s;un hid him&s;elf, darkne&s;s over|&s;pread the whole world; the earth &s;hook, the &s;tones and rocks were rent, the graves were opened, and the vail of the Temple was divided in twain; Nature &s;eem'd to be a|maz'd to &s;ee her God &s;uffer, and die upon a cro&s;s, <HI>greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
<PB N="26" REF="27">for his friend,</HI> 'tis true man cannot po&s;&s;ibly do more, but <HI>JESUS</HI> did much more: he was God, then he became man that he might die for his enemies. This is it, whereof S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks, when he &s;aith that it was never conceived or &s;een, how great are the things which God hath prepar'd for them that love him; <HI>We &s;peak</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>the wi&s;dom of God in a my&s;tery, even the hidden wi&s;|dom which none of the Princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory: but as it is written, eye hath not &s;een, nor ear heard, neither is it en|tred into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but GOd hath revealed them to us by his Spirit.</HI> It appears that he &s;peaks (not of the bli&s;s of heaven but) of the crucifixion of our Ble&s;|&s;ed Saviour, which to the Jews was a &s;tumbling block, and to the Gentiles fooli&s;hne&s;s, and which neither the &s;en&s;es nor the rea&s;on of man could ever comprehend; but, as a hidden my&s;tery was made known to Chri&s;ti|ans, by the revelations of the all|knowing Spirit of God. To under|&s;tand therefore as much as may be,
<PB N="27" REF="27">this never fully under&s;tood and ne|ver enough admir'd love of our Re|deemer, in dying for us, let us in the fir&s;t place view the Breadth of his Cro&s;s; that is, the variety of the torments he indur'd for us, in the la&s;t &s;tage of his unea&s;ie pilgri|mage.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 9. The Breadth.</HEAD>
<P>We may begin with the manner of his apprehen&s;ion; he was taken as if he had been a publick enemy to mankind, a thief or a murtherer, with &s;words and &s;taves, with rude|ne&s;s and violence; he was betray'd by one of his Di&s;ciples, for&s;aken by the re&s;t, and then bound and drag'd from place to place by tho&s;e he had in&s;tructed and fed, and in who&s;e be|half he had workt miracles. He was call'd an impious bla&s;phemer and vo|ted guilty of death, for confe&s;&s;ing a great and nece&s;&s;ary truth, that he was the only Son of God. Afterwards he was expos'd a whole night to the indignities and mockeries of his in|&s;ulting enemies; they &s;pet upon his &s;weet and glorious face; they vail'd him, and &s;mote his head and buffet|ted him; and as if he had been a contemptible ideot, to be made
<PB N="28" REF="28">&s;port withal, they bad him prophe|&s;ie, gue&s;s who gave him the blows, he was accus'd before the <HI>Roman Pre|tor,</HI> as being a lew'd malefactor, a rebellious traitor who <HI>&s;ubverted the people and forbade to pay tribute to Cae|&s;ar.</HI> From thence he was &s;ent to King <HI>Herod,</HI> where he was &s;et at nought, and abus'd by him and his Souldiers, and then &s;ent back with &s;corn and contempt to <HI>Pilate.</HI> After|wards <HI>Barrabas</HI> a &s;editious murtherer was prefer'd to him, and a loud cla|mor rais'd by the people, that he might be crucified and put to death. Then was he whipt before their eyes, tied to a po&s;t like a vile &s;lave, and expos'd to the &s;ervile rods, whiles they <HI>plough'd furrows upon his back,</HI> as the Prophet &s;pake; the Souldiers took him, platted a Crown of thorns and pre&s;t it on his head, till the blood run of all &s;ides of him; they beat him with canes and clubs, and put a reed in&s;tead of a &s;cepter in his hand, and when he was all over &s;pittle and blood they brought out their mock-King, and <HI>Pilate</HI> pre&s;ent|ed him to the people, and &s;aid <HI>be|hold the Man,</HI> thinking to move them to pity, by &s;o &s;ad a &s;pectacle; but no|thing
<PB N="29" REF="28">le&s;s than his death would &s;a|tisfie their inrag'd cruelty: there|fore he was condemn'd, and then a|bus'd afre&s;h by the Souldiers, and loaded with his Cro&s;s and driven out of the City to Mount <HI>Golgotha.</HI> Now here begins a new &s;cene of &s;orrows; the afflicted <HI>Son of Man,</HI> having lo&s;t much blood, and &s;uffer'd &s;o much; having been rudely hal'd from the garden to <HI>Annas,</HI> from <HI>Annas</HI> to <HI>Caiphas,</HI> from <HI>Caiphas</HI> to <HI>Pilate,</HI> from <HI>Pilate</HI> to <HI>Herod,</HI> from <HI>Herod</HI> to <HI>Pi|late</HI> again, and from thence to the place of his Execution, arives at la&s;t, faint, and weary, and &s;orrowful upon Mount <HI>Calvary,</HI> where he was to die; here his hands and feet (which are mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible parts of our bodies, by being mo&s;t full of nerves) were pierc't through and nail'd to the Cro&s;s; and though there was a &s;eat where to re&s;t his body, as the An|cients &s;ay, yet the Cro&s;s being lift up, and put into the hollowne&s;s of the ground to make it &s;tand upright, his wounded body was &s;haken and affect|ed, doubtle&s;s with a mo&s;t acute pain, he was expos'd naked, not only to the view of the multitudes, but al&s;o to the open air, which was extreamly cold,
<PB N="30" REF="29">in that the Sun was hid, he was burnt inwardly with an exce&s;&s;ive heat and drine&s;s, being tir'd with &s;o many journies, and being exhau&s;ted of &s;pirits and moi&s;ture, by his &s;orrows and bleeding, in&s;omuch that he com|plain'd of this above all his other &s;ufferings, crying out, <HI>I thir&s;t,</HI> (though we may &s;ay, that he thir&s;t|ed mo&s;t our happine&s;s, that he thir&s;t|ed to drink out the dregs of his bit|ter cup, that we might drink <HI>the cup of Salvation</HI>) he wanted the u&s;e of his hands and feet, being tied to &s;uffer, &s;o that he could not &s;o much as &s;tir, nor wipe the blood off of his face, he was afflicted with the fight of his af|flicted Mother, who from her wound|ed &s;oul reflected &s;orrow upon her dy|ing Son and Saviour. His &s;oul was al|&s;o, as it were crucified, by the &s;en&s;e of the Divine Anger again&s;t the &s;ins of men, for the which he was ma|king expiation, in&s;omuch that he complain'd, that God had for&s;aken him. And la&s;tly, his heart &s;trings were broke, and his body depriv'd of life, by a mo&s;t violent and bitter death. And now, who &s;hall not love <HI>JESUS?</HI> and who &s;hall not admire that love which is expre&s;t in the
<PB N="31" REF="29">breath of the Cro&s;s? Lord how ex|ceeding broad was thy Cro&s;s, which contain'd &s;o many &s;orts of torments! Nothing can be compar'd to it, but thy charity, which made thee take it up, that we might be charg'd with nothing, but a plea&s;ant and <HI>ea&s;ie yoke!</HI> But Lord, why do we, mo&s;t vile and &s;inful creatures refu&s;e to bear thy <HI>light burthen,</HI> when thou the Mo&s;t Holy and Mo&s;t Highe&s;t ha&s;t born for us &s;o &s;ad and intollerable a load.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 10. The length.</HEAD>
<P>We are now to mea&s;ure the length of the Cro&s;s, that is, the time of Chri&s;ts bitter pa&s;&s;ion, the tedious duration of his &s;ufferings, which be|gan with his birth and continued to his la&s;t breath. The Life of <HI>JESUS,</HI> as we have &s;een, was, as it were, a chain of mi&s;eries, every link, every connection, had &s;omething grievous and afflictive, <HI>he was a Man of &s;or|rows:</HI> therefore, we no where read that ever he laught or injoy'd the plea&s;ures and the mirth of this world: but that he &s;uffer'd much and wept &s;everal times, is recorded by the Evangeli&s;ts. Every day was, in &s;ome manner, the day of his Cru|cifixion
<PB N="32" REF="30">(which to us is <HI>Good,</HI> but to him was &s;ad <HI>Friday:</HI>) for he knowing all along what he was to &s;uffer, and living in expectation of that cruel death: we may &s;ay that his fears did, in &s;ome manner, pre|vent his murtherers, and by antici|pation, acted upon him, while he liv'd, what they were to inflict on him to put him to death: for he was pleas'd to a&s;&s;ume, together with our nature, our innocent pa&s;&s;ions and in|firmities. <HI>I have a Bapti&s;m</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>to be Baptiz'd with, and how am I con&s;train'd until it be accompli&s;hed!</HI> that was the Bapti&s;m of his Blood, which he wi&s;ht for, becau&s;e of his love to mankind, his great de&s;ire of paying our ran&s;oms: but fear'd, be|cau&s;e of the repugnance of his hu|mane nature, to &s;uch bitter &s;uffer|ings; wherefore (&s;aith he) <GAP DESC="foreign">, I am con&s;trained, I am in a &s;treight betwixt two, I wi&s;h, and yet I fear to die. But that which we mo&s;t pro|perly call his pa&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e it ex|ceeded the re&s;t of his &s;ufferings, la&s;t|ed eighteen hours, without inter|mi&s;&s;ion, nine of <HI>Thur&s;day-night,</HI> and nine of <HI>Friday;</HI> from the time of his agony, in the garden, about nine at
<PB N="33" REF="30">night, while three in the afternoon of the day following; all that time he &s;uffered tho&s;e &s;everal &s;orts of pains and tortures, which are already mention'd; all that time, he drank full draughts of that bitter cup, the fear whereof made him &s;weat drops of blood, when he began to ta&s;te of it; all that time he &s;uffered what no tongue can expre&s;s; but what all hearts &s;hould indeavour to feel, and to think of daily. Lord <HI>JESU,</HI> thou wert tormented a long time, that we might not be tormented to all Eternity; grant that we may indure any thing for thee, and from thee our God, who did&s;t indure &s;o much for men, and from men.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 11. The depth.</HEAD>
<P>We have &s;een that bar of the Cro&s;s, on which the hands of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour were nail'd, <HI>the breadth</HI> and <HI>the length,</HI> that is, the variety and the tediou&s;ne&s;s of the pains and &s;ufferings, he underwent for us? Now we are to con&s;ider the bigge&s;t piece which &s;tood upright, whereon his body re&s;ted and his feet were nail'd; <HI>the depth and the height,</HI> that is, the purene&s;s and the great|ne&s;s of his &s;orrows. If we read with
<PB N="34" REF="31">attention the pa&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t in the four Go&s;pels, we &s;hall &s;ee our Ble&s;&s;ed Redeemer, as it were, &s;unk into a deep aby&s;s of mi&s;ery, by the heavy burthen of our &s;ins; he might well cry by his Prophet, <HI>See whether there is any &s;orrow like unto my &s;orrow?</HI> for the greate&s;t of humane afflictions ad|mit of many comforts, whereas he was depriv'd of all; as there was no part in us but was infected with &s;in, there was none in him but was affect|ed with pain; he was all over &s;tripes and &s;ores, an univer&s;al wound within and without; he &s;uffered in all his capacities, in his outward and in|ward &s;en&s;es, in all the parts and fa|culties of his &s;oul and body: the very circum&s;tances of his pa&s;&s;ion, did all concur to make it more bitter and af|flictive. He was depriv'd of that or|dinary comfort of being a&s;&s;i&s;ted by his friends, all the Di&s;ciples for&s;ook him and fled; as the Prophet had foretold of him, <HI>I have trodden the wine-pre&s;s alone and of the people there was none with me;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63.</NOTE> <HI>I looked and there was none to help, I wondred that there was none to uphold.</HI> He was like a mild and deffence-le&s;s-lamb in the mid&s;t of ravenous wolves, there
<PB N="35" REF="31">were none about him, but &s;uch as thir&s;ted for his blood. And no won|der if man for&s;ook him, when he was in &s;ome manner for&s;aken even by his Father. It plea&s;ed God to give him up to the cruelties of wicked men and the &s;orrows of death; and that his Divine Nature, (though per&s;onally and in&s;eparably united to his huma|nity) &s;hould for a time &s;u&s;pend the effects of its beatifying union, and leave him, &s;uffer as a man in &s;oul and body, the greate&s;t pains, with|out the lea&s;t comforts. They that &s;aw our Crucified Saviour &s;uffer &s;o patiently, as not to open his mouth to complain, might have thought that he had no &s;en&s;e of pain: therefore he crys out &s;o bitterly, <HI>My God, my God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me?</HI> Why, do&s;t thou &s;uffer me to be plung'd into this gulf of &s;orrow, &s;o that I have nothing but angui&s;h within and with|out? Why do&s;t thou &s;uffer me to be almo&s;t overwhelm'd by &s;o great a di|&s;tre&s;s, <HI>and art &s;o far from helping me and from the words of my complaint?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 22.</NOTE> Lord, we had de&s;erved to &s;ink, and evermore to cry and groan in the bottomle&s;s pit: and to re&s;cue us, Thou art pleas'd to de&s;cend very
<PB N="36" REF="32">low: and <HI>with &s;trong crying and tears,</HI> to &s;ay, <HI>de profundis clamavi, out of the depths have I cryed unto thee,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 130.</NOTE> <HI>O Lord hear my voyce;</HI> be plea&s;ed to hear us deare&s;t Lord when we call upon thee, and make thy voice &s;ink into our hearts, and there find a cheerful ad|mi&s;&s;ion, and a con&s;tant and &s;incere obedience.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 12. The height.</HEAD>
<P>Now we have only the heigth of the Cro&s;s to look on, that is, the &s;ub|limity, the greatne&s;s of the torments of Chri&s;ts crucifixion; that in this &s;en&s;e his Cro&s;s was very high, ap|pears already by what hath been &s;aid: and yet we may con&s;ider fur|ther; that he being conceiv'd by the Holy Gho&s;t of a mo&s;t pure Virgin, was therefore of a mo&s;t healthful con&s;titution; &s;o that his &s;en&s;es, be|ing very quick and apprehen&s;ive, were &s;en&s;ible of pain beyond other men's: and &s;o all the blows and wounds he receiv'd, and his being nail'd and &s;tretch'd, three long hours on the Cro&s;s, as upon the rack, mu&s;t needs have been a mo&s;t ex|qui&s;ite torture. Al&s;o, the vigor of his nature being neither weakned nor &s;pent, by age or di&s;tempers, he
<PB N="37" REF="32">being full of &s;trength and in the flower of his age, was capable to ta&s;te the &s;mart and &s;harpne&s;s of his pain, to the very la&s;t moment of his life: and &s;o 'tis written by <HI>S. Luke, that he cryed with a loud voice, when he gave up the gho&s;t,</HI> to &s;hew that he was &s;till very &s;trong, and that his death was bitter and violent to extremity. There was likewi&s;e an invi&s;ible Cro&s;s, which afflicted his &s;oul, and made it &s;orrowful even unto death; <HI>his heart was like wax,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 22.</NOTE> <HI>melted in the mid&s;t of his bowels:</HI> and in the mid&s;t of &s;o many and &s;uch intollerable pains, his murtherers &s;hook their heads, made mouthes at him, &s;coft at his &s;orrows by cruel and in&s;ulting mockeries, and by their tongues and deri&s;ions aggravated tho&s;e &s;ufferings, which their hands could hardly in|crea&s;e; but that the Cro&s;s of Chri&s;t was higher in the greatne&s;s of it's pains than that of any Martyr, of any man that ever &s;uffered, is evident enough only by con&s;idering who it was, that was crucified on it: for it was more that <HI>JESUS,</HI> being per|fect God as well as Man, &s;hould &s;hed one drop of blood, than that all Men and Angels &s;hould for Millions of
<PB N="38" REF="33">years bear the greate&s;t torments. Lord we were wonderfully made by thy power, but we are yet more wonderfully redeem'd by thy mercy! Lord what is man, that thou &s;hould&s;t thus be mindful of him! or rather, what is man, that he is unmindful of thee!</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 13. What an in|finite love is expre&s;t by the Cro&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>Now we have &s;een the whole frame of the Cro&s;s, writ all over in blood, with characters of love, ex|pre&s;&s;ions of the greate&s;t kindne&s;s, for a te&s;timony that <HI>JESUS</HI> lov'd us unto death. Not any &s;orrow or an|gui&s;h in his &s;oul, not any gap or wound in his body, but are as many mouthes to cry aloud in the ears of all men, Behold what manner of love, God had for his enemies, his &s;inful and unworthy creatures, to &s;uf|fer &s;uch things, to die in &s;uch a man|ner, for to redeem them and make them happy! Now let us, if we can comprehend, <HI>the breadth and the length,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>O dilectio quam mag|num e&s;t vin|culum tuum quo ligari potuit Deus.</HI> Idiot.</NOTE> <HI>the heighth and the depth</HI> of the love of <HI>JESUS,</HI> that love which bound him much harder than the cords of the Jews, and nail'd him to his cro&s;s much fa&s;ter than tho&s;e Irons which pierc't his hands and feet:
<PB N="39" REF="33">for he that could, with one word, ca&s;t his enemies to the ground, could ea&s;ily have broke their bands and e&s;cap't from them, but that his love did con&s;train him, and make him de&s;irous and willing, thus to die. What man would &s;uffer one half of what Chri&s;t did, for his deare&s;t Be|nefactor? And then, how immen&s;e and wonderful was that charity which he expre&s;t in &s;uffering the ignominy and pains of the Cro&s;s, for tho&s;e that were his enemies and had highly in|jur'd him, and from whom he could expect no reward, but only to be lov'd again! Let us therefore remem|ber it throughout this whole book, or rather throughout our whole life, that we have been redeem'd from eternal de&s;pair and mi&s;ery, and from our vain and &s;inful conver&s;ati|on, not by <HI>any corruptible thing, as &s;il|ver and gold, but by the precious Blood of Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;hed with great pain and great ignominy.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 14. Of the eter|nal happi|ne&s;s Je&s;us merited for us by his death.</HEAD>
<P>This love of <HI>JESUS</HI> is more already by far, than ours can an&s;wer; Could our hearts burn perpetually with tho&s;e brighte&s;t flames of love which beatifie the Cherubims, could
<PB N="40" REF="34">they contain all, the mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionate affections of all Saints, both in hea|ven and earth, yet we could not love <HI>JESUS</HI> &s;o much as he de|&s;erves, for having died to &s;ave us from eternal death: and yet he did more; he &s;uffer'd death that we might have life, that we might have eternal life; Not only that we might not be intire|ly mi&s;erable, but al&s;o that we might be perfectly happy. Heaven is the purcha&s;e of the Blood of Chri&s;t, as well as Redemption from hell; <HI>God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, when we were dead in tre&s;pa&s;&s;es and &s;ins, hath quick|ned us together with Chri&s;t, and hath rais'd us up,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.5.</NOTE> <HI>together, and made us &s;it together in heavenly places in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> Let us meditate a while, upon that <HI>far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory re&s;erv'd in heaven for us,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.17.</NOTE> and in it con&s;ider the &s;ame dimen|&s;ions, as in the price wherewith it was bought, the Cro&s;s of our Saviour: and it will greatly pre&s;s and increa&s;e our obligations to love him.</P>
<P>It is <GAP DESC="foreign">, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> calls it; each word is a part of its dimen|&s;ion. Fir&s;t, the Breadth; it com|prehends
<PB N="41" REF="34">all joys and plea&s;ures, all things that are good and de&s;irable, all that can yield &s;atisfaction, and cre|ate happine&s;s to a man: even that in|comprehen&s;ible and increated good|ne&s;s, which is the inexhau&s;tible fountain of perfect Bli&s;s and Felici|ty; <HI>in who&s;e pre&s;ence there is fulne&s;s of joy, at who&s;e right hand there are plea|&s;ures for evermore.</HI> Secondly, It's Heigth. It is above the regions of the air, in the highe&s;t heavens; the &s;ublimity and greatne&s;s of it's glory, is expre&s;t, by being like the Angels of God; by &s;hining forth as the Sun; by a kingdom, a crown incorrupti|ble, a crown of life, and &s;itting with the Son of God in his throne. Third|ly it's Depth. It is pure and un|mingled, it admits of nothing affli|ctive: neither death nor &s;orrow, neither hunger nor thir&s;t, neither pain nor angui&s;h; <HI>all tears are wip'd from their eyes.</HI> There is the ab&s;ence of all evil and the pre&s;ence of all good; therefore 'tis called <HI>the joy of our Lord,</HI> than which, nothing can expre&s;s a greater: for God is intirely and perfectly happy, and &s;o incapa|ble of any &s;orrow, that the lea&s;t &s;ight of the Beatifical vi&s;ion would turn
<PB N="42" REF="35">hell it &s;elf into a paradi&s;e. Fourth|ly and la&s;tly, Its Length, It's never cea&s;ing duration; it admits of no end or period, it is everla&s;ting, it is eter|nal, it is for ever and ever; after as many millions of years as there is drops of water in the &s;ea, it will but begin: and after as many thou&s;ands of millions more, it will be no neerer ending, then it was at fir&s;t, &s;till eter|nal, and ever eternal. This is that Bli&s;s which we had forfeited by &s;in, and are reintitled to by the pa&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t; that Bli&s;s which if often and duly con&s;ider'd, would make us de&s;pi&s;e the world, long for heaven, love affectionately, and &s;erve dili|gently that <HI>JESUS</HI> who offers it to us, and died to purcha&s;e it: Where|fore S. <HI>Paul</HI> prays &s;o earne&s;tly for the <HI>Ephe&s;ians, that God would give them the Spirit of Wi&s;dom and revelation, the eyes of their under&s;tanding inlightned,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.18</NOTE> <HI>that they might know what is the hope of his calling: and what the riches of his glory of his inheritance in the Saints.</HI></P>
<P>That we might once be po&s;&s;e&s;t of this bli&s;s, as well as deliver'd from hell, was the Cau&s;e why <HI>JESUS</HI> de&s;cended down from heaven, be|came poor, took on him the form
<PB N="43" REF="35">of a Servant, and humbled him&s;elf unto death, even the death of the Cro&s;s; <HI>for the joy that was &s;et before him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 12.2.</NOTE> <HI>he de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame and endu|red the Cro&s;s,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul.</HI> That <HI>joy,</HI> we may &s;ay, was not the injoyment of heavenly bli&s;s, for him&s;elf; 'twas his without &s;uffering; there was no need he &s;hould bear the Cro&s;s, for to ob|tain it, he had a &s;ure title to it by nature: <HI>the joy</HI> therefore <HI>that was &s;et before him,</HI> was the joy of &s;aving us, the joy of re&s;cuing us from the jaws of death, the gulf of eternal perdition; the joy of paying the price of our Redemption; the joy of making us capable of eternal joys; the joy of purcha&s;ing the glories and felicities of heaven for us; in a word the joy of &s;hewing us his love, and expecting the returns of ours. This was <HI>the joy,</HI> why, <HI>he de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame,</HI> becau&s;e his &s;hame &s;hould rai&s;e us to glory; this was <HI>the joy,</HI> why, <HI>he indured the Cro&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e his Cro&s;s &s;hould exalt us to a happy and ho|nourable Throne.</P>
<P>This meditation of the great and manifold benefits of God, and the wonderful love and charity, he hath &s;hewed us, in <HI>JESUS,</HI> we
<PB N="44" REF="36">may and &s;hould pro&s;ecute much far|ther, in all in&s;tances: for 'tis infi|nite; and never enough to be con&s;i|der'd and admir'd. But Reader, if that little, I have here &s;et down, doth not affect thee, and if being affected with it, thou do&s;t not re|&s;olve to return to God, all po&s;&s;ible acknowledgments and demon&s;trati|ons of a grateful love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Haeece via a meris e&s;t vera non ficta: via cordialis, non verbalis: via fructuo&s;a non ocio&s;a: via non &s;ol&ugrave;m &s;ermo|nis, &s;ed etiam operis.</HI> Idiot.</NOTE> then read no further: for, as what precedes is matter of mercy from Gods part, &s;o what follows is matter of duty on thine. I &s;hall now infer that we mu&s;t love God, <HI>becau&s;e he fir&s;t loved us;</HI> and that if the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> to us, hath made him bear our Cro&s;s, our love to him mu&s;t make us bear his yoke: if he died for us, becau&s;e he loved us, then we mu&s;t live to him, to make it appear that we love him. <HI>Our love to Chri&s;t</HI> (&s;aith an excel|lent late Author) <HI>is not a &s;ubtil airy, and metaphy&s;ical notion,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sherl.</HI> 412.</NOTE> <HI>as &s;ome repre|&s;ent it, but is a vital principle of action which governs our lives, and makes us fruitful in good works:</HI> thus it &s;hould be at lea&s;t, and thus I intend it, the tryal of love is obedience; <HI>if ye love me</HI> (&s;aith our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour) <HI>keep my Commandments.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="section">
<PB N="45" REF="36">
<HEAD>&sect;. 15. What all the&s;e bene|fits require from us.</HEAD>
<P>Now then we are to con&s;ider, that God giving knowledge of &s;alvation to men, hath al&s;o thereby proclaim'd their duty: Manife&s;ting his love, he hath ingag'd and requir'd theirs; as our being call'd to be Chri&s;tians makes a great and real change, as to the happine&s;s of our condition: a great and real change it ought al&s;o to make, as to the holine&s;s of our conver&s;ation. Therefore S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 2.16.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> calls the Go&s;pel, <HI>the power of God unto &s;al|vation to every one that believeth,</HI> and he prays for the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;s</HI> 3.18</NOTE> that they <HI>might know the love of Chri&s;t, that &s;o they might be fill'd with all the fulne&s;s of God:</HI> as to &s;ay, that the knowledge of the love of Chri&s;t is exceeding powerful and efficacious, and would repleni&s;h them with all graces and vertues; for this cau&s;e he &s;ets &s;o high a value upon <HI>the excellency of this knowledge,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 3.8.</NOTE> <HI>e&s;teeming all the world but dung in compari&s;on of it;</HI> and he ex|horting the <HI>Cretians to be ready to every good work,</HI> puts them in mind that they, who were once <HI>di&s;obedient, de|ceived, &s;erving divers lu&s;ts,</HI> had been deliver'd from that unhappy condi|tion <HI>by the appearance of the love of God our Saviour towards man:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tit.</HI> 3.</NOTE> as in other
<PB N="46" REF="37">places, he exhorteth Chri&s;tians, <HI>to walk worthy of their calling; worthy of the Go&s;pel;</HI> thereby declaring that the manife&s;tation of the Divine Love, in the Preaching of the Go&s;pel, was the promulgation, as of their happi|ne&s;s, &s;o of their duty: whereby they were re&s;cued, as well from living as from peri&s;hing in their &s;ins. 'Tis <HI>the appearance of that grace of God which bringeth &s;alvation,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tit.</HI> 2.11.</NOTE> that teacheth men to live, <HI>&s;oberly, righteou&s;ly and godly:</HI> and 'tis the receiving and crediting that Heavenly Doctrine, that <HI>quench|eth the fiery darts of Satan, that puri|fies the heart, and overcomes the world;</HI> &s;o that the bare belief of the truth of the New Te&s;tament is a &s;trong and indi&s;pen&s;able obligation to a cheerful, univer&s;al, and per&s;evering obedi|ence to all its precepts; the very profe&s;&s;ion of being Chri&s;tians doth &s;trictly bind us to the performance of all Chri&s;tian duties. But the ne|ce&s;&s;ity of a Holy Faith and a Holy Life hath been &s;o fully evinc'd and a&s;&s;erted, and <HI>all things that pertain to life and godline&s;s</HI> &s;o cleerly and learn|edly explain'd by Catholick Wri|ters Ancient and Modern, e&s;pecially many Pious Fathers and Sons of this
<PB N="47" REF="37">Church, &s;ince the Reformation, that I &s;hall not in&s;i&s;t upon the fundamen|tals, either of Faith or Practice, to in|force it; As indeed my de&s;ign is not to in&s;truct, but to move the affecti|ons; not to argument or explain, but to draw inferences from known and granted premi&s;es, to admini&s;ter prudential helps and Religious coun|&s;els, and by devout meditations to af|fect the heart.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 16. An invita|tion unto the Cloi&s;ter of love.</HEAD>
<P>I ask therefore; ha&s;t thou con|ceived a fair Idea of Chri&s;tianity? ha&s;t thou ob&s;erv'd the glory and greatne&s;s of it's My&s;teries, the holi|ne&s;s of it's Doctrine, and the perfe|ction of its precepts and coun&s;els? ha&s;t thou con&s;ider'd and admir'd the great exemplar of all vertues, the Holy <HI>JESUS,</HI> author of this Holy In&s;titution? ha&s;t thou read his life with an ob&s;erving eye, and ha&s;t thou view'd the fair copies of this perfect Original, which have been drawn by many of his Saints, in the imita|tion of his example? ha&s;t thou weigh'd the excellency of his pro|mi&s;es, the great immunities, and the invaluable advantages which belong to his followers? ha&s;t thou &s;eriou&s;ly
<PB N="48" REF="38">ponder'd the great obligations which the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> hath laid up|on thee? and art thou de&s;irous to be happy by loving again, and being grateful? If &s;o, enter this Cloi&s;ter, love <HI>JESUS</HI> and thou &s;halt reign with <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
<P>The Cloi&s;ter I mean is not the precinct of a particular <HI>Abbey,</HI> or the confinement of a narrow Cell, but the Catholick Church, who&s;e inclo|&s;ure is large enough to entertain all the <HI>Religions</HI> in the world, all that are of the Chri&s;tian Order: And the Rule I would have thee follow, is not that of any Founders, nor even that of <HI>Pachomius</HI> &s;aid to have been brought down by Angels: but that which the Son of God him&s;elf deli|vered, the Go&s;pel-rule, the Chri&s;tian Laws and appointments, <HI>hath not God given his Beloved Son, the heathen for his inheritance,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>and the utmo&s;t parts of the earth for his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cur&s;ic arctc|mus Chri&s;ti profe&s;&s;ionem quam il|le lati&s;&s;ime voluit patere &amp; ego certe &s;ic optarim Evangelicam Religionem &s;ic omnibus e&s;&s;e cordi, &amp;c.</HI> Ench.</NOTE> Why then (&s;aith <HI>Era&s;mus</HI>)
<Q REND="margQuotes">Should we con|fine the excellency and perfection of Chri&s;tianity to particular places?
<PB N="49" REF="38">Why &s;hould we make that &s;hort and narrow which Chri&s;t would have to be of an univer&s;al extent? If it be words we affect, is not a City a great Mona&s;tery, the Abbot where|of is the Bi&s;hop, &s;et over it by Chri&s;t? Would to God the Chri&s;ti|an Rule were &s;o well belov'd and ob&s;erv'd that no man might look or de&s;ire the <HI>Benedictin</HI> or <HI>Fran|ci&s;can.</HI></Q> I &s;ay &s;o too, all this is true and to be wi&s;hed: yet the univer|&s;al comprehends many particular Churches, and the Chri&s;tian Rule hath al&s;o many &s;everal interpretati|ons: therefore to be plain and po&s;i|tive; the Church of <HI>England</HI> (as the pure&s;t part, or member of the Ca|tholick; which hath repurg'd cor|rupt innovations, and maintains a Ble&s;&s;ed Conformity with Antiquity) is that which I recommend to thee above all others: and for the be&s;t interpretation of the Sacred Canon, the Doctrine and Wor&s;hip of this Church is that, which I would have thee prefer to all the re&s;t. </P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 17. The vow to be taken at the entrance of it.</HEAD>
<P>But (becau&s;e I &s;peak not to di&s;|&s;enters, nor intend to di&s;pute with them) thou wilt &s;ay, that thou ha&s;t
<PB N="50" REF="39">entred this Cloi&s;ter already, and ha&s;t undertaken it's Rule; but though it be &s;o, thou may&s;t do it the &s;econd time, by a &s;econd choi&s;e, an after|election. Thou did&s;t not come of thy &s;elf but wa&s;t brought in, when fir&s;t thou entred'&s;t this &s;ociety, and 'twas by a proxy thou promi&s;ed&s;t to ob&s;erve the orders of it: therefore now that thou ha&s;t the u&s;e of rea|&s;on, 'tis very nece&s;&s;ary thou &s;hould&s;t do it again, by a free and con&s;ide|rate act of thine own will. Ratifie then thy former ingagements by being confirm'd,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quod &s;ummum e&s;t id omnibus e&s;t enitendum ut &s;aliem mediocria a&s;&s;equa|mur, nec e&s;t quod ullum vitae genus ab hoc &s;copo &s;ubmoveamus, &amp;c.</HI> Era&s;.</NOTE> if thou art not, and if thou art, by a hearty and &s;incere indeavour to perform thy vows and promi&s;es, which are as follows. Fir&s;t, <HI>To renounce the Devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, with all covetous de&s;ires of the &s;ame, and the &s;inful lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h.</HI> Secondly, <HI>To believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith.</HI> And thirdly, <HI>To keep Gods Holy Will, and Command|ments, and walk in the &s;ame all the days of thy life.</HI></P>
<P>This vow contains all thy duty, the highe&s;t pitch of Chri&s;tian perfection,
<PB N="51" REF="39">rules for the mo&s;t Regular and Spiri|tual Life; let thy &s;erious applica|tion, and earne&s;t indeavour to ob|&s;erve it, di&s;criminate and &s;ever thee from the prophane and le&s;s Religious world: Thou neede&s;t no di&s;tinct in|clo&s;ure, no di&s;tinct habits, no di&s;tinct patrons or offices, thy &s;incere Study, thy Religious care to di&s;charge this obligation, will &s;ufficiently cloi&s;ter thee in, from the loo&s;er &s;ociety and conver&s;ation of men, and will make a difference great enough betwixt thee and them.</P>
<P>But though thou do&s;t remain in the civil &s;ociety of the world, and the neighborhood of thy neighbour: yet various are the ways that lead through the world to heaven, and here I un|dertake to teach thee a &s;ure and &s;hort one, through which all glori|fied Saints have pa&s;t. Some per&s;ons here,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui timendo non fa|cit male, male faceret &s;i liceret: itaque et&s;i fa|cultas non datur, volun|tos retinetur.</HI> Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. 32.</NOTE> are eminent in one vertue, &s;ome in another: &s;ome are guided by hope and &s;ome by fear: Many dif|ferent are the con&s;ide|rations and helps where|by men are brought to make them|&s;elves happy in doing their duty:
<PB N="52" REF="40">but the motive, the guide, the way,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dilectio e&s;t via recti&s;|&s;ima ab&s;que devio: via brevis ab&s;que taedio: via plana ab&s;que tumulo: via clara ab&s;que nubilo: via &s;ecura ab&s;que periculo, &amp;c.</HI> Idiot. Cont.</NOTE> the in&s;trument I recommend to thee above all others, is Love. Love is the &s;tronge&s;t motive, the &s;ure&s;t guide, the &s;afe&s;t way, the be&s;t in&s;trument in the world: to live well, to keep thee from wandring, to bring thee to heaven, to conquer all oppo|&s;itions, and do the work of God thoroughly. Love hath a general intendance over all vertues and du|ties, and makes them plea&s;ant to us, and acceptable to God. <HI>Love is the fulfilling of the Law.</HI> Love, and thou can&s;t never do ami&s;s; love and thou can&s;t never mi&s;carry.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 18. Of Love, and fir&s;t of Self-love.</HEAD>
<P>Love is the common prince and parent of other pa&s;&s;ions, as they all take their Laws, &s;o they take their Origine from it: Or, to &s;peak more properly,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amor inhi|ans habere quod amatur, cupiditas e&s;t; idem habens eoque fruens, laetitia ect; fugiens quod eiadver&s;atur timor e&s;t; id&abque; cum acciderit &s;entiens, tri&s;titia e&s;t.</HI> Aug. de Civ. Dei. l. 14. c. 7.</NOTE> love it &s;elf is all pa&s;&s;ions, and it obtains &s;everal different names, according to its &s;everal acts and ob|jects.
<Q REND="margQuotes">Love (&s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI>) is cal|led de&s;ire, when it ga&s;ps after its beloved object; when 'tis po&s;&s;e&s;t of
<PB N="53" REF="40">it, it takes another denomination, and is call'd joy or plea&s;ure, when it flies from what it abhors, it hath the name of fear; and 'tis called &s;orrow, when what it fear'd overtakes it:</Q> But &s;till love is the only pa&s;&s;ion: de&s;ire, anger, joy and &s;orrow, hope and fear are either the motions or acts: or el&s;e the acci|dents of it. This clearly &s;hews the great power and activity of this no|ble pa&s;&s;ion: for 'tis well known that the greate&s;t, and indeed all humane actions that are free, proceed from the&s;e natural affections, and &s;o are the effects of love. There is no need to di&s;tingui&s;h the &s;everal &s;orts there|of, declaring that love is, either na|tural or &s;upernatural, &s;en&s;ual or &s;piritual, of friend&s;hip or of intere&s;t; for all the&s;e are the &s;ame faculty, or pa&s;&s;ion in man, differing in their principles or objects only; neither would it much avail to give and ex|plain a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">rate and &s;tudied definiti|ons of love, which is much better felt than expre&s;t, and much better de|clar'd by actions than words: it will be more u&s;eful to con&s;ider, that, as love is the principle of all pa&s;&s;ions, &s;o it is of all vertues and vices. This
<PB N="54" REF="41">fountain &s;endeth forth the cleare&s;t and the foule&s;t &s;treams; and like all other things, the greater its excel|lency, the wor&s;e is its abu&s;e: &s;o that it &s;hould be our greate&s;t care, to u&s;e it well, and &s;et it upon the right object.</P>
<P>No joy in enjoyment without love, without it no plea&s;ure in fruition: it is the great in&s;trument of happine&s;s, if we place it aright, and it brings the greate&s;t infelicities if we mi&s;|place it. 'Tis a mi&s;guided love that makes men vicious, that cau&s;eth all the di&s;orders in the world: be|cau&s;e men love them&s;elves more than God; and &s;o would be Gods to them&s;elves, the Authors of their own happine&s;s, expecting their greate&s;t felicities, either from their bodies as the &s;en&s;ual <HI>Epicures,</HI> or from their minds, as the proud <HI>Stoicks.</HI> Hence it is, that in the head of a long catalogue of the blacke&s;t &s;ins, S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;ets &s;elf-love as the cau&s;e, and origine of all the re&s;t: &s;aying, that in <HI>the wor&s;t and mo&s;t pe|rilous times, Men &s;hould be lovers of their own &s;elves,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.2.4.</NOTE> and again, that they &s;hould be <HI>lovers of plea&s;ure, more than
<PB N="55" REF="41">lovers of God;</HI> which, being the great|e&s;t depravation of the under&s;tanding and of the will of men, plungeth men into the greate&s;t &s;ins, and thence in|to the greate&s;t mi&s;eries. Certain it is that piety or true goodne&s;s con&s;i&s;t|eth in willingly &s;ubmitting ones &s;elf to the Divine Plea&s;ure, either to &s;uffer or obey: and certain it is that &s;elf-love will admit of neither, it makes a man uncapable of Religion, the E&s;|&s;ence whereof is to deny our own, to comply with God's Will: and &s;o in|&s;tead of that <HI>Godline&s;s, Ju&s;tice</HI> and <HI>Sobriety</HI> which are the three generals comprehen&s;ive of all Religious du|ties, this muddy head-&s;pring, <HI>&s;elf-love,</HI> &s;ends forth three muddy &s;treams, which cau&s;e <HI>the overflowing of ungod|line&s;s,</HI> and almo&s;t drown the world under a deluge of wickedne&s;s. The&s;e be the love of &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures, call'd voluptuou&s;ne&s;s; the love of Riches, call'd covetou&s;ne&s;s, and the vain-glorious love of honour, call'd pride or ambition. The&s;e three are di&s;claim'd and renounc'd by all Chri|&s;tians in the fir&s;t part of their Bap|ti&s;mal vow: for the love of them confounds the world and all Religi|on; makes men criminal in &s;ouls,
<PB N="56" REF="42">bodies, and e&s;tates, and is the great enemy to their re&s;t and &s;alvation. Therefore S. <HI>John</HI> who calls the&s;e <HI>the lu&s;t of the fle&s;h, the lu&s;t of the eyes, and the pride of life,</HI> gives us this nece&s;&s;a|ry caution;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.15.</NOTE> <HI>love not the world, nei|ther the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him;</HI> that is, as our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour &s;aith,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 6.24.</NOTE> <HI>no man can &s;erve two ma&s;ters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or el&s;e he will hold to the one and de&s;pi&s;e the other: ye cannot &s;erve God and Mammon.</HI> There is no <HI>halting betwixt God and Baal,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Kings</HI> 18.21.</NOTE> the one or the other mu&s;t be ac|knowledged for Lord; there cannot be two contrary Sovereigns toge|ther; and the &s;ame thing can't be granted to two &s;everal competitors; if we love the world it reigns in our hearts and God is excluded: if we give our love to the world, we cannot po&s;&s;ibly give it to God al&s;o;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amor motus est cordis qui cum &s;e inordinate movet, cupiditas dicitur: cum vero ordinatus e&s;t charitas apellatur.</HI> Aug. de &s;ub&s;t. dil. c. 2.</NOTE> &s;o then the love of our &s;elves is concupi|&s;cence, the mother of all &s;in and impurity, and the love of God is grace or charity, the fountain of all holines and vertue: and the&s;e two, according
<PB N="57" REF="42">as they are predominant in men, make here the di&s;tinction betwixt the penitent and the impenitent, be|twixt the ju&s;t and the unju&s;t: and will make the great difference here|after, betwixt tho&s;e that &s;hall dwell in the imbraces of the God of love to eternity, and tho&s;e that &s;hall <HI>dwell with everla&s;ting burning;</HI> for every man is what he loves, (as S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Talis e&s;t qui&s;que qualis e&s;t dilectio ejus; terram diligis, terra es, &amp;c.</HI> Aug. Tract. 2. in 1 Joh.</NOTE> <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith) the ir|re&s;i&s;tible power of that mighty pa&s;&s;ion doth in &s;ome manner transform him, into that which his love imbra|ceth: and therefore to know whe|ther a man be good or bad, we in|quire not what he knows or what he believes, but what he doth love: be|ing &s;ure that his morals are of the &s;ame nature as his love; becau&s;e his de&s;ires and actions are all guided by it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 19. How they that will be profe&s;t lovers of JESUS mu&s;t mor|tifie &s;elf-love.</HEAD>
<P>This makes it our greate&s;t duty, as it is our greate&s;t intere&s;t, to rule by rea&s;on and Religion that pa&s;&s;ion which cer|tainly will rule over us, to &s;et our love upon the right object,
<PB N="58" REF="43">upon God, not upon our &s;elves. Not that we &s;hould, or can be our own enemies, and &s;eek our own ruine; <HI>no man ever yet hated his own fle&s;h,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 29.</NOTE> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul;</HI> the wor&s;t of <HI>Mi&s;anthropes</HI> are kind to them&s;elves: and we may as &s;oon lo&s;e our being, as the de&s;ire of our well-being; and indeed, as we &s;hould have, in the &s;tate of inno|cency, &s;o we may &s;till love our &s;elves in God: only God mu&s;t be preferr'd before all; and 'tis impo&s;&s;ible we &s;hould be happy, but in loving him above all things, with all our hearts and &s;ouls; but now that we are in a &s;tate of &s;in and depravation, there mu&s;t be a dereliction of our natural de&s;ires and affections, a renunciation to our own wills: that we may com|ply with the will of God, and be guided by his Divine Laws. In the time of man's integrity, God was to be regarded and loved fir&s;t and mo&s;t of all, &s;o it mu&s;t be &s;till: the dif|ference is, that then man did it na|turally, and now by a &s;upernatural a&s;&s;i&s;tance: he did it then by the grace of his Original Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and now by the grace of the Go&s;pel; he did it then without reluctancy, now he hath &s;inful appetites and pa&s;|&s;ions
<PB N="59" REF="43">which he mu&s;t deny and mor|tifie, before he can do it. Therefore our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour requires it, at the very entrance of his School, as a nece&s;&s;ary qualification to all that will be his Di&s;ciples, that they &s;hould deny them&s;elves and hate all things in compari&s;on of him:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 9.13.</NOTE> <HI>If any man will come after me, let him deny him|&s;elf and take up his cro&s;s daily and fol|low me:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">14.20.</NOTE> <HI>and again if any man come to me, and hate not his father and mo|ther, and wife and children, and bro|thers and &s;i&s;ters, and his own life al&s;o, he cannot be my Di&s;ciple;</HI> that is, he that will own <HI>JESUS,</HI> and he own'd by him, mu&s;t in all things give him the preeminence; mu&s;t re|linqui&s;h his natural de&s;ires, deny his own will, that he may yield an hum|ble obedience to God; he mu&s;t for|&s;ake all things that come in compe|tition with him; and even part with his deare&s;t relations and his own life, (as though he hated them) ra|ther than commit what God hath for|bidden, or di&s;claim what he would have us profe&s;s; this &s;elf-abnegation,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ule &s;atis &s;e diligit qui &s;edul&ograve; agit ut &s;ummafrna|tur bono.</NOTE> this daily &s;elf-crucifixion is no act of hatred, as the world might think: but the greate&s;t kindne&s;s we can &s;hew to
<PB N="60" REF="44" MS="y">our &s;elves or others: as he that cuts off one of his limbs, hates not him|&s;elf, but &s;eeks the pre&s;ervation of his body; and he that ca&s;ts his goods over-board, hates them not, but pre|fers his &s;afety to them: &s;o in this ca&s;e, he that parts with his earthly injoyments, hates them not, but pre|fers heaven to this earth; he that lo&s;eth this pre&s;ent life, hates it not, but loves eternal life beyond it; and he that for&s;akes his friends or parents to follow his Saviour, hates them not, but loves <HI>JESUS</HI> above them, and &s;eeks to win them to <HI>JESUS.</HI> In this ca&s;e the promi&s;e is verified, that he that parts with any thing for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, receives an hundred-fold, in compen&s;ation: and he that lo&s;eth his life, certainly finds it; Therefore, hating our kindred and our own lives, is otherwi&s;e expre&s;t in S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 10.37.</NOTE> <HI>Matthew; he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,</HI> &amp;c. As much as to &s;ay, that it is only requir'd, that the love of God &s;hould be predominant; that <HI>JE|SUS</HI> &s;hould be dearer to us, than all per&s;ons whatever; and that, in the fir&s;t place, we &s;hould love God with all our minds, with all our
<PB N="61" REF="44">&s;trength and with all our &s;ouls: for then afterwards, the love of our &s;elves and others being &s;ubordi|nate would become regular and in|nocent.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 20. Of the love of God.</HEAD>
<P>Now as all &s;ins and mi&s;eries pro|ceed from a mi&s;placed love; &s;o all vertues and felicities are the product of love well-guided, and plac'd on the right object; this is as beneficial and advantageous, as the other is pernicious: that is, (as S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sicut radix omnium malorum e&s;t cupiditas: ita radix omnium bonorum e&s;t charitas.</HI> Serm. de Charit.</NOTE> <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith) that as &s;elf-love is the root of all evil, &s;o the love of God, is the root of all good, the &s;tock whence all vertues do grow. The excellency of Divine Love is &s;o great, &s;o tran&s;cendent,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sine charitate fides pote&s;t e&s;&s;e; &s;ed non pro|de&s;&s;e.</HI> Aug. 1 Cor. 13.</NOTE> that it alone is accepted on its own account, and all other things for its &s;ake; a faith &s;trong enough to work miracles, alms the mo&s;t expen&s;ive, and even the flames of Martyrdom profit no|thing without love, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> teacheth; love it is that makes all good works meritorious in the be&s;t &s;en&s;e; love it is that gives a value to all other ver|tues;
<PB N="62" REF="45">or rather, it is love that pro|duceth all good works and vertues, as they are &s;o indeed. Love is the di&s;charge of our whole duty, <HI>the ful|filling of the law,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 13.10</NOTE> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul;</HI> love is that grace which renews and &s;ancti|fies our natures and <HI>abides for ever;</HI> it is the greate&s;t, the mo&s;t excellent gift of God; it is even the Divine Spirit,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P><HI>&V;nitas Spiritus continet omnia.</HI> Serm. Pent.</P>
<P><HI>Donum e&s;t Spiritus San|ctus in quo nobis omnia bo|na dantur.</HI></P></NOTE> who unites all things within the bonds of love and unity, &s;aith S. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> and with whom all good things are ever given. Divines teach that the Holy Gho&s;t proceeds from the Father and the Son, by way of love; wherefore he is call'd, <HI>nexus amoris quo conjungitur Pater cum Filio, &amp; Filius cum Patre;</HI> that is, in the Language of the Church, that in the Unity of the &s;ame Spirit the Father and the Son live and reign evermore;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Charitas qua pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">er di|ligit filium &amp; filius pa|trem, quae e&s;t Spiritus Sanctus, ineffabilem com|munionem amborum de|mon&s;trat.</HI> De Trin. l. 15.</NOTE> or, as S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> expre&s;|&s;eth it, the love where|with the Father and the Son love mutually is the Holy Spirit, and repre&s;ents be&s;t the My&s;tery of their Incomprehen&s;ible Union.</P>
<PB N="63" REF="45">
<P>Now that Divine Spirit, which is the eternal love of God to him&s;elf, is given to us, in the grace of love or charity (which are one and the &s;ame) whereby we are all joyn'd to|gether into one body, and all united to God; therefore in our holding Communion with the Church, we are commanded to keep <HI>the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.3.</NOTE> and we are taught,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 5.5.</NOTE> that <HI>the love of God is &s;hed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Gho&s;t which is given to us;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.14.</NOTE> and that <HI>the grace of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the love of God, and the fellow&s;hip of the Holy Gho&s;t are all one:</HI> &s;o that to come to the highe&s;t pitch, and fini&s;h the <HI>elo|gium</HI> of love, we may &s;ay with S. <HI>John,</HI> that <HI>God is love,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.16.</NOTE> and then we have &s;aid all. <HI>God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him,</HI> that is, God is an aby&s;s of love and goodne&s;s; by love he gives him&s;elf to us, and by love we give up our &s;elves to him, and are transformed into him. Wonder not therefore,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deus chari, tas e&s;t; brevis laus &s;ed ma|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">na laus: brevis in &s;ermone &amp; magna in iatellectu, &amp;c.</HI> Aug. Tract. 9. in Ep. Johan.</NOTE> if the effects of love are &s;o glorious and wonderful, when it
<PB N="64" REF="46">proceeds immediately from God, and is the communication of him&s;elf to us; when it is the grace of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the mo&s;t precious gift of the Divine Spirit; when it is the Sanctification of our natures, and the bettering and perfecting of the no|ble&s;t of humane affections, natural love, that powerful pa&s;&s;ion where|by all things and all men are go|vern'd.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 21. Of the properties of love. The fir&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>Though the properties of love in general be bet|ter known by experience than they can be by di&s;|cour&s;e:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ineffabilem pror&s;us ego &s;entio amorem Dei; &amp; qui &s;entiri magis quam dici po&s;&s;it.</HI> Ba&s;il.</NOTE> yet it may &s;erve to good purpo&s;e to &s;ay &s;omething of them; the fir&s;t whereof is, that love always imbraceth what is good, ei|ther in truth or appearance: for Man's inclinations are &s;till the &s;ame, as they were in the &s;tate of inno|cence; though much depraved: we &s;till pur&s;ue after what we think will make us happy; only we mi&s;take. Like the bramble in the fable, which having lo&s;t a rich freight of the fine&s;t &s;ilks, and now takes hold of the coar|&s;e&s;t &s;tuffs, to recover its lo&s;s; &s;o have all
<PB N="65" REF="46" MS="y">men a &s;ecret &s;en&s;e, that they are faln from a &s;tate of felicity, and have lo&s;t a jewel of infinite value, which &s;till they e&s;teem and love, though they know it not: and therefore now, to recover the eminency of their fir&s;t &s;tation, they are climbing upon every mole-hill, petty moun|tains of ambition; to recover their lo&s;t jewel, they pick up every peb|ble &s;tone; where they &s;ee a glimp&s;e of beauty, where they reli&s;h any thing of goodne&s;s, there they &s;et their love and affection, as if that were the <HI>&s;ummum bonum,</HI> which is but an im|perfect &s;hadow of it; &s;o that we are like an infortunate lover, who, being &s;eiz'd by a phren&s;y, forgets and for&s;akes his Mi&s;tre&s;s, and dotes on her picture. We neglect God, and fall in love with tho&s;e things that have the lea&s;t impre&s;s of his perfe|ction: and then, like Idolaters we pay that wor&s;hip to the work, which is due to the maker only.</P>
<P>Therefore ought we to take great heed, that we be not taken with eve|ry &s;eeming beauty or goodne&s;s: but that we examine whether that be the thing which will make us intirely happy, and beyond which we &s;hall
<PB N="66" REF="47" MS="y">wi&s;h for nothing. For, if it be not, we mu&s;t pa&s;s it by, and &s;eek further, and never re&s;t, nor &s;et our hearts on any thing, till we have found that true and perfect good, mo&s;t obvious and ea&s;ie to be found, which being lov'd will be certainly po&s;&s;e&s;t, and being po&s;&s;e&s;t will make us perfectly happy; and that is God alone. It is the meditation of S. <HI>Au|gu&s;tine,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amaturus &amp; honorem &amp; forte non perventu|rus: &mdash; quis me amavit &amp; non ad me pervenit? &mdash; qui&s;quis me quaerit cum ip&s;o &s;um, &amp;c.</HI> Tract. 10. in Ep. Johan.</NOTE>
<Q REND="margQuotes">Thou mai&s;t &s;eek after honours and not obtain them; thou mai&s;t labour for riches, and remain poor; thou mai&s;t dote on plea&s;ures, and have many &s;orrows: but our God, the Supreme Goodne&s;s &s;aith, Who, ever &s;ought me, and found me not? who, ever defir'd me, and obtain'd me not? who, ever lov'd me, and mi&s;t of me? I am with him that &s;eeks for me; he hath me already that wi&s;heth for me; and he that loveth me is &s;ure of me: the way to come to me is neither long nor difficult; love makes me pre&s;ent to every lover.</Q></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 22. The &s;econd.</HEAD>
<P>A &s;econd property of love is; that it never re&s;ts and is never &s;atisfied,
<PB N="67" REF="47" MS="y">until it be po&s;&s;e&s;t of the beloved ob|ject; This makes abu&s;ed worldlings &s;o bu&s;ie, &s;o perpetually re&s;tle&s;s and active about the purcha&s;e of their be|loved vanities: and this makes de|vout Chri&s;tians, like <HI>S. Paul,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 3.</NOTE> never to count them&s;elves to have apprehend|ed: but forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth to tho&s;e that are before, to pre&s;s for|ward towards the mark, the price of their high calling, the object of their love and mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionate de|&s;ires. This re&s;tle&s;sne&s;s and activity of love found work enough for the Fathers of the De&s;arts; who&s;e inde|fatigable pains to mortifie their &s;in|ful appetites; who&s;e unwearied di|ligence to &s;erve God; who&s;e &s;wift and violent motion heaven-ward is the object of our wonder, and up|braids our &s;loth and negligence. They were almo&s;t wholy freed from the nece&s;&s;ities of the body, which is the endle&s;s task and work of other men, and yet they were always im|ploy'd; they had almo&s;t nothing to do, and yet were never idle; the love of Eternity, the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> kept them in action; they dwelt in peace, and yet were never at re&s;t.
<PB N="68" REF="48">Our heart, which is the &s;eat of love, can never be quiet, till it returns with|in Gods imbraces, till it be po&s;&s;e&s;t of that infinite good, which all men love, though but a few know it. See the &s;everal plots and undertakings of men in the world, 'tis love &s;ets them at work: 'tis to obtain what their blind affections run after, that they are &s;o a&s;&s;iduous and &s;o laborious. See the prayers and pious exerci&s;es, the &s;elf-denial and mortifications, the manifold acts of charity and the great patience of Chri&s;tians in the Church: 'tis love al&s;o hath &s;et them their task and makes them &s;o diligent &s;o watch|ful till they have fulfil'd it. We &s;ome|times wipe the tears from our eyes, and our &s;orrows admit of joyful inter|vals; our anger doth not la&s;t always, and &s;ometimes hatred is a&s;leep:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Habet omnis amor vim &s;uam, nec pote&s;t vacare amor, in anima aman|tis.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> but love like the heart wherein it dwells, can never cea&s;e to act and move till it cea&s;eth to be, where ever love is, it &s;hews it's life and power, and is always doing.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="23" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 23. The third.</HEAD>
<P>In the third place, as love is active, &s;o it is effective; it doth not &s;pend it &s;elf in u&s;ele&s;s and in&s;ignificant at|tempts;
<PB N="69" REF="48">it's &s;trength is great, as well as it's indeavours. Great are the dangers and difficulties which love overcomes; it carries the ambitious lover of honour through many un|ea&s;ie perils to a fading laurel; it car|ries the covetous lover of riches through the mo&s;t hard and &s;lavi&s;h labours, to his fal&s;e and treacherous mammon; and it carries likewi&s;e the devout lover of <HI>JESUS</HI> through obe|dience and &s;elf-humiliation, through briers and unea&s;ie cro&s;&s;es, through patience and the greate&s;t &s;ufferings to the injoyment of his Beloved. Love can do all things, &s;ince it brought God down from heaven to become man, and die for man. <HI>Who &s;hall &s;eparate us from the love of Chri&s;t?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 8.35, &amp;c.</NOTE> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul, Shall tribulation or di|&s;tre&s;s, or per&s;ecution, or famine, or na|kedne&s;s, or peril, or &s;word? nay, in all the&s;e things we are more then con|querors, through him that loved us; for I am per&s;waded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pre&s;ent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, &s;hall be able to &s;eparate us from the love of God, which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord;</HI> As much as to
<PB N="70" REF="49">&s;ay, that the power of love is ir|re&s;i&s;tible, that it an&s;wers all obje|ctions and conquers all ob&s;tacles: notwith&s;tanding mans high provoca|tions and great unworthine&s;s, love made the Almighty lay down the arms of his ju&s;t vengeance, and open his bo&s;om of mercy, to give his dear and onely Son to man for a Saviour;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 3.16.</NOTE> <HI>God &s;o loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who&s;oever believeth in him &s;hould not peri&s;h but have everla&s;ting life.</HI> And likewi&s;e man is enabled or rather forc't by love to do and &s;uffer any thing; as &s;oon as Divine Love enters a mans heart, of proud, it makes him humble; of lu&s;tful and intem|perate, it makes him cha&s;te and &s;o|ber; of covetous, it makes him cha|ritable; of dainty and effeminate it makes him a Martyr. No ill ha|bits &s;o deeply rooted, but love can pluck them up; no cro&s;s &s;o heavy but love can bear it. <HI>Many waters can|not quench love</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Solomon</HI>) <HI>nei|ther can the floods drown it.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 8.7.</NOTE> No, the &s;tronge&s;t torrent of affliction is but like drops of water &s;prinkled upon the fire, it increa&s;eth the flames and ardency thereof.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">6.</NOTE> <HI>Love is as &s;trong as
<PB N="71" REF="49">death,</HI> and death is very &s;trong,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Magnum verbum fortis ut mors dilectio; magnifi|centius exprimi non potuit fortitudo charitatis, quis enim morti re&s;i&s;tat? igni|bus undis, ferro, regibus re&s;istitur, venit una mors, quis ei re&s;i&s;tit? nihil illa fortius, propterea viribus ejus charitas comparatur.</HI> Aug. in P&s;al. 121.</NOTE> &s;tronger than all vi&s;ible creatures. We dai|ly fight again&s;t death and beat it back; by re&s;t and food and Phy&s;ick, we di|&s;pute the victory with it many years; but it is ever victorious at la&s;t; &s;o is love, it never gives over, till it hath conquer'd all oppo&s;itions; it's courage increa&s;eth together with difficulties; the more ob&s;tacles in its way, the greater it's indeavours, the more fierce it's con|tentions. Death &s;evers a man from him&s;elf, and di&s;unites what &s;eems in&s;eparable: love al&s;o takes the lovers &s;oul from him and unites it to the be|loved, &s;o that he lives more in what he loves than in him&s;elf; <HI>love is as &s;trong as death;</HI> Death converts the greate&s;t &s;inners, or at lea&s;t keeps them from &s;inning at all, any longer: &s;o doth love, it certainly mortifies all, even the mo&s;t reigning &s;ins, it will not &s;uffer them to &s;in that love God. We can tame wild bea&s;ts by indu&s;try; overcome the barrenne&s;s of the earth by labour; re&s;i&s;t the an|gry elements by Art and Phy&s;ick; no
<PB N="72" REF="50">evil but hath a remedy, only death hath none, there is no &s;triving again&s;t it: &s;o that nothing can better expre&s;s the irre&s;i&s;tible power of love, than to &s;ay that it is <HI>as &s;trong as death.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="24" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 24. The fourth.</HEAD>
<P>The la&s;t property of love I &s;hall now mention, is, that love &s;weetens bitter things, makes our labours plea&s;ant, and even our &s;ufferings de|lightful. How heavy is that yoke which is impos'd by an ungrateful hand! the Souldier pre&s;t to the &s;er|vice can hardly bear his arms: but he that is inrol'd by love thinks them light and bears them with plea&s;ure; the &s;lave that works in the Mines counts his very life a burthen: the niggard that works much harder likes well his drudgery, becau&s;e the love of riches is his task-ma&s;ter; he that &s;erves his ma&s;ter out of fear works faintly and with a heavy heart: he that &s;erves him out of love, doth it diligently and yet with chearfulne&s;s; the Chri&s;tian pilgrim who is driven heaven-ward with fears and terrors, goeth on with much reluctancy, and a &s;orrowful heart: he that is <HI>drawn with the cords of love,</HI> follows with joyfulne&s;s,
<PB N="73" REF="50">minds not the ruggedne&s;s of his way, and even rejoyceth in his weari|ne&s;s, becau&s;e it brings him nearer and nearer to his beloved: he that could &s;ay, <HI>the love of Chri&s;t con&s;traineth us,</HI> could &s;ay al&s;o, <HI>we rejoyce in tribula|tions;</HI> 'Twas the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> made primitive Chri&s;tians work hard and &s;uffer much,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nullomodo &s;unt oncro&s;i labores amantium, &s;ed etiam ip&s;i delectant, &s;icut venantium, pi&s;cantium: intere&s;t ergo quid ame|tur: nam in eo quod ama|tur, aut non laboratur, aut laber amatur.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> with com|fort and un&s;peakable joy: and 'tis for want of that &s;weet and Divine Love that Chri&s;tians now find &s;orrow and great difficulty in that little they do or &s;uffer for <HI>JE|SUS.</HI> The labours of love are ever plea&s;ant; nothing is hard, that love binds upon us.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="25" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 25. A farewel to all &s;in|ful de&s;ires.</HEAD>
<P>The&s;e con&s;iderations are now to be reduc'd into practice; And &s;o I come to enter upon <HI>the work and la|bour of love;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 6.10.</NOTE> I come to profe&s;s my &s;elf a lover of <HI>JESUS,</HI> and &s;o to approve my &s;elf by deeds and acti|ons. The love of <HI>JESUS</HI> hath prevail'd; I find my heart wound|ed; I can no longer re&s;i&s;t the charms of his love; he hath woed me &s;o long, and with &s;o much kindne&s;s,
<PB N="74" REF="51">that now my heart is his; I will <HI>love him, becau&s;e he fir&s;t loved me.</HI> Now it repenteth me that ever I rejected his &s;ute, that ever I was unkind to him; it grieveth me that ever I countenanc'd and prefer'd his rivals, the lu&s;ts of &s;en&s;uality, covetou&s;ne&s;s, and pride, which I renounc'd in my Bapti&s;m; I will now exclude them wholly; this is the fir&s;t mark <HI>JE|SUS</HI> &s;hall receive of my &s;incere af|fection to him, that I will entertain nor care&s;s no longer tho&s;e his ene|mies, with whom I have had an un|happy intelligence for too long a time; henceforth, if they come near me, I will indeavour to drive them away; if they come after me, I will flee; if they per&s;evere in their at|tempts, they &s;hall get nothing el&s;e, but &s;hame and denials. Away from me then, ye wicked &s;pirits, with all your tempting allurements, worldly vanities, deceitful riches, &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures; I remember that I re|nounc'd you all, when fir&s;t I gave up my name to <HI>JESUS,</HI> when he fir&s;t began to &s;hew and &s;eal his love to me, and to ingage mine I then re|nounc'd <HI>the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world,
<PB N="75" REF="51">with all covetous de&s;ires of the &s;ame, and the carnal de&s;ires of the fle&s;h;</HI> I now remember tho&s;e my ingage|ments, and grieve that I have not kept them: and therefore will hate you the more; that you made me forget my promi&s;es, and break my holy vows. Now will I be reveng'd of you, ye proud and ambitious de|&s;igns, lu&s;tful thoughts, greedy de|&s;ires of wealth; I will now kill and crucifie you. Henceforth, it &s;hall be my honour, that I am a Servant of <HI>JESUS;</HI> it &s;hall be my delight and plea&s;ure, that I am a lover of <HI>JE|SUS;</HI> and it &s;hall be my wealth, that he is mine as I am his. <HI>JESUS</HI> hath done and &s;uffered much to de|clare his love and to de&s;erve mine; he hath come down from heaven, and humbled him&s;elf to my mean and low condition; he hath liv'd poor and de&s;pi&s;ed; he hath been af|flicted and per&s;ecuted; he hath died for me; <HI>hereby I know that he loves me, becau&s;e he laid down his life for me,</HI> but ye his unworthy rivals never gave me any a&s;&s;urance of your affecti|on, never did, or &s;uffered any thing for me. <HI>JESUS</HI> expos'd him&s;elf to &s;hame, that I might become
<PB N="76" REF="52">glorious; indur'd pains, that I might have plea&s;ures; he became poor, that I might be enrich'd: but cove|tou&s;ne&s;s offers me riches, to pierce me through with many &s;orrows; lu&s;t inticeth me, to wound me, when I have con&s;ented to it; and pride promi&s;eth me honors, to cumber me and expo&s;e me to envy. <HI>JESUS</HI> is infinitely lovely, he is all perfecti|on and goodne&s;s; and he de&s;ires to be loved, not for any advantage of his own, but to make his lovers in|tirely and eternally happy: but you painted idols of abu&s;ed mortals, are in your &s;elves ugly, and even loath|&s;ome; though at a great di&s;tance, ye may &s;eem &s;omewhat fair, yet near at hand, ye are nothing but defor|mity; ye always prove vain and vexatious; ye &s;eek to enter mens hearts, only to tyrannize and tor|ment them, and betray them to eternal &s;orrows. <HI>JESUS</HI> is a true and con&s;tant lover, he ever owns his friends: he never fails them that love him; he helps them in their di&s;tre&s;&s;es; he comforts them in their &s;orrows; and when they die he &s;tands by them: but ye temporal deceitful plea&s;ures, are fal&s;e and in|con&s;tant;
<PB N="77" REF="52">ye for&s;ake your friends in their greate&s;t need; ye flatter them for a few Summer days, while the Sun &s;hines kindly upon them; but in the rigors of Winter, when an unpro&s;perous &s;torm ari&s;eth, you are gone, ye leave them to die com|fortle&s;s; they carry nothing of you, when they go from hence, but the bitter remembrance of your trea|cherou&s;ne&s;s. <HI>JESUS</HI> is a mo&s;t grateful lover, he ever returns love for love; he is ever found of them that &s;eek him; to them that de&s;ire him he ever gives him&s;elf; every true lover of <HI>JESUS</HI> is &s;ure to in|joy him: but you worldly injoyments are generally mo&s;t unkind to your mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionate lovers; ye flee from them that run after you; ye grieve and vex your greate&s;t admirers, ye are ever uncertain, fal&s;e and ungrate|ful. I will therefore never love you again; nay, I re&s;olve to hate and per&s;ecute you; to mortifie the lu&s;ts of my fle&s;h; to humble the pride of my heart, and overcome the cove|tous de&s;ires of my mind: but <HI>JE|SUS</HI> &s;hall reign in my heart; him will I love; him will I &s;erve; him will I indeavour to plea&s;e in all
<PB N="78" REF="53">things; I will be wholly his; there|fore I renounce all friend&s;hip with you that are his enemies; there can be no agreement betwixt the Holy <HI>JESUS</HI> and this &s;inful world; <HI>If any man love the world,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.15</NOTE> <HI>the love of the father is not in him.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="26" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 26. Of the an|tipathy be|twixt &s;in. and Je&s;us.</HEAD>
<P>Fle&s;hly lu&s;ts are again&s;t the purity of <HI>JESUS;</HI> pride is again&s;t his humility; and wordly-mindedne&s;s contrary to his heavenly promi|&s;es and his mercifulne&s;s. The&s;e are never to be reconcil'd with <HI>JESUS:</HI> they are mortal enemies, mortal I may call them, becau&s;e they were his murtherers, or ra|ther, becau&s;e he died to put them to death; <HI>We were not redeem'd with corruptible things, as &s;ilver and gold from our vain conver&s;ation, but with the precious blood of Chri&s;t: JESUS</HI> &s;hed his blood to redeem us, as well from the practice and commi&s;&s;ion, as from the puni&s;hment and de&s;tructi|on of &s;in. Nay, the fir&s;t is that which he chiefly de&s;ign'd, becau&s;e, though we &s;hould not be puni&s;h'd, yet if we remain in &s;in, we are un|happy: holine&s;s being the ultimate end, perfection, and happine&s;s of
<PB N="79" REF="53">man. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart,</HI> for <HI>without holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee God.</HI> S. <HI>Paul</HI> therefore &s;aying that <HI>Chri&s;t died unto &s;in,</HI> that is, to take away &s;in, infers from thence,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 6.</NOTE> <HI>that we being baptized into Chri&s;ts death, our old man is now crucified, that the body of &s;in might be de&s;troy'd, that henceforth we &s;hould not &s;erve &s;in;</HI> and S. <HI>Peter</HI> like|wi&s;e makes it the purpo&s;e, why <HI>Chri&s;t did bear our &s;ins</HI> (their puni&s;h|ment) <HI>on his own body, on the tree,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.24</NOTE> <HI>that we</HI> thereby <HI>being dead unto &s;in might live unto righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> Chri&s;t <HI>gave him&s;elf for us,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 1.4.</NOTE> <HI>that he might re|deem us from this pre&s;ent evil world.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.8.</NOTE> <HI>The Son of God was manife&s;ted that he might de&s;troy the works of the Devil.</HI> Sin is that which God hates above all things: &s;in is that which is mo&s;t contrary to his nature, and to our happine&s;s; and &s;o <HI>JESUS</HI> was crucified, that &s;in might be de|&s;troy'd, he died that &s;in might live no longer: and therefore I re|nounc'd all &s;in, the Devil and all his works, when <HI>JESUS</HI> own'd me for his friend and I own'd him for my Lord and Ma&s;ter, they are in|compatible, their incon&s;i&s;tency is irreconcilable; <HI>if I hold to the one, I
<PB N="80" REF="54">mu&s;t de&s;pi&s;e the other; if I love one, I mu&s;t hate the other.</HI> I will therefore, as I am mo&s;t bound, and as I have promis'd, for&s;ake &s;in and follow <HI>JESUS;</HI> I will fight again&s;t his enemies, and &s;ide with him again&s;t my own corrupt affections; while I have a being, I will love and obey <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="27" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 27. Of out|ward helps and means.</HEAD>
<P>Now, To effect this, means are to be us'd; for our hearts will not of a &s;udden be brought to a Religi|ous temper; 'tis not bare re&s;oluti|ons will make us re&s;i&s;t temptations when they a&s;&s;ault us, with their mo&s;t prevailing inticements, grace indeed is never wanting to us: but if we be wanting to our &s;elves, we re|ceive it in vain: if we &s;econd it not with our indeavours, we make it in|effectual. Now among private means of grace (for I &s;peak not of tho&s;e that may be had in the Church, in the di&s;pen&s;ation of the word and Sa|craments belonging to all) fa&s;ting, alms, and prayers, which are al&s;o acts of Religion may hold the fir&s;t rank. But be&s;ides them, there are other <HI>adminicula pietatis,</HI> in&s;truments of holy contrition, handmaids to de|votion,
<PB N="81" REF="54">which, though they be in|different, and uncommanded, yet may help to move our affections, and &s;ecure our duty. Such are re|tirement from the world, reading of good Books, pious Meditations, hum|ble pro&s;trations, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And (though needle&s;s &s;cruples and rejecting of Ancient Ceremonies, be now much in u&s;e and credit, yet) among&s;t them I will reckon, the &s;ign of the Cro&s;s, which was certainly us'd by Primitive Chri&s;tians very frequently, and yet without &s;uper&s;tition; there|by to vouch it to others, and even to them&s;elves, that they own'd <HI>JE|SUS</HI> Chri&s;t crucified for their Lord and Saviour: as al&s;o it was made upon our fore-heads in Holy Bapti&s;m, <HI>in token that we &s;hould not be a&s;hamed to profe&s;s the faith of Chri&s;t crucified,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Caro &s;igna|tur ut ani|ma munia|tur.</HI> Tert.</NOTE> <HI>and manfully to fight under his banner, again&s;t &s;in, the world, and the devil,</HI> &amp;c. And to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e we may u&s;e it on our &s;elves again, to te&s;tifie that we own the profe&s;&s;ion we then made, and tacite|ly to confirm and renew our vows of obedience, and fidelity; not to con|jure away &s;pirits, and work &s;uch feats as many intend it for, in the Church
<PB N="82" REF="55">of <HI>Rome:</HI> but to &s;trengthen our good re&s;olutions, by moving and affecting our hearts. Certain it is that nothing palpable or vi&s;ible may in this life, be the object of our wor&s;hip; it may have &s;ome power on the heart as well as what comes in by the ear; but though it have the warrant of antiquity, yet it may not &s;erve any further than only to &s;tir up our dull affections, and rai&s;e holy pa&s;&s;ions in us. But, if we &s;incerely for&s;ake our &s;ins, and evidence our love to <HI>JESUS,</HI> 'tis not greatly mate|rial what means or in&s;truments we u&s;e.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="28" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 28. Meditation on the pa&s;&s;ion.</HEAD>
<P><HI>My love is crucified,</HI> &s;aid that loving and holy Mar|tyr <HI>Ignatius,</HI> declaring how earne&s;tly he wi&s;h't to die for <HI>JESUS:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> and &s;o, con&s;i|dering the pa&s;&s;ion of <HI>JE|SUS,</HI> I meditate with him; <HI>My love is crucified,</HI> my deare&s;t Saviour dies in mo&s;t bitter pains; he hath been rudely bound and drag'd from place to place; he hath been &s;tript, tied to a po&s;t, and whipt like a vile &s;lave; he hath been buffetted and caned,
<PB N="83" REF="55">and abus'd with all manner of con|tumelies; and now I &s;ee him crown'd with thorns, all over &s;pittle and blood. I &s;ee him &s;tretch'd upon the cro&s;s, where his hands and his feet are nail'd; his head hangs down; I read in his pale face and his weep|ing eyes, the extremity of his pain, the angui&s;h of his wounded &s;oul. Lord art thou he whom my &s;oul loveth?
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>O Domine Je&s;u Chri|&s;te, &s;i intelligentia quam mihi dedi&s;ti uti vellem &s;i|cut deberem, cernerem manife&s;te, quo modo, imo quam &s;ine modo, &agrave; me cre|atura tua amari merueris, qui prior dilexi&s;ti me; tan|tus &amp; tantum, &amp; gratis, tantillum, &amp; talem, &amp; ingratum.</HI> Idiot.</NOTE> art thou my deare&s;t <HI>JESUS!</HI> were it my father, my bro|ther, my friend, or my benefactor that &s;hould &s;uf|fer this unde&s;ervedly, how would I pitty them! but &s;hould they &s;uffer this up|on my account, Lord I could not outlive &s;uch a &s;ight! if nothing el&s;e, love would certainly wound my &s;oul to death. But behold it is &s;o; this crucified, this dying man is my father, he gave me my being; he is my brother, he came down from heaven and took humane fle&s;h, that he might have that relation to me; he is my friend, he lays down his life to &s;ave mine; he is my greate&s;t benefactor, from him I receive all I have; all the ble&s;&s;ings,
<PB N="84" REF="56">the good things I injoy I owe to his kindne&s;s.</P>
<P>But heark, methinks I hear him &s;peak to me the&s;e pathetick, the&s;e moving words; Chri&s;tian, deare&s;t Chri&s;tian for whom here I die; con|&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly, imprint it in thine heart, what in my words, what in my my&s;teries, thou reade&s;t of my &s;uffering for thee; con&s;ider who I am, what I indure, and to what end. I am the eternal Son of God whom the Angels adore: I became Man to make thee partaker of the Divine Nature; I am infinitely rich, the whole univer&s;e is mine: I became thus de&s;titute of all things to pur|cha&s;e true riches for thee; I am of an Almighty Power, the whole world was made and &s;ub&s;i&s;ts by me: I am now weak to make thee &s;trong I am overcome of mine enemies to make thee conquer thine; I am crown'd with glory, and cloth'd with Maje|&s;ty: I now wear the&s;e thorns, and am become naked, to clothe thee with robes of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Crown thee with a Royal Diadem; I am the inexhau&s;tible fountain of joy and happine&s;s: I now indure &s;or|rows and mi&s;eries, to make thee
<PB N="85" REF="56">joyful and happy; I am infinitely pure and innocent: I am become a &s;acrifice for &s;in, to merit thy par|don, and to &s;anctifie and make thee holy; I am the Author of life, <HI>the fir&s;t and the la&s;t:</HI> I now die to make thee live for ever: nothing but love moves me thus to &s;uffer for thee,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>This us'd to be written under Cru|cifixes.</P>
<LG>
<L>A&s;pice &s;erve Dei, &s;ic me po&s;uere Judaei.</L>
<L>A&s;pice mortalis, pro te da|tur ho&s;tia talis.</L>
<L>A&s;pice devote, quoniam &s;ic pendeo pro te.</L>
<L>Introitum vitae reddo tibi, redde mihi te.</L>
<L>In cruce &s;um pro te, qui peceas de&s;ine pro me.</L>
<L>De&s;ine, do veniam, dic culpam, corrige vitam.</L>
</LG></NOTE> and no|thing but love I require for it. Deare&s;t &s;oul, thy &s;ins are more grievous to me than my wounds; add not &s;orrow to my &s;orrow by remaining impenitent; de|ny not this reque&s;t to thy dying bleeding Saviour that thou would&s;t mortifie thy lu&s;ts and for&s;ake thy &s;ins; all that is pa&s;t I heartily forgive, if thou become&s;t true penitent. I freely give my &s;elf for thee, and beg that thou would&s;t give thy &s;elf to me.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="29" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 29. Prote&s;tations of love to JESUS.</HEAD>
<P>What &s;hall I &s;ay, now deare&s;t Lord? Words can|not an&s;wer thee. I am amaz'd, I am a&s;toni&s;hed, I know not how to &s;peak, my tongue
<PB N="86" REF="57">cannot expre&s;s what my heart feels. Lord I will &s;ay nothing! I will an&s;wer with &s;ighs and tears, with devout affections, by re&s;igning and giving up my body and &s;oul to thee. I will an&s;wer by obedience, by actions, by now falling to work to reform my life, to mortifie my &s;inful lu&s;ts, to cut off the members of the body of &s;in. Sweete&s;t <HI>JESU,</HI> I will love thee with all the affecti|ons my heart can entertain; no bo|&s;ome &s;in &s;hall be &s;o dear to me, but for thy &s;ake I will heartily part with it; no lu&s;t &s;hall be &s;o plea&s;ing, but I will kill it, at thy reque&s;t and com|mand; even my natural de&s;ires and inclinations will I gladly deny, when they come in competition with that duty and love I owe, and ever will pay <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="30" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&s;ect;. 30. Of a &s;in|cere a|mendment.</HEAD>
<P>But fickle and unhappy creatures, that we are, we often promi&s;e well, but &s;eldome &s;tand to our ingage|ments; our re&s;olutions are good and our performances very defective; <HI>The &s;pirit is willing, but the fle&s;h is weak.</HI> I mu&s;t not therefore re&s;t in generals, but I mu&s;t re&s;olve more e&s;pecially again&s;t tho&s;e &s;ins I am in|clined
<PB N="87" REF="57">to: and not only again&s;t them, but al&s;o upon the means whereby I may overcome and mortifie them; as avoiding the occa&s;ions and intice|ments, inflicting on my &s;elf &s;uch &s;e|verities, as may be proper reme|dies, and tying my &s;elf to &s;uch pious exerci&s;es, as I know will drive away the temptation. To for&s;ake my &s;ins, is not to forbear drunkenne&s;s, when perhaps I am not inclined to it; or to avoid &s;wearing, when I look upon it as an unplea&s;ing and unprofitable &s;in; or to hate covetou&s;ne&s;s, when by nature I am liberal: but, knowing what &s;in plea&s;eth me mo&s;t, what vice my temper inclines me to, and what temptation is mo&s;t &s;trong and im|portunate upon me, by my calling or my company, again&s;t that to for|tifie my &s;elf, and imploy the utmo&s;t of my &s;trength; again&s;t that to watch and pray, and u&s;e &s;incere and earne&s;t indeavours. To for|&s;ake my &s;ins, is not to &s;ay, I will for|&s;ake them. Some men, when they are call'd upon by fear, adver&s;ity, or the &s;ecret voice of God within them, are forward enough to ingage with the Elder Brother in the Go&s;pel, <HI>Lord, I will go and work in thy vine|yard:</HI>
<PB N="88" REF="58">but their hot zeal and ha&s;ty promi&s;e, &s;oon decays into negli|gence, and at la&s;t into a cold denial. Though I re&s;olve again&s;t my natural corruptions never &s;o &s;eriou&s;ly, that will not &s;ubdue them, without I u&s;e proper means for it; to <HI>take up my cro&s;s and follow Chri&s;t,</HI> to <HI>for&s;ake all for him,</HI> to <HI>deny my &s;elf,</HI> to <HI>take the kingdom of heaven by force,</HI> to <HI>cut off my right hand, and pluck out mine eye when they offend,</HI> is more than barely to re&s;olve,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 5.24.</NOTE> and promi&s;e high, and proceed no further. <HI>They that are Chri&s;ts have,</HI> not only verbally re|nounc'd, but actually <HI>crucified the fle&s;h, with the affections and lu&s;ts:</HI> therefore now, I have given up my &s;elf to Chri&s;t, and de&s;ire ever to be his, I mu&s;t pray heartily, and watch diligently again&s;t my &s;ins, tho&s;e e&s;pecially that are mo&s;t plea|&s;ing and cu&s;tomary to me; I mu&s;t, like S. <HI>Paul, not fight in the air</HI> again&s;t generals, <HI>but keep under my body, be temperate in all things,</HI> and &s;trive to the utmo&s;t for the <HI>incorruptible crown;</HI> I mu&s;t u&s;e that violence to my &s;elf, &s;uch har&s;h applications, acts of penance and mortification, of my own or the Spiritual Phy&s;icians ap|pointment,
<PB N="89" REF="58">as are fit and requi&s;ite to cure my di&s;temper, to expel or reform that evil inclination which is incon&s;i&s;tent with my love to <HI>JE|SUS.</HI> To that end it will be very u&s;eful frequently to meditate on the pa&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t, the day of our change, our appearance in judge|ment, the joys of heaven, the tor|ments of hell, and the amazing con|&s;ideration of Eternity: and I am per&s;waded, and will therefore &s;peak it plain, (though to the di&s;like of mo&s;t Di&s;&s;enters) that it might be very profitable, a great token of &s;in|cerity, and an excellent in&s;trument of reformation, to acquaint the Spi|ritual Judge and Phy&s;ician, with the &s;tate of our Con&s;cience and the di|&s;tempers of our &s;ouls, to &s;ubmit to his impo&s;itions, to follow his coun|&s;els, and carefully ob&s;erve his pre|&s;criptions. This is recommended to us by Divine Authority, the gene|ral practice of the Chri&s;tian Church, while of late, and the greater Piety of our Ance&s;tors: and it would be a good remedy again&s;t our ignorance, the wrong judgment we make of our &s;elves, our &s;elf-love and partiality, our inward doubts and tormenting
<PB N="90" REF="59">fears, and our reigning lu&s;ts and mo&s;t common temptations. <HI>Every man that &s;triveth for the ma&s;tery is tempe|rate in all things; now they do it to ob|tain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible:</HI> He that would van|qui&s;h his antagoni&s;t, was in the fir&s;t place to vanqui&s;h him&s;elf, to indure hard&s;hip and &s;everity, and u&s;e all in|deavours for the victory, for a fa|ding garland: &s;o he that will over|come his lu&s;ts, and ma&s;ter him&s;elf, and obtain that heavenly crown which never fadeth, mu&s;t u&s;e great indu&s;try, many arts, all means that can conduce to that end.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="31" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 31. Love will work the be&s;t Refor|mation.</HEAD>
<P>But the voluminous directions of Ca&s;ui&s;ts and Confe&s;&s;ioni&s;ts cannot reach all ca&s;es and all particulars: to &s;horten our labour therefore, let the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> do the work of &s;elf-reformation and it will be &s;oon|e&s;t and be&s;t done. Love will find out the mo&s;t effectual means for the extermination of our &s;ins, and love will u&s;e them to the be&s;t purpo&s;e. Certain it is, that love in all in&s;tan|ces, &s;ets men upon acts of &s;elf-de|nial; as great Generals and many more, who forego the peaceable in|joyment
<PB N="91" REF="59">of the comforts they might have at home, and expo&s;e them|&s;elves to dangers, becau&s;e they love honour; merchants who for&s;ake their deare&s;t relations, and run through many great troubles and perils, be|cau&s;e they love gain; and the more generous love of friend&s;hip, which hath caus'd many to chu&s;e great in|conveniences and even death to &s;erve their friends: and therefore certain it is al&s;o that the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> will make his yoke and even his cro&s;s ea&s;ie; will make us deny our &s;elves and forbear what di&s;plea&s;eth him, though otherwi&s;e plea&s;ing to us. That men might be without excu&s;e, God hath made a &s;hort work upon the earth:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>&V;t nemo habet excu&s;a|tionem in die judicii vo|luit Dous, &s;icut &s;criptum e&s;t, con&s;ummare &amp; abbre|viare verbum &s;uper ter|ram.</HI> Aug. de Doct. Chri|&s;tiana. l. 1. c. 1.</NOTE>
<Q REND="margQuotes">(&s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI>) by con|tracting his immen&s;ity into the narrow dimen|&s;ions of man, he hath abbreviated his doctrine and our talk.</Q> <HI>JESUS</HI> is the Center and the &s;um of our Faith and Religion, and the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> is the content of our duty. <HI>I have determined,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.2.</NOTE> (&s;aith S. <HI>Paul) not to know any thing among you &s;ave Je&s;us Chri&s;t and him crucified,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1.24.</NOTE> and <HI>we preach
<PB N="93" REF="60">Chri&s;t crucified, to the Jews a &s;tumbling block, and to the Greeks fooli&s;hne&s;s: but to them that are called, Chri&s;t the power of God, and the wi&s;dom of God,</HI> that is, in whom God fully reveals his will, and gives us full power to fulfil it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 6.14.</NOTE> Therefore (&s;aith the Apo|&s;tle) <HI>God forbid that I &s;hould glory &s;ave in the Cro&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t my Lord; by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.</HI> The knowledge and love of <HI>JESUS,</HI> our Crucified Saviour, is the mo&s;t proper means to teach us our duty, the greate&s;t motive to undertake it, and the be&s;t in&s;trument to perform and effect it withal; it will kill our lu&s;ts, crucifie the members of the body of &s;in, and carry us through the labours and difficulties of penitence and &s;incere amendment: it will be the fulfilling of repentance, as it is <HI>the fulfilling of the law.</HI></P>
<P>For, as love is &s;trong to overcome &s;trong enemies, to kill the greate&s;t &s;ins: &s;o it is wi&s;e and quick&s;ighted to &s;ee and to find out the lea&s;t. A loving friend will not only not &s;lander and defame his friend, not rob, or &s;trike, or murther him: but will for|bear all words and actions which
<PB N="92" REF="60">might bring him the lea&s;t grief or inconvenience; love will not only not give the greate&s;t provocations; but even not di&s;oblige or di&s;plea&s;e in the lea&s;t in&s;tances. And &s;o, if my love to <HI>JESUS</HI> be &s;incere, it will not only keep me from confederation with his profe&s;t and greate&s;t ene|mies, but even make me &s;hun and for&s;ake the mo&s;t &s;ecret and contemp|tible of them: I mean that the love of <HI>JESUS</HI> will never &s;uffer me to entertain any the lea&s;t &s;in; and, whenever I find that I have been un|happily &s;educ'd to commit any, it will cau&s;e me to grieve and &s;adly to repent, that I have di&s;plea&s;ed my deare&s;t Saviour, and wounded that tender love I have for him. And in|deed, it is reported of many devout per&s;ons, great lovers of <HI>JESUS,</HI> that they would &s;orrow and weep for ordinary failings, for &s;mall omi&s;&s;ions, more than others would, for much greater &s;ins. Divine Love, like a bright burning flame, will feel a commotion and di&s;turbance by the lea&s;t drop of water that falls upon it: a &s;mall irregularity will be more grie|vous to a pious lover of <HI>JESUS,</HI> than great crimes to another. There|fore
<PB N="94" REF="61">he that could &s;ay, <HI>the love of Chri&s;t con&s;traineth us,</HI> would al&s;o high|ly complain, and groan under the &s;en&s;e of our unavoidable imperfecti|ons;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 7.24.</NOTE> <HI>O wretched man that I am, who &s;hall deliver me from the body of this death?</HI> Nothing will make us more &s;en&s;ible of our lea&s;t and mo&s;t com|mon &s;ins, than the love of <HI>JESUS;</HI> it will make us angry at, and impa|tient of them, and earne&s;t and &s;evere in reforming of them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="32" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 32. The exer|ci&s;e of re|pentance.</HEAD>
<P>So then as I profe&s;s my &s;elf a lo|ver, a &s;incere and affectionate lover of <HI>JESUS,</HI> I am oblig'd to un|do, as much as may be, what I have done ami&s;s, and to do it no more: this I heartily re&s;olve to do, and I hope &s;hall really perform by the grace and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of my God. I will make amends and re&s;titution to tho&s;e I have damnified in body, goods, or name, and even ask their pardon for the injury: and then bewail my &s;ins, grieve that I have offended my Divine and loving Ma&s;ter, and beg his forgivene&s;s, and indeavour by tears and contrition to wa&s;h away the &s;tains and &s;pots wherewith my &s;oul is polluted, and di&s;plea&s;eth the
<PB N="95" REF="61">holy eyes of the Holy <HI>JESUS;</HI> and &s;o, to love <HI>JESUS</HI> binds upon me the whole exerci&s;e of repentance, which now mu&s;t be work of my life; I am henceforth to live the life of a penitent, and I re&s;olve &s;o to do; therefore, every night, I mu&s;t call my ways to remembrance and be|&s;ides tho&s;e greater provocations, wherewith I offended my God in the days of my folly and incon&s;ideration, I am to take notice of tho&s;e &s;ins of daily incur&s;ion I am fallen into the la&s;t day, and weep over them all, and beg for pardon; &amp; this e&s;pecially upon tho&s;e times appointed for mortifica|tion and acts of punitive repentance, <HI>Fridays, Lent,</HI> and others; wherein devout Chri&s;tians make it their more &s;olemn indeavours to &s;often their hearts and make them melt into pe|nitent tears: which mu&s;t be done by Religious exerci&s;es and &s;uch medita|tions as this.</P>
<P>My deare&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> I owe to thy kinde&s;t goodne&s;s, my being and all the ble&s;&s;ings I injoy; and I know that thou did&s;t come down from hea|ven to die on the Cro&s;s, that I might not die in hell to eternity; to &s;uffer a bitter and &s;hameful death, that I
<PB N="96" REF="62">might live in eternal joys. I hope to &s;ee thy glorious face, one day; I hope to receive a crown from thy gracious hands; I hope to dwell in thy bli&s;sful &s;ociety for ever, deare&s;t Sa|viour, if thou wer't upon earth, I would go all the world over to pro|&s;trate my &s;elf before thee, to ki&s;s the ground thy Holy Feet &s;hould tread, to &s;erve thee, to &s;hew my love and gratitude to thee. Deare&s;t Lord, I would now joyfully give up my life for thee; I would lo&s;e the la&s;t drop of my blood to plea&s;e and glorifie thee; I would die rather than deny thee. Why then, unhappy wretch that I am, do I offend thee, to whom I owe my &s;elf, and all that I have? Why do I wound thee by my tran&s;gre&s;&s;i|ons, who was wounded for them, by thy love? Why do I grieve thee, who purcha&s;e&s;t eternal joys for me? Why do I di&s;plea&s;e thee, with whom I hope to live and dwell, and from whom I expect mercy and Salva|tion? Why do I &s;in again&s;t thee, whom I love with all my &s;oul? and why do not I live to thee, for whom I would die.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="33" TYPE="section">
<PB N="97" REF="62">
<HEAD>&sect;. 33. Is made ea&s;ie by love.</HEAD>
<P>Such con&s;iderations and &s;olilo|quies as the&s;e will produce not only <HI>lachrymas doloris,</HI> tears of grief, but al&s;o <HI>lachrymas amoris,</HI> tears of love and true contrition; and moreover, all the &s;everities of repentance which are &s;o unacceptable and &s;o repug|nant to nature will be made plea|&s;ant: tho&s;e things that would be un|grateful, as acts of ju&s;tice and obedi|ence, will become delightful as acts of love; <HI>in amore nihil amari,</HI> in love all things are &s;weet that are done or &s;uffer'd, for the &s;ake of the beloved. <HI>I take plea&s;ure in infirmities,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.10.</NOTE> <HI>in re|proaches, in nece&s;&s;ities, in per&s;ecutions, in di&s;tre&s;&s;es for Chri&s;ts &s;ake,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul,</HI> that great lover of <HI>JESUS;</HI> not that tho&s;e things are of their own na|ture plea&s;ant, whether inflicted by our &s;elves or others; 'twas <HI>for Chri&s;ts &s;ake</HI> that he like't them. He that by pe|nitent &s;orrow, and acts of &s;elf-denial &s;hews his love to <HI>JESUS,</HI> is certainly delighted with the mo&s;t afflictive of tho&s;e voluntary &s;ufferings, as they are expre&s;&s;ions of his love. Accordingly 'tis &s;aid of the Religious of S. <HI>Ber|nard,</HI> that their watchings, and fa&s;tings, and all the &s;everities of their rule
<PB N="98" REF="63">were become &s;o plea&s;ant to them, by the devoutne&s;s of their affections, that they were afraid of having their paradi&s;e in this world, and con&s;ulted S. <HI>Bernard</HI> about it. And certainly no|thing but love could carry the pri|mitive <HI>&s;olitaries</HI> and <HI>Coenobites</HI> through that unea&s;ine&s;s and hard&s;hip they willingly undertook, and indur'd many years, and rejoyc'd in, and would not have exchang'd for all the plea&s;ures in the world.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="34" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 34. And pro|ceeds not from me|lancholy.</HEAD>
<P>Perhaps it will be &s;aid, that &s;uch things are the effect of melancholy or a forward and mi&s;guided zeal, not of true piety. But let it be con&s;ider'd, that natural love it &s;elf hath done, and &s;till doth wonderful things. The love of friend&s;hip, the love of lu&s;t, the love of riches and ambition have &s;et men upon difficult attempts, have made them de&s;pi&s;e great dangers, have carried them through many labours and &s;ufferings, and per|haps as great as the mo&s;t morti|fied Chri&s;tian ever undertook for <HI>JESUS,</HI> and Eternity. This hath been and is &s;till the effect of Natural Love, and &s;ure Divine Love, who&s;e object is &s;o infinitely
<PB N="99" REF="63">more excellent, may do at lea&s;t as much.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, things temporal &s;eem great at a di&s;tance; but near at hand, they appear, as they are indeed, mean and contemptible: whereas contrariwi&s;e, things eternal, as they &s;eem &s;mall and de&s;picable afar off, &s;o near at hand they appear great and immen&s;e, they overwhelm the mind. Hence it is, that dying men who are on the brink of eternity, are amaz'd at the thoughts and near pro|&s;pect of it, and expre&s;s great regret for their pa&s;t incon&s;ideration, and promi&s;e great things for the future, if they might live longer: looking up|on the world, as an empty nothing, not to be regarded where eternity appears; and hence it is al&s;o, that they who approach things eternal, and view them by meditation and contemplation, are of the &s;ame mind, have the &s;ame apprehen&s;ions of them, and act accordingly: doing tho&s;e things which dying men repent they have not doue; for indeed, it is no illu&s;ion or deceit, but a great and real truth, that the world and all it's concerns are nothing, compar'd to eternity: and that we can never
<PB N="100" REF="64">be too careful to obtain eternal joys, and avoid eternal &s;orrows. How much the Ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tles and pri|mitive Chri&s;tians were acted by this con&s;ideration,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.16, &amp;c.</NOTE> S. <HI>Paul</HI> gives us to un|der&s;tand, &s;aying, that whil&s;t they look't not on things vi&s;ible and tran|&s;itory, but on things invi&s;ible and eternal, then their afflictions were <HI>light and but for a moment;</HI> though, they la&s;ted many years, and were &s;o great, that the very thoughts of them can make us tremble, yet they were light &amp; momentary, whil&s;t they look'd on eternity: and <HI>they fainted not, though their outward man decay'd daily,</HI> by their great mortifications, and their laborious zeal to &s;erve God: and all this, <HI>whil&s;t we look not on the things that are &s;een, but on the things which are not &s;een: for the things which are &s;een are temporal, but the things which are not &s;een are eternal;</HI> So that it is the effect of a wi&s;e and mo&s;t ra|tional con&s;ideration, to value and love him above all things, who by dy|ing for us; hath re&s;cu'd us from eter|nal ruine, and obtain'd eternal hap|pine&s;s for us: and to make it appear by all means po&s;&s;ible, doing or &s;uf|fering any thing that may manife&s;t
<PB N="101" REF="64">our love to <HI>JESUS,</HI> and a&s;&s;ure us of a ble&s;&s;ed eternity. It may ju&s;tly be fear'd that the indevotion and lukewarmne&s;s of very many, not the wor&s;t of Chri&s;tians, will not make them acceptable to God, who de|clares that he will <HI>&s;pue them out of his mouth that are neither hot nor cold:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 3.16.</NOTE> and that their carele&s;sne&s;s and indiffe|rency in religious duties, will hardly &s;ecure their eternal intere&s;t: How|ever I think that it is a &s;hame, to &s;ee <HI>Benedictins, Franci&s;cans, Car|thu&s;ians',</HI> and others, for&s;ake the merriments, plea&s;ures and honors of the world, ri&s;e up early and late go to re&s;t, wear nothing but Cilices and coar&s;e cloth, feed poorly and lie hard: and all this, and much more to ob&s;erve the Rule of S. <HI>Bruno,</HI> S. <HI>Fran|cis,</HI> or &s;ome other fan&s;ieful or me|lancholy <HI>Devoto,</HI> who oblig'd them to &s;ome ab&s;urd, &s;ome needle&s;s, and many unea&s;ie ob&s;ervations: from whom they never receiv'd any bene|fit, and from whom they can ex|pect no kind of remuneration: and at the &s;ame time to &s;ee Chri&s;tians nice and dainty, unwilling to deprive them&s;elves of any plea&s;ure, or to un|dergo any thing of hard&s;hip, for to
<PB N="102" REF="65">ob&s;erve the mo&s;t rea&s;onable, holy, and advantageous Rule of Chri&s;t; from whom they have receiv'd the greate&s;t favours, from whom they expect the greate&s;t rewards, and to who&s;e &s;er|vice and obedience they have devo|ted them&s;elves, by a &s;olemn vow, in holy Bapti&s;m.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="35" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 35. Corporal Au&s;terities may plea&s;e God.</HEAD>
<P>Now if it be doubted whether vo|luntary Corporal Au&s;terities be ac|ceptable to God, I an&s;wer, that the example of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, which we are to imitate and follow, makes it unque&s;tionable; be&s;ides tho&s;e Scri|ptures which command us to <HI>deny our &s;elves,</HI> to <HI>take up our Cro&s;s,</HI> to <HI>cut off even hands and feet,</HI> when they make us offend, and that declaration of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 6.18.</NOTE> <HI>when ye fa&s;t, be not as the hypocrites,</HI> (fa&s;ting compre|hends all external mortifications, which Chri&s;t appoints not when, and how to be us'd: but leaves to our free choi&s;e and the determination of the Church, only declaring how much God is pleas'd with them) <HI>but anoint thy head and wa&s;h thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fa&s;t, but to thy father which is in &s;ecret, and thy father which &s;ees in &s;ecret, &s;hall re|ward
<PB N="103" REF="65">thee openly;</HI> the &s;ame that is promis'd to Prayers, and alms. The&s;e, I &s;ay, make it as clear as the light, that God recommends, accepts, and rewards &s;pontaneous acts of Mortifi|cation, when perform'd without hy|pocri&s;ie or o&s;tentation. They are in&s;truments of Religion, whereby our lu&s;ts are &s;ubdu'd, the body kept under, and the &s;pirit it &s;elf mortifi|ed; they are marks of the &s;incerity of our &s;orrow,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Homo paeni|tent est homo &s;ibi iratus.</NOTE> of our regret to have offended God, and our anger again&s;t our &s;elves for it; and they are te&s;ti|monials of our love, when we thus take Gods cau&s;e in hand, puni&s;hing the offender for pa&s;t offences, and &s;eeking to prevent others that might follow. For this I dare appeal to the true lovers of <HI>JESUS,</HI> who need|ed not this digre&s;&s;ion, to convince them that acts of &s;elf-denial are plea&s;ing to God, and plea&s;ing to them&s;elves.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t therefore, the better to declare my love to <HI>JESUS,</HI> upon appointed days e&s;pecially, or al&s;o at other times, as occa&s;ion may be of|fered, either inflict on my &s;elf vo|luntary afflictions, or deprive my &s;elf of lawful plea&s;ures; as that pious
<PB N="104" REF="66">Prince who pour'd out to God that water,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 23.16.</NOTE> which he thir&s;ted exceeding|ly: &s;ometimes in the matter of meat and drink, <HI>put a knife to my throat,</HI> when I might indulge to it; remem|bring how in that matter I have of|fended, and inwardly &s;peaking my grief for it, and my de&s;ire of the food of Angels, the dainties of the <HI>great Supper of the Lamb:</HI> &s;ometimes forbear a merry meeting, and devote to charity what I &s;hould &s;pend on my recreation; and &s;o, in many innu|merable other ca&s;es, as opportunity, and the &s;ecret whi&s;pers of love &s;hall &s;ugge&s;t; and all this, without &s;cru|ple, without affectation, without pride: for, where we are not bound, &s;uch things may be omitted, &s;o the great duty of contrition and love be &s;ecure.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="36" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 36. Not to re|turn again to our &s;ins when temp|tations re|turn.</HEAD>
<P>But the be&s;t half of repentance is yet behind; that which is mo&s;t to be attended to, that which I mu&s;t chief|ly de&s;ign in all acts of mortification is, that I return no more to tho&s;e &s;ins for the which I grieve and afflict my &s;elf. The occa&s;ions and inticements of &s;in will doubtle&s;s come again; my thoughts will not always be fix'd up|on
<PB N="105" REF="66">on Divine Objects, my mind will re|turn to the world; my pa&s;&s;ions will be di&s;orderly and my appetite un|ruly again: how &s;hall I &s;tand, and re&s;i&s;t, and be &s;afe, in the time of danger, in the hour of tryal and temptation? I re&s;olve to lift up my &s;oul to <HI>JESUS</HI> and beg his a&s;&s;i&s;t|ance; I will remember my vows and ingagements, how much I am bound to love and obey <HI>JESUS</HI> rather than my lu&s;ts, and how much a gainer I &s;hall be by it.</P>
<P>Thus, when a provocation to an|ger is given, and I find my heart ri&s;e, and my &s;pirits take fire and grow turbulent, in&s;tead of giving way to pa&s;&s;ion, or &s;uffering that it &s;hould proceed to hatred and re|venge, I will turn a&s;ide and check my &s;elf with the remembrance of my meeke&s;t Saviour,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.21.</NOTE> <HI>who was led as a lamb to the &s;laughter and opened not his mouth, who, when he was revil'd, reviled not again, when he &s;uffered the greate&s;t injuries, yet u&s;ed no threatning, leaving us an exemple that we &s;hould follow his &s;teps.</HI> I will remember how ill it becomes me to be angry with others, who have &s;o much rea|&s;on to be angry with my &s;elf for ha|ving
<PB N="106" REF="67">&s;o highly and frequently, pro|vok'd my God to anger; I will con|fider how ill it becomes me to be revengeful and &s;evere to others, when all my hopes, and all my hap|pine&s;s depend upon forbearance and mercy; I will think of, and fear that ju&s;t exprobration of my Lord again&s;t the revengeful, <HI>thou wicked &s;ervant, &s;hould&s;t thou not have had compa&s;&s;ion on thy fellow &s;ervant, as I had pity on thee;</HI> and I will remember that it is <HI>JESUS</HI> who died for me, <HI>JE|SUS</HI> for whom I would die, who intercedes for mine enemies, and will rejoyce that I have &s;ome of that kind of love to repay to him, which he &s;hewed me when I was his enemy;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 13.34.</NOTE> <HI>&s;icut ego vos,</HI> as <HI>I have lo|ved you, that ye al&s;o love one another.</HI> If lu&s;t inticeth me to acts of impuri|ty, I will call to mind the corrupti|on and di&s;&s;olution of this vile body of &s;in; I will think on my la&s;t ac|count, the day of judgment, and the dreadful flames of hell; and I will remember him, who for me was crucified and with whom my love hath crucified me; and that now is the time to make it appear that I love him, to ju&s;tifie the &s;incerity of
<PB N="107" REF="67">my prote&s;tations; and &s;o, for co|vetou&s;ne&s;s, pride, intemperance, and all &s;uch temptations, I will reject their attempts and profers, with in|dignation, as a true friend would &s;corn the &s;olicitations to betray his friend. What, &s;hall I be fal&s;e to him I love, to him that loveth me, who hath &s;hed his bloud for me, and to whom I have often prote&s;ted that I would die for him? &s;hall I break the &s;acred bonds of love, and my mo&s;t &s;acred vows, and put my &s;oul into a &s;tate of regret, unquietne&s;s, &s;hame and &s;orrow for this vile tran|&s;itory profit or plea&s;ure? O my dear|e&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> thou knowe&s;t that I love thee; I be&s;eech thee, make that love victorious again&s;t thine ene|mies and mine. I would die rather than deny thee, for any intere&s;t in the world: and I hope thou wilt not deny me at the la&s;t day, but own me among thy faithful friends. Lord, I &s;erve thee not for nothing; great are the rea&s;ons why I &s;hould obey thee: thou ha&s;t done much for me, and from thee I &s;till expect much, infinite rewards for &s;uch due and poor &s;er|vices; Lord, let me die before I deli|berately &s;in again&s;t thee.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="37" TYPE="section">
<PB N="108" REF="68">
<HEAD>&sect;. 37. To do what we do cheerfully.</HEAD>
<P>Thus, by love I re&s;olve to con|quer my &s;elf, to deny and mortifie my lu&s;ts; by love, I will &s;trive to overcome all unlawful de&s;ires, all &s;inful motions: and then I &s;hall re|joyce in the victory. It &s;hall not make me peevi&s;h and moro&s;e, churl|i&s;h and &s;evere to others, but rather cheerful and contented, gentle and affable: &s;o that it &s;hall be &s;een by my outward deportment, how much plea&s;ure and tranquillity my &s;oul hath inwardly: that I rejoyce in what I do for Chri&s;t; that it is delici|ous to me to deny my &s;elf for his &s;ake, to oblige &s;o great, &s;o true, &s;o gene|rous a friend as <HI>JESUS,</HI> who hath done all acts of friend&s;hip for me, and owns me for his friend. <HI>I call you not &s;ervants but friends,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 13.14</NOTE> <HI>ye are my friends indeed, if ye do what&s;oever I have commanded you.</HI> Tho&s;e that are ac|counted gallant men in the world will venture their lives to &s;econd a friend in an idle and unchri&s;tian quarel: and their wounds they bear with courage and count them honourable, <HI>'Twas to &s;erve a friend;</HI> How much more &s;hould I rejoyce in that violence I offer to my appetites and unruly de&s;ires, for to
<PB N="109" REF="68">plea&s;e and &s;erve my heavenly, my be&s;t, my deare&s;t friend, whom I can never love &s;o much as he de&s;erves: and in loving of whom, I am infi|nitely happier than if I &s;hould injoy all the plea&s;ures of &s;in, as long as I live; I only grieve and am di&s;pleas'd that I can do &s;o little for him, that I can requite his love no better. I know that many per&s;ons have done far more for their le&s;s-de&s;erving friends, than I do for <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="38" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 38. A &s;ingular example of humane love.</HEAD>
<P><Q REND="margQuotes">It is reported by <HI>Greek</HI> hi&s;torians of two loving &s;i&s;ters, <HI>Eudoxia</HI> and <HI>Irenea</HI> daughters to the la&s;t unhappy Prince of <HI>Morea,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Niceph. Gregor. Chalcondy&s;.</NOTE> who with his life lo&s;t his crown and countrey; that an uncle &s;aved them from the general de&s;olation and captivity which &s;oon &s;ucceeded the lo&s;t battel, and carried them to old <HI>Andronicus</HI> their kin&s;man, then Emperor of <HI>Con&s;tantinople.</HI> There, with pity, they found a kind well-come and as great re|&s;pects as they could wi&s;h. Their beauty, their vertues and accom|pli&s;hments &s;urpa&s;t their princely
<PB N="110" REF="69">birth, and were as eminent as their fortune was low: &s;o that young <HI>An|dronicus</HI> who was to &s;ucceed in the Empire was, in proce&s;s of time taken with <HI>Eudoxia,</HI> lov'd her pa&s;|&s;ionately, and obtain'd the Em|perors con&s;ent to marry her. This caus'd great troubles to <HI>Irenea,</HI> who lik'd it well as &s;he lov'd her &s;i&s;ter, but could not but grieve at it, as &s;he lov'd the Prince (for unhappily &s;he had &s;ettl'd her af|fections on him.) Upon this &s;he fell &s;ick, and almo&s;t to death: and, it being ob&s;erv'd that &s;ome di|&s;temper in her mind caus'd the di|&s;temper of her body, her &s;i&s;ter, prote&s;ting of her love to her, a&s;&s;u|ring her that <HI>Eudoxia</HI> &s;hould have only the title and the trouble, but <HI>Irenea</HI> the priviledges and the power of an Empre&s;s, conjur'd her to de|clare what caus'd her di&s;content. Having under&s;tood what it was, and grieving that &s;he &s;hould be the occa&s;ion of her &s;i&s;ters danger and &s;orrow, &s;he pre&s;ently took from her head a jewel the Prince had given her, in form like a half-moon; and with it &s;he &s;o wounded and disfigur'd her face,
<PB N="111" REF="69">that &s;he cur'd the Prince of his love, as &s;he de&s;igned: and after|wards retir'd to <HI>Galliopoli,</HI> where &s;he entred a Cloi&s;ter, and devoted the re&s;t of her life to God. The Prince finding in <HI>Irenea</HI> what he had lo&s;t in <HI>Eudoxia,</HI> &s;oon after en|tertain'd the &s;ame pa&s;&s;ion for her, he had for her &s;i&s;ter: but <HI>Irenea,</HI> remembring her &s;i&s;ters genero&s;ity, forgot her affection to the Prince; con&s;idering what <HI>Eudoxia</HI> had vo|luntarily &s;uffer'd for her, how great, how tender a love &s;he had expre&s;t in what &s;he had done, re|&s;olves to for&s;ake <HI>Andronicus,</HI> to forego her ea&s;e and plea&s;ure, and what &s;he had &s;o earne&s;tly de&s;ir'd, rather than be ungrateful. Where|upon &s;he &s;teals away from the court, goes to <HI>Galliopoli,</HI> enters her &s;i&s;ters Cloi&s;ter, and, having ex|pre&s;t to her her love and acknow|ledgments, &s;he takes the &s;ame vows, and re&s;olves to live and die to God, and with her beloved &s;i&s;ter.</Q> This &s;tory makes me grieve and blu&s;h, that &s;o little gratitude &s;hould be paid to <HI>JESUS</HI> for greater benefits, for that incompa|rable love he hath &s;hewed men in dy|ing
<PB N="112" REF="70">for them; that I my &s;elf &s;hould &s;o ill requite his much greater kind|ne&s;s, &s;o poorly and imperfectly re|turn his mo&s;t wonderful love. What, &s;hall I think it much to refrain my intemperance for his &s;ake, who, for mine, fa&s;ted long and often, and ta|&s;ted vinegar and gall? &s;hall I think it much to mortifie my pride and anger for him, who, for my &s;ake de|&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame of the cro&s;s, and return'd nothing but meekne&s;s to the greate&s;t provocations? &s;hall I think it much to refrain my worldly, co|vetous de&s;ires for him, who, for me, became poor, naked, de&s;titute of all things, though he were Lord of all? &s;hall I think it much, to de|ny my &s;elf &s;ome momentary &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures, for him who carried my &s;orrows, who &s;hed his blood and was crucified to &s;ave me? No, my deare&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> thy love hath overcome me, I will be no more what I have been, henceforth it &s;hall be my wealth, my delight, my glo|ry and ambition to &s;erve and obey thee, to be loving, to be faithful to thee.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="39" TYPE="section">
<PB N="113" REF="70">
<HEAD>&sect;. 39. The de&s;ign of Religion is to make us better.</HEAD>
<P>This change and Reformation is what our Religion requires; The Scripture &s;uppo&s;eth it in all that have imbrac'd Chri&s;tianity, and is earne&s;t and pre&s;&s;ing in its exhortations to it. <HI>We be&s;eech you Brethren, and exhort you by the Lord JESUS,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.1.</NOTE> <HI>that as ye have received of us, how ye ought to walk and to plea&s;e God,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2.</NOTE> &s;o ye would abound more and more: for ye know what com|mandments we gave you by the Lord JESUS, for this is the will of God, even your &s;anctification:</HI> Again,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eph.</HI> 4.20.</NOTE> <HI>but ye have not &s;o learned Chri&s;t</HI> (as to follow the greedine&s;s and lu&s;ts of the Gentiles) <HI>If &s;o be that ye have heard of him, and have been taught by him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">21, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>as the truth is in JESUS, that ye put off, concerning the former conver&s;ation, the old man, which is corrupt accord|ing to the deceitful lu&s;ts; and be re|newed in the &s;pirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which, af|ter God, is created in righteou&s;ne&s;s and true holine&s;s:</HI> And in another place, this change, being &s;o ab&s;olutely ne|ce&s;&s;ary, is ab&s;olutely &s;uppos'd to be wrought in us. <HI>If ye are ri&s;en with Chri&s;t, &s;eek tho&s;e things which are above &mdash; for you are dead, and
<PB N="114" REF="71">your life is hid with Chri&s;t in God. &mdash; Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Colo&s;s.</HI> 3.1.</NOTE> <HI>fornication, unclean|ne&s;s,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>inordinate affection, evil concu|pi&s;cence, and covetou&s;ne&s;s which is ido|latry &mdash; in the which ye walked &s;ometime when ye lived in them, but now, you al&s;o put off the&s;e, anger, wrath, malice, bla&s;phemy, evil communication out of your mouth; lie not one to ano|ther, &s;eeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him.</HI> Here is nothing to coun|tenance tho&s;e frightful fanatical pangs of the New-birth, which pro|ceed from Enthu&s;ia&s;m or melan|choly; nothing to countenance the fan&s;ieful applications of a borrowed or rather &s;natcht-away righteou&s;|ne&s;s: but a real change, in our af|fections and our manners, is &s;up|pos'd and recommended; And in|deed,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tit.</HI> 2.11.</NOTE> that <HI>grace of God which bring|eth &s;alvation,</HI> teacheth none of the&s;e odd and new-devi&s;ed doctrines, but that <HI>denying ungodline&s;s and worldly lu&s;ts,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">12.</NOTE> <HI>we &s;hould live in this pre&s;ent world &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly, and godly;</HI> which is the &s;um of our duty: that
<PB N="115" REF="71">we &s;hould be temperate in our bo|dies and minds, ju&s;t and charitable in our intercour&s;e with other men, and pious in our minds, devout in acts of Religion and wor&s;hip to God. The learning and practi&s;ing this le&s;|&s;on is that and that alone, whereby the offered &s;alvation is obtained and laid hold on.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="40" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 40. A prote&s;ta|tion of be|ing faith|ful unto death.</HEAD>
<P>So now, I mu&s;t remember that I am not mine own, I am his that made and redeemed me; I am his to whom I have given my &s;elf, when I undertook <HI>manfully to fight under his banner again&s;t &s;in, the world and the Devil:</HI> to me is addre&s;t that exhor|tation, <HI>Thou, O man of God, flee the&s;e things</HI> (&s;trifes, di&s;putes and cove|tou&s;ne&s;s, before mentioned) <HI>and follow after righteou&s;ne&s;s, godline&s;s, faith,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.11</NOTE> <HI>love, patience, meekne&s;s, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">12.</NOTE> I am become a Souldier of <HI>JESUS;</HI> to me S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks, as well as to <HI>Timothy,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.3.</NOTE> <HI>Thou therefore indure hardne&s;s as a good Souldier of JESUS Chri&s;t, no man that warreth intangles him&s;elf with the affairs of this life,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">4.</NOTE> <HI>that he may plea&s;e him who hath cho&s;en him to be a Souldier.</HI> If I were in the Militia of
<PB N="116" REF="72">any other Prince, I might indure hardne&s;s enough, before I could ob|tain his favour, or indeed be taken notice of; heat and cold, hunger, thir&s;t and wearine&s;s, &s;leeple&s;s nights and perpetual dangers; all this, and much more I might indure many years, and not be look'd upon; here my General prevented me with his kindne&s;s; he fir&s;t fought again&s;t mine enemies; he fir&s;t loved me, and in|dured hard&s;hip for me; and he notes every thing I &s;uffer for him, &s;ets it down and a&s;&s;igns a reward to it. Under another commander I might do brave actions, behave my &s;elf valiantly, and yet not be &s;een: here my General hath always his eyes upon me, he incourageth me; and re|joyceth to &s;ee my fortitude; he is al|ways ready to help me, and is mo&s;t delighted, when he &s;ees me zealous and diligent. I might fight long enough for an earthly King, I could only get a poor &s;ub&s;i&s;tence or an empty fame, but never &s;o much as one province of his dominions: here, fighting for my heavenly King, I &s;hall get unvaluable trea&s;ures, immortal glory, and a kingdom which &s;hall have no end,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 3.21.</NOTE> <HI>To him that overcometh
<PB N="117" REF="72">will I grant to &s;it with me in my throne.</HI> I will therefore, never again, fight again&s;t the captain of my &s;alvation, and I will never for&s;ake him; I will often renew my vows, often &s;wear allegiance to him, upon that &s;acred blood which he &s;hed for me, and which he gives me to comfort and &s;trengthen my heart; I will daily think on tho&s;e things that may in|crea&s;e my zeal and diligence, and help me to re&s;i&s;t temptations; and I will &s;uffer any thing, u&s;e all means po&s;&s;ible to perform the&s;e re&s;olutions, and approve my &s;elf, unto death, a lover of <HI>JESUS,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 16.22.</NOTE> <HI>if any man loves not the Lord JESUS, let him be Anathema Maranatha.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="73">
<PB REF="73">
<P><HI>Claustrum Animae:</HI> THE Reformed Mona&s;tery; OR, THE LOVE OF JESUS.</P>
<P>The Second Part.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Henry Brome,</HI> at the Gun in S. <HI>Paul's</HI> Church-yard the We&s;t-End. MDCLXXVI.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="74">
<PB REF="74">
<HEAD>THE PREFACF.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_I Have now gone through half of my task, the negative part of our Ba|pti&s;mal vow, and of our duty; and would to God, Reader, I had inkindled of the Divine fire of love in thy heart and mine, but enough to &s;ecure us from works of darkne&s;s, enough to quench and to con&s;ume our lu&s;ts: I would not doubt but it would &s;oon burn light, inflame our hearts with a pious zeal, and make us &s;o fruit|ful in good works, that men, &s;ee|ing them, would glorifie our fa|ther which is in heaven. I may,
<PB REF="75">with a ju&s;t cau&s;e complain of my &s;elf; concerning this Tractate of mine,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Era&s;. Epi&s;t. ad Volu&s;.</NOTE> <HI>as one did of</HI> Era&s;mus <HI>about his</HI> Enchiridion, <HI>that</HI> there is more piety in the book than in the Author; <HI>and withal I may complain of the book al&s;o, that it is many ways defective, that is, it &s;uppo&s;eth many things previous to the u&s;e of it, Chri&s;tian in&s;tructi|on, a pious mind, pious books, pious meditations, all helps and in&s;truments of Religion and Holy Living: and even in what it handles it falls far &s;hort, of what the &s;ubject would bear. The cau|tion therefore I would give is this, that no per&s;on would think that no other appetites are to be re&s;train'd, no other &s;ins for&s;aken than tho&s;e I mention: or that no other means to ma&s;ter our lu&s;ts and &s;ecure our duty, are to be us'd, than tho&s;e I &s;pecified: or that no other acts and expre&s;&s;ions
<PB REF="75">of love are to be given, than tho&s;e I have pre&s;crib'd. No, my de&s;ign is not to run over particulars, and indeed 'tis next to impo&s;&s;ible, for love hath a general intendance over all actions. That little I have &s;aid concerning Self-Refor|mations, ab&s;taining from that which is evil, will be &s;ufficient where love is, and where it is not, more would do no good: and that little I &s;hall &s;ay concerning the po&s;itive part of our duty, do|ing that which is good, will &s;uf|fice al&s;o that Chri&s;tian who knows what it is to love God. The truth is, my de&s;ign is only to direct or beget love, to &s;hew its great power, and the great ad|vantages it brings. Could I but teach thee, often to repeat from thy heart (as &s;ome Ancient Chri&s;tians, at the Celebration of the Lords Supper)</HI> I love thee dear Je&s;us, I love thee dear
<PB REF="76">Je&s;us, <HI>I &s;hould think to have pro|fited thee more, than if I had unfolded my&s;teries, and di&s;play<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">d much learning in the faire&s;t, and mo&s;t exact method; For, I am &s;ure, that love would &s;oon teach thee to know and to do that which plea&s;eth God, to know and to per|form the whole of thy duty:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Praecipuam Chri|&s;tiana pietatis por|tionem docuit, qui&s;|quis ad hujusinflam|mavit amorem.</NOTE> <HI>He</HI> hath taught the be&s;t part of Reli|gion, and to the be&s;t purpo&s;e, who hath taught others to love it. <HI>'Tis certain that, if we give our love to God, we &s;hall after|wards refu&s;e him nothing; where a man gives his heart, he will not refu&s;e his hands or his knees; where he gives his &s;oul, he will not deny his bread, or his goods: God &s;hall have all that he re|quires, and all we can offer to him, if he hath our love and af|fections&punc; No qualification but love
<PB REF="76">will make us true Chri|&s;tians;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Alia virtus cum peccato &s;ed dilectio tua omni peccato contrariatur, omni temptationi re&s;i&s;tit. <HI>Idiot.</HI></NOTE> no other vertue but may con&s;i&s;t with &s;ome &s;in, love alone is contrary to all, no o|ther grace can re&s;i&s;t all temptations, love alone hath that unlimited power; no other grace will enable us to di&s;|charge all our obligations,</HI> love <HI>alone</HI> is the fulfilling of the law; <HI>all gifts and vertues, with|out love, can not fit a man for heaven, nor make him dear to God: but love can do it of it &s;elf;</HI> they that be faithful in love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 3.9.</NOTE> &s;hall abide with him. <HI>As there are Dragons that are bright and glittering, and have precious &s;tones in their heads; as there are Comets that have the light and the elevation of &s;tars: &s;o there are vicious per&s;ons, fal&s;e Chri&s;ti|ans that are indow'd with excel|lent parts, and are eminent in
<PB REF="77">&s;ome vertues; but it profiteth no|thing without love;</HI> If I &s;peak the tongues of Men and An|gels;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.1, &amp;c.</NOTE> (<HI>&s;aith</HI> S. <HI>Paul</HI>) If I have the gift of prophe&s;ie and under|&s;tand all my&s;teries; if I have all faith, &s;o that I remove mountains; if I give my goods to the poor and even my body to be burn'd, and have not cha|rity, I am nothing, and it pro|fits me nothing. <HI>Of all other gifts and abilities it may be &s;aid,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 8.1.</NOTE> <HI>as of</HI> knowledge, <HI>that they all</HI> puff up, but charity <HI>alone</HI> edifi|eth; <HI>among tho&s;e creatures which &s;tand and wor&s;hip before God, there is not only a Man and an Eagle, which may repre&s;ent per|&s;ons of great learning, fitted for high &s;peculations, but al&s;o a Lion and an Ox, whereby Chri&s;tians of meaner parts and knowledge are &s;ignified: for the&s;e are capable of love as much as the others, and 'tis
<PB REF="77">love alone qualifies men to dwell with that God, who is love it &s;elf, as S.</HI> John <HI>calls him;</HI> God is love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 4.16</NOTE> and he that dwelleth in Love, dwel|leth in God, and God in him.
<Q REND="margQuotes"><HI>God loves men, that they may love him a|gain: (&s;aith S.</HI> Aug.)
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Amat Deus ut ame|tur, nil aliud vult quam amari, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; he only requires that we would love him, knowing that that love is, of it &s;elf, &s;ufficient to make us eternally happy&punc;</HI></Q> <HI>I have there|fore all along fitted my di&s;cour&s;e and meditations to every mans ca|pacity and opportunities, as much as I could: becau&s;e all may love, and all mu&s;t love that will be hap|py. And though I may have re|commended &s;ome things as means and in&s;truments: yet I have pre|&s;cribed nothing as a duty, but the great obligations which were laid upon us, when we were baptized into Chri&s;t. My</HI> Mona&s;tery, <HI>as to the place, is the Church, as to
<PB REF="78">the rule is the love of Je&s;us: and the Orders of it are &s;uch as &s;hould be ob&s;erved by all Chri&s;tians. I might indeed have mention'd ma|ny u&s;eful directions, given by Ancient Fathers and Spiritual Guides, to &s;uch as made profe&s;&s;ion of greater piety and &s;tricter lives than others: but they could not have &s;uted with all conditions and callings: therefore I have appoint|ed no other rule to tho&s;e that &s;hall enter this</HI> Cloi&s;ter, <HI>but the love of Je&s;us, in a &s;incere obedience to his holy precepts, or a voluntary compliance with his Divine Coun|&s;els.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Not that I would deny that places for Religious Retirement might afford many great advan|tages, in order to greater devotion and heavenly mindedne&s;s: for I bewail their lo&s;s, and heartily wi&s;h that the piety and charity of the pre&s;ent age might re&s;tore to
<PB REF="78">this nation the u&s;eful conveniency of them. Nece&s;&s;ary Reformations might have repurg'd Mona&s;teries as well as the Church, without abo|li&s;hing of them: and they might have been &s;till hou&s;es of</HI> Religion <HI>without having any de|pendance upon</HI> Rome.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Multi &s;unt qui po&s;|&s;unt Religio&s;am vi|tam etiam cum &s;ae|culari habitu duce|re, &amp; plerique &s;unt qui ni&s;i omnia reli|querint, &s;alvari apud Deum nullatenus po&s;&s;unt. <HI>Greg. M. Ep. ad Maur. imp.</HI></NOTE> <HI>All men are not incli|ning to, nor fitted for an active life; &s;ome would be glad to find a place of re&s;t and re|tirement for contempla|tion: &s;ome who, by me|lancholy or by</HI> the ter|rors of the Lord, <HI>are frighted from their &s;ins and from the civi|liz'd world into Quakeri&s;m, into an unhappy &s;ullenne&s;s and Apo|&s;ta&s;ie, would perhaps exchange their &s;ilks and laces for the coar|&s;er garments of mortified profe&s;|&s;ors of a Mona&s;tick life: and find, among them, that happine&s;s and
<PB REF="79">peace of the &s;oul, which they vain|ly &s;eek for, in their wretched and deluded Brotherhood; &s;ome who, upon great afflictions and &s;udden changes of fortune, fall into a &s;tate of &s;orrow and tedious &s;ad|ne&s;s, and are left in the world to &s;truggle with the temptations of a di&s;contented mind, would per|haps take Sanctuary in a</HI> Religi|ous hou&s;e; <HI>and give them&s;elves up wholly to Je&s;us, and forget their temporal &s;orrow, by hea|venly joys and meditations: and at la&s;t ble&s;s that &s;torm and &s;hip|wrack which ca&s;t them into that unknown land of re&s;t and &s;afety; &s;ome, that are forward and ready to promi&s;e well and take good re|&s;olutions, have not &s;trength enough to keep them, but are prevail'd upon, by the importunity of tho&s;e temptations they meet withal in the conver&s;e of men, who, being fled from tho&s;e occa&s;ions of &s;in,
<PB REF="79">might, by the good example &amp; good in&s;tructions of a Religious Society, &s;ecure them&s;elves, and &s;tand to their holy ingagements; &s;ome who never lov'd the world, or that are grown weary of it, or have pa&s;|&s;ionate longings for heaven, would willingly free them&s;elves of the cumbrances and di&s;tractions of worldly bu&s;ine&s;s, to injoy the lei|&s;ure and opportunities of medita|tion, devotion, and other &s;piritual exerci&s;es; and &s;ome that are much taken with the &s;trict lives and great piety of Papi&s;t-Friers, would look home and &s;pond their com|mendations on the purer Religion, and better-order'd lives and de|votions of tho&s;e, in this Church, that &s;hould wholly devote them|&s;elves to God. However 'tis not to be denied, but that men are much affected and influenc'd by the place, the company, the way of living, and the outward circum|&s;tances
<PB REF="80">wherein they are ingag'd: and, I believe, it might be now as true a proverb as ever,</HI> Bene vixit qui bene latuit, <HI>he lives be&s;t and mo&s;t &s;afe, who is lea&s;t acquaint|ed with the world and lives farthe&s;t from it.</HI></P>
<P><HI>But though we want &s;ome conve|niences for withdrawing from temporal affairs, to mind eternity and our &s;ouls the better: yet we mu&s;t go to heaven; wherever we live,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Clau&s;trum ubique portate interius. <HI>Norb. Ab. praemon&s;t.</HI></NOTE> <HI>we mu&s;t live to God, that we may live with God; therefore, if we cannot have a mate|rial, we mu&s;t have a Spiritual cloi&s;ter, which may defend us a|gain&s;t temptations, and guide and a&s;&s;i&s;t us in doing our duty. Such a one is</HI> the love of Je&s;us; <HI>it will protect us again&s;t all dangers and &s;piritual enemies, better than the &s;tronge&s;t walls of any Abbey: and it will make us devout and
<PB REF="80">zealous in God's &s;ervice, beyond what the exhortations of the wi|&s;i&s;t Abbot could do.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Mag.</NOTE>
<Q REND="margQuotes">Dum cre|&s;cit fortitudo amoris interni, infirmatur fortitudo carnis, <HI>whil&s;t love is &s;trong the fle&s;h is mortified, and its lu&s;ts are &s;ub|du'd.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t.</NOTE> Amanti nihil e&s;t dif|ficile, nihil impo&s;&s;ibile, <HI>love can do all things of its &s;elf, it pa&s;&s;eth over all difficulties, and there is no ob&s;tacle which it over|comes not.</HI></Q> <HI>Love can &s;upply the want of all outward helps and advantages, let it but be our care, to &s;ecure love and it will &s;e|cure us. Let us therefore feed and entertain it by reading and medi|tation,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Coelum &amp; terra &amp; omnia quae in cis &s;unt non ce&s;&s;ant mi|hi dicere ut amem Dominum Deum meum. <HI>Aug.</HI></NOTE> by frequent pray|ers and acts of love, and by ob&s;erving and ta&s;ting how gracious the Lord is in all his works;</HI> all things in heaven and earth do ince&s;&s;antly cry to us,
<PB REF="81">that we &s;hould love God. <HI>God</HI> draws <HI>us after him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 4.11.</NOTE> with cords of a man, with bands of love, <HI>therefore, by love, we can be&s;t fol|low him.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.18</NOTE> <HI>But,</HI> let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth: and hereby we &s;hall know that we are of the truth, and we &s;hall a&s;&s;ure our hearts before him.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="81">
<HEAD><HI>Clau&s;trum Animae:</HI> THE Reformed Mona&s;tery; OR, The Love of JESUS.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 1. Of the po|&s;itive part of our Bap|ti&s;mal vow.</HEAD>
<P>_MY former di&s;obedience and rebellions again&s;t my Ble&s;&s;ed Lord and deare&s;t Ma&s;ter, I have examin'd and bewail|ed; I have con&s;ider'd that by &s;in I wound and crucifie him afre&s;h, and therefore have re&s;olv'd to &s;in no more, never to lift up hand or heart again&s;t him. But will love be &s;atisfied with this? is it a &s;ufficient demon&s;tration of love, not to abu&s;e,
<PB N="2" REF="82">not to injure a friend? No &s;ure, I mu&s;t proceed further; love requires more than this. I mu&s;t not only ab|&s;tain from what would anger him I love: but I &s;hould do that that will plea&s;e him. 'Tis part of my duty, as it was of my vow, not only <HI>to re|nounce the Devil and all his works:</HI> but al&s;o <HI>to believe all the articles of the Chri&s;tian faith, and to keep Gods holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the &s;ame all the days of my life,</HI> As for the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith, I believe them from my heart, and re&s;olve to own and confe&s;s them whil&s;t I live; I never will di&s;pute or object again&s;t them, and I hope, I &s;hould chu&s;e to die, before I would renounce any of them; as for other le&s;s nece&s;&s;ary doctrines, I will be guided by my Spiritual Governors; in controver&s;ies, I will &s;ubmit to the judgment of that Holy Church, in who&s;e Communion I live; and &s;o I will read and ponder Gods Holy Word, e&s;pecially the New Te&s;tament, that I may know my ma&s;ters will, and be incourag'd to do it: not that I may find out new my&s;teries and maintain the private opinions of a party. It remains then only, that I
<PB N="3" REF="82">&s;hould <HI>keep Gods holy will and Com|mandments, and walk in the &s;ame all the days of my life.</HI> And this I al&s;o under|take; it &s;hall be my daily and con&s;tant &s;tudy and indeavour; I re&s;olve to obey to the utmo&s;t of my power: and I al&s;o promi&s;e further to manife&s;t my love by free-will-offerings, as God &s;hall enable me.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 2. A prote&s;ta|tion of obe|dience.</HEAD>
<P>But fir&s;t my love is to appear by doing what is commanded;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.3.</NOTE> <HI>This is the love of God that we keep his com|mandments</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>John:</HI>)
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 14.21.</NOTE> and <HI>he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,</HI> (&s;aith our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour.) There can be no love without obedience, this is its fir&s;t and chiefe&s;t Tryal;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">23.</NOTE> <HI>if a man love me, he will keep my words.</HI> Now then, &s;hould my beloved Lord ask me, as once he did Saint <HI>Peter,</HI> N. <HI>do&s;t thou love me?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 21.15.</NOTE> would not my heart an&s;wer, with his zealous Apo&s;tle, <HI>Yes Lord,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">13.37.</NOTE> <HI>thou knowe&s;t all things, thou knowe&s;t that I love thee; &mdash; I would lay down my life for thee:</HI> why, to this he replies again, <HI>if thou love&s;t me,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">14.15.</NOTE> <HI>keep my Command|ments.</HI> Every time a Chri&s;tian tells Je&s;us, <HI>Lord I love thee,</HI> Je&s;us an&s;wers
<PB N="4" REF="83">again, <HI>if thou love&s;t me, keep my Com|mandments:</HI> So that, without I ob|&s;erve this, I can no ways pretend to love him. Therefore I am to take notice of, and to amend &s;ins of omi&s;|&s;ion, which too too many among Chri&s;tians mind little, or not at all. In the matter of &s;obriety I am com|manded, whether I eat or drink, to do it, as all things el&s;e, to the glory of God; and to be contented, what|&s;oever &s;tate I am in; for cha&s;tity I am commanded to know how to keep my ve&s;&s;el in &s;anctification and honor; for acts of corporal and &s;piritual mercy, I am commanded to be mer|ciful, as my heavenly father is merci|ful, and to forgive injuries, as I de|&s;ire my &s;elf to be forgiven; for re|verence to my betters, I am com|manded to honour and obey my &s;u|periors Eccle&s;ia&s;tical and Civil; in what concerns Divine Wor&s;hip, I am bound to read and pray, and medi|ditate, to in&s;truct my &s;elf and fami|ly, to receive the Ble&s;&s;ed Sacrament, to have a veneration and re&s;pect for all things that belong or relate to God, and him to love and fear, and tru&s;t and adore evermore: All the&s;e, and all other duties, with the &s;pecial
<PB N="5" REF="83">precepts of the New Te&s;tament, is the task I chearfully undertake, and in the performance whereof I will approve my &s;elf a &s;incere lover of <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 3. How great a happine&s;s follows our obedience.</HEAD>
<P><HI>His yoke is ea&s;ie and his burthen light, his Commandments are not grievous,</HI> and yet <HI>in keeping of them there is great re|ward:</HI> a temporal happine&s;s, than which none is greater in this world, and an eternal happine&s;s, infinitely greater than any this world can af|ford: do not I &s;ee what pains mo&s;t men are at to get a &s;ub&s;i&s;tence for this world? how they run and &s;weat and &s;pend them&s;elves to provide for this peri&s;hing life; which yet is mi|&s;erable, &s;hort, and uncertain? and &s;hall <HI>I not labour for the meat which abideth to eternal life?</HI> &s;hall I be at no pains to &s;ecure that life which hath no end, and knows no mi&s;ery? O that I could duly under&s;tand the difference betwixt this life and the life to come! how would I &s;light the one, and de&s;ire the other! or ra|ther how cheerfully would I imploy this pre&s;ent, to obtain that which is to come! Is not there &s;ervants that work hard day by day, a whole year
<PB N="6" REF="84">together for &s;mall wages; who are almo&s;t perpetually imploy'd about their ma&s;ters bu&s;ine&s;s: and yet have &s;ometimes no thanks, and often, but a &s;orry reward? and am not I one of tho&s;e labourers whom my Lord hath hired to work in his vineyard?
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 20.</NOTE> am not I one of tho&s;e &s;ervants, whom he hath intru&s;ted with his goods, to whom he hath intru&s;ted talents to improve for him, and do not I de|&s;ire he &s;hould tell me one day, <HI>well done,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 21.</NOTE> <HI>good and faithful &s;ervant?</HI> is not my &s;alary great, greater than any Prince on earth could make it, greater than I could wi&s;h, greater than I can comprehend? eternal re&s;t, eternal joys, eternal happine&s;s, eternal glories; eternity it &s;elf, he him&s;elf will be my reward. Eterni|ty! Eternity! Eternity! Ble&s;&s;ed Eternity. Eternity never enough to be con&s;ider'd, Eternity never enough to be valu'd, &s;hall I ob|tainthee by what I do here for my Lord? &s;hall I obtain thee by that imperfect &s;ervice I pay to my gracious Ma&s;ter? <HI>O God who ha&s;t prepared for them that love thee,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sixth Sun|day after Trinity.</NOTE> <HI>&s;uch good things as pa&s;s manse un|der&s;tanding, pour into our hearts &s;uch
<PB N="7" REF="84">love towards thee, that we loving thee above all things, may obtain thy pro|mi&s;es which exceed all that we can de|&s;ire, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, Amen.</HI> Lord I am not worthy to be called thy Son; I have often beg'd to be one of thy hired &s;ervants, the meane&s;t &s;o I love and obey be&s;t. O let me, like thy &s;ervant <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> ever <HI>have a re&s;pect to the recompence of the reward,</HI> ever con&s;ider what I &s;hall get by &s;erving thee, that I may be di|ligent, per&s;evering and cheerful in doing my duty. O my &s;oul, blu&s;h to con&s;ider how laborious men are for the un&s;atisfying acque&s;ts of this earth; how eager thou ha&s;t been thy &s;elf in pur&s;uing of them; and how &s;lothful, how unactive and heavy thou art in working for eternal re&s;t, for the trea&s;ures of eternity, for the glories of heaven, for tho&s;e Divine Plea|&s;ures which are at the right hand of God for evermore. Whence comes this, unhappy &s;oul, is it not from in|con&s;ideration? becau&s;e thou do&s;t not lift up thine eyes to &s;ee whither the way of love and obedience will bring thee; becau&s;e thou do&s;t not look be|yond the world, upon things eter|nal; becau&s;e thou do&s;t not often
<PB N="8" REF="85">enough meditate upon heaven and eternity; that unvaluable, infinite recompence which awaits thee, as &s;oon as thy work is fini&s;h'd. Re&s;olve therefore to amend this, and daily, once at lea&s;t, to con&s;ider what are thy wages, what thou &s;halt get by &s;er|ving God. As the Apo&s;tle &s;ays of afflictions, that they <HI>are light and but for a moment, whil&s;t we look not at the things which are &s;een, but at the things which are not &s;een:</HI> the &s;ame we may &s;ay of the mo&s;t difficult of Chri&s;tian duties, that <HI>they are light and but for a moment,</HI> that they are ea&s;ie and &s;oon done; that there is no tediou&s;ne&s;s, no hard&s;hip in them, whil&s;t we look upon things eternal, whil&s;t we <HI>have a re&s;pect unto the recom|pen&s;e of the reward.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 4. We &s;hould often look on our re|ward.</HEAD>
<P>This con&s;ideration doubtle&s;s, would be powerful and effectual, would wake and &s;tir us up, and make us active and lively, if we had it often in our minds. Therefore our Ble&s;|&s;ed Saviour, to incourage his follow|ers and make them diligent in his &s;ervice, doth often give them to un|der&s;tand, what by parables and what by plain declarations, that they &s;hould
<PB N="9" REF="85">not &s;erve him for nought, and that they &s;hould be no lo&s;ers by him; that he would con&s;ider them for their time, for their expences, for their &s;ufferings and for their labours; that he would take notice of the lea&s;t thing they &s;hould do for him; &s;o that even a <HI>cup of water</HI> given for his &s;ake &s;hould not go unrewarded; and that their reward &s;hould be great, bountiful and mo&s;t excellent, far above their de|&s;erts and even above their wi&s;hes and apprehen&s;ions: an angelick nature, a glory bright as the Sun it &s;elf, an eternal life, a heavenly, an endle&s;s kingdom, his own joys &s;hould be their portion and their recompence. And we find al&s;o the Holy Apo&s;tles, a&s;&s;uring tho&s;e whom they brought to work in their Lords vineyard, that they &s;hould certainly have their hire, and be paid mo&s;t generou&s;ly for their work, <HI>God will render to every man according to his deeds,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 2.6.7.</NOTE> <HI>to them who by patient continuance in well do|ing, &s;eek for glory, honour, and immorta|lity</HI> &s;hall be rendred <HI>eternal life. Every man &s;hall receive his own re|ward according to his own labour.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.8.</NOTE> And S. <HI>Paul,</HI> to incourage the <HI>Corinthi|ans,</HI> tells them that we Chri&s;tians are
<PB N="10" REF="86">entred into a race, at the end where|of we may &s;ee the Laurel,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 9.24.</NOTE> <HI>palmam in &s;tadio po&s;itam,</HI> a glorious prize, an in|corruptible crown, if we will run and &s;trive for it; and he likewi&s;e tells the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eph.</HI> 6.8.</NOTE> that <HI>what&s;oever good thing any man doth, the &s;ame &s;hall he receive of the Lord, whether be be bond or free.</HI> S. <HI>Peter</HI> al&s;o teacheth that we &s;hould be mov'd and in|courag'd, by the greatne&s;s of the promi&s;ed reward, to for&s;ake our lu&s;ts, and wholly devote our &s;elves to God;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.4.</NOTE> <HI>exceeding great and glorious pro|mi&s;es are given unto us, that by the&s;e you might be partakers of the Divine Na|ture, having e&s;caped the pollution that is in the world through lu&s;t.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 5.9.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;t is become the author of eternal &s;alvation to them that obey him,</HI> (not to tho&s;e who hope and roll, and take hold:) and &s;o the re&s;ult of all the&s;e may be com|prehended in the exhortation of S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.58.</NOTE> <HI>Paul: My Beloved Brethren, be ye &s;tedfa&s;t, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.</HI> In this &s;en&s;e good works are meritorious, in that they procure us a reward, a reward infinitely great|er than their own de&s;ert.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="11" REF="86">
<HEAD>&sect;. 5. Love is no|ble and generous.</HEAD>
<P>But, Though it may incourage us to love that gracious God who gives &s;o very much for that little we are able to do, yet love its &s;elf is not Mercenary;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.5</NOTE> <HI>charity doth not &s;eek her own</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Paul,)</HI> we may de&s;ire our promi&s;ed reward and &s;et our af|fections upon it, as it is a demon&s;tra|tion of Gods infinite love and good|ne&s;s: or becau&s;e it will be the expre&s;|&s;ing of our duty and thankfulne&s;s, when we &s;hall love and glorifie and adore God perfectly and for ever: or rather becau&s;e the reward is God him&s;elf, who will be to every faithful &s;ervant, his <HI>exceeding great reward,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 15.4.</NOTE> as well as to faithful <HI>Abraham:</HI> re|warding &s;incere obedience with the fruition of him&s;elf, being all in all to his Saints. But &s;till I &s;ay, love is not &s;elfi&s;h, but free and generous, if no|thing were to be gain'd by it, it would have &s;atisfaction enough in &s;hewing its &s;elf: 'tis an un&s;peakable plea&s;ure to a devout lover to act and labour for <HI>JESUS,</HI> when he thus thinks with him&s;elf; by the per|formance of this duty, by this act of vertue, by this good work, I &s;erve my deare&s;t Lord, I oblige my be&s;t
<PB N="12" REF="87">friend; I expre&s;s my love to him who&s;e infinite kindne&s;s to me hath conquer'd my heart, whom I love as my own &s;oul, and for whom I would willingly die. O happy &s;oul, who feel|e&s;t what an exceeding joy it is to love <HI>JESUS!</HI> or rather unhappy &s;oul, who can&s;t &s;hew &s;o little love to <HI>JESUS!</HI> Unhappy nece&s;&s;ities of a frail body, unhappy di&s;tractions of a trouble&s;ome world! Why am I, by you depriv'd of the continual plea|&s;ure of waiting continually on my Di|vine and mo&s;t loving Ma&s;ter? But ble&s;&s;ed be my gracious Lord, that I might have more opportunities of plea&s;ing him, and expre&s;&s;ing my af|fections to him, he hath made ver|tues of nece&s;&s;ities, he hath turn'd nature into grace, and of humane duties he hath made acts of Religi|on in relieving mine own and others wants. If I ob&s;erve the rules of &s;o|briety and charity, he takes thence occa&s;ion to ble&s;s and reward me, as if he were thereby glorified, in di&s;|charging the duties of my place and calling. If I am diligent and faith|ful; though my work be never &s;o mean, he owns it as a &s;ervice done to him. <HI>Servants</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Paul)
<PB N="13" REF="87">obey your ma&s;ters in all things,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Col.</HI> 3.22,</NOTE> and do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">23.</NOTE> <HI>knowing that of the Lord ye &s;hall receive the reward of the inhe|ritance, for ye &s;erve the Lord Chri&s;t.</HI> If I am con&s;ciencious in all my ways and works, he takes it as a mark of my love and part of my duty to him. O that the con&s;tant cour&s;e of my conver&s;ation might &s;peak the &s;incerity of my affection to my Ble&s;&s;ed Lord. Deare&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> the Cro&s;s thou did&s;t bear for me was heavy and painful to extremity: but thy yoke is light and plea&s;ant, thy &s;ervice is perfect freedom. O let it be my delight and daily imployment as it is my duty, to &s;erve and obey thee, to follow thy ble&s;&s;ed example and be in&s;trumental in winning hearts to thee: let me love thee &s;o intirely that I may love nothing but thee, nothing but for thy &s;ake; <HI>Fac precor Domine,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">B. An&s;el.</NOTE> me gu&s;tare per amorem quod gu&s;to per cognitionem, &s;en|tiam per affectum, quod &s;entio per intel|lectum. Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<PB N="14" REF="88">
<HEAD>&sect;. 6. We belong to Je&s;us and are not our own.</HEAD>
<P>Love regards not &s;o much what is commanded, as who it is that com|mands it; if it be the Beloved re|quires any thing, love doth it cheer|fully without reluctancy; another with earne&s;t begging &s;hould not have that granted, which the lea&s;t word of a friend &s;hall obtain. The com|mands of Chri&s;tianity are ea&s;ie and mo&s;t rational, in keeping of them con&s;i&s;teth our pre&s;ent and future happine&s;s: Yet the ture lover of <HI>JESUS</HI> looks farther, he con&s;i|ders that it is his God and Saviour who would have him obey, he to whom he belongs, to whom he ows him&s;elf and infinitely more: for every Chri&s;tian ows <HI>JESUS</HI> to <HI>JESUS,</HI> who gave him&s;elf for him. The old &s;aying was <HI>emendus cui imperes,</HI> buy your &s;laves; buy tho&s;e that will be commanded by you; none of us can &s;ay &s;o to the God whom we &s;erve, for he hath indeed bought us; <HI>Ye are not your own</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Paul) ye are bought with a price,</HI> thence it is &s;trongly infer'd, there|fore glorifie God, in your body and in your &s;pirit which are Gods. We are not at our own di&s;po&s;e, our Di|vine
<PB N="15" REF="88">Ma&s;ter hath a mo&s;t ju&s;t pro|priety in us; we are wholly his: and would to God, we were his as much by affection and re&s;ignation, as by right; the price he hath paid for us, is no le&s;s than him&s;elf; he hath given his life that ours might be his; <HI>We were redeem'd from our vain conver&s;a|tion by the precious blood of Chri&s;t,</HI> who died for us, that we might live to him, he could get nothing by that dear purcha&s;e, but our love only, for we were his before, it is he that made us: only we had e&s;trang'd our &s;elves from him, and plac't our love upon other things, and he could not count us his own while we loved him not.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 7. Meditati|on our ob|ligation to &s;erve JE|SUS.</HEAD>
<P>I mu&s;t therefore con&s;ider who&s;e I am; I am Chri&s;ts by a &s;trong and in|conte&s;table title; while I &s;erve him I do that proper work which belongs to me; whil&s;t I obey what he hath commanded, I do what is infinitely my duty, what his love to me chal|lengeth, and what my love to him de&s;ires to return. Had I ten thou&s;and years to live, and could I &s;erve him all that while and do nothing el&s;e, I could not repay him for the lea&s;t
<PB N="16" REF="89">part of that great ran&s;om he hath paid for me, neither could I de&s;erve any thing of tho&s;e great wages which he will give me: my life is but &s;hort and he allows me time for other things, even for plea&s;ure and recrea|tion. I have therefore a mo&s;t graci|ous Ma&s;ter, and therefore I re&s;olve and promi&s;e to do what he requires of me; I will except at nothing he commands, it &s;hall be my joy to pay my duty to him; and I will make it appear that I &s;erve out of love and affection.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vae mi&s;erae animae quae Christum non quaerit nec amat, arida manet &amp; mi&s;era, &amp;c.</HI> Aug. Man.</NOTE> O my deare&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> would my heart did feel what it &s;hould; would I could ex|pre&s;s what it feels; and would I could perform as much as I expre&s;s: But O my Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, how frequently and unhappily do I forget that thou art my Ma&s;ter, and I thy &s;ervant; that my chiefe&s;t bu&s;ine&s;s is to do thy will, and that my greate&s;t happine&s;s as well as duty, is to obey thee? Is it not becau&s;e I al&s;o for|get that thou did&s;t redeem me from a mo&s;t wretched &s;lavery; that thou did&s;t pay an immen&s;e price for me; that thou became&s;t a &s;ervant for me, before thou required&s;t any &s;er|vice
<PB N="17" REF="89">from me; and that thou did&s;t fir&s;t love me before thou did intreat my love? O thou great Lover and Sa|viour of men, I wholly give my &s;elf to thee, body and &s;oul, heart and affections; I de&s;ire to be thine; I pray that thou would&s;t make me to be thine, and that thou would&s;t own me for thine, that &s;o thou may&s;t be mine to eternity. <HI>would&s;t thou know</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Aug.)</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aliud non quaerit pre|cium ni&s;i te ip&s;um; tantum valet quantum es, te da &amp; habebis illud.</HI> Manual.</NOTE> <HI>what thou mu&s;t give for heaven? give thy &s;elf, that's the price; nothing le&s;s will &s;erve, that alone is accounted &s;ufficient: heaven is worth ju&s;t what thou art, give thy &s;elf and thou &s;halt certainly have it.</HI> Do not men &s;eek to &s;erve and oblige great per&s;ons expe|cting to be by them gratified? are they not ambitious to wait upon Princes in regard of an Honourable &s;tipend? and why &s;hould I not count it the greate&s;t Honour and preferment to &s;erve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? The &s;alary he pays his &s;er|vants is infinitely greater than any the greate&s;t Monarch can give; they oftentimes ca&s;t off with di&s;grace their mo&s;t faithful officers: my Lord is &s;o far from &s;o doing, that he bears
<PB N="18" REF="90">with the faults of his meane&s;t &s;er|vants, and never turns out any that will live with him. 'Tis highly dif|ficult to become a Prince his fa|vorite, many &s;pend their time, their wealth and them&s;elves, and never can get the lea&s;t &s;hare in his affecti|ons; but I am &s;ure my heavenly Ma|&s;ter loveth me; I know it by what he hath done, by what he daily doth, and by what he hath declar'd he would do for me: Although he hath bought me, and &s;o might well require the utmo&s;t I can do, without any reward: yet he hires me and gives me more, infinitely more than I can earn. I will therefore be dili|gent, faithful and zealous in fulfilling the work he hath appointed me. I will often &s;ay to my&s;elf; <HI>I am a &s;er|vant and a lover of JESUS, I am a &s;ervant and a lover of JESUS.</HI> I will every morning con&s;ider, what can I do this day of what my Lord hath commanded me? what duties of <HI>&s;obriety, righteou&s;ne&s;s or godline&s;s</HI> can I di&s;charge to make it appear that <HI>JESUS</HI> is the Ma&s;ter I own and obey?
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 14.7, 8, 9.</NOTE> <HI>None of us liveth to him|&s;elf, and no man dies to him&s;elf, for whether we live we live unto the Lord,
<PB N="19" REF="90">or whether we die we die unto the Lord: Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lords; for to this end Chri&s;t both died and ro&s;e and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 8. Our love and obe|dience God requires.</HEAD>
<P>This double duty of dying unto &s;in and living unto righteou&s;ne&s;s, ab|&s;teining from that which is evil and doing that which is good, I am ob|lig'd to perform by &s;trong and indi&s;|pen&s;ible obligations: if I do not, I certainly peri&s;h. When we &s;ay, in common &s;peaking, that we do things out of love, we mean that we are free, and may chu&s;e whether we do them or no, we are not bound to it: but here all along where I undertake to di&s;charge the duties of Religion out of love; I do not in the lea&s;t mean &s;o. I acknowledge my &s;elf un|der the greate&s;t nece&s;&s;ity of di&s;char|ging my bapti&s;mal vow, of living ac|cording to the Go&s;pel Rule, other|wi&s;e my neglect of it would be my ruine, I &s;hould peri&s;h in my di&s;obe|dience. Love it &s;elf is a duty, <HI>the fir&s;t and greate&s;t commandment:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 22.37</NOTE> <HI>thou &s;halt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy &s;oul, and with all thy mind.</HI> I recommend love
<PB N="20" REF="91">therefore,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Meliores quos dirigit amor, plures quos corrigit timor.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> as the noble&s;t, the mo&s;t powerful motive to a Religious obedience; as that which makes our duty ea&s;ie and plea&s;ant, and gives a value to what we do or &s;uffer for God. I know there is tho&s;e who teach that, by our well-doing we mu&s;t not &s;eek for &s;alvation, and that our obe|dience is not requir'd to our ju&s;tifica|tion, but may be a mark or an effect of it, faith having done the work before; but this groundle&s;s and mi&s;|chievous opinion is contradicted by thou&s;ands of plain expre&s;s Scriptures, <HI>He that heareth the&s;e &s;ayings of mine and doth them not, is like the man that built his hou&s;e upon the &s;and. Not every one that &s;aith unto me Lord, Lord, &s;hall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven. If thou wilt enter life, keep the Commandments:</HI> and innu|merable others, with all tho&s;e that affirm, that God &s;hall judge and re|ward every man according as his works have been.</P>
<P>No, the holy Religion we profe&s;s requires a conformity betwixt the Holy <HI>JESUS</HI> and his followers; that by a devout imitation we &s;hould
<PB N="21" REF="91">copy his example: that we &s;hould be fruitful in good works, and by a &s;in|cere and univer&s;al obedience &s;erve God all days of our life;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 2.2,</NOTE> <HI>For if the word &s;poken by Angels was &s;tedfa&s;t, and every tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion and di&s;obedience re|ceived a full recompence of reward:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">3.</NOTE> <HI>how &s;hall we e&s;cape, if we neglect &s;o great a &s;alvation;</HI> by being di&s;obedient to our Lord <HI>JESUS,</HI> who having wrought and reveal'd it, offers it to us, on the condition of an affectio|nate obedience to his Go&s;pel?
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 6.7, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>The earth which drinketh the rain that cometh up|on it &mdash; and beareth thorns and bri|ers, is rejected and nigh unto cur&s;ing, who&s;e end is to be burnt;</HI> &s;uch is their condition who receiving the heavenly dew of Divine Grace, in their admi&s;&s;i|on into, and profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tiani|ty, yet &s;till remain barren, or bring forth evil fruit: <HI>But beloved</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>we are per&s;waded better things of you, and things that accom|pany &s;alvation: for God is not unrigh|teous to forget your work and labour of love which ye have &s;hewed towards his name; and we de&s;ire that every one of you do &s;hew the &s;ame diligence, to the full a&s;&s;urance of hope unto the end.</HI> He &s;ays not, we de&s;ire that you may be
<PB N="22" REF="92">confident and per&s;waded of your &s;al|vation, but that, by love and dili|gent obedience, ye may a&s;certain your hope,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.10.</NOTE> <HI>make your calling and election &s;ure,</HI> as S. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;peaks, for indeed, <HI>God hath not appointed us to wrath,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.9, 10.</NOTE> <HI>but to obtain &s;alvation by our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who died for us that whether we wake or &s;leep we &s;hould live together with him,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.1.</NOTE> in holine&s;s of life, <HI>worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, for we are Gods work-man&s;hip created in Je&s;us Chri&s;t unto good works,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 2.10</NOTE> <HI>which God hath ordained that we &s;hould walk in them.</HI> This then is the way wherein of nece&s;&s;ity we mu&s;t walk, that as we ingag'd and promis'd when we were Baptized into Chri&s;t, &s;o we &s;hould live ever after: which S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Col.</HI> 2.6.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> expre&s;&s;eth thus, <HI>As ye have received Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Lord, &s;o walk ye in him:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Col.</HI> 1.10.</NOTE> and again, <HI>walk worthy of the Lord, being fruitful in every good work,</HI> This is the rule whereby we mu&s;t order the cour&s;e of our lives,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 1.27.3.20.</NOTE> that <HI>our conver&s;ation be as be|comes the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t;</HI> that <HI>our conver&s;ation be in heaven whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> that <HI>what&s;oever things are true,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">4.8.</NOTE> <HI>hone&s;t, ju&s;t, pure, lovely, of
<PB N="23" REF="92">good report, any vertue, any thing prai&s;e-worthy,</HI> may be our con&s;tant &s;tu|dy and practice, We mu&s;t labour <HI>that whether pre&s;ent or ab&s;ent we may be accepted of our Lord,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.9.</NOTE> <HI>becau&s;e we &s;hall all appear before him and receive according as we obey him, now in his ab&s;ence.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 9. Incourage|ments to obey Je&s;us.</HEAD>
<P>All this, and much more to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, which I have read and ob&s;erved in the Sacred Books of the New Te&s;tament, hath convinc'd me that it is the de&s;ign of Chri&s;tian Re|ligion to make me meek and hum|ble, &s;ober and contented, ju&s;t and charitable, devout and religious, ver|tuous and holy: this I own to be my duty, and I will indeavour my &s;elf heartily to perform the &s;ame. And that I may do it with cheerfulne&s;s <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">nd affection, I will &s;tir and quicken <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">he holy fire of love in my heart, by p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ous con&s;iderations. When any du|ty to God or man calls upon me for ac<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ion and performance, and I find in my &s;oul too much of dulne&s;s or re|luctancy, I will again by meditation &s;uppo&s;e my dying Saviour pre&s;ent, telling me, how much he hath done and &s;uffered for me, and de&s;iring
<PB N="24" REF="93">me, as I love him, to do that duty which lies before me. Chri&s;tian, if thou do&s;t under&s;tand the greatne&s;s of my love which brought me here to die for thee; if thou art &s;en&s;ible of it, and would&s;t make any return for it, do this, obey this command; this may be the la&s;t thing thou &s;halt ever do for me, this may be the la&s;t tryal of thy love: &s;ure it would grieve thee to have denied this &s;mall reque&s;t to him that gives his life, that gives him&s;elf for thee. Or el&s;e I will &s;uppo&s;e my &s;elf in the pre&s;ence of my Divine Ma&s;ter &s;itting on his heaven|ly throne with his glorified &s;ervants about him, &s;hewing me the crown he hath a&s;&s;ign'd to me, and &s;aying; N. N. wilt thou deny to do this at my earne&s;t reque&s;t? wilt thou be &s;o un|kind to me? Sure I have de&s;erved better at thy hands than &s;o; &s;ure I, who am much above thee, have done much more for thee, than that comes to; but be&s;ides, I would highly re|compence thee. The&s;e my friends I have rewarded with the bli&s;s and glory they enjoy, for having done &s;uch things for me: and I would re|ward thee as bountifully: here is eternal life, eternal re&s;t, eternal
<PB N="25" REF="93">glory for thy recompence: as thou love&s;t me, as thou love&s;t thy &s;elf, obey, that thou mai&s;t be happy. To this, what an&s;wer could I make, but &s;uch as this? Lord not only this, but any thing el&s;e thou ha&s;t commanded, I am willing to fulfil and obey. I be|wail my dulne&s;s and depraved na|ture that makes me &s;o unready, &s;o un|active in thy &s;ervice: but Lord thou knowe&s;t that I love thee. I would undertake any labour, any trouble to make it appear; I would die to ju|&s;tifie it. Yet, &s;weete&s;t <HI>JESU,</HI> I beg of thee to increa&s;e my love; to increa&s;e it to &s;uch a degree that, like thy heavenly attendants, I may burn with that Divine fire, and be all love to thee:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sund.</HI> 25. <HI>after Tri|nity.</HI></NOTE> <Q REND="margQuotes">that &s;o I may be always prepar'd and de&s;irous to do thy will. Stir up, we be&s;eech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful peo|ple, that they plenteou&s;ly bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteou&s;ly rewarded through <HI>JESUS</HI> Chri&s;t our Lord. Amen. <HI>Love is the fulfilling of the Law.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Chri&s;tian Reader, I hope that what I have writ, thou wilt al&s;o read and repeat heartily in the fir&s;t Per|&s;on:
<PB N="26" REF="94">for to that end I have thus con|triv'd it to ingage thine affections, to make thee &s;peak, as of thy &s;elf, the&s;e &s;oliloquies, acts of love, and acts of re&s;olution which run through|out the whole di&s;cour&s;e, and I would have thee u&s;e that method, which may much affect thee; to make dia|logues betwixt thy Saviour and thy &s;oul, and betwixt thy &s;oul and thy &s;elf; for certain it is, that for thee N. N. by name, <HI>JESUS</HI> was cru|cified and died; and certain it is, that thou thy &s;elf &s;halt die and be judged, and ri&s;e again to an intole|rable eternity, if by carele&s;sne&s;s and incon&s;ideration thou ha&s;t been un|mindful of thy Lord and thy &s;oul: or el&s;e ri&s;e again to eternal joys, if thou ha&s;t &s;incerely lov'd and &s;erv'd <HI>JESUS;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Job.</HI> 15, 10</NOTE> <HI>If ye keep my Command|ments, ye &s;hall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments, and abide in his love.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 10. Of free-will-offer|ings.</HEAD>
<P>Thus much of nece&s;&s;ity mu&s;t be done; my duty as well as my love con&s;trains me to it. Not to break negative precepts and to obey po&s;i|tive ones, (that is, to cea&s;e from &s;in and to work righteou&s;ne&s;s,) is requi|red
<PB N="27" REF="94">of me; if I do it by love, I have made my task plea&s;ant: but yet a task it is, which mu&s;t be fulfill'd. Not but that there is mercy for &s;ins again&s;t the New-covenant, for the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of Go&s;pel precepts; there is joy in heaven at the conver&s;ion of a &s;inner, what ever his &s;ins have been; and it ought greatly to indear God to us, that he is &s;o willing to forgive; &s;o de&s;irous to have us repent, that we may be capable of his pardon: but whether &s;oon or late, whether after crying guilts or ordinary &s;ins, &s;till I &s;ay, there mu&s;t be a true contrition, a &s;orrow and repentance for our &s;ins, proceeding from the love of God, and a &s;incere indeavour to plea&s;e and obey him for the future; and &s;o, thus far we are drawn by a moral nece&s;|&s;ity, by the de&s;ire of our own happi|ne&s;s, which is not to be obtain'd any other way. But &s;hall we &s;tay ju&s;t here, and not go one &s;tep further than is required? 'tis well indeed when we are &s;afe, and that mu&s;t be &s;ecur'd fir&s;t of all, and with the greate&s;t care; but &s;hall our love proceed no further? Sure that Chri|&s;tian who is be&s;t a&s;&s;ur'd of his &s;alva|tion, will love God mo&s;t of all and
<PB N="28" REF="95">make to him the greate&s;t and mo&s;t hearty returns. When a man is quali|fied for heaven and enjoys the great|e&s;t happine&s;s this world is capable of; that is, a &s;en&s;e of Gods favour and a well-grounded a&s;&s;urance of a future bli&s;s, his &s;oul cannot but melt into the mo&s;t affectionate love for that gracious God, who&s;e mercy and lo|ving kindne&s;s hath brought him into that happy condition and fitted him by his grace for a much happier; and they, I &s;ay, that are in &s;uch a ca&s;e (for to them only I now &s;peak) may well do &s;omething more, than what needs they mu&s;t; may well en|large their affections to God, beyond the bounds of pre&s;cribed duties, it is a good &s;ign, a &s;ign of a &s;incere and a pi|ous heart, when a man is forward to undertake for God: when he doth not weigh grains and &s;cruples, le&s;t he &s;hould part with any of his right and liberty: but affords God a full mea&s;ure and running over, and think he never gives enough, and &s;till de|&s;ires that he might do infinitely more for him. 'Tis true that properly &s;peaking, all is due to God: and the more any, the be&s;t Chri&s;tian returns, the more he hath receiv'd, and &s;o the
<PB N="29" REF="95">more he is indebted; but yet, God is pleas'd not to require all that he gives, nor all that we may give, that we may have wherewith to make a free-will-offering; that we may have &s;omething to give him, that he re|quires not, tokens of our greater love and gratitude. It was foretold that under the Go&s;pel, <HI>in the day of Chri&s;ts power,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 110.3</NOTE> <HI>his people &s;hould offer him feee-will-offerings with an holy wor|&s;hip.</HI> And <HI>David</HI> him&s;elf, under the Law, was at his <HI>quid retribuam?</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 116.</NOTE> <HI>What &s;hall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?</HI> Though the benefits which God vouch&s;afed his people then, were much inferior to tho&s;e he hath &s;ince be&s;towed upon us; (<HI>for eye had not</HI> then <HI>&s;een nor ear heard, neither was it entred into the heart of man,</HI> what great things God would do for them that love him, as he hath now declar'd in the revelations of his Go&s;pel,) though he had tied them to a bur|then&s;ome and mo&s;t expen&s;ive &s;er|vice: yet he accepted their volun|tary vows and ingagements, and was well pleas'd with them: yet he would receive their free-will-offer|ings, and delight in them. And
<PB N="30" REF="96">&s;ure we are more oblig'd than the Jews to let our love and gratitude break forth beyond the limits of commands and expre&s;s injuncti|ons: and now that God hath open'd to us his rare&s;t trea&s;ures, his own bo|&s;ome, for to give us his beloved Son, he will not reject our free oblations, the voluntary acknowledgments of his unde&s;erved and un&s;peakable mer|cies. 'Tis not to be denied (with|out giving the lie to the learning and piety of the be&s;t Chri&s;tians in all ages) but that there is in the New Te&s;tament coun&s;els as well as pre|cepts, &s;ome things recommended, though not commanded; he that &s;ells all that he hath for to buy <HI>the pearl of great price,</HI> and they that make them&s;elves <HI>Eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 9.6.</NOTE> were not injoyn'd &s;o to do, but are well approv'd of: and that God who gives a plentiful harve&s;t to him that &s;ows bountifully, is doubt|le&s;s well-plea&s;ed, with his open handedne&s;s and charitable profu&s;ion. And as it is the be&s;t indication of a devout and loving &s;oul, cheerfully to exceed what is &s;trictly required: it is al&s;o the be&s;t fence to immure and &s;ecure our duty; for then, when we
<PB N="31" REF="96">&s;lack and abate, we may be &s;till with|in our due bounds; nay more, I am confdent that as it is be&s;t and &s;afe&s;t, it is al&s;o ea&s;ier, to give free-will-offer|ings, than only, ju&s;t to pay the daily commanded &s;acrifice, becau&s;e tho&s;e proceed from affection, the&s;e per|haps only from injunction. He that is de&s;ired to go one mile and goes two or ten, finds his way plea&s;ant, for love leads him: but he that is pre&s;t to the &s;ame journey, and is acted by fear and compul&s;ion, while he re&s;olves not to go one foot farther than needs he mu&s;t, will ea&s;ily be tempted to &s;tay one &s;hort of what he &s;hould. But this is better under&s;tood by the devout lovers of <HI>JESUS</HI> than I can expre&s;s it.
<Q REND="margQuotes">Precepts are given to all men as tri|butes are exacted of all:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Beat. Doroth. Doct.</HI> 1.</NOTE> (&s;aith an Ancient guide of &s;ouls) but as in the world, great per&s;ons and favourites not only pay the tax, but al&s;o offer pre&s;ents and gifts to the Prince: &s;o in the Church, the mo&s;t Religious ob&s;erve not only the precepts, but al&s;o in|timations and coun&s;els, and give to God, not only what he exacts, but
<PB N="32" REF="97">al&s;o free oblations, all that they are able.</Q> How many thou&s;ands of Saints, now in heaven, have taken this cour&s;e? how many that now wear the bright crown of virginity, might have injoy'd the comforts of marriage, had not the love of <HI>JE|SUS</HI> prevail'd over their natural de|&s;ires? how many who might have po&s;&s;e&s;t great e&s;tates, injoy now the greater trea&s;ures of eternity, for ha|ving made them&s;elves poor, to re|lieve the needy members of <HI>JE|SUS?</HI> how many who now &s;it on thrones of glory, have cho&s;en here to follow <HI>JESUS</HI> in meanne&s;s and humility, when honours and world|ly pomps were at their command? how many are now rewarded with high degrees of everla&s;ting bli&s;s, for having &s;pent their &s;hort time upon earth in &s;erving <HI>JESUS,</HI> when they might have &s;pent it upon their own profit or plea&s;ure? and how many now living, a&s;pire to the &s;ame felicities and recompences, by cheer|fully following the &s;ame ways, and expre&s;&s;ing a &s;incere and unbounded love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">S. <HI>Aug.</HI></NOTE> by &s;uch free oblations? <HI>Cur non po&s;&s;um quod i&s;ti &amp; i&s;tae?</HI> Why can't I do what the&s;e my Chri&s;tian Bro|thers
<PB N="33" REF="97">and Si&s;ters have done, and do &s;till? hath not God done as great things for me as for them? hath he not given me the &s;ame promi&s;es as they had? do not I hope to be their companion and fellow citizen in heaven? And why then can't I love as much as they did? I &s;hould there|fore, and do re&s;olve to make no re&s;ervations; <HI>JESUS</HI> &s;hall have the command of all he hath given me, of all he hath enabled me to do; I &s;hall keep nothing from him which may expre&s;s my love and gra|titude, and do him &s;ervice. Dear|e&s;t <HI>JESUS,</HI> I know I can never do for thee &s;o much as I &s;hould, and I know that I &s;hall never do &s;o much as I would; thou gave&s;t thy &s;elf for me, and thou wilt give thy &s;elf to me: and Lord, what am I worth, and what is the worth of all I can do? It is a great favour that thou wilt accept of me and my weak indeavours. I know that if heaven were capable of any grief, it would be only that we have not lov'd thee enough upon earth; when thou fille&s;t our &s;ouls with thy Divine and ravi&s;hing joys, we &s;hall wi&s;h we had done nothing here, but &s;erve and
<PB N="34" REF="98">love thee. O give me grace now whil&s;t I live, to do what I &s;hall wi&s;h to have done when I die; let me d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> now I am ab&s;ent from thee, what I &s;hall wi&s;h to have don<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> when I dwell with thee&punc; let me love thee infinitely and without mea&s;ure.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Modus amandi Deum &s;ine modo.</HI> S. Bern.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 11. Of our obedience to the Church.</HEAD>
<P>The fir&s;t in&s;tance o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> our love in this way o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> free-will-offerings &s;hould be a pious obedience to our Mother the Church; not but that it is many ways requir'd, but becau&s;e 'tis almo&s;t wholly neglected. What by pride and refractorine&s;s, what by ignorance and indevotion, and what by loo&s;ene&s;s and irreligion, that obe|dience which ought to be paid to <HI>tho&s;e that have the rule over us in the Lord,</HI> to the &s;tanding rules and or|ders of our Spiritual governors, is &s;o generally laid a&s;ide, that many that would, yet dare not pre&s;s it up|on the people; and that, even they that obey, do it &s;ecretly, and, as though 'twere di&s;honourable, are in a manner a&s;ham'd to own it; Hence comes that great neglect of Confir|mation, that mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary and An|cient,
<PB N="35" REF="98">if not Apo&s;tolick con&s;titution; hence the de&s;uetude of fa&s;ting upon appointed days, and even of bid|ding of them: and the non-ob&s;er|vance of Holy-days, and times of &s;o|lemn devotion; hence the &s;light re|gard had to the publick wor&s;hip of God, and the &s;eldom receiving of the Lords Supper; hence the re&s;ervedne&s;s &amp; unhappy &s;ecre&s;ie of mo&s;t people in not acquainting their &s;piritual guides with the &s;tate of their con&s;cience when it needs, and not receiving their comforts and directions; hence the not &s;ending for the elders of the Church to do their office upon &s;ick per&s;ons, and the &s;eldom de&s;iring their ab&s;olution; and hence even in too many of the Clergy, the neglect of daily &s;aying Divine Offices, as they are commanded, and ob&s;erving other injunctions peculiar to them. I may &s;ay that it fares with our Church as with &s;ome Princes, who have their due Sovereignty denied them be|cau&s;e they are Chri&s;tians: (as if by becoming members and defenders of the Church, they were become &s;ubject to Pontifical Chairs and Pu|ritan Synods) for &s;o, many would not have this Church obey'd be|cau&s;e
<PB N="36" REF="99">'tis Reformed; they would not have its laws ob&s;erv'd, becau&s;e it makes them inferior to Gods; as though, by not impo&s;ing a blind &s;u|per&s;titious, and over&s;evere obedi|ence, as <HI>Rome</HI> doth, this Church were become uncapable of exerci&s;ing any authority over her children and re|quiring any duty from them. But I &s;ay, let tho&s;e that love <HI>JESUS</HI> amend this, for his &s;ake: for the Church is his &s;pou&s;e and hath re|ceiv'd her power from him; let them yield a free and Religious obe|dience to Eccle&s;ia&s;tical injunctions, becau&s;e <HI>JESUS</HI> hath &s;aid, <HI>he that receiveth you receiveth me.</HI> It is doubt|le&s;s our duty &s;o to do: and I am &s;ure it will be a good token of a pious heart, when we &s;hall obey them in the Lord, whom the Lord hath &s;et over us. We &s;hall make it appear that we own the Authority of our heavenly King, when we are &s;ubject to tho&s;e his officers, by whom he now reigns over us: to whom he hath given the keys of his kingdom, and whom he hath appointed Stew|ards of his &s;aving My&s;teries: we &s;hall have a &s;hare in the My&s;terious repre&s;entation of the great expiatory
<PB N="37" REF="99">&s;acrifice, which by the Church is ce|lebrated in the Euchari&s;t, and in tho&s;e Divine Services and &s;olemn Prayers which the Church offers to God daily: and we &s;hall receive the full benefit of being members of the Church and holding communion with it; if this were not ab&s;olutely re|quir'd, yet I am &s;ure it will be a very acceptable free-will-offering, if we do it devoutly and joyfully, becau&s;e we love <HI>JESUS;</HI> and this Chri&s;tian obedience to the known, rational, and pious orders of the Church, will an&s;wer the be&s;t part of that ancient and &s;o much magnified &s;elf-abnega|tion, vow'd by the Coenobites, when they gave up them&s;elves to be in all things rul'd and commanded by their &s;uperiors: and it will exerci&s;e tho&s;e two heavenly graces, meekne&s;s and humility, which the world de&s;pi&s;eth, but all true Chri&s;tians own to be mo&s;t Divine:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 11.29</NOTE> as they that bring <HI>re&s;t to the &s;oul,</HI> and make us mo&s;t con|formable to the meek and humble <HI>JESUS.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 12. Of &s;everal volunta|ry oblations.</HEAD>
<P>As for corporal au&s;teri|ties commanded or un|commanded, I have &s;aid
<PB N="38" REF="100">&s;omething of them already: and the chiefe&s;t u&s;e and de&s;ign of them is to mortifie &s;en&s;ual lu&s;ts, and to keep under the body that the &s;pirit may rule and be obey'd; yet, as they are exerci&s;es of repentance, marks of the ju&s;t indignation we conceive again&s;t our &s;elves for having di&s;pleas'd God; as they may effect or expre&s;s a di&s;|reli&s;h of temporal plea&s;ures, a long|ing for heavenly joys, and an in|deavour to take up our cro&s;s and fol|low <HI>JESUS;</HI> they may be the matter of a free-will-offering, and they may find a gracious reward and acceptance in &s;o much as they proceed from a &s;incere love to <HI>JE|SUS.</HI> Prayer al&s;o, thank&s;giving, reading, meditation, acts of Religi|on; though, as to the &s;ub&s;tance, they be the di&s;charge of the greate&s;t duty God requires of us, the wor&s;hip and adoration of his Divine Maje&s;ty: yet as to the quantity, they may become free oblations, the expre&s;&s;ions of a greater love. He that with devout affections inlargeth his offices, or counts the frequency of them by Ca|nonical hours and wi&s;h't for oppor|tunities: and he that &s;ets apart large portions for religious exerci|&s;es,
<PB N="39" REF="100">or in the following of his nece&s;|&s;ary bu&s;ine&s;s, doth often lift up his heart and thoughts to heaven and heavenly things, makes a voluntary offering of &s;ome of his time, to him of who&s;e eternity he hopes to be partaker. He that defalks &s;ome hours from the refre&s;hment of his body, to be&s;tow them upon his &s;oul; he that chu&s;eth a meaner condition and im|ployment, that having fewer avoca|tions he may &s;pend more time upon Religion; and he that bears with &s;ome wrongs and injuries, that be|ing free from the di&s;tractions of quarrels and law-&s;uits, he may be the better di&s;pos'd to &s;erve God, hath bought the ble&s;&s;ed opportunity of attending <HI>JESUS</HI> and indearing him&s;elf to him. Charity likewi&s;e, whether Spiritual or Corporal, whe|ther in giving or in forgiving may be carried further than is ab&s;olutely re|quired, and &s;o become a free obla|tion. He that takes great pains to in&s;truct the ignorant, to convert &s;in|ners, by all means to win &s;ouls to <HI>JESUS,</HI> may manife&s;t a greater love than was ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to his own &s;alvation; and he that makes it his bu&s;ine&s;s and delight to pre|vent
<PB N="40" REF="101">quarrels or make reconciliati|ons; to comfort and defend the af|flicted, and oppre&s;&s;ed, to vi&s;it ho|&s;pitals and relieve the poor; and to &s;pend all his &s;ub&s;tance in pious u&s;es, for the honour of God, and Religi|on, and for the pre&s;ent and future happine&s;s of men, may exceed what God would have rewarded, and by &s;hewing &s;o great a love inrich his crown of glory and recompence. I only mark the head-&s;prings or &s;tore-hou&s;es of tho&s;e arbitrary gifts where|with men may honour God and en|rich them&s;elves: the &s;everal ema|nations and offerings which may pro|ceed from them, being free and in|numerable, cannot be &s;pecified, and &s;hould not be impos'd. Where there is love there is a willing mind: and <HI>where there is a willing mind a man</HI> (in other ca&s;es as well as in charity) <HI>is accepted,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.12.</NOTE> <HI>according to what he hath and not according to what be hath not.</HI>
<Q REND="margQuotes">Some husbandmen &s;ow that they may have wherewith to pay their debts,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. S. Johan. Clim. Grad. 26. &sect;. 43.</NOTE> (which marks the labours and offer|ings of penitents, who indeavour to make what
<PB N="41" REF="101">&s;atisfaction they can for their in|juries to God or man.) Some &s;ow that by the expected crop they may increa&s;e their wealth; (which repre&s;ents the good works of more innocent per&s;ons, who a&s;pire to a great reward and a glorious crown.) Some &s;ow that they may have &s;ome|thing wherewith to expre&s;s their gratitude and make pre&s;ents to their kind land-lord or benefa|ctor; (whereby is &s;ignified the be&s;t of Chri&s;tians, who in all things &s;eek and de&s;ign the glory and advan|tage of their Lord.) And others &s;ow that they may be thought di|ligent, and receive commendati|ons from the pa&s;&s;ers by; (the&s;e are an emblem of the mo&s;t im|perfect Chri&s;tians, who in Gods &s;ervice &s;eek their own glory, and of whom our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour &s;ays that they have their reward.)</Q> How|ever all mu&s;t &s;ow; and every one as he doth it, &s;paringly or bounti|fully, &s;o &s;hall he reap at la&s;t. But heaven is a cheap purcha&s;e, give we never &s;o dear for it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Decay of Chri&s;tian Piety.</NOTE>
<Q REND="margQuotes">The Go&s;pel reveals and offers a glorious king|dom great and eternal felicities: but he that expects their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion
<PB N="42" REF="102">becau&s;e he reads and believes them, is like him that &s;hould fan&s;ie the whole world &s;hall be his, be|cau&s;e he hath the Hi&s;tory or the Map thereof.</Q>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ecclus.</HI> 37.11.</NOTE> <HI>Con&s;ult not</HI> then <HI>with a coward in matters of war,</HI> as the Son of <HI>Sirach</HI> advi&s;eth; con&s;ult not with an irreligious age in matters of Piety and Religion: and think it not enough to do as the mo&s;t do. When fir&s;t Chri&s;tian Religion was preach't in the world, and men under&s;tood what <HI>JESUS</HI> had done for them, and what he had promis'd, they thought nothing too much nor too good for him: they chearfully parted with temporal plea&s;ures, honors and ri|ches: with their liberties, their limbs, blood, their very lives, that they might be faithful to <HI>JESUS</HI> and come to reign with him: they made it appear by their patient, chearful, and magnanimous &s;uffer|ings, that they valued nothing but <HI>JESUS</HI> and eternity. We are not now expos'd to the &s;ame dangers for the belief and profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;ti|anity: but the commands thereof may have Martyrs as well as the Creed; the &s;ame Lord and Saviour requires our obedience to the one,
<PB N="43" REF="102">who exacts our faith to the other; he that &s;pends his life in the ob&s;er|vance of his Lords precepts and coun&s;els, in thus <HI>confe&s;&s;ing of him be|fore men,</HI> may be intitled to as great a reward, as he that dies, that he may not renounce his Religion and deny his Faith. I need not in&s;ert cautions again&s;t vain glory and &s;elf complacency after we have done the mo&s;t we are able: for if it proceeds not from the love of God, it is nothing worth; and if it doth, it will never bring pride nor vanity. <HI>Charity vanteth not it &s;elf, and is not puffed up:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.4.</P>
<P><GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. S. Johan. Clim. Grad. 23.11.</P></NOTE> On|ly in the words of a pious Saint,
<Q REND="margQuotes">If we had died a thou&s;and times for <HI>JESUS,</HI> yet we &s;hould not have repaid him the lea&s;t part of what we owe his infinite mercy and conde&s;cen&s;ion: for va&s;t is the difference betwixt the blood of God, and the blood of his crea|tures and &s;ervants, if we judge ac|cording to the dignity, and not to the &s;ub&s;tance of it.</Q> <HI>What ha&s;t thou, that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI> remem|ber what <HI>JESUS</HI> &s;aith to all Chri|&s;tians,
<PB N="44" REF="103"><HI>He that loveth father or mother more than me,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 10.37</NOTE> <HI>is not worthy of me: and he that loveth &s;on or daughter more than me,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luk.</HI> 14.33</NOTE> <HI>is not worthy of me:</HI> and <HI>who&s;oever he be of you that for&s;aketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my di&s;ciple.</HI> We can never do too much for <HI>JESUS:</HI> but we may ea&s;ily do too little; though the mo&s;t we can do will never merit heaven, yet the lea&s;t we may do &s;hall not obtain it: 'tis &s;afe and impo&s;&s;ible to exceed, but 'tis ea&s;ie and dangerous to be defective.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">6. <HI>Sunday after Tri|nity.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P><Q REND="margQuotes">O God, who ha&s;t prepared for them that love thee &s;uch good things as pa&s;s mans under&s;tand|ing, pour into our hearts &s;uch love towards thee, that we loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promi&s;es which exceed all that we can de&s;ire, through <HI>JESUS</HI> Chri&s;t our Lord, Amen.</Q></P>
<P>I have now a&s;&s;ign'd love its full task; to repent, and mortifie our lu&s;ts, to &s;erve and obey God, and to abound in good works even free-will-offerings. I have no more for it to do; I would only have it to in|crea&s;e, to grow towards perfection, to be con&s;tant, and to indure unto the end. To help this forward,
<PB N="45" REF="103">and to conclude I have here added four con&s;iderations, wherewith to a&s;&s;i&s;t and incourage the &s;incere lover of <HI>JESUS</HI> to the di&s;charge of this great and ble&s;&s;ed duty, <HI>the work and labour of love.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 13. That God &s;hould be loved a|bove all things.</HEAD>
<P>The fir&s;t is, that it is mo&s;t unju&s;t and unrea&s;onable to love any crea|ture to the prejudice of the Creator. As all things have their being from God, &s;o they have from him all the goodne&s;s and beauty which makes them lovely to us: and God drawing upon vi&s;ible objects fair copies of his invi&s;ible perfections, de&s;ign'd to be lov'd in them: or that they &s;hould be lov'd in him, and for his &s;ake. <HI>If men being delighted with the beauty of the heavenly ho&s;t took them to be gods,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Wi&s;d.</HI> 13.3.</NOTE> <HI>let them know how much better the Lord of them is, for the fir&s;t Author of beauty hath created them:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">5.</NOTE> for by the beauty and greatne&s;s of the creatures proportionably the maker of them is &s;een.</HI> Beauty and goodne&s;s are the proper object of love: and therefore, God who is the fir&s;t and &s;upreme beauty and good|ne&s;s, &s;hould be loved before all things. We indeed reverence Princes in their &s;eals and arms, in their mean|e&s;t &s;ervants cloth'd with their livery:
<PB N="46" REF="104">but &s;hould a &s;ubject &s;et up the&s;e in the royal throne, and transfer to them, or even to the greate&s;t Fa|vorite, tho&s;e &s;pecial honours which belong to the Prince only: he &s;hould ju&s;tly be deem'd a Rebel, and his proceedings would be as unju&s;tifi|able, as the di&s;loyal di&s;tinction of <HI>taking arms by the Kings Authority again&s;t his Per&s;on.</HI> Yet &s;uch are the proceedings of all di&s;orderly lovers, I mean of all &s;inners: who &s;etting more of their affections upon the creatures, than upon God the Crea|tor, pay them afterwards a greater veneration than they do to him; ha|ving exalted honours, plea&s;ures, and riches into the Imperial chair, they do more for them than for the So|vereign him&s;elf: nay they obey them to his prejudice, and again&s;t his expre&s;s command. Thus vici|ous unrea&s;onable men burn in the &s;hade, and freeze where the Sun &s;hines; they dote upon inferior beau|ties, and neglect the highe&s;t and mo&s;t perfect; they take fire at dark &s;ha|dows, and find no heat in the bright|e&s;t light. Great men have a re&s;pect paid them, in their degenerating po&s;terity: great Arti&s;ts are re&s;pected
<PB N="47" REF="104">in their livele&s;s children; we highly honour unhappy Pagans in tho&s;e la|bors of theirs which adorn our clo|&s;ets and libraries: God only is di&s;|honour'd in his works, the more perfect he hath made them, the more injurious they prove to him. <HI>Phi|dias</HI> and <HI>Apelles</HI> are remembred with veneration, in a fine picture or Sta|tue: God only is ingratefully forgot|ten in a lovely creature whereof he is Maker. An ab&s;urd im|piety this is,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ab&s;urdum est genu po|&s;ito &s;imulacra adorare, &amp; &s;u&s;picere, fabros vero qui ea fecerunt contemnere.</NOTE> which <HI>Seneca</HI> reprov'd in his Fellow|heathen, to wor&s;hip and deifie the carved image, and to take no notice of the Carver that made it. God hath done like a loving father, who jea|lous of his &s;ons affection, would have none to tend him but &s;uch as wear his livery; would have the picture of him&s;elf hang in every room; and all the goods in the hou&s;e markt with his name and cypher: So God, who loves men tenderly, and de&s;ires to be by them lov'd again, hath put &s;ome|thing of him&s;elf in all the creatures he hath appointed to &s;erve us; that, which way &s;oever we turn our eyes, we might be put in mind of him, he
<PB N="48" REF="105" MS="y">hath &s;tampt his name, in more or le&s;s legible Characters, upon all the goods and uten&s;ils of this his great hou&s;e, the world, wherein he hath plac'd us. And now &s;hall we do like a &s;imple child, who turning his back upon his father, &s;hould look and &s;mile on his picture, and care&s;s it, and wait upon it, and ask it ble&s;&s;ing, while he &s;lights the original? So ab|&s;urd a thing would be counted mad|ne&s;s, and move pity or laughter: but when we act the &s;ame folly, in loving the world whil&s;t we de&s;pi&s;e God, we are highly criminal, &amp; we highly pro|voke our heavenly Father, thus to re|turn to him contempt &amp; di&s;obedience for the gracious tokens of his love. From hence it follows, that as we &s;hould love God above all and all things, things in him and for him: we &s;hould al&s;o love tho&s;e things mo&s;t, which have mo&s;t of his impre&s;s and like|ne&s;s. Therefore, man who is created after Gods image, &s;hould be by us lov'd above all other creatures: and that part of man which is chiefly adorn'd with the likene&s;s of God, &s;hould have the greater &s;hare of our affection. God him&s;elf values hu|mane &s;ouls at a high rate, becau&s;e
<PB N="49" REF="105">they are like him; as appears by what he hath done and &s;uffered to &s;ave them. And for the &s;ame rea&s;on al&s;o, we &s;hould pay to the &s;ouls of men the be&s;t part of that kindne&s;s we owe them: and if we do not, we give our friends no greater love than children to their puppets; for they dre&s;s them fine, and lay them &s;oft, and ki&s;s and imbrace them: Ju&s;t as they who aim at nothing more than to make their friends merry, to wi&s;h them toys and gaudy things and to &s;ee them at ea&s;e. A fondne&s;s in|excu&s;able in rational creatures, e&s;pe|cially in Chri&s;tians, who know the worth of an immortal &s;oul and the great concern of Eternity: and yet &s;eek only to gratifie the material part of their friends which is &s;ubject to corruption, and to ingage their affe|ctions to the world which pa&s;&s;eth away and they mu&s;t &s;oon leave. As if when King <HI>Edward</HI> the fir&s;t was ha&s;tning out of the Holy-land hither to receive the Crown which expect|ed him, his friends had &s;taid him by the way, and invited him to re&s;t and ca&s;e, and provided for him all Prince|ly delights, and entertainments, and retarded his coming &s;o long, till he
<PB N="50" REF="106">had forgot or lo&s;t his right and his kingdom. <HI>What is a man profited, if he &s;hall gain the whole world and lo&s;e his &s;oul? and what &s;hall a man give in exchange for his &s;oul?</HI> We are indeed much commanded <HI>to love one ano|ther,</HI> and in this con&s;i&s;teth one great half of our Religion, all ju&s;tice and charity, and all the duties of the &s;e|cond Table. To love our brother as we ought, is the be&s;t demon&s;tra|tion of our love to God,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.20</NOTE> for <HI>he that &s;ays he loves God, and hateth his brother,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 13.10</NOTE> <HI>is a liar,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>John:</HI> and <HI>love worketh no ill to his neigh|bour,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 19.19.</NOTE> <HI>and is therefore the fulfilling of the law,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul,</HI> but a man is to <HI>love his neighbour as him&s;elf,</HI> and therefore as he is mo&s;t ob|lig'd to &s;eek for him&s;elf <HI>the king|dom of God and its righteou&s;ne&s;s:</HI> &s;o &s;hould he in the fir&s;t place indea|vour to procure it to his friend. Or el&s;e we are <HI>to love one another as Chri&s;t hath loved us:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 13.33</NOTE> and that was in redeeming our &s;ouls and purcha|&s;ing for us heavenly joys and eter|nal life: not in providing ea&s;e and &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures to our bodies here in this world. The re&s;ult of this is, that in the fir&s;t place we &s;hould love
<PB N="51" REF="106">God infinitely and for his own &s;ake: and that in the next, we &s;hould love tho&s;e things mo&s;t which have a near|e&s;t relation to God; Grace and Ver|tue, Religion, Holine&s;s and Men; e&s;pecially their Souls, which are an image of the Deity; e&s;pecially &s;an|ctified &s;ouls which are mo&s;t like God. Afterwards our le&s;&s;er love for le&s;s Divine Objects, may be rea&s;onable and innocent: and however we have &s;ecur'd a great duty and a great happine&s;s.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mar.</HI> 13.33</NOTE> <HI>To love God with all the heart, and with all the under&s;tanding, and with all the &s;oul, and with all the &s;trength, and to love his neighbour as him&s;elf, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and &s;acrifices.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 14. 'Tis mo&s;t ju&s;t and ea&s;ie to love God.</HEAD>
<P>A &s;econd con&s;ideration may be, that it is mo&s;t ju&s;t and ea&s;ie to love God. That it is mo&s;t ju&s;t, is &s;hown all along this di&s;cour&s;e, wherein I have repre&s;ented the more general and mo&s;t excellent benefits of God to mankind: all the which challenge and de&s;erve the greate&s;t love our hearts are capable of. God had requir'd of his people that the fir&s;t-born and the fir&s;t fruits &s;hould be con&s;ecrated to him, thereby to acknowledge him
<PB N="52" REF="107">the author of all their ble&s;&s;ings and the giver of all their increa&s;e: Now the fir&s;t-born of our &s;ouls, the fir&s;t-fruits of our hearts is love, which God, who gives us all things, de|mands as an acknowledgment from us. <HI>thou &s;halt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy &s;oul.</HI> We therefore commit a greater &s;acriledge if we deny him &s;o ju&s;t a tribute, than if a Jew had rob'd him of his fir&s;t grapes or his fir&s;t ears of corn. But it is &s;o much the more ju&s;t, in that it is mo&s;t ea&s;ie to love God. Infinite perfections, an aby&s;s of goodne&s;s whence rivers and oceans of good things do perpetually flow, one would think &s;hould &s;wallow up the hearts and affections of men: as indeed it doth, of all that duly con|&s;ider it. And more perfectly of bea|tified Saints, and of tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed &s;pirits who mini&s;ter before his throne and are all flame for him. Be&s;ides, 'tis natural for men to love what is theirs, propriety begets or increa&s;eth love: Now God is our God; he hath given him&s;elf for us, he doth now, and will more intirely hereafter give him&s;elf to us; he made us for the in|joyment of him&s;elf, and for that pur|po&s;e
<PB N="53" REF="107">he hath redeem'd us: and that we might all &s;ay, with <HI>David, O God thou art my God,</HI> that God might &s;hew his kindne&s;s and indear him&s;elf to us, and a&s;&s;ert our right to him, he hath a&s;&s;um'd the names of tho&s;e relations who love us be&s;t, whom we love mo&s;t tenderly, and whom we count mo&s;t ours. God the Father is pleas'd to be call'd our Father, God the Son, our Brother, and God the Holy Gho&s;t our Comforter, as it were our friend: thereby to expre&s;s that affection which he hath for us, and the pro|priety which we may claim in him. Sure 'tis an ea&s;ie thing to love them that love us:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nimis durus e&s;t ani|mus qui amorem ei&s;i nole|bat dare, nolit tamen re|pendere.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> and where God hath ex|pre&s;t &s;o much love, 'tis &s;trangely unnatural if we are not affected with it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 19.6.</NOTE> <HI>Every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts,</HI> &s;aith the Wi&s;eman: Now what gifts hath our God given us! or rather, what gifts hath he not given us! and what per|ver&s;e violence do they offer nature, that &s;eek to confute <HI>Solomons</HI> &s;aying, in this in&s;tance where it &s;hould be mo&s;t true. Certainly 'tis an ea&s;ie thing
<PB N="54" REF="108">to love infinite perfections, and in|finite goodne&s;s; one that ever did and ever doth us good; from whom we daily receive favours, &s;o great and &s;o many that we can tell neither their worth nor num|ber: Wherefore S. <HI>Aug.</HI> &s;aith,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Potes mihi dicere, non habeo quod tribuam egenti, non po&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">m je|junare, non po&s;&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">m fle|re. Numquid potes mi|hi dicere charitatem ha|bere non po&s;&s;um, &amp;c.</NOTE> that to love God is &s;o natural, &s;o ea&s;ie, &s;o infinitely ju&s;t, and &s;o much our duty, that to omit it can admit of no plea nor pretence, and is inexcu&s;able, and cri|minal in the highe&s;t degree. Per|haps thou wilt &s;ay, I cannot fa&s;t, I cannot weep, I have not what to give to the poor, but can&s;t thou &s;ay I cannot love God? is there any ob&s;tacle in thy way? do&s;t thou want inducements or a heart to do it? No, doubtle&s;s 'tis the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the world to love him that is mo&s;t lovely, to love our greate&s;t bene|factor, to love him who is infinitely kind and loving to us. Some vertues require opportunities and cannot be exerci&s;ed for want of them: but whe|ther thou bee&s;t &s;ickly or healthy, whether thy condition be high or
<PB N="55" REF="108">low, whether thy lei&s;ure be much or little, whether thy calling be ea&s;ie or laborious, thou mai&s;t love; love doth not pinch the belly,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Facilis res, est Domine JES&V; CHRISTE &s;uperamande, dilectio, a qua nullus cuju&s;cunque &s;tatus, gradus, aut condi|tionis exi&s;tat excu&s;ari po|te&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> Idiot.</NOTE> wearies not the hands, makes not the head ake, empties not the pur&s;e: for love is nei|ther grief nor pain; 'tis ea&s;ie to all men, none can plead any excu&s;es a|gain&s;t it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 15. An Objection an|&s;wer'd.</HEAD>
<P>Now here I will digre&s;s a little to an&s;wer two Ob|jections which po&s;&s;ibly might be made again&s;t what I have &s;aid of Divine Love. The fir&s;t, that I have humaniz'd it too much; that whereas it is &s;uper|natural and &s;hould be &s;piritual, I have made it almo&s;t palpable and &s;en&s;ible. To this I &s;ay, that whe|ther we &s;et our love upon earthly or heavenly things, upon God or upon the world, &s;till it is the &s;ame pa&s;&s;ion, which re&s;ides in the &s;ame humane faculty. The will of man, and the effects thereof are alike evident and real. He that truly loves God, hath that &s;ame hearty affection for him,
<PB N="56" REF="109">as to the kind, as one friend hath for another: a &s;incere lover of <HI>JE|SUS</HI> will &s;eek to plea&s;e him, and to be with him, and to enjoy him, and do all that for him, which men would do for tho&s;e whom they love heartily: all the difference is, that Divine Love hath its proper expre&s;|&s;ions, can never be too great, and is in all re&s;pects infinitely more ex|cellent than the love of any creature. Therefore, if in &s;ome places I have repre&s;ented things plainly, and made that, in &s;ome manner to be touch't by &s;en&s;e which is only the object of faith, my de&s;ign was thereby to move the affections, and to bring down the notions of Religion, from the head into the heart.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 11.1.</NOTE> <HI>Faith</HI> &s;hould be <HI>the &s;ub&s;tance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not &s;een:</HI> We &s;hould con&s;ider things of faith, whether pa&s;t or to come, as if they had now a real &s;ub&s;i&s;tence, as if they were pre&s;ent before our eyes; their greatne&s;s then, would be better view'd, and have the greater power upon us:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">27.</NOTE> as <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> who, by con&s;ideration, <HI>&s;eeing him who is invi&s;ible,</HI> was thereby enabled to prefer the afflictions of Gods peo|ple to the plea&s;ures and dignities of
<PB N="57" REF="109">the Courts of <HI>Pharaoh.</HI> I believe it was a great advantage to the Piety of Primitive ages, that they liv'd near the time when tho&s;e things were acted, which we now believe at a greater di&s;tance: for then, the Reve|lations of the New Te&s;tament were every Chri&s;tians di&s;cour&s;e and admi|ration; the proximity of the times made them almo&s;t vi&s;ible, and the recent foot-&s;teps of tho&s;e great tran&s;|actions gave them a kind of &s;en&s;ibili|ty, whereby their thoughts and con&s;i|derations were drawn and retain'd, and made &s;erious and efficacious. And I believe it may be a great cau&s;e of the degeneracy of the&s;e lat|ter ages, that faith is become too no|tional, too metaphy&s;ical and ab|&s;tracted, whereas we &s;hould ve&s;t the great objects of our faith with ma|terial circum&s;tances, to make them in &s;ome manner the object of &s;en&s;e, that to us it might be &s;aid as S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 3.1.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Galatians, Before your eyes JESUS CHRIST hath been evi|dently &s;et forth, crucified among you;</HI> and that, in all other in&s;tances, our faith might be to us, <HI>the evidence of things not &s;een.</HI> When we look upon the things of revelation as far di|&s;tant
<PB N="58" REF="110" MS="y">from us, they appear hardly credible, and not much to be re|garded: but a clo&s;er viewing of them, by a nearer and almo&s;t &s;en&s;ible con|&s;ideration, would make them ap|pear great and wonderful, would make deep and la&s;ting impre&s;&s;ions on our minds, and cau&s;e us to cry out with grief and wonder; Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of him! or rather, what is man, that he is unmindful of thee! However, I have the war|rant, and do claim the priviledge, of them that write contemplative meditations, to repre&s;ent things as pre&s;ent and vi&s;ible; and well we may, e&s;pecially when we treat of the love of God &s;hewed to mankind in <HI>JESUS:</HI> for that love became palpable, and conver&s;t among men, and was manife&s;ted to &s;en&s;e, in the birth, the actions, and the &s;ufferings of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour: who by be|coming man, &s;eem'd to comply with that unju&s;t and yet general de|&s;ire which men had, of wor&s;hip|ping humane creatures, and having things vi&s;ible and material for the object of their devotion and Religi|ous love.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="section">
<PB N="59" REF="110" MS="y">
<HEAD>&sect;. 16. A &s;econd objection an&s;wer'd.</HEAD>
<P>The other Objection would per|haps be made by them who &s;cruple and refu&s;e to bow at the Holy name of <HI>JESUS,</HI> and who might &s;ay that I have mention'd it too often and too often call'd Divine Charity, The love of <HI>JESUS:</HI> and that in &s;o doing I have been either &s;uper|&s;titious or injurious to God. To this I an&s;wer, That as our Ble&s;&s;ed Savi|our &s;aith, <HI>He that hateth me,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 15.23</NOTE> <HI>hateth my father al&s;o:</HI> &s;o we may &s;ay, that he that loveth him loveth his father al&s;o. For the Father, the Son, and Holy Gho&s;t are one and the &s;ame God ble&s;&s;ed for ever;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.1.</NOTE> <HI>he that loveth him that begat, loveth al&s;o him that is begotten,</HI> and &s;o reciprocally. The Divine E&s;&s;ence is but one, it admits of no divi&s;ion: therefore whatever honour is paid to one of the Divine Per&s;ons, is paid to all Three, the Ever-glorious Trinity is honour'd by it. But then it mu&s;t be con&s;ider'd that <HI>JESUS</HI> the &s;econd Per&s;on of that Ble&s;&s;ed and Glorious Trinity is not only God, but al&s;o Man, and &s;o Mediator betwixt God and Man: &s;o that by, and through him we pray, we wor&s;hip, we love God. As God
<PB N="60" REF="111">manife&s;ted his love to men in <HI>JE|SUS:</HI> &s;o in <HI>JESUS</HI> men offer the returns of their love to God;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.9.</NOTE> <HI>In this was manife&s;ted the love of God to|wards us, becau&s;e God &s;ent his only be|gotten Son into the world that we might live through him:</HI> and in this is ma|nife&s;ted our love towards God, that we receive, and love, and obey that Son. With this, God is in no wi&s;e offended, but rather infinitely well pleas'd;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 14.21</NOTE> <HI>he that loveth me &s;hall be lo|ved of my Father;</HI> &s;aith our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">23.</NOTE> <HI>If a man love me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him;</HI> and again, <HI>If any man &s;erve me,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Joh.</HI> 12.26</NOTE> <HI>him will my Fa|ther honour.</HI> Though we owe our re|demption to the infinite mercies of God Father, Son and Holy Gho&s;t: yet in a more e&s;pecial manner we are ingaged to the Son, who per&s;onally came down from heaven, <HI>for us men and for our &s;alvation. JESUS is the Author and fini&s;her of our faith,</HI> he is the Founder of our Holy Religi|on; it is he hath reveal'd tho&s;e do|ctrines we are to believe; it is he hath given us tho&s;e laws and precepts whereby we are to live, it is he from
<PB N="61" REF="111">whom we are called Chri&s;tians; it is he who for us <HI>de&s;pi&s;ed the &s;hame and indured the Cro&s;s,</HI> who hath &s;hed his blood and given his life a ran&s;om for ours; it is he who by contracting a near relation with us, becoming our brother, hath caus'd us to be adopted Sons of God, and heirs with him of an eternal kingdom; it is he who is our Lord and Ma&s;ter, and will be our judge and our rewarder if we be faithful to him.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 14.9.</NOTE> <HI>For this end Chri&s;t died and ro&s;e again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Paul.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Act.</HI> 2.36.</NOTE> <HI>God hath made that &s;ame JESUS whom ye have crucified both Lord and Chri&s;t, him God hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour,</HI> &s;aith S. <HI>Peter.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">5.31.</NOTE> <HI>All power is gi|ven him in heaven and earth:</HI> and <HI>he mu&s;t reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.</HI> Hence the frequent and urgent exhortations to follow and imitate, to &s;erve and obey <HI>JE|SUS;</HI> Hence tho&s;e Pathetick words of S. <HI>Paul, The love of Chri&s;t.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.14 <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.7,</NOTE> <HI>con&s;train|eth us,</HI> and again, <HI>what things were gain to me I counted lo&s;s for Chri&s;t: yea doubtle&s;s and I count all things lo&s;s,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">8.</NOTE> <HI>for the excellency of JESUS CHRIST my Lord, for whom I have &s;uffered the
<PB N="62" REF="112">lo&s;s of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Chri&s;t.</HI> 'Tis <HI>JESUS</HI> hath won our hearts to God; 'tis he hath reconcil'd us from a &s;tate of enmity to a &s;tate of love. be&s;ides that God was ju&s;tly angry for our rebellions, his glories are &s;o bright, &s;o amazing, his Divine Ma|je&s;ty &s;o high, that to love a being &s;o infinitely a|bove us might have been thought prophanene&s;s or pre&s;umption;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Non bene conveniunt nec in una &s;ede moran|tur, Majestas &amp; amor.</NOTE> re&s;pect, not friend&s;hip, is the affection of &s;ub|jects to Princes. <GAP DESC="foreign"> was an ordinary Epithete for the heathen Gods: and even the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were amaz'd and terrified at the &s;ight of a heavenly me&s;&s;enger, crying <HI>we &s;hall die for we have &s;een God:</HI> 'tis the great humiliation of <HI>JESUS</HI> hath procur'd and e&s;tabli&s;h'd an everla&s;t|ing reconciliation and friend&s;hip be|twixt God and man.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 5.8.</NOTE> <HI>God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet &s;inners Chri&s;t died for us:</HI> and now <HI>there is neither death,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 8.39.</NOTE> <HI>nor life, nor angels, nor any other creature can &s;epa|rate us from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD:</HI> Therefore for a reward for the great
<PB N="63" REF="112">&s;ufferings and aba&s;ement of <HI>JESUS,</HI> God hath given him a &s;upreme au|thority over all the world, <HI>Men and Angels being made &s;ubject unto him; becau&s;e he made him&s;elf of no reputation,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Phil.</HI> 2.7, 8, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>and took on him the form of a &s;ervant, and humbled him&s;elf, and became obedi|ent unto death, even the death of the Cro&s;s, therefore God hath highly exalt|ed him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of JESUS every thing &s;hould bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth: and every tongue &s;hould confe&s;s that JESUS CHRIST, is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father.</HI> Our love and obe|dience to <HI>JESUS</HI> derogates no|thing from but belongs to God: 'Tis <HI>to the glory of God the Father.</HI> God hath highly exalted <HI>JESUS</HI> for his humiliation, and for the &s;ame cau&s;e we ought al&s;o to love and exalt him, as much as po&s;&s;ibly we can, becau&s;e it was for us; not only bow at his name, but ever kneel and ki&s;s the ground, when he only &s;ees us; no fear of exceeding here, no fear of &s;uper&s;tition: we can never &s;hew him too much love or re&s;pect:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 72.</NOTE> <HI>All Kings &s;hall fall down before him, all nations
<PB N="64" REF="113">&s;hall do him &s;ervice: prayer &s;hall be made unto him, and daily &s;hall he be prai&s;ed.</HI> Amen.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 17. 'Tis mo&s;t plea&s;ant and &s;afe to love God.</HEAD>
<P>A third con&s;ideration will be that it is mo&s;t plea&s;ant and &s;afe to love God. Love may cau&s;e trouble, but it certainly is the &s;pring or parent of all joy and &s;atisfaction. He that hath an affection to nothing hath plea&s;ure in nothing: could the imaginary apathy of the Stoicks really &s;eize up|on any man: if he could never be mi&s;erable, he would al&s;o be uncapa|ble of all happine&s;s. 'Tis true in|deed that the love of worldly things, in that they are vain and peri&s;hing, is it &s;elf vanity and vexation: <HI>qui multum amat plus dolet,</HI> is certainly true of all but the Divine Love. He that hath many friends hath many &s;orrows; he that loves many things hath many things to fear for: 'Tis only God that hath tho&s;e infinite ex|cellencies which can fully repleni&s;h our minds and de&s;ires: 'Tis only God that admits of <HI>no variablene&s;s neither &s;hadow of turning:</HI> and there|fore 'tis the love of God alone that can make us eternally and intirely happy. It is reported of a per&s;on of
<PB N="65" REF="113">great &s;anctity, that an evil &s;pirit con|fe&s;t to him, that were it po&s;&s;ible for one who loves God to come into hell; yet it were impo&s;&s;ible he &s;hould be mi&s;erable but that it would rather &s;ink hell it &s;elf and make it di&s;ap|pear, or el&s;e make it a paradi&s;e for him. Though the relation may be fabulous, yet I believe the thing it &s;elf is true: However, I am confi|dent that the love of God would &s;weeten all the bitterne&s;s of our in|nocent mi&s;eries, and that it is only the imperfection of a Chri&s;tians love that expo&s;eth his mind to the vexa|tion of humane &s;orrows. I am not (to my grief) a competent witne&s;s to this truth: but there have been many Saints and devout per&s;ons who, in the fervency of their love to God, have found tho&s;e joys,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nihil crus &s;entit in nervo, dum animus e&s;t in Coelo.</NOTE> tho&s;e ravi&s;hments of joy which are ineffa|ble, and which made them, in &s;ome manner in&s;en&s;ible and incapable of any great &s;orrow. And even the le&s;&s;er love of more imperfect, though &s;incere, Chri&s;tians, doth in a great mea&s;ure take away the &s;en&s;e of humane cala|mities, and brings to their minds
<PB N="66" REF="114">the greate&s;t contentment and delight this world is capable of.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Magis e&s;t ubi amat quam ubi animat.</NOTE> A mans heart is more where it loves than where it lives; <HI>he that loveth dwelleth in God and God in him:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>John</HI> 4.16.</NOTE> and what greater,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deus Charitas e&s;t, quid pretio&s;ius? &amp; qui ma net in Charita<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">e, in Deo manet, quid &s;ecurius, &amp; Deus in eo, quid jucun|dius.</HI> Bern.</NOTE> what more excellent bli&s;s can we imagine or de&s;ire? What &s;tronger expre&s;&s;ion could one find to expre&s;s the highe&s;t felicities? <HI>to dwell in God!</HI> to be &s;wallow'd up in an aby&s;s of infinite goodne&s;s! to be over|whelm'd in the immen&s;ity of Di|vine Joys and perfections! as an atome in the air, as a drop of wa|ter in the Ocean: &s;o <HI>he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.</HI> Nothing can better repre&s;ent tho&s;e tran&s;cendent and delicious raptures wherewith the &s;oul is ine|briated and rai&s;ed above it &s;elf.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exta&s;in fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">it amor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> amatores &s;uo &s;tatu di monet, &s;ui juris e&s;&s;e non &s;init.</HI> Diony&s;. de Di|vin. nom.</NOTE> This was it made the Holy Martyrs &s;hout and rejoyce in the mid&s;t of the flames: they <HI>dwelt in God;</HI> no &s;orrow, no harm could approach them. Happy are they that can &s;ay with S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Col.</HI> 3.3.</NOTE> <HI>Paul, Our life is hid with Chri&s;t</HI>
<PB N="67" REF="114" MS="y">in God, and <HI>I live, yet not I,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20.</NOTE> <HI>but Chri&s;t liveth in me.</HI> The love of God fits us for the joys of heaven, and is an anticipation of them; it powerfully governs the will, and it &s;weetly over|flows the mind; it is the perfection of grace, and will be the con&s;umma|tion of glory: but 'tis much ea&s;ier and happier to feel than to expre&s;s it.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 4.10.</NOTE> <HI>How much better is thy love than wine, and the &s;mell of thine ointment than all &s;pices!</HI></P>
<P>One thing that adds much to the worth and the plea&s;ure of Divine Love, is that it never fails: it is of the nature of its object, eternal, as God is; <HI>whether there be prophecies,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.8.</NOTE> <HI>they &s;hall fail: whether there be tongues, they &s;hall cea&s;e: whether there be knowledge, it &s;hall vani&s;h away: but charity ne|ver faileth.</HI> Faith and hope may ac|company us as far as heaven's gate, but there they for&s;ake us; the one is turned into &s;ight and the other into injoyment; love alone enters and abides with us to eternity. Our greate&s;t &s;afety therefore as well as plea&s;ure con&s;i&s;ts in loving God af|fectionately; for that love which <HI>ne|ver faileth</HI> &s;ecures our duty here and our happine&s;s hereafter. We are
<PB N="68" REF="115">&s;ure never to live, and never to peri&s;h in &s;in if we love <HI>JESUS</HI> &s;incerely: <HI>He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God:</HI>
<Q REND="margQuotes">and there nei|ther &s;in nor mi&s;ery can come to hurt him.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quid refert natura e&s;&s;e quod potes effici vo|luntate?</HI> Chry&s;.</NOTE> What matters it then, to be that by nature, that we may be by choi&s;e &amp; affecti|on?</Q> If of our &s;elves we are not holy and happy, we may be &s;o by love; the (love of God will transform us into his nature, and make us partakers of his holine&s;s &amp; happine&s;s. Love kills us in our &s;elves, that we may live in God, <HI>Occidit quod fuimus &amp; &s;imus quod non eramus. Aug.</HI> It maketh &s;uch a change in us, that we are no longer what we were, as to the &s;infulne&s;s and wretch|edne&s;s of our condition. <HI>The New Commandment ma|keth the New Creature;</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mandato novo facit hominem norum, homines amando Deum dii effici. untur.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> <HI>men become Gods by loving God.</HI> Love con&s;iders and di&s;|chargeth all the duties of Religion: it allows of no omi&s;&s;ion nor trau&s;gre&s;&s;i|on:
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>John</HI> 6.</NOTE> <HI>Love is the fulfilling of the law: this is love that we keep his Commandments. Ille &s;an|cte &amp; ju&s;te agit qui &s;anctam habet di|lectionem.
<PB N="69" REF="115" MS="y">Aug.</HI> He is a Holy Man who&s;e love is holy,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non faciunt bonos vel malos mons, ni&s;i bo|ni vel mali amores.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> for love having the rule and direction of all mans pa&s;&s;ions and affe|ctions, they become ei|ther good or bad according to the nature of what he loves. Therefore to know whether a man be vertuous or no, we inquire not what his con|dition is, or what are his parts and learning: but what he delights in, what he loves: for if he loves the world and him&s;elf, he is certainly vain and vicious, but if he loves God, he is pious and good, and of a certainty he can never peri&s;h. If natural love be &s;o powerful and active, as we know it is: how much more when it is &s;et upon God and by him a&s;&s;i&s;ted? This therefore doth greatly manife&s;t how &s;ecure and well guarded they are that love God, in that their holy love ma&s;ters and mortifies their unholy affections. What is it that hurries men to &s;in and hell and de&s;truction, but their ma&s;terle&s;s and unruly pa&s;&s;ion? now love can not only &s;ubdue them, but even makes them u&s;eful and &s;ub&s;er|vient to it; the love of God &s;ancti|fies
<PB N="70" REF="116">all pa&s;&s;ions and makes them &s;er|viceable. If it cannot make him meek who is of an angry nature: it will make him angry again&s;t &s;in and again&s;t him&s;elf a &s;inner; if it doth not make him bold and generous who&s;e temper inclines him to timo|rou&s;ne&s;s: it will turn his fear into prudence, and make him not dare to offend God; if it makes him not cheerful who naturally is melancho|ly: it will turn his &s;adne&s;s into pe|nitent &s;orrow, and make him a <HI>ble&s;&s;ed mourner.</HI> And &s;o all other pa&s;|&s;ions, love will make them in&s;truments of vertue,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amor ubi venerit cae|teros in &s;e traducit &amp; ca|ptivat affectius. S.</HI> Bern.</NOTE> or occa&s;ions of a greater re|ward: that is, it will ei|ther fight and conquer them, or el&s;e put them to a good u&s;e. Love is obey'd wherever it ap|pears, and Divine Love is irre&s;i&s;ti|ble: it overcomes all dif|ficulties,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nomen difficultatis e|rube&s;cit.</NOTE> nay, it &s;corns it, di&s;owns the name of dif|ficulty, &s;aith, <HI>S. Augu&s;tine; It is as &s;trong as death,</HI> &s;aith the Scripture; it breaks the &s;tronge&s;t and mo&s;t vicious habits, and like death, it is ever victorious.</P>
<PB N="71" REF="116" MS="y">
<P>Happy and &s;afe are they that love <HI>JESUS:</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Charitas e&s;t donum Dei quo nullum e&s;t ex|cellentius: &s;olum e&s;t quod dividit inter filios regni aeterni, &amp; filios perditio|nis.</HI> Aug. de Trin. lib. 15. cap. 18.</NOTE> for that love it is makes the difference betwixt &s;incere and fal&s;e Chri&s;tians, be|twixt tho&s;e that &s;hall be heirs of &s;alvation and tho&s;e that &s;hall go to perdition, betwixt heaven and hell. Many pri|viledges may belong to the tares while they grow in the &s;ame field with the wheat; many Sun-&s;hiny-days they may have, and many drops of dew and rain may fall upon them: but they are not <HI>rooted and grounded in love,</HI> therefore they are pluck'd up and withered and burn'd. Many gifts of the Divine Spirit wicked men may receive; they may <HI>prophe&s;ie and do miracles in Chri&s;ts name,</HI> they may excel in &s;ome vertues: but the grace of Charity they never receive, the love of God never dwells in their hearts.
<Q REND="margQuotes">Thou mai&s;t be Baptized, (&s;aith S. <HI>Aug.</HI>)
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Habere Bapti&s;mum &amp; malus e&s;&s;e potes; habere, &amp;c.</HI> Tract. 7. in Epi&s;t. Johan.</NOTE> and yet not be good; thou may&s;t have know|ledge, and remain vi|cious; thou mai&s;t be call'd a Chri&s;tian, and be none:
<PB N="72" REF="117">but thou can&s;t not love God and be wicked; thou can&s;t not love God, but thou mu&s;t be holy and happy.</Q> Thus we &s;ee, love affords the great|e&s;t plea&s;ure, and the greate&s;t &s;afety this world is capable of. The love of <HI>JESUS</HI> is a precious jewel, precious beyond gold and the be&s;t of pearls:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Charitas e&s;t amor re|rum quas nonni&s;i vo|lentes amittimus.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> he that hath it, hath an infinite trea&s;ure, and it is &s;o much the more to be valued, becau&s;e we may acquie&s;ce in its po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion: we can never lo&s;e it except we will. We may lo&s;e our riches and we may lo&s;e our health; we may lo&s;e our learning and our eloquence; we may lo&s;e our friends and our lives: but the love of God we can never lo&s;e without our con&s;ent; no time, no fortune, no Ty|rant can &s;natch it by force out of our hearts;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Verum bonum illud e&s;t quod non potes invitus a|mittere.</HI> Aug.</NOTE> as 'tis never given again&s;t our will, &s;o again&s;t our will it can never be taken away. <HI>Charity never faileth.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Quinquage&s;ima Sun|day.</NOTE>
<Q REND="margQuotes">O Lord who ha&s;t taught us, that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; &s;end thy Holy Gho&s;t, and pour
<PB N="73" REF="117" MS="y">into our hearts that mo&s;t excel|lent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all vertues, without which who&s;oever liveth is counted dead before thee: grant this for thine only Son <HI>JESUS</HI> Chri&s;ts &s;ake. <HI>Amen.</HI></Q></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 18. Love brings a la&s;t|ing joy and peace to the Soul.</HEAD>
<P>The fourth and la&s;t con|&s;ideration is, that the love of God is the &s;olid joy and la&s;ting Tranquillity of the Soul. No tormenting fear or &s;adne&s;s can harbour in a heart that loves God; the Motto of love might well be that of a late order of Knight|hood at <HI>Mantua,</HI> mean't of the Holy Chalice, <HI>Nihil i&s;to tri&s;te recepto;</HI> grief and the love of God are incompa|tible: no &s;adne&s;s &s;hould enter that brea&s;t wherein dwells Divine Love. I need not treat at large of tho&s;e many doubts and terrors concern|ing future happine&s;s which grieve and almo&s;t di&s;tract the hearts of ma|ny Chri&s;tians to prove that it is a happy thing to be freed from them: there are few, but are &s;o far ac|quainted with them as readily to a&s;&s;ent to it; it will be more to pur|po&s;e to &s;hew that the love of God is
<PB N="74" REF="118">the be&s;t remedy again&s;t them, the be&s;t bal&s;om to heal <HI>a wounded &s;pirit.</HI> Some per&s;ons from their poverty, bodily pains, or other afflictions draw this mo&s;t afflictive inference, that God is not their friend, and that therefore their condition is danger|ous, and very bad, if not quite de|&s;perate: and this adds &s;uch a weight to their cro&s;s, that they have no &s;trength to bear it, but are ready to &s;ink; whereas the love of God hath enabled thou&s;ands to bear a heavier with patience, with fortitude, and men with cheerfulne&s;s; <HI>I take plea|&s;ure in infirmities, and di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and nece&s;&s;ities for Chri&s;ts &s;ake,</HI> &s;aid S. <HI>Paul,</HI> that great lover of <HI>JESUS.</HI> He that would &s;uffer for God, will &s;uf|fer from God: he that would die and be crucified, for <HI>JESUS,</HI> will willingly bear that cro&s;s which <HI>JESUS</HI> lays upon his &s;houlders. And indeed 'tis a greater vertue, meekly, and thankfully to accept of that correction wherewith God vi|&s;its us, than voluntarily to inflict the greate&s;t &s;ufferings on our &s;elves: what proceeds from God is ever be&s;t for us, and mo&s;t plea&s;ing to him. No <HI>Patient</HI> will que&s;tion the love of
<PB N="75" REF="118">that <HI>Phy&s;ician</HI> who is his intimate friend, for that he makes inci&s;ions, and applies cau&s;ticks upon him, and makes him drink bitter potions; he will not &s;u&s;pect his friends affection; he will not doubt but that 'tis for his good: after this manner, he that loves God will receive afflictions from him, and gratefully acknow|ledge with <HI>David, I know that of very faithfulne&s;s thou ha&s;t caus'd me to be troubled.</HI> Knowing that <HI>all things work together for the good of them that love God,</HI> he will harbour no thoughts of diffidence, nor que&s;tion Gods lo|ving kindne&s;s to him: but re&s;t &s;a|tisfied, that while he loves God no|thing can hurt him, and that what|ever happens is certainly for his greate&s;t advantage.</P>
<P>But 'tis not always the &s;torms of adver&s;ity that bring tho&s;e dark and di&s;mal clouds on the minds of men: they come &s;ometimes in fair wea|ther, in the greate&s;t pro&s;perity. Whence, 'tis in vain to examine: better it is to drive them away, for they are as mi&s;chievous as black. They ca&s;t a damp upon mens &s;pi|rits; they freeze their hearts in &s;uch
<PB N="76" REF="119">a manner that they can receive no &s;piritual joy; they &s;o weaken their hands and feet, that they can hard|ly work for God, or walk in his ways: &s;o that their condition is &s;ad indeed, not becau&s;e God is their enemy: but becau&s;e they being un|rea&s;onably afraid of it, are thereby hindred from being his friends. To this evil none can pre&s;cribe a better remedy than love: let &s;uch per&s;ons love God heartily, and all the&s;e ter|rors will vani&s;h away like the vain images of a terrible dream; when one awaketh. Love begets love, therefore we &s;hould love God <HI>be|cau&s;e he fir&s;t loved us:</HI> and love be|gets a confidence of being lov'd again: &s;o that if we love God we &s;hall not long doubt but that we are lov'd by him: and then all is well. And if at fir&s;t, our hearts do not melt into devout affections, and are not repleni&s;h'd with the &s;weetne&s;s and comfort of love, let us not be di&s;may'd at it, nor too much &s;tudy our own di&s;turbed thoughts and ap|prehen&s;ions: but let us continue to give God demon&s;trations of love, to ab&s;tein from what he forbids, and to do that which he commands, or
<PB N="77" REF="119">that which will plea&s;e him, though uncommanded: and then either ho|ly joys and exta&s;ies will come, or it will be as well without them. No man is afraid of his friends, nor of tho&s;e whom he &s;erves and obligeth; we ea&s;ily &s;uppo&s;e that they love us, whom we love, and that they to whom we do good will be kind to us: therefore let us &s;hew to God all the love we can, and by words and acti|ons prote&s;t that we &s;eek to plea&s;e him, and our hearts will &s;oon be po&s;&s;e&s;t with a ble&s;&s;ed a&s;&s;urance that we are dear to him, and he will ne|ver be cruel and &s;evere to us.
<Q REND="margQuotes">'Tis reported of a Religious Per&s;on who&s;e &s;oul was griev'd and wound|ed with doubts and fears and with &s;adne&s;s, that while he was one day weeping and praying thus; O that I were &s;ure that I &s;hall per&s;evere and never fall from God; O that I were &s;ure that God loves me, and that I &s;hall one day &s;ee his Ble&s;&s;ed Face: how zealous then &s;hould I be in mortifying my &s;ins and do|ing my duty! how cheerfully &s;hould I &s;erve God every day, and take plea&s;ure in &s;uffering for him! how would I de&s;pi&s;e the world and its
<PB N="78" REF="120">vanities, and fix my thoughts and affections on things above! while he was thus expre&s;&s;ing the &s;orrows of his troubled mind, he heard the whi&s;pers of a &s;ecret voice, which told him, <HI>fac quod faceres,</HI> do now, what thou would&s;t do if thou had&s;t all tho&s;e a&s;&s;urances. With this he found him&s;elf &s;o affected and re|fre&s;h'd, that he took it as an Oracle, from heaven; and in obeying of it found tho&s;e comforts he begg'd.</Q> Better coun&s;el I cannot give thee; <HI>fac quod faceres,</HI> do what thou would&s;t do, if thy diffident timorou&s;ne&s;s and jealou&s;ies were confuted by a voice from heaven, and they'll &s;oon be remov'd. Let thy meek &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion, thy &s;incere obedience, and thy free-will-offerings &s;peak thy love to God and thou &s;halt &s;oon find thy &s;elf per|&s;waded that God loves thee dearly and that thy condition is &s;afe and happy. Other a&s;&s;urance we are not to expect in this world, and <HI>this</HI> is not to be obtain'd any other way: &s;hould thy comfort proceed from any thing el&s;e but thine hum|ble and devout love to God, it would be fan&s;ie and pre&s;umption; whereas &s;o, it is well-grounded and
<PB N="79" REF="120">never can deceive thee.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 4.18</NOTE> <HI>There is no fear in love</HI> (&s;aith Divine S. <HI>John</HI>) <HI>but perfect love ca&s;teth out fear;</HI> 'tis never otherwi&s;e: grace and na|ture joyn together to make the effect infallible, that a Holy Love &s;hould ever produce a Holy Peace; if we love <HI>indeed and in truth,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.18</NOTE> <HI>thereby</HI> (not by new and &s;ecret revelations) <HI>we &s;hall know that we are of the truth, and we &s;hall a&s;&s;ure our hearts before God.</HI> Love may well work confi|dence and joy in our &s;ouls, for it injoys already what it loves: it is <HI>affectuo&s;a unitas, &amp; unitiva affectio,</HI> love is in&s;eparable from its object, and the e&s;&s;ence thereof con&s;i&s;ts in their union, if not unity. Though God be exalted infinitely above all things, in a &s;phere of Glory and Maje&s;ty &s;o high that the Cherubim with their many wings cannot flie up to it:
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui mente integra Deum de&s;iderat profecto jam habet quem amat.</HI> Greg. Mag.</NOTE> yet thither love &s;ores up and takes God, and holds him as his own: &s;o that every one that loves God is al|ready po&s;&s;e&s;t of him, and may &s;ay with the &s;pou&s;e, <HI>I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 6.3.</NOTE></P>
<PB N="80" REF="121">
<P><Q REND="margQuotes">We come to God by love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Aug.</NOTE> <HI>amando non ambu|lando:</HI> and to him we are united by love;
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Magna res e&s;t amor quo anima per &s;emet|ip&s;am fiducialiter accedit ad Deum, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>amore Deo conjungimur:</HI> therefore love is a great thing, (&s;aith that de|vout father) it brings the &s;oul to God with an holy con|fidence, and makes it tru&s;t in him, and cleave &s;tedfa&s;tly to him, and rejoyce in him, and repre&s;ent her needs and beg his mercies with fi|ducial and devout affections.</Q> And this is &s;o great a truth, that death it &s;elf with its pains and &s;orrows al|ters nothing of it; even then in the la&s;t agonies, the love of God &s;wee|tens the bitter cup, and &s;till enter|tains the &s;oul with joy and holy com|forts.
<Q REND="margQuotes">It was the &s;aying of S. <HI>Aug.</HI> that becau&s;e the &s;oul hath willingly for&s;aken God whom &s;he &s;hould love infinitely, &s;he is forc'd there|fore with grief and regret to for|&s;ake her body which &s;he loves too much: and that becau&s;e &s;he vo|luntarily departed from God who is her life,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Trin. lib. 4. cap. 13.</NOTE> &s;he therefore departeth from the body who&s;e life &s;he is,
<PB N="81" REF="121">with &s;adne&s;s and much reluctancy.</Q> Now we may &s;ay, that when the &s;oul returns to God by love,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Charitis libertatem donat, timorem pellit, &amp;c.</HI> S. Bern.</NOTE> &s;he is freed from this puni&s;hment and re|&s;tor'd to her fir&s;t liberty, &s;he is willing to die for to be with Chri&s;t: and then comes a cheerful <HI>cupio di&s;&s;olvi, O when &s;hall I come and appear before God.</HI> Happy is he who living doth &s;o manife&s;t his love to God by Piety and Charity, that dying he can &s;ay with <HI>Theodo|&s;ius, Dilexi;</HI> love hath been the bu|&s;ine&s;s and delight of my life, I have daily indeavour'd by my actions to declare the &s;incerity of my love to God: he is doubtle&s;s of the number of tho&s;e <HI>that love the appearing of JESUS:</HI> and &s;o he goes out to meet him with joy and confidence, expecting a kind reception from him,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nemo &s;e amari diffi|dat qui jam amat: liben|ter Dei amar no&s;trum quem praevenit &s;ub&s;equi|tur, &amp;c.</HI> Bern.</NOTE> <HI>whom having not &s;een yet he lov'd,</HI> and wor|&s;hip'd and &s;erv'd affecti|onately. Let no man that loves God doubt of God's Love to him: for he that lov'd us when we were his enemies, &s;o as to die for us, will much more love us when we have for him the
<PB N="82" REF="122">hearty affections of friends, It is the joy of heaven, the joy of the Holy <HI>JESUS</HI> when his loving kindne&s;s hath won and conquer'd our hearts, and 'tis our greate&s;t joy, 'tis for us a heaven upon earth, when we love him faithfully and fervently, with all our &s;ouls and affections. The love of God brings that peace to the &s;oul, which the world can neither give nor take away. <HI>Her &s;ins which are many,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 7.47.</NOTE> <HI>are forgiven, be|cau&s;e &s;he loved much.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 19. The Clo&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>Now who can refu&s;e to love God, when 'tis a thing &s;o ju&s;t and rea&s;on|able, &s;o plea&s;ant and ea&s;ie, &s;o &s;afe and advantageous, &s;omething of ne|ce&s;&s;ity we mu&s;t love, every mans heart is full of that pa&s;&s;ion, and eve|ry mans life is govern'd by it? 'tis but con&s;idering who hath done mo&s;t for us, and whom we are mo&s;t ob|lig'd to love; who is mo&s;t lovely, and who will be&s;t reward our love: and we &s;hall &s;oon under&s;tand that God is to be lov'd above all things, infinitely, without mea&s;ure: and if we love our &s;elves as we &s;hould, we &s;hall ea&s;ily remove our affections from
<PB N="82" REF="122">the world to &s;et them upon God and Eternity, upon <HI>JESUS</HI> and his kingdom. Love, as we have &s;een, will make it ea&s;ie and de|lightful to do our duty,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Onus &s;ine onere portat.</HI> Kemp.</NOTE> will make the yoke of Chri&s;t light, and enable us with &s;trength and courage to bear our cro&s;s cheerfully like Chri&s;tians: it will lead us the &s;horte&s;t and the &s;a|fe&s;t way to heaven, and make our journey plea&s;ant: it will make us dear to God, and to his Saints and ble&s;&s;ed Angels, and fill our hearts with peace and comforts: it will a|bide with us, when we are for&s;aken by the world, and all our friends can do us no good: it will accom|pany us when we go from hence, and open heavens gate, and enter in with us; there to perfect our happine&s;s which it here began: to be there our reward, as it was here our work and our duty. I may now up|on too too ju&s;t an ac|count, u&s;e the words of S.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non quod ego i&s;ta faciam dico, &s;ed quod facere vellem, &amp;c.</HI> Ber. Med.</NOTE> <HI>Bernard;</HI> what I have writ|ten is not what I do, but what I &s;hould do, what I grieve that I do not, what I indeavour to do, and what I wi&s;h all
<PB N="83" REF="123">others might do. But withall I &s;hall plead for my &s;elf the advice of a Greek Father; not to judge too &s;everely of tho&s;e who teach excellent le&s;|&s;ons,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. Joh. Clim. grad. 26. &sect;. 18.</NOTE> great and profitable truths which they them|&s;elves learn and practi&s;e but very imperfectly: be|cau&s;e the u&s;efulne&s;s of their in&s;tructions may make &s;ome amends for the defects of their per|formance.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 6.24.</NOTE> <HI>Grace be with all them that love our LORD JESUS CHRIST in &s;incerity.</HI></P>
<CLOSER>Amen.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</GROUP>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="123">
<LIST>
<HEAD>THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART.</HEAD>
<ITEM>&sect;. 1. OF the Benefits of God to Man|kind. <HI>Page</HI> 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 2. Of Creation. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 3. Of Pre&s;ervation. 5.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 4. The po&s;itive Ble&s;&s;ings of this life. 8</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 5. What returns we &s;hould make for them. 11.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 6. Of Redemption: and fir&s;t of the in|finite mi&s;eries were redeemed from. 12.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 7. How we were Redeemed. 20.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 8. A con&s;ideration of the Cro&s;s in four dimen&s;ions. 25.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 9. The Breadth. 27.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 10. The Length. 31.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 11. The Depth. 33.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 12. The Height. 36.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 13. What an infinite Love is expre&s;t by the Cro&s;s. 38.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 14. Of the eternal happine&s;s JESUS merited for us by his Death. 39.</ITEM>
<PB REF="124">
<ITEM>&sect;. 15. What all the&s;e benefits require from us. <HI>P.</HI> 45.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 16. An invitation into the Cloi&s;ter of Love. 47.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 17. The Vow to be taken at the en|trance of it. 49.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 18. Of Love: and fir&s;t of Self-love. 52.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 19. How they that will be profe&s;t Lo|vers of JESUS mu&s;t mortifie &s;elf-love. 57.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 20. Of the Love of God. 61.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 21. Of the Properties of Love. The Fir&s;t. 64.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 22. The Second. 66.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 23. The Third. 68.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 24. The Fourth. 72.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 25. A farewell to all &s;inful de&s;ires. 73.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 26. Of the antipathy betwixt Sin and the Love of JESUS. 78.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 27. Of outward helps and means. 80.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 28. Meditation on the Pa&s;&s;ion. 82.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 29. Prote&s;tations of Love to JESUS. 85.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 30. Of a &s;incere amendment. 86.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 31. Love will work the be&s;t Reforma|tion. 90.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 32. The Exerci&s;e of Repentance. 94.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 33. Is made ea&s;ie by Love. 97.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 34. And proceeds not from Melancholy. 98.</ITEM>
<PB REF="124">
<ITEM>&sect;. 35. Corporal Au&s;terities may plea&s;e God. <HI>P.</HI> 102.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 36. Not to return again to our &s;ins when temptations return. 104.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 37. To do what we do chearfully. 108.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 38. A Singular Example of Human Love. 109.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 39. The de&s;ign of Chri&s;tian Religion is to make us better. 113.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 40. A Prote&s;tation of being faithful unto Death. 115.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>The CONTENTS of the Second Part.</HEAD>
<ITEM>&sect;. 1. OF the Po&s;itive part of our Bap|ti&s;mal Vow. <HI>P.</HI> 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 2. A Prote&s;tation of Obedience. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 3. How great a happine&s;s follows our Obedience. 5.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 4. We &s;hould often look on our reward. 8.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 5. Love is noble and generous. 11.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 6. We belong to JESUS, and are not our own. 14.</ITEM>
<PB REF="125">
<ITEM>&sect;. 7. Meditations on our obligations to &s;erve JESUS. <HI>P.</HI> 15.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 8. God requires our Love and Obedi|ence. 19.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 9. Incouragements to obey JESUS. 23.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 10. Of Free-will-offerings. 26.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 11. Of our Obedience to the Church. 34.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 12. Of &s;everal Voluntary Oblations. 37.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 13. That God &s;hould be loved above all things. 45.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 14. 'Tis mo&s;t ju&s;t and ea&s;ie to love God. 51.</ITEM>
<ITEM>&sect;. 15. An Objection an&s;wered. 55.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 16. A &s;econd objection an&s;wered. 59.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 17. 'Tis mo&s;t plea&s;ant and &s;afe to love God. 64.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 18. Love brings a la&s;ting joy and peace to the Soul. 73.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 19. The Clo&s;e. 82.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>Part I. Pag. 12. lin. 6. read <HI>love,</HI> not <HI>&s;ervice.</HI> p. 55. l. 3. r. <HI>plungeth them.</HI> p. 91. l. 25. r. <HI>task.</HI> p. 96. l. 20. r. <HI>wa&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Part II. P. 57. l. 1. r. <HI>court.</HI> p. 63. l. 26. r. <HI>even.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
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<LIST>
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<ITEM><HI>Bi&s;hop</HI> Taylor<HI>'s Life of Chri&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Dr.</HI> Duport<HI>'s three Sermons, on</HI> Jan. 30. May 29. <HI>and</HI> Novemb. 5.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Mr.</HI> Farindon<HI>'s</HI> 130 <HI>Sermons, in</HI> 3 Vol. <HI>in</HI> fol. <HI>Price</HI> 2. l. 5 s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A large Concordance, by</HI> S. N. <HI>to the Bible,</HI> fol. 16 s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Dr.</HI> Heylin <HI>on the Creed,</HI> fol. 15 s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A Guide to Eternity, by</HI> John Bona, 2 s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A Companion to the Temple, or, A help to publick Devotion, by</HI> Tho. Cumber, <HI>in</HI> 2 Vol. 8. 10 s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Holy Anthems of the Church,</HI> 2 s. 6 d.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Bi&s;hop</HI> Wilkins <HI>Principles and Duties of Natural Religion, in</HI> 8. 5 s.</ITEM>
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<ITEM>&mdash;<HI>his Sermon at the Funeral of</HI> John <HI>L. Bi&s;hop of</HI> Che&s;ter.</ITEM>
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</LIST>
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</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
