Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23, Meditations
SHORT MEDITATIONS ON ROM 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Of the ſhedding abroad God's Love on the Heart, by the Holy Ghoſt.
EXperience of the want of this Effuſion of God's Love, and ſome ſmall taſt of its Sweetneſs, make me think the thoughts of this very ſuitable to one expecting Death.
The words contain a golden Chain of higheſt Bleſſings on all true Chriſtians.
I. They are ſuppoſed to have Faith; that is both a general Truſt to God's Revelations and Grace, and a ſpecial Truſt in Jeſus Chriſt, as given by the Father's Love to be the Redeemer, to Juſtifie, Sanctifie and Glorifie his People: I have oft proved this juſtifying Faith to be no leſs then our unfeigned taking Chriſt for our Saviour, and becoming true Chriſtians, according to the Tenor of the Baptiſmal Covenant: As to the Acts, it is formally Truſt: One in three: The Underſtandings Aſſenting Truſt; the Wills conſenting Truſt; and the executive Powers Practical, Venturing, Obeying Truſt.
II. All true Believers are juſtified: Even all that conſent to the Baptiſmal Covenant, and chooſe God to be their God, and Chriſt to be their Saviour, and the Holy Ghoſt to be their Sanctifier, and give up themſelves to him by true reſolution, as their only Ruler, Hope and Happineſs; though this be done with ſo great weakneſs, as endeth not all doubts, nor quieteth the Mind.
To be juſtified is not to be accounted ſuch as have no ſin, but, 1. To be made ſuch by Pardon through Chriſt's Merits, and by true Faith, as God will take by ſpecial love and favour unto life. 2. To be accounted ſuch by God. 3. To be virtually Sentenced ſuch by the Law of Grace and Faith, and to be juſt in Lawſe…ce. 4. At laſt we ſhall be judged ſuch by publick Sentence. 5. And be uſed as ſuch.
Not juſtified by the Law of Innocency or of Moſes, but by Chriſt's Law of Grace.
Not juſtified perfectly till the time of Perfection: Much puniſhment on Soul and Body, is yet to be taken off: And more ſins daily to be pardoned; and we before the World to be ſentenced as juſt to life everlaſting.
III. The juſtified have Peace with God. They are reconciled, and in a ſtate of love and friendſhip. It ſignifieth mutual Peace; but with great inequality: God's Love and favour to us is the ſtable, conſtant part: Our conſent alſo and acceptance of his terms of Peace is conſtant in its truth: But our ſenſe of God's Love, which is the Peace poſſeſſed by the Soul, is weak and unconſtant, and too oft quite loſt or obſcured by ignorance, miſtake, and f…r: But it muſt be known that this is a diſcaſed ſtate, unnatural to the Believer as ſuch; as it's unnatural for a Woman married to a faithful Husband to lie in terrour, thinking that he will kill her, or doth not love her, or for a Child to think the ſame of a loving Father. Faith of its own nature tendeth to the Souls Peace and Joy, in the ſenſe of God's love. And how is Chriſt offered to us but as a Saviour to bring us by Grace to Glory? And he that accepteth him as ſuch (whereby he is juſtified) doth ſure believe that he is offered as ſuch: For none can accept what he thinks not to be offered: And this implieth ſome hope at leaſt, that Chriſt will be ſuch to us: And did Faith work ſtrongly and kindly, its effect would be a conſtant joyful ſtate of Soul, as pleaſant Health and Mirth is to our Natures. All our diſtruſtful fears, and griefs, and diſquietments of Soul, are for want of more Faith, as Sickneſs, and Pain is for want of the Vital cauſes of Health.
IV. This Peace with God is only [through our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.] Though it be a vain dream to think by juſtifying Faith, is meant Chriſt only, and not Faith: Yet it is no other Faith, but the foreſaid Believing Truſt on Chriſt: Therefore as Faith is our part, ſo it ſuppoſeth Chriſt and all the works of his Office (and Righteouſneſs) on his part as its Object. Chriſt is the purchaſing cauſe: But our Truſt and Acceptance is that which is pleaſing to God, and choſen by him to be our part, without Innocency, or keeping the Jewiſh Law.
Since Man once ſinned, God's Juſtice and Man's Conſcience tell us that we are unfit for God's acceptance or communion immediately, but muſt have a ſuitable Mediator. O bleſſed be God for this ſuitable Mediator. Without him I dare not pray, I cannot hope, I dare not die; God would elſe frown me away to miſery. All the hope of Pardon and Salva…ion that I have; all the acceſs to God, and the Mercies and Deliverances that I have received, have been by this Author and Finiſher of our Faith: Into his conducting hands I give my Soul, and into his preſerving hands both Soul and Body, and into his receiving hands I commend my departing Soul.
V. v. 2. [By whom we have acceſs by Faith unto this Grace wherein we ſtand;] That is, into this ſtate of bleſſed Chriſtianity, Peace with God, and the following Bleſſings. As it is by Marriage that a Woman hath right to her Husbands Eſtate and Honours; and by Inheritance that a Child comes to his Father's maintenance and Land: This is no diminution to God's Love. To ſay, It is all by Chriſt is not to take it as ever the leſs from God the Father; it is more to give us Chriſt and Life in him, than to have given us life without a Chriſt. Joh. 3. 16. 1 Joh. 5. 10, 11, 12. As God is never the leſs the Giver of light to the Earth, forgiving it them by the Sun. Second cauſes diminiſh not the Honour of the firſt.
VI. [And rejoice in hope of the Glory of God.] Here is, 1. The beatifical Object: The Glory of God. 2. The beatifical Act, [Rejoice,] 3. The mediate cauſing Act, [Hope:] all preſuppoſing Faith and Juſtification.
2. The Glory of God, is that glorious appearance of God to Man (and Angels) which maketh happy. 1. The mind by beholding it. 2. The will by loving it, and receiving the communications of Love. 3. The executive powers by joyful praiſe, &c.
2. Though ſome foretaſts are here, it is yet ſaid to be hoped for; and we hope for that which is not ſeen. When Faith is ſaid to be that which we are juſtified or ſaved by, it includeth hope, though more preciſely taken they are diſtinct. We are ſaved by hope. The ſame word is oft tranſlated [Truſt] and [Hope.] And Faith is [Truſt:] to Truſt Chriſt for Salvation, includeth hoping that he will ſave us. But Hope is denominated from the Good hoped for, and Faith from the Cauſe by which we hope to obtain it.
Hope doth not neceſſarily imply either certainty or uncertainty: It may ſtand with both in various degrees.
3. Rejoicing is made by God the very naturally deſired ſtate of the Soul: It is when natural the pleaſant efflorence of the Spirits, or their ſtate of Health.
It is Pleaſure that is the Spring or Poiſe of all motion ſenſitive in the World: Trahit ſua quem que volisptas. Appetite or Will is the Active Principle, and congrucus Good, or delectable, is the Object. The World is undone by the ſeduction of falſe deceitful Pleaſure, and men are bleſſed only in true and durable pleaſure. And though we that made not our ſelves, are not ſo made for our ſelves, as that our Pleaſure or Felicity in God, ſhould be ſo high in our deſire, as God himſelf, who is the ultimate Object of our Love; yet ſeeing ſuch an Object he is, and the Love of him (and received from him) is our Felicity, theſe are never to be ſeparated.
What have I to rejoice in, if this hoped Glory, be not my joy? All things elſe are dying to me. And God himſelf is not my Felicity, as he afflicts me, nor as he giveth me the tranſitory gifts of Nature, but as he is to be ſeen in Glory. If this be not my joy, it's all but vanity. What then ſhould all my thoughts and labour aim at more (as to my ſelf) than to hope for, and foretast this Glory. No ſin lieth heavier on me, than that my hopes of Glory raiſe me to no higher joy, and that the great weakneſs of my Faith, appeareth by ſuch dull thoughts of Glory, or by withdrawing fears. Sure there is enough in the Glory of God, ſoundly believed and hoped for, to make a Man rejoice in pain and weakneſs, and to make him long to be with Chriſt. I live not according to the Nature of Chriſtianity, if I live not as in peace with God, and in the joyful hopes of promiſed Glory.
VII. [Not only ſo, but we glory in Tribulation.] Glory is ſo Tranſcendent, and Tribulation ſo ſmall and ſhort, that an expectant of Glory may well rejoice in bodily ſufferings. It is Tribulation for Chriſt and Righteouſneſs ſake, that we are ſaid to Glory in: The reſt for our ſins, it's well if we can improve and patiently bear. Yet in them we may rejoice, in hope of Glory, though we glory not of them. O if all the painful languid Daies, and Nights, and Years that I have had, as the fruit of my ſin, had been ſufferings for that which I am now hated and hunted for, even for preaching Chriſt when men forbid me, how joyfully might I undergo it: But yet even here, approaching Glory ſhould be my joy. Alas, my groans and moans are too great, and my joy too little.
VIII. [Knowing that Tribulation worketh Patience.] That which worketh Patience is matter of Joy: For Patience doth us more good than Tribulation can do hurt; Why then do I groan ſo much under ſuffering, and ſo little ſtudy and exerciſe Patience, and no more rejoice in the exerciſe thereof?
IX. [And Patience, Experience.] It is manifold and profitable Experience, which patient ſuffering brings. It giveth us experience, as of Natures weakneſs, and the great need of Faith: So of the Truth of God's Promiſes, the love and tenderneſs of Chriſt, the acceptance of our Prayers; and the power of the Spirits aid and grace. O what abundance of experiences of God and our ſelves, and the vanity of Creatures had we wanted, if we had not waited in a ſuffering ſtate: Alas, how many Experiences have I forgotten!
X. [And Experience, Hope.] A bare Promiſe ſhould give us Hope: But we are ſtill diſtruſtful of our ſelves and of all the cleareſt Evidences, till experience help us, and ſet all Home. O what an advantage hath a Chriſtian of great and long experience for his hope and joy! And yet when notable experiences of God's Providence are paſt and gone, an unbelieving Heart is ready to queſtion whether the things came not by meer natural courſe; and like the Iſraelites in the Wilderneſs, dangers and fears bear down even long and great experiences: This is my ſin.
XI. [And Hope maketh not aſhamed.] That is, true Hope of what God hath promiſed ſhall never be diſappointed. They that truſt on deceitful Creatures are deceived, and aſhamed of their Hope: For all men are Lyars, that is, untruſty; but God is true, and ever faithful: O what a comfort is it that God commandeth me to truſt him? Sure ſuch a command is a virtual Promiſe, from him that cannot fail that truſt, which he commandeth. Lord help me to truſt thee in greateſt dangers, and there to reſt.
XII. [Becauſe the Love of God is ſhed abroad upon our Hearts, by the Holy Ghoſt which is given to us.]
It is the Love of God ſhed abroad on our Hearts by the Holy Ghoſt, which muſt make us rejoice in hope of the Glory of God, even in Tribulation.
Here I muſt conſider, I. What is meant by the Love of God. II. Why, and how it is ſhed abroad on the Heart by the Holy Ghoſt.
I. By the Love of God is meant the Effects of his Love; 1. His ſpecial Grace: 2. The pleaſant guſt or ſenſe of it.
II. God's Love thus ſhed on the Heart, pre-ſuppoſeth it expreſt in the Goſpel, and Providence, and contains all theſe particulars.
1. The ſanctifying of the Soul by renewing Grace. This is the giving of the Spirit, as he is given all true Chriſtians.
2. Herein the Holy Ghoſt makes us perceive the exceeding deſirableneſs of the Love of God, and maketh us moſt deſire it.
3. He giveth the Soul ſome eaſing Hope of the Love of God.
4. He quieteth the doubts, and fears, and troubles of the Soul.
5. He raiſeth our Hopes by degrees to confident aſſurance.
6. Then the thoughts of God's love are pleaſant to the Soul, and give it ſuch delight as we feel in the love and fruition of our moſt valued and beloved friends.
7. The Soul in this ſtate is as unapt to be jealous of God or to queſtion his Love, as a good Child or Wife to queſtion the Love of a Parent or Husband, or to hear any that ſpeak evil of them.
8. This then becomes the habitual ſtate of the Soul, in all changes to live in the delightful ſenſe of the love of God, as we do live in pleaſure with our deareſt Friends.
O bleſſed ſtate, and firſt fruits of Heaven! and happy are they that do attain it! And though lower degrees have their degree of happineſs, yet how far ſhort are ſuch, in goodneſs, amiableneſs and comfort, of thoſe that are thus rich in grace.
This preſuppoſeth; 1. Knowledge of God and the Goſpel. 2. True belief and hope. 3. A ſincere and fruitful life. 4. Mortification as to Idol, worldly vanities. 5. A conviction of our ſincerity in all this. 6. A concluſion that God doth love us.
But yet it is ſomewhat above all this. A Man may have all this in his Mind and Mouth, and yet want this guſt of effuſed Love upon his Heart. Theſe are the way to it, but not itſelf.
This is the greateſt good on this ſide Heaven: to which all Wealth and Honour, all fleſhly Pleaſure and long Life, all Learning and Knowledge, are unworthy to be once compared: Briefly,
1. It is the flower and higheſt part of God's Image on Man.
2. It is the Souls true communion with God, and fruition of him, which carnal men deride. Even as our Eye hath communion with the Sun, and the flouriſhing Earth enjoys its reviving heats.
3. It is that which all lower grace doth tend to, as Childhood doth to Manhood: And what is a world of Infants comparatively good for?
4. It is that which moſt properly anſwereth the deſign of Redemption and the wonders of God's love therein: And all the tenor of the Goſpel.
5. It is that which is moſt fully called, The Spirit of God, or Chriſt in us: He hath lower works, but this is his great work by which he poſſeſſeth us as God's moſt pleaſant Habitation: For we have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of Power and Love, and a ſound mind, 2 Tim. 1. 7.
6. It is only that which all men in general deſire I mean, the only ſatisfying content and pleaſure that Man is capable of on Earth! All men would have quieting and conſtant Pleaſure; and it is to be found in nothing elſe, but the effuſed love of God.
7. It is that which will make every burden light; and all affliction eaſy: When the ſenſe of God's love is ſtill upon the Soul, all pain and croſſes will be but as Blood-letting by the kindeſt Phyſician, to ſave the Patients life. God will not be ſuſpected or grudged at in ſuffering; his love will ſweeten all.
8. It will overcome abundance of Temptations, which no mens Wit, or Learning, or knowledge of the words of Scripture, will overcome. No Arguments will draw a loving Child or Wife, from the Parents or Husband that they know doth love them. Love is the moſt powerful Diſputant.
9. It puts a mellow pleaſant ſweetneſs into all our duties: When we hear the Word, or receive the Sacrament, it is to ſuch a Soul as pleaſant Food to the moſt healthful Man: When we pray or praiſe God, it comes from a comforted Heart and excites and increaſeth the comfort it comes from. O who can be backward to draw near to God in Prayer or Meditation, who taſteth the ſweetneſs of his Love. This is Religion indeed, and tells us what its life, and uſe, and glory is: This is the true walking with God in the beſt degree: When the Soul liveth in the taſte of his Love, the Heart will be ſtill with him, and that will be its Pleaſure: And God moſt delights in ſuch a Soul.
10. This is it that putteth the ſweeteſt reliſh on all our Mercies: Deny God's love, and you deny them all. If you taſt not his love in them, you taſte little more than a Beaſt may taſte: Poor Food and Rayment is ſweet with the ſenſe of the Love of God. Had I more of this, I ſhould lie down, and riſe, and walk in Pleaſure and content: I could bear the loſs of other things: And though Nature will feel pains, I ſhould have Pleaſure and Peace in the midſt of all my pains, and groans. This is the white Stone, the New Name: No Man well knoweth it who never felt it in himſelf.
1. There is no dying comfortably without this experienced taſte of the Love of God. This will draw up the deſires of the Soul: Love taſted, caſteth out fear; though God be Holy and Juſt, and Judgment terrible, and Hell intollerable, and the Soul hath no diſtinct Idea of its future ſtate out of the Body, and though we ſee not whither it is that we muſt go, the taſte of God's love will make it go joyfully, as truſting him; as a Child will go any whither in his Father's power and hand.
But all the knowledge in the World without this, quiets not a departing Soul. A Man may write as many Books, and Preach as many Sermons of Heaven as I have done, and ſpeak of it, and think of almoſt nothing elſe, and yet till the Soul be ſweetned and comforted with the Love of God ſhed abroad on it by the Holy Ghoſt, death and the next life will be rather a Man's fear, than his deſire. And the common fear of death which we ſee in the far greateſt part even of godly Perſons, doth tell us, that though they may have ſaving deſires, and hopes, yet this ſenſe of God's love on the Heart is rare.
What wonder then if our Language, our Converſe, our Prayers, have too little ſavour of it, and in compariſon of joyful Believers duties, be but like green Apples to the mellow ones.
My God, I feel what it is that I want, and I perceive what it is that is moſt deſirable: O let not guilt be ſo far unpardoned, as to deprive my Soul of this greateſt good, which thou haſt commended to me and commanded, and which in my languiſhing and pains I ſo much need. Did I beg for Wealth or Honour, I might have it to the loſs of others: But thy Love will make me more uſeful to all, and none will have the leſs for my enjoyment: For thou Lord art enough for all; Even as none hath the leſs of the Sun-light for my enjoying it. The leaſt well grounded hope of thy Love is better than all the pleaſures of the Fleſh: But without ſome pleaſant ſenſe of it, alas, what a withered languiſhing thing is a Soul; thy loving kindneſs is better than life; but if I taſte it not, how ſhall I here rejoice in God, or bear my heavy burdens?
O let me not be a diſhonour to thy Family, where all have ſo great cauſe to honour thy bounty by their joy, and hopes: Nor by a ſad and fearful Heart, tempt men to think that thy love is not real and ſatisfactory; I can eaſily believe and admire thy Greatneſs, and thy Knowledge: Let it not be ſo hard to me to believe and taſte thy Goodneſs and thy Love: Which is as neceſſary to me.
If there be any thing (as ſurely there is) in which the Divine Nature and Spirit of Adoption conſiſteth, as above all the Art and Notions of Religion, which are but like to other acquired Knowledge, ſure it muſt be this holy Appetite and Habitual Inclination of the Soul to God by way of Love, which is bred by an internal ſenſe of his Lovelineſs, and Loving inclination to Man: which differenceth a Chriſtian from other men, as a Child differs towards his Father, from Strangers or from common Neigbours. Till the love of God be the very ſtate or nature of the Soul, (working here towards his Honour, Intereſts, Word, and Servants) no Man can ſay that he is God's habitation by the Spirit: And how the Heart will ever be thus habited, without believing God's Love to us, it's hard to conceive.
Experience tells the World how ſtrongly it conſtraineth Perſons to love one another, if they do but think that they are ſtrongly beloved by one another. In the love that tends to marriage, if one that is inferior do but know that a Perſon of far greater worth doth fervently love them, it almoſt puts a neceſſity and conſtraint on them for returns of Love: Nature can ſcarce chooſe but love in ſuch a caſe. Love is the Loadſtone of Love. A real taſte of the Love of God in ſaving Souls by Chriſt and grace, is it that conſtraineth them to be holy; that is, to be devoted to that God in Love.
III. But this muſt as neceſſarily be the work of the Holy Ghoſt, and can be no more done without him, than the Earth can be illuminated, and the Vegetables live without the Sun. But all the approaches of the Holy Spirit ſuffice not to produce this great effect, and give us the Divine holy Nature.
The ſame Sun ſhine hath three different effects on its Objects.
1. On moſt things (as Houſes, Stones, Earth,) it cauſeth nothing but the Accidents of Heat, Colour, and Motion.
2. On ſome things it cauſeth a ſeminal Diſpoſition to Vegetable life, but not Life itſelf.
3. In this diſpoſed matter it cauſeth Vegetable life itſelf.
So doth the Spirit of God, 1. Operate on Millions but lifeleſs Accidents, as the Sun on a ſtone Wall. 2. On others Diſpoſe and prepare them to Divine Life. 3. On others (ſo diſpoſed) it effecteth the Divine life itſelf: When holy Love is turned into a habit like to Nature.
That none but the Holy Ghoſt doth make this holy change, is evident: For, the effect cannot tranſcend the cauſes; 1. Nature alone is dark, and knoweth not the attractive amiableneſs of God, till illuminated; nor can give us a ſatiſfactory notice of God's ſpecial Love to us.
2. Nature is Guilty; and Guilt breedeth fears of Juſtice; and fear makes us wild and fly from God, leſt he will hurt us.
3. Nature is under penal ſufferings already; and feeleth pain, fear, and many hurts, and foreſeeth Death: And under this is undiſpoſed of itſelf, to feel the pleaſure of God's Love.
4. Nature is corrupted and diverted to Creature vanity, and its Appetite goeth another way, and cannot cure itſelf, and make itſelf ſuitable to the amiableneſs of God.
5. God hateth wickedneſs and wicked men; and meer Nature cannot ſecure us that we are ſaved from that enmity.
Diligence may do much to get religious Knowledge, and Words, and all that which I call the Art of Religion: And God may bleſs this as a preparation to holy Life and Love: But till the Souls Appetite incline with deſire to God and Holineſs, Divine things will not ſweetly reliſh.
And this is a great comfort to the Thoughts of the Sanctified, that certainly their holy Appetite, Deſire, and Complacency is the work of the Holy Ghoſt. For, 1. This ſecureth them of the Love of God, of which it is the proper token.
2. And it aſſureth them of their Union with Chriſt, when they live becauſe he liveth, even by the Spirit, which is his Seal and Pledge. 3. And it proveth both a future life, and their title to it: For God maketh not all this preparation for it by his Spirit, in vain.
But, alas, if it were not a work that hath great impediment it would not be ſo rare in the World: What is it in us that keepeth the Sun of Love from ſo ſhining on us, as to revive our Souls into Holy contentments and delight.
It muſt be ſuppoſed, 1. That all God's gifts are free, and that he giveth not to all alike: The wonderful variety of Creatures proveth this. 2. The reaſons of his differencing works are his own will, and inferiour reaſons are moſtly unknown to us, of which he is not bound to give us an account.
3. But yet we ſee that God doth his works in a cauſal order, and one work prepareth for another; and he maketh variety of capacities, which occaſion variety of receptions and of gifts; and he uſeth to give every thing that, to which he hath brought it into the next capacity and diſpoſition.
And therefore in general we may conclude that we feel not God's Love ſhed abroad upon the Heart, becauſe the Heart is undiſpoſed, and is not in the next diſpoſition thereto: And abuſed free will hath been the cauſe of that. That we have Grace is to be aſcribed to God: That we are without it is to be aſcribed to our ſelves.
1. Heinous guilt of former ſin may keep a Soul much without the delights of Divine love: And the heinouſneſs is not only in the greatneſs of the evil done materially, but oft in our long and willful committing of ſmaller ſins againſt Knowledge and Conſcience, and conſideration. The Spirit thus grieved by hardened Hearts, and willful repulſes, is not quickly and eaſily a comforter to ſuch a Soul; and when the ſinner doth repent, it leaveth him more in uncertainty of his ſincerity, when he thinks, I do but repent, purpoſe and promiſe now; and ſo I oft did, and yet returned the next temptation to my ſin: And how can I tell that my Heart is not the fame, and I ſhould ſin again if I had the ſame temptations. O what doubts and perplexities doth oft willful ſinning prepare for.
2. And ſins of omiſſion have here a great part: The ſweetneſs of God's Love is a reward which ſloathful Servants are unmeet for. It follows a [Well done good and faithful Servant:] There is needful a cloſe attendance upon God, and devotedneſs to him, and improvement of Goſpel Grace and Revelation, to make a Soul fit for amicable ſweet communion with God: All that will ſave a Soul from Hell will not do this.
He that will taſte theſe Divine Love-tokens muſt, 1. Be no ſtranger to holy Meditation and Prayer, nor unconſtant, cold and curſory in them; but muſt dwell and walk above with God. 2. And he muſt be wholly addicted to improve his Maſters Talents in the World, and make it his deſign and trade on Earth to do all the good in the World he can. And to keep his Soul clean from the fleſh and worldly vanity: And to ſuch a Soul God will make known his Love.
3. And, alas, how ordinarily doth ſome carnal a… fection corrupt the appetite of the Soul? When we grow too much in love with mens eſteem, or with earthly Riches, or when our Throats or Phantaſies can maſter us into obedience or vain deſires of Meat, Drink, Recreation, Dwelling, &c. the Soul loſeth its Appetite to things Divine; and nothing reliſheth where Appetite is gone or ſick: We cannot ſerve God and Mammon, and we cannot at once taſte much pleaſure both in God and Mammon. The old auſtere Chriſtians found the mortification of the fleſhly Luſts, a great advantage to the Souls delight in God.
4. And many errours about God's nature and works much hinder us from feaſting on his Love.
5. And eſpecially the ſlight, and ignorant thoughts of Chriſt, and the wondrous workings of God's Love in him.
6. And ſpecially if our belief itſelf once ſhake, or be not well and firmly founded.
7. And our ſlight thoughts of the Office and Work of the Holy Ghoſt on Souls, and our neceſſity of it, and our not begging and waiting for the Spirits ſpecial help.
8. And laſtly, our unfaithful forgetfulneſs of manifold experiences and teſtimonies of his Love, which ſhould ſtill be as freſh before us.
Alas, my Soul, thou feeleſt thy defect, and knoweſt the hinderance, but what hope is there of remedy? Will God ever raiſe ſo low, ſo dull, ſo guilty a Heart, to ſuch a foretaſt of Glory, as is this effuſion of his Love by the Holy Ghoſt? The lightſom Daies in Spring and Summer when the Sun reviveth the late naked Earth, and clothes it with delectable beauties differs not more from Night and Winter, than a Soul thus revived with the Love of God, doth differ from an unbelieving formal Soul.
Though this great change be above my power, the Spirit of God is not impotent, backward, barren or inex…able. He hath appointed us means for ſo high a ſtate; and he appointeth no means in vain. Were my own Heart obedient to my commands, all theſe following I would lay upon it: Yea I'll do it and beg the help of God.
I. I charge thee think not of God's Goodneſs and Love as unproportionable to his Greatneſs and his Knowledge: Nor overlook in the whole frame of Heaven and Earth, the manifeſtation of one any more than of the other.
II. Therefore let not the the wickedneſs and miſery of the World tempt thee to think baſely of all God's Mercies to the World; nor the peculiar priviledges of the Churches, draw thee to deny or contemn God's common Mercies unto all.
III. I charge thee to make the ſtudy of Chriſt, and the great work of Man's Redemption by him, thy chiefeſt Learning, and moſt ſerious and conſtant work; and in that wonderful Glaſs to ſee the Face of Divine Love; and to hear what is ſaid of it by the Son from Heaven; and to come boldly as reconciled to God by him.
IV. O ſee that thy repentance for former ſins againſt knowledge, and Conſcience, and the Motions of God's Spirit, be ſound and throughly lamented and abhorred, how ſmall ſoever the matter was in itſelf That ſo the doubt of thy ſincerity keep not up doubts of God's acceptance.
V. Let thy dependance on the Holy Ghoſt as given from Chriſt, be henceforth as ſerious and conſtant to thee, as is the dependance of the Eye on the light of the Sun, and of natural Life upon its heat and motion. Beg hard for the Holy Spirit, and gladly entertain it.
VI. O never forget the many and great experiences thou haſt had, (theſe almoſt Sixty years obſerved) of marvellous favour and providence of God, for Soul and Body; in every time, place, condition, relation, company or change thou haſt been in: Loſe not all theſe Love-tokens of thy Father, while thou art begging more.
VII. Hearken not too much to pained Fleſh, and look not too much into the Grave; but look out at thy Priſon Windows to the Jeruſalem above, and the heavenly Society that triumph in Glory.
VIII. Let all thy ſure notices of a future life, and of the communion we have here with thoſe above, draw thee to think that the great number of Holy Souls that are gone before thee, muſt needs be better than they were here; and that they had the ſame Mind, and Heart, and Way, the ſame Saviour, Sanctifyer and Promiſe that thou haſt; and therefore they are as Pledges of Felicity to thee. Thou haſt joyfully lived with many of them here; and is it not better be with them there? It is only the ſtate of Glory foreſeen by Faith, which moſt fully ſheweth us the greatneſs of God's Love.
IX. Exerciſe thy ſelf in Pſalms of Praiſe, and daily magnifying the Love of God, that the due mention of it may warm and raiſe thy love to him.
X. Receive all temptations againſt Divine Love, with hatred and repulſe: Eſpecially temptations to unbelief: And as thou wouldſt abhor a temptation to murder, or perjury, or any other heinous ſin, as much abhor all temptations which would hide God's Goodneſs, or repreſent him to thee as an enemy or unlovely.
Thus God hath ſet the Glaſs before us, in which we may ſee his amiable Face. But, alas, Souls in fleſh are in great obſcurity, and conſcious of their own weakneſs, are ſtill diſtruſtful of themſelves, and doubt of all their apprehenſions, till over-powering Objects and Influences ſatisfie, and fix them. For this my Soul with daily longings doth ſeek to thee my God and Father: O pardon the ſin that forſeits Grace: I am ready to ſay, Draw nearer to me, but its meeter to ſay, Open thou my Eyes and Heart, and remove all impediments, and undiſpoſedneſs, that I may believe and feel how near thou art and haſt been to me, while I perceived it not.
XIII. It is God's Love ſhed abroad on the Heart by the Holy Ghoſt, which muſt make us Rejoice in hope of the Glory of God: This will do it, and without this it will not be done.
This would turn the fears of Death, into joyful hopes of future life. If my God will thus warm my Heart with his Love, it will have theſe following effects in this matter.
I. Love longeth for union, or nearneſs, and fruition: And it would make my Soul long after God, in glorious preſence.
II. This would make it much eaſier to me to believe that there is certainly a future bleſſed life for Souls; while I even taſted how God loveth them? It's no hard thing to believe that the Sun will give light and heat, and revive the frozen Earth: Nor that a Father will ſhew kindneſs to his Son, or give him an inheritance. Why ſhould it be hard to believe that God will glorifie the Souls whom he loveth? And that he will take them near himſelf: And that thus it ſhall be done to thoſe whom he delights to honour.
III. This effuſion of Divine Love would anſwer my doubts of the pardon of ſin: I ſhould not find it hard to believe that love itſelf, which hath given us a Saviour, will forgive a Soul that truly repenteth, and hates his ſin, and giveth up himſelf to Chriſt for Juſtification. It's hard to believe that a Tyrant will forgive, but not that a Father will pardon a returning prodigal Son.
IV. This effuſion of Divine Love, will anſwer my fears which ariſe from meer weakneſs of Grace and Duty: Indeed it will give no other comfort to an unconverted Soul, but that he may be accepted if he come to God by Chriſt, with true Faith and Repentance, and that this is poſſible. But it ſhould be eaſie to believe that a tender Father will not kill or caſt out a Child for weakneſs, crying or uncleanneſs: Divine Love will accept and cheriſh, even weak Faith, weak Prayer, and weak obedience and patience which are ſincere.
V. This effuſed Love would confute temptations that are drawn from thy afflictions; and make thee believe that they are not ſo bad as fleſh repeſenteth them: It would underſtand that every Son that God loveth, he chaſteneth, that he may not be condemned with the World, and that he may be partaker of his Holineſs, and the end may be the quiet fruit of Righteouſneſs; it would teach us to believe that God in very faithfulneſs doth afflict us; and that it is a good ſign that the God of Love intendeth a better life for his beloved, when he trieth them with ſo many tribulations here: And though Lazarus be not ſaved for his ſuffering, it ſignified that God who loved him, had a life of comfort for him, when he had his evil things on Earth. When pangs are greateſt, the Birth is neareſt.
VI. Were Love thus ſhed on the Heart by the Holy Ghoſt, it would give me a livelier apprehenſion of the ſtate of Bleſſedneſs which all the faithful now enjoy: I ſhould delightfully think of them as living in the joyful Love of God, and ever fully repleniſhed therewith. It pleaſeth us to ſee the Earth flouriſh in the Spring; and to ſee how pleaſantly the Lambs and other young things will skip and play: Much more to ſee Societies of Holy Chriſtians loving each other, and provoking one another to delight in God: O then what a pleaſant thought ſhould it be, to think how all our deceaſed godly Friends, and all that have ſo died ſince the Creation, are now together in a World of Divine perfect Love! How they are all continually wrap't up in the Love of God, and live in the delight of perfect Love to one another.
O my Soul, when thou art with them, thou wilt dwell in Love, and feaſt on Love, and reſt in Love; for thou wilt more fully dwell in God, and God in thee: And thou wilt dwell with none but perfect Lovers: They would not ſilence thee from praiſing God in their Aſſembly: Tyrants, Malignants, and Perſecutors are more ſtrange there (or far from thence) than Toads, and Snakes, and Crocodiles are from the Bed or Bedchamber of the King. Love is the Air, the Region, the World they live in: Love is their Nature, their Pulſe, their Breath, their Conſtitution, their Complexion, and their work: It is their life, and even themſelves and all. Full loth would one of thoſe Spirits be, to dwell again among blind Sodomites, and mad ſelf-damning Malignants upon Earth.
VII. Yea, this effuſed Love will teach us to gather the Glory of the Bleſſed from the common Mercies of this life: Doth God give his diſtracted malignant Enemies, Health, Wealth, Plenty, Pleaſure, yea, Lordſhips, Dominions, Crowns, and Kingdoms, and hath he not much better for beloved holy Souls.
Yea, doth he give the Bruits, Life, Senſe, Delight and Beauty, and hath he not better things for men? for Saints?
There are ſome ſo blind as to think that Man ſhall have no better hereafter, becauſe Bruits have not, but periſh. But they know not how erroneouſly they think. The ſenſible ſouls of Bruits are ſubſtance: And therefore are not annihilated at death: But God put them under us, and made them for us, and us more nearly for himſelf. Bruits have not Faculties to know and love God, to meditate on him, or praiſe him, or by moral agency to obey his Precepts: They deſire not any higher felicity than they have: God will have us uſe their ſervice, yea, their lives and Fleſh to tell us they were made for us. He tells us not what he doth with them after death: But whatever it is, it is not annihilation, and it's like they are in a ſtate ſtill of ſervice unto Man: Whether united or how individuate we know not: Nor yet whether thoſe Philoſophers are in the right, that think that this Earth is but a ſmall Image of the vaſt ſuperiour Regions, where there are Kingdoms anſwerable to theſe here, where the Spirits of Bruits are in the like ſubjection in aerial Bodies, to thoſe low rational Spirits that inhabite the Aerial Regions as in Fleſh they were to Man in Fleſh. But it's enough for us that God hath given us Faculties to know, love, praiſe, and obey him, and truſt him for Glory, which he never gave to them, becauſe they were not made for things ſo high. Every Creatures Faculties are ſuited to their uſe and ends:
And Love tells me that the bleſſed God, who giveth to Bruits that life, health, and pleaſure which they are made and fitted for, will give his Servants that heavenly delight in the fulneſs of his Love and Praiſe, and and mutual joyful Love to one another, which Nature fundamentally, and Grace more immediately hath made them fit for.
Bleſſed Jehovah, for what taſts of this effuſed Love thou haſt given me, my Soul doth bleſs thee, with ſome degree of gratitude and joy: And for thoſe further meaſures which I want, and long for, and which my pained languid ſtate much needs, and would raiſe my joyful hopes of Glory, I wait, I beg, from day to day. O give me now at the Door of Heaven, ſome fuller taſte of the heavenly Felicity: Shed more abroad upon my Heart, by the Holy Ghoſt, that Love of thine, which will draw up my longing Soul to thee, rejoicing in hope of the Glory of God.
FINIS.
End of the text · Richard Baxter, Dying Thoughts Upon Philippians 1:23 (1683)