A Treatise of Knowledge and Love, Part 2 · Chapter 19

A Treatise of Knowledge and Love · Part 2 · Chapter 19

p. 302Chap. XIX.

Exh. V. Place your Comforts in health and ſickneſs in Mutual Divine Love. 2. See that you ſincerely love God. How known? Doubts anſwered.

IT is of greateſt importance to all Mankind, to know what is beſt for them, and in what they ſhould place and ſeek their comforts: To place them moſt with the Proud, in the applauding thoughts or words of others, that magnifie them for their wit, their beauty, their wealth, or their pomp and power in the world, is to chuſe ſomewhat leſs than a ſhadow for felicity, and to live on the Air; even an unconſtant Air: And will ſuch a life be long, or happy? Should not a man in miſery rather take it for a ſtinging deriding mockery or abuſe, to be honoured and praiſed for that which he hath not, or for that which is his ſnare, or conſiſteth with his calamity? Would not a Malefactor at the Gallows take it for his reproach to hear an Oration of his happineſs? Will it comfort them in Hell to be praiſed on Earth? This common reaſon may eaſily call, An empty Vanity.

To place our Comforts in the delights of Senſuality, had ſomewhat a fairer ſhew of Reaſon, if Reaſon were made for nothing better; and if theſe were the noble ſort of pleaſures that advanced man above the brutes; and if they would continue for ever, and the end of ſuch mirth were not heavineſs and repentance, and they did not deprave and deceive mens Souls, and leave behind them diſappointment and a ſting. But he is unworthy the honour and pleaſures p. 303of Humanity, who preferreth the pleaſures of a beaſt, when he may have better.

To place our Comforts in thoſe Riches, which do but ſerve this Senſuality with proviſions, and leave poſterity in as vain and dangerous a ſtate as their progenitors were, is but the foreſaid folly aggravated.

To place them in Domination, and having our Wills on others, and being able to do hurt, and exerciſe revenge, is but to account the Devils happier than men, and to deſire to be as the Wolf among the Sheep, or as the Kite among the Chickens, or as the great Dogs among the little ones.

To place them in much Knowledge of Arts and Sciences, as they concern only the Intereſts of the body in this life; or as Knowledge is but the delight of the natural phantaſie or mind, doth ſeem a little finer, and ſublime, and manly, but it is of the ſame nature and vanity as the reſt. For all Knowledge is for the guidance of the Will and Practice; and therefore meer knowing matters that tend to Pride, Senſuality, Wealth or Domination, is leſs than the enjoyment of ſenſual pleaſures in the things themſelves. And the contemplation of ſuperiour Creatures, which hath no other end than the delight of knowing, is but a more refined ſort of vanity, and like the minds activity in a dream.

But whether it be the Knowledge or the love of God, that man ſhould place his higheſt felicity in, is become among the Schoolmen and ſome other Divines, a controverſy that ſeemeth ſomewhat hard. But indeed to a conſidering man, the ſeeming difficulty may be eaſily overcome: The Underſtanding and Will and Executive activity, are not ſeveral Souls, but ſeveral faculties of one Soul; And their Objects and Order of operation eaſily tell us, which is the firſt, and which the laſt which tendeth to the other as its end, and which object is the moſt delightful and moſt felicitating to the man, viz. That Truth is for Goodneſs, and that Good as Good is the amiable, delectable and felicitating object; And therefore p. 304that the Intellect is the guide of the Will, and Faith and Knowledge are for Love and its Delight. And yet that mans felicity is in both and not in one alone, as one faculty alone is not the whole Soul, (though it be the whole Soul that acteth by that faculty.) Therefore the later Schoolmen have many of them well confuted Aquinas in this point.

And it is of great importance in our Chriſtian practice. As the deſire of more Knowledge firſt corrupted our nature, ſo corrupted nature, is much more eaſily drawn to ſeek after knowledge, than after love. Many men are bookiſh that cannot endure to be Saints: Many can ſpend their lives in the ſtudies of Nature and Theology, and Delight, to find increaſe of Knowledge, who are Strangers to the Sanctifying, Uniting, delightful exerciſe of holy love. Appetite is the pondus or firſt Spring of our moral actions, yea and of our natural, though the ſenſe and intellect intromit or illuminate the Object. And the firſt act of natural Appetite (Senſitive and Intellectual) is neceſſitated. And accordingly the Appetite as pleaſed is as much the end of our Acts and Objects, as the Appetite as Deſiring is the beginning: Even as (ſi parvis magna, &c.) Gods Will as Efficient is the abſolutely firſt cauſe, and his will as done and pleaſed is the ultimate end of all things. It is Love by which man cleaveth unto God, as Good, and as our ultimate end. Love ever ſuppoſeth knowledge; and is its end and perfection. Neither alone, but both together are mans higheſt State; Knowledge as diſcerning what is to be Loved, and Love as our uniting and Delighting adherence to it.

I. Labour therefore with all your induſtry, to know God that you may love him; It is that love that muſt be your comforting grace, both by ſignification, and by its proper Effective Exerciſe. 1. True love will prove that your Knowledge and Faith are true and ſaving, which you will never be ſure of, without the Evidence of this and the conſequent p. 305Effects. If your expreſſive art or gifts be never ſo low, ſo that you ſcarce know what to ſay to God or man, yet if you ſo far know God as ſincerely to love him, it is certainly true ſaving knowledge, and that which is the beginning of eternal life. Knowledge, Belief, Repentance, Humility, Meekneſs, Patience, Zeal, Diligence, &c. are ſo far, and no further ſure marks of Salvation, as they cauſe or prove true love to God and Man, Predominant. It is a hard thing any otherwiſe to know whether our Knowledge, Repentance, Patience, Zeal or any of the reſt be any better than what an unjuſtifyed perſon may attain: But if you can find that they cauſe or come from, or accompany a ſincere Love of God, you may be ſure that they all partake of ſincerity, and are certain ſigns of a Juſtified Soul. It is hard to know what ſins for number, or nature, or magnitude, are ſuch as may or may not conſiſt with a State of ſaving grace. He that conſidereth of the ſins of Lot, David, Solomon and Peter will find the caſe exceeding difficult: But this much is ſure, that ſo much ſin may conſiſt with a Juſtified State, as may conſiſt with ſincere love to God and Goodneſs. While a man truly loveth God above all, his ſin may cauſe Correction, but not DAMNATION; unleſs it could extinguiſh or overcome this Love. Some queſtion whether that the ſin of Lot or David, for the preſent ſtood with juſtification: If it excuſſed not predominant habitual love, it intercepteth not juſtification: If we could tell whether any or many heathens that hear not of Chriſt, have the true love of God and Holineſs, we might know whether they are ſaved.

The reaſon is, becauſe that the will is the man in Gods account; And as Voluntarineſs is eſſential to ſin, ſo a Holy Will doth prove a Holy perſon. God hath the heart of him that loveth him. He that loveth him would fain pleaſe him, glorify him, and enjoy him: And he that loveth holineſs would fain live a holy life.

Therefore it is that Divines ſay here that deſire of grace is a p. 306certain ſign of grace, becauſe it is an act of Will and Love. And it is true, if that deſire be greater or more powerful than our Averſeneſs, and than our deſire after contrary things, that ſo it may put us on neceſſary duty, and overcome the luſts and temptations which oppoſe them: Though cold wiſhes which are conquered by greater unwillingneſs and prevailing luſts, will never ſave men.

2. And as love is our more comforting Evidence, ſo it is our moſt comforting Exerciſe. Thoſe acts of religion which come ſhort of this, come ſhort of the proper life and ſweetneſs of true religion. They are but either lightnings in the brain that have no heat; or a feaveriſh zeal which deſtroyeth or troubleth, but doth not perform the acts of life; or elſe (even where love is true, but little; and oppreſt by fears and grief, and trouble,) it is like Fire in green Wood, or like young green Fruits, which is not come to mellow ripeneſs. Love of Vanity is diſappointing, unſatisfactory and tormenting: Moſt of the Calamities of this life proceed from creature-love: The greateſt tormentor in this world is the inordinate love of life; and the next is the love of the pleaſures and accommodations of life; which cauſe ſo much care to get and keep, and ſo much fear of loſing, and grief for our loſſes, eſpecially fear of dying, that were it not for this, our lives would be much eaſier to us (as they are to the fearleſs ſort of brutes.) And the next tormenting affection is the love of Children, which prepareth men for all the Calamity that followeth their miſcarriages in Soul and Body: Their unnatural ingratitude, their Lewdneſs, and Debauchery, and Prodigality, their Folly and Impiety would nothing ſo much torment us, were they no more loved than other men. And our deareſt Friends do uſually coſt us much dearer than our ſharpeſt enemies. But the love of God and Satisfying everlaſting good is our very life, our pleaſure, our Heaven on Earth. As it is Pureſt and Higheſt, above all other becauſe of the Object, ſo is it yet more pleaſant and contenting, p. 307becauſe it includeth the hopes of more, even of thoſe greater delights of heavenly everlaſting love, which as a pledge and earneſt it doth preſignify. As in nature, conception and the ſtirring the Child in the womb do ſignify that ſame life is begun, which muſt ſhortly appear and be exerciſed in the open world. So the ſtirrings of holy love & deſires towards God, do ſignify the beginning of the heavenly life.

Humility and Patience, and diligent obedience do comfort us by way of Evidence, and as removing many hinderances of our comfort, and ſomewhat further they go. But Faith, Hope and Love, do comfort us by way of direct efficiency: Faith ſeeth the matter of our Joy; love firſt taſteth it ſo far as to ſtir up deſires after it. Then Hope giveth ſome pleaſure to us in expecting it. And laſtly, complacential love delightfully embraceth it, and is our very Joy itſelf, and is that bleſſed union with God and holy Souls, the amiable Objects of true love, which is our felicity it ſelf. To work out our comforts by the view of Evidences and Signs, is a neceſſary thing indeed, but it requireth a conſiderate ſearch, by an underſtanding and compoſed mind; and it's often much hindered and interrupted, by mens ignorance of themſelves, and weakneſs of grace, and darkneſs or ſmalneſs of Evidence, and divers paſſions, eſpecially fear (which in ſome is ſo Tyrannical that it will not ſuffer to believe or feel any thing that is comfortable.) But love taketh in the ſweetneſs of that good which is its object, by a nearer and effectual way, even by immediate taſte; As we feel in the exerciſe of our Love to a dear Friend, or any thing that is amiable and enjoyed.

The readieſt and ſureſt way therefore to a contented and comfortable life is, (to keep clear indeed our evidence, eſpecially, ſincere Obedience, but) eſpecially to bend all our Studies and Religious endeavours, to the kindling and exerciſe of holy love, and to avoid all (though it may come on religious pretence of humiliation or fear) which tendeth to quench or hinder it.

p. 308I. In Health and Proſperity as you live upon Gods love, be ſure that you do not atheiſtically overlook it, but take all as from it, and ſavouring of it. The hand of divine love perfumeth each mercy with the pleaſant odour of itſelf, which it reacheth to us. Every bit that we eat is a love token, and every hour or minute that we live; All our health, wealth, Friends and Peace are the Streams which ſtill flow from the Spring of unexhauſted love. Love ſhineth upon us by the Sun; love maketh our Land fruitful, or Cattel uſeful, our Habitations convenient for us, our Garments warm, our Food pleaſant and nouriſhing; Love keepeth us from a thouſand unknown dangers night and day: It giveth us the comforts of our Callings, our Company, our Books, our lawful Recreations; It bleſſeth means of Knowledge to our underſtandings, and means of Holineſs to our Wills, and means of Health and Strength to our bodies: Mercies are Sanctified to us when we taſt Gods love in them, and love him for them, and are led up by them to himſelf, and ſo love him ultimately for himſelf, even for his Infinite Eſſential Goodneſs. As God is the efficient life of our mercies, and all the world without his Love could never give us what we have, ſo is Gods love the Objective life of all our mercies, and we have but the Corps or Carkaſs of them, and love them but as ſuch, if we love not in them the Love that giveth them.

II. And even in adverſity and pain, and ſickneſs, whilſt Gods love is unchanged, and is but changing the way of doing good, our thoughts of it ſhould be unchanged alſo. We muſt not think that the Sun is loſt when it is ſet, or clouded: we live by its influence in the night, though we ſee not its light, unleſs as reflected from the Moon: Our Mothers brought us into the World in ſorrow; and yet they juſtly accounted it a mercy that we were born: Our lives are ſpent in the midſt of ſorrows; & yet it is a mercy that we live: and though we die by dolour, all is ſtill mercy to believers, which faith perceiveth contrary to ſenſe: And here p. 309is the greateſt and final victory which Faith obtaineth againſt the fleſh, to believe even the ruine of it to be for our good. Even Antonine the Emperor could ſay that it was the ſame good God who is the cauſe of our birth and of our death: one as well as the other is his work, and therefore good: It was not a Tyrant that made us, and it is not a Tyrant that diſſolveth us. And that is the beſt man, and the beſt will, which is moſt pleaſed with the Will of God, becauſe it is his Will. Yet juſt ſelf-love is here a true coadjutor of our joy: for it is the will of God that the Juſtified be Glorified. And Infinite love is ſaving us when it ſeemeth to deſtroy us.

To live upon the comforts of Divine love in ſickneſs, and when death approacheth, is a ſign that it is not the welfare of the body that we moſt eſteem, and that we rejoice not in God only as the preſerver and proſperer of our fleſh, but for himſelf and the bleſſings of immortality.

It is a mercy indeed which a dying man muſt with thankfulneſs acknowledge, if God have given him a clear underſtanding of the excellent myſteries of Salvation: knowledge as it kindleth and promoteth love, is a precious gift of grace, and is with pleaſure exerciſed, and may with pleaſure be acknowledged. But all other knowledge is like the Vanities of this World, which approaching death doth take down our eſteem of, and cauſeth us to number it with other forſaking and forſaken things: All the unſanctified learning and knowledge in the World, will afford no ſolid peace at death▪ but rather aggravate natures ſorrows, to think that this alſo muſt be left. But love and its comforts (if not hindered by ignorance or ſome ſtrong temptation) do then ſhew their immortal nature: And even here we feel the words of the Apoſtle verified, of the vaniſhing nature of Knowledge, and the perpetuity of holy love, whilſt all our learning and knowledge will not give ſo much comfort to a dying man, as one act of true love to God and Holineſs kindled in us by the communication of his love. Make it therefore p. 310the work of your Religion, and the work of your whole lives, to poſſeſs your minds with the livelieſt ſenſe of the infinite goodneſs and amiableneſs of God, and hereby to live in the conſtant exerciſe of Love.

II. And though ſome men hinder love by an over fearful queſtioning whether they have it, or not; and ſpend that time in doubting, and complaining that they have it not, which they ſhould ſpend in exciting and exerciſing it, yet reaſon requireth us to take heed leſt a carnal mind deceive us with any counterfeits of holy love: Of which having written more in my Chriſtian Directory, I ſhall here give you but theſe brief inſtructions following.

It is here of grand importance, I. To have a true conception of God as he muſt be loved; II. And then to know practically how it is that love muſt be exerciſed towards him.

I. GOD muſt be conceived of at once, both 1. As in his eſſence, 2. And as in his relations to the world and to our ſelves, 3. And as in his works. And thoſe that will ſeparate theſe, and while they fix only on one of them leave out the other, do not indeed love God as God, & as he muſt be loved.

1. To think in general that there is an infinite eternal Spirit of Life, Light and Love, and not to think of him as related to the world, as its Creator, Preſerver and Governor, nor as related to us and to mankind as our Owner, Ruler and Benefactor, is not to think of him as a God to us or to any but himſelf: And a love thus exerciſed cannot be true ſaving love.

2. And becauſe his relations to us reſult from his works, either which he hath done already, or which he will do hereafter, therefore without the knowledge of his works, and their goodneſs, we cannot truly know and love God in his relations to us.

3. And yet when we know his works, we know but the medium, or that in which he himſelf is made known to us; p. 311And if by them we come not to know him and love him in his perfect Eſſence, it is not God that we know and love. And if we knew him only as Related to us and the World, (as that he is our Creator, Owner, Mover, Ruler and Benefactor,) and yet know not what he is in his eſſence that is thus related viz, that he is (the Perfect, Firſt, Being, Life, Wiſdom and Love,) this were not truly to know and love him as he is God. Theſe conceptions therefore muſt be conjunct.

God is not here known to us but by the revelation of his works and word, nor can we conceive of him but by the ſimilitude of ſome of his works: not that we muſt think that he is juſt ſuch as they, or picture him like a creature; for he is infinitely above them all: but yet it is certain that he hath made ſome impreſſions of his perfections upon his works; and on ſome of them ſo clear as that they are called his Image.

Nothing is known to us but either, 1. By ſenſe immediately perceiving things external and repreſenting them to the phantaſie and intellect, or 2. By the Intellects own conceiving of other things by the ſimilitude of things ſenſed; 3. Or by immediate internal Intuition or Senſation of the acts of the Soul in it ſelf: 4. Or by reaſons collection of the nature of other things, from the ſimilitude and effect of ſuch perceived operations.

I. By the external Senſes, we perceive all external ſenſed things, and we imagine and know them as ſo perceived.

II. By the Intellection of theſe, we conceive of other things as like them, forming Univerſal conceptions, and applying them to ſuch individuals as are beyond the reach of our Senſes. (As we think of Men, Trees, Beaſts, Fiſhes, &c. in the Indies as like thoſe which we have ſeen; and of ſounds there as like thoſe which we have heard, and of the taſte of Fruits by the ſimilitude of ſuch as we have taſted, &c.

III. How Senſe it ſelf, Intellection it ſelf, Volition it ſelf, and internal Affections are perceived, is no ſmall controverſie p. 312among Philoſophers. That we do perceive them, (by the great wiſdom and goodneſs of our Creator) we are ſure; but how we do it we can ſcarce deſcribe, as knowing it better by the experience of that perception it ſelf than by a knowledge of the Cauſes and Nature of the acts. It is moſt commonly ſaid that the Intellect knoweth its own acts by Reflection, or as Ockam, by Intuition, and that it knoweth what Senſe is, and what Volition by ſome Species or Image of them in the phantaſie which it beholdeth. But ſuch words give no man a true knowledge of the thing enquired of, unleſs withal he read the ſolution experimentally in his own Soul. I know not what the meaning of a Reflect act is: Is it the ſame act which is called Direct and Reflect? And doth the Intellect know that it knoweth by the very ſame act by which it knoweth other things? If ſo, why is it called Reflect, and what is that reflection? But the contrary is commonly ſaid, that divers objects make divers acts, and therefore to know e.g. that this is Paper, and to know that I know this, are two acts, and the latter is a reflecting of the former. But the former act is gone, and nothing in the inſtant that it is done, and therefore is in it ſelf no intelligible object of a reflecting act: But as remembred it may be known, or rather that remembring is knowing what is paſt, by a marvellous retention of ſome impreſs of it which no man can well comprehend, ſo as to give an account of it: And why may not the ſame memory which retaineth the unexpreſſible Record of an Act paſt an hour or many years ago, be alſo the Book where the Intellect readeth its own Act as paſt immediately in the foregoing inſtant? But ſure this is not the firſt knowing that we know? Before the act of memory, the Intellect immediately perceiveth its own particular acts: And ſo doth the ſenſe: By one and the ſame act we ſee and perceive that we ſee; and by one and the ſame act (I think) we know and know that we know, and this by a conſciouſneſs or internal ſenſe which is the immediate act p. 313of the Eſſence of the faculty: And chuſe whether you will ſay that ſuch two objects may conſtitute one act? Or whether you will ſay that the latter (the act it ſelf) is not properly to be called an object: For the various ſenſes of the word object muſt be conſidered in the deciſion of that: Mans Soul is Gods Image: When God knoweth himſelf and his own knowledge, and when he willeth or loveth himſelf, and his own will or love, here we muſt either ſay that himſelf, his knowledge and will is not properly to be called an Object, or elſe that the Object and the Act are purely the ſame, without the leaſt real difference; but we name them differently as inadequate conceptions of one Being: And why may it not be ſo in a lower ſort in the Soul that is Gods Image? That is, that the underſtandings moſt internal act, viz. the knowing or perceiving when it knoweth any thing that it knoweth. It is not really compounded of an act and an object (as the knowledge of diſtinct objects is;) but that either its act is not properly to be called its object, or that act and object are not two things, but two inadequate conceptions of one thing.

And how doth the Soul perceive its own Volitions? To ſay that Volitions which are acts of the Intellectual Soul muſt be ſenſate, and ſo make a Species on the phantaſie, as ſenſate things do, and be known only in that Species, is to bring down the higher faculty, and ſubordinate it to the lower, that it may be intelligible; while it is certain that we ſhall never here perfectly underſtand the ſolution of theſe difficulties, is it not pardonable, among other mens conjectures, to ſay, That the noble faculty of Senſe (becauſe Brutes have it) is uſually too baſely deſcribed by Philoſophers? And that Intellection and Volition in the rational Soul are a ſuperior eminent ſort of ſenſation tranſcending that of Brutes; and that Intelligere & Velle are eminenter ſentire; and that the Intellect doth by underſtanding other things, eminently ſee or ſenſe, and ſo underſtand that it underſtandeth: And p. 314that the will doth by willing feel that it willeth: When I conſult my Experience, I muſt either ſay thus, or elſe that Intellection and Volition ſo immediately ever move the Internal ſenſe, that they are known by us only as acts compounded with that ſenſe.

But I am gone too far before I was aware.

IV. The Soul thus knowing or feeling its own acts, doth in the next place rationally gather, 1. That it hath power to perform them, and is a ſubſtance ſo empowered. 2. That there are other ſuch ſubſtances with the like acts. 3. And there is one prime tranſcendant ſubſtance, which is the cauſe of all the reſt which hath infinitely nobler acts than ours.

And thus Senſe and Reaſon concur to our knowledge of God, by ſhewing us, and perceiving that Image in which by ſimilitude we muſt know him. The Fiery, Ethereal or Solar Nature is (at leaſt) the ſimilitude of Spirits: And by condeſcending ſimilitude God in Scripture is called LIGHT, and the FATHER of LIGHTS, in whom is no darkneſs, allowing and inviting us to think of his Glory by the ſimilitude of the Sun or Light. But Intellectual Spirits are the higheſt Nature known to us, and theſe we know intimately by moſt near perception: By the ſimilitude of theſe therefore we muſt conceive of God.

A Soul is a ſelf-moving Life or vital Subſtance; actuating the Body to which it is united. God is ſuper-eminently Eſſential-Life, perfect in himſelf, as living Infinitely and Eternally, and giving Being to all that is, and Motion to all that moveth, and Life to all that liveth.

A reaſonable Soul is Eſſentially an underſtanding power: And God is ſuper-eminently an Infinite underſtanding knowing himſelf and all things perfectly.

A reaſonable Soul is Eſſentially a rational Appetite or Will, neceſſarily loving himſelf, and all that is apprehended every way, and congruouſly good. God is ſuper-eminently p. 315an Infinite Will or Love, neceſſarily loving himſelf; and his own Image, which yet he freely made by communicative Love.

All things that were made by this Infinite Goodneſs, were made good and very good. All his works of Creation and Providence (however miſconceived of by ſinners) are ſtill very good. All the good of the whole Creation is as the heat of this Infinite, Eternal Fire of Love. And having made the World good, in the good of Nature, and the good of Order, and the good of mutual Love, he doth by his continual influx maintain and perfect it. His Power moveth, his Wiſdom governeth, and his Love felicitateth. And man he moveth as man, he Ruleth him by Moral Laws as man; and he is his perfect Lo…er, and perfect amiable Object and End. As our Creator making us in this natural capacity and Relation; as our Redeemer reſtoring and advancing us to bleſſed Union with himſelf; and as our Sanctifier and Glorifier preparing us for, and bringing us to Coeleſtial perfection. And thus muſt God be conceived of that we may love him: And falſe and defective conceptions of him, as the great impediments of our love: And we love him ſo little, (much) becauſe we ſo little know him: And therefore it is not the true knowledge of God, which Paul here maketh a competitor with love.

II. And as we know God by aſcending from his Works and Image, in the ſame order muſt our love aſcend. The firſt acts of it will be towards God in his works, and the next will be towards God in his Relation to us, and the higheſt towards God as Eſſentially perfect and amiable in himſelf.

I will therefore now apply this to the Soul that feareth leſt he love not God, becauſe he perceiveth not himſelf either to know or love him immediately in the perfection of his Eſſence.

1. Do you truely love the Image of God on the Soul of p. 316Man? That is, a Heavenly Life, and Light, and Love? Do you not only from bare conviction commend, but truly love a Soul devoted to God, full of his love, and living in obedience to his Laws, and doing good to others according to his power? This is to love God in his Image! God is Infinite Power, Wiſdom and Goodneſs, or Love ▪ To love true wiſdom and goodneſs as ſuch is to love God in his Works.

Eſpecially with theſe two qualifications; 1. Do you love to have Wiſdom and Goodneſs, and Love as Univerſal as is poſſible? Do you long to have Families, Cities, Kingdoms and all the World, made truly Holy, Wiſe and united in Love to one another? The moſt Univerſal Wiſdom and Goodneſs is moſt like to God: and to love this is to love God in his Image.

2. Do you love Wiſdom and Goodneſs in your ſelves, and not in others only? Do you long to be liker to God in your capacity, and more near him and united to him? That is, Do you long to know him, and his will more clearly and to enjoy a holy communion with him and his holy ones in the fulleſt mutual love, (loving and being beloved) and to delight your Souls in his joyful praiſes, in the communion of Saints? This is certainly the love of God. Our union is by love; he that would be united to God and his Saints in Jeſus Chriſt, that would fain know him more, and love him better, and praiſe and obey him joyfully in perfection, doth undoubtedly love him.

And here I would earneſtly caution you againſt two common deceits of men by counterfeit love. I. Some think that they love God ſavingly becauſe they love him as the God of Nature, and cauſe of all the Natural Being, Order and Goodneſs which is in the whole frame of Heaven and Earth; This is to love ſomewhat of God, or to love him ſecundum quid, in one reſpect: But if they love him not alſo as he is the Wiſe and Holy, and Righteous Ruler of Mankind, and as he requireth, p. 317us to be holy, and would make us holy, and love not to pleaſe his Governing will, they love him not as God with a ſaving love. I have elſewhere mentioned the ſaying of Adrian (after Pope) in his Quodlib. that an unholy perſon may not only love God as he is the glorious cauſe of the World and natural good, but may rather chooſe to be himſelf annihilated, and be no man, than that there ſhould be no God, were it a thing that could be made the matter of his choice: And indeed I dare not ſay that every man is holy who had rather be annihilated than one Kingdom ſhould be annihilated, when many Heathens would die to ſave their Countrey or their Prince; much leſs dare I ſay that all ſhall be ſaved that had rather be annihilated than there ſhould be no world, or be no God: But (ſaith the foreſaid Schoolman) it is the love of God as our holy Governour, and a love of his holy will, and of our conformity thereto, that is ſaving love.

II. And I fear that no ſmall number do deceive themſelves in thinking that they love Holineſs as the Image of God in themſelves and others, when they underſtand not truly what Holineſs is, but take ſomething for it that is not it. Holineſs is this Uniting love to God and Man, and a deſire of more perfect Union! To love Holineſs, is to love this love it ſelf; to love all of God that is in the World, and to deſire that all men may be united in holy love to God and one another, and live in his praiſe and the obedience of his will. But I fear too many take up ſome opinions that are ſtricter than other mens, and call ſome things Sin which others do not, and get a high eſteem of ſome particular Church order, and form of manner of worſhiping God, which is not of the eſſence or holineſs, and then they take themſelves for a holy people, and other men for prophane and looſe, and ſo they love their own Societies, for this which they miſtake for holineſs; and inſtead of that uniteing love which is holineſs indeed, they grow into a factious p. 318enmity to others, reproaching them as rejoicing in their hurt as taking them for the enemies of God.

2. And as God muſt be loved in his Image on his ſervants, ſo muſt he in his Image on his word. Do you love the holy Laws of God, as they expreſs that holy Wiſdom and Love, which is his perfection? Do you love them as they would rule the World in Holineſs, and bring mankind to true wiſdom and mutual love? Do you love this word as it would make you Wiſe and Holy; and therefore love it moſt when you uſe it moſt, in reading, hearing, meditation and practice▪ ſurely to love the Wiſdom and Holineſs of Gods Laws and Promiſes, is to love God in his Image there imprinted, even in that Glaſs where he hath purpoſely ſhewed us that of himſelf which we muſt love.

3. But no where is Gods Image ſo refulgent to us, as in his Son our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt: In him therefore muſt God be loved: Though we never ſaw him, yet what he was, even the holy Son of God, ſeparate from ſinners, the Goſpel doth make known to us: as alſo what wonderous love he hath manifeſted to loſt mankind! In him are all the treaſures of Wiſdom and Goodneſs: both an example, and a doctrine and law of wiſdom, holineſs and peace he hath given to the World: In this Goſpel, Faith ſeeth him, yea ſeeth him as now Glorified in Heaven, and made Head over all things to the Church; the King of love, the great high Prieſt of love, the Teacher of love, and the expreſs Image of the Fathers perſon: Are the thoughts of this glorious Image of God now pleaſing to you, and is the wiſdom, holineſs and love of Chriſt now amiable to you in believing? If ſo, you Love God in his bleſſed Son. And as he that hath ſeen the Son hath ſeen the Father, ſo he that loveth the Son loveth the Father alſo.

4. Yet further, the glory of God will ſhine moſt clearly in the Celeſtial glorified Church, containing Chriſt and all the bleſſed Angels and Saints who ſhall for ever ſee the glory p. 319of God and Love, obey and praiſe him, in perfect Unity, Harmony and Fervency! You ſee not this heavenly Society and Glory, but the Goſpel revealeth it, and Faith believeth it: Doth not this bleſſed Society and their holy work, ſeem to you the moſt lovely in all the world? Is it not pleaſing to you to think in what perfect joy and concord they love and magnify God, without all ſinful ignorance, diſaffection, dullneſs, diſcord or any other culpable imperfection? I ask not only whether your opinion will make you ſay that this Society and State is beſt? but whether you do not ſo really eſteem it as that it hath the pleaſing deſires of your Souls? Would you not fain be one of them and be united to them, and joyn in their perfect Love and Praiſe? If ſo, this is to Love God in that moſt glorious appearance where he will ſhew forth himſelf to man to be beloved.

But here true believers may be ſtopt with doubting becauſe they are unwilling to die, and till we die this glory is not ſeen. But it's one thing to love Heaven and God there manifeſted, and another thing to love death which ſtandeth in the way. Nature teacheth us to loath death as death, and to deſire, if it might be, that this Cup might paſs by us? Though faith make it leſs dreadful, becauſe of the bleſſed State that followeth: But he that loveth not blood-letting or Phyſick, may love health. It is not death, but God and the heavenly perfection in glory which we are called to Love. What if you could come to this glory, without dying as Henoch and Elias did, would you not be willing to go thither?

5. And he that loveth God in all theſe his appearances to man, in his works and Image on his Saints, in the wiſdom, holineſs and goodneſs of his word, in the wiſdom, love and holineſs of his Son, and in the perfection of his glory in the heavenly Society, doth certainly alſo love him in the higheſt reſpect, even as he is himſelf that bleſſed eſſence, that perfect greatneſs, Wiſdom and Goodneſs, or Life, Light and Love, p. 320which is the beginning and end of all things, and the moſt amiable object of all illuminated minds, and of every Sanctified will, and of all our harmonious praiſe for ever. For whatever become of that diſpute, whether we ſhall ſee Gods eſſence in itſelf, as diſtinct from all created glory, (the word ſeeing being here ambiguous) it is ſure that we can even now have abſtracting thoughts of the Eſſence of God as diſtinct from all creatures, and our knowledge of him then will be far more perfect.

It ſhould be moſt pleaſant to every believer to think that GOD IS; Even that ſuch a perfect glorious being is exiſtent: As if we heard of one man in another land whom we were never like to ſee, who in wiſdom, love, and all perfections excelled all men that ever were in the world, the thoughts of that man would be pleaſing to us, and we ſhould love him becauſe he is amiable in his excellency. And ſo doth the holy Soul when it thinketh of the infinite amiableneſs of God.

6. But the higheſt Love of the Soul to God, is in taking in all his amiableneſs together, and when we think of him as related to our ſelves, as our Creater, Redeemer, Sanctifier and Glorifier, and as related to all his Church and to all the world, as the cauſe and end of all that is amiable, and when we think of all thoſe amiable works which theſe Relations do reſpect, his Creation and Conſervation of the whole world, his Redemption of mankind, his Sanctifying and Glorifying of all his choſen ones, his wonderful mercies to our ſelves for Soul and Body, his mercies to his Church on earth, his unconceivable mercies to the glorified Church in Heaven, the Glory of Chriſt, Angels and Men, and their perfect Knowledge Love, and joyful praiſes, and then think what that God is in himſelf that doth all this? This Complexion of conſiderations cauſeth the fulleſt Love to God. And though unlearned perſons cannot ſpeak or think of all theſe diſtinctly and clearly as the Scripture doth p. 321expreſs them, yet all this is truly the Object of their Love, though with confuſion of their apprehenſions of it.

But I have not yet done, nor indeed come up to the point of tryal. It is not every kind or degree of Love to God in theſe reſpects that will prove to be ſaving. He is mad that thinks there is no God: And he that believeth that there is a God doth believe that he is moſt powerful, wiſe and good, and therefore muſt needs have ſome kind of Love to him. And I find that there are a ſort of Deiſts or Infidels now ſpringing up among us, who are confident, That all, or almoſt all men ſhall be ſaved, becauſe ſay they, all men do love God. It is not poſſible ſay they that a man can believe God to be God, that is, to be the Beſt, and to be love itſelf, and the cauſe of all that is good and amiable in Heaven and Earth, and yet not love him: The will is not ſo contrary to the underſtanding, nor can be. And ſay the ſame men, he that loveth his neighbour, loveth God; for it is for his goodneſs that he loveth his Neighbour, and that goodneſs is Gods goodneſs appearing in man: He that loveth Sun and Moon, and Stars, Meat and Drink, and pleaſure loveth God, for all this is Gods goodneſs in his works; and out of his works he is unknown to us; and therefore they ſay, that all men Love God, and all men ſhall be ſaved, or at leaſt all that love their Neighbours; for God by is us no otherwiſe to be loved.

For anſwer to theſe men, 1. It is falſe that God is no otherwiſe to be loved than as in our Neighbour: I have told you before undeniably of ſeveral other reſpects or appearances of God, in which he is to be loved: And he that is not known to us as ſeparate from all Creatures, is yet known to us as diſtinct from all Creatures, and is, and muſt be ſo loved by us: Elſe we are Idolaters if we ſuppoſe the Creatures to be God themſelves, and love, and honour them as God: Even thoſe Philoſophers that took God for the inſeparable Soul of the World, yet diſtinguiſhed him from the p. 322World which they thought he animated, (and indeed doth more than animate.)

2. And it is falſe that every one loveth God who loveth his Neighbour, or his Meat, Drink and fleſhly Pleaſure, or any of the accommodations of his ſenſe. For Nature cauſeth all men to love life, and ſelf, and pleaſure for themſelves: And theſe are beloved even by Atheiſts that believe not that there is a God! And conſequently ſuch men love their Neighbours not for God, but for themſelves, either becauſe they are like them, or becauſe they pleaſe them, or ſerve their intereſt, or delight them by ſociety and converſe, as Birds and Beaſts do love each other that think not of a God. And if all ſhould be ſaved that ſo love one another, or that love their own pleaſure, and that which ſerveth it, not only all wicked men, but moſt Brute Creatures ſhould be ſaved. If you ſay, they ſhall not be damned, it's true, becauſe they are not Moral Agents, capable of Salvation or Damnation, nor capable of Moral Government and Obedience; and therefore even the Creatures that kill one another are not damned for it: But certainly as man is capable of Salvation or Damnation, ſo is he of ſomewhat more as the means or way, than Brutes are capable of, and he is ſaved or damned for ſomewhat which Brutes never do. Many a thouſand love the pleaſure of their ſenſe, and all things and perſons which promote it, that never think of God or love him. And it is not enough to ſay that even this natural good is of God, and therefore it is God in it which they love; for it will only follow that it is ſomething made and given by God which they love, while they leave out God himſelf. That God is Eſſentially in all things good and pleaſant which they love, doth not prove that it is God which they love, while their thoughts and affections, do not include him.

3. But ſuppoſe it were ſo that to love the Creature were to love God, is not then the hating of the Creature the hating p. 323of God? If thoſe ſame men that love Meat and Drink, and ſenſual Delight, and love their Neighbours for the ſake of theſe, or for themſelves, as a Dog doth love his Maſter, do alſo hate the holineſs of Gods Servants, and the holineſs and juſtice of his Word and Government, and that holineſs and order of Heart and Life which he commandeth them, do not theſe men hate God in hating theſe? And that they hate them, their obſtinate averſation ſheweth, when no reaſon, no mercy, no means, can reconcile their Hearts and Lives thereto.

4. I therefore ask the Infidel Objector, whether he ſhall be ſaved that loveth God in one reſpect, and hateth him in another? That loveth him as he cauſeth the Sun to ſhine, the Rain to fall, the Graſs to grow, and giveth Life and Proſperity to the World, but hateth him as he is the Author of thoſe Laws, and Duties, and that holy Government, by which he would bring them to a voluntary right order, and make them holy, and fit for Glory, and would uſe them in his holy Service, and reſtrain them from their inordinate Luſts and Wills? How can love prepare or fit any man for that which he hateth or doth not love: If the love of fleſhly intereſt and pleaſure prepare or fit them to ſeek that, and to enjoy it, (the little time that it will endure) how ſhould this love make them fit for Heaven, for a Life of holineſs with God and Saints? It is this that they love not, and will not love, (for if they truely loved it they ſhould have it;) yea, it is this that they hate, and will not accept or be perſwaded to. And what a fond conceit then is it to think that they ſhall have Heaven that never loved it, no nor the ſmall beginnings here of the Heavenly Nature and Life, and all becauſe they loved the pleaſures of the Fleſh on Earth, and loved God and their Neighbours for promoting it?

5. Yea, I would ask the Infidel, whether God will ſave men for rebelling againſt him? Their love to their Fleſh and p. 324to the Creature, as it is inordinate, and taketh Gods place, and ſhutteth out the love of Holineſs and Heaven, is their great Sin and Idolatry? And ſhall this be called a ſaving love of God? What groſs ſelf-deceit hath ſenſuality taught theſe men?

6. I grant them therefore that all men that believe that there is a God, do love ſomewhat of God, or ſecundum quid, or in ſome partial reſpect have ſome kind of love to God. But it is not a love to that of God, which muſt ſave, felicitate and glorifie Souls: Meat and Drink, and fleſhly Sports do not this; but Heavenly Glory, Wiſdom, Holineſs and Love to God, and Man for God, and this they love not, and therefore never ſhall enjoy: Nay, that of God which ſhould ſave and felicitate them they hate, and hated holineſs is none of theirs, nor ever can be, till they are changed. And ſo much to the Infidels Objection.

7. I add therefore in the laſt place to help men in the tryal of their love to God, that their love muſt have theſe two qualifications.

1. They muſt love that of God which maketh man happy, and is indeed the end of his Nature, and Sanctification; And that is, not only the comforts of this tranſitory natural Life and Fleſh, but the fore deſcribed Union and Communion with God, in perfect knowledge, love and praiſe. 2. This love to God muſt be predominant, and prevail againſt the power of alluring objects, which Satan would uſe to turn our Hearts from him, and to keep out holy Heavenly love. Damning ſin conſiſteth in loving ſomewhat that is good and lovely, and that is of God; but it is not ſimply in loving it, but in loving it inordinately, inſtead of God or greater things, and out of its due time and rank, and meaſure, and ſo as to hinder that love which is our holineſs and happineſs. Moral Good conſiſteth not in meer Entity, but in Order; and diſorderly Love even of real good is ſinful Love.

p. 325Therefore when all is ſaid, the old mark which I have many and many times repeated, is it that muſt try the ſincerity of your love; viz. If 1. in the eſteem of a believing mind, 2. And in the choice and adherence of a reſolved will, 3. And in the careful, ſerious endeavours of your lives, you prefer the knowing, loving, obeying and joyful praiſing of God, begun here and perfected in Glory, as the benefit of our Redemption by Chriſt, before all the intereſts of this fleſhly life, the pleaſures, profits and honours of this World, that is, before the pleaſures of ſin and ſenſuality for this tranſitory Seaſon. Or in Chriſts words, Mat. 6.33. If you SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and truſt him to ſuperadd all other things. This is that love of God and goodneſs which muſt ſave us: And he that loveth God even in theſe high reſpects, a little, and loveth his fleſhly pleaſure ſo much more, as that he will not conſent to the regulating of his Luſts, but will rather venture or let go his Salvation than his ſins, hath no true ſaving love to God.

Obj. There is ſcarce any Fornicator, Drunkard, Glutton, Swearer, or other raſh and ſenſual ſinner, but believeth that God is better than the creature, and that it were better for him to live to God in love and holineſs, than to live in ſinful pleaſures: and therefore though he live in ſin againſt this knowledge, it ſeemeth that with the rational will he loveth God and Goodneſs beſt, becauſe he judgeth them beſt.

Anſ. 1. It is one thing, what the judgment ſaith; and another thing, how it ſaith it. A ſpeculative judgment may drowſily ſay, that God and Holineſs are beſt▪ when yet it ſaith it but as a dreaming opinion, which prevaileth not with the will to chooſe them, having at the ſame time ſo ſtrong an apprehenſion of the pleaſures of ſin as carryeth away the will and practice.

2. It is one thing therefore to love God under the notion p. 326of being beſt, and another thing to love him beſt. For the will can croſs ſuch a notion of the underſtanding; at leaſt by an omiſſion, as appeareth by the ſin of Adam, which began in the will (or elſe had been neceſſitated.) The ſame underſtanding which ſluggiſhly ſaith, God or Holineſs is better, yet may more clearly and vehemently ſay [Luſt is pleaſant, or Pleaſure of the fleſh is good] and being herein ſeconded with the ſtrong apprehenſions of ſenſe and fantaſie, the will may follow this ſimple judgment, and neglect the comparate.

3. It is one thing for the underſtanding to ſay, that God is more amiable to one that hath a heart to love him, and a ſuitable diſpoſition; and another thing to ſay, he is now more amiable to me: thoſe can ſay the firſt, that cannot truly ſay the latter, and therefore love not God as beſt, and above all.

4. It is one thing for the underſtanding ſometimes under conviction to ſay, God and Holineſs are beſt for me, and I ought to love them beſt, and then to lay by the exerciſe of this judgment in the ordinary courſe of life, (though it be not contradicted) and to live in the continual apprehenſion of the goodneſs of ſenſual pleaſure; and another thing to keep the judgment that God and Holineſs are beſt, in ordinary exerciſe. For the will doth not always follow the judgment that we had before, but that which we have at preſent: and that which we exerciſe not, we have not at that time in act: and it is not a meer power or habit of knowledge which ruleth the will, but the preſent act. Many a man is ſaid to know that which he doth not think of, when indeed he doth not know it at that time, but only would know it if he thought of it: As a man in his ſleep is ſaid to know what he knew awake, when indeed he knoweth it not actually till he be awake.

Obj. But true grace is rather to be judged of by the habit, than by the preſent acts.

Anſ. By the habit of the Will it is, that is, by habitual love, p. 327for that will command the moſt frequent acts: but I propoſe it to the conſideration of the judicious, whether an ordinary habit of drowſy knowledge, or belief that God and Holineſs are beſt, may not be ordinarily kept out of act, and conſiſt with a prevailing habit of ſenſuality or love of forbidden pleaſure in the will, and with a privation of prevalent habitual love to God and Holineſs. I ſuppoſe with moſt ſuch ſinners this is the true caſe: the underſtanding ſaid lately, It is beſt for thee to love God, and live to him, and deny thy luſt: And it oft forgetteth this, while it ſtill ſaith with ſenſe, that fleſhly pleaſure is deſireable: and at other times it ſaith, Though God be beſt, thou maiſt venture at the preſent on this pleaſure; and ſo lets looſe the corrupted will, reſerving a purpoſe to repent hereafter, as apprehending moſt ſtrongly at the preſent, that juſt now ſenſual delight may be choſen, though holineſs will be beſt hereafter.

Obj. But if a habit will not prove that we ſincerely love and prefer God, how ſhall any man know that he loveth and preferreth him, when the beſt oft ſin; and in the act of ſin God is not actually preferred.

Anſ. 1. I told you that a habit of true love will prove ſincerity, though not a habit of true opinion or belief, which is not brought into lively and ordinary act: uneffectual faith may be habitual. Yea ſuch an uneffectual counterfeit half love, which I before deſcribed to you, may be habitual, and yet neither act nor habit ſaving.

2. The Sins of godly men are not prevalent abſolutely againſt the being, operation or effects of the love of God and Holineſs; For even when they ſin, theſe live, and are predominant in all other things, and in the main bent and courſe of life; but only they prevail againſt ſome Degree of holy love, perhaps both in the act and habit for ſuch ſins are not ungodlineſs, but imperfection of godlineſs and the effects of that imperfection.

3. When godly men fall into a great extraordinary ſin, p. 328it is not to be expected that they ſhould comfortably diſcern the ſincerity of their love to God either by that ſin, or in that ſin; but they may diſcern it, 1. By the courſe of a godly life, where the prevalency of the habit appeareth in the power and ſtream of acts; and 2. By their Repentance for, and abhorring and forſaking of that ſin, which ſtopt and darkened their love to God. And theſe two together viz, A reſolved courſe of living unto God, and Repentance and Hatred of every ſin which is againſt it, and eſpecially of greater ſins, will ſhew the ſincerity and power of holy love.

Obj. But then one that ſinneth daily, e. g. by paſſion, or too much love to the World, or creatures, and by omiſſions, &c. ſhall never be ſure that he ſincerely loveth God, becauſe this is a courſe of ſin, and he cannot have ſuch aſſurance till he forſake it.

Anſ. One that ordinarily committeth groſs and wilful ſin, that is, ſuch ſin as he had rather keep than leave, and as he would leave if he were but ſincerely willing, hath no predominant love of God; at leaſt in act, and therefore can have no aſſurance of it: But one that is ordinarily guilty of meer infirmities may at the ſame time, know that the love of God doth rule both in his heart and life. The Paſſion of fear or of anger, or of ſorrow may be inordinate, and yet God loved beſt, becauſe the will hath ſo weak a power over them, that a man that is guilty of them may truly ſay, I would fain be delivered from them. And ſome inordinate love of life, health, wealth, friends, honour, may ſtand with a more prevailing love of God, and the prevalency be well perceived. But what greater actual ſin (as Noahs or Lots Drunkenneſs, Davids Adultery and Murder, Peters denial of Chriſt) are or are not conſiſtent with true love to God, is a caſe that I have elſewhere largely handled, and is unmeet for a ſhort deciſion here.

p. 329Obj. But when I feel my heart, deſires and delights all cold to God and Holineſs, and too hot after fleſhly, worldly things, may I not conclude that I love theſe better?

Anſ. Senſible near things may have much more of the paſſionate part of our love, our deſires and delights, and yet not be beſt loved by us. For God and Things Spiritual being out of the reach of ſenſe, are not ſo apt or like to move our ſenſe and paſſion immediately to and by themſelves. As I ſaid before, that is beſt loved, which hath, 1. The higheſt eſteem of the underſtanding. 2. The moſt reſolved prevalent choice of the will, 3. And the moſt faithful endeavours of our life.

And many a Chriſtian miſtaketh his affection to the thing it ſelf, becauſe of his ſtrangeneſs to the place and to the change that death will make. If the weakeſt Chriſtian could have without dying, the clear knowledge of God, the communion of Faith and Love by his Spirit; could he love God but as much as he would love him, and anſwerably taſt his love, in every prayer, in every promiſe, in every Sacrament, in every mercy; could his Soul keep a continual ſabbath of delight in God, and in his Saints and Holy worſhip, this ſeemeth to him more deſireable and pleaſing than all the treaſures of the World. And he that deſireth this communion with God deſireth Heaven in reality, though he fear the change that death will make, becauſe of the weakneſs of faith, and our ſtrangeneſs to the ſtate of ſeparated Souls.