Chapter VII

2. I Proceed to the second general Branch of the Text, the Persons interested in this Priviledge, and they are doubly qualified.

1. They are Lovers of God: All things work together for good, τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν θεὸν, to them that love God. Despisers and Haters of p. 84 God, have no lot or part in this priviledge, it is childrens bread, it belongs only to them that love God. Because love is the very heart and spirit of Religion, I shall the more expatiate upon this; and for the further discussion of it, I shall cleer these five things.

• 1 The Nature of love to God.
• 2 The Ground of love to God.
• 3 The Kinds of love to God.
• 4 The Properties of love to God.
• 5 The Degree of love to God.

1. The Nature of divine love. Love is an expansion of soul, or the inflaming of the affections, whereby a Christian breaths after God as the supream and soveraign good. S^t Austin in his second Tome, calls love Pondus animae: Love is to the soul as the weights to the Clock, it sets the soul a going towards God; it is the wing by which we flye to Heaven; by love we cleave to God, as the Needle to the Load-stone.

2. The Ground of love to God, and that is, knowledge. Ignoti nulla cupido — We cannot love that which we do not know. That our love may be drawn sorth to God, we must know these three things in him.

1. A fulness, Col. 1.19. He hath a fulness of grace to cleanse us, and of glory to crown us, a fulnesse not only of sufficiency, but p. 85 redundancy; he is a Sea of goodnesse without bottom and banks.

2. A freenesse.— Fluit acrius amne perenni —God hath an innate propensness to dispence mercy and grace, he drops as the Honey-comb, Rev. 22.17. Whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely: God doth not require we should bring money with us, onely appetite.

3. A Propriety. We must know this fulness in God is ours, Psal. 48.14. This God is our God. Here is the ground of love, Deity and Propriety.

3. The Kinds of love, which I shall branch into these three.

1. There is a love of Appretiation, when we set an high value upon God, as being the most sublime and infinite good; we so esteem of God, as if we have him we care not though we want all things else. The Stars vanish when the Sun appears: All creatures vanish in our thoughts when the Sun of righteousnesse shines in his full splendour, Cant. 1.13. A bundle of Myrrhe is my well-beloved unto me, and as a cluster of Camphire.

2. A love of Complacency and delight: So Aquinas defines love to be complacentia amantis in amato: As a man takes delight in a friend whom he loves. The soul that loves God rejoyceth in him, as in his treasure, and p. 86 rests in him, as in his Center. The heart is so set upon God as it desires no more, Iohn 14.8. Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth.

3. A love of Benevolence, which is a wishing well to the Cause of God⁷⁷. He that is indeared in affection to his friend, wisheth all happinesse to him. This is to love God, when we are well-wishers, we desire that his Interest may prevail; our Vote and Prayer is, that his name may be had in honour; that his Gospel, which is the Rod of his strength, may like Aarons Rod, blossom, and bring forth Almonds.

1. 77. Φιλεῖν ἐστι βούλεσθαι τινὶ ὁ ὄντα ἀγαθὰ, &c. Aristot.

4. The Properties of love.

1. Our love to God must be entire, and that ex parte subjecti, in regard of the Subject, it must be with the whole heart. Mark 12.30. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας, with all thy heart. In the Old Law, an High Priest was not to marry with a Widow, nor with an Harlot; not with a Widow, because he had not her first love, nor with an Harlot, because he had not all her love. God will have the whole heart. Hos. 10.2. Their heart is divided. The true Mother would not have the child divided; nor God will not have the heart divided: God will not be an Inmate, to have only one Room in the heart, and all the other Rooms let out to sin. It must be an entire love.

p. 87 2. It must be a sincere love, Eph. 6.24. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Iesus ἐν ἀφθαρσία in sincerity. Sincere, quasi sine cera; it alludes to Honey that is pure, and hath no Wax in it: Our love to God is sincere, when it is pure, and without self-respects: This the School-men call, Amor amicitiae, a love of friendship. We must love Christ propter Christum (as Austin saith) for himself: as we love sweet Wine for its taste. Gods Beauty and Love must be the two Load-stones to draw our love to him. Alexander had two freinds, Ephestion and Craterus; Ephestion saith he, loves me because I am Alexander: Craterus loves me because I am King Alexander: The one loved his person, the other loved his benefits. Many love God because he gives them Corn and Wine, and not for his intrinsecal excellencies. Lycurgus would have Virgins to be married without dowry, because their Husbands should marry them purely for love. We must love God more for what he is, than for what he bestows. True love is not mercenary: You need not hire a Mother to love her child: A soul deeply in love with God needs not be hired by rewards; he cannot but love him for that oriency of beauty that sparkles forth in him.

p. 88 3. It must be a fervent love. The Hebrew word for love אהבא signifies ardency of affection. Saints must be Seraphims, burning in holy love. To love one coldly, is all one as not to love him. The Sun shines as hot as it can. Our love to God must be intense and vehement; like the Coales of Iuniper, which are most acute and fervent, Psal. 120.4. Our love to transitory things must be indifferent; we must love quasi non, as if we loved not, 1 Cor. 7.30⁷⁸. But our love to God must flame forth. The Spouse was amore perculsa, Sick of Love to Christ, Cant. 2.5. We can never love God as he deserves: As Gods punishing us is less than we deserve, Ezra. 9.13. so our loving him is lesse than he deserves.

1. 78. Non jubet Apostolus ut mundana haec abjiciamus, sed ne simus hisce fluxis rebus immersi; tunc enim non possidemus, sed ab illis possidemur. Beza.

4. Love to God must be active; it is like fire, which is the most active element; it is called, The Labour of Love, 1 Thes. 1.3. Love is no idle grace, it sets the head a studying for God, the feet a running in the wayes of his Comandments: The love of Christ constrains, 2 Cor. 5.13. Pretences of love are insufficient. True love is not only seen at the Tongues end, but at the Fingers end; ‘tis the labour of love. Those living creatures, Ezek. 1.8. had wings, and hands under their wings: an Emblem of a good Christian; he hath not only the wings of faith to flie, but hands under his wings he works by love, he spends and is spent for Christ.

p. 89 5. Love is Liberal; it hath Love-tokens to bestow, 1 Cor. 13.4. Charity▪ χρηστεύεται, is kind: Love hath not only a smooth tongue, but a kind heart. Davids heart was fired with love to God, and he would not offer that to God which cost him nothing, 2 Sam. 24.24. Love is not only full of Benevolence, but Beneficence ▪ Love which enlargeth the heart, never straitens the hand. He that loves Christ, will be liberal to his Members; he will be eyes to the blind, feet to the lame; the backs and bellyes of the poor, shall be the furrows where he sows the golden Seeds of liberality. Some say they love God, but their love is lame of one hand, they give nothing to good uses. Indeed faith deals about invisibles, but God hates that love which is invisible: Love is like new Wine which will have vent; it vents it self in good works. The Apostle speaks it in honour of the Corinthians, that they gave to the poor Saints, not only to, but beyond their power, 2 Cor. 8.2▪ Love is bred at Court, it is a Noble Munificent grace.

6. Love to God is peculiar: He who is a Lover of God, gives him such a love, as he bestows upon none else. As God gives his children such a love as he doth not bestow upon the wicked, electing, adopting love; so a gracious heart gives to God such a special distinguishing love, as none else are sharers in▪ p. 90 2 Cor. 11.2. I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chast Virgin to Christ. A Wife espoused to an Husband, gives him such a love as she hath for none else; she doth not part with her conjugal love to any, but her husband: So a Saint espoused to Christ, gives him a peculiarity of love, a love incommunicable to any other, namely, a love joyned with adoration. Not only the love is given to God, but the soul, Cant. 4.8. A garden enclosed, is my Sister, my Spouse. The heart of a Believer is Christs Garden, the Flower growing in it, is love mixed with Divine Worship, and this Flower is for Christ alone to smell to; the Spouse keeps the Key of the Garden, that none may come there but Christ.

7. Love to God is permanent; it is like the fire the Vestal Virgins kept in Rome, it doth not go out; true love boyls over, but doth not give over. Love to God, as it is sincere without hypocrisie, so it is constant without apostacy. Love is like the Pulse of the body, alwayes beating; ‘tis not a Land-floud, but a Spring. As wicked men are constant in love to their sins; neither shame, nor sickness, nor fear of Hell, will make them give over their sins: so nothing can hinder a Christians love to God: Nothing can conquer love, not any difficulties, or oppositions, Cant. 8.6. p. 91 Love is strong as the Grave. The Grave swallows up the strongest bodies; so Love swallows up the strongest difficulties, Cant. 8.7. Many waters cannot quench love: Neither the sweet waters of pleasure, nor the bitter waters of persecution: love to God abides firm to the death, Ephes. 3.17. Being rooted and grounded in love. Eight things, as Chaffe and Feathers, are quickly blown away; but a tree that is rooted, abides the storm; he that is rooted in love endures: True love never ends but with the life.

5. The Degrees of love. We must love God above all other objects⁷⁹. Psal. 73.25. There is nothing on earth I desire in comparison of thee. God is the quintessence of all good things, he is superlatively good; now the soul seeing a super-eminency in God, and admiring in him that constellation of all excellencies, is carried out in love to him in the highest degree. The measure of our love to God, saith Bernard, must be to love him without measure⁸⁰. God who is the chief of our happinesse, must have the chief of our affections, Cant. 8.2. I would cause thee to drink of my spiced Wine, of the juice of my Pomgranate. If the Spouse hath any love better than other, a Cup more juicy and spiced, Christ shall drink, of that. The creature may have the Milk of our love, but God must have the Cream. Love p. 92 to God must be above all other things, as the Oyl swims above the Water.

1. 79. Minus Domine te amat, qui aliquid tecum amat. Austin.
2. 80. Modus diligandi Deum, est diligere Deum sine modo. Bern.

1. We must love God more than Relations: As in case of Abraham’s offering up Isaac; Isaac being the son of his old age, no question he loved him entirely, and doated on him; but when God saith, Abraham offer up thy son; though it were a thing might seem, not only to pose his Reason, but his Faith, for the Messiah was to come of Isaac, and if he be cut off, where shall the world have a Mediator? yet such was the strength of Abraham’s faith, and the ardency of his love to God, that he will take the sacrificing Knife, and let out Isaac’s blood. Our blessed Saviour tells us of hating Father and Mother, Luk. 14.26. Christ would not have us unnatural; but if our dearest Relations lye in our way, and would hinder us from Christ, either we must step over them, or tread upon them, Deut. 33.9. Though some few drops of love may run beside to our Kindred and Alliance, yet the full torrent must run out after Christ; Relations may lye in the bosome, but Christ must lye in the heart.

2. We must love God more than Estate. Heb. 10.34. Ye took joyfully the spoyling of your goods. They were glad they had any thing to lose for Christ. If the world be laid in one Scale, and Christ in the other, he must weigh heaviest. And is it thus? Hath God the highest p. 93 room in our affections? Plutarch saith, When a Dictator was created in Rome, all other Authority was for the time suspended: So when the love of God bears sway in the heart, all other love is suspended, and is as nothing in comparison of this love.