Miscellanea spiritualia: or, Devout essaies: composed by the Honourable Walter Montagu Esq.

§. III.

Filiall love described, and some strong incentives presented to kindle it in us.

NOw then (as the Apostle saith,) Let us leave these be∣ginnings and rudiments of the doctrine of Christ, and * 1.1 covet earnestly the best gifts, and I will shew unto you a * 1.2 more excellent way; by as much as the matter of the altar of perfumes was more precious then that of Holocausts, let us then leave fouling our hands with this brasse of mercenary love, and fall a telling out this gold of Filiall dilection.

Filiall love is an adherence of our hearts to God, under this * 1.3 mixt notion, principally of his own being, and secondarily of our relation to him: So as this may be said to be a repercussi∣on of his own light upon him, as simply as our compounded nature can reflect it, the light of Gods countenance impressed upon us, being by this love reverberated upon the divine na∣ture, From the eyes of the hand-maid, fixed upon the eye of her mistresse, more in order to the duty of her nature, then in pri∣vate affection to her selfe▪ So that this kind of love seemeth to be in the regeneration of man in the age of reason, what the soul is in his first generation, to wit, the first principle of life: For our devotion is but as it were an Embrion before it re∣ceive this animation, which is induced by an infusion, even of that love, wherewith God loveth himselfe, since it is the holy Spirit diffused in our hearts, that quickneth and infor∣meth them by this kind of love: This is then the onely sort of affection worthy of God, whereby we returne him that part of the divine nature, we partake by his communication, while we seem thus to remit the holy-Ghost back to him out of our hearts, loving God with the same affection, we derive from this residence in our soules.

Methinks the dignity and present delight of this noble love (though it were an unthrift anticipation in this our minority, and were to be discounted to us out of our future estate of loving) might tempt a soule to take up for her present joy and satisfaction, the suavity and blessednesse of this excellent love: how much the rather ought we then aspire to this de∣grees of loving, when the estate of our reversion is reproved proportionately to the degrees of this our anticipation? This may well be the Method of such a father, whose portions to his heires, are the injoying himselfe; no wonder then, that the desire to preoccupate this state, should augment the childrens inheritance: For the Father (who is infinite love,) must needs be largest to them who have advanced to themselves the most of Filiall love: and the reason is, that this Celestiall Father can reward nothing but his own gifts, assigning alwayes se∣cond benefits, by the measures of his first liberality: and thus the more he hath inriched us with this love, the more he remu∣nerateth the possession of it; so that mercenary love when it is understood, will be found to damnifie it selfe, by this projected aeconomy of selfe-provision: for in this commerce, all pri∣vate reference imbaseth so much the species wherewith we negotiate, as it falles in value, just as much as it riseth in quantity.

When we reflect upon the state of humane nature, we may collect easily, how much God desireth this correspondence of Filiall love, since even from the forfeiture of all our filiall dignity, he tooke the rise of a nearer and firmer alliance of our nature unto his, and fastned it so to this filial constitution, as he took it out of mans own power, ever to divide or sever it againe from this relation; for even the sinne of man can ne∣ver divorce our humanity now from this filiall state, since the naturall Sonne of God, will now no more cease to be man, then to be God, so inseparably is our nature now fixed in this filiall reference; for though individuals may by want of Filial love to the divine nature) separate themselves from a blessed participation thereof in eternity, yet our nature can never fall

from this divine conjunction, but shall remaine elevated above that of Cherubims and Seraphins to all eternity.

O who can contemplate this, and consent to love God, lesse nobly then our present nature will admit, considering we have even the noblenesse of our nature, now set out to us as an ob∣ject of our love! for as it is in Jesus Christ, we cannot over∣love our own humanity: and since God hath done as much as was possible for him in honour of our nature, shall man be content to love this God, lesse then is possible for his consti∣tution? nay there are grave Divines, who indeare this obligati∣on upon our humanity by this supposition, that God lost the love of much nobler creatures, by his preference of mans na∣ture before theirs; and if the supreamest of all creatures, thought this as a partiality to an unworthy subject, a provo∣cation to leave loving of God; shall not this prefer'd creature derive from hence a powerfull motive to raise and purifie his love, in respect of this so obliged proposure; whereof the A∣postle glorieth, and insisteth much upon the prelation of the seed of Abraham, before the nature of Angels, as one of the strongest inducements, to ••nterest our hearts in this filial affe∣ction.

And since God hath prefer'd the nature of man, before that of Angels, not onely in point of honour, but likewise in the part of succour; why may we not suppose he valueth more the love of men, then that of Angels? this conception may safely be made use of, to incite us to the studying the abstraction and spiritualizing our loves, to the purest degree of our com∣pound nature; in which (the very disadvantage we have more then pure spirits in the devesture of self-respects) may be con∣verted into a conducement to the value of our purity, by rea∣son the opposition of our bodyes in this disinterested love, is counted to us an indearement of our hearts, when in this re∣luctancy of one halfe, we reduce our love to that decree of implicity which is compatible with this our complexure; and as Saint Jerome saith of the chastity of virgins composed with that of Angels, There is more felicity in the one, but more

fortitude in the other: So we may say respectively of their two loves, that there is more happynesse in the one, but more He∣roicknesse in the other.

What Angelicall love exceedeth in the finenesse of abstra∣ction, humane may answer in the fidelity of extraction, since his is laboured and formed out of repugnant matter; for man must overcome, what Angels have not to resist, many mate∣riall adherencies incorporate in his senses, insomuch as the sonnes of men for the purifying their affections, must (as it were) cease to be themselves, and these spirituall substances for the simplifying of their loves, need but rest and remaine themselves.

Wherefore in this ods of natures, in this act of loving, the difficulty on mans part passeth as an allowance of some dis∣parity in point of finenesse and separatenesse; and taking our loves with this allowance, they may be thought as currant with God, as those abstracted affections facilitated by a more simple nature▪ so that when man sigheth, (as the Apostle saith) as burthened with inviscerate interests, longing to put on this pure spirituall vesture of Filiall love, this kind of heavinesse of spirit, may be said to make his love weight in heaven; and in∣deed the easiest way to lighten this kind of burthen of selfe-respect, is to sigh it away by degrees; for nothing looseneth and bloweth off more this dust about our hearts, then these breathings and aspirations of the soule in a resentment of those impure mixtures, the body infuseth into her love to God; so that we are, as I may say, allowed what our nature aboundeth the most in, which is sorrow, to make up that wherein our love is the most defective, which is simplicity and immixture; since a pure and sincere sorrow, for the mix∣ture and impurity of our affections to this indulgent Father, is accepted as a compensation for the defect of pure and Filial love.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Hebr. 8.
• * 1.2

  Corinth. 12.
• * 1.3

  Filial love defined.