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

The fourteenth Treatise. The Test and Ballance of Filiall and Mer∣cenary Love. In five Sections. (Book 14)

§. I.

Of the value of Love, and Gods tolerating some mixture of selfe-respects in it.

WHen Esdras had cleared to the seduced people, that the Law of God could not dispense with * 1.1 their retaining of such strange women of the Land as lay in their bosomes, they pleaded for some time to make this painfull divorce, saying, It was not the worke of a day or two: So methinks, many who are convinced in this point, of the prohibition of this alien and strange conjunction of our Love, which is the child of God; with vain passion, the daugh∣ter of the earth, pretend that by degrees they will sever this im∣purity from their loves, because it requireth some time, and much grace to make this division.

I confesse, it is not the worke of a few good motions or re∣morses, it asketh as it were a melting and liquefaction of our hearts, to separate this drosse from the pure substance of love; but we are so much furthered towards this operation, as the fire we must worke it in costeth nothing but the asking: It is that which the Spouse saith, are coales of fire, and have a vehe∣ment flame, and hath a speciall vertue to purge and calcine our * 1.2 affections; according to the Prophets advice, of separating the pure from the impure: and we may confidently call for this fire downe from heaven, by the Spirit of our master to consume

these his enemies, the concupiscence of the eye, and the concupi∣scence of the flesh, that are the opposers of this purgation, and re∣finement of our hearts which he demandeth of us, as silver se∣ven times tryed.

Reflecting upon the exactnes of this receiver of hearts, if we resolve to trade with our loves for the Kingdome of heaven, we must examine sincerely what temper of purity is currant with God; for as passion doth both lighten and vitiate them in one kind, so is there another sort of drossines in our na∣ture, which doth often too much imbase our love, by an over∣allay of selfe respect, that rendereth it too mercenary, and of too low a value: it is very requisite then to be rightly enformed of the Standard by whose purity all our love, that passeth for the purchase of the Kingdom of heaven, must be tryed & tested.

In our contract for heaven, there is a strange singularity, since both the paiment and the purchase, are one and the same thing; differing only in degrees of intension and purification; for infirme and imperfect love is our price, and love perfected and consummate is our possession; namely, God who is love is all; & * 1.3 as love is the best thing even in heaven as well as in earth, it is consonantly appointed for the chiefe commerce between them: wherefore God asketh but the heart of man even for all him∣self, & knowing that the heart in the most entire transaction of it selfe in this life, can remit but imperfect and defective love: we must examine severely what rates of imperfectnes God ad∣mitteth in our affections; for in favour of our poverty, he ac∣cepteth some part of our payment, in that which is, as I may say, the base money of our nature, mercenary love, which he alloweth for the conveniency of our indigent and decayed estate.

Methinks by this allusion we may appositely explain what degree of allowablenes mercenary love may be accepted at; for as base money is a meanes of commerce between the rich and the poore, and is not commonly allowed in payments, above some low summe: so God in condescendence to the poverty and incommodity of our nature permitteth mercenary love in

some proportion to be currant, between his plenty and our penury, but will not accept our totall discharge in it, we may have some selfe-respect in our affections to God, that may re∣present to us our rewards, as a beneficiall traffique and corre∣spondence; but if we assigne all our love too partially to the in∣terest of our private blessings, we are in danger of losing hea∣ven, by trading only for it; by reason this kind of love seemeth to treat with God only, as he is in heaven, not to affect hea∣ven as it is in God; and so we may faile of both, by this mis∣placing of them in our desire; they who seeke God first, are sure to find heaven with him, but they who looke at heaven on∣ly, are not so sure to find God: for in this Court the very aspi∣ring to the Kings favour is the acquiring it; and we know the having grace and credit is a better security for the making of benefit, then the affecting of gaine, is an addresse to the attain∣ing of favour.

This considered, we must be advised, not to reckon too much upon this baser species of mercenary love, for though it be admitted for some part of our account, it will not be accep∣ted for the whole summe of our purchase, it must be the gold tryed in fire which the Angell adviseth us to provide, that must * 1.4 make the greatest part of the price of that precious Pearle for which we traffique: and this is filiall love, even as pure as wee can refine it, in this our ••ordid constitution: Wherefore I con∣ceive it will be expedient to lay out some pieces of both these loves, that those who desire to discerne their differences, may have some facility to weigh their own dispositions by these portions of either of them exhibited as just measures, whereby they may judge their due proportions.

§. II.

Mercenary Love defined, and the relying much on it disswaded.

MErcenary Love, is that which affecteth God chiefly, in order to our own remuneration, and so seemes to looke up to heaven, rather as on a mirrour of reflexi∣on, then as on the essentiall splendor of Gods presence, where∣by this aspect on God seemes more referred to the sight of * 1.5 our selves in him, then to the seeing of him in himselfe: this kind of love then savoureth much more of the minds immer∣sion in our senses, then of the spirituall nature of the soule, which by her own instinct pointeth back to heaven, in order to a free returne to God from whom she issued, rather then that she is drawn thither by a reflexion on her selfe: and the more the soule is abstracted from selfe-respects, the more genuine and kindly return she maketh of love; which free and ingenuous re∣aspiring to her own repatriation, we terme filiall love, which is to love God more fervently, for what he is to us by his own nature, then for what we are promised to be by his grace, which is a due to God, who as he is a father to us, in so admirable a kind, as his love to us, not his delight, as in other fathers, is the occasion of our being; so his being, rather then his blessings ought to be the object of our love.

But in our degenerated nature, mercenary love seemeth to be the Elder Brother, yet as it is the sonne of the Bond-woman, so is it not the heire of the blessing; though God doth heare the voice of this Ishmael, and assignes some allowance to it, yet he settleth not the Covenant upon it: Filiall Love is our Isaac, the issue of a free ingenuous Soule, the spouse of God, and of that stock, Christ, as the Apostle saith, is born in our hearts, and the chiefe blessings of christianity are entailed upon this seed of the Holy Ghost, Filiall Love.

Notwithstanding we must acknowledge this Ishmael of mer∣cenary love to be a legitimate issue, though of a servile mother▪ for King David himselfe owneth the Linage of it, saying, I en∣clined my heart to performe thy statutes for reward: So as I do * 1.6 not censure the matter, but advise the regulation of the mea∣sure of it: For it may be said to be of the nature of Dwarfes, which are an imperfection, not a perversion of nature; and so like them, the lesse it groweth, the better it remaineth, the little∣nesse of it making some amends for the infirmity: And we may say aptly, that this kind of love, is permitted us for the hardnes of our hearts; for from the beginning it was not so, since we know God made the soule to reflect backe upon himself, direct∣ly, as a Beame emitted from his own goodnes; and so it was to revert upon him, in as direct a line, as Rayes are reverberated upon the substance from whence they issue: But we know who changed this course of the soule of man, and taught her this flexuous serpentine motion of selfe-love in which she seemeth now to revert to God: For selfe-love moveth in a posture of indirectnesse and retor••••on, winding and looking backe upon selfe-respects: yet Gods indulgence is such, as he tolerateth this infirme, crooked regresse of the soule, when by the succour of grace, the heart is sollicitous to rectify and straighten the course of our loves reflux, bending as little as we can in the obliquity of our nature towards private references, and addressing the major part of our wishes in heaven, to the glory of God.

When our hearts do sincerely aime and point at this straight filiall love, God, like a tender father, doth rather compassionate then reproach the wrinesse and indirectness of our paces, in this feeblenes of our feet, when our hearts are set straight in this way of our loving him, as we see fathers deale with little children, which they call to them when they beginne to try to go alone, when they see them crosse their feet, and reele forward in their weake faltering motions, sometimes falling by the way, they. do rather cherish them then chide them for this imbecility: so God, when he seeth the heart straining forward, with the best of our powers, towards a simple immediate love of him,

doth not discourage this infirme staggering of our nature, be∣tween mercenary and filiall love; and in conformity to this his Method with his children, God saith by the Prophet, I have taught Ephraim to go, and taken them by their armes, and then * 1.7 in condescendence to our degenerous and ignoble nature, he advanceth further, and saith, I drew them with the cords of A∣dam, with bands of love: that is, God presenteth us with such at∣tractives, as affect most our interested constitutions, which are the objects of remuneration, and private salary; and of these threads, (made of the fleece as it were, of our own nature) he vouchsafeth to frame cords to draw us, and fasten us to the love of him, but we must not take this mercifull indulgence given to our defectuosities, as a dispensation for the sordidnes of our loves, but rather in a holy effect and contention of gra∣titude, strain to love God the more purely, and irrespectively to our selves, in regard of the transcendent benignity of this dispensation.

This supposed, we ought to consider mercenary love under the same notion, as Saint Paul exhibits to us the Law of Mo∣ses, as a Preceptor or Tutor to us in the childhood of our love, to lead it by degrees to filiall love, which is the full age of our affections: For indeed while our love is in this first infancy * 1.8 our minds may be well said to be in bondage under the ele∣ments of the world, rather serving upon a servile contract, then acting as heires of the Promise; which dignity a Christian evi∣denceth only by filiall Love: indeed the other sort is rather le∣gall then evangelicall, and alone bringeth nothing to perfe∣ction.

§. 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 * 1.9 covet earnestly the best gifts, and I will shew unto you a * 1.10 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 * 1.11 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.

§. IV.

Motives to Filiall love, drawn from our seve∣rall relations to God, as also from the digni∣ty and advantages of this sort of love.

LEt us observe a little under what affecting notions the divine Trinity vouchsafeth to exhibit it selfe to the love of man, the first person under that of a father, the se∣cond of a brother, the third of a comforter or a friend; so that the love of man may be said to be an act wherein they have all one indentity, while they are distinguished into these three obliging relations, issuing out of the unity of love; thus the dei∣ty seemeth to draw it selfe out into these several lines of bene∣volence, to take in all the wayes and avenues to our love, since there is no inclination that is not suted and matched by the••e agreeable correspondencies, if our affections do not so easily ascend to the relation of a father, we have that of a bro∣ther, which is level and even with the current of our naturall love, and if it seem to runne too stilly and slow in this chan∣nell, we have the respect of a friend and comforter to turn it into, in which our affections may be said to runne downward in respect of their pleasant current, and so to have the quicker motion: thus hath the divine charity fitted all the sympathies of our rationall nature, with competent and attractive mo∣tives to ingage our loves unto it selfe.

Doth not then this Method prove what God saith by the Prophet, What could I do that I have not done for this generation? shall man then leave any thing undone, that his love may re∣tribute?

When the Prophet aslae••h in admiration of Gods conde∣scendence, What is man that thou art thus mindful of him? may we not answer, that though man was nothing but by Gods

minding him, yet now by that act of bounty, he is become sonne, brother, and friend to God: Then may we not ask now with greater wonder, What is man, that he can be unmind∣full of God? and attend to the loving himselfe who is nothing, thereby deducting from his love to God, who offered him yet more for his affection, the becoming even like himselfe, for but loving him all he can, and specially when selfe-love which opposeth this integrity, reduceth him to worse then nothing; surely no body can seriously ponder this state and obligation of man, and not cry out with the Prodigall, if he have hitherto mispent and dissipated his love, Father I am unworthy to look upon thee in this relation, and if he have not been such an unthrift, neverthelesse if he find much mercenary drosse stick∣ing upon his love, let him humble himselfe with the unset∣led father, in the Gospel, confessing, Lord I love thee, but im∣purely, and do thou purge the impurity of my love, and love that calleth in for this succour, groweth strong enough by this displicence of his weaknesse.

This indulgent dispension with our defective love, floweth from that gratious relation of friends to the Son of God: which dignity seemeth so firmly instated in our nature, as the conferrer of it did not degrade, even Judas, after the forfei∣ture * 1.12 thereof, he was received with the title of friend, when he came to renounce all his rights to that concession, it seemeth he was yet in a capacity of being restored, if he would but have pleaded by love and sorrow for his restauration, he might have sold God, and yet have injoyed him, if he would but have loved him after he had sold him; had he instead of casting the price of his dispaire, into the materiall temple, brought but back his faith and his love to the living temple, casting himselfe forward at his feet, as a counterfall to reco∣ver his falling backward when he fell from them, had he then with penitent kisses repai'd unto Christs feet, besought the ta∣king off that perfidious impudence which stuck upon his lips, we may well believe Christ would have received him in this returne, with Friend thou art welcome, comming with these

kisses to signe the Sonne of man's being the Sonne of God, and it is very probable he would then have equalized the good theef.

O what cannot love obtaine of him who loved us so much, as he seemed not to love himselfe in the expres∣sion of it? Let us then copy this love, as well as our dispro∣portions allow us, and aspire to such a dilection of him, as may seeme a desertion, and even an exinanition of our selves, which were as the Apostle saith, the degrees of his love to us; * 1.13 and in this our imitation of his love, we have a strange ad∣vantage of him; for he was faine to take upon him the forme of a servant, to expresse his excessive charity, and we put on a divine similitude in this our exhibition of pure disinterested love to him; for we manifest our partaking of the divine na∣ture in this denudation of our own, when our love is refined and purged from mercenary respects.

And when we penetrate into the divine nature, we perceive that we are so farre from losing any thing by this self-post-po∣sure, as we lose even no time in point of our remuneration: For there is no interim between our loves looking on God for himselfe, and the seeing our interests in God, since in the same instant, our loves look directly upward upon this mirour of the Deity, it reflecteth to us our own blessednesse, and the lesse we looked for our selves, the more we then see of them, re∣splendent in that clarity.

This Celestiall mirrour, maketh a reflection much differing from all materiall ones, for it doth not send back to us the same image we set before it, but a farre better then we had any capacity to expose unto it: for when our love looketh up∣on God, refer'd simply to his own essentiall purity: This sort of mirrour returneth to us not so much the image of our loves to God, as the representation of Gods love to us, by reason we see then God loving us, in this our intuition of his good∣nesse: which reflection sheweth us a better character of this manner of our love, then we could have prefigured to our selves; and when we behold our selves in that image of Gods

loving us, we cannot overvalue our selves under that notion, so that this is a blessed and a safe course, joyntly to please God, and humour our own nature in a selfe-complacency.

Thus have I endeavoured to figure these two loves, and I have set them both in the tabernacle, but in unequall ranks of dignity, the one without, among the utentsils of brasse, the other within the vail, among the instruments of gold: so as the most ignoble of these two species, is allowed in the ser∣vice of religion in some degree, but is not accepted single, as sufficient for our religious oblation: For God tollerateth no longer the infirmity of that love, whereof we our selves dis∣pence with the insufficiency, so that the relying upon mercena∣ry love, may decry it, while our disclaiming the meannesse of it, may hold it up current with him, to whom King David pay∣ing the purest species, said, Thou art my God, and standest i•• no need of my goods. * 1.14

§. V.

Advises in order to the preserving this sort of Love and fraternall dilection, represented as a gracious rule whereby to judge of our recti∣tude in filiall love.

THese two loves being thus set by one another, (where∣of I have not only drawn the several complexions, but delivered the diverse constitutions,) there is little doubt which of them will be preferred, but much, which will be rightly pursued, for our degenerated nature is apt to be∣lieve that the verball preferring of Filiall love, is the having it: and certainly, many who have been neare it, have missed of it, by concluding they had attained it; and many have lost it, by conceiving it might be kept, and left loose without much at∣tendance, whereas they should remember that it is not the Spring of our fallen nature, that of it selfe riseth to that point from whence it fell; it is the force of grace which can only

raise and re-mount it to this elevation; and our spirits must continually attend this operation of Grace, to force up this pure affection against the risings of our sensitive appetites, which make steepe oppositions to this reflux; insomuch as if this worke be not assiduously intended, our affections quickly sinke into the channell of our earthy nature, which is interested and mercenary love.

They who pretend to keepe their hearts exalted, as the Pro∣phet saith, above the altitudes of the earth, in this purer ele∣ment of filiall love, must watch it continually, when they hope they have it, and still pray for it as if they feared they had it not: and there is no so ill sign of our having any of it, as our presuming we have enough of it; as Saint Augustine saith of the knowledge of God, that he who hath speculated his nature never so long, when he commeth to think he hath found a compleat definition of God, may be then said to understand the least of him: So may I say of Filiall love, they who have been never so long filling their heatrs with it, when they pre∣sume they are full enough, are then the most devoyded of it: It is in our love, (referring to the immensity of God) as in numbers relating to infinity, wherein any summe never so great, when it is once cast up and stai'd in any total, may be said to be further from infinity then a much lesser number, which is still running on without any determined period: So any degree of love to our Creator, being once voluntarily bounded and circumscribed, is farther off from our intermi∣nate duty of loving, then an affection never so much behind, that is still advancing without a purpose of terme or limi∣tation.

This then may be an infallible note of the deficiency of our love, when in any straine of interior fervor, we conclude we may stay our loves at such a pitch, and make plaines upon it, never aiming at a higher flight, and this may be a secure rest for such hearts, as are yet never so infirme in their loves, that as long as they pursue sincerely the premotion and advance of them, loving all they can, and resolving never to love lesse

then all, they can improve their loves by any solicitude, they may believe they love enough, for nothing reacheth nearer Gods actuall infinity, then this (as I may say) optative infi∣nity in the soul of man, which though she can never reach the other infinite existence, yet hath a possibility of never staying or limitting her motions towards it: This consideration drew from Saint Bernard this elegant indearement of the capacity of love, in these words to God, O otherwise incomprehensible Majesty to a soul loving thee! thou seemest comprehensible, for though the conception of no soul or Spirit can comprehend thee, yet the love of a true lover of thee, comprehendeth all thou art, when he loveth all thy being, how great soever it be.

What greater incentive can we wish for the purifying our love, then to conceive that capacity to be granted to our love on earth, which is denyed to our understanding even in hea∣ven, to wit, the full comprehension of God? but there is no love unlesse perfect filiall, that can beare this so large ascripti∣on: For our mercenary affection may be said to look upon divinity but as an object angular, onely as it pointeth unto our selves, and doth not spread out souls upon the spherical and circular form of the divine goodnesse, as it is it selfe, im∣bracing all forms and beings, which latitude and expansion▪ is peculiar unto Filiall love, as an operation of that all-compri∣sing charity, diffused in our hearts by the holy-Ghost: For all * 1.15 our love to God is inspired by himself, as the light inlightning, maketh the light that is illuminated.

God hath provided so kindly against our mistaking of our way to this excellent love, as he hath set us a sensible mark to guide us by, which is fraternall love, which we have as a kind of visible object, whereby to direct our course; so that if our love lose sight of this mark, we may be sure it is out of the way to filiall affection, for the beloved Apostle (in pursuit of his * 1.16 Masters specifical difference given to know his disciples from others, which was the loving of one another) giveth him the lie, that is so bold as to say he loveth God, when he hateth his brother: And sure it is a speciall mercy, the. laying for us

these sensible steps of sociable dilection, whereon we may feel our hearts rising up to that imperceptible object of the Deity, that by loving what we do sie, we may direct the course of our love to what we do not see, if we wanted this land-mark, (where∣of the Pharisees took down the upper halfe, when they shor∣tened the precept of loving our neighbour, to the length onely of reciprocall friendship) our love would be much more expo∣sed to deviation, in the course to heaven; For we know it is much easier to keep our way at land, where we have diverse sensible marks for our guidance, and information of our ad∣vance, then at sea, where we keep our course by accounts of art, and little visible directions; and our love to our brothers, seemeth to be a passage of our minds by land, since in that mo∣tion, in our own element, we have many marks and signes of the rectitude of our love; whereas the elevation of our loves to the invisible being of God, seemeth to be a course at sea, wherein we are conducted onely by spirituall and abstracted notions.

We may therefore account our selves much favoured by ha∣ving fraternal love as a sign & secure token of our loves being in a straight and rectified addresse to God, and the bosome-dis∣ciple of Christ fixeth this, as the pole by which our love may safely set his course to our Celestiall Father, affirming that He * 1.17 who loveth his brother, abideth in light, and in him there is no scandale; this is grounded on his Masters assertion, that the se∣cond precept of loving our brother, was like the first of loving God; and these two loves may (me thinks) be said to be diffe∣rent: but as the Divines say, Gods attributes are distinct from his Essence, not really in their own nature, though they are se∣vered by distinct conceptions in our understandings, to wit of Gods wisdome, goodnes, justice, &c: we form conceptions di∣stinct from his essence, which are all really the same thing with it: In like manner we frame diverse notions of this charity, as it is divided into these distinct exercises, which is really the same, & is distinguished onely by our understanding, according to these several respects towards God and our brother; for it is

the same inspired love that streameth it selfe into these diverse acts or operations: Let us then blesse God for this precept of Fraternall love given us as a visible pillar of fire, which while we have in our eye, we may be confident of being in our way, to the term of Filiall love consummate in the sight of our Fa∣ther, who is as yet visible but in his images; wherefore let us attend unto this duty, as to a light shining in this our dark place, * 1.18 untill the day-star of Filiall love rise in our hearts.

Thus have I set before you Christian Charity in the forme of Jacobs ladder, on which our love must ascend to him who rests upon the top of it, and in this similitude mercenary love seem∣eth to answer well to the lower rounds neerest the earth, on which our infirme nature is allowed to set her first steps, and so to rise by degrees to the uppermost marches which touch hea∣ven, to the which none reacheth but filiall love, and our fra∣ternall charities seeme to be the side-pieces which combine and compaginate the whole frame; so that these three concur∣rencies do compleat the meanes of our soules re-ascent to her Creator: And since Christian grace is derived from the filiall relation in the Deity, Filiall love in this state of our adoption must needs be the pillar & strength of Christianity, which like the pillars of the holiest part of the Tabernacle hath the head cast of gold, and the fact of silver, that is, it containeth not onely the purity and preciousnes of speculative love, but the pliant∣nes and commerce of practicall charity, whereby the feet in action, hold a proportionate value to the head in speculation; thus by the intelligence of speculative, and the industry of act∣ing charity, our souls are safely re-conveyed into our Fathers bosome, where the portion of every child is no lesse then the becomming like the Lord of all, our elder brother Christ Jesus, whose Filial love hath purchased this co-inheritance for us, up∣on this condition onely on our part, of loving our father and his, with an affection copied after his; and the liker we draw this image, the more we shall resemble him when we shall be∣come like him by once looking on him; let every one then that * 1.19 hopeth this, sanctifie his love, as his is sanctified.

Notes

• * 1.1

  1 Esd. 10. 12.
• * 1.2

  Cant. 8. 6.
• * 1.3

  1 Ep. Joh. 4. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• * 1.4

  Rev. 3. 18.
• * 1.5

  Mercenary love desined.
• * 1.6

  Psal. 118.
• * 1.7

  Hosea 11.
• * 1.8

  Gal. 3. 24.
• * 1.9

  Hebr. 8.
• * 1.10

  Corinth. 12.
• * 1.11

  Filial love defined.
• * 1.12

  Matt. 26. 50.
• * 1.13

  Phil. 2. 7.
• * 1.14

  Psal.
• * 1.15

  Rom. 5.
• * 1.16

  1 Ep. Iohn, 4. 10.
• * 1.17

  1 Ep. Iohn, 2. 10. Mat. 22. 39.
• * 1.18

  2 Pet. 1. 12.
• * 1.19

  1 Epi. Iohn. 3. 3.