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

§. I.

Treating the admirable meanes God chose for this worke, and the rehabilitation resulting to man from this proceeding of God.

HAving seene the figure of man made much liker the image of him, who said, he would raise himselfe and become like God, then like God himselfe who made man after his own image, what meanes is there left to restore that, which all the subtilty of the supreamest Angel had much adoe to disfigure, when ruine is so much easier then repa∣ration?

If Lucifer himselfe had applyed all his abilities to have given man satisfaction, he could hardly have excogitated such a meanes of mans redintegration; for it may be disputed whe∣ther it had not been a higher pitch of disrespect to have desig∣ned God, to have put on this wretched nature of man, then it was to project for his own Angelicall nature, an independency on the divine.

So here the spirits of men and Angels are confounded, when they consider both these natures of God and man, first a∣part in their peculiar properties, and then behold them united in this incomprehensible manner in the person of God: here Saint Austins exclamation is more proper then any inquisition, one Abisse calls on another, the Abisse of misery attracts that of mercy; here is the transcendency of all wonder, that the unworthynesse and demerit of humane nature should prove the

exaltation of it; For now the Church doth not stick to say foelix culpa, proclaiming even the fault to have been happy, that procured such a redemption and a melioration.

Lord what was man, that thou should'st be thus mindfull of him, who had nothing left to move thee, but his being be∣come worse then nothing! did this invite thee to shew thy selfe more God in his refection, then in his creation, wherein his nullity had thus much towards his being, viz. no actuall op∣position to thee, which his iniquity had, and so his reparation seemed more incapable of thy love, then his nothing was of thy omnipotency in his first production.

In this deplorable state of humane nature, become even Gods enemy, he did not only reconcile, but even subject himself to it, to mediate this reconciliation, he that could not rob God * 1.1 of any thing by his equalizing himselfe to him, seemed to rob God of all his Majesty by this his equality with man, by this strip∣ping and exinanition of himselfe, taking upon him the forme of this disfigured servant; here we may ask with the amaze∣ment of the Apostle, who hath been thy Councellor in this incom∣prehensible designe, which man could not have so much as wished for himselfe? And Saint Paul resolves us, God for that * 1.2 great, love, wherewith he loved us, hath raised up our dead na∣ture, and made it sit in as heavenly a place, as even the person of God.

And indeed, love could only render this act worthy of almighty God, all the other of Gods benefits might be refer∣red to his glory, without any relation to his love, the creation of all out of nothing, might relate to the manifestation of his omnipotency, and the order of his providence and admini∣stration of the world, might be referred to the magnifying of his wisdome, and the exalting his glory by his diverse communications to his creatures; But this exinanition of him∣selfe could not consist with Gods dignity, if it had not flowed from the immensity of his love: So as this act confirmes Saint Johns definition of God, that he is love, for in this testi∣mony * 1.3 God appeares nothing else, all his immensity and

infinity is extant onely in love, since in this act of Gods incar∣nation, even his Omnipotency may be said to be exhausted in obliging man, when there remains neither power in God to do, nor wisdome to excogitate a greater benefit then this self∣donation.

O immense beneficence and excesse of love, which termi∣nates even the divine omnipotency! shall not this then subdue mans infirmity, and appropriate all his desires, to the study of loving this God; who having given man, even all his divinity by his love; shall not man give this divinity all his love? me∣thinks it is now unnaturall, since God is become man by love to him, that man united to this God, should not become all love of this divine Essence.

How can man then finde now so little of God in his nature, as to plead his own infirmity, for not loving God, when by this gift, he is made a consort of the divine nature? as Saint * 1.4 Peter tels him, and thereby inabled to love God by a partici∣pation of the same love, with which God loves himselfe, so that the donation exceeds so much the delinquency, as Saint Au∣stin * 1.5 votes a congratulation to our humane nature, which being assumed by the Son of God, is constituted immortall in hea∣ven, and exalted, so as to sit at the right hand of the Father: who then ought not now to congratulate his nature thus im∣mortalized in Christ, when he may hope to rise to the same immortality by this assumption?

So much strange incomprehensiblenesse followes upon Gods incarnation, as our nature is dignified above what it hath a faculty to conceive, for the soul of man shall not rightly ap∣prehend the honour of this union with our flesh, till she be sever'd her selfe from this connexion: so great is the mysterie of Gods taking flesh and blood upon him, as man must devest his, before he can comprehend it, for we see the more we are immersed in flesh and blood, the lesse we discerne of it, the carnal man is the worse inquisitor into this incarnation, but the benefit and mercy is no lesse then the mysterie, for Gods in∣carnation inableth man for his owne decarnation, as I may say

and devesture of his carnality, and by imitation of this divin•• man Christ Jesus, shewes him how to weare his flesh in s〈…〉〈…〉 proportion, as Christ wore his, namely, as a garment that did not defile what it cover'd;

Who then will chuse to cleave to our nature in the impure∣nesse of her owne carnality, and bewaile that infelicity, for an extenuation of her foulnesse, rather then recur to this capacity which is imparted by the two natures of Christ unto ours, viz▪ to refine her selfe to so much cleannesse and spirituality, as Saint Paul doth not feare to exalt our spirits to an identity * 1.6 with Gods; he doth not wonder at any thing in consequence of this first gift of God himselfe given to our nature, for he concludes, that he, who did not think his owne Son too much, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? * 1.7

Insomuch as we may justly now say with S. Paul, Therefore O man thou art inexcusable when thou judgest thy nature, as inca∣pable * 1.8 of victory over her infirmity, for there is no such predo∣minant malignity in her, as thy enemy would insinuate the belief of; the worst part of thy weaknesse is this querilous diffidence, for in that ill feature thou shalt finde no similitude in the person of Christ in all thy trials and temptations; thou mayest finde some resemblance in his figure, even in the anguish and attristation of thy spirit, but none in the yeelding and surrender of thy confidence, for he felt our infirmities that we might not faint under them, so that the similitude of his temp∣tation * 1.9 is the succour and security of our defence in all our tryalls.

They then who in the pressures of their frailties, shal fainting∣ly say, who shal shew us any good? have their answer following in * 1.10 the next words, the light of thy countenance is sealed & impressed upon us; for now the light of Christs divinity is not only shining on our nature, but even in it, as being now the orbe of the sun of righteousnes, insomuch as the eyes of God may be said, not onely to be upon us now in all our conflicts, but likewise to be concerned in our contentions as members of that head, whose eyes are his; and consequently they do not only animate us, but

act and second us, insomuch as the Apostle S. Paul chuseth his infirmities only to glory in, to magnifie the triumph of Christ.

Wherefore they, who behold the splendor of Christs divi∣nity now shining in our nature, need not lament the destructi∣on of the first Temple, when they contemplate this re-••dificati∣on of this second Sanctuary, but may confesse with one of Gods * 1.11 witnesses, that the glory of this latter House is greater then that of the former, for our nature is more dignified in the person of Christ, then it could be depressed by the fault of Adam, since, not only the holy Angels adore now humane nature in the person of Christ, but the very revolted spirits are punished even by the consequences of their malice to it, for the bruised heele stands now trampling upon their subjected heads; and it is not only in the glorious person of Christ, that our nature triumpheth over * 1.12 her enemy, but even in many other persons, mortall and char∣ged with her infirmities, (which make the weight of the shame the heavyer) she treades victoriously upon the Basalisk, vilify∣ing all the malicious powers and principalities, who are the governours of the darknesse of the world. Such honour have many of Christs members, even in this life, being inabled to walk in it, and yet not war after the flesh, having such spirituall weapons, as cast downe all imaginations, that rise up in defence of their own impotency, and suggest their incapacity of subduing their enemy.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Phil. 2. 6.
• * 1.2

  Ephe. 2. 6.
• * 1.3

  1 Ep••. John 4.
• * 1.4

  S. Peter 2. Ep. 4
• * 1.5

  Romans 5.
• * 1.6

  1 Cor. 6. 17.
• * 1.7

  Rom. 8. 32.
• * 1.8

  Rom. 2. 1.
• * 1.9

  Heb. 4. 15. Heb. 2. 18.
• * 1.10

  Psal, 4.
• * 1.11

  Esaiah 9. 10. Haggai. 2. 2.
• * 1.12

  Ephe. 1. 22.