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1. COnsidr first, how hauing euidently concluded the obligation and debt of man towards God for all his benefits receiued, it followeth now to seeke out, vvhat it is that Man is bound by the law of gratitude to returne vnto him, in recompence and requit∣all for all; for sure it is, that, whereas an obli∣gation requireth a retribution, at least of grati∣tude, Man being so much obliged & knowing
himselfe to be so, must of necessity haue some∣vvhat vvhere with, in some proportion at least, to satisfie his Creatour; for otherwise, both the obligation vvere void and of none effect; and man vvould liue in continuall anguish, as knowing himselfe most obliged, and yet no vvay able to shew himselfe gratefull. Againe, it is certaine, that vvhat he returneth must be a thing of his owne; and, as vvee say, his proper stock; that is, in his owne free power, disposing and command; otherwise it would not be a free offer; nor acceptable to his Lord: vvhat thing then must this be? it cannot be this outward vvorld, nor any of the creatures in it; for these may by violence be taken & vvrested from him, and so not freely at his disposall; the same may be said of his body & all his members, nay the same of his soule and all her inferiour senses? onely therefore his Liberum arbitrium his free vvill can by no force be taken from him, that is, Ipso inuito, against his vvill subiected to any command; vvhose first act and, as I may say, eldest daughter being Loue, this is the Jewell or Orientall pearle vvhich man may and must offer in gratitude to his God.
Conclude vvith thankes to God, for the find∣ing a Iewell so acceptable vnto him; and begin from henceforth to make the daylie offering of Loue vnto him; but see that it be entire and sin∣cere.
2, Consider secondly the worth and value of Loue in the sight of God, and how vvell he
resteth content and satisfied therewith. First, Loue Perse & sine omni alto, alone vvithout any thing else, is euer pleasing and acceptable; in so much, that noe man, how rich and full soeuer, refuseth to accept and embrace any man's loue that shall be sincerely offered him; nay, what∣soeuer is offered vvithout loue or the appearance thereof, is no vvay gratefull or acceptable to any man. Secondly, the gift of loue is onely free, franke and liberall, and all other gifts are styled so, onely from the loue and good vvill, vvith vvhich they are presented. Thirdly, all those that loue, desire nothing so much as to be loued a∣gaine; nay indeed they desire nothing else; hence they grieue, pine away and die, if they obtaine not that. See then, ô my soule, the singular es∣teeme and desire God hath of thy loue: he is full in himselfe of all blisse, Et bonorum tuorum non egens; and needing none thy goods; yet he is, as it vvere, a petitioner to thee for thy loue; Fili, praebe mihi cer tuum: Sonne, gine me thy hart: and, as one louessick, desiring nothing but to be loued againe of thee; his vvill and pleasure is, that thou imitate him in nothing but in Loue, and vvhat followes from loue; his other attri∣butes he reserueth to himselfe, this one of Loue he will haue common and mutuall: vvith Loue alone he acknowledgeth himselfe fully satisfied for all his benefits: finally to Loue alone he gi∣ueth this priuiledge, to doe vvhat thee pleaseth, Ama, & fac quod vis. Loue and doe vvhat thou vvils.
Conclude vvith great ioy of heart, that thou hast found out so precious a levvell as Loue; so properly thy owne, so acceptable to God, so sa∣tisfoctory for all his benefits: resolue to set all other things aside, and imploy thy selfe wholly in this oblation of Loue.
3. Consider thirdly the qualities and condi∣tions, that this Loue must haue, to be pleasing and acceptable; vvhich may be gathered, first from the Loue that God beares to Man: next from the seruice which the creatures yeeld him. God therefore loueth man aboue all creatures; nay properly speaking, he loueth none but Man; since, for man alone he made all: so must Man loue God aboue all, or rather God alone; for from God alone, and none other, he receiueth and holdeth, vvhat he hath. God hath subiected the obedience and seruice of Creatures to Man alone; so let Man dedicate his vvhole loue and seruice to God alone. Finally God's loue to Man is infinite and continuall; so must Man's loue to God be vvith proportion, Ex tota anima & om∣nibus viribus. VVith thy vvhole soule, and vvith all thy strength. Now for the creatures; as they offer to Man the best they haue; the heauens the best of their influences, the earth the best of her fruits, the beasts, the best and vtmost of their la∣bours and endeauours: so ought Man offer to his God the best and vtmost of his seruice, that is a Loue, pure, actiue and constant. Creatures serue man by day and night, in hot and cold, faire and foule vveather, and that sincerely
vvithout deceir or selfe respect: so must Man loue & serue his God, in vvhat condition soeuer he be, sick or vvell, poore or rich, purely to please and content him.
Conclude to learne and practice this lesson of Loue; learne from God a loue; ardent, liberall, and noble: learne from the creatures, a loue, humble ready and sincere: learne finally from both a loue of one onely, towit of God, vvho euer craueth Amorem integrum, entire loue, vvi∣thout consortship of any.
4. Consider fourthly, how man can haue no excuse not pretext from complying vvith his obligation of Loue: for first the free vvill of man is equall and the same in all; that is, absolutely her selfe aboue all command or power vvhat∣soeuer; shee can neither be forced, nor yet hin∣dred from affecting and louing, vvhat & vvhom ••he pleases; nay shee alwayes is in loue of some thing or other; and vvhy then should not this be of her God onely; vvhom, Ex tustitia & iure naturae, out of iustice, and right of nature. She is bound to loue, and vvho onely is in himselfe vvorthy of her loue? surely noe busines, noe time, noe place can exempt her from louing, she being euer her selfe in all busines, time & place. O my soule, thinke a little on this, & call home at length thy vvandering loue vnto it's proper center. Secondly, in all other occupations either of mind or body, there happeneth paines, la∣bour, toile, and at length tediousnesse and vveri∣somenesse: and for this it is lawfull to admit of
interruptions and vacancies; Neque semper ar∣cum tendit Apollo. Nor doth Apollo allvvayes bend his bovv. But in Loue all happeneth the quite contrary; so farre is Loue from paines, la∣bour and tediousnesse, that her prime and indi∣uisible companions are, ioy, content, liuelines, and infatigablenes: neuer vvas it heard of a true louer wearied or tired out: nay, Loue alone it is that maketh all other difficulties easy; and all paines seeme pleasures, all torments roses: what then, ô Man, can novv excuse thee, but thy ovvne ingratitude and sloth, from louing thy God vvith feruour and perseuerance.
Conclude vvith nevv admiration & gratitude, to see the immense svveetnes & benignity of thy God vvho, hauing obliged man so farre aboue his ability of requitall, yet for all obligeth him to the easiest thing of all, to vvit, Loue, and to no∣thing els: ô for loue or shame, returne him vvhat he desireth.
5. Consider fifthly the surpassing bounty and benignity of our good God: his onely desire is, that man vvould loue him; for this he bestovved on him all that is created; for this he follovveth him, as J may say, day and night; for this he vvooeth him by all meanes imaginable, vvithout ceasing or tiring: and for vvhom all this? Cui bo∣no? for vvhose good? for his ovvne profit or commodity thinke you? ô nothing lesse; he is Ab aeterno from all eternitie enery vvay full, Et non eget nostris; and needeth not any thing of ours: for vvhom then, but for man•• alone? so that
this very loue, so much sued for by God, re∣doundeth vvholly and solely to the profit, ho∣nour and commodity of the same Man. Come hither all you, vvhom nothing but proper inte∣rest and lucre can moue and draw; here is a new way of gaining Mille per centum, a thousand the hundred, most easy & yet most pleasing to both parties. The seruice of creatures is profitable to Man for his bare being and subsistance in this life; vvhich, as on their part it is forced & com∣manded, so on man's side it is so necessary as that vvithout it he presently leaueth to be and dyeth: but the seruice of Loue, that Man doth vnto God, or rather vnto himselfe; is free, franke and noble, yet giueth to Man his vvell being for this life, and that to come; and vvithout which he vtterly, nay eternally dyeth. Finally vvhat∣soeuer either God, the Creatures or Man doth, is all for the good and profit of Man alone, Ver•• grandis Monarcha cui totus famulatur orbis. A great Monark in deed, vvhom the vvhole vvorld serueth.
Conclude therefore euer to loue, if thou meane to liue, beginne hence forward this new way of trading, to get thy best liuing by louing; more easy and more honourable than some, that get it by playing: finally offer thy God peculiar thankes and gratitude.
6. Consider sixthly another most admirable effect of this loue vvhich Man oweth to God; vvhich is the vniting of all other creatures vnto the same God: for first, all other creatures both
in heauen and earth, are by their naturall seruice and obedience to man vvholly for him & vnited to him; next Man is, or at least should be vnited to his God by an humble and constant loue: vvhence it follovveth clearely, that all creatures also are in and by the loue of man vnited and conioined vvith God, the Finis and Summum bo∣num, the last end, and finall good of all things: Ponder here, ô Man, both thy dignity and also obligation; God hath made thee the end of all his creatures, all being created forthy seruice: then againe, he hath appointed thee for the sole mediatour betvvixt him and his creatures, to reunite them by loue vnto himselfe, their first beginning: noe small dignity. Next thy obliga∣tion, is, to keepe and conserue vvith all thy po∣vver this knot and vnion of all other creatures vvith thy selfe to God; for so thou shalt first, aboundantly satisfie the creatures for the seruice they doe thee; next, repay God almighty for all his benefits; and finally, preserue the order of the vvhole vniuerse, vvhich consisteth in this pro∣gresse & combination of creatures vvith them∣selues and their God. O the force and preroga∣tiue of Loue! The loue of God vvas the first and sole cause of all things; & nothing but the Loue of Man can orderly reduce them to God againe.
Conclude to keepe this chaine vnuiolated; let not God & the vvhole world complaine of thee, for the sole breaker and interrupter of so beau∣teous an order, least both God & his creature•• rise vp against thee, as their common enemy.
7. Consider seuenthly, that although Man owe loue to none but to God, as hauing recei∣ued nothing from any but him yet there is ano∣ther loue or respect due to his creatures, meere∣ly because they are his and belonging to him; so subordinate and deriued from the first Loue, that it may be rather called an extension of the same Loue, than another distinct: now as the perfectest of all God's creatures is Man, in who as in fine and soft vvaxe is most liuely imprinted the very image and likenesse of the Diuinity, in the heigth of his vnderstanding, liberty of his vvill, and the treasure of his memory; so Man alone aboue all is to be honoured, respected & loued, merely and solely because he is the image of God. Hence it followeth first, that because this image of God is the same in all men, as vvell others, as our selues, pesants as Kings, foes as friends &c. therefore vvee are bound to loue and respect all alike, our neighbour as vvell as our selues, poore as rich, foes as friends; for there can be noe iust difference of affection, vvhere the motiue is and can, be but one, to vvit the image of God: and if any other motiue or res∣pect be pretended, it vvill proue false and iniu∣rious to God, as not deriued from him. It fol∣loweth secondly, that the obligation vvee haue to loue our neighbour as our selues, is in the sa∣me ranke vvith our obligation to God; that is, in the rigour of iustice and the law of nature, and not a thing of ceremony or courtesie, as most men thinke.
Conclude seriously to comply vvith this thy obligation better than hitherto; and resolue to loue thy neighbour Non lingua, sed opere & ve∣ritate. Not in vvord only, but in vvorke and in deede. Let not any vvrong he can doe thee, strike out of thy memory the Image of God he bea∣reth; ô neuer dare, vvith the vvrong of God to reuenge thy selfe on Man.
8. Consider eightly, how God and the crea∣tures doe shew vs the order and manner, the loue of our neighbour must obserue. God hath im∣printed indifferently in all men his likenes and image: againe he loueth all men vvith an equall and common loue, because they beare his ima∣ge: finally he bestoweth his benefits equally, Es pluit super iustos & iniustos. And rayneth vpon iust, and vniust. So must one man honour loue and assist an other equally, indifferently, and alike, In quantum est imago Dei. In as much as he is the Image of God. Secondly, the creatures serue and obey all men equally and vvithout ex∣ception; the sunne, the moone, the starres, the elements, the trees, the beasts make no diffe∣rence betwixt Pope and Clarke, Prince and pe∣sant, rich and poore; shall then Man alone make a distinction or inequality in his fellow & bro∣ther, vvhere God and the Creatures find none? ô for shame and the honour of our nature, the shape and picture of the God head, let vs ho∣nour, loue and respect one an other, vvith an equall and mutuall correspondence; so gratefull to God, so comely and decent in it's owne na∣ture,
and of so great honour and commodity to Man himselfe. For vvhat greater honour, than for all men to loue one the other? & vvhat grea∣ten commodity to all mankind than vvhat this so strong a knot can and vvill afford? if Vis vnita be fortior, if vnited force be the stronger, noe doubt but the vnion of loue and true amity is Fortissi∣ma & inuincibilis. Most strong and inuincible.
Conclude to embrace and conserue true amity vvith all; but aboue all, in a Commu∣nity; ô vvhat a comfortable sight it is to see a community in peace and concord? where enery one giueth due respect and honour to his bet∣ters, equalls and superiours: let not vaine pre∣tences of right or vvrong euer driue thee to di∣sturbe a common peace.