Vol 01 - Chapter 02 - Of Love.

Chapter 02 - Of Love
1. Love is the greatest of all virtues, and without it all gifts are unprofitable. But a man may sin or mistake therein as easily as in any thing else. Therefore nothing ought to be looked upon with a more suspicious eye than love; for there is nothing which can so powerfully incline, force, or restrain, and so thoroughly penetrate the mind, as love. Therefore, if love be not ruled- by the true Light, or the Holy Ghost, it may precipitate the soul into a thousand calamities.
2. Therefore it is highly necessary that our love be guided and ruled by considering and copying after the whole life of CHRIST and his holy sufferings, out of which nothing but all pure love shineth forth. He loved God purely above all things. He loved man with a pure, undefiled love. He did and spoke nothing for his own sake, but all for ours. Whatsoever he did and spoke was for our benefit; not he was profited by it, but we.
3. This is a pure, undefiled love, for which nothing is too diicult; which complains of nothing; which spares not itself, but gives itself for the Beloved, even unto death. Whatsoever crosses and sufferings God sends, this love takes all for good, and is very well contented with every thing that God willeth; for it knows that God orders all things well.
4. And seeing that love unites itself to the Beloved, it learns also his mariners, follows him for his love's sake, and does what is well-pleasing unto him. So he that loves CHRIST, learns his manner of life, conforms himself to his image, and remains all the days of his life under the cross of CHRIST. CHRIST, during his whole life, bore the cross of poverty, contempt, and pain. And every Christian is to endeavor that his love be not false, but pure as his.
5. This pure love, derived from CHRIST and the Holy Ghost, works in man every good _thing. It is joy unto it to do good, for it can do nothing else; like as the Lord God says, " I will rejoice over them to do them good." Why P Because God is love; which can do nothing else but what is in his being. And this is a character of pure and true love. For this love does not say, I am not obliged to do this, or that; but where it has no law, there it is a law unto itself, only that it may do much good; for otherwise, love would not continue to be love. The properties of true love are these:
1. Love submits itself to the will of the beloved.
2. True love abandons all other friendship which is contrary to its beloved.
3. One friend discovers his heart unto the other.
4. A true lover endeavors to be made conformable unto his beloved, in his manners, and in all his life. Is the beloved poor the lover will be poor with him. Is the beloved despised the lover also bears his contempt. Is he sick the lover is sick no less. Thus love makes between them an equality, that they have the same prosperities and adversities: for there must be such a communion between the lover and the beloved, as that each of them may be made partaker of the other's good as well as evil.
6. After this manner our Lord is become our friend. For,
1. His love has submitted itself to the will of man, and was obedient unto the cross; nay, for the sake of man, he has submitted his will to every one, even to his enemies.
2. He has neglected all other friendship; nay, nww has forgot himself, and spared not his own body and life for our sake.
3. He has in his gospel discovered unto us his heart; therefore he says, "Henceforth I call you riot servants, but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you."
4. He is made "like unto us in all things, only sin excepted," Php_2:7. He is become poor, as we are, and mortal, as we.
7. The first mark of the love of CHRIST in us, is avoiding the love of the world. For when you considerest CHRIST in his holy poverty, entirely empty of love to temporal things, his love will also move thee to put off the love, of the world, and to despise the same; so that you wilt desire nothing in the world but thy Lord CHRIST; and wilt not put thy confidence in any creature, or any earthly assistance. Secondly, you wilt willingly bear for CHRIST, reproach and contempt from the world, for the sake of his holy reproach; nay, with St. Paul, you wilt account it thy glory, and rejoice in it, Ephesians 3:13.
You wilt not be troubled, when the world makes no account of thee; for this was thy Redeemer's life in this world. This shall be thy satisfaction, that CHRIST is thy glory, light, strength, power, victory, and. wisdom. For to follow CHRIST is the highest wisdom. Thirdly, you wilt esteem the cross of CHRIST beyond all the treasures of the world. For if it were not so, CHRIST would not have taught thee so, and put it so before thine eyes with his own life and example. But you seest himself is gone this narrow path. Yet there are fete that follow him. For it is not an easy thing to conquer oneself, and to renounce the.world, and all that one has. This is the " narrow way, and few there be that find it." The fourth mark of the love of CHRIST is, to have never out. of our thoughts the beloved Jesus; but to set him always before us by faith, and to consider the works of his love.
8. There are chiefly five arguments of the love of God.
1. CHRIST's incarnation.
2. His sufferings.
3. God's indwelling in us.
4. God's love shining forth out of the creatures.
5. His amiableness in his own Being, surpassing all created things. This is one of the greatest demonstrations of the love of GOD, that God is made man, and has taken upon him what is human, that he might give us what is Divine. He is become a Son of man, that he may make us children of God. He came down to us upon earth, that he might lift us up to heaven. O what a noble change! All for this end, that we in him might be loved of God. It is like as if God did call down from heaven, saying, "O ye men, behold my beloved Son! Him I have suffered to become man, that he might be a living example and witness of my love to you; that he might bring you all with himself unto me, and ye all might be made my children and heirs!" Therefore the Lord calls himself always in the gospel, the Son of Man, out of an intimate love to us.
9. But although his holy incarnation is a great argument of his love, yet his safering and dying for our sins, are still greater. " For greater love has no man than this, j that a man lay down his life for his friend. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, (says St. John,) that God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." This is the highest and completest love. If God could have found out another means to redeem us, it would not have been the highest love shown to us. That he might bestow upon us the highest love, and that we might not be able to say, God has something which he loves so dearly, that he’would not give it us; he has given us his dearest Son; and not only given him, but "given him also to be the propitiation for our sins."
He could not have showed us any greater love. Therein "God commends his love towards us," Romans 5:8. And " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, shall he not with him also freely give us all things"Romans 8:32. has he given us that which is the greatest he will surely give us that which is less. In eternal life, all that is God's shall be I ours. " He that overcometh shall inherit all things," Revelation 21:7
10. In the mean time, God shows his love towards us, by his comfortable dwelling among us, and in us. O what a comfort is this, that God has sanctified our heart, and dedicated it to be his dwelling-place! Formerly, in the Old Testament, when the tabernacle and sanctuary were finished, Moses was to sprinkle it with the blood of the sacrifice; "for almost all things were by the law purged with blood," Hebrews 9:22 : and thereupon the " glory of God came from heaven, and filled the tabernacle," Exodus 40:34. So also, after CHRIST had died for our sins, and we were sanctified through his blood, God comes to us, and makes his abode, with us.
Whom we love, with him we delight to be. God loves mankind, therefore he delighteth to be with them, and to have his "habitation among them. "I the Lord dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that- is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones," Isai. 57: 15. And this, now that God loves us, and is with us, ought to comfort us in all our calamities; in poverty, in, sickness, in persecution, and in contempt. The greater afflictions on earth, the greater joy and glory in heaven, 2 Corinthians 4:17. And this is the. reason why God makes many people sorrowful, that he may dwell- in their hearts; for he delights no where more to dwell than in a poor and contrite spirit, Psalms 34:18, Isai. Ixvi. 2. God fills us here with his grace, that he may fill us hereafter with his glory.
11. The love of God shineth also forth out of the creatures. When St. Paul would wish to his Ephesians the best thing, he wishes that they might "know the love of GOD, and be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of the same. As if he had said, the love of God is higher than heaven, deeper than the sea, broader than the earth, longer than it is from east to west. Yea, heaven and earth are full of the love of God. For all that God has created, be it visible or invisible, he has created for this end, that his inexpressible goodness and love might therein be manifested, And therefore he has given to man both inward and outward senses, that thereby he might perceive the love of God. For all that man can apprehend by his understanding, as well as what he apprehends with his outward senses, bears witness to the love of God.
All that man has, is a testimony of the love of God; Tray, all creatures, visible and invisible, are as it were, so many messengers of GOD, denouncing unto us his love; and he speaketh to us through them, as if he did say, " Behold, heaven and earth, and all the creatures! all this I have created out of love to man." And whenever we perceive the pleasantness of the creatures, we perceive the goodness of God; so that both with inward and outward senses we may taste and see that the Lord is good. The sun speaks to us by its light and warmth, as if be did say, "Look upon me, I am the greatest and brightest among all visible creatures; he must be a great Lord that made me."
But not only through the fair and glorious creatures God speaketh thus to us, but also through the most despicable worms, as if he did say, "Lo, to me thy creator, you art beholden, that I made thee a man, and not a worn. That GOD, who could have made thee a worn, has out of mercy, made thee a man." Thus God speaks unto man through all the creatures; declares unto him his love; and invites, allures, leads, and draws us unto himself. This is the wisdom of GOD, which uttereth her voice in the streets, which rejoiceth in the habitable part of the earth, and whose delights arc with the sons of men.
12. Nay, we are inclosed in the love of GOD, as we are all inclosed under heaven: seeing that in God we live, and move, and have our being, Acts 17:28. For, as a man can retire himself no where, but he will always have heaven round about him, above him, and beneath him, and on every side; so a man can go no where but the love of God follows after him, arid calls him through all the creatures, saying, " Whither wilt you go, my child Whither wilt you flee from my presence ` if you ascend up into heaven, I am there. If you make thy bed in hell, I am there also. If you take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall my hand lead thee, and my right hand shall hold thee.' Therefore come unto me, and acknowledge my love and grace, by which I meet thee in all creatures. Have you sinned Grace abounds with me. Have you left me My mercy has not left thee, but is continually running after thee, has been calling to thee, and as a wandering sheep, has sought after thee. Arid if you believest not those vast testimonies - of all the creatures, believe yet the testimony of my dear Son. You can no where else find rest for thy soul. Turn which way you wilt, you must and can only rest in my love and grace." O blessed is that heart, which understandeth that heaven and earth are full of the love of GOD, and that he has as many witnesses of his love, as he has made creatures. But the greatest and highest witness of all, is the Son of God.
13. We know also the love of GOD, from his own lovely being. For from the visions of the prophets, and the Revelation of St. John, we can observe, that God is so lovely and beautiful, as to transcend infinitely all beauty and loveliness of the world. He is the beauty of all beautiful things; the loveliness of all lovely things; the life of all the living. He is ALL. An ancient father has said, " God is so lovely and beautiful, that if a man were in a fiery furnace, and did see the beauty and glory of him but for one moment, the greatest torment would be changed into the,. greatest joy; as it happened unto St. Stephen, when he said, `Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God: " God is so lovely and beautiful, that if a man did see him for a thousand years together, it would seem unto him but one hour. For in beholding the loveliness and glory of GOD, all time is swallowed up into eternity; so that the more any one sees GOD, the more he is willing to see of him; the more one loves him, the more he will love him; and the more one praises him, the more will he praise him. Holy souls can never be satiated with the love and praise of God. Hence, although the holy angels have seen God from the beginning of their creation, they have not yet seen him enough; and though they have praised him from the beginning, they have not yet praised him enough. For God is infinite in his - beauty, loveliness, and glory; therefore no creature can love him enough. God is so amiable that the more one loves him, the more he desires to love him. He is so praise-worthy, that the end of his praises cannot be attained; so lovely to be looked upon, that looking upon him never makes weary;, so comfortable to be heard, that he never can be heard enough. If one might taste but a little drop of the perfect love of GOD, all joys and pleasures of this world would be changed into bitterness. The saints have endured the greatest torments for the love of GOD, and have given up their lives and bodies; and if one had a thousand bodies, he should hazard them all, only that he might keep the love of God; as the Psalmist says, "Lord, thy loving-kindness is better than life; my lips shall praise thee." God is so high, so noble, and so pure a good, that the more one knows him, the more he loves him. He is such a desirable sweetness, that the more one tastes of him, the sweeter he becomes; and the more one loves him, the more his loveliness increases. Blessed is that soul which is filled with the love of God. It will feel such a sweetness and delight, as cannot be found among creatures.
14. If you duly consider CHRIST crucified, you wilt see nothing in him, but all pure, perfect, and unutterable love; and he will skew thee his heart, and say, "Behold, in this heart there is no deceit, but the highest faithfulness and truth, Incline thine head unto me, and rest upon my heart; open thy mouth, and drink out of my wounds the sweetest love, which out of the heart of my Father springs up and flows through me."
15. When you shall taste this love, you wilt forget and despise for it, all the world, and be desirous of nothing else, but of this love, and wilt say to thy Lord, " O Lord, give me nothing more than the sweetness of thy love; nay, if you wouldst give me the whole world, I desire it not: I desire nothing else but thee and thy love."