True Christianity

8. Now, if we have the eternal, perfect good, wherein there is all good, and which alone is all, why should we love that which is imperfect? For where the true, perfect good is known, there it is also beloved above all imperfect things, that is, above all creatures whatsoever.

9. Thus the living knowledge of God expels the love of the world; and thus man begins to despise the world, with all the vanities thereof, saying, with King Solomon, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity;” nay, all under the sun “is vexation of spirit.” Eccles. 1:2, 14. Thus love to the world is abolished in the heart, and there remains only love to God, and to the eternal good which abideth for ever.

Chapter XXIX.

Showing How The Loving Soul Considers God In His Benefits As The Most Liberal Bountifulness

In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.– 1 John 4:9, 10.

All that God does with reference to man, be it benefits or punishments, he does to this end, that man, who is turned away from him, may be turned to him again.

2. But man is foolish and brutish, like the beasts (Ps. 32:9), and does not understand the reason for which God bestows upon him so great benefits, namely, that thereby he might be invited and encouraged to love God: nor does he, on the other hand, consider why God punishes him, namely, that he may turn himself unto God.

3. Let us consider, first, bodily and temporal benefits, and then those that are spiritual and eternal.

4. I. God has created nothing, either visible or invisible, which may not be serviceable to man. The invisible creatures which minister to us, are the holy angels (Heb. 1:14), whose wisdom, strength, diligence, and watchfulness over us, are declared and praised in many places of Scripture; so that even many angels wait upon one man: witness the history of the patriarch Jacob and the prophet Elisha. Gen. 32:1, 2; 2 Kings 6:17. Because many evil spirits lie in wait for one man, seeking to destroy him; therefore also many holy watchers are ordered by God for his defence. That there is joy also in the presence of the angels, over our repentance and prayers, the Lord teaches us. Luke 15:10. This benefit, because it is bestowed upon us after an invisible manner, many people little consider; but a wise man, who considers not only the visible world, but the invisible also, understands well, that in the invisible world, wherein God dwelleth, there is much greater glory, and there are much greater numbers or hosts, and greater principalities and dominions (Col. 1:16) than in this visible world. And as God makes his own ministers and princes defend and watch over us, it is plain that this is an exceedingly great benefit; even as that is to be accounted an honor and favor, when a prince appoints his own ministers to conduct and defend one that is to travel through a wilderness or through a hostile country.

5. Look upon the firmament, and consider how God has appointed it for thy service. Behold the wondrous course of the sun and moon. Why do they run so incessantly, day and night, and rest not so much as for one moment? Gen. 1:16; Ps. 19:6. Are they not diligent and industrious servants of man? For God hath no need of their service; he wants not their operations nor their light; it is for man that they were created. The sun serves thee as an unwearied servant, which every morning rises early, and carries before thee the beautiful light, and puts thee in remembrance of the eternal light, which is Christ, and his divine word; this shall be the light of thy soul, that thou mayest walk as a child of the light. The moon and the night cover thee with a shadow, bringing rest unto thee, and teaching thee to abide and to dwell under the shadow of the Most High. Ps. 91:1. The moon, like an unwearied handmaid, conducts water to fertilize the earth. Nay, there is not a star which does not shine, and has not received some blessing for the benefit of man.

6. Behold the air and the winds, how clear they make the firmament, dispelling the clouds; or they gather them together and cause them to pour forth afterwards upon the earth. It is very wonderful that God “bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them.” Job 26:8. The air bears and sustains the clouds, those moist vapors which are afterwards resolved into small drops of water. Job 36:27. Thunder, lightnings, and hail (Job 37:3), must lead us to acknowledge the power of God, to pray to him, and to thank him when he has preserved us in a terrible tempest. Ps. 18:8, 13, 14.

7. Behold the various winds which govern navigation; so that where a wind blows, there the ship is driven, and sails on her way as a bird flies through the air. Thus all places of the world can be found out, and all the secrets thereof discovered, that nothing may be kept hid of what God hath created for the benefit of man.

8. Behold the various kinds of fish in the sea. Gen. 1:20, 21; Ps. 104:25. They have their appointed times and seasons, in which they, as it were, rise out of the depths and present themselves, crowded together as the corn in the field, as if they would say, Now we are in season, now is the time of harvest for the sea; gather therefore, O ye men! And so it is with the birds also; when their time is come, they fly together in great multitudes, and show themselves to mankind.

9. Behold the earth, that great storehouse of food and treasury of God. It furnishes forth meat and drink, medicine and clothing, houses and abodes, and all the various metals. Each month produces its flowers, which present themselves to our notice, as if they would say, Here we are; we bring our gifts, and present them to you, as good as we received them from our Creator. Nay, even the forest, which is the habitation of roving beasts, God hath put under man, and made him to have dominion over them. And were we to attempt to enumerate all the temporal benefits of God, we should find it impossible to number only them that are in one particular country. There is no fruit, but it is a benefit of God; and let man enumerate them, one by one, if he be able. Should not we learn from this to know our good and bountiful God? Ps. 65:10, 11. If a great potentate were to subject to thee his whole kingdom, and all his dominions, nobles, and powerful men, nay, all his subjects, and were to command them to guard, defend, preserve, clothe, cure, and feed thee, and to take care that thou want nothing at all, wouldest thou not love him and account him a loving, bountiful lord? How then oughtest thou to love the Lord thy God, who has reserved nothing for himself, but appointed for thy service all that is in heaven, or comes from heaven, and all that is upon earth. He needs no creatures for himself, and has excepted nothing from thy service, neither in all the hosts of holy angels, nor in any of his creatures under the stars. If we but desire it, they are ready to serve us; nay, hell itself must serve us by bringing upon us fear and terror, that we may not sin; and by punishing and tormenting our enemies and all the wicked, more than man can desire.

10. II. Let us, upon this ladder of the creatures, ascend unto God our Creator, and consider his spiritual benefits. Has not the Holy Trinity, each Person in particular, bestowed upon man great grace and beneficence? The Father has given us his own Son, and “how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32. Has not God the Son given us himself, and all he is, and all he has? “God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8. Is not the Holy Ghost within us, illuminating, purifying, teaching, comforting, and adorning our souls with his gifts? He “beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” Rom. 8:16.

11. In a word, God's mercy pours forth itself entirely upon us, and omits nothing whereby men could be moved to love God. The benefits God bestows upon us, are so many messengers which he sends for inviting us to come and to enjoy his love. If thou shouldest ask the Scriptures, the angels, all the prophets and all the saints of God, nay, all creatures besides, “From whence come you?” they would answer, “We are the messengers of the mercy of God; we carry fire and flames, that the heart of man, which is cold and incrusted, as it were, with ice, might be warmed again by the love of God.” Yet all these numbers of flaming messengers of God are not able to warm the dead, cold, and frozen heart. This, therefore, is the greatest wonder the devil can effect, that he makes a human heart so cold, that warmth cannot be raised therein, by so many flames of the love of God.

12. Therefore, hearken, thou human heart, and consider where thy Creator has placed thee: namely, in the middle of so many fiery benefits, where the glorious angels surround thee with their flaming love, and where there are so many creatures and messengers of God, all proclaiming his love unto thee. Wherein now has God Almighty transgressed against thee? Whereby has he deserved, that thou shouldst not, or canst not, love and praise him? If what he has done for thee be too little, behold, he offers to do still more. He will create for thee a new heaven and a new earth, and will build a new, glorious, heavenly city, which his glory will lighten; nay, he will illuminate thee with his own light and glory. Rev. 21:10, etc. Could a young woman be so cold, as not to love a fair and youthful bridegroom, whose beauty and goodness were praised day and night, nay, who had delivered her from death, and adorned her with the fairest ornaments? Therefore know, thou human soul, how cold the devil has made thee, since thou canst not be at all warmed by the love of God.

13. And since God has implanted love in all human hearts, tell me, if thy love could be bought of thee, to whom wouldest thou sell it rather than to the Lord thy God? But thinkest thou, that God has not bought of thee thy love dear enough, and has not paid for it a price sufficient? Hath He not given thee his dear Son for it, and Heaven and Earth besides? All that thou expectest to gain for thy love from the world, is as nothing, in comparison with what God has given thee, and what He further has prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor. 2:9; Isa. 64:4. The world, perhaps, gives thee a handful of honor and riches, accompanied with many troubles, and yet thou lovest it! Why dost thou not rather love God, the everlasting Good? But if thy love is not to be bought or sold, but rather will bestow itself freely upon that which thou likest best, what can love find that is to be esteemed more than the supreme, eternal, and most glorious Good? Everything we love, is our beauty and ornament: and if thou lovest God, thou shalt make him thereby thy beauty and thy ornament. And since that is lovely which is beautiful, nothing can ever make thee more lovely and comely, than the love of God in thy soul.

14. And lastly, it is but just and reasonable, that we should love him “who first loved us.” 1 John 4:19. Take account of all the benefits of God, and sum them up; so shalt thou find that all creatures are full of the love of God. This love follows and surrounds thee everywhere, so that thou canst not be rid of it, nor hide thyself from it. It is too powerful and overcometh thee; thou must enjoy it whether thou wilt or not, unless thou wouldest live no more.

15. Now we know that brutes love those by whom they are loved; wouldest thou be worse than a brute, hating thy Benefactor, in whose love thou livest and movest, standest and walkest, sleepest and wakest? But as a thing that is to be kindled, must be held to the fire till it take the flame: so also art thou to expose thy heart to the fire of the love of God, till it be kindled and inflamed therein, which is effected by continual contemplations of the benefits of God. As formerly the priests were commanded to kindle the sacrifices by the holy fire (Lev. 6:12), so must the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, kindle the sacrifice of thine heart, by the fire of his Holy Spirit. And this holy fire of his love was burning toward us from eternity; for He loved us before the foundation of the world. Since that, it has gloriously shown forth itself in the Lord's incarnation and birth; and chiefly in his sufferings and death, whereby He has bestowed upon us the highest love; and this fire of his flaming love to us will not be extinguished to all eternity. Near this fire continue thou with thy cold heart, that thou mayest he kindled with, and united to, the love of Christ.

Chapter XXX.

Showing How God Manifests Himself To The Loving Soul, As The Supreme Beauty

O Lord my God, thou art very great: thou art clothed with honor and majesty; who coverest thyself with light as with a garment.– Ps. 104:1, 2.

As nothing is more lovely to a loving soul than Christ, and no good higher or more precious than God himself; so there is also nothing more beautiful in the sight of such a one than God. That soul looks upon God as the highest beauty, with which nothing in heaven and earth is to be compared; so that all the holy angels cannot sufficiently praise to all eternity this beauty of God. If all the holy angels in their lustre, and all the elect in their glory, were put together, it would nevertheless appear, that all their beauty and splendor proceed from God, who is the eternal glory and beauty; and that they are derived from the everlasting, infinite light and brightness. For as God is all good, and the highest good, so He is also all beauty, ornament, and glory.

2. And when a man beholds in spirit the glory of God, he forgets all the creatures, nay, the beauty of all the angels also; and mourns over nothing so much, as that he has offended this great Good with his wickedness, and this infinite eternal beauty and brightness with his impurity.

3. But because the Son of God, the brightness of his glory (Heb. 1:3), is become man, He hath made men partakers of his divine nature, and of his comeliness (2 Pet. 1:4), so that all who are in Christ by faith, are comely and glorious before God. Ps. 16:3. He remembers our defects and filthiness no more; for although his eyes see, yet the brightness of his glory, and the love of Christ cover them. Eph. 5:27.

4. The wise heathen Plato, considering the beauty of the creatures, of the luminaries, of the firmament, of the flowers in the fields, of the metals and animals, has by his reason drawn the conclusion, that God must of necessity be an eternal Being, beautiful above all things, because the beauty of all the creatures must be comprehended or concentrated in Him. But we say from the word of God, and the holy Evangelist St. John: “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when He shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2); that we then, being perfectly renewed after the likeness of God, shall really be an image, like unto God, through which his beauty, brightness, and glory will shine; but out of Jesus Christ our Lord, in the highest brightness and beauty of all. For in him is all fulness; and so it has pleased the Father that “in him should all fulness dwell” (Col. 1:19); and that “in him should be gathered together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Eph. 1:10); which no finite creature can comprehend.

5. Therefore angels and men shall admire the brightness and beauty of Christ, especially the chosen children of God, “whose vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” Phil. 3:21. And this is what Daniel says, “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.” Dan. 12:3. And as the 104th Psalm, ver. 2, says of God, “Thou coverest thyself with light,” so our covering or garment will also be nothing else but light and brightness.

Chapter XXXI.

Showing How God Manifests Himself To The Loving Soul As The Infinite Omnipotence

O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?– Ps. 89:8.

The love of God wills, that a loving soul should do good to all men, and be profitable both to foes and friends; not for the sake of its own profit and honor, but only for the sake of the love of God, which, as it were, moves his omnipotence to draw nigh unto us; which also, from its infinite treasure, gives us all we have, to the end that we should give again from love what the love of God has given us out of the treasury of his omnipotence.

2. Therefore, O man, be careful that thou appropriate nothing to thyself, but restore all to the omnipotence of God, who himself is all that thou hast and art. No creature can either give to, or take away from, thee; it is only the omnipotence of God which can do it. Nor can any creature comfort thee; the love of God alone can do it.

3. In this love, the loving soul sees the fulness of God's incomprehensible omnipotence, which comprehends in itself heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, but cannot be comprehended by any thing. For the whole world is to the omnipotence of God “as a drop of a bucket, and as the small dust of the balance.” Isa. 40:15.

4. And out of this fulness of God's omnipotence, all the powers of angels, men, and all other creatures, proceed. It sustains the firmament of Heaven. The motions of the sea and the powers of the earth proceed from it; so that heaven and earth are full of God, full of the divine power and operation, full of the Spirit of the Lord. The power of God, which is the might of his love, comprehends, incloses, and replenishes all things, but is comprehended by none. Ps. 139:2, etc.

5. As high as God is over all things, so deeply also is he in all things, and all things are in him, according to St. Paul, who says, “Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things” (Rom. 11:36); and again, “Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph. 4:6.

6. Since God is so great and over all things, nothing surely can be equal to him; and he that will be so, makes himself a god, commits the greatest sin, and falls into the pit of perdition. And since God is all, all that is without him must be as nothing. Therefore from God's omnipotence, man learns to know his own nothingness, and to fear God, who delights in them only that “humble themselves under his mighty hand.” 1 Peter 5:6.

7. Now as great and high as God is in his omnipotence, even so low is he made by his love. Behold our Lord Jesus Christ, the living Son, the powerful arm of God, by whom were all things created, and by whom all things consist (1 Col. 1:16, 17); how deeply has he descended by his love, and how lowly and humble has he made himself among all creatures!

8. Therefore, even as we cannot fathom, much less express in words, the omnipotence of God; so neither can we fathom with our thoughts the humility and lowliness of Christ. Nevertheless, as deep as is his descent, so high is also his ascent far above all heavens. Eph. 4:10. Unto him be honor and praise to all eternity. Amen.

O God! O Jesus! O blessed Spirit! Thou unchangeable mind! Thou inextinguishable light! Thou Peace which cannot be disturbed! Thou indivisible unity! Thou infallible truth! Thou ineffable bounty! Thou immeasurable might! Thou infinite wisdom! Thou incomprehensible Goodness! Thou omnipresent eternity! Thou Life of all the living! Do Thou enlighten me, do Thou sanctify me, do Thou quicken me!

Chapter XXXII.

Showing How The Loving Soul Knows God As The Highest Righteousness And Holiness

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep.– Ps. 36:6.

All who love God acknowledge him to be the highest and most holy righteousness, which pervades all, and is over all. This in God is his most holy will; in angels holy obedience; in man, the testimony of his conscience; in all creatures, it is the order of nature, whereby God has ordered all things in number, weight, and measure. All that is done against this order, is contrary to God and nature.

2. All sins, therefore, in the world, are committed against God's righteousness, and the sinner thereby offends all creatures, even all the angels in heaven, and his own conscience, and sets them in hostility against himself. For when God is offended and provoked to anger, all creatures are also offended and made angry; so, too, when God is reconciled, all creatures are reconciled also, and rejoice over such a man. Hence St. Paul says, that all things are reconciled by Christ, whether they be “things in earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:20): and this, because God is reconciled through him. Therefore the Lord says, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10. The angels rejoice for man's own sake.

3. But if God be not reconciled to man, all creatures, angels, and nature itself, execute vengeance upon him. Hence come the dreadful judgments of God: and it is impossible to avert such vengeance and judgments. “Thou art to be feared, O God; and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still.” Ps. 76:7, 8. Thus may we see in the plagues of Egypt how all creatures executed vengeance upon the wicked.

4. From the most holy righteousness of God, when offended, proceeds also the curse; as Moses, the man of God, witnesses, when he speaks of the transgression of the divine law. Deut. 27:15, etc.

5. It is a curse when the justice of God executes such vengeance, that the cursed cannot enjoy any good, either from God or the creature, but is made an “abhorring unto all flesh.” Isa. 66:24. “A curse is a liableness and condemnation unto eternal misery.” Therefore a curse is terrible and dreadful unto all creatures, so that they cannot endure it. And this is the highest vengeance of the justice of God.

6. From the most holy righteousness of God proceed also those wonderful, unsearchable, secret, dreadful judgments, whereof David says, “Thy judgments are a great deep” (Ps. 36:7); and St. Paul, “How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Rom. 11:33.

7. When, therefore, we consider them, we see therein the righteousness of God, of which the man of God, Moses, says, “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense,” saith the Lord. “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people! for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land and to his people.” Deut. 32:35, 41, 43.

8. In these words, Moses declares the vengeance of God upon all the wicked, who resist the righteousness of God. Against them God will whet his glittering sword; that is, his dreadful sentence and judgment, at which the earth feareth, and is still. Ps. 76:8. And him, upon whom God executes his vengeance and judgment, all the world cannot save; according to the words of the Psalm: “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.” Ps. 94:1, 2. Here we read that although the Lord God is a gracious, loving, kind, merciful, long-suffering God, to all them that fear him, he is nevertheless a just judge, according to his righteousness, of all the wicked that transgress against his righteousness.

9. He, therefore, sets before us in his word, not only instances of his grace and mercy, but also of his justice and vengeance; such as those of the deluge, Sodom and Gomorrah, Pharaoh in Egypt, and in the Red Sea; Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; Saul, Ahithophel, Ahab, Jezebel, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Sennacherib; and in the New Testament, Herod, and many more; in every one of whom, we may see the wonderful judgment and vengeance of God. Therefore he is called, a God of vengeance, “unto whom vengeance belongeth,” because he is the most holy, and the most righteous God; nay, righteousness itself. Therefore, the saints (Rev. 6:10) appeal to the justice of God with a loud voice, saying: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”