True Christianity Part 34

5. Look upon the firmament, and consider how G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 s.h.i.+ne, 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 G.o.d "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 G.o.d, 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 s.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d 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 mult.i.tudes, and show themselves to mankind.

9. Behold the earth, that great storehouse of food and treasury of G.o.d. 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, G.o.d hath put under man, and made him to have dominion over them. And were we to attempt to enumerate all the temporal benefits of G.o.d, 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 G.o.d; and let man enumerate them, one by one, if he be able. Should not we learn from this to know our good and bountiful G.o.d? Ps. 65:10, 11. If a great potentate were to subject to thee his whole kingdom, and all his dominions, n.o.bles, 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 G.o.d, 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, h.e.l.l itself must serve us by bringing upon us fear and terror, that we may not sin; and by punis.h.i.+ng 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d the Son given us himself, and all he is, and all he has? "G.o.d 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 G.o.d." Rom. 8:16.

11. In a word, G.o.d's mercy pours forth itself entirely upon us, and omits nothing whereby men could be moved to love G.o.d. The benefits G.o.d 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 G.o.d, nay, all creatures besides, "From whence come you?" they would answer, "We are the messengers of the mercy of G.o.d; 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 G.o.d." Yet all these numbers of flaming messengers of G.o.d 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 G.o.d.

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 G.o.d, all proclaiming his love unto thee. Wherein now has G.o.d 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 G.o.d.

13. And since G.o.d 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 G.o.d? But thinkest thou, that G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, and sum them up; so shalt thou find that all creatures are full of the love of G.o.d. 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 G.o.d, till it be kindled and inflamed therein, which is effected by continual contemplations of the benefits of G.o.d. 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 x.x.x.

Showing How G.o.d Manifests Himself To The Loving Soul, As The Supreme Beauty.

_O Lord my G.o.d, 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 G.o.d himself; so there is also nothing more _beautiful_ in the sight of such a one than G.o.d. That soul looks upon G.o.d 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 G.o.d. If all the holy angels in their l.u.s.tre, and all the elect in their glory, were put together, it would nevertheless appear, that all their beauty and splendor proceed from G.o.d, who is the eternal glory and beauty; and that they are derived from the everlasting, infinite light and brightness. For as G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d. 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, shall really be an image, like unto G.o.d, through which his beauty, brightness, and glory will s.h.i.+ne; 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 G.o.d, "whose vile bodies shall be fas.h.i.+oned like unto his glorious body." Phil. 3:21. And this is what Daniel says, "They that be wise shall s.h.i.+ne 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 G.o.d, "Thou coverest thyself with light," so our covering or garment will also be nothing else but light and brightness.

Chapter x.x.xI.

Showing How G.o.d Manifests Himself To The Loving Soul As The Infinite Omnipotence.

_O Lord G.o.d of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?_-PS. 89:8.

The love of G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d which can do it. Nor can any creature comfort thee; the love of G.o.d alone can do it.

3. In this love, the loving soul sees the fulness of G.o.d'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 G.o.d "as a drop of a bucket, and as the small dust of the balance." Isa. 40:15.

4. And out of this fulness of G.o.d'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 G.o.d, full of the divine power and operation, full of the Spirit of the Lord. The power of G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d is so great and over all things, nothing surely can be equal to him; and he that will be so, makes himself a G.o.d, commits the greatest sin, and falls into the pit of perdition. And since G.o.d is all, all that is without him must be as nothing. Therefore from G.o.d's omnipotence, man learns to know his own nothingness, and to fear G.o.d, who delights in them only that "humble themselves under his mighty hand." 1 Peter 5:6.

7. Now as great and high as G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d; 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 G.o.d! 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 x.x.xII.

Showing How The Loving Soul Knows G.o.d 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 G.o.d acknowledge him to be the highest and most holy righteousness, which pervades all, and is over all. This in G.o.d 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 G.o.d has ordered all things in number, weight, and measure. All that is done against this order, is contrary to G.o.d and nature.