Chapter XXIV.
Of The Noble Virtue Of Love, And Of Its Power, Soundness, And Purity
He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.– 1 John 4:8.
Love, says St. Paul, is the greatest of all virtues, and without it all gifts are unprofitable (1 Cor. 13:13); therefore he admonishes us, saying, “Let all your things be done with charity.” 1 Cor. 16:14. Accordingly we are to pray with charity, as our Lord says: “If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother.” Matt. 5:23, 24. And in the Lord's Prayer, our forgiving our neighbor's debts, or trespasses, is strictly joined to God's forgiving ours. Matt. 6:12, 14, 15.
2. Love is, however, so singular a virtue, that a man may mistake therein as easily as in anything 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, the Holy Ghost, it precipitates the soul into a thousand calamities.
3. And this I do not say with respect to the love of evil; for this, as a diabolical thing, is by all Christians to be avoided; but I speak of that love which is betwixt God, and man, and his neighbor. Love, when not regulated by divine wisdom, can easily be deceived, misled, and thrust out of its due order, so as not to reach the true end. Many think they have the love of God in their souls, and yet have the love of the world, or their own love, nay, it may be the love of Satan.
4. Take an instance of this fact: any one that loves the Lord God only for the sake of temporal things, that he may be preserved by him from temporal misfortunes, loves himself more than God, and prefers his own welfare before God. This is called inordinate love. He ought to love God more than himself, nay, love him above all things; and all things, both good and evil days, he ought to love for the sake of God.
5. But when man prefers himself to the love of God, he surely makes himself God, by loving himself more than God; and whilst he loves not God as God, for his sake, but merely for his own private interest, he has a false and deceitful love. He that has such a love, loves all things for his own sake, for the profit and honor which he reaps from them. He loves also holy men, nay, the very word of God, for this reason only, that it may afford him a show and name of holiness, but not for the sake of that excellent Good which lies hid therein.
6. And because such a love is impure, it brings forth impure fruits, which are self-interest, self-honor, self-lust; all which are carnal and earthly, not heavenly and spiritual fruits. Thus many love great skill and learning, that they may be preferred to others, and may rule over them; not from a principle of love to God and their neighbor, but from a love to themselves, thinking thereby to gain great honors and preferments.
7. There are others also who love God that he may spare them, and not punish them for their sins in dreadful severity; nay, that he may be bountiful to them in this present time; but this, alas! is a very weak love. For these love God for their own profit, and not for his own sake, or not by reason of his being the most excellent and highest Good.
8. Others love God that he may bestow upon them many gifts in understanding and wisdom, whereby they might gain a great reputation.
9. Some also love virtue, not for the sake of virtue itself, but that they may obtain a great name, and be looked upon as brave, virtuous men, and men famous for their honesty and piety. All this is not true love, for it tends not to the right end.
10. There is often also love betwixt some persons uniting themselves by a love of their own, which increases in them so much that they are pleased with everything done by him whom they love. For love always follows its beloved, and cleaves wholly unto him. And thereby one is often involved and drawn aside into evil; or even the lover himself allures his beloved to it, because he knows that so it pleases him; and by this false and deceitful love he is hindered from prayer and all other Christian virtues.
11. Therefore it is highly necessary that our love should be guided and ruled by the Holy Spirit, and by our meditations on the whole life of Christ and his holy sufferings, out of which nothing but pure love shines forth. He loved God purely, above all things, and not himself. He loved man with a pure, undefiled love, and not himself. He did and spake nothing for his own sake, but all for ours. Whatsoever he did and spoke was for our benefit; he was not profited by it, but we were. All his pains and labors, nay; his greatest torments and afflictions, were not too hard or heavy for him, that we might be benefited and saved thereby; nay, his very cross was joy unto him, that he might fulfil the will of God his Father.
12. That is a pure, undefiled love for which nothing is too difficult, which complains of nothing, nay, which spares not itself, but gives itself for the beloved's sake, even unto death. Whatsoever crosses and sufferings God sends, this love regards as good. It sees that it is the holy will of God, and therefore it would rather suffer much more for the same, and is very well contented with everything that God willeth; for it knows that God orders all things right and well.
13. And as love unites itself to the beloved, it learns also his manners, follows him for his love's sake, and does that which is well-pleasing unto him: so he that loves Christ rightly learns of him his manner of life and his virtues, for he knows it is well-pleasing unto him. He conforms himself to his image, and remains all his life under the yoke and cross of Christ, even as Christ, during his whole life, bore the cross of poverty, contempt, and pains. And although no man in this frail state can attain unto perfect love, yet every Christian is to labor, that his love be not false, but as pure as possible, according to what St. Paul says, “Love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” 1 Tim. 1:5.
14. This pure love, derived from Christ and the Holy Ghost, works in man every good thing, and is never idle. It is its joy to do good, for it can do nothing else; even as the Lord God says, “I will rejoice over them to do them good.” Jer. 32:41. Why? Because God is love itself, which can do nothing else but that which it is in its own being. And this is a sign 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.
15. Hence it is plain why God Almighty is never weary of doing good; and why he is that infinite Good which never ceases to be. He is everlasting love, which cannot desist from doing good, or else he would cease to be love. Therefore, even when he punishes and chastises, he draws all good out of evil, directing it to a good end, even to our salvation.
16. This pure love of God causes us to pray aright. For as a friend has his friend at his disposal in all things, so also such a lover of God is a friend of God, and obtains from him that for which he prays. Therefore, because Lazarus's sister knew the Lord Jesus to be not only a friend, but also the Son of God, she said, “I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee” (John 11:22); and because Mary loved Jesus, she was heard by the Lord, and he restored her brother unto her. Of such a love as obtains from God all things, holy David saith, “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Ps. 37:4.
17. But in order that thou mayest have a characteristic mark of this love, observe these four properties of true love. 1. Love submits itself to the will of the beloved. 2. True love abandons all friendship which is contrary to its beloved. 3. One friend reveals his heart unto the other. 4. A true lover endeavors to be made conformable to 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 too. Thus love makes an equality between them, so that they have the same prosperity and adversity. For there must be such a communion between the lover and the beloved, as that each of them shall be made partaker of the other's good as well as ill. This, then, is not only a communion, but a union or uniting of two minds like each other, and of two hearts which are alike.
18. After such a manner our Lord Jesus Christ is become our Friend. For, 1. His love submitted itself to the will of man, and was obedient unto the cross: nay, for the sake of man he submitted his will to every one, even to his enemies. 2. He neglected all other friendship that he could have had in the world; nay, he even forgot himself, and spared not his own body and life for our sakes. 3. He revealed in his Gospel, his heart unto us; therefore he says, “Henceforth I call you not servants; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you.” John 15:15. 4. He was made alike unto us in all things, sin only excepted. Phil. 2:7. He became poor as we are, and mortal even as we.
19. If now we will be his true lovers, we must also do all these things. And seeing he was made like unto us in all things, and in all our misery, why would not we strive to be made like unto Him? If we thus love him, we shall obtain from him all things by prayer, according to his saying, “Unto him that loveth me, I will manifest myself.” John 14:21. O what a friendly and delightful manifestation in the heart is there, when we experience heavenly joy, wisdom, and understanding! Here is the only right way to acquire understanding and wisdom, which are so highly praised by king Solomon in the Proverbs.
20. We are, therefore, naturally led to the conclusion, that genuine prayer cannot be offered without love.
Chapter XXV.
Sundry Signs By Which We May Ascertain Whether We Truly Love Christ
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.– 1 John 2:15.
The first mark that the love of Christ is in us, is the avoiding of the love of the world. When thou considerest Christ in his holy poverty, how he was so entirely empty of love to temporal things, his love will also actuate thee to learn that thou art to put off the love of the world and to despise it; so that thou wilt desire nothing here but thy Lord Jesus Christ, and wilt not put thy confidence in any creature, or earthly assistance.
2. Secondly, thou wilt willingly bear reproach and contempt from the world, for the sake of Christ's holy reproach; nay, with St. Paul, thou wilt account it thy glory, and rejoice in it. Eph. 3:13. Nor wilt thou be much troubled when the world makes no great account of thee; for such was thy Lord's and Redeemer's life in this world. This shall be thy full satisfaction, that Christ is thy honor, renown, glory, light, strength, power, and victory, wisdom, and skill. For to follow Christ is the highest wisdom.
3. Thirdly, seeing that Christ in his holy body and soul has suffered pain and sorrow unto death, thou also, for his love's sake, wilt not only with patience, but even with joy, suffer sorrow, persecution, distress, and affliction, nay, torment and pain unto death.
4. And, fourthly, as Christ had comfort and joy in no man nor in any creature, but only in God, according to what is said in Psalm 22, so thou also wilt bear it patiently when all worldly comfort leaves thee. For thou knowest that at last God will make thee joyful with his everlasting comfort, of which St. Paul gives us an admirable account (2 Cor. 6:4, etc.): “Let us approve ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
5. Fifthly, thou shalt esteem the cross of Christ as the highest good, beyond all the treasures of the world. If it were not so, Christ would not have taught thee so, and put it before thine eyes with his own life and example. Thou mayest easily believe that the Son of God would not mislead thee by his example, but conduct thee to the highest wisdom, and to the highest heavenly joys, although the way is strait and narrow. But thou seest that he himself walked in this narrow path. And because there are few that follow him, he says, “Few there be that find it.” Matt. 7:14. For it is not an easy thing to conquer self, to deny self, to die unto self, and to renounce the world and all that we have. This is the narrow way, and few there be that find it.
6. The sixth mark of the love of Christ is, never to have the beloved Jesus out of our thoughts; but to set him always before us by faith, and to consider the works of his love.
7. As for instance: I. His incarnation, in which, as in a Book of Life, we see chiefly a twofold benefit: 1. That he thereby fills us with his love. And, 2. That he makes us sure of our eternal salvation and happiness. O what inexpressible love is this, that God was made man and like man, that he might make men like unto God! O the greatness of love! He took upon him the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6-8) that he might make us kings, and adorn us with royal crowns. O the greatness of love, that God, incomprehensible and invisible, should be made palpable and visible! Who is able to fathom the deep abyss of this love! O what great, unutterable wisdom, that out of the great evil of sin, thou, O Lord, hast brought forth such an infinite good, discovering thereby the deep abyss of thy love! O the great comfort it is to me to know that thy human birth is my divine birth, and a fountain of salvation against the deep well of sin!
8. II. His holy doctrine, wherein are found eternal wisdom, truth, light, life and salvation; and his holy life, whereby he has shown us the manner, and the way, how to live a truly Christian and godly life. For the pattern of his holy life is the most wonderful light, which will not let us walk in darkness.
9. III. The mystery of the innocent death of Christ, in which there are seven particulars to be considered. 1. The fulfilling of the justice of God, and of the divine sentence. 2. The satisfaction for all our sins. 3. Our reconciliation with God; for we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Rom. 5:10. 4. The manifestation of the superabundant love of God through the death of our Redeemer. 5. The eternal truth of God, that he has given us his Son, and thereby testified himself to be truly our Father. 6. The victory over all enemies. 7. The acquiring and purchase of eternal salvation and life.
10. IV. His resurrection, which gives us a firm assurance of the resurrection of our bodies, and also of that spiritual resurrection, wherein, through the grace of God, and the power of the life of Christ, we, having been spiritually dead, become spiritually alive in Christ. Rom. 6:4.
11. V. His ascension, which is a consummation of our eternal redemption, righteousness, and salvation.
12. These five works of the love of Christ are the true Christian school wherein we are to study, never letting them depart from our thoughts.
Chapter XXVI.
Five Kinds Of Works Of Love, In Which The Grace And Goodness Of God Are Especially Revealed
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.– Ps. 87:2.
There are chiefly five arguments of the love of God. 1. Christ's incarnation. 2. His suffering. 3. God's indwelling in us. 4. God's love shining forth out of the creatures. 5. His amiableness in his own Being, therein surpassing all created things.
2. I. Where love is, there is union; for it is the nature of love that it unites itself with the beloved. Now, as God loved man so mightily, it could not be otherwise but that he must unite himself again unto man after his fall, and out of pure love and mercy become a man. Ah! “What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him!” Psalm 8:4. The soul of man is so beloved of God, that as Christ is God and man, having united himself with human nature, with our body and soul: so also God loves our soul so much that he desires to pour himself wholly into the same, if it were perfectly purified, and man did not resist him. For there is infinite love in God, which is unutterable. This is, then, one of the greatest demonstrations of the love of God, that God is made man, and has showed himself a true lover of men, having 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 into heaven. O what a noble exchange! and all for this end, that we in him might be loved of God. It is as if God did call 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 deep love to you; that he might bring you all with himself to me, and ye all might be made my children and heirs!” Therefore the Lord always calls himself in the Gospel the Son of Man, out of an intimate love to us. We seldom read that he calls himself the Son of God, but always the Son of Man, from an affectionate humility and love.
3. II. Although his holy incarnation is a very great argument of his love to us, yet his holy suffering and dying for our sins are a still greater one. For “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. “In this was manifested the love of God towards us (saith St. John), that God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:9, 10. This is the highest love. Our God, according to his incomprehensible omnipotence, could have found out other means by which to redeem us; as the Lord Jesus Christ himself prayed for it in his agony, saying: “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” Mark 14:36. But then it would not have been the highest love shown to us. In order that God might bestow the highest love upon us, and that we might not be able to say, “God has something which he loves too dearly to give it to us;” he has given us his dear Son, and not only given him, but given him also to be the propitiation for our sins. Therefore he could not have showed us greater love. Therein God commandeth his love towards us. Rom. 5:8. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32. Hath he given us that which is the greatest, he will surely give us that also which is less. In the eternal life all that is God's shall be ours. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” Rev. 21:7.
4. III. Further, God shows his love to us, by his dwelling among us, and in us. O what a great 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 commanded to consecrate, to sanctify, and to sprinkle it with the blood of the sacrifice; for “almost all things were by the law purged with blood.” Heb. 9:22. And thereupon the glory of God came from heaven, and filled the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34); so also, after Christ died for our sins, and after we are sanctified through his blood, God comes to us and makes his abode with us.
5. Whom we love, with him we delight to be. God loves mankind tenderly; therefore he delights 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.” Isa. 57:15. And again, with whom we delight to be, him we tenderly love. God delights to be with men; therefore he loves men tenderly, according to the Psalm: “In the saints on earth, and in the excellent, is all my delight.” Ps. 16:3. This assurance 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. What (sayest thou), doth he love them whom he suffers to come under so many crosses? I answer, Yes, that he may through the cross make them glorious. As their sufferings here abound, so also shall their consolations abound there. 2 Cor. 1:5. The greater afflictions are on earth, the greater joy and glory are in heaven. 2 Cor. 4:17.
6. And this is the reason why God makes many people sorrowful; namely, that he may dwell in their hearts; for he delights to dwell nowhere more than in a poor and contrite spirit. Ps. 34:19; Isa. 66:2. God fills us here with his grace, that he may fill us hereafter with his glory, even as he fills and illuminates the heavenly Jerusalem. Rev. 21:23.
7. IV. The love of God shines forth also out of the creatures. When St. Paul would desire for his Ephesians the best, the highest, and the most glorious 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. Eph. 3:18. He means to say so much, that the love of God is higher than heaven, deeper than the sea, broader than the earth, longer than it is from east to west, according to Psalm 103:11.
12. In a word, heaven and earth are full of the love of God: for all that God hath created, be it visible or invisible, he hath created for this end, that his inexpressible goodness and love might therein be manifested. And, therefore, he hath given to man both inward and outward senses, that thereby he might perceive the goodness and love of God. For all that man can apprehend by his understanding, thoughts, mind, and reason, as well as what he apprehends with his outward senses, altogether bears witness to the love of God. All that man hath, is a testimony of the love of God; yea, all creatures, visible and invisible, are, as it were, so many messengers of God, declaring unto us his love; and he speaks to us through them, saying, “Behold the heaven and earth, and all creatures! I have created all out of love to man.” And whenever we perceive the pleasantness of the creatures, we perceive the goodness of God; so that both with our inward and outward senses we can taste and see that the Lord is good, according to the words of the 34th Psalm, ver. 8.
8. The sun speaks to us by its light and warmth, as if it said: “Look upon me, the greatest and the brightest creature among all visible things: He must be great that made me.” Ps. 19:1, etc. But not only through beautiful creatures doth God speak to us, but also through the most despicable worm, as if God did say: “Lo, thou art beholden to me thy Creator, that I, who could have made thee a worm, have, out of mercy, made thee a man.” Here remember him who said: “I am a worm, and no man.” Ps. 22:6. Thus God speaks unto man through all the creatures, declares his love to him, and invites, leads, and draws us unto himself. This is that wisdom of God which in all places uttereth “her voice in the streets,” which “rejoiceth in the habitable part of the earth, and whose delights are with the sons of men.” Prov. 1:20; 8:31.
9. Indeed, if we consider the matter aright, we are encompassed by the love of God, even as we are all inclosed under heaven, seeing that “in God we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28. Man can go nowhere, but the love and goodness of God follow after him, and call him through all the creatures, nay, through his own heart and conscience, saying: “Whither wilt thou go, beloved child? Whither shalt thou flee from my presence? If thou ascendest up into heaven, I am there. If thou makest thy bed in hell, behold I am there. If thou takest the wings of the morning, and dwellest in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall my hand lead thee, and my right hand shall hold thee.” Ps. 139:7, etc. Therefore, come unto me, and acknowledge my love and grace, with which I meet thee in every creature. Hast thou sinned, grace abounds with me; hast thou left me, my love and mercy have not yet rejected thee, but are continually hastening after thee, have been calling to thee, and, as a wandering sheep, have sought after thee. And if thou believest not these many testimonies of all the creatures, believe the testimony of my dear Son, how I have loved the world in him. John 3:16. “Thou canst nowhere find rest for thy soul except here; turn which way thou wilt, thou must and canst only rest in my love and grace.” O how blessed is the heart which understands that heaven and earth are full of the love of God, and that he has as many witnesses of his love as there are creatures! But the greatest and highest witness of all is the Son of God.
10. V. We know also the love of God, from the amiableness of his own being. From the visions of the prophets, and the Revelation of St. John, we can observe that God Almighty is so lovely and beautiful, as infinitely to transcend all the beauty and loveliness of the world. He is the beauty of all things beautiful, and the loveliness of all things lovely, 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 saw the beauty and glory of Him but for a moment, the greatest torment would be changed into the greatest joy;” as it happened to St. Stephen, when he saw the glory of God, and said: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Acts 7:56. God is so lovely and beautiful, that if a man saw him for a thousand years together, it would seem to him but one hour. For in beholding the loveliness and glory of God, all time is swallowed up; so that the more any one sees God, the more he desires to see him; the more he loves God, the more he will love; and the more he praises God, the more will he praise him; according to the words of Xystus, an ancient teacher: “Devout 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 although they have praised him from the beginning, they have not yet praised him enough: for “God is more to be praised, than all praise can express; and more lovely, than the love of all the creatures can reach.” 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 one desires to love him. He is so to be praised that the end of his praises cannot be attained; so lovely to be looked upon, that looking upon him never makes us weary; so comfortable to be heard, that he never can be heard enough. Tauler says, “If one might taste but a drop of the perfect love of God, all the joys and pleasures of this world would be changed to us into the greatest bitterness.” The saints have endured the greatest torments for the sake of the love of God, and have given up their lives; and if they had a thousand bodies, they would hazard them all, that they might keep the love of God; as the Psalmist says, “Thy loving kindness is better than life; therefore my lips shall praise thee.” Ps. 63:3. God is so high, so noble, and so pure a Good, that the more any one knows him, the more he loves him. He is so tender and perfect a 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 the soul which is filled with the love of God. He will be conscious in his soul of such amiableness as cannot be found in time among creatures.
11. Behold now, ye children of men, how deceived ye are by the love of the world. What is it which any man can obtain by the love of temporal things, but sorrow, trouble, loss of time, unprofitable words (of which an account must be given), wranglings, fightings, and a burdened conscience? Surely all the children of men shall one day sorely repent that they have so much loved the world, and the things therein: according to the warning given us by St. John, saying, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15, etc. Therefore every man ought to mourn all the days of his life that he ever loved anything more than God only. If God pours into thy heart his love, so that thou lovest him above all things, then he has given thee the best thing he hath, even Himself.