OCR Text |
Show r.1'rop. 'Whm t.h~ ~{}J(t it Qici<. 11j Love ... ·fe~fe, wa.d'Av£; pailions are exprelj ip·t\t~t -.wqr<l; "!a~ ~icl, I ill" wounded w ~tit [j,o,ve;. fo .tbe S•pt. an<Hhc .(~afr., at),~ otn~ri\Ufi~l).\ ' vcr.fions which folk>w them. ;J'he T~Tht wLI) f~ll, If! tO. lr<D Bro-. .politicos; what is necc!far•y for the expli<;ation of the Text,_ you ·{hall have·in the •.\!.xplication ofthofePIOpolitiops;\\'hich ~re thefr 'tWO. •i ,, t .. ,- _ ~o Prop. f.I'b~ . b~lie11ing S-~ut "'-~) bt. Sick,..[ Ifov~,:-l ·"' . 2. Prop. <Cirrift /Jatb·:protJidedfo" hi< (Jimrpb., . Flqg_~'(S toftay it,: 'and Apple.s toft"eitgtbm and comf.,t •it rr>l!eH it i< Sic ~ ofLo,ve~ I 'begin with thdidt of theft: ' . . . , · r. 1/u b•liev.ing S rnd m>y be tiel(, nf Lqve, ·or fi<;k ~>>ifll or throNg/, we. Wew.ill /Jirfllenquire, r-.JI(t,.t-Love i< b~re nte~p~, 2 . When a Sout may. bd faidi to_be Sick.: q>ith :I;.ove • . v -Wimtce .thi4 Sick.Jitfi, (tlmi<~gh J!.olie) arifilt~in a -G{~i04~ hP:trt· +·What improve· .mont.mav bem:ule<lfih15. ' · - r. -~· What LovL if tb~ of which the Text {peal;_etbl I hope every one that hears me, unded!an<\s it of a p.tm Spiri- 1util :Uve, '( 'of which alone this mofi e)lcellcnt Song fpeaketh.) The M~caphorind·eed is dra.wn ftQm c,rna;l"[.. q wrs who may be ftck thoough ca.maLand impure LQve, as Amn,>n was for Tba,.ar. Love (as Ilhall !11ew you more p~rticularly by and by, hath a .power to make the Soul lick, (let what will be the object: ) It is the prcvalency of the palllon which makes the Soul Sick. But 'here then may be a quefiion, Whether the Spoufe fpeaketh of the Love cfCbriJf to the Soul, or of the Love of the Soul to Chrift? I am not willing to firairen the fenfe o£holy Writ, dictated by an inn· nite wifdom, and fo capable fometimes of more than one intcrpre· ~asinn. ·• , · , Firfl therefore,it may bromderftood of Love in a paf]ive /otfe, as the believing Soul is the Object of it, ''d··!lto:nay be under!tood of LoVf in an a<iive fen[e, as the be· lie•i;n!!i Soul rs tho[Hhj-ea of it. :But, . I_ -2, -~: · Hv-a> or when may .a Svl!l befaidlo be Sick,_ of Lovtl ' I anfwerchielly in"two cafes. r. When the beorl u ovtrcoone with infolmcf!J of Divine £ove; fuch a : hing may be thougl;l the heat an<l 'watmth .of the Sun,doth refrelh and comfort u.~ yet it may be fn::great an -iftll'tfriilcef 'i'&niay', ov<lrcome us and-make us faint and fick' 1' iRaUgn_ooming hp rMJ'e f we~t than light ( which is pl_e•·. fanHO•the.ey.e )1 yet tliere may,h~Jfuc!), qegr<:i!S of it -as .may· b)md us,• oalld olfend our0eyes. SP tbo,l\~ tl)ere be nothing in the .I · World Wliefl ihe SoHl'il Sic~{, of Lwe• World Co pleafant ami fweet, and ~efrefhinf; ro the Soul ofl Chrifiiao, as the light ofG'odr cou~tenance, and the expreilionsiofGods Love, and favour to the Soul of the S'ainr; yet t~re may be fach manifellations of it to the Souls t>f Gods people, rhanhey maY. be unable to bear it, even a5 unable to bear the manifa liarions of. Divine Love, as the manifefiations of Divine -Wrath. 2. •[I,;, ficlt,>uji 4 Love may alfo be for 11!a·nt nf Sati<foSi•n: As the wife-man, Prcv. 13. 1 2 . lays of hope : tiJ-•t hope deferred mai<! th·tbe heort Sick,_: So it is t~ue of J,.ovc, indeed of any pallion ol~ the mind ; when it wori<s towards any object !lrongly, and ob. tai.neth it not, it mgkes the Soul lick. The A11gry man is lick becau( c he cannot glut himfdf with Revenge: T ne CGv<ltous man. i·s Sick ( as in Ah•b's-cale ) becaufo he cannot get rrhe !,'Joules, Lands, Riches, &c. which he d•elires, -and fo of the re!t according to the variety of their pailion~ : So lhe -gracious Soul t hat hath fixed itfelf upon a Spiritual Object, as apprehending in 'it a moll tranthndent, excellent good, may. •be Sick._ of Lwe, when at any time it apprehendeth the want of Divine Lo~c to it, tha.t !( as rhe Apofile fpeaks )t/u·m•rt it l•vn,the ltji it fremetb again t4bebtl0ve~ Hence an anfweris eafy to the third Que!lion: · ,! ,; t 3• Q!!. Whence thll Siei(,Ht[s of ,Love arifetb ' in· 10 gNcioik- Sot<l? . · _, I may reduce all to two heads, upon either- of which· I wiH· c!ifcourfe a little. - · ,. . The Firfi is the 8o~els inability to bear thef~tUer inf/utn~es. 'Of.di• ~tHe Lave ; or the total want •ffucb influences: I fay the Son! isunable to bear either. It i~ una-ble to bear th~ litil, bt!caufe it hath b~t a finite capacity, ahd there is the very fame 'natural reafon for tlus, as for the btldiesfurfeiting of its ptopar food; the eyes being·. clfend~d with lir;ht which is its proper ·6b'je<l-. Let th~ 'object be r~cver fo proper to any faculty; yet the faculty b~h1g!bar :finite it· m~ lt ?e meafm•ed' to it in a due prt>potti<>'n, llr iris a-vetcome With lt. Thou~ the Love of God; and the m•nifeliatillnof.it tO• the Soul, be the Souls proper Obje&s, and fuch as are-more emi•nen_ tly !uite~- t~ its neceilities- than any other · good· things are,. whtch 10 thts ltfc we are capable of; yet the Soul is no more able· t<l receive thefe influences in fuch full proportions, as God-is able t·o meafure them out to the Soul, than the eye of man is able tO• behold the Glory of God; which Gocl 'kriowi\,g MOfi!s \tas not able to·bear, tberefore hid him. in the hole of a Rock, that he. might. |