_This is the love of G.o.d, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous._-1 JOHN 5:3.
As G.o.d has implanted in every man a faculty of willing or desiring, which we call the will, which is also the seat of love, both which mutually depend on each other; and as man knows that the chief Good is to be loved by him, and that G.o.d is that chief Good; hence it follows, that he alone has a natural knowledge both that he ought to love G.o.d, and also of the reasons that oblige him to it.
2. For as brute creatures are fond of their benefactors; so man is under the highest obligations to love G.o.d, from whom he has received all that he has; and if he do not, he is more stupid and ungrateful than the beasts that perish. Rom. 12:9; Isa. 1:3. Moreover, as it is the nature of love to exclude all weariness and sadness (which are the effects of hatred and displeasure), and to sweeten and soften all the labors and difficulties that may attend the service of the person beloved (1 Cor. 13:4, etc.); so we are obliged to express our love to G.o.d, by all possible tokens of satisfaction and joy; since love is the happiness and comfort of our souls. And in this appear the kindness and love of G.o.d towards man, that he does not exact of us a hard, severe, and painful service; but only the sweet, the joyful, the comfortable exercise of love. Love casts out fear, anguish, and torment; otherwise it ceases to be love. Love conquers all difficulties, and drives away all sorrow, filling the soul with joy and gladness; so that if we love not G.o.d, we are without excuse.
3. By this I do not mean, that man, since the fall, can by his own strength and power, perfectly love G.o.d as he ought; but to show that every man is convinced in his own conscience, that he ought to love him as well as he can; that he who does not, is worse than the beasts; and that both nature and religion oblige us thereto.
Chapter XVIII.
Showing That Our Duty To G.o.d Tends To Promote Our Own Happiness.
_By thy commandments is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward._-PS. 19:11.
Having sufficiently proved, in the first and second Chapters, that G.o.d is an absolute, infinite, and superabundant Good, having all perfection in and of himself, and receiving no benefit from the service and worship of the creature; it follows, that all our religious services, as they cannot be enjoined without a purpose, so they must tend directly to _our_ benefit and advantage. All the time and pains, therefore, which we spend in the service of G.o.d, are really and truly laid out in the service of ourselves.
2. For so great are the kindness and love of G.o.d towards men, that He has pointed out to them the path of love, that they might walk in it, and drink plentifully of the waters of life. O the boundless love of G.o.d, who has made even our duty to be our happiness!
3. But here we must not think that we can merit anything by the services which we pay to Him; for, in truth, all the blessings that we receive either in this life or the next, are solely owing to the free grace and favor of G.o.d. The sense and meaning of this Chapter then is this: that the virtues or vices of men are neither profitable nor hurtful unto G.o.d, but only unto themselves.
Chapter XIX.
The Service Which The Creatures Render To Man, Compared With That Which Man Renders To G.o.d.
_My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy soul._-PROV. 3:21, 22.
As we have already shown that there are two sorts of services; one which the creatures render to man, and the other which men render to G.o.d, both tending to the sole happiness of man; it remains now that we show the resemblance and relation that subsists between them. As for the service of the creatures, it is not in the power of man to make any retribution for the good they do us (for everything that we have is G.o.d"s): nor indeed is it fit to do this, because all the goodness of the creatures is no more than a little stream of divine goodness, flowing to us through them; and to Him alone, the Author and Fountain of all good, all our love and grat.i.tude are due. So then, though a man cannot subsist one moment without the a.s.sistance of the creatures, yet are they not the proper objects of our love, but G.o.d alone; who, by their services, endeavors to oblige and draw us to a reciprocal love and service to himself. For what advantage is it to us, to live by the help of the creatures, unless we live unto G.o.d.
2. This then is the intention of G.o.d: to instruct us, by the cheerful services which the creatures pay to us, how cheerfully we ought to love, to serve, and obey him. For as man cannot live without the help of the creatures, such as the air and universal nature; so he spiritually dies unto G.o.d whenever he ceases to obey him and to live in Christ. Moreover, as the life of man is nothing worth, if it be not G.o.dly and devout; so the service of the creatures profits him nothing, if he also be not active and cheerful in the service of G.o.d. And as the natural life is nothing, when compared with a life of G.o.dliness and devotion; so the service we pay to G.o.d, profits us much more than all the service the creatures pay to us.
3. Nay, he that serveth not G.o.d, is not worthy of the service of the creatures; for as they were made for the service of man, so man was made for the service of G.o.d; and all the duty they pay to us, is only to encourage us in our duty to our Maker. When this end is not answered, we may not only be said to use the creatures in vain, but to abuse them. The end of all that has been said, is this: that as G.o.d has commanded the creatures to contribute to the support of our natural life, he thereby instructs us to devote and dedicate that life entirely to His honor and service.
Chapter XX.
All Things Are Preserved By The Hand Of G.o.d.
_The hand of our G.o.d is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him._-EZRA 8:22.
As man, the n.o.blest of the creatures, cannot subsist one moment without the help of those that are much inferior to himself; it follows, that their being, and the qualities by which they help and a.s.sist us, are entirely owing to G.o.d. Whosoever denies this, must believe that they who want not our help, must be more worthy than we, who cannot subsist without theirs.
2. But the more natural conclusion would be, that if man cannot subsist without their help, they who are so much more ign.o.ble than he, must likewise depend on some superior being for their support and preservation.
But as He that supports the creatures, also supports mankind by their means, it is plain, that he can be nothing less than the Creator and Maker of all things. For nothing can preserve our being, but he that gave it, and that is G.o.d, who ordained the creatures for our sakes, and man for his own.
Chapter XXI.
Showing That From The Service Of Man And The Creatures, A Union Takes Place Between The Visible World, Man, And G.o.d.
_Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O king of nations?_-JEREM. 10:6, 7.-_If then I be a father, where is mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my fear?_-MAL. 1:6.
Let us now consider and admire the wonderful union of all the creatures with G.o.d, by that double service of which we have spoken. For as all the creatures were made for the use of man, thence arises a certain relation or union between man and them; as there is by our duty and service to G.o.d, between us and him. For as G.o.d intended to draw man to himself by the cords of love, so he commanded all the creatures to do service unto man, as being created for his use alone; and this is a strong obligation upon us to love, serve, and honor _him_.
2. Hence we may learn, that all the duty they pay to us, or we to G.o.d, tends solely to the good and benefit of man. As for the other creatures, they reap no benefit or advantage from their several labors and services, but only that every one is looked upon to be more or less excellent, in proportion to the service they respectively do to man. So likewise G.o.d receives no advantage from our services to him; but the greater love any man has for G.o.d, the more n.o.ble he is, and the greater benefit he receives. Whence it appears, how wonderfully this twofold service unites the creatures to man, and man to G.o.d,
3. And would to G.o.d that the bond of union which is between G.o.d and man, were as strong as that which is between man and the creatures! They are incessantly employed in the service of man, and never act in a manner contrary to this design of their creation; but man, on the other hand, bursts the yoke, and breaks the bonds of duty which G.o.d has laid upon him, debasing himself below the beasts, though so much more n.o.ble than they.
Now if the laws of nature and reason require the creatures to be obedient to man, as their lord, how much more just and reasonable is it, that man should be obedient unto G.o.d? For as the soul is much more n.o.ble than the body, so is the inward and spiritual service of G.o.d much more excellent than that external and bodily service of the creatures. And thus by the duty and service of man to his Maker, are all the creatures united unto G.o.d, and perfected in charity, that they may not be created in vain.
Chapter XXII.
From The Love Which We Owe To G.o.d, Proceeds That Which We Owe To Our Neighbor.
_This commandment have we from him, That he who loveth G.o.d love his brother also._-1 JOHN 4:21.
As we have already shown above, that our love is entirely due to G.o.d, and that this is the first and chief obligation upon us; hence it follows, that it would be highly unjust to alienate that love from him, and fix it upon any other object. As G.o.d has appropriated all his love to us, so ought we entirely to consecrate ours to him. For though the creatures indeed do us good, yet they are only agents, and, in truth, _G.o.d_ does us good by their means, forasmuch as he supports, enables, and commands them to minister to our necessities. Whence it follows, that man also, being a creature of G.o.d, appointed to minister to his neighbor, if he does him any service, ought not to claim any honor or love for himself, which are due to G.o.d alone.
2. But as man is obliged to love G.o.d above all things, so he is thereby bound to unite his will and love with the will and love of G.o.d, and to love all mankind as created in the image of G.o.d, as freely and sincerely as G.o.d himself loves them. And he that saith he loves G.o.d, and loves not his brother, created in the image of G.o.d, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; for every one that truly loveth G.o.d, will love his brother also.
Chapter XXIII.
Man Is Made In The Image Of G.o.d.