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I shall post but an excerpt from pages 217 & 218 of this book.
The Marrow of Modern Divinity was first published in 1645 & 1649 by Edward Fisher, and reprinted in 1718 by Thomas Boston, of which this is from the 1718 tome.
"True it is, that we are all of us, indeed, too unclean to touch God in immediate unity; but yet there is a pure counterpart of our natures, 372 and that pure humanity is immediately knit to the purest Deity; and by that immediate union you may come to a mediate union; for the Deity and that humanity being united, make one Saviour, head, and husband of souls. And so you being married to him, that is, God in him, you come also to be one with God: he one by a personal union, and you one by a mystical. Clear up then your eye, and fix it on him, as on the fairest of men, the perfection of a spiritual beauty, the treasure heavenly joy, the true object of most fervent love. Let your spirits look, and long, and seek after this Lord: let your souls cleave to him, let them hang about him, and never leave him, till he be brought into the chambers of your souls; yea, tell him resolutely, you will not leave him, till you hear his voice in your souls, saying, "My well-beloved is mine, and I am his"; yea, and tell him, you are "sick of love." Let your souls go, as it were, out of your bodies and out of the world, by heavenly contemplations; and treading upon the earth with the bottom of your feet, stretch your souls up, to look over the world, into that upper world, where her treasure is,373 and where her beloved dwelleth.
And when any of your souls shall thus forget her own people, her father's house, Christ her King shall so desire her beauty, (Psa 45:10,11), and be so much in love with her, that, like a loadstone, this love of his shall draw the soul in pure desire to him again; and then, "as the hart panteth after the rivers of waters, so will your soul pant after God," (Psa 42:1).
And then, according to the measure of your faith, your souls shall come to have a real rest in God, and be filled with joy unspeakable and glorious.
Wherefore, I beseech you, set your mouths to this fountain Christ, and so shall your souls be filled with the water of life, with the oil of gladness, and with the new wine of the kingdom of God; from him you shall have weighty joys, sweet embracements, and ravishing consolations. And how can it be otherwise, when your souls shall really communicate with God, and by faith have a true taste, and by the spirit have a sure earnest of all heavenly preferments; having, as it were, one foot in heaven, whilst you live upon earth? Oh then, what an eucharistical love 374 will arise from your thankful hearts, extending itself first towards God, and then towards man for God's sake! and then, according to the measure of your faith, will be your willing obedience to God, and also to man for God's sake; for obedience being the kindly fruit of love, a loving soul bringeth forth this fruit as kindly as a good tree bringeth forth her fruit; for the soul, having tasted Christ in a heavenly communion, so loves him, that to please him is a pleasure and delight to herself: and the more Christ Jesus comes
372 Namely, the pure and spotless human nature of Christ.
373 Your soul's.
374 A love of thanksgiving, bearing thankfulness in its nature.
------------------------------------------------------------217-----------------------------------
into the soul by his Spirit, the more spiritual he makes her; and turns her will into his will, making her of one heart, mind, and will, with him. So that, for a conclusion, this I say, that if the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ be truly made known to your souls, according to the measure thereof, you shall have no need to frame and force yourselves to love and do good works, for your souls will ever stand bound375 to love God, and to keep his commandments, and it will be your meat and drink to do his will. And truly this love of God will cut down self-love and love of the world, for the sweetness of Christ's Spirit will turn the sweetness of the flesh into bitterness, and the sweetness of the world into contempt. And if you can behold Christ with open face, you shall see and feel things unutterable, and be changed from beauty to beauty, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of this Lord, and so be happy in this life, in your union with happiness, and happy hereafter in the full fruition of happiness:376 whither the Lord Jesus Christ bring us all in his due time. Amen.
375 Or constrained by the force of that love.
376 That is, of God himself in Christ."
----------------------------------------------------------218-----------------------------------
The full book, all 334 pages can be read here. I'll definitely be spending some time with this! I've gone through it and copied out select portions , but shall certainly peruse more when I have the time.
The Marrow of Modern Divinity was first published in 1645 & 1649 by Edward Fisher, and reprinted in 1718 by Thomas Boston, of which this is from the 1718 tome.
"True it is, that we are all of us, indeed, too unclean to touch God in immediate unity; but yet there is a pure counterpart of our natures, 372 and that pure humanity is immediately knit to the purest Deity; and by that immediate union you may come to a mediate union; for the Deity and that humanity being united, make one Saviour, head, and husband of souls. And so you being married to him, that is, God in him, you come also to be one with God: he one by a personal union, and you one by a mystical. Clear up then your eye, and fix it on him, as on the fairest of men, the perfection of a spiritual beauty, the treasure heavenly joy, the true object of most fervent love. Let your spirits look, and long, and seek after this Lord: let your souls cleave to him, let them hang about him, and never leave him, till he be brought into the chambers of your souls; yea, tell him resolutely, you will not leave him, till you hear his voice in your souls, saying, "My well-beloved is mine, and I am his"; yea, and tell him, you are "sick of love." Let your souls go, as it were, out of your bodies and out of the world, by heavenly contemplations; and treading upon the earth with the bottom of your feet, stretch your souls up, to look over the world, into that upper world, where her treasure is,373 and where her beloved dwelleth.
And when any of your souls shall thus forget her own people, her father's house, Christ her King shall so desire her beauty, (Psa 45:10,11), and be so much in love with her, that, like a loadstone, this love of his shall draw the soul in pure desire to him again; and then, "as the hart panteth after the rivers of waters, so will your soul pant after God," (Psa 42:1).
And then, according to the measure of your faith, your souls shall come to have a real rest in God, and be filled with joy unspeakable and glorious.
Wherefore, I beseech you, set your mouths to this fountain Christ, and so shall your souls be filled with the water of life, with the oil of gladness, and with the new wine of the kingdom of God; from him you shall have weighty joys, sweet embracements, and ravishing consolations. And how can it be otherwise, when your souls shall really communicate with God, and by faith have a true taste, and by the spirit have a sure earnest of all heavenly preferments; having, as it were, one foot in heaven, whilst you live upon earth? Oh then, what an eucharistical love 374 will arise from your thankful hearts, extending itself first towards God, and then towards man for God's sake! and then, according to the measure of your faith, will be your willing obedience to God, and also to man for God's sake; for obedience being the kindly fruit of love, a loving soul bringeth forth this fruit as kindly as a good tree bringeth forth her fruit; for the soul, having tasted Christ in a heavenly communion, so loves him, that to please him is a pleasure and delight to herself: and the more Christ Jesus comes
372 Namely, the pure and spotless human nature of Christ.
373 Your soul's.
374 A love of thanksgiving, bearing thankfulness in its nature.
------------------------------------------------------------217-----------------------------------
into the soul by his Spirit, the more spiritual he makes her; and turns her will into his will, making her of one heart, mind, and will, with him. So that, for a conclusion, this I say, that if the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ be truly made known to your souls, according to the measure thereof, you shall have no need to frame and force yourselves to love and do good works, for your souls will ever stand bound375 to love God, and to keep his commandments, and it will be your meat and drink to do his will. And truly this love of God will cut down self-love and love of the world, for the sweetness of Christ's Spirit will turn the sweetness of the flesh into bitterness, and the sweetness of the world into contempt. And if you can behold Christ with open face, you shall see and feel things unutterable, and be changed from beauty to beauty, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of this Lord, and so be happy in this life, in your union with happiness, and happy hereafter in the full fruition of happiness:376 whither the Lord Jesus Christ bring us all in his due time. Amen.
375 Or constrained by the force of that love.
376 That is, of God himself in Christ."
----------------------------------------------------------218-----------------------------------
The full book, all 334 pages can be read here. I'll definitely be spending some time with this! I've gone through it and copied out select portions , but shall certainly peruse more when I have the time.
