A glance of Heaven, or, A precious taste of a glorious feastA glance of Heaven, or, A pretious taste of a glorious feast

And to make us the more careful this way, consider that when we place our affections upon any thing else, consider the vanity of it; we loose our love, and the thing, and our selves. For whatsoever else we love, if we love ⟨p. 55⟩not God in it, and love it for God; it will perish, and come to nothing ere long. The affection perisheth with the thing, we loose our affections, and the thing, and loose our selves too misplacing of it. These are forcible considerations with understanding persons. And if we would use our understanding, and consideration, and meditation, and our souls, as we should, to consider of the grounds, and encouragements we have to love God, and the best things whereby we may be dignified above our selves, it would not be as it is: we should not be so devoid of grace, and comfort. It was a miracle that the 3. young men should be in the middest ⟨p. 56⟩of the furnace, and be there as if they were in another place, no hotter. And it is a miracle that men should be in the middest of all encouragements that we have to love God: as there is not the like reasons for any thing in the World to keep our souls in a perpetual heat, of affection to love God; no motives, or arguments, or incentives, all are nothing to the multitude of arguments, we have to inflame our affections: and yet to be cold in the middest of the fire, it is a kind of a miracle, to have dark understandings, and dead affections: that notwithstanding all the heavenly means we have to keep a perpetual flame of love to ⟨p. 57⟩God, yet to be cold, and dark in our souls: let us bewail it, and be ashamed of it.

And to make us the more carefull this way, consider that when wee place our affections upon any thing else, consider the vanity of it; we loose our love, and the thing, and our selves. For whatsoever else wee love, if we love ⟨p. 55⟩not God in it, and love it for God; it will perish, and come to nothing ere long. The affection perisheth with the thing, we loose our affections, and the thing, and loose our selves too misplaceing of it. These are forcible considerations with understanding persons. And if we would use our understanding, and consideration, and meditation, and our soules, as wee should, to consider of the grounds, and incouragments we have to love God, and the best things whereby we may be dignified above our selves, it would not be as it is: we should not bee so devoyd of grace, and comfort. It was a miracle that the 3. yong men should bee in the middest