Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…

Besides all this, he hath done it out of love, as the Apostle expresseth it, he loved me, and gave himself for me. ¹Love begets love, as fire begets fire, and makes a man ready to do any thing. If a man consider that Jesus Christ abounded in love, there is no creature in the world that ever loved another so much as Christ loves his Church. He loved thee with all impediments, he loved thee though thou didst forget him, and recompense him evil for good, and dishonouredst him again and again, yet his love continued the same to thee. Thou feest by experience he abounds in love to thee; he hath all the properties of love, he is not easily provoked, he is long suffering, he is bountiful; he takes a small thing in good part. Let all this work on thy heart, and say Christ is worthy, he deserves it: And besides all this, if thou stir up thy strength, and put it forth with loss to thy self for his sake, to his use, consider, he regards it, and looks on all thy works and sufferings, Rev. 2 I know thy works ²and thy sufferings, that is, I know every thing that thou doest for my sake, I take notice of every thing thou sufferest for my sake. So that every man is to take this into consideration, to put him on to do this, that the Lord sits in heaven, and considers what cost thou art at for his sake upon any occasion, what pains thou takest in matters that concerns him, what solicitude is in thy heart for ⟨p. 228⟩him: what thoughts thou bestowest in any business of his to bring it to pass; this he observes. Remember, he considers what advantages thou deprivest thy self of in thy estate, or otherwise, to do his work; he considers what friends thou losest to keep close to him, what advancement and preferment thou partest with for his service. I say there shall none of these be lost, not a cup of cold water, that is, not the least of these actions; there is not one, but it is upon Gods score, he reckons it among his debts that he will be sure to pay. All this shall further thy account, all this is seed sown to the Spirit, all these good works shall lie at thy door to do thee good one time or other.

Besides all this, he hath done it out of love, as the Apostle expresseth it, he loved me, and gave himself for me.