Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	aaron_n	call_v	lord_n	37	3	3.1041	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A42781	Demonologia sacra, or, A treatise of Satan's temptations in three parts / by Richard Gilpin.	Gilpin, Richard, 1625-1700.	1677 (1677)	Wing G777; ESTC R8221	552,054	651

the high flown straines of it Montanus as vile as he was had the confidence to call himself the Comforter Novatus and his Brother would be no less than Moses and Aaron The Gnosticks called themselves the Illuminati The Swinkfieildians assumed the title of the Confessors of the Glory of Christ The Family of Love had their Evangelium Regni the Gospel of the Kingdom The Fratricelli distinguished themselves from others by the term Spiritual Muntzer asserted That all of his Opinion were Gods Elect and that all the Children of their Religion were to be called the Children of God and that all others were ungodly and designed to Damnation H. Nicholas affirms That there was no knowledg of Christ nor Scripture but in his Family To this purpose most of them speak that forsake the wayes of Truth and though these swellings are but wind and vapour yet those heights are very serviceable to the Devils purposes who by this means confirms those whom he hath already Conquered and then fits them out with the greater confidence to allure others and Men are apt enough to be drawn by fair shews and confident boastings But I proceed The third Stratagem of Satan for promoting Errour is to astonish Men with strange Language and affected expressions It was an old device of Satan to coyn an unintelligible gibberish as the proper vehicle of strange Enthusiasticks Doctrine and this he artificially suits to his pretended Mysteries without this his rare Discoveries would be too flat and dull to gain upon any Man of competent understanding For if these Dotages were cloathed in plain words they would either appear to be direct non-sence or ridiculous folly It concerns him when he hath any feats of Delusion in hand to set them off with a canting speech as juglers use their hard words of Ailif Casyl Zaze Presto Millat c. to put their ignorant Admirers into a belief of some unknown power by which they do their Wonders And this is in some sort necessary extraordinary matters are above expression and such wild expressions put Men into an expectation of things sublime This knack Satan hath constantly used Montanus had his strange Speeches And all along downward to our times we may observe That Errour hath had this gaudy dress the Familists especially abound with it you may read whole Books full of such a kind of speaking as the Book called Theologia Germanica or German Divinity the Books of Jacob Behmen The bright Morning Star c. Neither are the Papists free one of late hath taken the paines to shew them this and other follies among them you may find such talk as this of being beclosed in the mid-head of God and in his meek-head of being substantially united to God of being oned to God as also of the abstractedness of Life of passive Vnions of the Deiform fund of the Soul of a state of introversion of a Super-essential life a state of nothingness c. Just like the raveings of H. Nicholas David George and others who confidently discourse of being godded with God of being consubstantiated with the Deity and of Gods being manned with them I have oft considered what reason might be given for the takeingness of such expressions and have been forced to satisfie my self with these First Many mistake the knowledge of words for the knowledge of things And well may poor ignorant Men believe they have attained no man knows what by this device when among Learned Men the Knowledg of words is esteemed so great a pitch of Learning and they nourish a great many Controversies that are only verbal Secondly Some are pleased to be accounted Vnderstanders by others and rest in such high words as a badge of Knowledge Thirdly Some are delighted with such an hard Language upon an hope That it will lead them to the knowledg of the things at last they think strange expressions are a sign of deep Mysteries I knew one that set himself to the reading of Jacob Behmens Books though at present he confessed he was scarce able to make common sense of three lines together upon a secret enticement that he had from the Language to come to some excellent discovery by much pains and reading Fourthly Some that have their Fancies heated have by this means broken confused impressions of strange things in their imaginations and conceive themselves to know things beyond what common Language can express as if with Paul rapt up into the third Heaven they hear and see Wonders unutterable But what reason soever prevails with Men to take up such a way of speaking Satan makes them believe that it containes a rich Mine or Treasury not of common Truths but of extraordinary Profundities Fourthly In stead of Argument to confirm an Errour sometimes we have only bold Assertions that it is Truth and a confident condemning the contrary as an Errour urging the danger of Mens rejecting it backed with threatning of Hell and Damnation and all this in the words of Scripture To be sure they are right and all other Men are wrong This kind of confidence and fierceness hath been still the complexion of any remarkable way of Delusion for that commonly confines their Charity to their own Party which is a great token of an Errour not only may you observe in such extraordinary Proclamations of Wrath against those that will not believe them a practice used by the Mad Fanaticks of Munster who as our Quakers were wont to do go up and down the streets crying Wo wo Repent repent come out of Babylon the heavy Wrath of God the Axe is laid to the root of the Tree But in their more setled Teaching they pronounce all to be Antichrist and of the carnal Church that do oppose them Take for this H. Nicholas his words all Knowledg besides his is but witchery and blindness and all other Teachers and Learners are a false Christianity and the Devils Synagogue a nest of Devils and wicked Spirits a false Being the Antichrist the Kingdom of Hell the Majesty of the Devil c. This piece of Art not only our Quakers to whom nothing is more familiar than to say to any opposer Thou art Damn'd thou art in the Gall of bitterness the Lake of fire and brimstone is prepared for thee c. but also the Papists commonly practise who shut all out of Heaven that are not of their Church and when they would affright any from Protestanism they make not nice to tell him That there is no possibility of Salvation but in their way The Reasons of this Policy are these 1 The Heart is apt to be startled with threatnings and moved by commands especially those that are of a more tender and frightful Spirit and though they know nothing by themselves yet these beget fears which may secretly betray Reason and make Men leave the right way because of affrightment 2 The confidence of the Assertors of such things hath also its prevalency for Men are apt to think that

6. Is not this thy fear thy Confidence thy Hope and the uprightness of thy ways Which must not only be understood as an Ironical Scoss at the weakness of his Confidence and Hope as not being able to support him against fainting in his trouble but as a direct accusation of the falseness and Hypocrisy of his supposed Integrity and all the Hopes and Confidence which was built upon it and ver 7. doth evidence where he plainly declares himself to mean that Job could not be Innocent or Righteous it being in his apprehension a thing never heard of that so great Calamities should overtake an upright Man Whoever perished being Innocent The ground of which assertion was from ver 5. It is now come upon thee and thou faintest That is Distresses are upon thee and thou hast no visible means of help but despairest ever to see a Providence that will bring thee out therefore furely thou hast had no real Interest in God as his Child Eliphaz also seconds his Friend in this uncharitable Censure If thou wert pure and upright he would awake for thee that is because he doth thus overlook thee therefore thou art not pure and upright If Men do thus assault the Comforts of God's Children we have reason enough to think that Satan will for besides that we may conclude they are set on work by the Devil and what he speaks by them he will also by other ways promote as being a design that is upon his Heart we may be confident that this being a Surmise so Natural to the Heart of Man he will not let slip so fair an advantage for the forming of it in our own Hearts against our selves Secondly The best of Gods Children in such cases escape it very hardly if at all which declares not only the depth and Power of that Policy but also how usual it is with Satan to urge the Servants of God with it Job chap. 19. 25. recovered himself to a firm perswasion of Sonship I know that my Redeemer liveth c. but by the way his Foot had well-nigh slipt when ver 10 11. he cryes out He hath destroyed me on ever side and I am gone he hath also kindled his Wrath against me and he counteth me unto him as one of his Enemies His earnest resolve not to give up his Trust in God and the Confidence of his Integrity is sufficient to discover Satans ●ager Indeavours to have him bereaved of it Thirdly Satans Success in this Temptation over the Saints of God who sometime have actually failed shews how much it is his work to cast down their hopes of Interest in God by overthrowing their Trust in his Providences If he attempts this and that successfully on such whose frequent Experiences might discourage the Tempter and in probability frustrate his undertaking We have little cause to think that he will be more sparing and gentle in this Assault upon those that are more weak and less acquainted with those Clouds and Darknesses that overshadow the ways of Providence David for all the Promises that he had received and notwithstanding the manifold tryals that he had of seasonable and unexpected deliverances yet when he was distressed he once and again falls into a fear of his Soul and a questioning of God's Favour He complains as one utterly forsaken Why hast thou forsaken me In Psal 69. He expresseth himself ver 1. sinking in the deep Mire as a Man that had no firm ground to stand upon and that his troubles had brought him to fear the state of his Soul not only as deprived of God's Favour and therefore ver 17. begs that his Face may be no longer hid but also as suspecting the loss of it ver 18. draw nigh unto my Soul and redeem it Psal 77. upon the occasion of outward Troubles Asaph falls into such a fit of fear about his Spiritual Condition that no consideration of former Mercies could relieve him He remembred God ver 3. but was troubled he considered the days of old called to remembrance his Songs in the Night But none of these were effectual to keep him from that sad outcry of Distrust ver 7. Will the Lord cast off for ever is his Mercy clean gone for ever hath God forgotten to be Gracious c. Which upon the review in the composing of the Psalm he acknowledgeth an unbelieving miscarriage I said this is mine infirmity Fourthly 'T is also a common and ordinary thing with most to entertain misapprehensions of their Spiritual Condition when they meet with disappointments of Providence Hence the Apostle Heb. 12. 5 6. when he would quiet the Hearts of Men under the Lords Chastening doth of purpose make use of this encouragement that God speaks to them in the Rod as to Children and such as are under his Care and Love My Son despise not the Chastening of the Lord whom the Lord loveth he chastneth c. Which certainly tells us thus much that 't is ordinary for Men to doubt their Son-ship because of their Afflictions We may conjecture what the Malady is when we know what is prepared as a Medicine This would not have been a common Remedy that we may be Children though we be scourged if the disbelief of this had not been the usual interpretation of Afflictions and a common Distemper Fifthly We may further take notice that those disquiets of Mind that were only occasioned by outward things and seem to have no Affinity either in the nature of the occasion or present Inclination of the Party with a Spiritual Trouble yet if they continue long do wholly change their Nature they that at first only troubled themselves for losses or crosses forget these Troubles and take up fears for their Souls Sometime this ariseth from a natural softness and timerousness of Spirit such are apt to misgive upon any occasion and to say Surely If I were his Child he would not thus forsake me his fatherly Compassions would some way or other work towards me Sometime this ariseth from Melancholly contracted or heightned by outward Troubles These when they continue long and peirce deep put Men into a Spirit of heaviness which makes them refuse to be comforted Here the Devil takes his advantage Vnlawful Sorrows are as delightfully improved by him as unlawful pleasures they are Diab●li Balneum his Bath in which he sports himself as the Leviathan in the Waters When for temporal Losses or Troubles Men fall into Melancholy if they be not relieved soon then their grief changeth its Object and presently they disquiet themselves as being out of God's Favour as being estranged from God as being of the number of the damned such against whom the Door of Mercy is shut and so cry out of themselves as hopeless and miserable The Observations of Physitians afford store of instances of this kind Felix Platerus gives one of a Woman at Basil who first grieved for the Death of her Son and when by this means she grew Melancholly