Selected quad for the lemma: love_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A56717
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The work of the ministry represented to the clergy of the Diocese of Ely / by Symon, Lord Bishop of Ely.
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Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing P867; ESTC R33031
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38,681
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134
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upon us Of which you should endeavour to make your People sensible whereby they may be induced to observe them with Religious Joy Especially the three chief Festivals in memory of our Saviour's Nativity Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost But it is time to proceed to the other part of this Discourse which I propounded in the beginning And I must be the shorter in it because I have been longer in this than I at first intended PART II. HAving laid before you the Duties both private and publick which belong to your Holy Function I come now to treat a little of the Spirit wherewith they ought to be Performed SECT I. And above all things you must labour to possess your Hearts with a Spirit of Love to God whose Servants you are and who employs you in the most Glorious Work in the World A Spirit I say of Love to God the Father who hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World and to God the Son who loved the Church and gave himself for it and to God the Holy Ghost who hath by a peculiar Grace separated you from other Men to Minister unto Christ in his Church Which was a Witness of what was said to you at your Ordination Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of God These were not empty words nor mere lofty Expressions without any Power in them But an effectual Prayer for the Holy Spirit of Grace which was then conferred upon you And should mightily move you to serve the Church of Christ in the love of the Spirit as St. Paul speaks XV Rom. 30. That is in the Love which the Spirit of God inspires you withal For as he saith before in that Epistle V. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us So we pray in the Hymn which is recited at the Ordination of Priests Come Holy Ghost our Souls inspire And lighten us with Coelestial fire Thy blessed Unction from above Is comfort life and fire of Love These are not vain words if sent up with ardent Affection to God but procure for us the power of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and enliven and warm our Hearts with the Knowledge and Love of God our Saviour Which Love we should every day endeavour to stir up by reflecting upon the wonderful Love of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost unto us For so St. Chrysostom notes upon those words of St. Paul XV Rom. 30. He mentions the Love of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as Christ and the Father hath loved the World so hath the Spirit Upon this Love we ought to reflect every Morning and ponder it so long till we find it excite in us that Heavenly fire of Love to God which we prayed for at our Ordination For if we preserve this Flame in our Hearts it will make us cheerful as well as diligent restless and unwearied in the work of the Lord. Nothing can carry 〈◊〉 thorough it like this and render it so easy and sweet to us as to think we are serving our good God in that which he loves and delights to have done and to feel that every thing we do proceed from love to him and to his service Our Saviour teaches us that this is the Principle by which 〈◊〉 his Ministers ought to Act in that Question which he asks St. Peter and repeats it thrice after his Resurrection Simon Peter lovest thou me XX◠Joh. 15 16 17. And in the command which follows upon his profession that he sincerely loved Him Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep take care of the Souls of Young and Old that they want not their proper Food For they are so dear to him as Theophylact there Notes that he makes our care of them to be the mark of our Affection to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is therefore a certain token of our Love to him because it flows from thence as from its Fountain and Spring If we love him we can never neglect them This will make us studious and industrious to promote the Salvation of those Souls whom Christ so dearly loved It being the truest Expression of our Love to Christ So St. Chrysostom upon this place Christ repeated this so often to show us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After what manner we ought chiefly to love him by taking care of his flock Can any Man read this then and be negligent No not if he Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity who hath bid him demonstrate his Love by feeding his Lambs and his Sheep There are several other things saith that great Father of the Church which may give us some Confidence towards God nay make us Illustrious and Famous But that which above all things wins us the favour of Heaven is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tender care of our Neighbours Which leads to the next thing SECT II. Which is a sincere Love and Affection to the Souls of Men which Christ hath redeemed with his precious Blood If we make an estimate of them by the price which was paid for them we cannot set too high a value upon them And if we look upon them as invaluable Beings purchased at so dear a rate we shall do all we can to save them and be exceeding fearful least any of them should be lost through our Negligence Preserve therefore and keep alive in your Hearts a Spirit of love to the Souls of Men especially to your Parishioners And there is no way to do this like to the Consideration what it cost to Redeem them no less than the Blood of the Son of God who demonstrated thereby how precious they are in themselves and how dear to him Bestow a few thoughts upon this every day and it will beget and continue in you the greatest Kindness and tenderest Compassion towards them And that will move you to lay out your selves with the utmost Diligence in all the Offices belonging to your Function And this both for his sake and for theirs that he may see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied as the Prophet speaks LIII Isa 11. and that they may obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with Eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. 10. I shall conclude what I have said of these two things a Spirit of love to God and to the Souls of Men with a notable Discourse of St. Austin's Who in a Letter to Longinianus a Pagan Philosopher remembers him of this saying of one of the Ancients quibus satis persuasum esset ut nihil mallent mallet se esse quà m viros bonos his reliquam facilem esse doctrinam unto those who were perswaded so far as to desire no thing but to be made good Men all the rest of the Instructions that Philosophers could give them would be very easy This he saith he took to be a saying of Socrates which must be acknowledged to