Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	believe_v	father_n	son_n	3,272	5	5.4832	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29096	The good old way, or, An excellent and profitable treatise of repentance made by John Bradford in the yeare 1553. Now published with two prefaces relating the life of the author, and the excellencey of the worke.	Bradford, John, 1510?-1555.; Harris, Robert, 1581-1658.; Wilkinson, Henry, 1616-1690.	1652 (1652)	Wing B4106; ESTC R25287	35,398	95

that giveth the more to his enemies will he not give the lesse to his friends God hath given his own Son then which nothing is greater even to us his enemies and we now being become his friends will he deny us faith and pardon of our sinnes which though they be great yet in comparison they are nothing at all to the price given Christ Jesus would give his own selfe for us when we willed it not and will he now deny us Faith if we will it This will is his earnest that he hath given us truly to look indeed for the thing willed And look thou for it indeed for as he hath given thee to will so will he give thee to doe Jesus Christ gave his life for our evils and by his death he delivered us O then in that he liveth now and cannot dye will he forsake us his heart blood was not too deare for us when we asked it not what can then be now too deare for us asking it Is he a changeling Is he mutable as a man is Can he repent him of his gifts Did he not foresee our falls Paid not he therefore the price Because he saw we should fall sore therefore would he suffer sore Yea if his suffering had not been enough he would yet once more come again God the Father I may say if the death of his sonne incarnate would not serve would himselfe and the Holy Ghost also become incarnate and dye for us This Death of Christ therefore look on as the very pledge of Gods love towards thee whosoever thou art how deepe soever thou hast sinned See Gods hands are nailed they cannot strike thee his feet also he cannot run from thee his armes are wide open to embrace thee his head hangs down to kisse thee his very heart is open so that therein looke nay even see and thou shalt see nothing therein but love love love love to thee hide thee there lay thy head there with the Evangelist This is the clift of the Rock wherein Elias stood This is for all aking heads a pillow of downe Anoint thy head with this oile let this oyntment embalme thy head and wash thy face Tarry thou on this firme rock and I le warrant thee Say with Paul What can separate me from the love of God can death can poverty can sicknesse hunger or any misery perswade thee now that God loveth thee not Nay nothing can seperate thee from the love wherewith God hath loved thee in Christ Jesus whom he loveth he loveth to the end So that now where abundance of sin hath been in thee the more is the abundance of grace But to what end Certainly that as sinne hath reigned to death as thou seest to the killing of Gods Sonne so now Grace must raigne to life to the honouring of Gods Sonne who is now alive and cannot dye any more So that they which by faith feele this cannot any more dye to God but to sinne whereto they are dead and buried with Christ As Christ therefore liveth so doe they and that to God to righteousnesse and holinesse The life which they live is In fide Filii Dei in the faith of the Sonne of God whereby you see that now I am slipt into that which I made the third part of repentance namely newnesse of life which I could not so have done if that it were a part of it selfe indeed it is an effect or fruit of the second part that is of faith or trust in Gods mercy For he that beleeveth that is is certainly perswaded sinne to be such a thing that is the cause of all misery and of it selfe so greatly angreth God that in Heaven nor in earth nothing could appease his wrath save onely the death and precious bloodshedding of the Sonne of God in whom is all the delight and pleasure of the Father he I say that is perswaded thus of his sinne the same cannot but in heart abhorre and quake to doe or say yea to think any thing willingly which Gods Law teacheth him to be sinne Again he that beleeveth that is is certainly perswaded Gods love to be so much towards him that where through sinne he was lost and made a firebrand of Hell the eternall Father of mercy which is the omni-sufficient God and needeth nothing in us or of any thing that we can doe to deliver us out of Hell and to bring us into Heaven did send even his own most deare Sonne out of his bosome out of heaven into hell as a man would say to bring us as I said from thence into his own bosome and mercy we being his very enemies he I say that is thus perswaded of Gods love towards him and of the price of his redemption by the deare blood of the Lamb immaculate Jesus Christ the same man cannot but love God againe and of love doe that and heartily desire to doe better the which might please God Think you that such a one knowing these things by Faith will willingly insist and wallow in his wilfull lusts pleasures and fantasies Will such a one as knoweth by Faith Christ Jesus to have given his blood to wash him from his sinnes play the Sow to nuzle in his puddle of filthy sinne and vice againe Nay rather then he will be defiled againe by his wilfull sinning he will wash often the feet of his affections watching over the vice still sticking in him which as a spring continually sendeth out poyson enough to drowne and defile him if the sweet water of Christs passion in Gods sight did not wash it and his blood satisfy the rigour of Gods justice due for the same This blood of Christ shed for our sinnes is so deare in the sight of him that beleeveth that he will abhorre in his heart to stamp it and tread it under his feet He knoweth now by his beleefe that it is too much that hitherto he hath set too little by it and is ashamed thereof Therefore for the residue of his life he purposeth to take better heed to himselfe then before he did Because he seeth by his faith the grievousnesse of Gods anger the foulenesse of sin the greatnesse of Gods mercy and of Christs love towards him he will now be heedy to pray unto God to give him his grace accordingly that as with his eyes and tongue hands and feet c. he hath displeased God doing his own will even so now with the same eyes tongue c. he may displease his own selfe and doe Gods will Willingly will he not doe that which might renew the death of the sonne of God He knoweth he hath too much sinne unwillingly in him so that thereto he will not adde willing offences This willing and witting offending sinning whosoever doth flatter himselfe therein doth evidently demonstrate and shew that he never yet indeed tasted of Christ truly He was never truely perswaded or beleeved how foule a thing sinne is how grievous a thing Gods anger

Gods anger yet at the length he found much mercy The City of Ninivie also found favour with God as did many other which for brevity I will omit and will bring forth one or two out of the New Testament that we may see God to be the same God in the New Testament that he was in the Old I might tell you of many if I should speake of the Lunatick such as were possessed with Divels Lame Blind dumb deaf lepers c. but time will not suffer me therefore one or two shall serve Mary Magdalen had seven Divels but yet they were cast out of her and of all others she was the first that Christ appeared unto after his resurrection Thomas would not believe Christs resurrection though many told him which had seen and felt him by reason whereof a man might have thought that his sinnes would have cast him away Except I should see and feele saith he I will not believe Ah wilfull Thomas I will not saith he but Christ appeared unto him and would not loose him neither will he thee beloved if with Thomas thou wilt keepe company with the Disciples as Thomas did Peters fall was ugly he accursed himselfe if ever he knew Christ and that for feare of a Maiden and lyed not once but three severall times and that in the hearing of Christ his Master but yet the third time Christ looked back and cast on him his eye of grace so that he went out and wept bitterly And after Christs resurrection not only did the Angels will the Woman to tell Peter that Christ was risen but Christ himselfe appeared unto him such a good Lord is he The Theefe hanging on the Crosse said thus Lord when thou comest into thy Kingdome remember mee And what answer had he This day saith Christ thou shalt be with me in Paradise What a comfort is this in that he is now the same Christ to thee and mee and to us all if we will runne unto him for he is the same Christ to day and to morrow untill he come to judgement Then indeed he will be inexorable but now is he more ready to give then we to aske If thou cry he heareth thee even before thou cry Crie therefore behold man he is not partiall Call saith he and I will he are thee aske and thou shalt have seeke and thou shalt finde though not at the first yet at the length If he tarry a while it is but to try thee Nam veniens veniet non tardabit He is coming and will not be long Thus have you foure meanes which you must use to the attaining of faith or certain perswasion of Gods mercy towards you which is the second part of repentance namely prayer the free and universall promises of Gods graces the recordation of the benefits of God past and present the examples of Gods mercy Which although they might suffice yet will I put one more to them which only of it selfe is full sufficient I meane the death of the Sonne of God Jesus Christ which if thou set before the eyes of thy mind it will confirme thy assurance for it is the great Seale of England as they say yea of all the World for the confirmation of all Patents and perpetuities of the everlasting life whereunto we are all called If I thought these which I have before recited were not sufficient to confirme your faith of Gods love towards such as doe repent I would tarry longer herein But because I have been both long and also I trust you have some exercise of conscience in this daily or else you are to blame I will but touch and goe consider with your selves what we are misers wretches and enemies to God Consider what God is even he which hath all power majesty might glory riches c. perfectly of himselfe and needeth nothing but hath all things Consider what Christ is concerning his God-head coequall with his Father even he by whom all things were made he I say by whom all things are ruled and governed Concerning his Man-hood the onely Deareling of his Father in whom is all his joy Now Syr what a love is this that this God which needeth nothing would give wholly his own selfe to thee his enemy wreaking his wrath upon himselfe in this his sonne as a man may say to spare thee to save thee to win thee to bye thee to have thee to enjoy thee for ever Because thy sinne hath seperated thee from him to the end thou mightest come eftsoones into his company againe and therein remaine he himselfe became as a man would say a sinner or rather sinne it selfe even a malediction or curse that wee sinners we accursed by our sinne might by his oblation or suffering for our sinnes by his curse be delivered from sinne and from malediction For by sinne he destroyed sinne killing Death Sathan and sinne by their own weapons and that for thee and mee man if we cast it not away by unbeliefe Oh wonderfull love of God Who ever heard of such a love The Father of Heaven for us his enimies to give hís own dearly beloved Sonne Jesus Christ and that not only to be our brother to dwell among us but also to the death of the Crosse for us Oh wonderfull love of Christ to us all that was content and willing to work this deed for us Was there any love like to this love God indeed hath commended his charity and love to us herein that when we were very enemies unto him he would give his own sonne for us That we being men might become as you would say Gods God would become man That we being mortall might become immortall the immortall God would become mortall man That we earthly wretches might be Cittizens of Heaven the Lord of Heaven would become as a man would say earthly That we being accursed might be blessed God would be accursed That we by our father Adam being brought out of Paradise into the puddle of all pain migh be redeemed and brought into Paradise againe God would be our Father and an Adam thereunto That we having nothing might have all things God having all things would have nothing That we being vassailes and slaves to all even to Sathan the Fiend might be Lords of all and of Sathan The Lord of all would become a vassaile and a slave to us all and in danger of Sathan Oh love incomprehensible Who can otherwise think now but if the gracious good Lord disdained not to give his own Sonne his own hearts joy for us his very enemies before we thought to beg any such thing at his hands yea before we were Who I say can think otherwise but that with him he will give us all good things If when we hated him and fled away from him he sent his Sonne to seek us who can think otherwise then that now we loving him and lamenting because we love him no more but that he will for ever love us He

of these examples especially of our late King and this troublesome time will move some teares out of thine heart if thou wilt pray for Gods Spirit accordingly For who art thou think alwaies with thy selfe that God should spare thee more then them whose examples thou hast heard What friends hast thou Were not of these Kings Prophets Apostles learned and come of holy stocks I deceive my selfe think thou with thy selfe if I believe that God being the same God that he was will spare me whose wickednesse is no lesse but much more then some of theirs He hateth sinne now as much as ever he did The longer he spareth the greater vengeance will fall the deeper he draweth his Bow the sorer will his shaft pierce But if yet thy heart be so hardned that all this will not move thee then surely art thou in a very evill estate and remedy now I know none What say I none Know I none Yes there is one which is suresby as they say to serve if any thing will serve You look to know what this is forsooth the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ You know the cause why Christ became man and suffered as he suffered was the sinnes of his People that he might save them from the same Consider the greatnesse of the sore I mean sinne by the greatnesse of the Chyrurgion and the salve Who was the Chyrurgion no Angel no saint no Arch-angel no power no creature in heaven nor earth but only he by whom all things were made all things are ruled also even Gods own Deareling and only beloved sonne becoming man Oh what a great thing is this that could not be done by the Angells Archangels Potentates powers or all the creatures of God without his own sonne who of necessity must come down from heaven to take our nature and become man Here have ye the Chyrurgion great was the cure that this mighty Lord took in hand Now what was the salve certainly of an unestimable value and of many compositions I cannot recite all but rather must leave it to your hearty considerations Thirty three yeares was he curing our sore he sought it earnestly by fasting watching praying c. The same night that he was betrayed I read how busy he was about a plaister in the Garden when he lying flat on the ground praying with teares and that of blood not a few but so many as did flow down on the ground againe crying on this sort Father saith he if it be possible let this cup depart from me That is if it be possible that else the sinnes of man kind can be taken away grant that it may be so Thou heardest Moses crying for the Idolaters thou heardest Lot for the Zoarites Samuel David and many other for the Israelites And deare Father I onely am thine own Sonne as thou hast said in whom thou art well pleased wilt thou not heare me I have by the space of thirty three years done alwaies thy will I have so humbled my selfe that I would become an abject amongst men to obay thee Therefore deere Father if it be possible grant my request save man-kind now without any farther labour salves or plaisters But yet saith he not as I will but as thou wilt But Sir what heard he Though he sweat blood and water in making his plaister for our sore of sinne yet it framed not Twice he cryed without comfort yea though to comfort him God sent an Angel we know that yet this plaister was not allowed for sufficient untill hereunto Christ Jesus was betrayed forsaken of all his Disciples forsworne of his dearely beloved bound like a Theefe belyed on buffeted whipped scourged crowned with thornes crucified racked nailed hanged up be tween two theeves cursed and railed upon mocked in misery and had given up the ghost then bowed downe the head of Christ then God the Father which is the head of Christ allowed the plaister to be sufficient and good for the healing of our sore which is sinne Now would God abide our breath because the stinke damnation guiltinesse was taken away by the sweet savour of the breath of this Lambe thus offered once for all So that here dearely beloved we as in a glasse may see to the bruising of our blockish hard hearts Gods great judgement and anger against sinne The Lord of Lords the King of Kings the brightnesse of Gods glory the Sonne of God the dearling of his Father in whom he is well pleased hangeth betweene two Theeves crying for thee and mee and for us all My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Oh hard hearts that we have who delight in sinne Look on this see the very heart of Christ pierced with a fpeare wherein thou maist see and read Gods anger for sinne Woe to thy hard heart that pierced it And thus much for the first part of Repentance I meane for the meanes of working contrition First use Prayer then look on Gods Law thirdly see his curse fourthly set examples of his anger before thee and last of all set before thee the precious death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ From this and prayer cease not till thou feele some hearty sorrow for thy sin The which when thou feelest then labour for the other part that is faith in this sort As first in contrition I willed thee not to trust to thy free will for the attaining of it so doe I will thee in this Faith is so farre from the reach of mans free-will that to reason it is plain foolishnesse Therefore thou must first goe to God whose gift it is thou must I say get thee to the Father of mercy whose worke it is that as he hath brought thee downe by Contrition and humbled thee so he would give thee Faith raise thee up and exalt thee In this manner therefore with the Apostles and the poore man in the Gospel that cryed Lord increase our Faith Lord help my unbeleefe pray thou and say O mercifull and deare Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in whom as thou art well pleased so hast thou commanded us to hear him for as much as he often biddeth us to aske of thee and thereto promiseth that thou will heare us and grant us that which in his name we shall aske of thee loe gracious Father I am bold to begge of thy mercy through thy Sonne Jesus Christ one sparkle of true and certaine perswasion of thy goodnesse and love towards mee in Christ where through I being assured of the Pardon of all my sinnes by the mercies of Christ thy Sonne may be thankefull to thee love thee and serve thee in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of my life On this sort I say or otherwise as God shall move thee pray thou first of all and look for thy request at Gods hand without any doubting though forthwith thou feelest not the same for oftentimes we have things of God given us long before we feele them as we would

is how joyfull and precious a thing Gods mercy in Christ is how exceeding broad wide high and deepe Christs love is Perchance he can talke and Preach of Faith but yet truly in heart he never felt it effectually for if he did once feele this ravishing consolation indeed then would he be so farre from continuing in sinne willingly and wittingly that wholly and heartily he would give over himselfe to that which is contrary I meane to a new life renewing his youth even as the Eagle doth For as we being in the servitude of sinne demonstrate our service by giving over our members to the obaying of sinne from iniquity to iniquity even so we being made free from sinne by faith in Jesus Christ and endued with Gods spirit a spirit of liberty must needs demonstrate this freedome and liberty by giving over our members to the obedience of the spirit by the which we are lead and guided from vertue to vertue and all kind of holinesse As the unbelievers declare their unbeleefe by the working of the evill spirit in them in the outward fruits of the flesh even so the believers declare their faith by the working of Gods Spirit in them outwardly the fruits of the Spirit For as the Divell is not dead in those which are his but worketh still to their damnation so is not God dead in them which be his but worketh still to their salvation The which working is not the cause of the one or the other being in any but only a demonstration a signe a fruit of the same As the Apple is not the cause of the Apple tree but the fruit of it Thus then you see briefely that newnesse of life is not indeed a part of repentance but a fruit of it a demonstration of the justifying faith a signe of Gods good spirit possessing the heart of the penitent as the old life is a fruit of impenitency a demonstration of a lipfaith or unbeliefe a signe of Sathans spirit possessing the heart of the impenitent which all those be that be not penitent For meane I know none He that is not penitent the same is impenitent he that is not governed by Gods spirit the same is governed by Sathans Spirit For all that be Christians are governed with the spirit of Christ which spirit hath its fruits All other that be not Christs are the Divels He that gathereth not with Christ scattereth abroad Therefore my dearely beloved I beseech you to consider this and deceive not your selves If you be not Christs then pertaine you to the Divel of which things the fruits of the flesh doth assure you as whoredome adultery uncleannesse wantonnesse idolatry witch-craft envy strife contention wrath sedition murther drunkennesse gluttony blasphemy slothfulnesse vaine talking slandering c. If such like fruit as these grow out of the trees of your hearts surely surely the Divell is at Inne with you you are his birds whom when he hath well fed he will broach you and eat you chaw you and champ you world without end in eternall woe and misery But I am otherwise perswaded of you all I trust you be all Christ Jesus his people and his children yea and his brethren by faith As you see your sins in Gods Law and tremble and sigh sorrow and sob for the same even so you see his great mercies in his Gospel and free promises and therefore are glad merry and joyfull for that you are accepted into Gods favour have your sins pardoned and are endued with the good spirit of God even the seale and signe Manuel of your election in Christ Jesus even before the beginning of the World The which spirit for that he is the Spirit of life is given to you to work in you with you and by you here in this life sanctification and holinesse whereunto you are called that so ye might be holy even as your heavenly father is holy I beseech you all by admonition and warning of you that you would stirre up the gifts of God given to you generally and particularly to the edifying of his Church that is I pray you that you would not molest the good Spirit of God by rebelling against it when it provoketh and calleth you to goe on forward that he which is holy might yet be more holy he which is righteous might be more righteous as the evill spirit moveth and stirreth up the filthy to be yet more filthy the covetous to be more covetous the wicked to be more wicked Declare you now your repentance by workes of repentance Bring forth fruits and worthy fruits Let your sorrowing for your evils demonstrate it selfe departing from the evils you have used Let your certainty of pardon of your sins through Christ and your joy in him be demonstrated by pursuing of the good things which Gods word teacheth you You are now in Christ Jesus Gods workmanship to doe good works which God hath prepared for you to walk in For the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared and teacheth us that we should deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should live soberly righteously godlily in this present world looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the mighty God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ which gave himselfe for us to redeeme us from all unrighteousnesse and to purge us a peculiar people unto himselfe fervently given unto good workes Again Titus 3. For we our selves also were in times past unwise disobedient deceived serving lusts and divers pleasures living in maliciousnesse and envy full of hate and hating one another But after that the kindnesse and love of God our Saviour to man-ward appeared not by the deeds of righteousnesse which we wrought but of his mercy he saved us by the fountain of the new birth and with the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that we once justified by his grace should be heires of eternall life through hope This is a true saying But I will make an end for I am too tedious Dearely beloved repent your sinnes that is be sorry for that which is past beleeve in Gods mercy for pardon how deepely soever you have sinned and both purpose and earnestly pursue a new life bringing forth worthy and True fruits of Repentance As you have given over your members from sin to sin to serve the Divel your tongues to sweare to lye to flatter to scold to jest to scoffe to beastly talke to vain jangling to boasting c. Your hands to picking griping idlenesse fighting c. Your feet to skipping going to evill to dancing c. Your eares to heare Fables lyes vanities and evill things c. So now give over your members to godlinesse your tongues to speak your eares to heare your eyes to see your mouthes to tast your hands to worke your feet to goe about such things as may make to Gods glory sobriety of life and love to your brethren and that daily more and more diligently for in this way to stand you cannot either better or worse you are to day then you were yesterday But better I trust you be and will be if you marke my Theme that is repent you The which thing that you would as before I have humbly besought you even so now yet once more I doe again beseech you and that for the mercies of God in Jesus Christ our Lord Repent you repent you for the Kingdome of heaven that is a Kingdome full of riches pleasures mirth beauty sweetnesse and eternall felicity is at hand The eye hath not seen the like the eare hath not heard the like the heart of man cannot conceive the treasures and pleasures of this Kingdome which is now at hand to such as Repent that is to such as are sorry for their sinnes beleeve Gods mercy through Christ and earnestly purpose to lead a new life The God of mercy through Christ his Sonne grant us his holy spirit and work in our hearts this sorrow faith and new life which through his grace I have spoken of both now and for ever AMEN FINIS Marc. 4.33 Lumen orationis perspicuitas Aug. who would call a bone ossum to avoid the ambiguity in os in Psal. 138. secundum Aug. Mr R. Ca. of Tentat 1. Resipiscentia 2 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 3 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Deut. 6.2 Mat. 22. Mark 20. Luke 10. Ioh. 3. Mat. 6. Luke 17. Apoc. 22. Deut. 4.1 Phil. 4. Isai 45. 1 Joh. 2. Iames 2. Rom. 7. Gen. 6. Gen. 19. Gen. 19. Josua Caleb Num. 14. Lev. 24a Num. 13. 1 K. 5. 3 Reg. 21.22 4 Reg. 21. 4 Reg. 10. Isai 31. Mat. 7. Heb. 10.