Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	charity_n	faith_n	grace_n	3,616	5	5.8698	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A17328	The rowsing of the sluggard, in 7. sermons Published at the request of diuers godlie and well affected. By W.B. Minister of the word of God at Reading in Barkeshire.; Rowsing of the sluggard, in 7. sermons	Burton, William, d. 1616.	1595 (1595)	STC 4176; ESTC S118396	79,897	163

and kingdomes Oh but God will neuer suffer them to preuaile so farre against vs say some they are most wicked Idolaters and wee professe his Gospell c. As if the Lord were more bound to vs then to them or as though it were for our goodnes sake that the Lord had preserued vs hetherto and not for his owne name sake because it was his pleasure to make vs his 〈◊〉 Dauid was once of that minde that th● Lord had made his hill so strong that it should neuer bee moued but that was Dauids error So we thinke that the Lord hath made our hill so strong that it shall neuer bee moued but that is our error And pride was the mother of it both in Dauid and in vs. But Dauid was moued and his kingdome sorely shaken as strong as he was so we may bee moued and shaken too as strong as we are But seeing as the sluggard hath sealed himselfe a quittance and thereupon hath promised vnto himselfe a continuall peace we will consider a little of these two poynts First whether it be a thing likely or no that after this long and blessed possessiō of the glorious Gospell of Christ a winter time of trouble may come or not come Secondly if it proue a thing likely how wee may knowe whether it be farre off or nigh at hand And by that time it may be the sluggard will awake I dispute not of Gods power and what he is able to doe for he is almightie nor of his mercie and how he may renew it with vs still for he is infinite in mercie and his mercie is ouer all his workes but what his iustice requireth to bee done which is no way disanulled by his mercie And now the question is what is likely to ensue by all circumstances and probable coniectures in respect of the manifolde and wonderfull blessings which the Lord hath so long heaped vpon our nation with his Gospel and the manifolde vnkindnesses and daily rebellions which his maiestie hath receiued continually at our hands for the same And if his spirite should still striue with man to put our sinnes out of his remembrance or for Noahs sake a while longer to spare the world or for some Lots sake to saue the citie from burning and to draw out the thred of our peace happines yet longer it is no more then his maiestie may doe and can doe if it please him and that it may so please him we doe all most instantly beseech his diuine maiestie for his mercies sake which if he graunt shall bee no lesse wonder then to command the Sunne to stand still and the Moone to goe backe againe as in the daies of Amaleke or to diuide the sea againe as in the daies of Pharaoh or to forbid the fire to burne againe as in the daies of Nabuchadnezzar But this is not likely and therefore it shall be no part of wisedome for vs to presume vpon it Now then let vs come to the poynt and see why it is not likelie We vse to saie that after a great time of heate there will come a cooler and it is so for the most part And as it is in the state of times and seasons so is it also in the state of the Church and therefore it is not vnlikely that after this long time of peace and ease there may come a cooler for so it hath been commonly seene from the beginning and not without cause for if nature should not sometimes be corrected it would in time bee wholly corrupted the standing water that is neuer troubled we knowe by experience doth breede the most filth And if the ayre shoulde still bee calme and neuer bee clensed by the windes by thunder and lightning it would proue infectious the bodie that is not exercised aboundeth most in ill humours and the yron that is not scoured still gathereth rust and the childe that is continually fed and hath whatsoeuer he craueth and cryeth for at last playeth with his meate and casteth it to the dogges and therefore it is necessarie that sometime he should be abridged and pinched And so doth the Lord also by interrupting the peace and ease of his Church purge the ill humours of pride and contempt growing in the bodie of his Church so doth he vse to scoure off the rust of impatience and distrustfulnes which growe vpon our yron hearts with the graces of Gods spirite So doth he by stormes and tempests by thunderings lightnings of troubles and persecutions clense the corrupt ayre of his Church least the good graces of faith and of repentance and of loue and of zeale and of patience and of charitie should through continuall calmenes be infected with infidelitie or impenitenc●e or hardnes of heart or profanenes or pride or vaineglorie or self-selfe-loue or coldenes or Apostasie or with one spirituall disease or another and so dooth the Lord vse to pinch and abridge his Church of the foode of his heauenly worde now and then and sometime for a long time when it is loathed and plaied withall and trode vnder foote and all this the Lord dooth in singular wisdome because the worth of benefites is not so well knowne as by the want of them That our hearts and soules are cankred and rustie it is most euident and therefore a scouring is to be thought vpon at the least that there are many ill humours of vnthankfulnes of pride of contempt of crueltie and oppression of swearing and forswearing of whordomes and drunkennes of al kind of profanenes and abominations abounding in the bodie of the Church it is not to be denied And therefore a time of purging and exercise is to be thought vpon That Manna is loathed and the pure preaching of Gods most holy word despised and the faithfull Prophets of the Lord hated and molested for doing the Lords message and the feete of the● which bring glad tidings counted most soule which should bee esteemed as most beautifull all this is too visible and palpable and therefore Amos his famine is to be thought vpon if not to be looked for When the Lord had planted a vine in Israel and watered it and hedged it and dressed it hee looked for grapes b●● found none but the wilde grapes of oppression and iniquitie But what then Then hee purposed to take away the hedge thereof to breake downe the wall thereof and to laye it waste that it might be deuoured of wilde beastes but first hee tolde them that hee would deale th●● with them and themselues should bee iudg●● whether hee did them any wrong or no. Th●● the Lord hath done as much for his vineyard in England as euer he did for his vineyard in Israel if not a great deale more no indifferent bodie will denie that the grapes of Englands vine bee as wilde and as sower as euer were the grapes of Israels vine if not much worse the branches themselues can testifie But what then And is not

and tempests that shall awake thee and pinch thee starue thee too if thou prouide not in time for thy safetie And take this withall that the longer it be in comming she sharper will it bee when it commeth because to whom much is giuen of him much shall bee required Therefore Goe to the Pismire O sluggard b●hold her waits and be wise for she c. Whether this winter bee neere hand or farre off and how wee may know it The fourth Sermon BVt all this will no awake the Sluggard 〈…〉 with himselfe 〈…〉 for though it 〈…〉 winter may come yet now it is summer winter will not come yet Like the euill seruant in the Gospel that said My master will not come yet and so fell to beating of his fellowes still as the sluggard falleth to sleepe still and still puts off the day of his turning to God And it seemeth that this is no news deuise of the sluggard for he hath learned it of the scornefull men of Ierusalem and it is a common answere of all sluggards that meane to dwell still in their sinnes It will not come yet When the Lord by his Prophet sent worde to Ierusalem that a scourge was comming vpon them for their sinnes they cared not for it for they had made a couenant with death and were at agreement with hell that is they had a shift for euery thing And admit say they that a scourge do come and runne ouer vs and passe through vs yet it shall not come at vs for We haue made falsehood our refuge and vnder vanitie are wee hid A goodly refuge and a couering sutable and best beseeming the scornfull sluggard And what other refuge or couering haue all the sluggards of our time but a refuge of falsehood and a couering of vanitie that is a falfe refuge and a vaine couering which is as good as none at all But because the sluggard is at that poynt to thinke that it is yet a great way off like the foole in the Gospell who told his soule of pulling downe his old barnes and building bigger and of liuing many yeares euen that night whē his soule was to be fetched away from him wee will now goe a little further and as wee haue proued it a thing very likely to 〈◊〉 a winter come after this fune-shine summer of the Gospell so wee will also proue by the grace of God that it is not farre off but very likely to come shortly vpon vs. I set neither houre nor day nor moneth nor yeare but would haue the sluggard to knowe that it is at hand and nor so farre off as he doth imagine And let not this caueat be to dismay or terrifie any man except it bee the drowsie sluggard whom nothing will awake but as a voyce going before the Bridegromes shoute that they which now want oile for their lamps may in time prouide against his comming But how shall wee knowe that the winter stormes of trouble and persecution are approching that we may make our prouisiō Surely as Christ taught his Disciples to knowe when summer is at hand so by the same rule wee may learne to knowe when winter is at hand And by the figge tree both may bee learned Learne the parable of the fig tree sayth Christ when her bough is yet tender and it bringeth foorth leaues ye knowe that summer is neere Therefore by the rule of contraries when the figge trees bough hath lost her tendernes and cast her leaues we may knowe that winter is neere The figge tree shall be the Church of England the boughes the members of the Church or professors of the Gospell the tendernes of the boughes the loue of the Gosped the leaues the profession of the Gospell the fruites of the tree the fruites of the Gospell as loue ioy peace long suffering gētlenes goodnes meeknes temperance godlines patience charitie sobrietie faith repentance mortification of fleshly lusts and such like which are called in Scripture the fruites of the spirite which should bee in all the true professors of the Gospell because they are led by that spirit which is a spirite of loue and of ioy and of vnderstanding and of counsell and of courage and of the feare of the Lord as Esay sheweth The hardnes of the boughes may shewe the cōtempt of the Gospell which argueth where it is a departing of the grace of God the fall of the leafe may resemble the falling away from the sincericie of the Gospell which Saint Paul calleth a departing from the faith which he prophecied of to come in the latter ende of the world which also argueth that the end of the world is at hand Now to know whether the fig tree hath any fruite or be casting off of her fruite leaues and all great search need not to bee made with a candle as if it were a thing hidden in darknesse for it is so euident that a man may see it a farre off When Ieremie was set to make search in Ierusalem for one righteous man that it might be spared he was not willed to stand stil in euery place that he came at and narrowly to looke into euery corner as though he should els haue wanted matter but to runne to and fro in the streetes and it was enough for their wickednes was so openly professed that a man might see it as he ranne So a man neede not stand prying into euery corner of England and leisurely to take a narrow view of euery mans life that were too much but let him runne to and fro in the streetes and open places of the land and it is enough so openly is wickednesse professed and so manifestly is our filthie nakednes laid open Ieremi● ranne through the streetes of Ierusalem but he could not finde one that executed iudgement and that sought the trueth So they that execute iudgement iustly and seeke the trueth vnsainedly in the Church of England are least in sight and must not doe it openly least they be noted for Puritanes Many say the Lord liueth yet sweare falsely there was swearing and false swearing and common swearing in the streets and in the houses and in the shops and in the markets and in the courts of Ierusalem and the same is to bee ●eene in England and all vnder the cloake of religion too And for these things the Lord hath striken vs but we haue not sorrowed and some hath he euen consumed to the terror of others but neither they nor others haue returned to the Lord. If we goe along with Ieremie from the common people to the great men what shall we finde Surely they should know the way of the Lord and the iudgement of their God should not be hidden from them But alas none more ignorant then many of them they haue altogether broken the yoke of discipline and burst the bandes of godlines If a man looke into the Court is not there also the fall of the leafe