Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	child_n	great_a	love_v	5,841	5	6.4787	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81056	Samson a type of Christ in a sermon preached at Mr. Pomfret's meeting-house in Gravel-lane near Hounds-ditch, London: at the morning-lecture, on July 22. 1691. from Judg. xiv.5. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Tunnath; and came to the vineyards of Timnath; and behold, a young lion roared against him. Wherein is shewed, I. In six particulars, how clearly Samson doth type forth Jesus Christ, ... II. With respect unto Samsons marriage, ... III. As Samson loved and married an uncircumcised woman, ... IV. As Samson did overcome the young lion which opposed him: so Jesus Christ doth overcome and destroy that roaring lion, the Devil, that opposeth him. Published at the request of the Congregation, for Publick Good. By D.C. an unworthy servant of Christ.	Crosley, David, 1670-1744.	1691 (1691)	Wing C7247A; ESTC R232725	34,097	40

he knows well enough that Hell shall close its Mouth on your Souls if you miss of Christ you miss of Heaven for ever AGAIN Secondly Beware that upon your turning from your evil ways you do not close with a false Faith in an unfound way of Religion for it will be a sad thing if you talk your selves to Hell with heavenly Words or go to Death and Judgment with a Lie in your right-hand But may be you will say But how shall I turn aright I answer I shall direct you to the Lord 's own counsel Jer. 4.1 If thou wilt return O Israel saith the Lord return unto me Mind the words Return unto me It is not enough to turn to this or that Man 's particular Way or Form nor to joyn to this or that Congregation though never so pure and Apostolical neither is it enough to turn from a vain and sinful to a good and godly Life from Vices to Vertues from evil and wicked Works to an outwardly holy and righteous Conversation though all these are good in their places and always certain Adjuncts of true Christianity and evermore Concomitants of true Faith in all that are truly godly so far as possible BUT the Root of the Matter lyes in this a sincere and godly turning to the Lord I say To the Lord and a closing in the first place with Jesus Christ by Faith as our Mediator Advocate and only Saviour as our King Priest and Prophet as our Head Lord King and Husband for ever Taking him as of God he is made over to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption believing that he hath bought us and paid our Debt for us that he hath acquitted us from Sin the Law Curse Death and Hell and that by him we are accepted of and justified before God Almighty and that our Sins are laid upon him and his Righteousness imputed to us by God the Father according to that golden Text 2 Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him And that now henceforward we must not live unto our selves but unto him that hath redeemed us and died for us and that we must fear him and serve him not as Slaves but as Sons not for Rewards but of a ready Mind accounting it as our Meat and Drink to do the Will of God according to his Word knowing that a Free-will Offering is only acceptable unto God These things I commend to your Consideration I would enlarge further but that time calls for a Conclusion However take a few words of Application AND first of all by way of Examination And because we are upon a Matter of very great Importance I desire we may all be faithful to our own Souls herein The several Particulars which I shall commend to your Consideration by way of Examination are these following FIRST Pray let us examine Whether Samson be come down to Timnath I mean Whether Christ Jesus be come home to our Hearts Whether he hath given an awakening and an effectual Call in and by the Gospel to our Souls which hath brought us out of darkness into his marvellous light and out of the Kingdom and Territories of Satan Death and Hell into the Kingdom of his dear Son OBJECT But may be you will say But how shall I know it ANSW To which I Answer by these three following Marks FIRST If Samson be come down to Timnath if Christ be come home upon your Hearts to call your Souls home to himself as aforesaid then hath he given you a true sight and a sense of your Philistine Condition of your Uncircumcised Estate which you are in by Nature A true sight of which doth chiefly consist in these five things 1st In being brought to see your selves to be the chief of Sinners even as Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 2ly In being brought to see the exceeding sinfulness of this Sin wherewith you are thus polluted Rom. 7.13 3ly In being made truly sensible of the dreadful Curse with the which the Law threatens you for and because of this sin and sinfulness Gal. 3.10 4ly In being accordingly made sensible of your own insufficiency by any worth or merit in your own selves to satisfie for the Sin or deliver from the Curse whereof you are guilty and with the which you are attended whilst you are in this condition 5ly In being brought to see at what an infinite distance you stand from God in this Estate and consequently to see how far you are 1st From Reconciliation with God and 2ly Of the Certainty of your Damnation if you be not reconciled unto God SECONDLY A Second Mark is this If Christ hath called you to himself out of darkness into his most glorious light then as he hath let you see an insufficiency in yourselves to save your selves so he hath let you see an All-sufficiency in himself whereby you are brought to understand that though you be wholly lost in your selves yet that there is a full and absolute possibility of your being both redeemed and saved in and by Jesus Christ so that despairing in the first place of all power peace and safety without Christ you may be brought wholly and alone to confide in Christ for the same And this is a sure and most happy Condition and I beseech you be serious in the Examination of it AND Lastly The Third and last Mark is this If Christ hath called you home to himself as aforesaid then are your selves become a burthen to your selves and you find your greatest Enemies to be them of your own House which makes you call and cry day and hour unto the Lord your God to help uphold and strengthen you against Self and all its Assistants that so being freed from the same you may be given up wholly to Christ Jesus both in Faith and Practice which is a Condition most desirable to all true Christians though God knows too many Professers at this day are strangers to the same SECONDLY A Second thing which I would have you to examine is Whether this young Lion the great Opposer of Christ viz. Satan be destroyed and slain yea or no OBJECT But may be you will say How shall I know that ANSW If this young Lion be slain I mean If Satan be overcome in and upon your account then you may know it in some measure by these following things FITST If Satan be thus overcome then you are made sensible that it was not you but another upon your account that did thus overcome him even Christ Jesus and so consequently that not to you but to him belongs all the Glory for evermore SECONDLY If Satan be thus overcome by Christ Jesus in you and for you then are you abundantly troubled for that you can no more love and give Praise to Christ Jesus for the same for Beloved I am very much satisfied that it is one of the greatest Troubles that a true Child of God meets

at liberty by paying all their Debt for them and suing forth of the Court of Heaven a free and full Discharge in their behalf subduing withall in due time all their Enemies both within and without doth in the second place defend and preserve them in this liberty and heavenly freedom to which he hath restored them And all this by virtue of his own Power and Merit without any assistance from them either in whole or in part Nay He as Samson was delivered up by his Brethren the Men of his own Nation into the hands of heathen Infidels to be Crucified and put to death a sad requital to him for his kindness Nay further I may speak it and you hear it with sorrow and shame Where is the Christian who in a spiritual sense doth not again and again give Christ over so far as lyeth in his power to be Crucified over and over by giving way to the Enemy to take possession of his Heart But happy they that lay not hands upon him themselves on purpose and in despite for that is the unpardonable Sin But I haste 5thly SAMSON typifies Christ in his Marriage This is the Point upon which our Text treateth we will therefore pass it by till we come to the words 6thly HE typifies Christ in his Death For it is said of him That he gave his Enemies a greater stroke and did more execution among them at the day of his death than he had done in all his life-time Judg. 16.30 Which is more especially true in Christ Jesus for he gave the Powers of Hell a greater stroke at the day and hour of his Death than he had done in all his Life-time by his Word and Miracles for then it was that by death he overcame him that had the power of death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 Then it was that he took away the Hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us nailing it to his Cross Col. 2.14 and having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a Show of them openly triumphing over them in it Then it was that through the Eternal Spirit he offered up himself to God without spot whereby he became the Mediator of the New Testament to the end that by the means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the First Covenant they which are called might receive the promise of an Eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 Then it was that he was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him he will appear the second time without sin unto Salvation Blessed are all they that wait for him in sincerity BUT I come to the matter in hand AND in the first place I would note by the way four things from the four first Verses of this Chapter antecedent to our Text. 1st SAMSON's falling in Love with a Woman in Timnath a Daughter of the Philistines Ver. 1. and from hence I observe That as Samson loved this Philistine Woman though dwelling in the House of his Enemies and so by nature one of them so also Jesus Christ loved his Church when in the House of his Enemies viz. the fallen Estate and not only so but whilst she was an Enemy he laid down his Life for her Rom. 5.8 2dly THE oppositions he met with from his Father and his Mother in the pursuit of his Desires in taking her to be his Wife ver 3. and hence I observe That Persons out of a sincere Zeal may sometimes oppose God in his most Wise and oft times various Dispensations 3dly THE Reasons moving them so to do ver 3. which was because she was a Stranger of another Nation and uncircumcised and the Israelites were forbidden to Marry with such by the Law Deut. 7.3 And from thence I observe That God can turn all things yea even sin it self so as that it shall conduce abundantly to his Glory and his Peoples good benefit and advantage 4thly I would note Samson's Answer to his Father and Mother when by them opposed for loving of this Daughter of the Philistines Get her for me for she pleaseth me well And from hence I observe 1. That as no Oppositions nor Perswasions could remove Samson's Affections from this Philistine Woman so nothing no not sin it self could nor can ever be able to separate or remove the Love of Christ from his Church Jer. 31.3 Rom. 8.38 39. But contrariwise the Love of Christ will move him to seperate and remove all sin with whatever else offends him from her in his own time 2. As the want of Circumcision and several other things required by the Law could not prevent Samson's loving and marrying of this Philistine Woman so want of inherent Qualifications c. cannot hinder Christ's loving and espousing of his Church to himself Ezek. 16.6 7 8. But contrariwise his Love to her hath doth and will move him to wash and cleanse her fit and qualifie her renew enrich and adorn her so as may render her most well-pleasing in his Eyes Ezek. 16.9 10 11 12 13. AND this brings me to our Text in which I would note four things also 1st SAMSON's Journey down to Timnath a City of the Philistians and from hence take this Proposition That as Samson went down to Timnath a City of the Philistines to take a Wife from thence so Jesus Christ came down from Heaven into this sinful bewildered World to purchase Marriage and Betroth unto himself his beloved Church and Spouse Hos 2.19 Jer. 3.14 2dly HIS occasion thither which was to Marry the Woman whom Love notwithstanding her nonconformity to the Laws and Customs of Israel had made so well-pleasing unto him And from hence take a second Proposition That as Love was the only impulsive or moving cause which brought Samson down to Timnath to Marry this Woman who otherwise could not have been acceptable to no more than she was in an Eye of reason fit for him so likewise meer Love was the impulsive cause which alone moved Jesus Christ to come down upon the Earth to Marry his Church unto himself whom had she not been so loved by him could never have otherwise been acceptable to him being in her fallen Estate in an eye of reason upon all accounts so unfit for him 3dly HIS Company which went down with him which was his Father and his Mother he would do nothing in the case without their Company and Consent which affords us this third Proposition That as Samson notwithstanding the ardency of his Love would do nothing without the knowledge advice company and consent of his Father and Mother so Jesus Christ in all his Proceedings in and towards his Church did not only in all things conform to the Will of his Father but also had the Father still present with him to bear him company Mat. 26.39 And so much was he delighted therein that when through excessive sorrow and trouble he had but the least apprehension of his Fathers absence

them and not she unto him So in like manner Jesus Christ first and primarily seeketh unto his Church in order to the bringing about of this happy Union and not she unto him This also is plain from many Scriptures as from the 16th of Eezekiel from the 3d. Verse to the 14th Where 1st The Church lay in the open Field polluted in her blood 2ly There was no eye to pitty her And yet 3ly When she was in this condition Jesus Christ in mercy came and passed by And 4ly Her time notwithstanding her misery and shame was to him a time of love And 5ly He did all this whilst she in her self was dead as to any Affection towards him and therefore saith he ver 6. And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thy own blood I said unto thee Live yea when thou wast in thy blood I said unto thee Live See also the 2d of Hosea where when the Church was backsliden from and which is worse though always the issue of a backsliding Spirit hardned against him Then he came in Mercy though she perhaps at the first did not so look upon it and hedged up her way with Thorns to the end that though she pursued after her Lovers yet that she might not overtake them ver 6 7. 2dly He takes away all her Fulness Joy and Mirth all her Delight in her own ways and removes from her all her pleasant things ver 9 10 11 12. 3dly He visits upon her all the days of her former Wickedness and Idolatry ver 13. And 4thly After all this he as it were turns Suiter to her For saith he I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and there will I speak comfortably unto her ver 14. Alas poor dejected doubting Souls whilst God is a bringing of them into the Wilderness or into a bewildered state as to their own Apprehensions are even frightned with fears and terrors lest he should destroy them there and give them over to perish for ever little considering that it is God's way to keep his best Wine till the latter end of the Feast and in the Wilderness to speak most comfortably to them giving them in the Valley of Achor or Trouble a Door of Hope and that there the Knot of Union is to be tied which is never to be loosed more and that then they must call him no more Baali viz. My Lord but that they must henceforth call him Ishi that is to say My Husband v. 16. A blessed Conclusion And let me tell you There is none of you here this day that are Suiters to God but God hath had first a great suiting of you to bring you to that Oh! admirable Love and Condescention that ever the Great God of Heaven and Lord of Eternity should become Suiters to such Hell-hounds as the best of us are by Nature Again Observe that Text in Jer. 3.12 22. where the Lord most earnestly and compassionately suiteth exhorteth and inviteth his Church with all possible persuasions to return from her backslidings for saith he I am married unto you ver 14. only acknowledge your iniquities and that you have transgressed against me And then Return Oh hacksliding Children and I will heal your backslidings And indeed here the Lord not only suited but prevailed For mark the Answer they returned him ver 22 23. Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God in vain is salvation looked for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains for in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel The God of Heaven grant that we may return him the like Answer with Heart and Mouth this day and all other times wherein he by the Gospel is inviting us to come unto him See also the words of David Psal 27.8 When thou O Lord saidst Seek ye my face my heart said unto thee Thy face Lord will I seek Oh dear Friends hath not God a long time been a suiting of you by the Gospel to come unto him and hath he not often called aloud of you saying Seek ye my face I know you cannot deny this Well but let me ask Was you ever brought to cry out with David Thy face O Lord will I seek True it may be you have said thus with your Mouths but pray note Did your Hearts ever say so Saith holy David My heart said Thy face O Lord will I seek Pray consider it But to conclude this Point also Mind what John saith in his First Epistle 4.10 19. Herein is love saith he not that we loved God but that he loved us And we love him because he loved us first Alas Beloved had not God loved and sought after us till we had loved and sought after him then had we never so much as once lifted up our Eyes towards him till with the Rich Man we had been in Hell which would have been too late either to have sought after him or looked up unto him I might mention many more Scriptures to the like Effect but time will not permit Besides these are sufficient already laid down the sequel whereof amounts to this That as Samson first sought unto this Woman of Timnath this Daughter of the Philistines notwithstanding her Non-conformity to the Religion and Laws of Israel and not she unto him So Jesus Christ seeketh unto his Church in true Heavenly and Divine Love and not she unto him notwithstanding not only her Nonconformity to but also her Enmity against the Religion and Laws of his Kingdom as she lyeth in Nature and when he thus first applyeth himself unto her AND from hence I inferr FIRST That Christ in seeking after and calling of his People to himself hath no respect to Antecedent Qualifications in them for he knows better than we the impossibility that a bitter Fountain should yield sweet Water or a bad Tree bring forth good Fruit Therefore saith he to the Pharisees Oh generation of Vipers how can ye being evil do that or as the word is speak that which is good for out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh Mat 12.34 But a Blind Man will not believe this because he is Blind and cannot see nor understand the Truth But saith Calvin Whatsoever a Man thinketh purposeth or doth before he be reconciled to God by Faith in Christ is accursed and not only of no value to righteonsness but of certain deserving to Damnation Institut pag. 370. And saith Luther Whosoever goeth about to please God with works done before Faith goeth about to please God with Sin which saith he is nothing else but to heap Sin upon Sin mock God and to provoke him to Wrath O that men would once consider these things SECONDLY From hence I inferr That though the Church of Christ in general and every Member thereof in particular be brought by Sin through the Fall into a lost Estate which as was before observed is a State of Deadness Hardness Blindness and Alienation

his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple That is Whosoever pretendeth to come to Christ and hateth not all these things with what else can be named besides Christ in comparison of or in competition with Christ cannot be his Disciple and then for certain not his Spouse Oh Beloved many keep a great stir about Sin being the main Let in the way of Union betwixt Christ and a poor Soul but I tell you it is not Sin but the Love of Sin that separateth betwixt Christ and the Soul See Rev. 22.15 Whosoever loveth and maketh a Lye is cast out of the Holy City not he that barely maketh a Lye through weakness or by reason of Temptation but he that not only doth so but also loveth to do so this is the Man of the Lord's Anger Therefore saith David If I delight in Sin God will not hear my voice This therefore is the main Let in our way of Union with Christ because we Love Sin and love the World together with the Pleasures and Profits thereof we love the Flesh and we love our Lusts our Selves our Works and our own Righteousness and therefore we cannot love Christ And further provided that we should hate Swearing and Drunkenness and yet love Pride and Covetousness this is nothing or if we should hate Pride and Covetousness and yet love Deceit and Hypocrysie we are still no better This is but as it were to change one Devil for another and so keep a Devil still But I cannot enlarge THE Third Let in our way of Union with Christ which I shall now mention is want of Faith in Christ And truly Beloved this is a great Mountain in our way indeed this is the Hydra the Monster-Sin Vnbelief for as there is nothing impossible to him that believes so there is nothing possible to him that believes not For as Faith hath the preheminence above all other Graces so Unbelief hath the preheminence of all other Vices And how many a poor Soul is there that is both sensible of troubled for and burthened with Sin and also sees a want of longs for and desires to be with Christ and yet hath little or no Union with Christ by reason of Unbelief Yea there are many that are weary of the World weary of Sin weary of the Devil and of themselves too accounting in their very hearts all things nothing in comparison of Christ and yet for all this have little or no Fellowship with Christ because of the want of Faith Oh therefore this want of Faith is a great Soul-plague it is as the Devil's Castle and Tower of Defence from whence he shooteth so many Darts at the Souls of the Afflicted The Lord in Mercy arm us all against this Unbelief And truly my Friends there is no reason for the persons before spoken of to doubt of God's favour of all persons in the World for all the free and blessed Promises in the Gospel run with a direct tendency to and upon them I beseech you therefore if there be any such here this day that you would take courage trust in God and doubt no more and the Lord give and grant you Hearts thus to do for I know there is no such precious Herb as Faith is grows in the corrupted Garden of Mans Heart by Nature But oh you proud obdurate and hard-hearted ones whose hearts the Lord never yet touched nor who never yet trembled at Gods Words to you be it spoken the Dread ought to lie at your doors for there is not a Curse written in all Gods Book but it runs with a direct tendency to and upon you as little as you fear it think of it or are troubled for it now yet the Day is a coming even at the Door when you shall be made to know it The Lord God give you hearts to see it in due time before it be too late and the Offers of Grace be hid from your Fyes But there is at this day a sort of Professors of Christianity in the world who pretend to Faith and a holy Life or rather first a holy Life and then Faith as they suppose and these are still crying Do do do and upon doing they pronounce Men blessed happy and safe not regarding in the mean while whether such have any Faith or no or if they have whether it be rightly founded upon Christ or no without leaning to or depending upon any thing else especially in point of Justification But oh that such Persons would seriously consider 1. That Man as Man and whilst cut of Christ can do nothing So saith Christ himself Without me ye can do nothing John 14.5 But the strongest Argument that ever I met with to convince me of the truth of this is recorded in John 5.30 Where Christ saith thus I can of mine own self do nothing And from hence I infer That if the sinless spotless and only Son of God did acknowledge That he could of his own self do nothing that is as he was Man c. then is it most high Presumption for a poor mortal sinful wretched Creature Dust and Ashes to say or think that of himself as separate from the Grace Power and Goodness of God in Christ he can do any thing that is any thing acceptable or well-pleasing to God 2. Let them consider that whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin Rom. 14.23 And also that without Faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11.6 And lastly Let them consider that Faith is the Gift of God Eph. 2.8 and a Fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 And if so then pray what is sinful Man in and of himself but a poor lost helpless nothing undone Creature And this must man be made to see before ever he can truly close with Christ Jesus in Truth and Sincerity And when once he comes thus to be stript of all and made nothing in himself then is he a fit Object of Mercy in which God once coming to work Faith in the heart in order to an embracing of Christ then a blessed Union betwixt Christ and the Soul is immedily brought forth BUT Fourthly and lastly For I cannot stand to mention any more Particulars Another dreadful and most mighty Let in this way of Union betwixt Christ and his Church is the Devil of whom it is said in another case and may accordingly be said in this He that now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way 2 Thes 2.7 And indeed it is him which the young Lion in our Text doth most directly point at for as the young Lion roared against Samson when he came down to Timnath to take this Daughter of the Philistines to Wife so the Devil roared against Christ both when he came in the Flesh to purchase and redeem his Church and also as he cometh in the Spirit to call and sanctifie his Church in order to the betrothing of her unto himself

withall even because he finds himself no more forward in loving and praising of Jesus Christ for all his Gifts Favours and Mercies Yea and truly I hope there is some among us this day whose Minds and Spirits have been greatly burthened many a time because they could deny themselves no more and esteem of Christ no better in Matters of this nature And pray note it It is a good sign of a Christian in whomsoever these Thoughts do reside for Self-Love Pride and Spiritual Ambition is of all things most contrary to God and destructive to Godliness BUT Thirdly and Lastly If Satan be thus overcome in you and upon your account then are you in some degree united and married to Jesus Christ OBJECT But may be you will say But how shall I know whether I be so Married to Jesus Christ or no ANSW To which I answer If you be Married to Jesus Christ then it will appear in these following things FIRT You will have a higher Esteem of Jesus Christ than of any thing else whatsoever Yea he will be to you the chiefest among ten thousand even altogether lovely so that you will be brought to think one day in his Courts better spent than a thousand elsewhere SECONDLY You will think every hour a lost hour that is not spent in the fellowship of his Love and enjoyment of his Presence yea and often will you be bewailing your selves that you have spent so much time without the same crying out unto God after this manner and saying O Lord how many a day and hour have I spent in wickedness and vanity without either seeing or enjoying thee O my God! which now occasions abundance of trouble to my Soul even when I consider it THIRDLY You will think your selves Losers by all things you receive in which you receive not Christ Jesus Then it will not satisfie you to have Lands and Livings Gold and Silver Wife and Children unless you have Christ too Neither will it satisfie you to enjoy Gospel-Priviledges and Gracious Opportunities unless you enjoy and possess Jesus Christ in all and every of those things for no Wife that sincerely loveth her Husband doth ever account her self happy in the enjoyment of any thing wherein she doth not enjoy her Husband even so in like manner God's dear Children are not content with any thing that they do possess or enjoy wherein they do not possess and enjoy Jesus Christ And Oh Sirs let me freely speak it these Persons are not content with Gifts no not with heavenly Gifts without the Giver Do they come to hear Sermons still they are searching for God's Power and Presence in and under the same or else they are not contented Do they Pray Read or Receive the Sacraments Well still it is the same all things without God are nothing in their esteem FOURTHLY If you be thus Married to Jesus Christ then are you soon aware of any thing that doth interpose betwixt Christ and your Souls yea if a Cloud do but come over the Face of the Sun of Righteousness so as to darken the Glorious Light thereof in your Souls then are you quickly sensible of it And if that this Cloud remain upon the Face of the Son of God Christ Jesus so as that Spiritual Darkness do long continue in and upon your Souls O how often are you then enquiring and saying Oh why doth he hide his Face from me and why is his Chariot-wheels so long in coming FIFTHLY If you be thus Married and United to Jesus Christ our Spiritual Samson you are very Earnest in the promoting of Christs Glory O when you hear Persons giving Glory to fleshly Wisdom Humane Learning Natural Abilities Moval Civility or any thing of the like Nature which seemeth to lessen or derogate from the Glory of Christ Jesus O how near doth this come home to your Heart for better a great deal a true Christian endure to hear themselves laid low and trampled in the Dust yea and accounted as bad nay worse than nothing than to hear Jesus Christ abased and set below his place O this cuts them to the very Heart SIXTHLY If thou be Married to Jesus Christ then it is thy Hearts desire to walk in all his Ways and in all things to conform to his Will and Pleasure A Tender and Loving Wife taketh more pleasure in doing and observing her Husbands Will and Pleasure than her own So in like manner Christs Church and People do most heartily desire to do Christs Will yea and account it as their meat and drink to do the same SEVENTHLY and lastly If thou be married to Jesus Christ then art thou oftentimes in Great Trouble that thou canst keep no more faithful and true to him than thou dost yea and how often art thou taking occasion from the observation of thy own weakness and proneness to backslide from God to detest and abhorre thy self to lay thy hand upon thy mouth to admire Gods unspeakable Love and to cry out with the Church in the Lamentations Ch. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not And hence it cometh to pass that the continual Cry of thy Soul is Not unto me not unto me but unto Samson even Christ my Lord and Husband be all the praise and glory for ever and ever MANY more things I might propose to your Consideration to be Examined by you but time being spent I omit them and shall only add two words more and so draw to a Conclusion And the first word is by way of Terror to the Wicked who neither are Married nor desirous to be Married to Jesus Christ And the Second is by way of Comfort to all such as apprehending themselves to live in the Land of the Philistines afar off from God do long breath groan pray and most earnestly desire to be brought nearer to and wholly joyned with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Husband I begin with the first viz. such as neither are Married nor desirous to be married to Jesus Christ And to all such I say that it had been better for them that they had never been born than that they should live and dye without Jesus Christ better had it been that their bodily Eyes had never seen the Sun in the Firmament than that their Souls Eyes should not see the Son of God in the Gospel Better had it been that such had never had a being in this World than that they should have an Eternal being without Christ in another World O Dear Friends I would be plain with you and pray mind what I say As the Tree falls so it lyes no Conversion in the Grave True the Grave may be as a Bed to rest in but it will not it cannot be as a Shop to Trade in Therefore let Old and Young Rich and Poor that hear me this day be advised to turn to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour And Sirs if you do but come by a true and sincere