Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	commandment_n	lord_n	love_v	6,171	5	6.6762	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81791	Moral instructions of a father to his son upon his departure for a long voyage: or, An easie way to guide a young man towards all sorts of virtues. With an hundred maximes, Christian and moral.; Instruction morale d'un père à son fils. English	Dufour, Philippe Sylvestre, 1622-1687.	1683 (1683)	Wing D2455A; ESTC R231963	42,504	123

to pray It was his custom in his Prayers to say thus O God grant me those things that are good when I ask them not and deny me when I ask for those things that are evil God often favours us by not hearing our Prayers and sometimes punisheth us by granting our requests when we pray for that which is pernicious to our welfare as we commonly do for as our Lord JESUS CHRIST said we often know not what we ask Physicians order those who have a weak Stomach to eat little and often If it be hard for you to keep up your Attention which is the Soul of Prayer do you after the same manner and following the Counsel of our Blessed Saviour when you pray use not vain repetitions as the Heathen do for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking If therefore your Prayers must be short let them be the more frequent but chiefly I shall once again exhort you to this Let neither your Zeal nor your Faith be wanting My Son if you remember I said we might pray to God in all Places though all places were not equally Proper for this Exercise Yet if we consider Prayer to be as we must not doubt a darting forth of our Soul towards God to unite it with his Holy Spirit why cannot we do this every Hour if not every Moment in the Day wheresoever we are at home or abroad And why cannot we often turn our Hearts to God though in the midst of our most important Affairs and in walking whether it be in the City or in the Country To do thus is to pray to him The Heart of Man is a moving Closet a Place of Retirement a holy Solitude where we may enter every Moment and from thence send such fervent though short Ejaculations as shall penetrate Heaven and be more acceptable to God than those long Prayers which too often want Attention These Ejaculations are without doubt what the Evangelist means when he exhorts us to pray always And why my Son should you not observe this good Custom of praying to God and praising him in your Bed whensoever you happen to awake since Prayer is so much the principal part of Divine Worship that the Scripture comprehends thereby all Religious Duties This my Son is the chiefest of what I had to say to you concerning Prayer in particular But take notice you cannot pray to God without putting your Trust in him neither can you put your trust in God without loving him Love him then if you expect his Love Fear him if you desire to be wise for the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom This fear as Solomon said is to hate and avoid all evil and consequently to do good If you fear God you will love him and if you love him you will keep his Commandements my Son you know all those Commandements let nothing then be an Obstacle to your Practice of them God is a Spirit and the Truth and he will be worshipped in Spirit and Truth This Religion wherein through his goodness you was born for the full and perfect Knowledge whereof I have throughly cultivated your Understanding This I say is the only natural Worship which he requires Adhere to this Worship and you will find it more advantageous to you than the Star was to those Shepherds whom it guided to Bethlehem for that only led them to JESUS CHRIST in his lowest Estate whereas this Worship shall conduct you to him in his Glory This Divine Saviour of the World speaking of himself to St. Thomas said I am the Way the Truth and the Life And 't is the only way through which we must go to the Father Stray not from it my Son whatsoever may befall you For instead of Springs which you will find in this Way flowing with living Water every where out of it you shall meet with puddles of Water both impure and loathsome You cannot go out of this Path wherein you have entred without departing from God and consequently from all those Joys whereof he is the Center Let neither Wealth Honour nor Pleasure lead you aside and though you suffer the most rigorous Persecutions yet be not disheartned Esteem it as a great Honour to bear the Cross after your Saviour it would be an honourable Reproach to you to have your Body marked and bruised for the sake of Christ This is the way through which all the Martyrs have passed to enter into those heavenly Joys If God should call you to such Proofs turn not away for the least Thron falling from our Saviour's Crown upon your Head will affix thereto a Crown of Glory If therefore you happen to suffer for Christs sake be not ashamed but rather praise and glorifie God for it Sickness Loss of Persons dear to us Loss of Goods Wealth and an infinite number more of unwelcome Accidents compose generally the Series of our Life My Son do not think you can avoid them The Afflictions of this World are most certain Characters of the Children of God wherewith he corrects those he loves as a Father useth a rod to chastise the Child whom he tenderly cherisheth 'T is true the Flesh takes no delight in being chastised neither are we to hearken to Fleshly Sentiments when we would put in practice what is necessary to our Salvation If it is God's good Pleasure you should undergo Afflictions of what nature or how sharp soever murmur not Take heed when you suffer it be not deservedly And remember in your sufferings though exceeding great that they cannot be equal to the Glory which will be your reward hereafter These afflictions which if the right use be made of them immediately pass away will produce in your Mind the Brightness of that transcendent Glory Moral Philosophy teacheth us that Vices of all sorts spring from Passions disorder'd whereas from regulated Passions do proceed all Vertues And Christian Divinity doth verifie by experience that afflictions which in Reprobates occasion nothing but Despair are to the Faithful so many inexhaustible Fountains of Joy The Rods which God makes use of to punish the Wicked are like that of Moses which turned into a Serpent and those wherewith he chastiseth his Children have a resemblance to that of Aaron which brought forth Flowers and Fruit. Make good use of them My Son Kiss those Rods wherewith he corrects you adore the secret Vertue in them and even in the most Severe Chastisements acknowledge his Divine Goodness in raising you out of that heavy Sleep wherein Sin may have cast you If they are more sharp than Flesh could wish for believe that it is for your good to be thus afflicted for a little time that the trial of your Faith being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth tho it be tried with Fire might be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the appearing of JESUS CHRIST My Son you ought to have observed that I have reduced under four Heads all the

Disorders he undergoes within By such innocent Means as these a Learned Man in our time found what he had vainly searched after in all the Secrets of Philosophy the way to diminish the Inclination which one of his Disciples had towards this Vice in whose vertuous Education he was very much concerned He shewed him in the Countenance of a Man agitated with this Passion so great a change and so vastly different from what it was wont to be that from the Effects running up to the Cause it was not difficult for him to make him understand that a Stream so infected must needs proceed from a poison'd Spring whereby he brought him to be so averse from this Vice that it even diminished extremely the Inclination he had towards it The Lacedaemonians did heretofore use the like device to make Drunkenness odious to their Children They made their Slaves drink to Excess and then they were brought before them in that Condition who seeing them reel and stagger and act like Men depriv'd of their Senses conceived so great a hatred for this loathsom Vice that they would never after be reconciled to it Do you my Son take the same Method to oppose and conquer that Passion of Anger which is a sort of Drunkenness that assaults our Understanding and clouds our Reason with Fumes more dangerous than those of Wine because they are of a longer continuance and they produce more direful Effects In a word to give you an easie and infallible Remedy against Anger tho you have never so great Provocations thereto practise the Advice of a great Person of this latter Age who exhorts us to yield betimes to Reason that which in a little while we cannot but yield to Time To this wholsom Advice add Fortitude that Heroick Vertue and the support of the rest whereof Prudence is the Guide and it will not be difficult for you to succed Envy is the last Vice I have to mention whose Picture I am going to draw Of all Vices 't is the most rampant It incited Man to a Crime which being directed immediately against God and Nature made him fail in his Duty to one and t'other and in one Act made him commit Sacrilege and Murder by stirring up Cain to deface the Image of God in the Person of his Brother whom he killed 'T is a Passion which after having poison'd the Mind spreads also it 's Poison all over the Body which corrupts the whole Mass of Blood and casteth its Venome through all the Veins which renders the Countenance meager ghastly hideous and which notwithstanding all Endeavours to lye hid doth manifestly expose it self by disfiguring that Person whom it possesseth And we may very justly say that if Anger is a Fire which enflames us Envy is one that dries us up and carrieth along with it the Punishment of the Envious seeing that neither Night nor Day doth it suffer him to take any Rest 'T is like a Hecktick Fever which consumes a Mans Body by degrees and which is difficult to drive away when through Negligence one has suffer'd it to take Root The Envious Man strikes directly at God He derives his greatest Misery from the just distribution God makes of his Benefits to other men Another's Calamity is his Joy The good Health of his Neighbour diminisheth his own and his Neighbour falling sick makes him well again His Draughts are then sweetest when mingled with the bitter Tears of his Neighbour His private Sorrows arise from the Satisfaction and Content of the Publick He looks upon that Gain or Profit that doth not help fill up his Bags to be a great loss to himself and he is never happy but in the misery of those of his Acquaintance The moderate Harvest of another makes his own unacceptable tho it be abundant and the greatest Prosperity in this World would be unwelcome to him if he were forced to share some part of it with his Neighbours You may easily perceive my Son that a Man of this Temper can have Peace with no body and that generally he must be at War with God judge thereby of the Tranquility of his Body and Soul Others comprehend their Unhappiness within their own Calamities but the Envious besides their own peculiar Misfortunes procure to themselves an infinite number from the good Fortune of others Shun therefore this Vice which is so pernicious and detestable that it is impossible for any one to be guilty of it without becoming both a Punishment to himself and his own Executioner And be assured that after it has furiously tormented in this Life those who are possessed with it in the next it will lead them into that Place which Divine Justice has set apart for all those who have not a submissive regard to whatsoever is ordained by Providence The Description I have made to you of these Vices has been something longer than I should have imagined God grant the Style may be not only so clear as to excite in you that Hatred which you ought to have against them but also so persuasive as to encourage you in the Love and Practice of their opposite Vertues There is not any thing can be throughly known until it be compared with its contrary if therefore you have apprehended the Reasons which should move you to hate Pride Covetousness Gluttony Sloth Vncleanness Anger and Envy you will easily be persuaded for the Welfare of your Soul and Body to love Humility a liberal Frugality Sobriety Diligence Chastity Moderation and Charity and to possess these Vertues you must take your Measures from the Dictates of Prudence Fortitude and Temperance whose Counsels cannot but be advantageous to you if you will thereunto acquiesce Among all the Benefits that you may receive from these Vertues I would to God my Son they would inspire you with as much Love for Truth as young People have Inclination for Lying Have in Horror this Vice and to do this easily remember that JESUS CHRIST took upon him this Quality of True only to signifie to us that he loved those who loved the Truth And why think you is the Devil termed in the Scripture the Father of Lies unless it be to shew that all Lyars are his Children The love of this Vice is an undeniable Character upon all those who practise it through Inclination and from this Inclination acquire a Habit that they are the Children of the Devil I know very well that they who are willing to excuse it say that a secret Shame which they have to acknowledge themselves guilty of the Fault imputed to them doth not seldom drive them against their Will into a Necessity of Lying It is an ill President that Adam hath left to his Posterity But what signifie all these Prevarications wherewith we dissemble the Truth They are but like so many Fig-leaves through which the Truth will be discerned in spight of all our Endeavours to the contrary The Hopes of a more regular Conduct hereafter doth somewhat comfort

is even contrary to the Will and Design of the Creator who plac'd him in the World for Society-sake Reason was given him to no other Purpose but to make use of it He has Vertues he ought to put them in practice Which he cannot do but with those of his own kind and in a civil Converse In this Converse I would have you use the subtlety of the Serpent and yet act with the simplicity of the Dove Be just and sincere and have always in your Mind this excellent Law of Nature which I cited once before Do not to others what you would not that others should do to you This Law is not onely a Dictate of Nature and receiv'd generally throughout the Universe but God himself makes it a part of his Law when he commands us to love our Neighbour as our self My Son observe this that God doth command you not onely to love your Neighbour but to love him as your self that is to say as heartily as sincerely and with an Affection as ardent as is possible This Obligation as you may see is of a great Extent but the Goodness of God extends much farther he relinquisheth part of his Right for our sakes for tho he has required our Affection entire to himself yet he looseth that Obligation and is willing we should have for one another part of that which he had demanded from us and retain'd wholly for himself Here he ceaseth his Jealousie he that takes upon him so often the Name of Jealous and through an Excess of Love which he bears towards us he is so far from being angry that our Neighbour has a share in our Affection that he commands it and is well pleas'd to create himself Rivals upon this Account Man is not sensible enough of this Goodness which is infinite as well as the Essence from whence it proceeds for of the three kinds of Affections prescribed to us by the Law of God Man for the most part maintains that which has a Relation to himself taking no Notice of the other two and by an Excess of self-Self-love he fails in that which is due to God and his Neighbour by which Vice he becomes in this World a Complice with the Devil and therefore cannot but expect to share with him his Punishment in the next Therefore to avoid this love others as much as you would have them love you To this Duty you ought to apply your self very much as well for your Advantage as to render your Life sweet and pleasant Who speaks Love speaks Service Esteem Honour in a Word speaks all obliging Condescensions which Mans Heart always inspires for those Persons that are dear to him My Son all Men should be dear to you and he whose House toucheth yours is not more your Neighbour than he that dwelleth in another Country Be officious towards all Lose no Opportunity of serving any one Add to the Courtesies you bestow a Way altogether obliging in bestowing them which encreaseth their Merit and though the Person be never so much unknown to you that demands any thing if you are not in a Capacity of satisfying him do not encrease his Discontent occasion'd by your Refusal with harsh and unkind Language but rather diminish his Trouble by that which you should express in not being ca●able to content him This Conduct will not only gain Esteem but also a general Love and Affection wheresoever you happen to be Great Persons are to us as the Flame of Candles are to Flies We must have a great care of approaching them too familiarly lest we run in danger of burning our selves There is nothing so alluring and yet so full of Deceit as their pompous Equipage and their splendid Entertainments My Son be not dazled with it and whether they derive their Greatness from their Birth or from their Fortune let only their Vertue and Personal Merits guide those Sentiments of Respect and Veneration which you think is owing them Among several Reasons which perswade me to give you this Advice I will here lay down some of the most important First of all consider this as a Truth that although among Great Persons there may be found some whose Inclinations and Conduct answer exactly to their Character the Number is infinitely the greater that derogates from it Remember that they are for the most part like the Trees in Forrests which sometimes yield Shade but very rarely any Fruit unless it be like those Trees near the Dead Sea in the Holy Land which proffer very fair Apples to Passengers but within side are nothing but Dust and Rottenness Almost all the Great ones entice us after the same manner oblige and gain us with large Promises and by an excess of Civility whereby we are too often caught and never undeceiv'd till an unhappy Experience in our Necessities convinceth us how little Reason we have to relye upon the Hopes or Expectations of what they promise Besides if you should be so fortunate as to be favour'd by some Great Person which will scarce happen unless his own Interest forceth him to it in a small time you will begin to perceive that his Friendship has not only the false glittering of Glass but also it 's Brittleness for generally the least Oversight makes them forget the greatest Service Therefore if you will be persuaded by me make no Addresses to Great Persons or so much as come at them unless you are obliged to it by a Duty not to be dispens'd with Behave your self with great Respect towards your Superiours with civill Compliance among your equals and always courteously towards your Inferiours Take heed how you speak ill of any one especially in his Absence there is nothing more unworthy of a Man of Honour and you will be so far from living in Peace with others which is the chief end of Society that of Necessity you will be at odds with all If you have privately perceiv'd the vicious Inclinations of any Person of your Acquaintance do not Publish but rather forget them after you have done your utmost Endeavour to cure him of his Faults One of the most considerable Services that we can render to a Neighbour is to make him perceive the Errours of his Conduct And to do this successfully so that he may see 't is the Advice of a Friend let Prudence guide you least he disdain your Counsel instead of profiting thereby You would become ridiculous if you should be stain'd with the same Vice which you reprove in another and you will sooner pass for an impertinent Censurer than a sincere Friend Take heed therefore to that and mend that Fault in your self which you intend to cure in your Neighbour Avoid the Baseness of those who delight in raising false Reports and hearken not to those who go about to scandalize others If you do you seek thereby an Occasion to fall out with your Neighbour and if you your self create a Scandal upon him it will be a sufficient Reason for his