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	love_v	true_a	3,140	5	5.4324	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09984	Mount Ebal, or A heavenly treatise of divine love Shewing the equity and necessity of his being accursed that loves not the Lord Iesus Christ. Together with the motives meanes markes of our love towards him. By that late faithfull and worthy divine, John Preston, Doctor in Divinitie, chaplaine in ordinary to his Majestie, master of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolnes Inne.	Preston, John, 1587-1628.	1638 (1638)	STC 20238; ESTC S115085	27,130	53

debt for thee when thou wast ready to goe to prison for it so that now the Lord begins to grow angry with thee if thou wilt not yet love him for all this and yet this is not all and therefore Thirdly consider also that he loves thee now as fire begets fire so doth love beget love therefore saith Saint Iohn we love him because he loved us first that is his love to us should make us love him againe but especially we cannot but love him if we consider in the last place Fourthly what his love is for its unspeakeable and passing knowledge we can never conceive the height and length c. All which what should it teach us but these two things First that if we will not love the Lord he will shew his wrath and make his power knowne upon us that we are but vessells of wrath fitted for destruction as it is said Againe Secondly it should exhort us to love the Lord Iesus Christ and therefore to provoke us thereunto we should often consider and thinke in these things what right and title he hath to us how much he hath done for us and how greatly he loves yea and more then all this wee shall thereby also have these and these things wee shall by this meanes reape these and these benefits First we shall have his spirit the spirit of truth the Comforter which shall leade us into all truth and enable us to fullfill his Commandements and with facility and ease whereas else they would be grievous unto us as for example Saint Paul would soone have beene weary of preaching and suffering so much as he did if he had not had this love in him and why doe parents thinke nothing too much for their children but because they love them therefore it is that though they bee froward and untoward yet still they beare with them if then we cannot finde in our hearts to be quiet untill they looke to the Lord like as the needle of a compasse which is toucht with a Loadstone will never stand still till it comes to the North-pole then may this be a testimony unto us that may distinguish us from Hypocrites and witnesse to our soules that we love the Lord Iesus Christ for they keepe the Commandements of God in some sort and abstaine from some one kinde of sinne but not out of love to him nor in any obedience and conscience of his word but in love to themselves Secondly this is a marke of thy Resurrection from the death of sinne to the life of righteousnesse hereby shall yee knew that yee are translated from death to life because yee love the brethren now yee cannot love them but you must love the Father that begot them Thirdly thou shalt get by this thy love to him for when thou givest him thy heart he will give it thee againe he will onely alter the object but let thee keepe the affection still onely it shall be better then it was before he will purifie it from all its corruptions and cleanse it from all its sins Nor shall this be any thing out of thy way it shall be as much for thy profit as ever it was before for when thy heart is set to keepe his Commandements when it inclines to his statutes as so hee will incline it then whatsoever thou dost it shall prosper so that as it s said of the Sabbath that it was made for man that is for mans good so may we say the same of all the rest of the Commandements that it is made for man that is for his good and benefit and therefore the promise of life and happinesse is made to all alike And here by the way take this difference along with thee to distinguish thy love from selfe love for that is all for it selfe but this is all for him whom thou lovest if then thou love the Lord for thine owne good it is selfe love but if thou love him for himselfe simply without any respect to the recompence of reward then is it true love indeede Fourthly wee shall receive much comfort by loving the Lord now what is that keepes us from loving of him but our pleasures we are loath to part with them and yet alas we shall receive much more and they farre more substantiall sollider and sounder comfort by loving of him then ever we should by loving of the world or the things of the world Now doe but thinke how good a thing it is to love one that is but like thee much rather shouldst thou love one that died for thee wherefore if thou wouldst have thy heart filled with joy and comfort love him for so thou shalt have joy unspeakeable and glorious And last of all if thou wouldst indeede unfainedly love the Lord Iesus Christ consider Fiftly that it makes thee a more excellent man then thou wast before for every man is better or worse according to his love as it is set on things better or worse now Christ is the Summum bonum the chiefest good and if thou love him thou art united unto him and to his God-head for love is of a uniting nature Thou wilt say these are indeede good motives to make us to love him but how shall I come by this love or by what meanes shall I get this love into my heart For answer whereunto I tell thee first of all that if thou canst but unfeinedly desire to love him thou hast halfe done this worke already and that thou mayst have such a desire meditate often upon those motives before This is the answer Christ himselfe gave to his Disciples when they asked him how they should get faith why saith he if you have faith but as a graine of mustard feed you should say to this mountaine be thou removed and be thou throwne into the midst of the Sea c. thereby shewing them the excellency of it that so he might the more enamour them with the love of it and make them desire it above all that they could imagine and thinke of besides in comparison thereof but if thou wouldst as thou sayst thou desirest to love the Lord Iesus Christ indeede with all thy heart with all thy soule and with c. I answer and add againe thou canst not use a better meanes to attaine thereunto and get the love of him into thy heart then these First pray unto God for it for all graces are his gifts they are meere Donatives and hee hath promised to heare them that aske in his Sonnes name and to give the spirit to them that aske it that is to give the gifts and graces thereof unto them nor is he any niggard for he giveth liberally and obraideth not But thou wilt say how doth prayer beget love I answer it begets it two wayes First by prevailing with God Secondly by familiarity with him First I say by prevailing with God so did Iaacob and the woman of Canaan for considering that

or pride or profit or what else thou wilt or canst name besides yea thou must love him above thy selfe and thine owne salvation so that if his glory and any or all of these come in competition together thou canst be content to be accursed for his sake to have thy name razed out of the booke of life and to be Anathema for Christ then is thy love such as God will accept of for this is that selfe-deniall which Christ himselfe speakes of and calls for of us But thou wilt say durus est hic sermo this is an hard saying how shall I be able to doe this to which I answer Thou shalt doe it the better by considering that he is better then all things and that the whole world is not to be compared with him I count that all the afflictions of this life are not worthy the glory that shall be revealed saith the Apostle and that made him endure such persecutions for the Gospell as he did with joy and patience and so if thou be once come to that passe as to know and be perswaded in thy conscience of the incomparable worth and excellency of Christ thou wilt make more reckoning of him then of all the world besides for as he himselfe said of himselfe He that will not deny himselfe and take up his crosse and follow mee is not worthy of mee so he that loves any thing else above or equall with Christ is not worthy of him no thou must be wholly his as he is as he is wholly thine and hath betroathed thee unto himselfe so that as a Virgin that hath betaken her selfe to an husband must forsake all other and cleave or keepe her constantly unto him so long as they both shall live so wee being married unto Christ must not play the Harlot and goe a whooring after other Gods but must be wholly his as he is wholly thine But thou wilt say he is not wholly mine for he is the Saints too To which I answer he is indivisible hee is not divided but is wholly thine as wel as theirs so then if thou wilt love the Lord Christ truely and purely as he would thou shouldst thou must love him so as that all that is within thee be set upon him But thou wilt say againe yet further what must wee love nothing else but him then to which I answer Yes that thou mayst so as it be with a subordinate and not with an adulterous love as a woman may love another man besides her husband but it must not be with such a love as she loves her husband withall she may not love his bed it must be onely with a neighbourly and civill but not with a conjugall or matrimoniall love and so thou mayst love thy lands thy life thy friends c. but so as thou art ready to part with all for love of Christ so that hereby shalt thou know whether thy love be an adulterous love or not if when he bids us follow the duties of our callings and we suffer our selves to be drawne away by vaine delights and doe not therein abide with God as the Apostle speakes that is use it not to the glory of God and the good of the Church and Common-wealth wherein we live and so for any other matter if we cannot be content it should give place to Christ then is our love unlawfull and adulterous yea if our lives lay upon it if we doe not yet preferre him before them wee are not worthy of him we love our selves more then him it is no true love of Christ. But thou wilt say this is impossible that a man should thus love God more then himselfe more then his soule I answer I deny not but that it may seeme so to flesh and blood but yet thou must know that to a man truely regenerate it is not so for as Saint Paul saith I am able to doe all things through Christ that strengthens me those things that to the eyes of carnall reason seeme hard and difficult to them that are spiritually enlightened are facile and easie to be done and so is this Thirdly If thou wouldst have thy love pleasing to God thou must have it grounded on him and that requires two things First It must be grounded on faith in his promises revealed unto thee in his word for without faith it is impossible to please God neither is it so much love as presumption that hath not this foundation Secondly it must be grounded on his person not on his prerogatives or priviledges which thou shalt get thereby for if we love him onely for his Kingdome and not for his person as we doe when we cannot be content to suffer temptation and persecution for his sake then he cares not for thy love because it is selfe love and not love of the Lord Iesus Christ for then if it were thou wouldst respect nothing else but him Fourthly thy love must be a diligent love ready to reforme any thing that is amisse in thee or which may dislike him which whether it be so or no thou mayst try it by these three markes or tokens following First it will cause thee to put on new apparrell a woman that loves her husband will attire her selfe according as she thinkes it will please him best and give him most content especially when shee is to be married unto him then she will have a wedding garment that may set her forth so as he may take the better liking in her so thou if thou hast put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceiveable lusts of the flesh and hast put on the new man which after God is created in knowledge righteousnesse and true holinesse if thou be cloathed with the wedding garment of Christs righteousnesse and givest diligence thereunto to make thy calling and election sure then mayst thou be sure thou lovest him and that he accepts of that thy love from thee Secondly It will open and enlarge thy heart towards him so as thou wilt dayly love him more and more so saith the Apostle Saint Paul my heart is enlarged towards you ô yee Corintheans it is not any scanty or niggardly kinde of love that hee will like of but a full free and liberall one so that if thou canst not be content to be at some cost and charges for the maintenance of the Gospell and the enjoyment of his love thou lovest him not or at least he regards not thy love whosoever thou art Thirdly it cleanseth thy heart what is said of hope is as true of love he that hath this love in him purifies himselfe as he is pure and of faith it purifies the heart and so doth love therefore saith the Apostle againe Ye were thus and thus but yee are washed but yee are sanctified but yee are justified c. so that if you would not lose your labour if you would have Christ

it any wayes and so which way soever this affection of love goes it carries the whole man along with it and makes him leade his life accordingly Thus much then for the proofe of the point before propounded Now for the application of it to our selves that so we may the better make some use of it for the direction and reformation of our lives and conversations therein if it be so as so you have heard it is that it is such a sinne not to love the Lord Iesus Christ that he is worthy to be accursed that loves him not yea to be had in execration c. Then first it may teach us to looke to our selves and be sure that we love him and so looke at others as that out of a godly zeale thou canst sincerely and truely say with Saint Paul here let him be accursed for this is an infallible and sure signe of this love which proceeds from faith that when we see Christ trampled under feete our hearts burne within us as his did there are some saith he of which I told you before and now tell you againe with teares or weeping that they goe about to pervert and turne others from the wayes of God so that we may here see Saint Pauls disposition he doth not say cursed be he but cursed is hee from whence we may also note the difference betwixt the curses of the Law and ●f the Gospell for the Law faith cursed is he that continueth not in all c. but the Gospell saith cursed is he that loves not the Lord c. Now if we love him we will desire as was said but a little before to be joyned unto him and to have his company for how can that woman be said to love her husband that cares not for his company so how canst thou say thou lovest the Lord Iesus Christ when thou lovest not his society Againe if we love him we will be content to have him upon any condition for love is impulsive the love of Christ constraines us as the Apostle speakes to doe what it desires yet so as not against but with our wills which it inclines thereunto now if we doe not finde these things in us we doe not love the c. And therefore this Doctrine that he that loves him not is c. it should teach us to consider our owne conditions how we stand affected towards him and whether we love him or not and wee shall know it for certaine whether we doe or doe not by examining our selves by these quaeries First vvhether vvhatsoever good things vve have done vve have done them out of love to God and desire of his glory more then of our ovvne profit or out of custome for othervvise all that vve doe is nothing vvorth Christ respects nothing but vvhat comes from love and that love from faith if that be not the primum mobile the first moover that sets us on vvorke if vve goe not upon this ground vve vvere as good doe ●othing for all the good vve shall get by it ô that thou that most of all despisest Religion and scoffest at the zealous Professors thereof vvouldest but throughly consider of this one thing that he is accursed that loves not the Lord Iesus Christ and that all the good duties of piety or charity which thou performest if thou dost them not out of love but more for custome then conscience sake are rather abominable then any whit pleasing unto God for then wouldst thou no longer content thy selfe with the forme of godlinesse but labour for the power thereof But thou wilt say how shall I know whether this that I doe I doe it out of love to his name rather then out of any hypocrisie or love to my selfe I answer You shall feele it for love is of a stirring nature and moves all the rest of the affections as desire and longing after him with hope that thou shalt obtaine him and feare least thou shouldst faile of it but yet still let me give thee this caveat beware thou love him not more in regard of his Kingdome then of his person for then I tell thee true thou lovest him not aright Secondly consider whether as was said thou love his company and delight in his presence to have communion with him to be talking to him by prayer or to have him speaking unto thee by his word so then dost thou pray not by constraint but willingly dost thou heare reade receive the Sacrament c. not for fashion sake but of faith unfained in obedince to his commandement then dost thou love him but otherwise thou dost not Thirdly dost thou love his appearing at the last day canst thou say in the uprightnesse of thy soule come Lord Iesus come quickly dost thou thinke it long first and art not afraid when thou hearest of it as Felix was who trembled when he heard Paul discourse of Temperance Righteousnesse and Iudgment to come but dost rather desire it and wouldst be glad of it and the sooner the better then I say also mayst thou resolve upon it that thou dost assuredly love him and that when he shall so come he shall come without sinne unto thy salvation Fourthly whether thou lovest him as well in health as in sicknesse and in sicknesse as in health as well in poverty as in aboundance and in adversity as in prosperity for so thou wilt if thou love him truely for himselfe and not for these Fiftly marke this with thy selfe too whether thy love be bountifull as was that womans that had the box of oyntment which shee powred on Jesus head and as Abrahams was who would have offered his Sonne his onely Sonne Isaac for his sake so I say examine thy selfe hereby whether thou be content to part with the best things for his sake as thy living thy lusts thy life for he that loves any thing truely will forgoe and give all he hath to purchase it Sixthly looke whether thou seeke to doe the Lords will and what may please him best for love seekes not her owne we see it in men who will take any paines be at any cost to get that thing for them whom they love which they love to have and so will we doe for Christ if we love him we will keepe his Commandements and they will not be grievous unto us yea rather it will be our meate and drinke to doe his will and the dearer it costs us the dearer will it be unto us Seventhly examine thy selfe by this rule also whether thou be content to doe much for him not some things and not othersome but whether thou have an eye to all his Commandements and all false wayes thou utterly abhorre for faith you know workes by love and love that proceeds from faith is not idle but operative so that what is spoken of faith may as truely be said of love that its dead without workes and therefore Saint Paul professeth of himselfe that he laboured more then