Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	faith_n	love_v	sin_n	4,949	5	4.8976	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A55560	The beauty, vigour and strength of youth bespoke for God in a sermon lately preached to young men / by Thomas Powell ...	Powell, Thomas, 1608-1660.	1676 (1676)	Wing P3069; ESTC R33947	28,699	91

Desire of seeking God but now Youth improved will make the Performance of the Duty more facile Opportunity improv'd sayes one facilitates every Action and Employment making a work come off sweetly smoothly and with facility It is as the laying of the Knife upon the Joynt when we would divide the Bone It is Wind and Tide to the Oars of Industry Thirdly The more Wrath you will treasure up unto your selves by having more sins to answer for The sooner we begin the less we shall have to answer for but the longer we deferre the more we shall have to answer for Fourthly Young Men shall come to Iudgement as well as those of riper years You think that you have a Priviledge by your Age Youth must have its course say some they must sow their wild Oats But now the Counsel of the Spirit is otherwise In the Morning sow thy Seed and in the Evening withhold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper And David doth tie up your untamed Age to the horns of the Altar saying That even You must cleanse your wayes by taking heed thereto according to Gods Word Think not I say because you are Young you shall be excused For the dead small and great shall stand before the Lord and you that now take your pleasures know that for all that ye shall come to Judgement and your Pleasures shall have an End Methinks that Scripture in the 11 of Eccles. v. 9. should cool the Courage of such Young men who go on in their Career to Hell in the midst of their Pleasures Rejoyce O young Man in thy youth and let thy Heart cheer thee in the dayes of thy youth and walk in the wayes of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into Iudgement Fifthly You will not Repent that you have call'd God to mind so soon But thou shalt esteem Gods Grace the more for it rejoyce in the sense of it and in Comfort conclude thy Life whensoever God shall call thee hence I would fain lay down some Cautions and Exhortations unto the Young Men of this Age which if observed by them I am confident would help them much in remembring of their great Creator But should I doe this it would make this little Book swell too much which for the Poor's sake I would prevent and yet a little too I will venture First more generally have a care Young Men of laying a stress on Parentage Birth Education Civility and your Natural Endowments They are all but painted shews of Righteousness and crack'd Titles to Heaven Faith comes not by Birth Generation or Education and he who is Gifted is not alwayes Believing But Secondly more particularly I would caution you from these Vices which tend much to the Corruption of Youth First I would caution you from Love of the World If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 15. O let not the World lye so neer your Hearts as it did to the Young Man 's in the Gospel You can never Love your Creator so as to die for him if the World get root in your Heart Have a care I beseech you of preferring the Gifts of God before God himself All Creatures that the Lord made he made for Man and Man for himself But this is a fearfull Contempt of God and disestimation of his Majesty when the Creature is better lov'd than God as Evah for the love of an Apple lost the love of the Lord and Esau for a Mess of Pottage sold his Birthright and the Gadarens counted their Swine more precious than the Son of God Christ Iesus He that loveth these bodily worldly and perishing Riches cannot love the spiritual heavenly and eternal Riches Love not this World because the Devil is the God of it love not this World because it cools thy Affections to God and the things of God Love not this World because it is the Bird-lime of spiritual Punishments Love not this World because the Love of the World is Enmity towards God The Riches in this World are call'd Thick Clay Hab. 2. 6. which will sooner break the Back than lighten the Heart O that I could but disswade Young men from this peccatum peccatorum sin of Earthly-mindedness Consider O young Men what Solomon sayes of this World who knew as much as ever any did as to the sweetness of sensual pleasures Three Advantages Solomon had above others to know the Vanity of the Creature 1 In regard of his Wisdome 1 Kings 4. 29 30. 2 Riches 1 King 10. 23. 3 In that he gave himself to make trial and Experience of the Creature Yet Vanity of Vanities saith the Preacher Vanity of Vanities all is Vanity Five times Vanity 1. Vanity not vain onely but Vanity it self in the Abstract 2. Excessive Vanity Vanity of Vanities Hebraism superlative by doubling he signifies most vain imperfect uncertain transitory void of Content full of Grief 3. An heap of Vanities Vanity of Vanities an Hebraism and imports most great Vanity 4. An universal Proposition all is Vanity Fugiamus hinc ubi nihil est ubi inane est omne quod magnificum putatur Let us flye from this World wherein is nothing but Vanity Nihil siquidem a somni Vanitate differt rerum praesentium figura sive illae tristes sint sive prosperae The most excellent Shews of this Life are but Dreams which may affect for a time but do vanish so soon as the man awaketh And this is the first Caution Love not the World The Love of the World is an Obstacle that must be removed where Love to Christ and to thy Soul Young man is to be shewn Secondly I would caution you from Evil Company I know very well that we are mighty apt to follow a Multitude to do Evil I know that Youth above all is apt to keep Company especially had Company And how many have been brought to Ruine thereby Have not many at the Gallowes laid their sins at the Door of bad Company forewarning all to shun the same and take Example by them Every man is as his Company The Heathen could say Noscitur ex comite qui non cognoscitur ex se He is known by his Company that cannot be known by himself A Mans Company is as it were a Commentary on his Life A Company or Multitude and I pray Young Men do you especially take notice of it is not the Rule you should walk by as for doing Evil so for doing Good He that doth Good because a Multitude doth it will also do Evil because a Multitude doth it We must not saith Austin do a good thing because Many do it but because it is Good If others doe that which is Good saith he I will rejoyce because they doe it but I will not do it because they do it c. Keep good Company we

sense such who do not experimentally know God that he is and in measure What he is cannot properly be said to Remember him Remember your Creator that is no less than the Import of knowing and acknowledging your selves with God whereby peace may come unto you according unto that excellent counsel of Eliphaz to Iob Acquaint now thy self with God thereby Good shall come unto thee Job 22. 21. Remember your Creator That is of no less Import than the dying words of King David to his Son Solomon And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father 1 Chron. 28. 9. Secondly To Remember our Creator implyes a reverent Fear of Him Remembring of God is fearing of God Prov. 23. 17. Be thou in the Fear of the Lord all the day long How darest thou to say that thou Remembrest God when thou fearest him not and hast but little dread of his Greatness in thy Heart Thou canst fear Afflictions Death or any Evil approaching towards thee and for the diverting whereof applyest thy self to the Means in order thereunto but how little doest thou use thy Strength and Prudence against Sin that cursed thing and which rendreth thee obnoxious to the Wrath of God which if thou fearest not here shalt hereafter to thy sorrow and eternal detriment Thou canst reverence a Person of Quality or any Earthly Monarch and when Access unto him is granted thee how great is thy Care and Diligence in demeaning thy self before him and how dost thou tremble lest by any uncomely Gesture or Action thou shouldst offend him knowing that in case of Default thou mayst not onely meet with Repulse but also Penalty And shall the Presence of Worms so awe thee and not God in whose presence the blessed Saints and Angels cover their Faces as being unworthy of Beholding him It 's no marvel why Conscience bears so little sway now adayes why Piety is so little countenanc'd why Gods Glory is so little preferr'd why one Man even becomes a Devil to another and why Young men Remember not their Creator The Reason of all lies here The Fear of God is not before their Eyes nor his Greatness studyed by them Our Creator is God over all Blessed for evermore the Lord of Hosts is his Name all the Creatures are at his Beck and Check he is the stronger side and whosoever fears the Lord need not fear any thing else Confidence and strong Confidence is in the Fear of the Lord yea a Fear-freeing Fear this Fear is Thirdly To Remember our Creator implies setting the Mind on work on the Excellencies of him Psal. 104. v. 34. My Meditation of him shall be sweet The Excellencies of God are many great and incommunicable Many and wonderfull are the Excellencies of the Creature but not to be compar'd with God's because all Creature-Excellencies are but Derivatives And what are the Streams compar'd to the Fountain the Rivers to the Ocean and the excellencies of the Creature to the Excellencies of the Creator being in him primitively and incommunicably yea the proper subject and seat of all Excellencies whatsoever God is And canst thou Ovain young man set thy Heart on these transitory Excellencies of the Creature and yet canst not look up so high as to the Creator and take a View of his glorious and transcendent Excellencies that have and do ravish the Hearts of all their Contemplators Davids Meditations of his Creators Excellencies were sweet unto him Call back O young Man all thy stragling Affections it is high time now they have been long enough seeking Rest in these terrene things and finding none Call home O vain man thy Love thy Joy Hope Grief and Fear These are to the Soul as the Souldiers to the Centurion If he said to one Go he went if to another Come he came These say some are the Messengers of the Will these say others are the Wheels the Chariots the Wings the Feet of the Soul But now if thy Love which is the first and General of all the Affections should be set not on God but the World if your Hatred should be directed not against Sin but Good men or which is worse against Goodness it self if your Zeal should not be pure Flames for Divine Glory but a burning Rage against the Truth of God if your Fear should not be a flight from Evil but an Apostasie from Christ if your Anger should be a Displeasure at anothers Eminencies and not at your own Exorbitances if your Hope should not be a well-ballanced Expectation of Happiness but a blind and venturous Presumption of Mercy and if your Grief should be a trouble that you cannot be and doe more evil Ah how vile how irregular how dangerous are Affections thus misplac'd When Love and Hatred keep to their right Centres and move towards their proper Objects to love nothing but Good to hate nothing but Evil. Fourthly To Remember our Creator implies to recollect our selves and return unto him as the Fountain of our Salvation Psal. 22. 27. All the Ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord. By Sin we have Apostatiz'd from God are we yet return'd unto him is there a Conversion of the whole man unto God Are Old things past away and all things become New Hast thou a New Heart till then thou canst not remember God with any Affection Hast thou a New Will till then thou canst not do as thou oughtest Hast thou a New Eye till then thou canst not see the difference that there is between things Spiritual and Temporal Hast thou a new Appetite till then thou canst not know what is bitter or what is sweet Every Faculty is become the seat of Sin and therefore a Necessity there is of a universal Change The Understanding is dark and stands in need of Divine Illumination The Will is contumacious and needeth the Almighty Power of God to make it flexible The Memory is weak and needeth supernatural strengthening The Affections are dull and need spiritual Operation The Conscience is benumm'd and needeth the beams of God's Spirit to warm it and quicken it that it may no more mislead and be as a blind Guide And thus our whole Life is crooked and perverse hast thou gotten it made strait by a sincere Repentance and Reformation The Holy Scriptures are a Rule hast thou measured thy Life by it The Curse of the Law hangs on thee why dost thou not satisfie its Demands and Appeal to the Grace of God in Christ for freedom therefrom Thy miseries O Natural man are many great and intolerable why dost thou not endeavour to extricate thy self out of them Read this Scripture O Graceless Prodigal Psal. 9. 19. The wicked shall be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God Recollect therefore your selves oh Old Men before your dayes are quite concluded Remember your Creator Oh Young Men while the evil dayes come not nor the years draw nigh when thou