Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	good_a	great_a	will_n	4,822	5	5.8442	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85208	The sacrifice of the faithfull. Or, A treatise shevving the nature, property, and efficacy of zealous prayer; together with some motives to prayer, and helps against discouragements in prayer. To which is added seven profitable sermons. 1. The misery of the Creature by the sinne of man, on Rom. 8. 22. 2. The Christians imitation of Christ, on Ioh. 2. 6. 3. The enmity of the wicked to the light of the Gospel, on John 3. 20. 4. Gods impartiality, on Esay 42. 24. 5. The great dignity of the saints, on Heb. 11. 28. 6. The time of Gods grace is limited, on Gen. 6. 3. 7. A sermon for spirituall mortification, on Col. 3. 5. / By William Fenner, minister of the Gospel Fellow of Pembrok Hall in Cambridge, and lecturer of Rochford in Essex.	Fenner, William, 1600-1640.; Stafford, John, fl. 1658, engraver.	1649 (1649)	Wing F699; Thomason E1241_1; ESTC R210449	136,683	333

1. as if he should say those that are in Christ God doth not condemne them they have not that condemnation nay their owne conscience doth not condemn them so that that man whom any condemnation either from God or from his owne conscience condemnes that man is not in Christ being not in Christ he can never be heard Indeede a mans conscience may be misinformed by Satan under a temptation as you may see in the verse before my text Thou hast heard my voyce stop not thine eare from my cry Here the Church being examined their consciences told them they were heard in their pra●ers but being under a temptation their consciences were afraide that God heard not So many a poore soule examine it and it cannot deny but that these and these tokens of grace and fruites of Gods Spirit are in it yet their consciences are afraide that the Lord will not give them these and these other graces that they want that the Lord will not heare them for such and such blessings I meane not neither a truce of conscience for there may be a truce of conscience in wicked men A truce may be betweene mortall enemies but no peace but amongst freinds Wicked mens consciences are like the Lion 1. Kings 13. who when he had killed the Prophet stood by the Corps and by the Asse and did not eate the body nor teare the Asse so a wicked mans conscience it is as the divells band-dogge or roaring Lion till it hath slaine the sinner it stands stone-still and seemes neither to meddle or make with him but lies as seared or dead in him I meane not this conscience But when God hath sprinkled the conscience with the bloud of Christ and made the conscience pure this is a signe that God heares his praier I meane not the stammering of conscience when it is dazelled or overwhelmed but when it speaks down right as it meanes A godly mans conscience sometimes may judge otherwise then the thing is But examine what thy conscience tells thee in sober sadnesse deliberately convincingly and then know that the Lord tels thee If thy conscience saies peremptorily that thy heart and waies are rotten and unsound then know that the Lord tells thee so and that the Lord sayeth so to thy soule Fifthly the getting of that grace that a man prayes for is a signe that God heares his praiers But this is not a true signe alwaies but with distinction When the grace given and the good will of God the giver cannot be severed then it is a true signe But when the gift and the good will of the giver may be severed then it is not a true signe Thou maiest pray unto God and God may give thee many temporall blessings and many common graces of his Spirit God may give thee good parts a good memory he may give thee a good measure of knowledge and understanding even in divers things he may give thee some kinde of humility chastity civility thou maiest be of a loving and flexible disposition so he may give thee a good estate in the world houses lands wife and children c. God may give thee all these and yet hate thee and never heare one praier thou makest thou maist pray for a thousand blessings and have them and yet never be heard so long as the good will of the giver is severed from them all outward blessings and common graces may be severed from Gods good pleasure to a man Therefore in temporall blessings or in common graces if thou wouldst know whether God heare thee or no know whether God hath given thee a sanctified use of them or no. If God hath given thee many common graces or temporall blessings and a heart to use them to his Glory then every blessing thou hast there is not a droppe of drinke nor a bit of bread that thou hast but it is a signe of Gods everlasting love to thee Why because this and the good will of the giver can never be severed But on the contrary if a man have not a sanctified use of that he hath then it is the greatest severity of God and the most eminent plague and curse of God upon the soule to give it for a mans parts may be his b●ne his civility may be his curse and meanes of the finall hardnesse and impenitencie of his heart Sixthly faith if a man have faith given him to beleive it is a signe that God heares him be it to thee saith Christ to the man in the Gospell according to thy faith so goe thou to God and be it to thee as thou beleevest Dost thou pray for grace according as thou beleevest so shalt thou receive I have no signe that God will heare me Object I have so many corruptions of my heart against me and so many threatnings of Gods frownes against me I have no signe that God will heare me Wouldst thou have a signe An evill and Answ an adulterous generation seeketh a signe this is a tempting faith to seeke for signes to believe Thomas said Christ Joh. 20. 29. because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seene and yet believe That man that believes bacause he feels griefe in his heart teares in his eyes groans in his spirit because he prayes long and earnestly and sweats in his praier or mourns in his humiliation I suspect his humiliation his teares his griefe his praiers and all that he hath Why these are good signes of faith but rotten grounds of faith the Word and promise of God must be thy ground But against this the soul may object That every Promise runnes with a Condition Object and therefore if I have not the condition how can I beleeve the promise God hath promised Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be satisfied There is a Promise of filling but it is with a condition of hungering Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God c. If I have not the Condition annexed to the Promise how dare or how can I believe the Promise The Condition is not the way to get the Answ Promise the Promise is the ground of faith and the way to get the condition because the promise is the Motive cause that moves the soule to get the condition Now the Mover must be before the Moved then if beliefe of the Promise move thy soule to get the condition of the promise then beliefe of the promise must be before that the soule can keepe the condition of the promise Saul made a promise to David 1 Sam. 18. that he should be his sonne in law in one of his two daughters upon condition that he should give him an hundred foreskins of the Philistims Now David did first believe the promise and thereby he was allured to fight valiantly to keepe the condition to get a hundred fore-skins of the Philistims So Psal 116.

a true Christian he Doct. walkes as Christ walked if he be in Christ Before we make entrance hereupon let me expound to you two things lest we meete with rubs in the way First the conditionall IF Secondly the exemplary AS First for the conditionall if it is not a precedent condition of life as a condigne preparation unto or a previall disposition for Christ for a man cannot first walke as Christ walked and then be in Christ A graf● cannot live the life of the stocke and then be inoculated into the stocke No but it is a subsequent condition if ever a man be in Christ Christ holds him to these termes to live as he lived to walke as he walked The first act is before the latter act life before the actions of life so walke as Christ walked this notes the actions of life Now a man must first be in Christ before he can walke as Christ walked Indeed this condition is first quoad cogn●s●● to our knowledge but it is not first quoad esse and in its owne nature So then to walke as Christ walked being a necessary consequent of being in Christ we cannot be said to be in Christ if we walke not as Christ walked for take away the necessary consequent and you take away the antecedent take away the walking as Christ walked and you take away the abiding in Christ This condition is put in by our Saviour John 15. 10. If ye shall keepe my commandements ye shall abide in my love as I have kept my Fathers commandements and abide in his love This was the walke of Christ he kept his Fathers commandements and abode in his love This must be your walke too that looke to abide in Christs love If ye keepe my commandements ye shall abide in my love But if there be any commandement of Christ in all the Gospell that you will not conforme to it is an evident signe that ye abide not in Christs love 2 For the exemplary As even as he walked Can any man walke as Christ walked Object is it possible that dust and ashes that is corrupt with sinne can walke as he walked This word as hath a twofold signification Answ there is a two fold as either such an as as imports an equality or secondly similitude As this as imports an equality so it is impossible that any flesh can walk as Christ walked so purely so unspottedly so steadily so effectually as he lived No for our Saviour Christ was filled with the Holy Ghost and of his fulnesse have we all received grace for grace John 1. 16. Marke he doth not say that we receive his fulnesse but some of his fulnes so that none can walk as Christ walked with an as of equality but there is an as of similitude A scholer writes as his masters coppie directs him he begins every line as his master begins he ends as he ends he sets himselfe to frame every letter as his master framed it to joyne letters and syllables together as his master joyned them together Though there be no equality he cannot write one stroke or dash with his penne so well as his master yet he doth write as his master sets his coppie his hand followes his masters hand So it is saide of all that are in Christ Revel 14. 4. that they follow the Lambe whether soever he goeth they follow Christ in all duties in all holinesse in all his commandements they tracke Christ in all his stepps though they cannot walke with such long strides so steadily so purely so constantly as Christ yet they labour to tracke him with this as of similitude Doe all that are in Christ walke as Christ walked yea Beloved this is a clause of the covenant of grace so that a man cannot be in Christ unlesse he walke as Christ walked For thus runs the tenour of the covenant of grace Math. 11. 29. Learne of me for I am meeke and lowly of heart and ye shall finde rest unto your soules Marke there is no rest to the soule no grace to the conscience no assurance of the pardon of sin Christ gives no comfort to the heart unlesse the heart will learne of Christ follow Christ his copy be holy as he is holy pure as he is pure walke as he walked This will the better appeare if we consider that Christ his life must be the example for our life according to which we must live Now the exemplatum must be conformable to the exemplary saith Aquinas the draught must be according to the copy so if Christs life be the patterne of our life then our life must be conformable to his life therfore Christ declares his ways unto us as our samplers Christ was humble and serviceable to all in the days of his flesh with this Motto John 13. 15. I have given you an example that you should doe as I have done Thou art of thy master the devill and his copy thou followest if thou account it an indignity to stoope a disgrace to condescend to thy brother Christ was willing to suffer disgrace with this Motto 1 Pet. 2. 21 Leaving us an example that we should follow his steps Art thou loth to practice Religion for feare of the crosse loth to reproove sinne for feare of a flout or of the displeasure of a great man least thou shouldest procure his ill will it is evident that thou follow●st not Christ because he hath left us an example that as he suffered so also should we Christ was obedient to the death of the crosse not looking to his owne things so much as the things of others so the Apostle warneth us Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus 1 John 2. 5. you that be in Christ must have the same mind that Christ had 1 John 3. 3. He that hath this hope purgeth himselfe even as he is pure Howsoever the world nick-names and reproaches purity yet if any have this hope indeed he may have other hopes he may have vaine rotten dead hopes and never seeke after purity but he that hath this hope a true saving hope to be redeemed by Christ he purifyeth himselfe even as he is pure Thou then which art not pure but makest a mocke of purenesse and of conscience of every sinne thou canst have no true sound faith in the Lord Jesus Thou must be righteous even as he is righteous Thou happily saiest thou art righteous thou doest this and that righteousnesse this and that good action take thou heede saith the Apostle that thou deceive not thy selfe thou must be righteous as Christ is righteous In a word love is the fullfilling of the law and Gualter carrieth it along through all the law which Christ walked in Christ loved us and gave himselfe for us with this injunction a new commandement give I unto you that you love one another as I have loved you John 13. 34. This was one of the maine reasons of Christs comming into the world to redeem