Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	let_v	lord_n	sin_n	4,896	5	4.6771	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01935	Certaine sermons preached upon severall occasions viz. The vvay to prosper. The vvay to be content. The vvay to vvell-doing. A summer sermon. A vvinter sermon. Vnknowne kindnesse. The poore mans hope. By Iohn Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to prosper.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to be content.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Way to well-doing.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Summer sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Unknowne kindnesse.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Poore mans hope.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Oracle of God.	1636 (1636)	STC 12071; ESTC S120526	199,234	334

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 facit exoriri no doubt there is many a one in the world that is such a Lueifuga a hater of light and lover of darkenesse whose deeds are so evill that the very Sunne in the heavens is even loth to cast his beames and shine upon him and there is many a plot of ground that is purchased and possessed by so wicked an owner that the very clouds of heaven are loth and unwilling to drop their fatnesse upon it but that God as it were makes them doe it Hence we see that God hath the disposing of all these temporall blessings if the Lord undertake to make a man all the world shall not marre him we may see it in Moses Exod. 7. 1. Pharaoh did what hee could to marre Moses and to expose him to ruine and obscuritie in his very infancie but God that undertooke to make him never left him nor gave him over till hee had made him a god to Pharaoh not a god whom Pharoah should worship but whom he should feare and stand in awe of a god to execute judgements and bring plagues upon him and to remove the same againe Hannah saith in her song 1 Sam. 2. 7. The Lord maketh poore and maketh rich it were as easie to God to make all rich as to make any poore againe it were all one with God to make all poore as to make any rich for he hath the making of both but in his providence and wisedome he hath made some of both sorts that the one might helpe themselves to heaven by supplying and relieving the necessities of the other And therefore for our owne parts if we have any making any promotion or prosperitie above our fellowes we must confesse with David That it is God that hath made us and not we our selves it is God that hath made us Men when hee might have made us Beasts it is God that hath made us Christians when he might have made us Infidels it is God that hath made us rich when he might have made us poore in a word it is God that hath made us to prosper when hee might have made us to perish Hee sought the Lord and God made him to prosper But that is not all the maine thing that I observe from hence is the benefit that ariseth to us by seeking of God namely that it turnes to our owne advantage our owne profit God hath onely the glorie but the gaine is wholly ours for it is a meanes to make us prosper as David speaking of the commandements Psal 19. saith that in keeping of them there is great reward no man shall be a loser by keeping of Gods commandements but a gainer and a great gainer too for in keeeping of them there is great reward if we be not rewarded on earth our reward shall be the greater in heaven In coelis reposita est major compensatio saith Calvin the greatest reward is reserved in the heavens Thus saith the Lord that teacheth thee to profit Esa 48. 17. Oh that thou haddest hearkened to my commandements then had thy prosperity beene as a floud and thy righteousnesse as the waves of the sea thy prosperity should have beene so large and plentifull that as a floud it should have run over the bankes and the reward of thy righteousnesse as the waves of the sea that is one reward should follow upon the necke of another as one wave followes upon the necke of another so Deut. 5. 29. Oh that there were a heart in this people to love me and feare me as they have said then should it goe well with them and their children after them not that I might be a gainer and you lose but that you and your children might reape the bene fit So that as our Saviour saith of the Sabbath that it was made for man not onely for Gods service but for mans profit so it is true of every Commandement it was made for mans that is for mans good and benefit therefore you have it so often repeated in Deuteronomy These are the Commandements that I have given thee for thy wealth and for thy good It is a pretty observation of Cajetan upon that saying of God to Moses Exo. 34. 1. Hew thee two Tables Dola tibi non mihi ego enim non indigio tua dolatione Hew to thy selfe not for me for I neede none of thy hewing nor yet any of thy tables it is for thy owne and thy peoples good that I bid thee hew them so it is for our good that God bids us seeke him God hath onely the glory of it but the benefit is our own for it is a meanes to make us prosper Therefore if we love our selves and desire to doe our selves good let us seeke the Lord. I know that naturally wee all love our selves too much but spiritually wee all love our selves too little for he that lives in sinne he doth not love himselfe for he goeth the way to undoe himselfe both here and ever 2 Chro. 24. 20. Why transgresse ye the Commandements of the Lord that ye cannot prosper We use to say of one that is of a good nature but an evill husband He is no mans foe but his owne and it is true of every one that lives in any knowne sinne not grieving for it nor striving against it not making conscience to reforme it he is his owne foe indeede for he doth not onely anger God but he hinders himselfe that hee cannot prosper Why transgresse yee the commandements of God that ye cannot prosper The like speech you have in Ezek. 18. Why will you die O house of Israel God doth not say Why will you sin O house of Israel but why will ye die O house of Israel as presupposing they might wel know if they wil needs sin they must needs die for death is the wages of sin and followes it as the shadow followes the bodie The Lord speaks it with indignation Why will ye die as wondring they should love themselves no better but even to seeke their own death by rushing into sinne as a horse rusheth into the battell that 's the expression that God useth Ier. 8. 7. They rush into sin as a horse rusheth into the battell And why as a horse rusheth into the battell and not as a man rusheth into the battell I will tell you what I thinke the reason is The horse when he rusheth into the battell doth not know that those whom he rusheth on be his enemies that they will hurt wound and kill him but he rusheth on them without feare or wit and rusheth upon his owne death so foolish men doe not know at least will not know This they willingly know not as Saint Peter speakes that sinne is such an enemie to them that it doth hurt kill and damne them thereupon they rush upon sinne without feare and so runne upon their owne destruction Therefore it is a good meditation of Saint Austin upon that prayer of David Deliver me O Lord

unawares as the Apostle speakes Gal. 6. 1. besides the purpose of his heart and against the intention and desire of his soule that mans sinnes are sinnes of infirmitie which by the mercy of God shall never be laid to his charge Contrarily when a man shall hang in ●quilibrio in an even ballance as it were betwixt wickednesse and goodnesse and shal be equally disposed to sinne or not to sinne as occasion shall offer it selfe or which is worse shall doe like him Psal 36. 4. shall set and settle himselfe in a way that is not good resolving with himselfe that this sinne ●its my turne and pleaseth my humour and I will not part with it or which is worst of all when a man shall draw iniquity with cords of vanity as the Prophet spaketh as if the devill were backward and sinne would not come fast enough upon him of its owne accord shall fish and angle for it and hunt after ill company and draw himselfe and others into sinne as Fish and Fowles are drawn into a net to their ruine and destruction this mans sinnes are farre beyond the sinne of infirmity for they are sinnes of iniquity and sinnes of obstinacie and such as will cost him many a sigh many a groane many a teare before ever he shall attaine to this comfortable perswasion that there is compassion with God and salvation with Christ for his soule 2. A sinne of infirmity is knowne by the consequents of it or that which followes after it it leaves such a sting behind it in the soule that a man can never be at quiet in his owne conscience till he hath made his peace with God by a sound and serious humiliation and reconciled himselfe againe to Iesus Christ Yea it never leaves a man till it hath brought him to that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Indignation which the Apostle speakes of 2 Cor. 7. 11. that a man shall even fret and vexe and fall out with himselfe for offending and provoking so good so gracious a God It will make a man upbraid himselfe for a very beast and a foole as David did Psal 73. So ignorant was I and so foolish even as a beast before thee And it is a sure rule that of Saint Augustin peccata non nocent si non placent if a mans sinnes doe not please ●im they will never hurt him Whereas on the contrary when a man can carry away his sinnes as lightly as Sampson carried the gates of Azz● that they are no burthen to his 〈…〉 e or if they doe beginne to trouble him shall doe as Saul did betake himselfe to musicke and sport and merry company to drive it away as if one sinne could drive out another and not rather drive it farther in beleeve it this mans sinnes are no sinnes of infirmitie but they are sinnes of an higher nature and such as will cost a man deare ere hee can be acquitted of them in the sight of God And this I dare confidently affirme that there is no man that sinnes of infirmity but he i● afterward the better for his sinne it makes him the more jealous of himselfe the more watchfull over his wayes the more carefull to serve and please God than ever hee had beene in former times Whereupon saith Saint Austin upon those words of the Apostle Rom. 8. Omnia cooperantur c. All things worke together for good to them that love God Etiam peccata Domine Even our very sinnes O Lord for by sinne we have experience of our infirmitie our infirmity brings us downe to humility humility brings us home to God and in God every man hath his quietus est a happy discharge from all his sinnes This being done one thing onely remaines and that is this A man that hath sinned of infirmity will labour to bring forth that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Iohn Baptist speakes of Mat. 3. 8. the worthy fruits of repentance for you most know that repentance is one thing and the fruit of repentance is another it is not enough to repent and be sorry for what a man hath done so did Iudas so did Ahab but he must honestly and unfainedly endeavour to bring forth the fruit of repentance and that is the reformation and alteration of his life and conversation in the sight of God and men If it he thus with thee take comfort in Gods name from this comfortable Doctrine that thou art no other then Eliah was a man subject to passion It followes Eliah was a man subject to passions yet hee prayed Hence wee may learne never to be so dejected at the view of our frailties and imperfections as to forbeare our resorting to God in prayer For no man living hath so much neede to pray to God as a man subject to passions It was one part of Salomons request to God 2 Chron. 6. 29. When any one shall perceive and feele his owne sore his owne griefe and the plague of his owne heart as he termeth a mans owne corruption what shall he doe Shall hee despaire shall he be driven backe from God as Iordan was driven backe at the persence of the Arke no let him this doe let him downe upon his knees to God and spread forth his hands to heaven and the Lord which dwelleth in heaven will heare him and when he heares have mercy It was an amazed and unadvised prayer that of Simon to our Saviour Luke 5. 8. when he cried out Lord goe from me for I am a sinfull man as if a Patient should say to the Phisitian depart from me for I am sicke The sicker a man is the more neede he hath of the Phisitians presence and the sinfuller he is the more neede to draw neere to his Saviour as a man that shivers of an Ague creepes nearer and nearer to the fire You know our Saviours gracious call Come unto me all y● that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you Now as Saint Bernard saith every Christian is Animal onerif●rum a burden-bearing creature not a Christian upon earth but hath some crosse or other to clogge him some corruption or other to burthen him at times and lies heavy upon his heart what then is to be done Shall he lie downe like Issachar and couch betweene his burthen Shall he be disheartened and discouraged from resorting and approaching to God God forbid let him in Gods name come to Iesus Christ that calls him with teares in his eyes with true griefe and Godly sorrow in his heart with humble confessions and prayers in his mouth and he hath promised in verbo servatoris in the word of a Saviour that hee will release and ease him of it One thing I must tell thee by the way when thou prayest to Christ for ease thou must promise him obedience and service as the Israelites did to Rhehoboam 1 Reg. 12. Ease us of our burthen and we will be thy servants for ever Thus doe and then let thy burthen be never so

more by his friend than perhaps hee sees or perceives by himselfe Hence I take it the Prophet Gad is called Davids Seer 2 Sam. 24. 11. Wee know that David was a Prophet himselfe and had Revelations and Visions from God as well as Gad and yet even hee had a Seer deputed for him and doubtlesse Gad had a speciall inspection into Davids wayes and actions and saw more by him many a time than he saw by himselfe and brought backe many of his sinnes to his sight and remembrance which had formerly escaped him unseene and unrepented for this cause I suppose doth the holy Ghost entitle him Davids Seer So Num. 10. 31. when the Israelites were travelling in the Wildernesse towards the land of Promise though they had the Cloud to direct them by day and the Pillar of Fire to direct them by night yet they desired Iethro to be in stead of eyes unto them as the text expresseth it Why What need had they of Iethro to be eyes unto them seeing they had the infallible guidance and direction of the Cloud and Fire of God Yes for though these were guides unto them in generall yet for particular places and passages in the desart Iethroes direction was instead of eyes unto them because he knew the dangers of the wildernesse which they knew not So though a man for the generall course of his life and conversation may have the heavenly guidance of Gods holy Spirit and the blessed Guardianship of Gods holy Angels yet in particular cases and circumstances of a mans demeanour and carriage a Iethro a loving friend that will deale truely and plainely with a man may be in stead of eyes unto a man to informe him of what is a right and reforme him in what is amisse to shew him much good and save him from much evill that might befall him They say that a Mole is blinde all her life and never seeth till the very point of death for then the extremity of the paine breakes open the filme of her eyes and then she seeth but then her sight doth her no good Whether it be so or no I dare not affirme But so I have heard and so I have read and surely me thinks it is a lively resemblance of the wretched estate of some kinde of men that goe blindlings on in an evill course of life like the blinded Aramites 2 Reg. 6. that thought they had beene in the way to Dothan when they were in the midst of Samaria so these thinke themselves in the way to heaven when they are in the midst of Sathans kingdome and dominion till they come to die then the extremity of their paines may peradventure breake open the filme of their hearts to see their owne miserable estate through sinne before God but who can tell whether their sight doth then doe them any good and not rather torment them the more Happie therefore is that man that can meet with such a friend as Iob and Iethro was that will be instead of an Oculist unto him to open his eyes by sober admonitions and seasonable reprehensions that hee may see his sinnes in time and save himselfe from this same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Peter termes it Acts 2. 40. this perverse untoward generation We read 1 Sam. 14. 27. that when Ionathan had tasted the hony with the top of his rod the text saith his eyes were opened and he saw that he had done amisse This in my conceit is a lively resemblance of loving reprehension the Rod you will say is an embleme of correction and castigation and the hony may well passe for an embleme of a sweet and loving disposition put both these together the Rod and the Hony Reprehension and love or sweet and loving reprehension if any thing in the world open a mans eies and make him see hee hath done amisse that will doe it And this may be one reason why David desired to be smitten to be reproved ut videat that he might see his sinnes 2 Vt doleat that he might grieve for his sinnes It is with many a man as it was with Iob who lost his cattle lost his children lost all the goods hee had yet all these losses never troubled him till there came a nuntio a messenger that told him of it then Iob rent his cloathes and humbled himselfe in dust and ashes thus doth many a man run on in a carelesse course of sinne till hee hath lost himselfe lost his soule lost the favour of his God and the hope of heaven by Christ yet all these losses never trouble him untill some nuntio come some good Minister or neighbour or messenger from God and tell him how the case stands betwixt God and his soule then he grieves then he grones then or never will hee humble himselfe before the Lord as Saint Paul told the Corinthians 2 Cor. 7. 8 9. Though I made you sorry with a letter I doe not repent me because your sorrow brought you to repentance So hee is a happy man that can make his friend sorry for his sinnes either by letter as Paul did here and Eliah elsewhere 2 Chron. 21. 12. who would not goe to Iehoram to reprove him to his face but left a letter or a writing to be sent unto him which was brought him afterward when Eliah was either absent or dead and a bitter one it was as there you may read I say either by letter or by word of mouth any way he that can make his friend sorry for his sinnes doth him an happy kindnesse because this sorrow may bring him to repentance repentance brings him home to God and in God every man hath his quietus est a happy discharge from all his sinnes And this may be another reason why David desired to be smitten yet more ut doleat that hee might grieve for his sinne 3 Vt desistat that he might leave his sinnes we read Num. 22. 34. that when Balaam for the wages of unrighteousnesse was riding on to curse the people of God and that God had opened his eyes to see the revenging Angel that withstood him in the way and saw that the Angel did not smite him with his sword as he might have done but onely smote him with his word and reprehended him the text sheweth how modestly how meekely he submitted himselfe and said Now Lord saith he if my way displease thee I will get me backe againe and goe no further In like manner when thy conscience shall tell thee and Gods Angel I meane Gods Minister shall make it appeare unto thee that thy way displeaseth God that thou hast led thy life in such a way as God doth not accept be not thou more obstinate more head-strong than Balaam who is generally holden to be a Sorcerer and a Witch but if thou hast escaped vengeance and art but fairely smitten with a rebuke resolve with thy selfe and say as Balaam did Lord I perceive my way is displeasing in thy sight

corripe inter te se goe and rebuke him betwixt thee and him alone make no words of it to a multitude ubi malum contingit ibi moriatur where an evill ariseth let it receive private admonition and there let it die Wee read in the Gospel Mar. 7. 33. that when our Saviour went about to cure the man that was deafe and dumb the text saith He tooke him aside from the multitude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee tooke him in hand privately and peculiarly to himselfe in like manner wouldst thou doe a spiriturall cure upon a man that is deafe and wil not heare good counsell dumb and will not open his mouth in prayer to God Take him aside Doe as a discreete Chirurgion with a modest Patient whose secret complaint hath more shame than paine I say take him aside for to undertake him before the face of a multitude is rather to wound him than to heale him Brotherly reprehension must be auricular no eare must heare it but the owne parties According to our Saviours after-charge when hee had done many of his cures See thou tell no man of it tell it the party in Gods name and spare not but tell it no man else As David cried out when hee heard of Sauls and Ionathans untimely and unfortunate end 2 Sam. 1. 20. Tell it not in Gath publish it not in the streets of Askelon least the daughters of the Philistims rejoyce least the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph I can but wonder by the way why David should mention only the daughters of the Philistims and the daughters of the uncircumcised why doth he not say as well Tell it not least the sonnes of the Philistims rejoyce and the sonnes of the uncircumcised triumph surely it should seeme that Daughters I meane Women-kinde are far more prone to flout and mocke to jeare and frump to rejoyce and triumph to tattle and tell tals of the weakenesses and frailties the casualties and miscariages of men farre more then men that are of understanding that know what humane frailty is therefore saith David wheresoever you tell it tell it not in Gath in what streets or townes soever you publish it publish not it in the streets of Askelon amongst the women-kinde amongst the daughters of uncircumcised Philistims for they will be so farre from grieving and relenting that they will even triumph and rejoyce at it Herein then is the discretion of a right-wise man seene that though he tell the party delinquent of his faults he will tell no man else of it he will not blaze it to the world such a one will give his admonitions as hee gives his almes In secret that none shall heare it none know of it but him onely whom it concernes Therefore saith David if I be smitten and reproved let it be by a righteous by a right-wise man for he will doe it sine publicatione hee will make no noise make no words of it 3 Sine contumeliâ without disgrace a right-wise man though he tell his friend of his follies to reforme him he will not tell it in that manner as to disgrace him In the ceremoniall Law God commanded that the very Snuffers for Lampes in the Tabernacle should be of pure gold I suppose to intimate that they who are censurers and correctors of others should be holy and blamelesse themselves now he that shall top a candle then throw the snuffe about the roome doth offend more and doe more hurt with the stench than hee did good with his diligence in like manner he that shall first rebuke his brother and then disgrace him doth him more hurt with the one than he did him good with the other The Apostle telleth us that love covereth a multitude of sinnes not onely Charitas Dei the love and kindnesse of God and Charitas Christi the love and compassion of Christ but Charitas amici too the kindnesse and love of a friend if he be true and faithfull will be the same that Shems and Iaphets cloake was a meanes under God to cover and to hide the weakenesses and deformities of his fathers and brethren See an example of it in our blessed Saviour Luke 7. 37. when he had occasion to speake of the penitent woman that washed his feet with her teares and wiped them with the haire of her head see how favourably how tenderly he makes mention of her and the worst language hee gives her is that shee was peccatrix a sinner There was a woman in the City which was a sinner Alas what woman was not what woman is not a sinner We doe easily guesse what the woman was and what her sinne was but see the tendernesse and the goodnesse of our Lord and Saviour that names neither the woman nor the sinne but spares her reputation because he saw her repentance Thus did the Father of the Prodigall child Luke 15. ult when he was driven by necessity to seeke reliefe in his Fathers house and came and submitted himselfe see how his elder brother reviled him how basely how contemptuously how disgracefully he makes mention of him ver 30. This thy sonne saith hee that hath spent thy living upon harlots shall have more kindnesse from thee than I that never angred thee He doth not say This my brother but This thy sonne as if he had beene nothing a kinne to him seeing he was growne into poverty and driven by necessity to make bold with his friends Such is the dogged disposition of ill-minded men if they know any thing by a man that may any way disgrace him he shall be sure to have it laid in his dish when he fares the worst But then see the good nature of his good Father how he seekes to cover and to hide the deformity of his sons offence under favorable gentle termes This my son was dead saith he and now is alive was lost and now is found and so buries all in oblivion and makes no reproachfull mention of them Thus favourably doth the Scripture speak of Davids great offence Davids heart was upright in all things saith the text save only in the matter of Vriah 1 Reg. 15. 5. it is not said save onely in the murther of Vriah but save onely in the matter of Vriah what that matter was is too well knowne but the holy Ghost seekes to cover it that there may be no disgracive mention of it It is meate and drinke to some kind of people if they can but find any just accusation against a man to disgrace him by it Saint Austin compares such to Dives dogges that lay licking and sucking of Lazarus sores they medled not with his sound parts but onely with his sores so let a man have never so many good parts they make no mention of them but if hee have but one sore i an infirmity you shall have them licking at that continually never chance to speake of him but that is at their tongues end Well therefore did David abandon all