Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	goodness_n	lord_n	psal_n	4,045	5	7.5057	4	true

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66104	Love's pedigree, or, A discourse shewing the grace of love in a believer to be of a divine original delivered in a sermon preached at a lecture in Boston, Febr. 29 1699/1700 / by S. Willard ...	Willard, Samuel, 1640-1707.	1700 (1700)	Wing W2283; ESTC R39758	12,825	30

Love's Pedigree OR A Discourse shewing the Grace of LOVE in a Believer to be of A Divine Original Delivered in a SERMON Preached at the Lecture in Boston Febr. 29. 1699. 1700 By S. Willard Teacher of a Church there Jam. 1. 17. Every good gift every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights BOSTON in N. E. Printed by B. Green and J. Allen. Sold by Benjamin Eliot at his Shop under the West End of the Town House 1700. Love's Pedigree 1 John IV. 19. We Love him because he first Loved us THE knowledge of our good and safe Estate deriving from an interest in the Everlasting Love of God is a thing which every one who hath right thoughts of the Eternity he is going to will be very sollicitous about There is besides the Testimony of the Spirit of God to this in us which is necessary for our confirmation in the belief of it the witness of our own spirit requisite for our ordinary Assurance about it which must be given to those things in us which are evidential of iâ— These Evidences are built upon the discovery of such fruits or effects of the love of God wrought in us as aâ—e proper and distinguishing and these are mainly the Graces of Faith and Repentance and these are put into us by the operation of the Spirit of God in our Effectual Vocation and because there may be something like unto these found in Hypocrites which may cheat them into false and presumptuous hopes of their good estate there is a yet farther trial to be made of them to prove that this Faith is unfeigned and that this Repentance is unto life which must be gathered from those distinguishing fruits of them which are not to be found in the other These fruits are all of them in the Word of God reduced to that common head of love by which Faith is said to Operate Gal. 5. 6. Which Love is distributed according to the next or immediate objects of it into the loving of God and of our brother and because these two are inseparable they are therefore made use of mutually to evidence each the other inasmuch as if we truly love our brother it derives from our love to God as the principle in which it is rooted and if we love God indeed it will unfailingly prâ—duce the other love in us So that the grand Case into which our Self Examination must ultimately resolve it self is Whether God loveth us with that love which he bears to his Chosen because if we are but sure of this the inference is infallible viz that we shall certainly at last arrive at Eternal Life how happy then must we needs be and the enquiry on which this conclusion must determine is Whether we do cordially and sincerely love God for though our happy state was secured for us in the former it being appointed and settled in that love of his yet we cannot come at the knowledge of it but by the â—atâ—er The words of our Text give us a reason of the safety of this way of concluding and shew us why and wherein it amounts to a Demonstration in as much as it leads us from the Effect to the supream cause from whence it must derive It is needless to enquire after the coherence of our Text with the Context the words themselves being an entire proposition and having abundant mattar of profitable instruction in them and the design of them is not only to assert the close connexion that there is between our loving of God and his loving us but also to point us to the reason of this Connexion and shew us the closeness of it and the safety of our inserring his love to us from ours to him and if it be enquiâ—ed to what kind of reasoning it is to be referred I answer it must needs be to the Efficient Cause It doth not only intimate that there is a Concomitancy but also a Causality for though the word because doth not always refer us to the cause of the thing but may refer to any other head of arguments and is accordingly to be judged of by the nature of that which it refers to yet it must do so in this place inasmuch as we are here given to understand the priority of Gods love to us as that from which we come to love him which can be inferred from no other but the Efficient The word is an Adjective and not an Adverb and that also puts force into the argument he was the first in this love and thence it was that our love followed after Hence DOCTRINE Our Loving of God is the genuine effect of his first Loving of us If we love him in time it it because he first loved us from Eternity I shall not insist on this Doctrine at large but restrain the following Discourse to the resolution of the following Case viz. Quest In what respect Gods love to us is leading to and influential of our loving of him A. That we may take up the right meaning of the Case in order to the better resolution of it There are these two remarks to be made 1. That by Gods love to us we are to understand his Eternal purpose of good will by which he appointed us to Salvation by Christ Love is improperly attributed to God in whom there are no Passions or Affections properly so called inasmuch as they argue imperfection and composition in the subject of them which is incompaâ—ible with the most absolute first Being But because these are in men the Instruments of the Will by the Ministry whereof it performs its Imperate Actions or they are the various postures of it with respect to its Object according to the resentment that it hath of it hereupon when we see such things done in Gods Works of Efficiency as are wont to be managed by such an Affection we after our manner of conception ascribe it to that Affection because we cannot otherwise express it Now love is an Affection in us which beareth good will to the Object of it and expresseth it self in acts of kindness to it As therefore it is an Humane Affection it is rooted in the heart or will and is on all opportunities discovering it self in the carriage and from this conception of it when God manifesteth his benignity to the Creature we conceive him in his so doing to act as a cause by Counsel and so ascribe it to his Benevolence and call it his love And frâ—m this consideration there is a divers love that is assigned to him according to the different effects of his good will discerned in the fruits of his Beneficence to the Subject of it There is a common love attributed to him wherein the good and the bad do promiscuously partake and it appears in that Goodness of his which he confers upon them wherein he gives them large tasts of his bounty and to this love we are pointed in Psal 145. 9. The Lord is good

to all and his tender mercies are over all his works And Acts 14. 17. He left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness And there is an Especial love of his that we are told of which he bears only to some and in comparison with which others are said to be hated according to Rom. 9. 13. Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated and it appears in those peculiar favours which he hath laid in for and bestows upon them of which we have such observations Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. 1 Joh. 4 9. In this was the love of God manifested towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him and this is the love that we are now considering of and is intended in our Text which if we run up to the top of it is nothing else but that good will of his by which he purposed to bestow all saving good upon us There is a natural love which we ascribe to God by which he loveth himsâ—lf eternally being his own last end and with this love every Sacred Person in the undivided Trinity love each other and there is a voluntary love which we conceive in him which must needs flow from his good pleasure for we are told Rom. 9. 18. He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy And such must be all â—e love which he bears to the Creature since â— being and all that he doth to it or for it â—rive from his holy pleasure Who doth all things â—ording to the Counsel of his will Eph. 1. 11. And â— was this love that procured our Salvation Gal. â— 20. Who loved me and gave himself for me 2. That by our loving of God we must understand â—at Cordial respect which we have for him where â— we have chosen him for our portion and are enâ—ely devoted to his fear Love in us is an Afâ—ction leading us in pursuit after Union to the object â— it in order to our having intimate Communion â—ith it for love is a Closing Affection and â—rrieth us forth after that which we love That â—hich attracts our love to it is the Goodness â—hich we apprehend to be in the object of it â—hich renders it a thing lovely the discovery â—â— which goodness made to the Understanding â—oves on the Judgment and by that on the â—eart and draws it out after it Now the exâ—ession of this love is in a suitable respect that â—e shew to the object of it and is accordingly â—iversifyed as there is a different reference or reâ—tion that we bear to it the love therefore â—â— Parents to their Children and of Children â—â— their Parents doth not shew it self after the â—me manner There are therefore these two â—ings wherein our real love to God appears Viz. In our renouncing of all other things â— him chusing him alone for our portion aâ— accordingly depending upon him for all whâ— we can say as the Church Lam. 3. 24. The Lâ— is my portion saith my Soul therefore I will hopâ— him And as the Psalmist Psal 62. 5. My Sâ—â—ait thou only upon God for my expectation is frâ— him And in our submitting our selves wâ— greatest willingness and delight to his Servicâ— Christ therefore directs to this as the Evideâ— oâ— our love Joh 14 15. If ye love me keep â— Commandments Love is therefore used in â— Scriptures to express all that Obedience whâ— we pay to God in studying and practising uâ—versal conformity to his revealed will Thiâ— rooted in our hearts by the delight we have his precepts when we can say with him Râ— 7. 22 I delight in the Law of God after the inwâ— man And it is exerted in our life when â— devote our whole man to New Obediencâ— When we love the Lord our God with all our heâ— and all our soul and all our mind Matth. 22. â— It nâ—w â—â—llows that we proceed to the reâ—lâ—tion of the Case and we may take it upâ— the following Propositions 1. This love of ours with which we love God not barely a Natural Affection or a Moral Prâ—ciple in it but a Grace of the Spirit The â—tural affection indeed is the Subject of it in â—hich it is rooted but we must distinguish beâ—â—een the affection it self and the love which â— rooted in it Love hath Good for its Object â—nd such as the good is so is the love denomiâ—ated We love the things that are suited to â—ur inclinations and hence there is in Unreâ—enerate mâ—n a Carnal Love which inclines them â—â— the gratification of their carnal Lusts and so â—e objects which are suited thereto attract â—eir love There is a Natural Love in men to â—ch persons or things as are agreeable to their â—atures and there is a love to the things that â—â—e Morally Good and Honest which some Unâ—onverted men have in them and it proceeds â—om a principle of Morality which either reâ—ains in them notwithstanding the fall or hath â—een acquired by them but none of these aâ—ounts to the love which we are now in the Consideration of There is then a Divine Love which carries men out to God and to Heavenly things and fixeth them there and â—is flows from a special gracious principle inâ—sed into the man by the Spirit of God and can â—laim its Original from no other it is thereâ—ore called one of the fruits of the Spirit and â—â— the first named Gal. 5 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love c. This love of God indeed was â—onnatural to man in his state of integrity being â—ne of those Graces of Sanctification which were concreated in him and belonged to thâ— Image of God which was at first put upon hiâ— and adorned him This love was active aâ— vigorous in man before such time as he had â— praâ—ed himself by Sin and none of the Commâ—â— were grievous to him 2. The Apostasy robbed man of that holy love God which was at first planted in him This it â— when it stript him of the Image of God in whâ— this and all the other Graces of Sanctificatiâ— were contained When man put off the Imaâ— from him all that was Spiritual or Theologicâ— good in him went with it So that every Uâ— regenerate man if he will say the Truth mâ— confess of himself entirely as Paul doth of hiâ— self in respect to his worser part Rom. 7. â— In me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thiâ— Man who at first loved God as his last end aâ— chief good now ceaseth to do so and there is nâ— one spark of that primitive love left in him â— is said of every natural man that the love of â— Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 15. The Affectiâ— of love abides in the man it being essential his Humanity and inseparable from it but

Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Text snippets containing the quad