Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	lord_n	love_n	love_v	2,989	5	6.7075	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A27168	Claustrum animae, the reformed monastery, or, The love of Jesus a sure and short, pleasant and easie way to Heaven in meditations, directions, and resolutions to love and obey Jesus unto death : in two parts.	Beaulieu, Luke, 1644 or 5-1723.	1677 (1677)	Wing B1571; ESTC R23675	94,944	251

that is begotten and so reciprocally The Divine Essence is but one it admits of no division therefore whatever honour is paid to one of the Divine Persons is paid to all Three the Ever-glorious Trinity is honour'd by it But then it must be consider'd that JESUS the second Person of that Blessed and Glorious Trinity is not only God but also Man and so Mediator betwixt God and Man so that by and through him we pray we worship we love God As God manifested his love to men in JESUS so in JESUS men offer the returns of their love to God 1 Joh. 4.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him and in this is manifested our love towards God that we receive and love and obey that Son With this God is in no wise offended but rather infinitely well pleas'd Joh. 14.21 he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father saith our Blessed Saviour 23. If a man love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him and again If any man serve me Joh. 12.26 him will my Father honour Though we owe our redemption to the infinite mercies of God Father Son and Holy Ghost yet in a more especial manner we are ingaged to the Son who personally came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation JESUS is the Author and finisher of our faith he is the Founder of our Holy Religion it is he hath reveal'd those doctrines we are to believe it is he hath given us those laws and precepts whereby we are to live it is he from whom we are called Christians it is he who for us despised the shame and indured the Cross who hath shed his blood and given his life a ransom for ours it is he who by contracting a near relation with us becoming our brother hath caus'd us to be adopted Sons of God and heirs with him of an eternal kingdom it is he who is our Lord and Master and will be our judge and our rewarder if we be faithful to him Rom. 14.9 For this end Christ died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living saith S. Paul Act. 2.36 God hath made that same JESUS whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ him God hath exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and Saviour saith S. Peter 5.31 All power is given him in heaven and earth and he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet Hence the frequent and urgent exhortations to follow and imitate to serve and obey JESUS Hence those Pathetick words of S. Paul The love of Christ 2 Cor. 5.14 Phil. 3.7 constraineth us and again what things were gain to me I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless and I count all things loss 8. for the excellency of JESUS CHRIST my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ 'T is JESUS hath won our hearts to God 't is he hath reconcil'd us from a state of enmity to a state of love besides that God was justly angry for our rebellions his glories are so bright so amazing his Divine Majesty so high that to love a being so infinitely above us might have been thought prophaneness or presumption Non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur Majestas amor respect not friendship is the affection of subjects to Princes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an ordinary Epithete for the heathen Gods and even the Israelites were amaz'd and terrified at the sight of a heavenly messenger crying we shall die for we have seen God 't is the great humiliation of JESUS hath procur'd and establish'd an everlasting reconciliation and friendship betwixt God and man Rom. 5.8 God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and now there is neither death Rom. 8.39 nor life nor angels nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD Therefore for a reward for the great sufferings and abasement of JESUS God hath given him a supreme authority over all the world Men and Angels being made subject unto him because he made himself of no reputation Phil. 2.7 8 c. and took on him the form of a servant and humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of JESUS every thing should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth and every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is the Lord to the Glory of God the Father Our love and obedience to JESUS derogates nothing from but belongs to God 'T is to the glory of God the Father God hath highly exalted JESUS for his humiliation and for the same cause we ought also to love and exalt him as much as possibly we can because it was for us not only bow at his name but ever kneel and kiss the ground when he only sees us no fear of exceeding here no fear of superstition we can never shew him too much love or respect Psal 72. All Kings shall fall down before him all nations shall do him service prayer shall be made unto him and daily shall he be praised Amen §. 17. 'T is most pleasant and safe to love God A third consideration will be that it is most pleasant and safe to love God Love may cause trouble but it certainly is the spring or parent of all joy and satisfaction He that hath an affection to nothing hath pleasure in nothing could the imaginary apathy of the Stoicks really seize upon any man if he could never be miserable he would also be uncapable of all happiness 'T is true indeed that the love of worldly things in that they are vain and perishing is it self vanity and vexation qui multum amat plus dolet is certainly true of all but the Divine Love He that hath many friends hath many sorrows he that loves many things hath many things to fear for 'T is only God that hath those infinite excellencies which can fully replenish our minds and desires 'T is only God that admits of no variableness neither shadow of turning and therefore 't is the love of God alone that can make us eternally and intirely happy It is reported of a person of great sanctity that an evil spirit confest to him that were it possible for one who loves God to come into hell yet it were impossible he should be miserable but that it would rather sink hell it self and make it disappear or else make it a paradise for him Though the relation

and often to consider what God is what he hath done what he doth and what he will do for us if we love him sincerely as also what we are whence we come whither we go and how easie it is for us to be eternally happy if we will set our affections upon God who deserves them so infinitely Doubtless inconsideration is the cause why God is not loved It is not possible men could resist the charms of his love if they would open the eyes of their mind and of their faith to view them But how few are there that do it How fully is the prophesie fulfill'd Mat. 24.12 Iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold To how many Christians might our Blessed Saviour say as once to the Jews I know you Joh. 5.42 that you have not the love of God in you How justly might now S. Paul complain Phil. 2.21 all men seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christs And how justly might our Blessed Lord the great lover of men complain in the words of his Apostle I will gladly spend and be spent for you or rather I have gladly spent and been spent for you though the more abundantly I love you 2 Cor. 12.15 the less I be loved Want of love is a very sad general evil among Christians in these worst of times and I hope some will be by me perswaded not carelesly to say that they shall do as well as others but as wise men would in pestilent times carefully to provide Antidotes to prevent or cure the infection But alass how should I perswade others de ingratis etiam ingrati queruntur Physician cure thy self I help to propagate the distemper and therefore am very unfit to prescribe against it Shall the unthankful teach gratitude Shall the Pharisee perswade others when he saith and doth not If it be as one saith qui non ardet non accendit that he that burns not with the Divine Fire of love cannot inflame others with it then I may well cry out with him vae mihi frigenti wo is me unhappy creature who am so far from burning that I am almost quite cold and indeed I know and grieve the defects and imperfections of my love and have writ for my self more than for any others and I heartily wish better hearts and pens would treat of this subject and help that way amongst others to reinkindle that almost extinct fire of charity and devotion in the hearts of men and in mine own who would thankfully use their assistance and heartily pray for a reward to them I have no more to say by way of Preface but that if I have been so unhappy as to write any thing contrary to the Doctrine of the Church I disown and retract it before hand and would blot it out with my blood as for particular persons who may find fault with any thing herein I desire them to pass it by It matters not much if they like not every passage and expression if they do but follow what they judge to be good and approve my design and love Jesus with all their hearts it will be enough for their profit and my satisfaction 1 John 4.9 He that loveth not knows not God for God is Love Claustrum Animae THE Reformed Monastery Or the Love of JESUS §. 1. Of the benefits of God to mankind IT were as easie to find out the bottomless depth of the inexhaustible fountain of the Divine Bounty as to tell the Streams which run from it Gods mercies are over all his works and all things that are made are a demonstration as much of his goodness as of his being I will not therefore undertake to number what is innumerable or to express what we cannot so much as comprehend but only insist briefly upon some of the most general benefits of God to mankind and in the representing of them endeavour to make us read our duty and to inflame our hearts with love §. 2. Of Creation First It is God that hath made us and not we our selves we owe him our very being thine hands have made and fashioned me saith David thine eyes did see my substance being yet imperfect Psal 119.13 and in thy book were all my members written Let us say therefore with the same Prophet 134.16 I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made and let us with him fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker You know that by the Laws of God and of all Nations there is an indispensable obligation upon all children to love and honour their Parents because they brought them into the world now certainly the obligation doubles upon every man in respect to his Father which is in heaven for our natural parents were but second causes under him his own power it was that form'd and created us they ingendred our mortal bodies only he is the Father of Spirits he himself gave being to our immortal souls Therefore let every man pay to his Maker those duties he would expect from his child Mal. 1.6 if I am a Father saith God where is mine honour If from our heavenly Father we have receiv'd our life and being let us pay that respect and love and obedience to him which thereby are become his due But there is yet more in this Creation is not a transient act the same power that once gave us our being doth still exert it self in the continuation thereof When a child is born he subsists by himself his parents need not take any care that he returns not to his pristine condition but we have the same dependance upon God in our preservation as we had in our creation should he withdraw his Almighty hand we should return to our first nothing in him we live and move and have our being Therefore we are the more bound to serve and love him that he not only made us to be but gives us as it were a new being every moment by continuing our life and duration by that Almighty will whereby he effected our first production Now if we consider further not only that God made us but what he made us it will yet inforce those bonds of duty which Creation tied upon us For it was in our Makers power either to make us vile and abject as the vilest of beasts or to deny us those faculties and abilities which are most honourable and most useful to our nature but he made us Men the most wonderful of his creatures in us he joyn'd what heaven and earth had most excellent an immortal Spirit created after his image with the most elaborated the most perfect of material things Take a view of the marvellous organs of thy senses of the curious contrivance of those joints and ligaments which unite thy several members of those various and delicate channels which contain thy blood and spirits in a word of all the parts and passions of thy body which are all made for

Claustrum Animae THE Reformed Monastery OR THE LOVE OF JESUS A sure and short pleasant and easie way to HEAVEN IN Meditations Directions and Resolutions to Love and Obey JESUS unto Death In two Parts LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in S. Paul's Church-yard the West-End MDCLXXVII Imprimatur Antonius Saunders Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino Domino GILBERTO Archiepiscopo Cant. à Sacris Domesticis Ex Aed Lambeth Febr. 16. 1675 6. TO THE Right Reverend Father in God JOHN Lord Bishop of Oxford My LORD ' T Is not in regard of my Obligations to you though I own them with grateful acknowledgements 't is not in regard of your late most deserved advancement though I heartily rejoyce at it 'T is in regard of your intrinsick goodness that this Dedication begs your acceptance and humbly offers it self to you Before Lordship and Paternity were added to your Honourable Titles you was intitled to this book your dignities being dignified by you I considered not their eminency but the eminency of your Vertue and Piety I know My Lord that you aim at a better reward than this world can give but that a great light set on a high place cannot be hid from the eyes of Men Angels alone should rejoyce in the brightness of yours you shun praise as much as you deserve it you neither desire nor want any thing of Fame But My Lord I wanted a living example of a sincere and devout lover of JESVS to exemplifie my Discourse and though God be praised many more might be found in this Church yet you are one of the fairest and most attractive in so much that though it be easier to write than to do well yet a better Pattern of a Religious Life might be drawn from your actions than from my directions My Lord I have just cause to fear that I have indulg'd my genius too far and perhaps some will think that I would have Godliness to be Shorn and devotion a Recluse from the world which is far from my thoughts or desires though I must confess that at first I intended a much different and less defective Treatise on this so good a subject had not other necessary helps as well as abilities been wanting However at the best I could have added nothing to such persons as your Lordship the Holy flames of Divine Love that burn in your heart have too much light and fervency to have receiv'd any increase from me and therefore I have not aim'd at any thing higher than only to assist the weak and fix the inconsiderate But My Lord though I can not in the least profit you by this my poor labour yet its being own'd by you may be very advantageous to me Your Reverend and much Honoured name will not only credit me but which is more will recommend my Book and also promote its design of winning affectionate Servants and lovers to JESVS This I know you will rejoyce to do Wherefore in presenting my Book to your Lordship I humbly beg your blessing on it and its Author Who is with due respect and affection Your Lordships most dutiful Son and most humble Servant L. B. THE PREFACE ' T Is probable that they who these many years have cry'd out Popery till they made way for it to come upon every thing they lik'd or understood not will start and think that their fears are come upon them at the sight of the first Title-page and possibly our Lay-Abbots will also be frighted at it as though the dispossest Coenobites were coming again to lay claim to their old Mansions and fat indowments For my part I wish that theirs may be but pannick terrors yet withal I wish they might so far affect them as to make the first have a greater value for that Reform'd Religion and purer worship which then they would certainly lose and the last pay Tithes Conscienciously out of those estates which then they would be forc'd to resign And yet I may and do assure them that if they will Read not only the Title but the book also it will certainly cure them of their fears if it works no better change upon them for its design is not to alter the establish'd Religion but to make us more devout and sincere in the profession thereof nor yet to inrich any persons with temporal estates but to make us gather treasures in heaven and set our affections on things above That the age we live in is greatly deprav'd is no observation of mine there are almost as many that complain of it as there are that contribute to the increasing of its wickedness 't is in every mans mouth that vertue being disgrac'd vice is countenanc'd and that the numerousness of its votaries makes it now impudent as well as fashionable Therefore it should be no difficult matter to perswade those that have any sense of Religion or longing after its rewards that they ought not to conform themselves to this present evil world but chuse a better pattern to live by And the truth is it matters not much whether these be worse than the former times for the way to life hath all along been streight and narrow and found and follow'd but by few as that to destruction wide and spacious and yet crouded by the many Good men have always liv'd in a perverse and crooked generation So that if it be now as it hath ever been those that will enter into life must follow the narrow path though they have but few fellow travellers and if it be worse they must walk with the greater care and wariness However it be the difference must needs be very great betwixt the lives and works of those whose reward and condition will be so vastly different at last And therefore whoever will go to heaven had need keep at a great distance from that world which lieth in wickedness and take a much contrary course to those many who go to destruction But how then Must we retire into Thebais with the Fathers of the desert Must we confine our selves to the solitude of a Monastick Cell Or shall we become Quakers and profess the sullenness of Melancholy Fanaticks Why truly in Popish Countreys the Cloister hath ingross'd the name of Religion and they that would be or be thought to be devout beyond others do usually put on a Fryers hood and imbrace the Rule of some Religious Order and amongst us Puritanism hath usurp'd the Name of Godliness and some who in truth or in pretence abhor looseness or are reclaim'd from a vicious life will too often forsake not the world but the Church as it were to preserve the strictness of a severer vertue in the Society of a Separated Brother-hood 'T is possible that the irreligion and imm●rality of Christians abroad It may be matter of inquiry whether that demure pretence of holiness the adversaries had put on did not more avert some of our libertines from them than all their real crimes they perhaps