Selected quad for the lemma: faith_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
faith_n	church_n	doctrine_n	err_v	4,912	5	9.7791	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08213	Gods new-yeeres gift sent vnto England, or, The summe of the Gospell. The first part contayned in these wordes, God so loued the world ... Iohn 3.16 / written by Samuel Nicholson ...	Nicholson, Samuel, fl. 1600-1602.	1602 (1602)	STC 18548; ESTC S1317	17,019	41

let conscience be thy Cater and the word thy warrant so shall the transitories of this life be vnto thée a handsel of heauen and an earnest penny of that blisse which the world neuer dreames of CHAP. II. Of GODS Loue. THus hauing brought thée to the waters of life namely GOD the giuer I will shew thée the Welspring of all blessings his loue to the world c. The perswading cause of this gift is here sayd to be Loue God so loued Quid est Amor saith Aug. nisi quaedam vita duo aliqua copulans vel copulare appetens Amantem amatū What is Loue but as it were one life in two heartes one soule in two bodies the Fire which blesseth where it burneth the Soather which no arte can sunder the Knot which no time can vntye the Hand which descāts swéet musike on the heart-strings the Cause which made God become man the Vertue which makes man like vnto God I speake not of that hellish fire which makes men slaues but of that heauenly Flame which makes them Saints As Christ was anoynted with the oyle of gladnes aboue his fellows so this vertue is adorned with the crowne of eternity aboue all her fellowes for Paul saith that Fayth brings vs but to the Coffin Hope watcheth the coarse till the Resurrectiō These two vertues are confined with our life but our loue is refined by our death and dwels with vs after our glorification But this our loue is but a shadow of Gods Loue an Arme of his sea a drop of his fountaine a little flame of his liuing Fire neither in quality so precious nor in quantity so sp●cious by infinite degrées God loues without cause our loue is our duty God loues vs his enemies we loue him our friend God loues without reward our loue inherits heauen God loues vs first our loue payes him backe his owne Gods loue is feruent our loue is luke-warme Gods loue is infinite our loue is little like our knowledge low of stature like Zacheus Christ must dine in our house his loue must shine in our hearts before we can reflect our borrowed heames loue him againe The excellency of this Gods loue can neither be expressed by our tongue nor impressed in our hearts as it made the world of nothing so the world is nothing to it for it cōprehendeth all is not comprehended of any Our Sauiour heere thought best to expresse this Loue with a sic dilexit to shew vs that his Father is euē sick of loue his description is indefinite because his loue is infinite Either Gods loue is so déepe the Christ could not sound it or our reason so shallow that we cannot see it As the Paynter that drew Agamemnon sorrowing for the death of his daughter knew not how to figure his griefe in his face and therefore drew a Vayle ouer it thinking it impossible the gazers idle eye should beholde what the fathers grieued heart could not hold 〈◊〉 Christ leaues that to our admiratiō which understāding cannot attayne A holy Father would faine ayme at the dimensions of this Loue saying Dilèxit Tantus tantillos He a God of infinite maiestie loued vs men of infinite misery But this is obscurum per obscurius for we know neyther quantus Deus the greatnes of his Maiestie nor yet quantuli nos our grieuous misery In a word as we cannot sée the Sunne but by his own light so we cannot learne this Loue but by Gods owne words The Starre alone must lead the Wisemen to Christ and Christ alone must lead vs to his Loue. Now whereas he expresseth it with a Sic So GOD loued the world c. a Father sayth This Aduerbe Sic containes in it all Aduerbes of Loue as if Christ had sayd My Father loued the world so dearely so vehemently so fatherly so feruently c. And Bernard on the Canticles sayth Deus ex se miserandi sumit materiem Gods owne nacure is the motiue of his mercie Then he that can explaine Gods Nature may expresse his Loue. Whereof to affirme the one is impious and to performe the other impossible This is that Loue Christian Reader which in the zeale of God I commēd to thine endlesse admiration this is the riches of his Grace the chiefe of his Works the summe df his Word the shaddow of himselfe the perfection of his Glory This teacheth our Fayth to stand and our Hope to climbe and our loue to burne This cheereth our labors and beareth our losses and teacheth our sorrow to smile In a word to this excéeding Loue alone we owe our saluation Therefore damnable is the doctrine of the Church of Rome that teacheth vs to erre both in the maner and matter of our Fayth First in the maner they teach vs to doubt of our saluation O iniurie intolerable to doubt of the Promise where such a Loue is our warrant What more frée then gift or who more faithfull then God the Giuer Shall his Loue giue Christ vnto me and my vnbeliefe thrust him from me Is the Trueth like vnto man the he should lye or is his arme shortened that he cannot saue God forbid This Gift is sealed with the bloud of his Sonne registred in the sight of heauē witnessed by the holy Angels passed with an othe to the world O incredulity the wit of fooles how many blessings doost thou bar vs from Christ could not work his miracles God cānot shew his mercy where this mōste lurketh Againe in the matter of our faith they soyst in most dangerously a lump of their owne Leauen for God requires a Wedding garment to couer sinne they bring in a menstruous cloth hee will haue vs build on his Loue they would haue vs iustified by our own Labour he will haue vs trust to his Mercy they would haue vs trust in our merits Pauls whole Epistle to the Romanes shoots only at this marke to beat downe the pride of man who would fayne be his owne saiour to depresse Nature and extoll Grace therefore in the end he addes this vpshot So then wee are saued not of works but of grace And August sayth Gratia est nullo modo quae non est gratuita emni modo Grace is all grace or no grace at all Againe be saith Quisquis tibi enumerat meritasua quid tibi enumerat msi munera tua Againe Vis excidere gratta Iacta merita tua Our very Faith as it 's a grace in vs is beholding to Grace it saues as it 's a hand to lay hold on Christ not as it 's a vertue a worke for all works must humbly be cast at Christs séete with Marie there meitate on his mercy they must not be busy with Martha in the matter of our iustification As God sayd to Paul My Grace is sufficient for thee so I say to all Gods Loue is sufficient for you this loue made you when you were nothing and this Loue must saue you now your are