Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	affection_n	desire_n	heart_n	2,921	5	4.6692	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87817	Christ exalted: in a sermon begun to be preached at Debenham in Suffolk, upon the 14. day of Febr. last, upon Coloss. 3. 11. / By Hanserd Knollys. Who was stoned out of the pulpit (as he was preaching) by a company of rude fellowes, and poor women of that town; who were sent for, called together, and set on by a malignant high-constable, who lives in the same town. Also, another sermon, preached at Stradbrooke in Suffolk, the 13. day of Febr. last, concerning sanctification; upon Ephes. 1. 4.	Knollys, Hanserd, 1599?-1691.	1645 (1645)	Wing K706; Thomason E284_14; ESTC R200061	21,848	24

then I would beleeve but alas I have a hard heart a blinde minde a perverse will carnall affections c. I cannot dare not I will not beleeve that my sins are forgiven Thus most professors would bring in if not their owne righteousnesse some grace or work of God in them to joyne with Christ in their justification not considering that God justifies the ungodly Rom. 4.5 and that Christ is all and in all in the justification of sinners Secondly let Christ be all in all the gifts of the Spirit and graces of sanctification for as you heard he is the Author the Preserver and the finisher of them all therefore let him have the preheminence above all set an high esteeme of every gift and grace of God account a little grace better then all the riches honours pleasures and creature-comforts of this world But you ought to prize Christ farre above all his owne gifts and graces in us for he is the life of them all the marrow and substance of them a I. What is all knowledge unlesse ye know God in Christ 1 Cor. 13.2 nothing What is all Faith except Christ be the object of it 1 Cor. 13.2 Nothing Patience Temperance and all other Vertues what are they but either naturall qualities or morall habits unlesse Christ be the root of them Nature Education and acquired gifts of Art may produce the like yea the same in Heathens But Christ is the lustre and beauty of each spirituall gift and grace that influence beleevers receive from Christ and those rayes that come from this Sunne of Righteousnesse upon their graces makes them shining Saints beautifull and all glorious within Heare this you poore in spirit you new-borne babes in Christ who have the persons of beleevers especially Preachers in admiration and set them up on high in your hearts and extoll them with your tongues because you discerne so much humility love patience faith and other gifts of the Spirit and graces of sanctification in them should you not rather admire Christ exalt Christ and extoll him who is the purchaser the owner the donor and the author of all these spirituall gifts and graces for we have nothing but what we have received by his grace we are what we are and all the grace we have from his fulnesse we received it Joh. 1.16 therfore let him receive the glorie of all and let him have the preheminence in all for he is all in all Thirdly let Christ be all in all your affections words and actions Set your affections on Christ Oh let the discoveries of that superlative excellencie and glorious beautie of Christ which are made out to your soules by the Spirit and Word of God draw you to set your affections on him Col. 1.1 2. Love every one and every thing that God hath put the name of Christ upon for his sake but chiefly set your affectionate love upon himselfe love Christ in his Saints love Christ in his messengers in his ordinances c. this will quicken your desires to enjoy more of Christ more of Christ in his Saints Ministers Ordinances and in your owne hearts On let Christ be chiefest in your affections he is altogether lovely Cant. 5.16 Let him have your dearest love he is the wel-beloved of his Father and yours 2 Pet. 1.17 let him be your wel-beloved Christ beares you in his armes everlasting armes of mercy yea in his bosome Isa 40.11 63.9 Doe you beare him in your heart and let Christ be exalted highest there Againe let the absence of Christ be the chiefe occasion of your sorrow and mourning Matth. 9 15. cry after him enquire for him give him no rest untill he returne this was the practice of the Spouse Cant. 3.1 2 3 4. Cant. 5.4 6 8. Oh how was her affections set upon her Beloved tell him I am sicke of love Cant. 5.8 Though there be many other just occasions for mourning to the Saints yet this is the chiefe If a loving wife cannot thinke of the departure of her deare husband without sorrow how much more sorrowful will a gracious heart be in the absence of Christ Mary likewise who wept and being asked the reason by the Angels answered Because they have taken away my Lord c. Joh. 20.11 13 15 16. And as Christ should be all in your affections so let him be in your words and actions speake for him doe for him suffer for him let him be the matter of your communications and conferences that you may minister grace to the hearers what ever you do in word or deed let all be done to the honour of Christ for he that honours the Sonne honours the Father also The other branch of the exhortation is to such as are in their naturall condition without Christ seeing Christ is all in all be exhorted to seek Christ Paul preaching on Mars-hill to the Athenians tells them God made of one blood all Nations of men that they should seeke the Lord Act 17.22 26 27. and there be many exhortations in holy Scripture to this purpose as Isa 55.6 7. Seeke ye the Lord while he may be found c. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him returne unto the Lord c. The Apostle Peter in his speech to Simon Magus Act. 8.20 21 22 23. told him his heart was not right in the sight of God that he was in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity And yet he exhorted him to repent and pray to God vers 22 Not that any man in his naturall condition can of himselfe come to Christ desire him or seeke to enjoy him for none can come to Christ except the Father draw him Joh. 6.44 It is God that workes in us to will and to doe according to his good pleasure Phil. 2.13 So then saith the Apostle it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy onely know this God requiring poore sinners to use the meanes he hath appointed is pleased to make that meanes effectuall for their conversion and salvation For if God have purposed to shew mercy and conferre his grace upon your soules he will cause you to seeke unto him Ezek. 36.26 27 37. A new heart will I give you and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walke in my Statutes Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to doe it for them vers 37. Gods gracious and free promises doe not exclude the meanes he hath appointed to attaine the mercies therein promised It pleaseth him to tye his creatures to the use of meanes when he affords it them though he will sometime worke without it Now the ordinary meanes which God hath in his infinite wisedome appointed to convert sinners and also to build them up in Christ is the Word preached Rom. 10.8 17. This word of the Gospel God will have

Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith Phil. 3 9. The second Sort are all those formall professors who seem onely to be religious Iames 1.26 Having a forme of Godlinesse but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.5 These will tell you they rest not on duties trust not to their owne righteausnesse confide not in their Humiliation as legal professors doe But they after much trouble of conscience for their sins got comfort joy and peace in applying some promises of the Gospell to themselves Consider I pray you the Parable of the stony ground hearers They on the rock are they which when thy hear receive the Word with joy and these have no root which for a while beleeve and in time of temptation fall away Luke 8.13 Here was some plowing though it went not deep enough and some Harrowing also to cover the good seed after this the●e was some joy but no root Here was the Word convincing and wounding and comforting but no Christ who is called the root Coloss 2.6 7 to quicken renew and sanctifie And therefore though they believed awhile yet they fall away in the time of Temptation And this is the condition of formall Professors they get comfort in promises but they receive not Christ and His sanctifying comforting-spirit in the promises let such hear what the Lord by His Prophet speakes to a formall professing people Isa 50.11 Behold all ye that kindle a fire that compasse your selves about with sparks Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled This shall ye have at my hand ye shall lye down in sorrow The third sort are all those carnall Professors who say they are the people of God and hold the common Faith Titus 1.4 which is the faith of Gods Elect Titus 1.1 and beleeve the common salvation Jude 3. That is to say common to every one that beleeveth both Jew and Gentile Rom. 1 16. But notwithstanding all this profession of generall redemption they themselves are the servants of corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 For they take liberty to live in sin and walk after the flesh fulfilling the lusts thereof turning the grace of God into lasciviousnesse and denying the onely Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ Jude 4 They are so fa●re departed from the Faith which they sometime professed and seemed to have 1 Tim. 4.1 that they question whether the Scriptures of truth be the Word of God Whether Christ be the sonne of God Whether the first day of the Week be the Sabboth of God And they are so farre from living godly and walking in the way of holinesse that they totally omit all holy duties they refrain prayer they speak not of the Word of God when they rise up nor when they lye down nor as they sin in the house together with their family They do not pertake of any Ordinances nor perform any worship to God And as for sin they make a mock at it some of them say God takes no knowledge of their sins He sees no iniquitie in them others affirm that they have no sin they are born of God and they cannot sin And some others are bold to say they are justified persons and therfore all their words and actions are alike acceptable to God and well-pleasing in his sight c. But these carnall professors are not holy are not the people of God This may make some discovery of those whose hearts are not right with God to whom I would give the Apostles exhortation Acts 8.22 3. Vse Will God have His people to be holy Then may this doctrine occasion a deep Humiliation and godly sorrow in believers for their unholinesse carnallnesse and sinfulnesse in heart or life O beloved let you and I commune with our own hearts how much unbelief hypocrisie self-filthinesse formality and wickednesse shall we upon diligent examination finde still remaining in us What vanity of minde and carnality is in our hearts How many hard thoughts of God have we still Notwithstanding all the experiences God hath given us of his unchangeablenesse his faithfulnesse and his everlasting loving kindnesse in Jesus Christ How apt are we by an evill heart of unbelief to depart from God Alas what sinfull contemplations have we in our spirits What evill concupiscence How do our hearts run out after the creature-comforts of this world and how are our affections still set upon the things below Christ and God How many Idols are set up in our hearts How great is our self-self-love self-seeking self-confidence self-dependence and self-sufficiencie O what high thoughts have we sometimes of our selves our gifts our graces our experiences our performances Surely we have just cause if God will in mercy work in us godly sorrow to be ashamed to mourn after a godly manner and to loath our selves for the abominations of our own hearts But my brethren let us examine our lives and search and try our wayes as well as commune with our hearts for the eye of the world is open upon us God and Angels men and Divels all observe us who are believers they hear what we say and take knowledge what we do O beloved how much vain carnall and sinfull communication comes out of our mouthes that ministers no grace to the hearers How many idle words do we speak What unprofitable talk have we among our selves and with others not gracious nor seasoned with the salt of truth and holinesse but very unsavoury speeches And when we meet together and speak one to another of Religion we are apt to speak slightly rashly formally inconsiderately and not soberly humbly and graciously as becomes the Saints Yea our conferences sometimes turns to vain janglings and un-edifying disputes wherein we strive for victory or to maintain our own opinion more then truth But besides all this How much ungodlinesse is there in our actions Albeit God preventeth us by His grace from doing actions simply and grossely evill and ungodly as drunkennesse uncleannesse c. Yet in doing lawfull things we often mis-carry the Messengers of Christ do sometimes preach themselves Fathers of Families do correct their children sometimes after their pleasure provoking their children being bitter to their Wives sometimes Oh how uneven do we walk in our callings and relations Wherein we should especially shew forth the power of godlinesse Oh had we tender hearts and were we truly sensible of our sinfull miscariages we could not speak of those particulars without teares of godly sorrow Can we consider how many yeares we have professed the Gospell how long we have enjoyed the Word preached in season and out of season unto us and yet how little our conversation is as becomes the Gospell how little we have profited how little we have grown in Grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and not be affected to mourn under the feeling of our unprofitablenesse and great barrennesse But I hope God will give us