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	grace_n	love_v	2,786	5	6.0792	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81245	A model of true spiritual thankfulnesse. Delivered in a sermon before the Honourable House of Commons, upon their day of thanksgiving, being Thursday, Feb. 19. 1645, for the great mercy of God, in the surrender of the citie of Chester into the hands of the Parliaments forces in Cheshire, under the command of Sir William Brereton. / By Tho. Case, preacher in Milkstreet London, and one of the Assembly of Divines.	Case, Thomas, 1598-1682.; England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons.	1646 (1646)	Wing C833; Thomason E323_4; ESTC R200593	35,919	45

c. And therefore this is to be found onely in the Saints Psal 33.1 Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous for praise is comely for the upright Let the Saints be joyful in glory Psal 149.5 6. let them sing aloud upon their beds let the high praises of God be in their mouthes c. they be the Righteous onely the upright the Saints in whose bosoms this grace dwells and who can manage this Spiritual service and duty of rejoycing and praising the Lord in a right manner Indeed the holy Psalmist doth often expresse the workings of his heart upon the receipt of great deliverances and mercies under the notion of gladnesse all over the Psalms but you are to take it as a Synonymon or t'other expression of thankfulnesse not a meer stirring of natural joy and complacency in and for deliverances and mercies but the Spiritual movings and sparkling of his aff●●ction towards God in witnesse whereof you shall never sinde that notion stand single but like the * 1 Cor. 6.17 Spirit of the holy man himself joyned unto the Lord either as the Author or as the Object of his Gladnesse I will be glad and rejoyce in thee Psal 9.2 And Be glad in the Lord Psal 32.11 ye righteous And Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work Psal 92.4 c. to shew that his gladnesse was sanctified and spiritualized into the grace of Thankfulnesse And indeed Grace is nothing else but the natural affection baptized as I may so say and regenerated by the holy Ghost and the Blood of Christ faced and pointed upon God as its proper and highest object Set your affection on things above not on things on the earth Coloss 3.2 Set and Set not the affection is not changed in the matter of it but in the object So natural sorrow and grief spiritualized and set upon the right object sc upon an * Mich. 7.9 offended God is the grace of * ● Cor. 7.9 Repentance And Anger sanct fied and faced upon Gods dishonour is Zeal And Love fired with a flame from Christ and carried up in that flame to Christ is no longer the affection but the grace of Love sic in caet And thus natural joy and gladnesse heavenlized and set upon God 2 Joh. 4.19 is the grace of Thankfulnesse And this is the first difference Gladnesse or Joy is but a natural affection Common to good and bad to man and beast but Thankfulnesse is that affection sprinkled with the Blood of Christ proper onely to the Saints because like the Saint himself it is made partaker of the divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Secondly they differ in their Rise or Ground Second difference Rise or Ground The Rise or Ground of Gladnesse as it is a meer natural affection is meerly the poss ssion of some sutable desirable Good which comes in whether National or Domestick or Personal together with those natural fruits and improvements which arise and grow upon it As here in the Text Then are they glad what is the Rise Because they b● quiet●● they are now out of those fears and dangers which made their hearts work as tempestuoussy as the Sea it self Safety and rest are the ground of their joy glad the storm is over and they safe in the Haven And so you may proportion it in your thoughts in other deliverances and mercies National or Private Gladnesse riseth not higher then the bulk and body of the Good it self as the rich fool in the Gospel lookt upon his heap of wealth and glads his soul in it and in the advantages he promiseth himself from it Soul here are goods l●id up for many yeers Luke 12.19 he shall need to take no more care or thought as long as he lives take thine ease eat drink and be merrie The Grounds of Thankfulnesse But now the Grounds and Rise of Thankfulnesse they are of a more generous and divine Nature such as these 1. A Spiritual Title First a Spiritual and Divine Right to mercies a Scripture-title What is that Why the Saints have Fi st a Right of Sonship The wicked have a Right to what they have not onely a civil right before men but a divine right b●fore God but it is but a Right of Creation they have a right To the Creatures but it is but a right Of the Creatures But now th● S●ints have a right of Sonship If children Rom. 8.17 then heirs of God and joynt heirs with Christ. Whatever mercy or deliverance they have it is part of their childes portion though they are not joynt-purchasers yet they are joynt-heirs with Jesus Christ they have all by inheritance Heb. 1.2 as Christ is Heir of all things so they in him All is you●s and you are Christs and Christ is Gods 1 Cor. 3.22 23. And thus ●eing Children and Heirs they have a Seco●d Right and that is a Right of Promise or Covenant and therefore Believers are call'd The children of promise Rom. 9.8 because they be both a 2 Pet. 1.4 begotten and b 1 Tim. 4.8 m●int●in'd by promise whatever they have they have by promise Godlinesse is profitable for all things having the promise of the life that now is and that which is to come Others are fed out of the Common basket of Providence they are fed out of the Ark of the Covenant which is the great List of the promises Every childe of God be he never so poor is served in Plate The words of the Lord are pure words as Silver tried in a furnace of earth He speaks of the word of promise Psal 12.6 So that if it be but bread and water yet it is served in to a childe of God in the silver and golden vessels of the Promises And this affects them more then all the bulk and heap of mercies and comforts which they do possesse or that worldlings do possesse Thou hast put more gladnesse into my heart then in the time that their corn and their wine encreased Psal 4.7 How Why by the shines of his face and favour as Vers 7. This is the Rise of a gracious Joy and Thankfulnesse That what he hath he hath not onely by Gods leave but with Gods love not by Creatureship onely but by Sonship not by providence onely but by promise With the men of the world the Principal is more then the Interest but every childe of God accounts his Interest more then the Principal Therefore you shall finde the Church glorying in this That all her deliverances and mercies are Covenant-mercies If God destroy her enemies she looks upon it as a fruit of the Covenant He is the Lord our God his judgements are in all the world She triumphs in the execution of Gods righteous judgements upon the enemies of the Church Psal 105.7 but upon what ground It follows He hath remembred his Covenant for ever c. It was a

deliverance of Promise as well as of Providence a Covenant-mercie in that she rejoyceth Vers 8. yea if it be but bread and water as I said before she looks in what it is served He hath given meat to them that fear him Why He will be ever mindful of his Covenant Psal 111.5 Her meat how course soever was served in in the great silver Cha●ger of the Covenant And this was the rise of Thankfulnesse in the Churches Grace q. d. Blessed be God that hath fed me with bread of promise that hath commanded his Covenant to bring me in provision And so for her deliverances and redemption from enemies temporal and eternal He sent Redemption to his people Verse 9. he hath commanded his Covenant for ever holy and reverend is his Name It was a Covenant-victorie and Redemption and for this she bows her head and adores the Name of the Lord. Now carnal people never look after these things they be dry and empty notions to them give them meat so it be fat and dainty give them Deliverances and Victories so they be full and gallant be it by promise or providence come they in by sonship or creatureship be it the Covenant that helps them or Fortune it is all one they know no difference and therefore rise no higher in their joy and gladnesse then the possession of their desirable good things This is the first Rise Second Ground Return of Prayer A Second Rise of Thankfulnesse is The Return of Prayer The children of God when they have pray'd do not forget their prayers as carnal people do but when they have prayed they look after their Prayers Psal 85.8 I will hearken what God the Lord will speak c. when he had done praying he begins hearkning And so again In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee Psal 5.3 and I will look up A childe of God looks after his prayers and he knows them when he sees them again and says Oh here comes the answer of such a prayer the return of such a day of Humiliation and this affects his heart and this raiseth up his soul in the love and praises of God Psal 116.1 I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplication Yea and for this he calls in help to this great work of praising God as the disciples beckoned to their fellows to come and help them when they had taken such a great draught of fishes that their ship began to sink again so I say the Psalmist upon a great draught of mercles which even sinks him again with the weight of them calls in the Saints to his help Come neer all ye that fear God Psal 66.16 and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul Why what was it He tells you I cried unto him with my mouth Vers 17. and he was extolled with my tongue A speedie return of Prayer q.d. I kept a day of prayer wherein I sought him for such ahd such mercies and desiverances and anon after he gave me occasion to keep a day of Thanksgiving for being found of me and this endears his heart to God more then the mercy it self whatever it was Blessed be God that hath not turned away my prayer Vers 20. nor his mercie from me This is the second Rise A third Rise or Ground of Thankfulnesse whereby it differs from meer natural Gladnesse A third Ground Spiritual advantages is Spiritual Advantages If National and Publike Mercies and Deliverances the Saints eye the Spiritual part of them Surely salvation is nigh unto them that fear him Psal 85.9 When we were nigh to perishing our God was nigh to save to save us in such a Battel and in such a danger to give up such and such a strong-hold out of which the enemies did vex and plague us because he had a people among us that feared his Name I but now there was a Spiritual part in this Deliverance and that follows That glory may dwell in our Land What is the glory of a people but the Ordinances of God The glory is departed from Israel cried that dying Saint when the Ark of God was taken 1 Sam 4.12 why so now the Church looks upon the socuritie and improvement of the Ordinances of God as the fruit of this deliverance and that is the ground of her triumph And so if they be personal mercies and deliverances the people of God enquire what portion will fall to the souls share what improvement for grace they can finde in their mercies The living the living shall praise thee as I do this day so sings Hezekiah Have mercie upon me Isa 38.19 O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer Psal 9.13 c. That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Sion so prays David both single out the Spiritual part of the Deliverance in the mouth of it they finde food for the grace of Thankfulnesse to feed on That I may shew forth thy praises and that they make the ground or rise of their rejoycing Yea the Prophet David is so intent upon the matter that whereas with carnal hearts the lean kine eat up the fat the earthly part of a mercy devours the heavenly and spiritual with this man after Gods own heart and if ever he was so it was in this the spiritual part devours and swallows up the earthly where he doth encourage his soul Psal 42.1 Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him c. He was waiting for a Deliverance from the persecutions of bloody Saul and he hath forgot and lost both it and himself in the heavenly-soul-part of the mercy he saw it would be fuel for the grace of love and thank fulnesse and that so takes up all his thoughts that he can speak nothing else but praise praise not I shall yet be delivered but I shall yet praise him c. Oh happie Losse indeed I to lose Earth in Heaven I to lose the Creature in God I lose the mercy of God in the God of mercy I Surely he that so loseth a mercy findes it with infinite advantage I might instance in more particular graces but I must leave much to your own enlargement But there is yet an higher Rise then all these of the Saints Thankfulnesse for Mercies and Deliverances and that Fourthly is that God is exalted The fourth Rise Gods exaltation Exod. 15. Thus if you will peruse that song of Moses Exod. 15 from the first Verse and so forward you shall finde that which most affects him and the children of Israel in the drowning of Pharroh and the Egyptians in the Red-sea was not so much their being freed from the fear of the Egyptians pursuit as that thereby God was exalted I will sing unto the Lord Vers 1. for He hath triumphed gloriously The Lord is my strength and my song my fathers God Vers 2.

so much when that strong Garison Samson was surrendred up into their hands and offered a great Sacrifice to Dagon their god Judg. 16.23 c. I say If Carnal joy go into the Temple hear Sermons sing Psalms lift up the voice in Thanksgiving in all these it gets no higher then the dutie The dutie looks upon God the heart doth not or if God be propounded God is not exalted When ye fasted c. did ye at all fast unto me Zech. 7.5 even unto me And when ye did eat and when ye did drink did ye not eat to your selves and drink to your selves In fasting and feasting that is in days of Humiliation and in days of Thanksgiving they rested the in duty self was uppermost in both God was the object of the duty indeed but self was the end Ye did eat and drink to your selves And when the dutie is done all is done the Fasting of carnal people is but the holding downn the head like a bulrush for a day and their Thanksgivings are but the holdi●g up the head like a reed for a day Nothing outlives the day or the dutie Publike Duties are are the end of the carnal mans rejoycing they are but the Medium of the holy mans rejoycing that serves to advance him for further and higher Returns Springs we say will rise as high as they fall and so doth the Saints Thankfulnesse as it is a grace which comes down from heaven so it is a grace that ascendeth up back again to heaven True Thankfulnesse works it self out and carrieth up the soul with it thither and that 1. In exalting God 1. In high admirations and exaltations of God I will extol thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up thou hast lifted me up and therefore I will lift thee up Psal 30.1 and he calls in others to help him in this great work O magnifie the Lord with me Psal 34.3 and let us exalt his Name together And this is the duty the Psalmist here commends to the sons of men O that men would praise the Lord Let them exalt him also in the Congregation of the people and praise him in the Assemblie of the Elders He would have God more exalted and man lesse Secondly it works heaven-ward and God-ward in holie prayer David got safe to the Crown thorow all his wars 2. In Prayer and troubles and persecutions resolves by way of Render Psal 116.13 I will call upon the Name of the Lord and to binde the Sacrifice with Cords to the horns of the Altar he doubles the engagement upon his own soul Vers 17. I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call upon the Name of the Lord. One would have thought he might now have given over praying God had put an end to his troubles and he might put an end to his prayers nay but that is the note of an Hypocrite to cease praying when troubles cease What is the hope of the hypocrite c. Will he always call upon God No Job 27.10 there be two times when the Hypocrite will not call upon God First when troubles are too heavie Secondly when troubles are removed despair will not suffer him to pray then and lazinesse will not let him pray now With the truely-thankful it is other wise as prayer begets deliverance so deliverance begets prayer and so he shews that it is not necessitie makes him pray onely but love Love to prayer and love to the God of prayer That is a third thing wherein his Thankfulnesse operates 3. In love sc Love it carries out the heart in exceeding love to God I will love thee Psal 18.1 Title O Lord my strength c. so sings David in the day that the Lord had delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul And this Love the Saints expresse in these three ways especially 1. In labouring to know more of God after God had done so many miracles and wonders for Israel Moses presents God with this Petition I beseech thee shew me thy glory Exod. 33.18 He had seen much of the wonders of God now his love is fired with desires of seeing the God of these wonders He would fain be acquainted with that God which did all those wonders 2. In labouring to enjoy more of God to have him for their God Thou art great and doest wondrous things I but that will not serve the turn Psal 86.10 Teach me thy way O Lord unite my heart to thee to fear thy Name Vers 11. he would know the way to God that he might enjoy more communion with God Vnite my heart c. not the things of God but God himself will content a thankful heart as Luther profest to God when the Princes and States of Germanie sent him a whole Table full of Plate Lord saith he thou shalt not turn me off with these things A gracious heart could take little comfort in Victories and Deliverances and other comforts unlesse the God of those Victories and Comforts were his too And therefore thirdly this love doth expresse it self in glorying in God So the Church in that Psalm of Thanksgiving Psal 48 Psal 48.3 4 5 6 7 12 13. when she had told all the world the great Victories God had given by Land and Sea how he had routed mighty Kings and Princes and made them glad to betake themselves to their heels they came and so went home again after she had led the Spectator round about the Line of Communication and invited him to behold the beautie and strength of her Towers and Fortifications she concludes the Psalm with this triumph as that which infinitely transcended all the rest This God is our God for ever and ever Verse 14. The God that hath done all these wonders is my God She glories not so much in the Victories God had given her as in interest in the God of those Victories Well that is the third thing wherein Thankfulnesse acts Love to God The Fourthly Self-denial Fourth is Self-denial for Gods sake And after all this is come upon us since our God hath punisht us lesse then our iniquities deserve and hath given us such deliverance as this Exra 9.13.14 should we again break thy Commandments so argued thankful Ezra I tell you Sirs there is more Thankfulnesse in one act of Self-denial then in twenty days of Thanksgiving Fifthly in Payment of Vows Fifthly true Thankfulnesse works God-ward in payment of vows What shall I render saith David I will pay my vows And again vers 18 I will pay my vows to shew he would be much and watchful Psal 116.14 and exact in that Return of Thankfulnesse And doubtlesse it is as proper a return as any for all the mercies of God to his people whether National or Personal whether Victories or Supplies they are all the making good of his Covenant to them as I