Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	heart_n	love_v	sin_n	9,337	5	4.8347	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54031	The consideration of a position concerning the Book of common-prayer as also of some particulars held forth for truths by one Edmund Elis, stiled a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ : with a warning of tender bowels to the rulers, teachers and people of this nation concerning their church and ministry : likewise a few words concerning the kingdom, laws and government of Christ in the heart and conscience, its inoffensiveness to all just laws and governments of the kingdoms of men / by Isaac Penington the younger.	Penington, Isaac, 1616-1679.; Elys, Edmund, ca. 1634-ca. 1707.	1660 (1660)	Wing P1161; ESTC R28789	24,645	40

Minister in the Spirit and in the Power His words must not be such as mans wisdom would teach or as mans comprehension would gather but such words as Gods Wisdom prepares for him and puts into his mouth He that will be a true Minister must receive both his gift his Ministry and the exercise of both from the Lord and must be sure in his ministring to keep in the Power or he will never win others to the Power but in keeping in the Power while he is ministring and standing in the cross to his own understanding and wisdom giving forth the truths which the Lord chuseth to have him speak in the words which God chuseth even in the words which are ministred to him by the Power in thus ministring he shall save both his own Soul and those that hear him even all who in fear and meekness receive the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul For alas alas many have received words of Truth and apprehensions of Knowledge whereby they hope to be saved but how few are acquainted with that Knowledge which stands in the Power which alone converts and keeps alive unto God! O how many Souls are to be answered for by them who take upon them to be Pastors from God who have fed the Flock with words with Discourses which they have made and have ruled over them with force and cruelty but have wanted the love the tenderness the Light and Power of the true Shepherd O what will these do when God requires his sheep at their hands O that there were an heart to consider Ye Shepherds of England little do ye know what is towards you Now for those things themselves which he saith he principally endeavours to make known to the sons of men there is a mixture in them which if he could singly apply himself to wait of the Lord in the meek sober Spirit out of the consultations wisdom and confidence of the flesh it might please the Lord to make manifest to him The first particular of those which he layes down for Truths is That the good things of this life honours riches c. unless we make use of them in the service of God are but vanity and vexation of spirit And in no wise any more capable to satisfie or content an immortal Soul than Lime and Ashes and Cobwebs and such like trash are to satisfie and keep in health the bodies of those persons who through the depravedness of their appetite desire to feed on them Answ Christ by his Ministry calleth his Disciples out of the world up to the Father out of the honours riches and what ever else is of the world How can ye believe which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God onely John 5.44 And the rich man he bids him sell all and follow him And the Apostle John saith Love not the world neither the things that are in the world If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the world the just of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world 1 John 2.15 16. He that will be a Disciple of Christ must travel out of the earthly into the heavenly leaving all that is of this world behind him possessing nothing as his portion but him who hath call'd him out of his Countrey from among his kindred and from his Father's house to another Land kindred and habitation So that here they are Pilgrims and Strangers Sojourners and Passengers unknown to the world and of a strange garb behaviour and appearance in it not enjoying any thing as the world enjoyes not using any thing as the world useth not honouring men or receiving honour from men as the world gives or receives honour but honouring men in the Lord and receiving honour from the Lord and what ever they seem to retain of the earthly things they hold as Stewards under the Lord not using or disposing of them as they think good but waiting for the discovery of the Masters pleasure who is to order in his Counsel and Wisdom all that is his own to his own glory The Law required a tenth part to be given up to the Lord the Gospel requires all Soul Body Spirit Goods good Name c. even that the whole possession be sold and laid at the Masters feet and he that keepeth any thing back cannot be a Disciple cannot be a Souldier of Christ but must needs entangle himself with the affairs of this life This is sound and savoury even the Truth of Jesus as it is known and felt in the renewed Spirit but his Words if he measure them in the pure Light of God he will perceive not to have sprung thence but to have been formed in the earthly wise part even in that wisdom understanding and comprehension which is shut out of the Mysteries of Gods Kingdom For his second That nothing but the enjoyment of God the Fountain of all Goodness can truly and really content an immortal Soul And for his third That no man can enjoy God but he that loves him with all his heart and with all his Soul and for his sake his Neighbour as himself I own both the things themselves and these words and I felt a good savour in them at the reading of them onely let me say this if he put men upon striving after these things without pointing them to the gift where the strength is received to perform and where the waiting is to be for the strength he cannot preach them profitably to his hearers To his fourth That though every sincere Convert or regenerate person loves God continually with his whole heart as to the habit or root of holy love yet whilst he is in the body he may sometimes fail of the Act or fruit of it and may offend God through the love of the creature Which Truth so much opposed in these dayes is clear and manifest in the holy Scriptures particularly in the Records of the hainous sins of the Prophet David and Peter the Apostle Answ The Lord Circumciseth the heart of Believers under the New Covenant to love the Lord their God with all their heart that they may live he causeth the Plant to spring up out of the dry and barren ground which he watereth with his Blessing and he layeth his Axe to the Root of the old Tree hewing at it even till he hath cut it up he engrafteth the Eternal Word into the heart and by it is daily purifying thereof fulfilling the good pleasure of his goodness therein and carrying on the Work of Faith with power and the Ministry which he gave was for the perfecting of the Saints Ephes 4.12 13. which Ministry exhorted and encouraged Believers from God's Promises of his presence and powerful operation of his Spirit in the hearts of his Sons and Daughters to cleanse themselves from all

filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 Now that the corrupt Tree shall never be cut down whilst man is in the body that the heart shall never be throughly circumcised to love the Lord but be in danger of offending God through the love of the Creature this doctrine and belief springeth not from the pure Fountain of Life and Power but the reasoning part hath gathered it from it's conceivings beneath the Power The Seed of God cannot sin for as he is pure which begetteth so is that pure which is begotten of him nor can man sin who is born of it and abides in it and if God please to perfect the Birth and the work of Circumcision What can hinder a man from being wholly born of it from abiding in it Indeed a man that strives in his own strength either against sin or towards holiness may well doubt of ever having it accomplished but he that feels the Eternal Power beginning the work and carrying it on daily cannot doubt but he can perfect it yea and is encouraged by the feeling thereof to hope and wait on him for the perfecting of it As for his instances of David and Peter they reach not the thing For though David and Peter did fall yet both David and Peter might attain an higher state before they went out of the body then they were in before they fell David was a great Prophet and Peter a pretious Disciple but yet there was an higher Estate to be administred even the receiving that which the Prophets prophesied of and which the Disciple was to wait for The Disciples who had known Christ and had been taught by him and had received a Commission from him to whom all Power in Heaven and Earth was given yet were to wait for a Further and Higher State even for receiving the Promise of the Father the Power from on High that he that was with them might be in them John 14.17 John was as great as any Prophet and yet he that was least in the Kingdom was greater then he Read the Acts of the Apostles behold what a pretious people was brought forth even in the beginning of the Apostles Ministry how full of Faith how stripped of the world how single-hearted to God and one towards another Acts 2.42 c. and Acts 4.32 c. What would these be abiding and growing up in the Vine The cutting off of sin is necessary while in the Body but to make the committing of sin necessary while in the Body is a great Derogation to the Power of Gods Grace and to the Mystery of Faith which overcometh the evils of the Heart and the Worldly Nature within purifieth the Conscience from dead works and is held in the Pure Conscience O that men knew the Power and the Faith which stands in the Power For then would not they judge it so impossible to be cleansed by the Faith through the Power O that Light that Light that Pure Light of the Spirit wherein the Living Blood runs which cleanseth from all sin and keepeth clean them that abide and walk in it If this were but a little felt such Doctrine as these which are gathered in the comprehension from words read without being let into the thing it self would soon vanish and find no place in the Heart where the Power dwells nor in the understanding which is renewed preserved and fed by the Power For the things of God are to be known and held in the understanding which is given of God which understanding is of the Spirit and is Spiritual and not wirh the natural understanding which cannot receive the things of the Spirit but onely a carnal apprehension and sence of the words of the Spirit according as a man can beat them out with and comprehend them in his reasoning part To the fifth That the Souls of the faithful are alwayes growing in grace whilst they are in the body and at the instant of death or separation from the body our Lord Jesus shall present them to the Father without spot or blemish Answ Christ presenteth to the Father when he hath purified the heart and mind and made it fit for Gods pure life and presence He hath received the fulness from the Father and hath freely given of his grace and of his truth to the sons of men to regenerate them to cleanse and sanctifie their hearts and make them fit for God to dwell in He sitteth in his Temple as a Refiner and Purifier of Silver who is like a Refiner's Fire and like Fuller's Soap and when he hath purified his Disciples his Children his Levites he presenteth them to the Lord for the Lord to Tabernacle and dwell in when he hath throughly consecrated them he presenteth them as Kings and Priests to his Father to offer up an Offering for Righteousness and to reign with him in his Kingdom Mal. 3.3 Rev. 1.5 And there were some so purified by the leaven of the Kingdom which purgeth out the old leaven by degrees even till at length it hath made the lump wholly new that to them all things were pure Titus 1.5 There were some come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Moderator of the New Covenant and to the Blood of Sprinkling Heb. 12.22 23 24. Thus it was before the Apostacy yea and after the Apostacy there were some found standing on Mount Sion again such as had learned the New Song such as were redeemed from the Earth such as were not defiled with Women with any of the false Churches or their false wayes of worship but had kept their Virginity in the Wilderness If ye would know who these were they were the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb after the Apostacy who were throughly cleansed by the Spirit of burning insomuch as in their mouth was found no guile but they were without fault before the Throne of God Revel 14. v. 1. to 6. The Work of the Spirit of Christ in the heart is an inward work and doth not consist in outward time or seasons but in spiritual degrees and seasons which when they are finished the heart renewed the spirit changed the work wrought out then the glory of the Father is revealed the entrance into the everlasting Kingdom Ministred and then there is a sitting down in the everlasting Mansion even with Christ in the Heavenly places which he hath prepared where they that are redeemed and purged and sanctified sit together with him and as the body cannot hinder his entring into the spirits of his Saints and his dwelling in them no more can it hinder their entring into him and dwelling in him Now there are several exercises of Spirit several measures

of Faith and several degrees of Life and Glory Some are under the Clouds some in the Sea some in Egypt some in the Wilderness some waiting for his appearance some in the enjoyment of him already appeared In some the work of Regeneration of Sanctification of newness of Spirit and Life is but begun in others it is interrupted and they come to a losse in some it is much carried on even towards consummation and some are already compleat in him finding fulness of satisfaction in him in whom the everlasting Springs are opened to the full content of their hearts and bring forth fruit to him to the full content and satisfaction of his heart In the Apostles dayes there were those that waited for his coming and there were those also that knew him come and had received the good understanding from him and were in the Eternal life John 5.20 Yet this doth not exclude growth for the fulness is infinite and though a perfect state may be attained in the perfect gift yet there is a growth in the perfection for Christ who was perfect and in whom was no guile grew in Wisdom and Knowledge and in favour with God and men And as God is infinite so that which is transplanted into him there is no growth in him but the Tree which stands in God's holy Earth by his pure River of waters shall grow for ever into his endless life and fulness To his sixth That no man can so know God as to love him with all his heart and with all his Soul but through the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him Crucified Who by those grievous sufferings which he endur'd when he was upon Earth made satisfaction to the justice of God for the sins of all those that believe in his Name so that it is as consistent with the justice as with the mercy of God to forgive them their sins and make them heirs of eternal life God is just and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus Answ The knowledge of Christ is life Eternal and in his Cross is the spiritual vertue which cuts off the uncircumcision of the heart whereby it is enabled to love the Lord. Now Christ is the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit who soweth the Seed of the Kingdom in the heart and causeth it to spring up out of which Seed the Faith the Love the Hope the Meekness the Patience and every spiritual fruit springs and grows And he that is thus born of this Seed and receives the knowledge of life which springs from this Seed he cannot but love him which begat him and he reapeth the fruit of all that Christ did and suffered in that prepared body and God is both just and the Justifier of him who is thus united to Jesus But that man who knoweth not this Faith nor is acquainted with the love which springeth from this Root and which is of this Divine nature but thinketh to be justified by applying to himself what is related in the Histories concerning Christ this man deceives his Soul and misseth of the true Justification for God is just who hath made the Promise sure to the Seed and hath shut out man further than he is born of the Seed and found in the Seed But he who abideth in the Seed and in whom the Seed findeth pleasure and abideth he cannot miss of the Promise of the everlasting Righteousness the Reconciliation the Peace the Joy and whatever else God giveth to the Seed To his seventh and last That the ready way to receive Christ the onely Light by which we may see the way to Heaven or so to believe in him that we may be saved by him is to forsake all that we have that we may be his Disciples that is to say to take off our affections from things on the Earth and to set them on things above where Jesus sitteth on the right hand of God putting our trust and confidence in the free and in the infinite mercy of God through Christ to be guided by him in all our wayes to be led by his good Spirit in all those wayes of grace and holiness through which we must pass before we can attain to glory Answ To know Christ as the Light eternal as he was yesterday is to day and will be for ever to trust this Light in its convictions calls and free openings of love to feel its living virtue and in that virtue to give up all that 's of the earthly nature and spirit to sell it for the everlasting inheritance this is indeed the way to life But it is not the doing of things which is of value for man may imitate and strive to do much and may go a great way in forsaking all and in taking off his affections from things inasmuch as he may give all his goods to the poor and his body to be burned and yet it profit him nothing but it is the doing of things in the virtue in the life in the power which comes from Christ which is of acceptance with God and of advantage to the soul Every motion and operation of true life springs from the root of life and hath the virtue of the root in it and that which differenceth it from all mens imitations and from all the likenesses which the earthly spirit can frame is the nature and virtue of the root being found in it Therefore he that will be a true Christian must eye Christ the spring of his life and keep in the feeling of his living virtue and in that offer up all his Sacrifices of faith love and obedience to God and he that will be a true Minister must wait upon the power himself to be an Instrument in the hand of the power to direct men to this and to preserve and build them up therein But alas this is the Stone which the wise Builders have all along refused The Builders before the coming of Christ they got a knowledge concerning the Messiah to come but being unacquainted with the thing it self rejected both it at its coming and also the Vessel wherein it appeared And the Builders all along the Apostacy gat a knowledge of Christ come and preached Believing in him crucified as the way to life but the living Stone the living thing it self which is both the foundation the corner-Stone and the top Stone of the Building they have been ignorant of and ready to persecute every appearance of it Christ can no more now appear in Spirit than formerly he could in that prepared body of flesh but the wise Builders now are as ready to cry out against him for a Blasphemer a prophaner of Gods Ordinances a deceiver of the people yea a Witch or one that hath a Devil as the wise Builders then were But Wisdom in all ages is justified by her Children and of none else He that is born of the Wisdom he can discern the womb and own the fruit and branchings forth thereof under the mean dark vail whereby it