Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	isa_n	psal_n	regulate_v	96	3	17.8487	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70554	Early piety, exemplified in the life and death of Mr. Nathanael Mather, who ... changed earth for heaven, Oct. 17. 1688 whereto are added some discourses on the true nature, the great reward, and the best season of such a walk with God as he left a pattern of.	Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.; Mather, Samuel, 1651-1728.	1689 (1689)	Wing M1097A; ESTC R20873	63,808	161

Laws as Holy Just and Good and do promise to take them as the Rule of my Thoughts Words a● Actions but because I am subject 〈◊〉 many failings through frailty I do he● protest here before thee that unallo●ed miscarriages contrary to the consta●bent of my Heart shall not disan●● this everlasting Covenant Nathanael Mathe● It may justly be taken for granted th● such a work as this would have an infl●ence into his Conversation afterwards and so it had producing in him a Conve●sation which became the Gospel of Christ H● kept waiting upon God not only in t●● Family but also under the Ministry of t●● that were near a-Kinn unto him namely his Father and his Brother whereby th● Grace thus begun in him was not a li●tle cherished and promoted And unt● all known sins he now kept saying as● find once in Short-hand written by him To my Lusts I have had Communion with you all th●● while but I dare not have so any longer Wherefore I renounce all Communion with y●● any more I will cleave to the God that made m● But a Year or two after this it was wit● him as I have observed it is too commonly with such as are Converted betimes unto God. An unhappy gradual Apostacy carried him aside from those degrees of seriousness and intenseness in divine things which he had been used unto 'T is possible an entanglement in a Familiarity with some that were no better than they should be did abate of the good savour which had been upon him and decoy him by insensible steps to some vanities tho' not to any scandalous immoralities that were disadvantageous to him For divers Months he seemed somewhat yet not totally much less finally forsaken of that Wisdom and Vertue which he had before been an example of but the good Spirit of God will not let go his Interest in a Soul of which he hath taken a saving hold This Young Man soon entertained just resentments of his own declensions and it was impossible for the most Badger-tooth'd malice in the World to aggravate any of his Errors half so much as he did himself in his own Repentance for them In the Year 1685. God visited him with sore Terrors and Horrors in his wounded Soul the anguish whereof he thought intolerable yet he made not his condition known to any Body all the while He could say My complaint is not to man but he made it unto the Lord This poor man cryed and the Lord heard and delivered him out of his distresses He arrived in time unto some settlement and renewal of his Peace with God He confessed and bewailed his own sins before the Lord and declared his detestation of them and applyed himself unto the Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation from them all Good terms being thus establish't between the Almighty Lord and this Immortal Soul he maintained I think a constant and an even Walk with God until he dyed I find now that Language in his MSS Let me be as active a Servant of Christ as I was of Satan heretofore For more than the three last years of his Life he lived at a strange rate for Holiness and Gravity and retired Devotions He read Mr. Scudders Christians daily walk and Dr. Owen of Spiritual Mindedness and had a restless raging Agony in his Mind unti● the Methods of Religion advised by thos● worthy Men were Exemplified in his own Behaviour 'T is a note in one o● his Diaries O my great unprofitableness under th● means of Grace I have cause to bless God for ever for the Writings of that never enough to be admired and loved by me Dr. Reynolds and for the Light I have received thereby concerning the sinfulness of Sin as also that excellent Book of him whom I shall always honour Dr. Owen of Spiritual-mindedness and Mr. Scudders Christians daily Walk by which three Books I have profited more than by any other S. Scripturis exceptis in the World. He was at first surprized at the measure of Spiritual-mindedness without which that great Saint Dr. Owen apprehends the Life and Peace of Souls to labour under prejudice and he thought a Mind swallowed up in such Heavenly Frames and Works as were needful thereunto almost wholly to be despair'd of until as himself a few hours before he dyed said unto me he deem'd he saw an Instance of such a Walk with God not very far from the place of his abode To which purpose his reserv'd Papers have a large Discourse of which this is in the Conclusion There might be a greater Progress in Religion than is commonly thought for What have I Examples for but to imitate them Abraham is fam'd for believing so strongly when he had no Example before him Let me try and see whether I having such opportunities may not arrive to as high a pitch in Christianity as any that I have known He then in the strength and thrô the Love of God set himself into a vvay of strict secret laborious Devotion vvhereby thô none but God and He fill'd the Theatre vvhich he acted upon he vvould be in the Fear of the Lord all the day long He withdrew from the delight of this World and gave himself up to an assiduous Contemplation of God and Christ and a sedulous endeavour after utmost conformity unto him Thus 〈◊〉 kept abounding in the Work of the Lord until three Years of wonderful Holiness had ripened him for eternal Happiness My Account of him will be an unfinished Piece unless all the ensuing stroke go to make it up These things he was Exemplary for First He was one that walked by RVLE He was very Studious to learn the wa● of conversing with God in every Duty and there vvas a Rule which he attended still unto In his private Papers I find a wi●● Collection of Rules by which he gover●ed himself in the several Duties of Chr●stianity and in all the Seasons and Stations of his Life He consulted the best Authors for Instruction in the Affairs of practical Religion and not into Paper only but into Action to be transcribed what he most approved in all which The Will of God was the bright Pole-Star by which he steer'd his Course The Reader shall enjoy and O that he would follow two of this Young Man's Directories One of them was this I. O that I might lead a spiritual Life Wherefore let me regulate my Life by the Word of God and by such Scriptures as these 1. For regulating my Thoughts Jer. 4. 14. Isa 55. 7. Mal. 3. 17. Psal 104. 34. Phil. 4. 8. Prov. 23. 26. Deut. 15. 9. Eccles 10. 20. Prov. 24. 9. Mat. 9. 4. Zech. 8. 17. 2. For regulating my Affections Col. 3. 2 5. Gal. 5. 24. For my Delight Psal 1. 2. Psal 37. 5. For my Joy Phil. 4. 4. Psal 43. 4. My Desire Isa 26. 8 9. Ezek. 7. 16. My Love Mat. 22. 37. Psal 119. 97. My Hatred Psal 97. 10. My Fear Luk. 12. 4 5. My Hope Psal 39. 7.

My Trust Psal 62. 8. Isa 26. 4. 3. For regulating my Speech Eph. 4. 29. Col. 4. 6. Deut. 6. 6 7. Psal 119. 46. Psal 71. 8 24. Prov. 31. 26. 4. For regulating my Work Tit. 3. 8. 2 Tim. 2. 12. 1 Tim. 5. 10. Titus 2. 14. Mat. 5. 47. 1 Tim. 6. 8. Rev. 3. 2. Rom. 13. 12. Act. 26. 20. Another of them was form'd into an● Hymn the singing of which might produce fresher and stronger Efforts of Sou● towards the thing that is good It shall be here inserted Lord vvhat shall I return unto Him from vvhom all thy mercies flow I. To me to live it Christ shall be For all I do I 'le do for Thee II. My Question shall be oft beside How thou may'st most be Glorifi'd III. I will not any Creature Love But in the love of Thee above IV. Thy Will I will embrace for mi●● And every management of thine Shall please me V. A Conformity To Thee shall be my Aim and Eye VI. Ejaculations shall ascend Not seldom from me VII I 'le attend Occasional Reflections and Turn all to Gold that comes to hand VIII And in particular among My Cares I 'le try to make my Tongue A Tree of Life by speaking all As be accountable who shall IX But last nay first of all I will Thy Son my Surety make and still Implore him that he would me bless With strength as well as Righteousness Besides these Rules which concerned his whole Walk he Treasur'd up many more that referr'd to this and that step in it and it was the predominant care and watch of his Heart not to tread awry Thus one might see a skilful Christian in him And as he was desirous to live by Precept so he was to live by Promise too He fell into a particular consideration how to improve the Promises of God in all the Occasions of life which is indeed one of the most sanctifying Exercises in the World. It was a Proposal vvhich I find he mad unto himself Let me salute these Promises once a day 1. For supplying the wants of th● day Phil. 4. 19. 2. For Grovvth in Grace Hos 14. 5 3. For subduing my sins Mic. 7. 19 4. For success in my undertakings Psal 1. 3. 5. For turning all the Events of th● day for good Rom. 8. 28. 6. For Audience of my Prayers Job 14. 13 14. 7. For strength to manage all th● vvork of the day Zech. 10. 12. 8. For direction in difficulty Psal 32. 8. 9. For Life Eternal Luke 12. 31. Job 3. 16. Besides these tvvo Mat. 11. 28. an● Isa 44. 3. Certainly that Man must quickly gro● another Enoch vvho does thus Walk wi●● God. Secondly He vvas one that lived 〈◊〉 PRAYER He vvas oft and long in th● Mount with God It vvas his Custom every day to enter into his Closet and sh●● his door and pray to his Father in secret And I guess from some of his Writings that he did thus no less than thrice a day when he met with no Obstruction in it Nor did he Slubber over his Prayers vvith hasty Amputations but vvrestle in them for a good part of an hour together It vvas a most refreshing Communion vvith God vvhich his Devotions brought him sometimes unto Thus in one of his Diaries Dec. 10. I prayed earnestly unto God In the Margin he wrote Remember this earnestly Petitioning that Jesus Christ might be my compleat Redeemer There vvas immediately something that did as it were perswade me it should be so Again Aug. 19. My Thoughts vvere some little vvhile busied about the condescention of Christ in taking of humane Nature on him but for the most part in Ejaculations and Acts of Faith on a crucified ah svveet Word Jesus I saw I gained not much by those Wherefore I addre●sed my self to solemn Prayer and ha● some Assurance in it Once more Aug. 20. I was much affected in Prayer an● exercised I hope many Acts of Faith and Love and Delight in God. I sev●●ral times was breaking off but I was ● it were constrain'd to go on in the Du● with much enlargement Lord ans●● me for the sake of Christ Thus under the Fig-tree did our Lor● Jesus often behold this Nathanael yea unto Prayer he became so habituated th●● while others can Sleep in Prayer he some times would pray in sleep He records 〈◊〉 among his Experiences that upon assault of imagined Temptations when he has bee● asleep he has quickly been at Prayer an● so caused the Phantasms to leave annoy●ing of him And Extraordinary prayer was also wit● him not altogether extraordinary Th●● he were a Bottle that seemed incapabl● of holding it yet this Wine agreed wit● him very well As Young as he was 〈◊〉 knew the Mystery of a Soul fatning 〈◊〉 fasting and thriving by hungring and thirsting after Righteousness He was very inquisitive after the right way to manage a Day of Fasting and Prayer and he would sometimes keep such a day On such a day it was his Custom to make a very particular and penitent Confession of all the Sins that he could perceive himself guilty of and renew his Covenant with the Holy One of Israel to this End he had by him in writing a large Catalogue of things forbidden and required in the Commandments of God which was the Glass in which he then viewed his wayes and having found what Achans might procure trouble to him he then fell to stoning of them One may shape some conjecture at his Humiliations by the Indignations with which he spoke and wrote of the Vanities which his Childhood had I came into the World saith he in one of the Papers penn'd by him on a day of secret Fasting and Prayer October the 17th 1685. without the Image of the Holy God on my Soul my Understanding my Will my Affections and my whole Soul were altogether depraved and wounded When very Young I went astray from God and my Mind was altogether taken with vanities and follies such as the remembrance of them doth greatly abase my Soul within me Of the manifold Sins which then I was guilty of none so sticks upon me as that being very young I was whitling on the Sabbath-day and for fear of being seen I did it behind the door A great Reproach of God! A Specimen of that Atheism that I brought into the World with me This was more than the more meagre and feeble sort of Christians though much older than he are us'd to do But paulo majora There was a Sublimer way of drawing near to God which he vvas not willing to leave unattempted He understood that secret days of Thanksgiving had not been unpractised by some vvhom he designed to imitate and therefore he vvould make some Essays for such an Intimate Fruition of God and generous Devotion to him as vvould fill such days as these Hence this I find among the Records of his Soul Resolved To set apart every two Months a Day for solemn Examination and