Selected quad for the lemma: love_n
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A27583
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The blessing of Moses on the tribe of Asher opened and applyed in a mystical and spiritual sense, to every saint, and servant of Christ in a sermon on Deut. 33.25 ... / by T. Beverley.
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Beverley, Thomas.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing B2124; ESTC R20407
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18,576
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36
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the Infinite value of it the Infinite Security of it that it holds God and all his Saints together that they can never be Divorced they never shall be separated This I say the Interposal of Christ it is so fast so stable so firm a thing that all that can be spoken of it is not any way equal to it All the Discourses though they are never so wise and good betwixt the Creator and the Creature betwixt Infinite Mind and the Intellectual and Rational Creature though they are express'd never so well in the main and never so true though men are never so Great and Wise in these Discourses they cannot come near the high sense of the Expressions of our Lord in this Great Point who hath Loved us and Reconciled us and in whom the Creature lost in it self is united Spiritually to God in him Men do not enough consider that Indissoluble Centre of Union our Lord Jesus Christ who can never be removed out of the Centre and that all the Lines run and meet in him To consider this and to understand this I say I do not know who is able to express the thing as it is to declare the thing plentifully as it it is The Secret of this point of Wisdom I am fully assured is double nay a thousand-fold to all we know and to all we can speak It is summ'd up admirably in that 17th of John that I have heretofore mentioned in such Discourses as these and always I am ready to mention it is so great And I have declared unto them thy Name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the World may believe that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me Ver. 24. Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the World That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us c. Ver. 21. 23 24 26. Now in these things the Union by Vertue of the Interposal of our Lord Jesus Christ is so great that I say we do but quibble in comparison Men do but quibble when they talk of Union between the Creator and the Creature except they consider this great Intervention the coming between of the Lord Jesus I doubt not take the Holiest Saint in Heaven if there were no Interposer between God and them but they might be lost though they are in the present Happiness and Blessedness of the Enjoyment of God Here is the Lord Jesus coming between Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me c. This is our great Security and this is that that makes our Shooes indeed to be Iron and Brass and that as our Day is so our Strength shall be I come therefore to the Last Particular and that is to shew that there must be a Time when this shall be Triumphant I say there must be a Time of Glorious Appearance For the World dares Contradict this now the World dares laugh at it they dare to take upon them to say This is nothing but Fancy this is nothing but Talk this is nothing but a high flight of Expression or as they call it a Cant a High Cant of Talk a high Enthusiasm a heated Fancy therefore I say there must be a Time that shall out-face all these Taunts that shall out-look them for Scoffers can look against Saints now and they can say as they in Nehemiah said What will these pitifull people do what will these silly feeble folk do to speak of things at this rate Do we not see how their Faith and their Confidence staggers at every turn Are they not in fear And does not their Faith sink low and are they not afraid to Dye and are they not oftentimes under horror and trouble of Conscience How can these things be Now I say notwithstanding this there is a hold of things even now that can never be turn'd off There is a Consibulation as I may so call it a Clasp of things held by God and Jesus Christ now that can never be separated But it must come into a more Triumphant State and it must come to that that it must be visible And therefore as I have often said there is a Thousand years to make it so wherein there shall be a mutual Aspect of God on the Saints and of the Saints on God that shall be made visible to all And the Wicked shall grieve and look on and wonder to see and gnash their Teeth to see what a Union here is struck and Consolidated betwixt God and the Souls of his Saints through Jesus Christ It will be their Horror and Astonishment for ever And therefore Christ speaks in that 17th of John I named to you before that the World may believe Believe as the Devils believe and Tremble they shall be forced to believe saith our Lord that the World may believe that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me latter part of the 21st Verse That the World may know it and that the World may believe it This is that which God will take care to shew he 'll magnifie himself by at that Day Then shall all the Servants of God come out in their Shooes of Brass and Iron as I may so express it and they shall tread down every thing that hath been an Enemy to them they shall tread it down as the Mire of the street they shall come out Armed and trample the Nations in Anger and Fury for it is given to them even as to Christ they shall trample and Rule the Nations with a Rod of Iron This Honour have all his Saints This I speak God knows not for Language sake or for Expression sake but what I am fully assured of and what I have such Evidence of Scripture for that these things shall come into the greatest most open and manifest Appearance that can be And then shall be fulfilled what is written in the 7th of Micah 16th Verse The Nations shall see and be confounded at their might they shall lay their hand upon their mouth their ears shall be deaf They shall lick the dust like a Serpent they shall move out of their holes like Worms of the earth they shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of thee O! how great shall this State of Things be I say how great shall it be And then saith he in the 10th Verse Then she that is mine Enemy shall see it and shame shall cover her which said unto me Where is the Lord thy God You shall see say the Enemies of Saints all this that you talk of what a dark Cloud it will set in When the Servants of God come to be in Affliction and come to Dye Why then sayes the Enemy where is the Lord thy God Where are these Shooes of Iron and Brass where is this Strength according to the Day where is the Lord thy God Mine eyes shall behold her I 'll look upon them I 'll laugh at them I 'll scorn them because I see no such thing But saith the Spirit of God Now shall they be trodden down as the mire of the streets All the Enemies of God shall be trodden down as the mire of the streets And as David in the 18th Psalm expresses with what Courage and Power and mighty Success he went out against his Enemies saith he Then did I beat them small as the dust and thou hast given me the shield of thy Salvation and thy right hand hath holden me up Ver. 35. Thy gentleness hath make me great Thou hast enlarged my steps under me that my feet did not slip My Feet were shod with Iron and Brass that they did not slip As you know Shooes of Iron and Brass they keep steady and firm not slippery I have pursued mine Enemies and overtaken them neither did I turn again till they were consumed I have wounded them that they were not able to rise they are fallen under my feet And so he goes on expressing it that he beat them small as the very Dust before the wind and there was none to save them Ver. 22. And I cast them out as the Dirt in the street And if you say But O! how shall this be to such Sinners as we are How can we look for such a thing as this is Do we not find that we are Men of the same Infirmities of the same Passions of the same Corruptions Therefore Micah goes on Micah 7. 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy He will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the Sea Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our Fathers from the days of old Therefore let us all Encourage our selves that wait upon God for we shall renew our strength let our case be never so dark and gloomy let things be never so hard yet the knor of Union that is fastned betwixt Christ and us and so with God it shall secure us to hold out throughout Eternities of Eternities Let us therefore encourage our selves in regard of every thing in the Lord our God and wait for that great state of things that certainly is very near That that Day as it is often called in the Prophets In that Day and that Day Now that Day as I may so express it to you it is very near Let us therefore now Encourage our selves in the Lord our God c. FINIS
in trampling upon the Power of Sin in the Guilt of it the treading down of the Power of Sin in the Guilt of it that great Matter that Satan has against the Servants of God in regard of the guilt that is upon them the Accusations wherewith he would even give them not only the Foil but the Fall the Ruine and Destruction He thinks to set upon them and to undermine them to overthrow their going as the Expression of David is He thinks to overthrow their going in this great point that they are Sinners and lyable to Wrath and Eternal Condemnation Now to be able to tread upon the Basilisk and the Serpent in this matter to be able to tread upon his Head requires indeed Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace that is indeed with the Satisfaction with the Blood and with the Death and Resurrection and Intercession of our Lord Jesus And who is able to do that to lay fast hold upon the Righteousness of Christ though there be nothing so deadly as to tread among the Scorpions of our own Sins the Cry of which is against us like the Blood of Abel And therefore I say to walk amongst these it is to walk indeed amongst the Gates of Death to be treading upon Death it self that is ready to rise up against us Our footsteps are hunted as the expression of the Psalmist is Hunted by this great Accuser of the Brethren he follows us into our most private Retirements into our Thoughts as far as he can divine at them our Closets our whole Conversation our Company our being at home our being abroad our being in Business our being in Divertisement our being in our Trade our being in the Duties of Holiness and drawing nigh to God are all watch'd by him he hunts our steps through all these and there are Snares laid for us As it was the stratagem of those Times in War that they drove sharp stakes of Iron in the way of those that were coming out against them they had need then be shod with Iron and Brass that they might tread upon those Spikes of Iron Now so are the Accusations of Satan arising from our Guilt and when they are armed with the Justice of God and the Holiness and Purity of his Law O! what shall we do if we are not shod with Iron and Brass If we have not the Assurance of the Love of God in Jesus Christ As the Apostle speaks Rom. 8. saith he We are more than Conquerors through him that loved us For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Here are the things that we are to walk amongst and to tread amongst Now if we have not Shooes of Iron and Brass how shall we be able to walk amongst these But through the Love of God in Jesus Christ we shall be in all these things more than Conquerours O! therefore let us look to this to have the Feet of our Consciences if I may so express it to have them shod with Iron and Brass with that certain defence of the Blood of Jesus And then as Jesus Christ speaks of himself in that Prophecy of Isaiah wherein he represents himself coming out against his Adversaries saith he in Isaiah 63. 3. I have trodeen the Wine press alone and of the people there was none with me I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my Garment and I will stain all my Raiment Something like this every Saint may say Christ will have a Glorious Victory upon all his Enemies whoever and of what kind soever they are Who is he that will condemn me saith he in another place He is near that justifieth me And therefore I have set my face like a flint and I know I shall not be ashamed I shall not be confounded When we have this Armour of Proof this Armour of the Righteousness of Christ on the right Hand and on the left we shall not be discouraged till we have obtained the Victory over all For he is Mighty that is in us and that hath undertaken for us and that hath provided us this great defence against the Guilt of Sin against the Wrath of God against all that the Accuser of our Souls can raise up against us In the Second Place Our Feet shall be shod with Iron and Brass in regard of all the Temptations to Sin and from the World However they may be very great and very sharp what by way of Enticement to Pleasure or what by way of Terror in suffering whatsoever is the Method and the Device and the Stratagem of this great Enemy of our Souls we shall be able having our Feet shod with Iron and Brass to overcome him having a holy Resolution a holy Purpose of Soul yea though we may fall yet we shall rise again He will keep us in all our Ways And this Defence these Shooes these War like Boots as the Scripture sometimes speaks of these shall defend us against all the Power of Temptations We should therefore go out in that strength of the Lord our God we should go out in that Armour of Jesus Christ that Armour of God as the Apostle calls it in the Ephesians and perswades every one that they would take care to be Armed as we say Cap-a-pe from Head to Foot throughout that we should be Armed with the whole Armour of God Ephes 6. 11. That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against spiritual wickedness in high places Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand O! if we did but find that we are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace this Iron and Brass we should be able to tread down all the Temptations that come to draw us off from God and to Sin we should tread them as the Mire of the street we should never leave threshing and pursuing of them Threshing of them as the Scripture expression is Arise and thresh O Daughter of Zion for I will make thy horns Iron and thy hoofs Brass Arise therefore and thresh So we should arise and thresh all the Power of Temptation that comes against us O! how mighty should we be in the strength of God! If we consider that great Love of God in Jesus Christ who can sin against him That great Love of Christ that constrains us If we had the Power of dying to Sin and of living in Newness of Life through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Apostle admirably expresses it