Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	sir_n	thomas_n	william_n	3,993	5	9.5465	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A19287	The conuerts first loue discerned iustified, left and recouered. Resoluing the truth of an effectuall conuersion. And informing the right way to perseverance and perfection. By Thomas Cooper.	Cooper, Thomas, fl. 1626.	1610 (1610)	STC 5697.5; ESTC S116341	35,249	52

THE CONVERTS FIRST LOVE Discerned Iustified Left and Recouered Resoluing THE TRVTH OF AN EFFECTVALL CONVERSION AND Informing THE RIGHT WAY TO PERSEVERANCE and PERFECTION By THOMAS COOPER 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by F. KINGSTON for WILLIAM WELEY and are to bee sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the white Swanne 1610. TO THE RIGHT VVORshipfull and religious Sir Iames Harington Sir William Dier Sir William Fairut Sir Edward Harington Sir Thomas Fulgeam Knights and their vertuous Ladies grace mercie and peace from God the Father through IESVS CHRIST the sonne of the Father in truth and loue RIght Worshipfull and dearely beloued in the Lord whom I loue also in the truth and not I onely but they that haue knowen the truth for the truths sake which dwelleth in vs which is professed and maintained of you and shall abide with and preserue vs for euer Blessed be God euen the father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath reuealed his sonne vnto you and hath giuen you a large heart towards his Saints that your delight is the Law of the Lord and your affections are to the excellent that are on earth to consider wisely of the cause of the afflicted and to minister comfort to the distressed soule And blessed be the name of his Maiestie for euer who hath respected the base estate of his seruant and made mee a witnesse both of your loue vnto his word and his afflicted members In consideration whereof as I can doe no more then testifie my thankfulnesse vnto our gracious God for his mercies bestowed on mee not only in deliuering mee from a most desperate sicknesse but in casting mee graciously on such feeling members who ministred so abundantly towards my recouerie so I must doe no lesse then to doe my vtmost indeuour that the memoriall of the iust may liue for euer and their righteousnesse may be had in euerlasting remembrance to their more comfortable assurance that their reward is with God when all will-worship and presumption of merit shall be confounded and to the prouocation of the Saints in these daies wherein charity is growen cold that they bee not weary of well-doing as being assured that in due time they shall reape if they faint not And the rather doe I finde my selfe obliged at this time to this Christian dutie because the Lord hauing inabled mee in my great weaknesse to bestow a spirituall gift vpon the most of your worships being graciously by Gods holy hand brought together to such good ends it pleased his good Maiestie so to affect your hearts with that heauenly treasure as not only to hearken with all reuerence and attention vnto the wholesome word of life but for the further establishing of your iudgements and triall of your hearts thereby that it might appeare your holy purpose was to cleaue vnto the Lord in the obedience of his word our gracious God in the riches of his mercie inclin'd some of your hearts I doubt not for the behoofe of all to desire a briefe of what had beene publikely taught thereby to trie the spirits with the men of Berea and so to hold the truth in constancie of well-doing And could I doe better then according to my poore strength and memorie then to leaue such generall and short notes with you which might in some sort testifie my desire to build you forward in Christ Iesus howsoeuer they could not satisfie your desires for the full resoluing of your consciences in so principall and profitable a point as is the triall and recouerie of our first loue And ought I not then to indeuour the further kindling of such smoaking flax such holy and gracious desires May I not iustly take occasion in paying a debt vnto you to make the Church of God become my debtor for this paines now published for the generall good and so ingage my selfe in a further and more generall debt both of praier that the Lord would giue a blessing to these poore labours and of further paines as God shall minister health occasion and libertie And shall not the Saints also become debtors vnto you by whose holy desires it is that they now also haue this glasse to discerne aright their estate in grace to recouer their decaies and grow to perfection And is not the Lord indebted vnto vs all to crowne his owne graces and recompence the faithfull imploiment of his talents And hath not our glorious God thus brought light out of darknesse Will he not perfect his power in weaknesse and wisdome in humane infirmitie Shall not the dead men liue Shall not they awake and sing which haue sate in the dust yea in the shadow of death yea haue beene euen swallowed vp of the nethermost hell Shall not the brand be pluckt out of the fire and the prey out of the teeth That the glory may be vnto our God and not vnto men Behold saith Iacob I had not thought to haue seene thy face and yet the Lord hath let mee liue to see thy seed This is the Lords doing and it is maruellous in our eies Accept therefore right worshipfull some fruit of your desires and euidence of Gods power in this weaknesse of his seruant which the more it appeares let our God the more haue the only glory both of your desires and my indeuours in blessing both with conscionable practise in this life and crowning also both with competent perfection and glory in the life to come This is the fruit of our labours and for this is and shall bee the scope and summe of my praiers vnto our God for you that according to his promise he would make you perfect in euery good worke to doe his will on earth that his will may be done on you for euer in heauen to raigne with Iesus Christ in that glory which neuer fadeth And so I humbly take my leaue From my poore house at COVENTRY this 10. of April 1610. Your Worships most bounden for euer in Iesus Christ THOMAS COOPER TO THE CHRISTIAN READER WISDOME TO DISCERNE HIS Estate aright and grace to grow forward to perfection BEloued in the Lord Iesus it is a most dangerous and yet very easie and plausible delusion to conceit vnto our selues an estate in grace when as yet wee remaine the bond-slaues of Satan And it is a very difficult and yet most necessarie triall to discerne our constant abiding and proceeding in this estate of grace For to passe by those who make a mocke of conuersion as being a touch of noueltie a brand of inconstancie and imputation of hypocrisie who is there almost that flatters not himselfe to be in the fauour of God and so interessed in his grace And hath he not many such pretences and colours heereunto which may so abuse his iudgement that hee may thinke himselfe to be somewhat when he is nothing and so refusing to be found in Christ by being lost and emptied in himselfe thereby become worse then