A29368:303
The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference…
The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference to 1. their services and suffering, 2. their consolations, and 3. their salvation and eternal glory : together with the excellency of the fear of God, the goodness and pleasantness of brotherly love, the wisdom of hearing the voice of the rod, repentance the only way to prevent judgements / delivered in several sermons by the late reverend and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. William Bridge ...The freeness of the grace and love of God to believers discovered in reference to 1. their services and suffering, 2. their consolations, and 3. their salvation and eternal glory : together with the excellency of the fear of God, the goodness and pleasantness of brotherly love, the wisdom of hearing the voice of the rod, repentance the only way to prevent judgements / delivered in several sermons by the late reverend and faithful minister of Christ, Mr. William Bridg ...
London: printed for Nath. Crouch, 1671
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, Yet give me leave to mind you ⟨p. 113⟩of what the Apostle saith, 1 Thess. 4.9. But as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you; for you your selves are taught of God to love one another, and indeed ye do it towards all the brethren which are in all Macedonia; but we beseech you brethren that you increase more and more. Though you do it, yet we beseech you to increase it more and more, and so I say to you: yea and Christ hath commanded it also, and you must do it in obedience to his command.
Secondly, If our love be right as it should be, then we shall love others also, even our neighbours and friends and brethren; we shall love them as our selves. The second Commandment saith our Saviour, is like unto it, that you love your neighbour as your self. Pray for your selves, do all the good you can for your selves, avoid all iniquity that may come upon your selves, and to prove your love to be right, do all this for your neighbours also, and love them as your selves.
Thirdly, If our love be as it should be, we shall then love others, because they are godly, let them be of this opinion, or of the other opinion, yet that matters not; though they be not of my opinion, yet if my love be right, I love them because they are godly, ⟨p. 114⟩and I love him most that is most godly; and as his increaseth godliness, so must my love increase toward him.