Sometimes in Scripture the promise is made to faith, sometimes to repentance, sometimes to love. Love is so required, that without it, a man is worthy to be accursed; yea, and shall be cursed. I will but open and apply this; not standing to prove it. And First, I will show what love is in general: Secondly, what this love of the Lord Jesus is; to show which there will be shown how it is wrought: And thirdly, how they come to be worthy to be accursed, that love him not. And first for the first. Love is among the affections, which are planted in the Will; and it may be described thus, It is a disposition of the Will and Heart 1of man, whereby it turns and inclines to some good, which it apprehends to be agreeable to its own nature. The Will is carried to nothing, but that which is apprehended to be good. Now this love is a principal act of the Will: and it must be an agreeable good to him, whose Will inclines unto it; for an envious man may confess the excellencies of another man, but he hates them; he suffers by them; they seem not to be an agreeable good to him. And this may be illustrated by the contrary. Hate is that whereby a man turns from a thing which he apprehends contrary to himself. This Love shows it self 2in two effects: first, it desires the preservation of what it loves, that it may be kept safe: secondly, it desires Union with it, that they may draw nearer one to another. That you love, which ⟨p. 4⟩you desire may be yours, with which you desire conjunction: Now sometimes a thing may be nearer, sometimes too far off; therefore it desires such a nearness as may stand with its convenience. And this is common to all love; if you love a Glass, you will take care that it be kept clean, and whole, and for your use: so, if you love a Horse, you will take care that he be well, and in good case, and that he be yours. The same we see in the love of a Father to his Son, of one friend to another. This is the nature of Love. Now Hate contrariwise, desires the destruction of that which is hated, that it may be taken out of the world; and if that cannot be, it desires separation from it, as far as may be. And thus you have seen the nature of Love in general. Now there are divers kinds of Love: There is a Love 3of Pity, when you desire the preservation of a mans person, and the removing of some ill quality;
Sometimes in Scripture the promise is made to faith, sometimes to repentance, sometimes to love. Love is so required, that without it, a man is worthy to be accursed; yea, and shall be cursed. I will but open and apply this; not standing to prove it. And First, I will shew what love is in generall: Secondly, what this love of the Lord Iesus is; to shew which there will bee showne how it is wrought: And thirdly, how they come to bee worthy to be accursed, that love him not. And first for the first. Love is among the affections, which are planted in the Will; and it may be described thus, It is a disposition of the Will and Heart 1of man, whereby it turnes and inclines to some good, which it apprehends to bee agreeable to its owne nature. The Will is carried to nothing, but that which is apprehended to bee good. Now this love is a principall act of the Will: and it must bee an agreeable good to him, whose Will inclines unto it; for an envyous man may confesse the excellencies of another man, but hee hates them; he suffers by them; they seeme not to be an agreeable good to him. And this may bee illustrated by the contrary. Hate is that whereby a man turnes from a thing which he apprehends contrary to himselfe. This Love shews it selfe 2in two effects: first, it desires the preservation of what it loves, that it may be kept safe: secondly, it desires Vnion with it, that they may draw neerer one to another. That you love, which ⟨p. 4⟩you desire may bee yours, with which you desire conjunction: Now sometimes a thing may bee neerer, sometimes too far off; therefore it desires such a neerenesse as may stand with its convenience. And this is common to all love; if you love a Glasse, you will take care that it bee kept cleane, and whole, and for your use: so, if you love a Horse, you will take care that he bee well, and in good case, and that he be yours. The same we see in the love of a Father to his Sonne, of one friend to another. This is the nature of Love. Now Hate contrariwise, desires the destruction of that which is hated, that it may bee taken out of the world; and if that cannot bee, it desires separation from it, as far as may bee. And thus you have seene the nature of Love in generall. Now there are divers kindes of Love: There is a Love 3of Pitty, whē you desire the preservation of a mans person, and the removing of some ill quality;
- 1What love is in general.What love is in generall.
- 2How love shows it self.How love shews it selfe.
- 3The kinds of Love.The kindes of Love.
