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He that be

Jesus is God's Son, hath God in him.

confesseth that Jesus is the Son of God, in him dwelleth God, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.

First, the apostles taught no fables, but that they saw and received of God by the witness of his Spirit. Seconlieveth that darily, John ascendeth up step higher, from love to faith, and saith, he that believeth that Jesus is God's Son, hath God in him. And I doubt not but the pope and his defenders will answer John and say, then the devil hath God in him, and is also in God. For other faith than such as the devil hath, felt they never any. But John preventeth them, We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. That is, we believe not only with story faith, as men believe old chronicles, but we believe the love and mercy that God shewed us, and put our trust and confidence therein; (and so taketh Scripture belief) we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, made man and slain for our sins, which is a token of great love. And that love believe we and trust thereto. Where Paul saith, (1 Cor. xii.) No man can call Jesus Lord except the Holy Ghost had taught him. But through the Holy Ghost he meaneth, not with the mouth only, but in the heart, with unfeigned faith, putting his hope and trust in the Lordship which he hath over sin, damnation, hell, and death. For so could no man call Jesus Lord, except the Holy Ghost had taught him, as Christ saith, (Matt. xvi.) flesh and blood showed thee not that.

Faith tak-7 eth hold of Christ's death and deserving.

But yet how shall I see my faith? I must come down to love again, and thence to the works of love, ere I can see my faith. Not always, but sometimes thou shalt feel thy faith without the outward deed, as in great adversity and persecution when the devil assaulteth thee with desperation, and layeth thy sins before thee, and would bear thee in hand that God had cast thee away and left thee succourless, for thy sins' sake. Then cometh faith forth. with her shield, and turneth back again the darts of the

devil, and answereth: Nay, for Jesus is the Son of God: yea, and my very God and my very lord, and hath taken away my sins and all damnation. And this trouble and adversity which is come upon me, by setting of thee and one of thy limbs, is only to make me feel the mercy of my Father and his power and help within in my soul, and to slay the rest of the poison which remaineth in the flesh.

God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him.

This have we heard above, and it is easy to be understood.

Herefore is love perfect with us, that we should have confidence in the day of judgment.

Howsoever this text sound, this me thinketh should be the meaning that we should provoke each other to love, and ever have those examples of edifying before our eyes that should most move us to love. For perfect love serveth to make a man bold, because it is the keeping of the commandments. And therefore he that is perfect in love, when he seeth himself yet in this world, to be unto his neighbour as God is unto him, and to be like his heavenly Father in all example of kindness, is bold in the of God: yea, though he come to judge sinners. When on the other side, they that continue ever in their wickedness and grow not in love, fall often. And therefore their conscience ever accuseth them and putteth them in fear, by the reason of the fresh memory of the offence, that they cannot at once be bold, though they have never so great promises of mercy.

presence

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: for fear hath painfulness. He therefore that feareth, is not perfect in love.

Love maketh the Christian

faithful and

man to be

bold.

Love.

Fear.

If we love our brethren then are we careful for them.

The more we love God, the more diligent we are to do his will.

Love is not painful, but maketh all things easy and pleasant: fear of punishment for the trespass newly committed is painful: Therefore where love is perfect there is no such fear. Love is the fulfilling of all commandments. And therefore where love is perfect, there is no sin. And where conscience doth not accuse of sin, there is faith bold to go in to God and to stand before him, and look him in the face, and to conjure him by all his mercies, and to ask the petitions of his desire. Lack of love is the breaking of the commandments and cause of sin. And where the conscience accuseth of sin, their faith is abashed, dismayed, ashamed and afraid to go in, for fear of rebuke. Love therefore serveth to make a man bold in the day of judgment, and in all temptations.

John speaketh not generally of all manner [of] fear, but of that only which the conscience of sin putteth a man in. For divers fears there be that accompany love and grow as she doth. The more a woman loveth her child, the more she careth for it, and feareth lest ought should chance it amiss. Even so the more we love our brethren, the more we care for them, and fear lest any temptation should trouble them. As Paul saith, (2 Cor. xi.) Who is sick and I am not sick? who is offended or hurt and mine heart burneth not? How cared he for Timothy, for Titus, and for all that were weak, and for the Corinthians, Galatians, and for all congregations! and how diligently wrote he to them in his absence! And the more we love God, the more diligent and circumspect are we, that we offend him not. And tell me, I pray thee, whosoever hast had experience, what a pain and grief, yea, and what a fretting corosy is it unto the heart of a true lover of God, to hear the poison generation of vipers, the pestilent sect of hypocritish pharisees, wittingly and willingly to blaspheme and rail on the open and manifest truth of the Holy Ghost!

If ye will see how bold love is, go to Moses. (Exod. xxxii. and Numb. xiv.) And there behold how he conjureth

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God and among all saith: Forgive this people, or put me
out of the book that thou hast written. As who should
say, they be thy people and thou commandest me to love
them. And for thy sake I love them and teach them and
care for them, as a mother that had borne them and love
them no less than myself. Wherefore if thou love me as
thou promisest me, then save them with me; or if not,
then cast me away with them, and let me have such part
as they take. And Paul said as much, Rom. ix. Look
upon worldly love, and see what pageants she playeth now
and then, and how drunken a thing it is: and be sure,
where the love of God is perfect, she will not only go be-
tween bodily death and her lover, but also between him
and hell. If a man would take of this, that a man might
be so perfect in this life, that he might not be perfecter,
it would not follow. For though the spirit at a time
get the upper hand of the flesh, and winneth herself to
God, that she cannot tell whether she be in the body or
no; yet the flesh will pull her down again and not let her
continue, and now and then pluck off some of her feathers,
for mounting so high again. For Moses fell through un-

belief well enough after that ferventness.

We love him, because he loved us first.

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We deserve not the love of God first, but he deserveth.
our love, and loveth us first, to win us and to make us his
friends of his enemies. And as soon as we believe his
love, we love again. And so faith is mother of all love. Faith is
And as great as my faith is, so great is love, though
faith cannot be perfectly seen, but through the works
of love and in the fire of temptation.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a
liar. For how can he that loveth not his brother whom
he seeth, love God whom he seeth not? And this
commandment have we of him, That he which loveth
God, love his brother also.

the mother of love.

A sure rule.

If we love God, we must do his

commandments, and his commandment is to love our neighbours.

:

To love a man's neighbour in God, is a sure rule to know that we love God and not to love him, is a sure token that we love not God: and to hate our neighbour is to hate God. For to love God is to do his commandments, as Christ saith, (John xv.) Ye are my lovers if ye do those things which I have commanded you: and the commandment is, to love our neighbours: then he that loveth not his neighbour, loveth not God. And likewise to hate the commandment, is to hate God that commanded it: and the commandment is to love our neighbours: he then that hateth his brother whom God biddeth him love, hateth God.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER.

Faith maketh us God's sons.

What it is to believe that Jesus is Christ.

ALL that believe that Jesus is Christ, are born of God. And all that love him which begat love him that is begotten of him. In this we know that we love the sons of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.

This is a sure conclusion that we be born of God through faith. And that faith maketh us God's sons, in that we believe that Jesus is Christ: as the first chapter of John also testifieth, he gave them power to be the sons of God, in that they believed in his name.

What it is to believe that Jesus is Christ, may be understood by that which is above rehearsed. It is a far other thing than as the devil believed it, against his will and to his great pain or as they believe it which to fulfil their sin, envy the glory of Christ, and persecute his gospel,

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