A09977:335
Life eternalLife eternall
Life eternal or, A treatise of the knowledge of the divine essence and attributes Delivered in XVIII. sermons. By the late faithful and worthy minister of Jesus Christ, John Preston, D. in Divinity, chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty, master of Emmanuel College in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolns Inn.Life eternall or, A treatise of the knowledge of the divine essence and attributes Delivered in XVIII. sermons. By the late faithfull and worthy minister of Iesus Christ, Iohn Preston, D. in Divinity, chaplaine in ordinary to his Majestie, master of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes preacher of Lincolns Inne.
London: printed by Richard, 1631
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.
Answ. No, you shall know it by these four things, if you think aright of God indeed:
Answ. No, you shall know it by these foure things, if you thinke aright of God indeed:
Thou wilt esteem his enmity and friendship above all things;1 thou wilt not regard the creatures at all; either in the good, or hurt that they can do thee: if thou canst see the fullness of being that is in him, and the emptiness that is in every creature; then, if he be thy friend, he is all in all to thee; and if he be thine enemy, thou wilt consider that he that is full of all strength, and ⟨p. 130⟩power, and being, that he is thine enemy, and that his enmity is heavy, for he which is, is against thee. If the creature be set against thee, it is but as a little clay or dust, they cannot hurt thee, unless his arm go along with it; and then it is not that creature, but his arm that doth it: As when they came to take Christ, it is said, he passed through the midst of them; they were to him as a little dust, and as the army that came against David, Joshua, and Elisha, they were to them as a little water; but when God comes against a man, then every little thing, if he pleaseth to extend and join his power, he is able therewith to quell the strongest man. Then, one man shall chase a thousand, and a thousand shall put ten thousand to flight, Deut. 28.2 He is as a mighty river, that carries all before it, Nahum 1.3 Therefore regard the enmity of the creature, as small things, his enmity is only to be respected.