A12166:409
Beams of divine light breaking forth from several places of holy Scripture, as they…Beames of divine light breaking forth from severall places of holy Scripture, as they…
Beams of divine light breaking forth from several places of holy Scripture, as they were learnedly opened, in XXI. sermons. The III. first being the fore-going sermons to that treatise called The bruised-reed, preached on the precedent words. By the late reverend and judicious divine, Richard Sibs, D.D. Mr. of Katharine Hall in Camb: and sometimes preacher at Gray's Inn. Published according to the Doctor his own appointment subscribed with his hand; to prevent imperfect copies.Beames of divine light breaking forth from severall places of holy Scripture, as they were learnedly opened, in XXI. sermons. The III. first being the fore-going sermons to that treatise called The bruised-reed, preached on the precedent words. By the late reverend and iudicious divine, Richard Sibs, D.D. Mr. of Katharine Hall in Camb: and sometimes preacher at Grayes Inne. Published according to the Doctor his owne appointment subscribed with his hand; to prevent imperfect coppies.
London: printed by George for N. Bourne, 1639
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.
I answer, we may easily know it: For first of all, if we have relished Christ and the good things by him, we disrelish all other things, we begin to have a baser esteem of all earthly things. It is with the soul as it is with a Balance, when Christ is high in the soul, other things are low, and when other things are high, Christ is low in the soul: Christ was high in ⟨p. 189⟩Pauls soul, therefore he esteemed all as dung in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ. The poor Woman of Samaria when she had heard Christ, and tasted the sweetness that was in him, down goes her water-pot, and she runs to the City and tells them, I have seen a man that hath told me all things, is not this the Messiah? Zaccheus, when he had tasted of grace, and had the pardon of his sins by Christ, half my goods I give to the poor, &c. when grace is planted in the soul, when the soul hath tasted once of better things, there will be a mean and base esteem of earthly things: the more the soul feeds on heavenly things, the less respect it hath to temporal things. The soul is a finite Essence, and it cannot spend it self on all things, the more it runs into severals, the more shallow it is to others; as in a stream, when it is cut into many channels it runs weakly in the several, whereas it runs strongly in the main; so it is with the soul, when it is scattered, as the poor Israelites were about the land of Egypt to gather straw, to gather these perishing earthly things, it is weak to heavenly things, it hath little strength to those, but when the course of it is wholly bent to those, there are but weak or no desires running to these earthly things, when once the soul of a Christian hath had a true taste and relish of the things of Heaven, it looks with a despising eye upon whatsoever is here below; when once it hath tasted of Christ, then especially ⟨p. 190⟩it grows out of relish with poison, then away with Popery, away with false doctrine, away with hypocrisy, and formality in religion.
I answer, we may easily know it: For first of all, if wee have relished Christ and the good things by him, we disrelish all other things, we begin to have a baser esteeme of all earthly things. It is with the soule as it is with a Ballance, when Christ is high in the soule, other things are low, and when other things are high, Christ is low in the soule: Christ was high in ⟨p. 189⟩