A26871:188
Cain and Abel malignity that is, enmity to serious godliness, that is, to an…
Cain and Abel malignity that is, enmity to serious godliness, that is, to an holy and heavenly state of heart and life : lamented, described, detected, and unanswerably [sic] proved to be the devilish nature, and the militia of the devil against God and Christ and the church and kingdoms, and the surest sign of a state of damnation / by Richard Baxter, or, Gildas Salvianus ...Cain and Abel malignity that is, enmity to serious godliness, that is, to an holy and heavenly state of heart and life : lamented, described, detected, and unananswerably [sic] proved to be the devilish nature, and the militia of the devil against God and Christ and the church and kingdoms, and the surest sign of a state of damnation / by Richard Baxter, or, Gildas Salvianus ...
London: printed for Tho. Parkhurst, 1689
Chapter 3: Undeniable Reasons against Malignant Enmity to serious Godliness.
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.
34. You would extirpate the principle of self-love, which God hath made inseparable from us. There is somewhat in our nature which we cannot lay by, which makes us unwilling to be damned. If you that believe ⟨p. 90⟩no Hell, dare venture into it, we cannot do so, who do believe it. If you say, that it is our folly to believe that none shall be saved without Holiness, and mortifying the deeds of the body by the Spirit, bear with that folly which doth you no harm: It is not Men or Devils that we had it from, but the Holy Ghost in Scripture. If it be your wisdom to give God the lie, and believe a Drunken sot, or the Devil, before him, it shall be none of ours: Speed as you choose, and let us speed as we choose: we shall meet your Souls shortly in another mind and tune. Strive not to make us choose damnation now our Eyes are open: We were once too easily befooled: but cannot now so hate our selves.
34. You would extirpate the principle of self-love, which God hath made inseparable from us. There is somewhat in our nature which we cannot lay by, which makes us unwilling to be damned. If you that believe ⟨p. 90⟩no Hell, dare venture into it, we cannot do so, who do believe it. If you say, that it is our folly to believe that none shall be saved without Holiness, and mortifying the deeds of the body by the Spirit, bear with that folly which doth you no harm: It is not Men or Devils that we had it from, but the Holy Ghost in Scripture. If it be your wisdom to give God the lie, and believe a Drunken sot, or the Devil, before him, it shall be none of ours: Speed as you choose, and let us speed as we choose: we shall meet your Souls shortly in another mind and tune. Strive not to make us choose damnation now our Eyes are open: We were once too easily befool'd: but cannot now so hate our selves.
35. Moreover, he that would not have a man live a life of holy obedience to God, would have him lay by that which he was made for, and that which God continueth his life for, and that which he hath his reason and all his daily mercies for. What else have we to do in the World? Have men going to the Grave and Eternity, nothing to do but Eat and Drink, and Laugh, and Play, and run up and down like Ants with sticks and straws, and then die, and call all vanity and vexation too late? If we may not spend our time in making sure of a better World, we had rather we had never been born, or had died in infancy, or that we had a dose