A26888:493
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls…
The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadducees and infidels, by Richard Baxter.The certainty of the worlds of spirits and, consequently, of the immortality of souls of the malice and misery of the devils and the damned : and of the blessedness of the justified, fully evinced by the unquestionable histories of apparitions, operations, witchcrafts, voices &c. / written, as an addition to many other treatises for the conviction of Sadduces and infidels, by Richard Baxter.
London: printed for T. Parkhurst, 1691
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.
And Oh that I could get my own, and all Readers Hearts sufficiently affected with this Observation! That as all our Life is carried on in a Warfare, and Satan's Malice is both against Christ and us; so his great Work is, to draw us into some Sins which shall cloud the Glory both of the Grace and the Miracles of Christ, and damp the Comfort which we might have received by all his Mercies.
If he see an honest Christian zealously affected, dra• him by Temptation of the Flesh into some Scandal, or by Ignorance into some false Opinions, and that Glory of all his Zeal is presently turned into Reproach. If he do but fail out with some of his Neighbours, and by Passion, or for Worldly Interest, offend them, all his Piety goeth not only for Hypocrisy, but for a ⟨p. 242⟩Reproach to Piety it self. Yea, if they fall but into Melancholy, and Impatience, and Discontent, the Devil sets them to affright Men from Religion, as we set up Mawkins in our Corn and Orchards, to affright the Birds.
If he see an honest Christian zealously affected, dra• him by Temptation of the Flesh into some Scandal, or by Ignorance into some false Opinions, and that Glory of all his Zeal is presently turned into Reproach. If he do but fail out with some of his Neighbours, and by Passion, or for Worldly Interest, offend them, all his Piety goeth not only for Hypocrisie, but for a ⟨p. 242⟩Reproach to Piety it self. Yea, if they fall but into Melancholy, and Impatience, and Discontent, the Devil sets them to affright Men from Religion, as we set up Mawkins in our Corn and Orchards, to affright the Birds.