A26896:148
The Christians converse with God, or, The insufficiency and uncertainty of human friendship and…
The Christians converse with God, or, The insufficiency and uncertainty of human friendship and the improvement of solitude in converse with God with some of the author's breathings after him / by Richard Baxter ...
London: printed for John Salusbury, 1693
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.
3. In case he hath committed a sin so heinous and of indelible scandal and reproach, as that it is not fit for the Servants of Christ any more to receive him into their local Communion, though he repent: (For as to Local Communion, I think, such a case may be.)
4. In case a man through custom and ill company be so captivated to some fleshly Lust, as that he is not able to bear the temptations that are found in humane converse; but falleth by them into frequent heinous sinning: In this case the right hand or eye is rather to be parted with, than their Salvation. And though a mere restraint by distance of temptations and opportunities of sinning, will not prove a man sanctified, nor save the soul that loveth the sin and fain would live in it; Yet, 1. Grace may sometime appear in the strength and self denial which is exercised in the very avoiding of temptations, when yet perhaps the person hath not strength enough to have stood against the temptation if it had not been avoided. And 2. The distance of temptations, & opportunity of serious and frequent consideration, may be a mean• to help to sincerity that want it.
4. In case a man through custom and ill company be so captivated to some fleshly Lust, as that he is not able to bear the temptations that are found in humane converse; but falleth by them into frequent heinous sinning: In this case the right hand or eye is rather to be parted with, than their Salvation. And though a meer restraint by distance of temptations and opportunities of sinning, will not prove a man sanctified, nor save the soul that loveth the sin and fain would live in it; Yet, 1. Grace may sometime appear in the strength and self denyal which is exercised in the very avoiding of temptations, when yet perhaps the person hath not strength enough to have stood against the temptation if it had not been avoided. And 2. The distance of temptations, & opportunity of serious and frequent consideration, may be a mean• to help to sincerity that want it.