A27016:292
A saint or a brute the certain necessity and excellency of holiness, &c. ...…
A saint or a brute the certain necessity and excellency of holiness, &c. ... / by Richard Baxter.
London: printed by R.W. for Francis Tyton, 1662
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Quest. 3. Dost thou not confess that we are all sinners? And that the best is still too bad? And that he that loveth and serveth God most, doth yet come exceeding short of his duty? And yet wouldst thou have such men come shorter? and darest thou persuade them to do less? Must not the best confess their daily failings, and beg pardon of them from the Lord, and be beholden to the blood of Christ, and lament their imperfections? And yet wouldst thou have them be such odious hypocrites, as to think they serve God too much already, while they confess that they come so short? Shall they confess their failings, and reproach those that endeavour to avoid the like? Shall the same tongue say, [Lord be merciful to me a sinner] and [Lord, I am good enough already: What need there so much ado to please and serve thee any better?] What would you think of such a man?
Quest. 3. Dost thou not confess that we are all sinners? And that the best is still too bad? And that he that loveth and serveth God most, doth yet come exceeding short of his duty? And yet wouldst thou have such men come shorter? and darest thou perswade them to do less? Must not the best confess their daily failings, and beg pardon of them from the Lord, and be beholden to the blood of Christ, and lament their imperfections? And yet wouldst thou have them be such odious hypocrites, as to think they serve God too much already, while they confess that they come so short? Shall they confess their failings, and reproach those that endeavour to avoid the like? Shall the same tongue say, [Lord be merciful to me a sinner] and [Lord, I am good enough already: What need there so much ado to please and serve thee any better?] What would you think of such a man?
Quest. 4. Is it not an unquestionable duty to grow in grace? and to press towards perfection as men that have not yet attained it? 2 Pet. 3. 18. Phil. 3. 12, 13, 14. And must Paul, and Peter, and the holyest on earth, still seek to grow and labour to be more holy? and shall such a one as thou say, What need I be any more holy? that art utterly unsanctified.