A27016:874
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.
I do but briefly name these Instances of Delightful Knowledge, which are sweeter to the holy soul then all the Pleasures of sin to the ungodly. Do you think that any of you hath such solid Pleasure in your sins, as David had in the Law of God, when he meditated in it with such delight, and saith, How sweet is it to my mouth? even sweeter then the honey and the honey-comb. Surely you dare not compare with him in Pleasures.
I do but briefly name these Instances of Delightful Knowledge, which are sweeter to the holy soul then all the Pleasures of sin to the ungodly. Do you think that any of you hath such solid Pleasure in your sins, as David had in the Law of God, when he meditated in it with such delight, and saith, How sweet is it to my mouth? even sweeter then the honey and the hony-comb. Surely you dare not compare with him in Pleasures.
2. Another part of Holiness that is Pleasant in the Nature of it, is that which is subjected in the heart or affections. And here is the chiefest of its sweetness and delights.
1. The very compliance of the Will with the Will of God, and its Conformity to his Law, doth carry a quieting Pleasure in it. That soul is happyest that is nearest God, and likest to him; and that soul may well be fullest of Delight, that is most Happy: And that soul is nearest and likest unto God, whose Will is most conformed to his Will: The trouble of the Heart is its unsettledness, when it is not bottomed on the Will of God: When we feel that Gods Will doth Rule and satisfy us, and that we would fain be what he would have us be, and rest in his Disposing Will, as well as obey his Commanding Will, this gives abundant Pleasure and quietness to the soul.
1. The very compliance of the Will with the Will of God, and its Conformity to his Law, doth carry a quieting Pleasure in it. That soul is happyest that is nearest God, and likest to him; and that soul may well be fullest of Delight, that is most Happy: And that soul is nearest and likest unto God, whose Will is most conformed to his Will: The trouble of the Heart is its unsettledness, when it is not bottomed on the Will of God: When we feel that Gods Will doth Rule and satisfie us, and that we would fain be what he would have us be, and rest in his Disposing Will, as well as obey his Commanding Will, this gives abundant Pleasure and quietness to the soul.