A27016:876
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.
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.
2. The holy workings of Charity in the soul, are exceeding Pleasant. All the acts of Love to God and man are very sweet. This is the holy work, that is its own wages.
1. The •••• of God is so sweet an exercise, that verily my soul ⟨p. 278⟩had rather be employed in it with sense and vigour, then to be Lord of all the earth. O could I but be taken up with the Love of God, how easily could I spare the Pleasure of the flesh? Might I but see the Loveliness of my dear Creator, with a clearer view; and see his glory in his noble works; Might I but see and feel that saving Love which he hath manifested in the Redeemer, till my soul were ravished and filled with his Love, how little should I care who had the Pleasures of this deceitful world! Had I more of that blessed spirit of Adoption, and more of those filial affections to my heavenly Father, which his unutterable Love bespeaks; and were I more sensible of his abundant mercy, and did my soul but breath and long after him more earnestly, I would pity the miserable Tyrants of the world, that are worse then Beggars while they domineer, and taste not of that Kingdom of Love and Pleasure that dwelleth in my breast. All the Pleasures of the world, are the laughing of a mad man, or the sports of a child, or the dreams of a sick man, in comparison of the Pleasures of the Love of God.