A29686:381
A cabinet of choice jewels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…
A cabinet of choice jewels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain discovery of, or, what men are worth for eternity, and how 'tis like to go with them in another world ... / by Thomas Brooks ...A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain discovery of, or, what men are worth for eternity, and how 'tis like to go with them in another world ... / by Thomas Brooks ...
London : Printed and are to be sold by John Hancock ..., 1669
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.
5. If thou avoidest the occasions of sin; 6. If thou doest thy endeavours against sin; 7. If thou prayest to God to give thee grace, all these holy affections proceeding from none other than from the Spirit of God,1 ought to be as so many pledges and testimonies that he is in thee. It is as impossible for us naturally to do the least good, or to desire the least grace, as 'tis for a Toad to spit Cordials. Sincere desires after God, and Christ, and Grace, is sometimes the all that the people of God find in themselves. This was all that Nehemiah could say of himself, and the rest of his brethren, Neh. 1.11. That they did desire to fear God's name. And so the Church, Isa. 26.8. The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thy holiness. And vers. 9. With my soul have I desired thee in the night. So the Spouse, Cant. 3.1, 2, 3. So David, Psal. 27.4. Psal. 42.1, 2. Psal. 63.1. They ⟨p. 173⟩must needs be sure of grace that have an unfeigned desire of it. This is a Maxim that we must live and die with, viz. That no man can truly desire grace, but he that hath already grace; certainly he that desireth grace, hath grace to desire it. It is an infallible sign, that that man hath already some measure of grace that doth seriously desire to have it; he would never seriously desire to fear God, who stands not in some awe of him already; nor he would never seriously desire to love God, who has not in him some love to God already; nor he would never seriously desire to believe, who has not in him some faith already; nor he would never seriously desire to repent, that hath not repented already; nor he would never seriously desire sanctifying grace, whose heart in some measure is not already sanctified by the spirit of grace. It is the very essence of righteousness, saith one of the Ancients, for a man to be willing to be righteous.