A29687:237
The crown & glory of Christianity, or, Holiness, the only way to happiness discovered…The crovvn & glory of Christianity, or, Holiness, the only way to happiness discovered…
The crown & glory of Christianity, or, Holiness, the only way to happiness discovered in LVIII sermons from Heb. 12. 14, where you have the necessity, excellency, rarity, beauty and glory of holiness set forth, with the resolution of many weighty questions and cases, also motives and means to perfect holiness : with many other things of very high and great importance to all the sons and daughters of men, that had rather be blessed then cursed, saved then damned / by Thomas Brooks ...The crovvn & glory of Christianity, or, Holiness, the only way to happiness discovered in LVIII sermons from Heb. 12. 14, where you have the necessity, excellency, rarity, beauty and glory of holiness set forth, with the resolution of many weighty questions and cases, also motives and means to perfect holiness : with many other things of very high and great importance to all the sons and daughters of men, that had rather be blessed then cursed, saved then damned / by Thomas Brooks ...
London: printed for H. Crips, 1662
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.
The second Use is a Use of Trial and Examination; Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness? must men be holy on earth, or else they shall never come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in Heaven? Oh then, what cause hath every one to try and examine, whether he hath this real holiness without which there is no happiness, or no! Now because this is a point of great importance, and a mistake here may undo a man for ever; and considering the great averseness and backwardness of mens hearts to this ⟨p. 90⟩noble and necessary work, I shall therefore in the first place propose some considerations to provoke all your hearts to fall in good earnest upon this great point of Trial and Examination. Now to this purpose consider,
THe second Use is a Use of Tryal and Examination; Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness? must men be holy on earth, or else they shall never come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in Heaven? Oh then, what cause hath every one to try and examine, whether he hath this real holiness without which there is no happiness, or no! Now because this is a point of great importance, and a mistake here may undo a man for ever; and considering the great aversness and backwardness of mens hearts to this ⟨p. 90⟩noble and necessary work, I shall therefore in the first place propose some considerations to provoke all your hearts to fall in good earnest upon this great point of Tryal and Examination. Now to this purpose consider,
First, it is possible for you to know whether you have this real holiness or not; it is possible for you by the light of the Spirit,1 by the light of the Word, and by the light of your own Consciences, to see whether holiness, which is the image of God, be stamped upon your souls, or no: Though it be impossible for thee to climb up to heaven to search the records of glory, to see whether thy name be written in the book of life; yet it is possible for thee to go down into the Chambers of thine own soul, to enter into the withdrawing rooms of thine own heart, and there to read what impressions of holiness are upon thee; though this work be hard and difficult, yet it is noble and possible; though the heart be deceitful and full of shifts, yet it is possible for a man to make such a curious, such a narrow, such a diligent, such a faithful, and such an impartial search into his own soul, as that he may certainly know whether he hath that real holiness that is the pledge of immortal happiness, or no; it is possible for him that hath this Jewel, this holiness, to know it, to find it, and in the beautiful face of holiness to read his own everlasting happiness. I might call in the experiences of many precious Saints,