A29687:365
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.
Thirdly, Consider this, that real holiness is the honour §3and the glory of the creature, and therefore the Apostle links holiness and honour together. 1 Thes. 4.3, 4.1 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour. The vessel is mans body (which is the great utensil or instrument of the soul, and contains it as in a vessel) now the sanctity and chastity of this vessel, is the honour of a Christian; even bodily purity is a Christians glory; he that keeps his vessel in holiness, keeps it in honour:2 Holiness is the greatest dignity that mortal man is capable of; it is mans highest promotion, it is his highest exaltation; holiness is the true gentility, and the true nobility of the soul. Deut. 26. ult. And to make thee high above all Nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour, and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God. There is nothing that lifts a people so high, and that makes them so truly famous and glorious, as holiness doth: Holiness is the praise, the renown, the crown, and glory of a people: Holiness is the diadem, the beauty, and the excellency of a people: Holiness is the strength, the honour, and the riches of a people: Holiness is the image of God, the character of Christ; it is a beam of the divine nature, a spark of glory, it is the life of your lives, and the soul of your souls; it is only holiness that makes men to excel in honour all other people in the world. Look as Gods holiness is his glory,3 and the Angels holiness is their glory, and the Churches holiness is their glory; so the holiness of any particular person, is the glory ⟨p. 184⟩of that person. Why was Jabez reputed more honourable then his brethren, but because he was more holy then his brethren!