A29699:97
Paradise opened, or, The secrets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom,…Paradice opened, or, The secreets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom,…
Paradise opened, or, The secrets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom, and of wonderful counsel laid open to public view also, the covenant of grace, and the high and glorious transactions of the Father and the Son in the covenant of redemption opened and improved at large, with the resolution of divers important questions and cases concerning both covenants ... : being the second and last part of The golden key / by Thomas Brooks ...Paradice opened, or, The secreets, mysteries, and rarities of divine love, of infinite wisdom, and of wonderful counsel laid open to publick view also, the covenant of grace, and the high and glorious transactions of the Father and the Son in the covenant of redemption opened and improved at large, with the resolution of divers important questions and cases concerning both covenants ... : being the second and last part of The golden key / by Thomas Brooks ...
London: printed for Dorman Newman, 1675
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.
When Paul and Silas were in prison, their hearts were so full1 of joy, that they could not hold; but at midnight, when others were sleeping, they must fall a singing out the Praises of the Most High, they found more pleasure than pain, more joy than sorrow, more comfort than torment in their Bonds; the consolations of the spirit rose so high in their souls, that their prison was turned into a Palace, yea, into a Paradise. Paul was a man that took a great deal of pleasure in his sufferings for Christ, 2 Cor. 12. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: He did not only bear his sufferings patiently, but cheerfully also; he often sings it sweetly out, I Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, Co••s. 4. 3, 10. Rom. 16. 7. Eph. 6. 20. 2 Tim. 1. 16. &c. not I Paul an Apostle, nor I Paul wrapped up into the third heaven, nor I Paul that have more Gifts, Parts and Learning than others; but I Paul a prisoner, to show how much he rejoiced in his bonds and sufferings for Christ Chrysostom did not hold Paul so happy for his rapture into Paradise, as he did for his imprisonment for Christ.
When Paul and Silas were in prison, their hearts were so full1 of joy, that they could not hold; but at midnight, when others were sleeping, they must fall a singing out the Praises of the Most High, they found more pleasure than pain, more joy than sorrow, more comfort than torment in their Bonds; the consolations of the spirit rose so high in their souls, that their prison was turned into a Palace, yea, into a Paradise. Paul was a man that took a great deal of pleasure in his sufferings for Christ, 2 Cor. 12. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: He did not only bear his sufferings patiently, but chearfully also; he often sings it sweetly out, I Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, Cos. 4. 3, 10.