A29709:226
A word in season to this present generation, or, A sober and serious discourse…
A word in season to this present generation, or, A sober and serious discourse about the favourable, signal and eminent presence of the Lord with his people in their greatest troubles, deepest distresses, and most deadly dangers : with the resolution of several questions, concerning the divine presence, as also the reasons and improvements of this great and glorious truth ... / by Thomas Brooks ...A word in season to this present generation, or, A sober and serious discourse about the favorable, signal and eminent presence of the Lord with his people in their greatest troubles, deepest distresses, and most deadly dangers : with the resolution of several questions, concerning the divine presence, as also the reasons and improvements of this great and glorious truth ... / by Thomas Brooks ...
London: printed for Dorman Newman, 1675
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 Divine presence is the greatest good in the world, 'tis life eternal, 'tis the bosom of God, the gate of glory, the beginning of Heaven, the suburbs of happiness; and therefore be much in blessing of God in admiring of God for his presence with you in a dark and trying day. There is no gall, no wormwood, no affliction, no judgment to 1that of Gods departing from a People, Jer. 6. 8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited. When God departs, nothing followeth but desolation upon desolation; ⟨p. 162⟩desolation of persons, desolation of peace, of prosperity, of trade, and of all that is near and dear unto us, Hosea 9. 12. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left; yea woe also to them when I depart from them. All terrible threatenings are summed up in this [Woe unto them, when I depart from them.] Surely even woe to them, he puts a sureness upon this [Woe to them, when I depart from them.] As if the Holy-Ghost should say, What do I threaten this or the other evil? the great evil of all the rise of all evils is Gods forsaking of them. Hell it self, is nothing else but a separation from Gods presence, with the ill consequents thereof, and were hell as full of tears as the sea is full of water, yet all would not be sufficient to bewail the loss of that beatifical vision. How miserable was 2Cain, when cast off by God! and Saul, when the Lord departed from him! it was a most dreadful speech of Saul [I am sure distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,] When God left the Israelites, though for a little while, the Holy-Ghost saith, they were naked, Exod. 32. 25. How naked? Non veste, sed gratia & praesidio Dei; Not for want of raiment, 3or weapons of war, but for want of Gods presence and protection. When God departs from a People, that People lies naked, that is, they lay open for all storms, tempests & dangers. Now if it be the greatest evil in the world to be shut out from the gracious presence of Christ; then it must be the greatest mercy in this world to enjoy the gracious presence of God, in our great troubles and desperate dangers: