A30122:270
The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor showing…The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor shewing…
The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor showing that the day of grace may be past with him long before his life is ended : the signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known / by John Bunyan ; to which is added his Exhortation to peace and unity among all that fear God.The barren fig tree, or, The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor shewing that the day of grace may be past with him long before his life is ended : the signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known / by John Bunyan ; to which is added his Exhortation to peace and unity among all that fear God.
London: printed for J. Robinson, 1688
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.
A Third Sign that such a Professor is quite past Grace, is, When his heart is grown so hard, so stony and impenetrable, that nothing will pierce it. Barren ⟨p. 104⟩Fig-tree, dost thou consider? A hard and impenitent Heart is the Curse of God. A Heart that cannot repent, is instead of all Plagues at once; And hence it is that God said of Pharaoh, Exod. 9. 14. when he spake of delivering him up in the greatness of his Anger, I will at this time, saith he, send all my Plagues upon thy Heart.
To some Men that have grievously sinned under a Profession of the Gospel, God giveth this Token of his Displeasure, they are denied the Power of Repentance, their Heart is bound, they cannot repent: It is impossible that they should ever repent should they live a thousand Years, It is impossible for those Fall-a-ways to be renewed again unto Repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame, Heb. 6. 4, 5, 6. Now to have the Heart so hardened, so judicially hardened, this is as a bar put in by the Lord God against the Salvation of this Sinner. This was the burden of Spira's Complaint, I cannot do it: O now I cannot do it.
To some Men that have grievously sinned under a Profession of the Gospel, God giveth this Token of his Displeasure, they are denied the Power of Repentance, their Heart is bound, they cannot repent: It is impossible that they should ever repent should they live a thousand Years, It is impossible for those Fall-a-ways to be renewed again unto Repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, aed put him to open shame, Heb. 6. 4, 5, 6. Now to have the Heart so hardened, so judicially hardened, this is as a bar put in by the Lord God against the Salvation of this Sinner. This was the burden of Spira's Complaint, I cannot do it: O now I cannot do it.