A39660:382
Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20
Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20 : wherein is opened the admirable condescension and patience of Christ in waiting upon trifling and obstinate sinners, the wretched state of the unconverted, the nature of evangelical faith ..., the riches of free grace in the offers of Christ ..., the invaluable privileges of union and communion granted to all who receive him ... / by John Flavell ...Englands duty under the present gospel liberty from Revel. III, vers. 20 : wherein is opened the admirable condescension and patience of Christ in waiting upon trifling and obstinate sinners, the wretched state of the unconverted, the nature of evangelical faith ..., the riches of free grace in the offers of Christ ..., the invaluable priviledges of union and communion granted to all who receive him ... / by John Flavell ...
London: printed for Matthew Wotton, 1689
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.
I. Inference.
If the Lord Jesus do exercise such admirable Patience towards sinners, Then how much better is it for poor sinners to be in the Hands of Christ, than in the Hand of the best and holiest Man in the World? O sinner, tis better for thee to fall into the Hands of the Meek and Merciful Jesus, than into the Hand of the dearest Friend thou hast upon Earth; no Creature can bear what Christ hears; no Patience like the Patience of Christ; tis said of Moses, Numb. 11. 12 Now the Man ⟨p. 101⟩Moses was meek above all the Men upon the face of the Earth. There was never such a Man born into the World, for Patience, Meekness, and Long-suffering, as Moses was; and yet for all that, this mirror of Meekness could not bear the Provocations of Israel; You Rebels, saith he, must I draw Water for you out of the Rock? Thus was his Spirit ruffled with the provocations of Israel, and this lost him the Land of Canaan. Jonah was a good Man, a Prophet of the Lord, yet because the Lord would not be so quick and severe with Nineveh, as Jonah would have had him, In what uncomely Language doth his angry Soul return upon his God? Jonah 4. 2. O Lord, saith he, was not this my saying when I was yet in my Country? Therefore I sled before unto Tarshish, for I knew thou wert a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil; therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better for me to dye than to live. q. d. Ah, Lord, I knew it would come to this, I knew thy gracious nature, how inclinable thou art to mercy, and that upon the first appearance of their repentance, thou wouldst repent of the evil, and so free-grace would make me as a liar among them.
If the Lord Jesus do exercise such admirable Patience towards sinners, Then hou much better is it for poor sinners to be in the Hands of Christ, than in the Hand of the best and holiest Man in the World? O sinner, tis better for thee to fall into the Hands of the Meek and Merciful Jesus, than into the Hand of the dearest Friend thou hast upon Earth; no Creature can bear what Christ hears; no Patience like the Patience of Christ; tis said of Moses,