A39660:744
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. Almighty Efficacy, to quicken and open the Heart with a word. O what manner of voice is this, which carries such a vital power along with it! In all the mighty works of Christ, his power was still put forth in some voice, as at the Resurrection of Lazarus, John 11. 43. He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth; and he that was dead came forth. So in the curing of the deaf Man, Mark 7. 34. He saith unto him Ephphathai, and straight way his Ears were opened. Thus in the exerting of his Almighty glorious power in quickening, a Soul Spiritually dead, and opening the Heart that was locked up by ignorance and unbelief; an Internal Almighty Efficacy passeth ⟨p. 281⟩from Christ, along with the voice of the Gospel, to effect this glorious work upon the Soul; an Emblem where of we have in Ezek. 37. 9, 10. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, Son of Man to the wind, saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breath upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their Feet, an exceeding great Army. The animating vital breath which quickened the dead, came in or with the four winds of Heaven; as this Almighty power of Christ doth with the sound of the Gospel; and before it the Heart opens, the Will bows, Psal. 110. 3. Man can no longer oppose the power of God; Man and Man stand upon equal ground; the power of Man can repel the power of a fellow creature; but when the power of Christ comes along with the voice of Man, there is no more power to resist.* This voice of Christ then, of which the Text speaks,2 is an Almighty impression made upon the Soul of a sinner from Heaven; which is to that Soul in stead of a voice; and as fully expressive of Gods mind concerning it, as any Articulate voice in the World can be. It is a beam of light shining immediately from the Spirit, into the Soul of a sinner; as plainly and evidently discovering both its danger and duty, as if a voice from Heaven had declared them thus it is said,