A39660:894
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.
without interest, Heaven it self cannot be turned into joy. My Soul rejoiceth in God my Saviour, Luke 1. 47. We read, Luke 13. 28. of some that shall have a sight of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God, and yet a sight without joy; a dreadful sight to them, for want of a joint interest with them in that glory. They shall see, and yet wail and weep, and gnash their teeth: But an interest sealed gives joy unspeakable. Now as to the excellency of this joy, it will be found to be the pleasant light of the Soul; light and joy are Synonymous terms in Scripture, Psal. 97. 11. 'Tis as the cheerful light of the Morning after a sad and dismal Night. You that have sat in darkness and the shadow of death, you that have sat mourning in ⟨p. 365⟩the dark without one glimpse of a promise, you that have conversed with nothing but dismal thoughts of Hell and Wrath; O I shall be cast away for ever! What will you say when after all this darkness, the Day-star shall arise in your hearts, the joy of Heaven shall beam upon your Souls? Will not this be a glorious reward for all your self-denial for Christ? and fully recompense for the frowns of carnal relations for giving entertainment to Christ? This joy of the Lord, if there were no other Heaven, is an abundant recompense. This joy of the Lord shall be your strength, Neh. 8. 10. Let God but give a man or woman a little of this Joy into his heart, and he shall presently feel himself strengthened by it, either to do or to suffer the will of God. Now he can pray with enlargement, hear with comfort, meditate with delight; and if God call him to suffer, this Joy shall strengthen him to bear it. This was it that made the Martyrs go singing to the stake. This therefore transcends all the joys of this lower world: There are sinful pleasures, men find in the fulfilling their lusts: There are sensitive joys that men find in the good creatures of God, filling their hearts with food and gladness: There are also delusive joys, false comforts that Hypocrites find in their ungrounded hopes of Heaven. The joys of the Sensualist are brutish, the joys of the Hypocrite are ensnaring and vanishing; but the joys of the Holy Ghost are solid, sweet, and leading to the fullness of everlasting joy.