A39660:925
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.
If a relish, a taste of Heaven in the earnest thereof be so transporting and ravishing, what then is the full fruition of God! If these be unutterable, what must that be! Give me leave to say, Whatever the comforts and joys of any believer in this World may be, yet Heaven will be a surprise to him when he comes thither. The joys of Gods presence are other manner of things than our present comforts are; though these be of the same kind with them, yet in a far inferior degree. There is a fix-fold difference betwixt the Spiritual comforts of believers on Earth, and the joys that are above. They differ, 1. In Quantity. 2. In Constancy. 3. In Purity. 4. In Efficacy. 5. In the Society. 6. In the Durability of them.
If a relish, a taste of Heaven in the earnest thereof be so transporting and ravishing, what then is the full fruition of God! If these be unutterable, what must that be! Give me leave to say, Whatever the comforts and joys of any believer in this World may be, yet Heaven will be a surprize to him when he comes thither. The joys of Gods presence are other manner of things than our present comforts are; though these be of the same kind with them, yet in a far inferiour degree. There is a fix-fold difference betwixt the Spiritual comforts of believers on Earth, and the joys that are above. They differ, 1. In Quantity. 2. In Constancy. 3. In Purity. 4. In Efficacy. 5. In the Society. 6. In the Durability of them.
First, They differ in quantity; Here we know but in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away, 1 Cor. 13. 9, 10. When the Scripture speaks of the comforts communicated to Saints on Earth it usually expresses them in some diminutive terms or other, calling them first-fruits, earnests, and the like; and indeed it is necessary we should receive them here with such alloys, and in remiss degrees, because the imperfection and weakness of our present state will not bear them in their plenitude and perfection. Here the joy of the Lord enters into us, but there we are said, to enter into that joy,