A39669:1007
The Method of Grace
The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mystery of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...The method of grace, in bringing home the eternal redemption contrived by the Father, and accomplished by the Son through the effectual application of the spirit unto God's elect, being the second part of Gospel redemption : wherein the great mysterie of our union and communion with Christ is opened and applied, unbelievers invited, false pretenders convicted, every mans claim to Christ examined, and the misery of Christless persons discovered and bewailed / by John Flavell ...
London: printed by M. White for Francis Tyton, 1681
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.
Thirdly, The Lord doth this to advance the riches of his free grace in the eyes of sinners. Grace never appears Grace, till sin appear to be sin. The deeper our sense of the evil of sin is, the deeper our apprehensions of the free grace of God in Christ will be. The louder our groans have been under the burden of sin, the louder will our acclamations and praises be for our salvation from it by Jesus Christ. To me (saith Paul) the chiefest of sinners was this grace given, 1 Tim. 1. 15. Never doth the grace of a Prince melt the heart of a Traitor, as when Trial, Sentence, and all preparations for his execution have past, before his unexpected pardon comes.
Thirdly, The Lord doth this to advance the riches of his free grace in the eyes of sinners. Grace never appears Grace, till sin appear to be sin. The deeper our sense of the evil of sin is, the deeper our apprehensions of the free grace of God in Christ will be. The louder our groans have been under the burden of sin, the louder will our acclamations and praises be for our salvation from it by Jesus Christ. To me (saith Paul) the chiefest of sinners was this grace given, 1 Tim. 1. 15. Never doth the grace of a Prince melt the heart of a Traytor, as when Tryal, Sentence, and all preparations for his execution have past, before his unexpected pardon comes.
Fourthly, The Lord doth this to prevent relapses into sin: In that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought! 2 Cor. 2. 7. The burnt Child dreads the fire; the Bird that is delivered out of the Talons of the Hawk, trembles afterward at the noise of his Bells. After such a deliverance as this, should we again break thy Commandments? Ezra 9. 13, 14. Ask a poor penitent soul, that hath been in the deeps of sorrow for sin, Will you return to your former course of sin again? and it sounds in his ears, as if you should ask him,