A39669:2041
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.
Evidence 6.
Where ever the spirit of Grace inhabits, there is an heavenly, spiritual frame of mind, accompanying and evidencing the indwelling of the spirit: Rom. 8. 5, 6. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit: for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded, is life and peace: by the mind, understand the musings, reasonings, yea and the cares, fears, delights, and pleasures of the soul, which follow the workings and meditations of the mind; as these are, so are we; if these be ordinarily, and habitually taken up, and exercised about earthly things, then is the frame and state of the man carnal, and earthly: the workings of every creature follow the being, and nature of it: if God, Christ, Heaven, and the world to come engage the thoughts, and affections of the soul, the temper of such a soul is spiritual; and the spirit of God dwelleth there: this is the life of the regenerate: Phil. 3. 20. our conversation is in ⟨p. 419⟩Heaven: and such a frame of heart is life, and peace: a serene, placid, and most comfortable life: no pleasure upon earth; no gratifications of the senses do relish, and savour, as spiritual things do. Consider therefore which way thy heart ordinarily works, especially in thy Solitudes, and hours of retirement: these things will be a great evidence for, or against thy soul. David could say, how precious are thy thoughts unto me O God! how great is the sum of them! if I should count them they are more in number than the sand; when I awake I am still with thee, Psal. 139. 17, 18. Yet it must be acknowledged for the relief of weaker Christians that there is great odds, and variety found in this matter among the people of God: for the strength, steadiness, and constancy, of a spiritual mind results from the depth and improvement of sanctification: the more grace, still the more evenness, spirituality, and constancy there is in the motions of the heart after God. The minds of weak Christians are more easily entangled in earthly vanities, and more frequently diverted by inward corruptions: yet still there is a spiritual pondus, inclination and bent, of their hearts towards God: and the vanity and corruption which hinders their communion with him, is their greatest grief and burden under which they groan in this world.