A39669:867
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.
First, You that have received Jesus Christ truly, give your selves no rest till you are fully satisfied that you have done so: acceptance brings you to heaven hereafter, but assurance will bring heaven into your souls now. O what a life of delight and pleasure doth the assured believer live! what pleasure is it to him to look back and consider where once he was, and where now he is: to look forward and consider where he now is! and where shortly he shall be! I was in my sins, I am now in Christ, I am in Christ now, I shall be with Christ and that for ever, after a few days. I was upon the very brink of hell, I am now upon the very borders of heaven; I shall be in a little while among the innumerable company of Angels and glorified Saints bearing part with them in the Song of Moses and of the Lamb for evermore.
And why may not you that have received Christ, receive the comfort of your union with him? there be all the grounds and ⟨p. 158⟩helps to assurance furnished to your hand: there is a real union 1betwixt Christ and your souls, which is the very groundwork of assurance: you have the Scriptures before you which contain the signs of faith, and the very things within you that answer those signs in the word. So you read, and so, just so you might feel it in your own hearts, would you attend to your own experience. The spirit of God is ready to seal you, 'tis his office and his delight so to do: ▪O therefore give diligence to this work, attend the study of the Scriptures, and of your own hearts more, and grieve not the holy Spirit of God, and you may arrive to the very desire of your hearts.
And why may not you that have received Christ, receive the comfort of your union with him? there be all the grounds and ⟨p. 158⟩helps to assurance furnisht to your hand: there is a real union