A39675:1195
Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man
Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man wherein the divine original, excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened, its love and inclination to the body, with the necessity of its separation from it, considered and improved, the existence, operations, and states of separated souls, both in Heaven and Hell, immediately after death, asserted, discussed, and variously applied, divers knotty and difficult questions about departed souls, both philosophical, and theological, stated and determined, the invaluable preciousness of humane souls, and the various artifices of Satan (their professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered, and the great duty and interest of all men, seasonable and heartily to comply with the most great and gracious design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls, argued and pressed / by John Flavel ...Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man wherein the divine original, excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened, its love and inclination to the body, with the necessity of its separation from it, considered and improved, the existence, operations, and states of separated souls, both in Heaven and Hell, immediately after death, asserted, discussed, and variously applyed, divers knotty and difficult questions about departed souls, both philosophical, and theological, stated and determined, the invaluable preciousness of humane souls, and the various artifices of Satan (their professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered, and the great duty and interest of all men, seasonable and heartily to comply with the most great and gracious design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls, argued and pressed / by John Flavel ...
London: printed for Francis Tyton, 1685
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.
And it is not to be doubted, but one main end and reason why these foretasts of Heaven are given us in the Body, is to embolden the Soul to venture through death it self for the full enjoyment of those Delights and Pleasures. They are like the Grapes of Eshcol to the faint-hearted Israelites; or the sweet Wines of Italy to the Gauls, which once tasted made them restless till they had conquered that good Country where they grew, Rom. 8.23. We which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we our selves, do groan within our selves, waiting for the Adoption, viz. The Redemption of our Bodies.
And it is not to be doubted, but one main end and reason why these foretasts of Heaven are given us in the Body, is to embolden the Soul to venture through death it self for the full enjoyment of those Delights and Pleasures. They are like the Grapes of Eshcol to the faint-hearted Israelites; or the sweet Wines of Italy to the Gauls, which once tasted made them restless till they had conquered that good Countrey where they grew, Rom. 8.23. We which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we our selves, do groan within our selves, waiting for the Adoption, viz. The Redemption of our Bodies.
Well then, reflect seriously upon those sweet tastes that you have had of God and his love in your sincere and secret addresses to him, and converses with him. What an holy forgetfulness of all things in this World hath it wrought! How insipid and tasteless hath it rendered the sweetest Creature-enjoyments! What willingness to be dissolved for a more full fruition of it! God this way brings Heaven nigh to your Souls, out of design to overcome your Reluctancies at death, through which you must pass to the enjoyment of it. And after all those sights and tastes both of the truth and goodness of that state, shall we still reluctate and hang back, as if we had never tasted how good the Lord is! O you may justly question, whether you ever had a real taste of Jesus Christ; if that taste do not kindle Coals of fire in your Bosoms: I mean ardent longings to be with him, and to be satiated with his love.