A39682:186
A Saint Indeed
A saint indeed: or The great work of a Christian, opened and pressed; from Prov. 4. 23 Being a seasonable and proper expedient for the recovery of the much decayed power of godliness, among the professors of these times. By John Flavell M. of the Gospel.
London: printed by W.R., 1668
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.
Well then, Hereby God hath set no mark of hatred upon you; neither can you infer the want of love from the want of bread. When thy repining heart puts ⟨p. 91⟩the question, was there ever any sorrow like unto mine? Ask these Worthies, and they will tell thee, though they did not complain and fret as thou dost, yet they were driven to as great straits as thou art.
Well then, Hereby God hath set no mark of hatred upon you; neither can you infer the want of love from the want of bread. When thy repining heart puts ⟨p. 91⟩the question, was there ever any sorrow like unto mine? Ask these Wo•thies, and they will tell thee, though they did not complain and fret as thou dost, yet they were driven to as great straits as thou art.
2. Consid. If God leave you not in this necessitous condition without a promise, you have no reason to repine or despond under it.
That is a sad condition indeed, to which no promise belongs. I remember Mr. Calvin upon those words, Isa. 9. 1. Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, &c. Salves the doubt, in what sense the darkness of the Captivity was not so great, as the lesser incursions made by Tiglath Pileser. In the Captivity the City was destroyed and the Temple burnt with fire; there was no comparison in the affliction; but yet the darkness should not be such, and the reason (saith he) is this, huic certam promissionem esse additam, cum in prioribus nulla esset, (•. e.) there was a certain promise made to this, but none to the other.