A39682:453
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.
5. Mea. Take heed of losing the liveliness and sweetness of your communion with God, least thereby your hearts be loosed off from God.
5. Mea. Take heed of loseing the liveliness and sweetness of your communion with God, least thereby your hearts be loosed off from God.
The heart is an hungry and restless thing, it will have something to feed upon; if it enjoy nothing from God, it will hunt for something among the creatures, and there it often loses it self, as well as its end: there is nothing more engages the heart to a constancy and evenness in walking with God, then the sweetness which it tastes therein: as the Gauls when once they tasted the sweet wine of Italy could never be satisfied till they conquered the country where it grew.
The heart is an hungry and restless thing, it will have something to feed upon; if it enjoy nothing from God, it will hunt for something among the creatures, and there it often loses it self, as well as its end: there is nothing more engages the heart to a constancy and evenness in walking with God, then the sweetness which it tasts therein: as the Gauls when once they tasted the sweet wine of Italy could never be satisfied till they conquered the countrey where it grew.
Tis true, Conscience of duty may keep the heart from neglecting it, but when there is no higher motive, it drives on deadly, and is filled with distractions, that which we delight in, we are never weary of, as is evident in the motions of the hea•t to earthly things, where the wheels being oiled with delight, run nimbly, and have often need of trigging; the motions of the heart upward would be as free, if its delight in heavenly things were as great.