A39696:389
Two treatises the first of fear, from Isa. 8, v. 12, 13, and part…
Two treatises the first of fear, from Isa. 8, v. 12, 13, and part of the 14 : the second, The righteous man's refuge in the evil day, from Isaiah 26, verse 20 / by John Flavell.
London: printed by H.H. for Robert Boulter, 1682
A PRACTICAL TREATISE OF Fear, &c. › Chapter 7 › Section 5 › 5. Plea.
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. Plea.
But what if God should hide his face from my soul in the day of my straits and troubles, and not only so, but permit Satan to buffet me with his horrid temptations and injections, and so I should fall like the Ship in which Paul sailed, betwixt these two boisterous Seas; what can I suspect less than a shipwreck of my soul, body, and all the comforts of both, in this world, and in that to come?
But what if God should hide his face from my soul in the day of my streights and troubles, and not only so, but permit Satan to buffet me with his horrid temptations and injections, and so I should fall like the Ship in which Paul sailed, betwixt these two boisterous Seas; what can I suspect less than a shipwrack of my soul, body, and all the comforts of both, in this world, and in that to come?
Answer.
1. So far as the fears of such a misery awaken you to prayer for the prevention of it, it may be serviceable to your souls, but when it only works distraction and despondency of mind, it is your sin, and Satan's snare. The Prophet Jeremiah made a good use of such a supposed evil by way of deprecation,