A44344:383
A comment upon Christ's last prayer in the seventeenth of John wherein is opened…
A comment upon Christ's last prayer in the seventeenth of John wherein is opened the union believers have with God and Christ, and the glorious privileges thereof ... / by that faithful and known servant of Christ, Mr. Thomas Hooker ... ; printed from the authors own papers written with his own hand, and attested to be such in an epistle by Thomas Goodwin and Philip Nigh.A comment upon Christ's last prayer in the seventeenth of John wherein is opened the union beleevers have with God and Christ, and the glorious priviledges thereof ... / by that faithful and known servant of Christ, Mr. Thomas Hooker ... ; printed from the authors own papers written with his own hand, and attested to be such in an epistle by Thomas Goodwin and Philip Nye.
London: printed by Peter Cole, 1656
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.
USE.
Before we pass, let us make some use of this; That wicked men are worldly men; and hence we may discover our condition and take a trial of our estate, whether carnal or spiritual, whether gracious or wicked; look what it is that carries thee, what it is that contents thee. Are these worldly things great in thine Eye, and in thy apprehension and approbation: dost thou centre thy self upon these, satisfiest thou thy self with these? believe it thou art of the world, and shalt perish with the world. So our Saviour. Joh. 3.31. He that is of the Earth is earthly, and speaketh of the Earth. It is his Nature and he doth his Nature: his actions manifest his disposition, we judg ever the Nature and quality of the thing by its motion & place whither it tends. Light things will ascend, and never stay, ti• they come to the place, their Nature desires: heavy things descend downward, and they will not stay before they come thither. See thou the po•se of thy spirit, the motion and inclination of the heart, whither it goes naturally, and where it would be, if it be there where it desires, and where it rests, if left unto it self. If the weight of thy thoughts and desires carry thee freely and strongly after the lust of thine Eyes, the lust of thy flesh, and stop it doth not, stay it would not, before it be there. Thy heart is on the Earth, and thou art a Citizen on Earth, and thou hast thy portion on this Earth: thou hast no Heaven in thee to this day, and thou shalt never come to Heaven.
Before we pass, let us make some use of this; That wicked men are worldly men; and hence we may discover our condition and take a trial of our estate, whether carnal or spiritual, whether gracious or wicked; look what it is that carries thee, what it is that contents thee. Are these worldly things great in thine Eye, and in thy apprehension and approbation: dost thou center thy self upon these, satisfiest thou thy self with these? beleeve it thou art of the world, and shalt perish with the world. So our Savior.