A49244:460
Grace: the truth and growth and different degrees thereof. The sum and substance of…Grace: the truth and growth and different degrees thereof. The summe and substance of…
Grace: the truth and growth and different degrees thereof. The sum and substance of XV. sermons. Preached by that faithful and painful servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. Christopher Love, late minister of Lawrence Jury, London. They being his last sermons. To which is added a funeral sermon, being the very last sermon he ever preached.Grace: the truth and growth and different degrees thereof. The summe and substance of XV. sermons. Preached by that faithful and painful servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. Christopher Love, late minister of Lawrence Jury, London. They being his last sermons. To which is added a funerall sermon, being the very last sermon he ever preached.
London: printed by E.G. for J. Rothwell, 1652
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Sermon 11: XI. Sermon at Lawrence Jury London. April 13. 1651.
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.
2. This discomfort often ariseth from that which is good in us, viz. from that holy jealousy and tenderness of conscience, which makes a child of God suspect and inquire into his condition: and though he have true grace, and much grace, yet he is afraid lest all be but a delusion; in such cases the soul doth so pore on sin and infirmities, that it cannot see its own evidences. A tender conscience is more apt to be dejected in the sight of sin, then to be comforted in the sense of grace, and the reason of this is, because sin doth more directly fall under the cognizance of our conscience, especially a natural conscience.1 The works of the flesh are manifest, but the fruits of grace and of the spirit are not so easily discerned.
2. This discomfort often ariseth from that which is good in us, viz. from that holy jealousie and tendernesse of conscience, which makes a childe of God suspect and inquire into his condition: and though he have true grace, and much grace, yet he is afraid lest all be but a delusion; in such cases the soul doth so pore on sin and infirmities, that it cannot see its own evidences. A tender conscience is more apt to be dejected in the sight of sinne, then to be comforted in the sense of grace, and the reason of this is, because sin doth more directly fall under the cognizance of our conscience, especially a natural conscience.1 The works of the flesh are manifest, but the fruits of grace and of the spirit are not so easily discerned.
3. This discomfort usually springs from a root of bitterness, even in the best of Gods children, and that whereby God doth punish the sins of his people.
3. This discomfort usually springs from a root of bitternesse, even in the best of Gods children, and that whereby God doth punish the sins of his people.