A62047:367
The fading of the flesh and flourishing of faith, or, One cast for eternity…
The fading of the flesh and flourishing of faith, or, One cast for eternity with the only way to throw it well : as also the gracious persons incomparable portion / by George Swinnock ...The fading of the flesh and flourishing of faith, or, One cast for eternity with the only way to throw it vvell : as also the gracious persons incomparable portion / by George Swinnock ...
London: printed for Tho. Parkhurst, 1662
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
If it were possible for one man to be crowned with the royal Diadem and dominion of the whole world, and to enjoy all the treasures, and honours, and pleasures that all the Kingdoms on earth can yield, if his senses and understanding were enlarged to the utmost of created capacities, to taste and take in whatsoever comfort and delight the Universe can give; if he had the society of glorious Angels and glorified Saints thrown into the bargain, and might enjoy all this the whole length of the worlds duration; yet without God would this man in the midst of all this be unsatisfied; (these things, like dew, might wet the branches, please the flesh, but would leave the root dry, the spirit discontented) once admit the man to the sight of God, and let God but possess his heart, and then, and not before, his infinite desires expire in the bosom of his Maker. Now the weary Dove is at rest, and the vessel tossed up and down on the waters, is quiet in its haven. There is in the heart of man such a drought (without this River of Paradise) that all the waters in the world, though every drop were an Ocean, cannot quench it. O what dry chips are all creatures to an hungry immortal soul! Lord, saith Austin, thou hast made our heart for thee, and ⟨p. 163⟩it will never rest till it come to thee; 1and when I shall wholly cleave to thee, then my life will be lively.
If it were possible for one man to be crowned with the royal Diadem and dominion of the whole world, and to enjoy all the treasures, and honours, and pleasures that all the Kingdomes on earth can yield, if his senses and understanding were enlarged to the utmost of created capacities, to taste and take in whatsoever comfort and delight the Universe can give; if he had the society of glorious Angels and glorified Saints thrown into the bargain, and might enjoy all this the whole length of the worlds duration; yet without God would this man in the midst of all this be unsatisfied; (these things, like dew, might wet the branches, please the flesh, but would leave the root drie, the spirit discontented) once admit the man to the sight of God, and let God but possess his heart, and then, and not before, his infinite desires expire in the bosome of his Maker. Now the weary Dove is at rest, and the vessel tost up and down on the waters, is quiet in its haven. There is in the heart of man such a drought (without this River of Paradise) that all the waters in the world, though every drop were an Ocean, cannot quench it. O what dry chips are all creatures to an hungry immortal soul! Lord, saith Austine, thou hast made our heart for thee, and