A62050:324
Ouranos kai tartaros= heaven and hell epitomized. The true Christian characterized. As also an…
Ouranos kai tartaros= heaven and hell epitomized. The true Christian characterized. As also an exhortation with motives, means and directions to be speedy and serious about the work of conversion. By George Swinnocke M.A. sometime fellow of Balliol College in Oxford, and now preacher of the Gospel at Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire.Ouranos kai tartaros= heaven and hell epitomized. The true Christian characterized. As also an exhortation with motives, means and directions to be speedy and serious about the work of conversion. By George Swinnocke M.A. sometime fellow of Baliol Colledge in Oxford, and now preacher of the Gospel at Rickmersworth in Hertfordshire.
London: printed by E.M. for Tho. Parkhurst, 1659
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.
Didst thou but consider the dreadful Majesty of that God to whom thou prayest, the unvaluable worth of the soul, and endless state for which thou prayest, and the poor pittance of time (upon which thy eternity dependeth) that thou hast to pray in, it might rouse thee out of thy security.
Common beggary as it is the poorest, so it is the easiest trade;1 but this special, as it is the richest, so it is the hardest. The fervent prayer is the prevalent prayer, Jam. 5.16. The bullet will fly no farther than the force of the powder will carry it. That arrow of prayer that would hit the mark, must be drawn with full strength. He that in prayer for grace through an humble dependence on Christ, will not be denied, shall not be denied. Lip-labour doth no more than a windy instrument, makes a loud noise, and that is all. Prayer without the travail of the soul, is but the cold carcass of a duty, and no wonder if it be unsavoury in Gods nostrils. How many among us are there that pray every day for pardon and holiness, and yet shall die without them, and perish eternally for want of them? and all because they never begged them in good earnest, but were always indifferent ⟨p. 165⟩whether God heard them or no;2 I would have such know, that the blessed God valueth his special ware at an higher rate than to bestow it on such as will not esteem it something answerably to its worth.
Common beggery as it is the poorest, so it is the easiest trade;1 but this special, as it is the richest, so it is the hardest. The fervent prayer is the prevalent prayer,