A62053:484
The sinners last sentence to eternal punishment, for sins of omission
The sinners last sentence to eternal punishment, for sins of omission wherein is discovered, the nature, causes, and cure of those sins / by Geo. Swinnock.
London: printed for Geo. Swinnock, 1675
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Chapter 40: Arguments against sins of Omission. God delights chiefly in our doing good; and our opp…
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.
What thinkest thou, Reader, of this motive to good Works, wouldst thou not delight the heart of God? How long hast thou by thy Omissions grieved him, and is it not yet time to rejoice him? How often hast thou displeased him? how many millions of times? and wilt thou not now please him? Thou daily seest, that though he hath no Obligations to his Creatures (but the contrary) he doth them good, and gives them food and fruitful seasons, and fills their Hearts with gladness. And wilt thou not do thy utmost to glad his Heart, who hath above all apprehensions ⟨p. 358⟩obliged thee? Truly, he doth not deserve the name of a rational Creature, who doth not above all things seek to please his Maker; and there is no way hereunto like abounding in well-doing. Therefore the Apostle begs for the Colossians, That they may be filled with the knowledge of his Will. Why? that they might keep their Light in a dark Lantern, or have it as men wear a Glass-eye, for show, and not for use; or that men might be able to talk the more of Religion, and the things that appertain thereunto? No, That ye might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, [Greek or Hebrew], to his whole liking and delight, that ye might please God. I, but how may this be done, he presently tells us how, That ye may walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work. There is no such way to please God, as fruitfulness in every good Work. It rejoiceth the Husbandman to see his Trees laden with fruit, to see his Fields covered over (as the Psalmists phrase is, Psal. 65. ult.) with Corn, and to see his returns answer his Cost. And it rejoiceth the blessed ⟨p. 359⟩God, to see an Heart that hath long lain fallow, and been barren, full of faith, and love, and humility, and heavenly-mindedness, and all the fruits of Righteousness; and so a Life that hath been idle and unprofitable, abundant in acts of Piety, Charity, and the like. David, who served the Wills of God in his Generation, he of all men was the man after Gods own heart.
What thinkest thou, Reader, of this motive to good Works, wouldst thou not delight the heart of God? How long hast thou by thy Omissions grieved him, and is it not yet time to rejoyce him? How often hast thou displeased him? how many millions of times? and wilt thou not now please him? Thou daily seest, that though he hath no Obligations to his Creatures (but the contrary) he doth them good, and gives them food and fruitful seasons, and fills their Hearts with gladness. And wilt thou not do thy utmost to glad his Heart, who hath above all apprehensions