A77608:151
Heaven on Earth
Heaven on earth or a serious discourse touching a well-grounded assurance of mens everlasting happiness and blessedness. Discovering the nature of assurance, the possibility of attaining it, the causes, springs, and degrees of it, with the resolution of several weighty questions. By Thomas Brooks, preacher of the Gospel at Margarets Fishstreet-Hill.Heaven on earth or a serious discourse touching a wel-grounded assurance of mens everlasting happiness and blessedness. Discovering the nature of assurance, the possibility of attaining it, the causes, springs, and degrees of it, with the resolution of several weighty questions. By Thomas Brooks, preacher of the Gospel at Margarets Fishstreet-Hill.
London: printed by R.I. for John Hancock, 1654
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.
First, Sometimes (I say not always) at first conversion, the Lord is pleased to make out sweet manifestations of his love to the penitent soul; when the soul hath been long under guilt and wrath; when the soul hath been long under the frowns and displeasure ⟨p. 78⟩of God, and hath long seen the gates of Heaven barred against him, and the mouth of Hell open to receive him; when the soul hath said, surely there is no hope, there is no help, surely I shall loose God, Christ, and Heaven for ever: Then God comes in, and speaks peace to the soul; then he says, I will blot out thy iniquities for my name sake, and will remember thy sins no more. Hark soul, hark, says Christ, My 1thoughts are not as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways. My thoughts toward you, are thoughts of peace, and thoughts of love. Hark soul, here is Mercy to pardon thee, and here is Grace to adorn thee; here is a Righteousness2 to justify thee, here is eyesalve to enlighten thee, and gold to3 enrich thee, and raiment to clothe thee, and balm to heal thee, and bread to nourish thee, and wine upon the lees to cheer thee, and happiness to4 crown thee, and my self to satisfy thee. Ah souls! have not some of you found it so? surely you have. God deals sometimes with rebellious sinners, as Princes do with those that are in arms, that are in open rebellion ⟨p. 79⟩against them. You know Princes will5 put such hard to it, they shall fare hard, and lie hard. Chains and Racks, and what not shall attend them; and yet after the sentence is past upon them, and they are upon the last step of the Ladder of Life, ready to be turned off, and all hope of escape is gone, then the Princes pardon is put into their hand: So the Lord brings many poor souls to the last steps of the Ladder, to a hopeless condition, and then he puts their pardon into their bosoms, then he says, Be of good cheer, I have received you into favour, I have set my love upon you, I am reconciled to you, and will never be separated from you. You know how God dealt with Paul, after he had awakened