A93248:215
The glorious feast of the Gospel. Or, Christs gracious invitation and royal entertainment of…The glorious feast of the Gospel. Or, Christs gracious invitation and royall entertainment of…
The glorious feast of the Gospel. Or, Christs gracious invitation and royal entertainment of believers. Wherein amongst other things these comfortable doctrines are spiritually handled: Viz. 1. The marriage feast between Christ and his Church. 2. The veil of ignorance and unbelief removed. 3. Christs conquest over death. 4. The wiping away of tears from the faces of Gods people. 5. The taking away of their reproaches. 6. The precious promises of God, and their certain performance. 7. The divine authority of the holy scriptures. 8. The duty and comfort of waiting upon God. / Delivered in divers sermons upon Isai.25 chap.6,7,8,9 verses, by the late reverend, learned and faithful minister of the Gospel, Richard Sibbs, D.D. Master of Katharine-Hall in Cambridge, and preacher at Gray's-Inn, London. Perused by those that were instructed to revise his writings.The glorious feast of the Gospel. Or, Christs gracious invitation and royall entertainment of believers. Wherein amongst other things these comfortable doctrines are spiritually handled: Viz. 1. The marriage feast between Christ and his Church. 2. The vaile of ignorance and unbeliefe removed. 3. Christs conquest over death. 4. The wiping away of teares from the faces of Gods people. 5. The taking away of their reproaches. 6. The precious promises of God, and their certaine performance. 7. The divine authority of the holy scriptures. 8. The duty and comfort of waiting upon God. / Delivered in divers sermons upon Isai.25 chap.6,7,8,9 verses, by the late reverend, learned and faithfull minister of the Gospell, Richard Sibbs, D.D. Master of Katharine-Hall in Cambridge, and preacher at Grayes-Inne, London. Perused by those that were instructed to revise his writings.
London: printed for John Rothwell, 1650
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.
But suppose we have crosses, and we must be sensible of them, then it followeth, God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. Is there nothing for the present, no ground of comfort? yes. As we ought to be sensible of grief, so we ought to be sensible of matter of joy for the present, specially if we consider the time to come. The life of a Christian is a strange kind of life;1 he ought to grieve, and he ought to joy; he hath occasion of both, and he ought to entertain both: for that that we ought to aim at specially is joy; and if we grieve, it is that afterwards we might joy. We must be sensible of any affliction,2 that we might joy afterwards, and we ought to labour for it: For is not the joy of the Lord our strength? Are not we fit to do service, when our spirits are most enlarged? And is it not a credit to Religion, when we walk in comfort of the holy Ghost? Is it not a scandal, when we droop under the cross? We ought to be sensible, yet not so, as to forget matter of joy and comfort. And therefore as we ought to grieve, so we ought when we have grieved, to keep up the soul with consideration of joy for the present as much as we can,3 yea, to pick out matter of comfort from the very cross. That is the heart of a Christian, not only to joy in other matters, but to pick comfort out of grief. God suffers me to fall into this or that condition, it is a fruit of his fatherly love; he might suffer me to run the broad way, to be given up to a reprobate sense and hard heart, but he doth not do so. Pick out matter of comfort from grief.
But suppose wee have crosses, and we must be sensible of them, then it followeth, God will wipe away all teares from our eyes. Is there nothing for the present, no ground of comfort? yes. As we ought to be sensible of griefe, so we ought to be sensible of matter of joy for the present, specially if we consider the time to come. The life of a Christian is a strange kind of life;1 hee ought to grieve, and he ought to joy; hee hath occasion of both, and hee ought to entertaine both: for that that wee ought to aime at specially is joy; and if we grieve, it is that afterwards wee might joy. We must be sensible of any affliction,