N00357:763
The safety of appearing at the day of judgement, in the righteousness of Christ
The safety of appearing at the day of judgement, in the righteousness of Christ: opened and applied. By Solomon Stoddard Pastor to the church of North-Hampton in New-England. ; [Nine lines from Philippians]The safety of appearing at the day of judgement, in the righteousness of Christ: opened and applied. By Solomon Stoddard Pastor to the church of North-Hampton in New-England. ; [Nine lines from Phillipians]
Boston: printed by Samuel Green for Samuel Phillips, 1687
Title page typeset from the transcription.
The Safety of Appearing in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. › Chapter 10
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.
3. The reasons why persons under the work of conversion fear that they are given up to hardness, and ⟨p. 298⟩that the Spirit of God has forsaken them, is because the spirit does after a while change its way of working: when the Spirit begins to work upon them, his manner is to discover their danger, and after a while to give them some encouragement, whereby they come to have strong affections, sorrow, desire, delight, and now they are easily persuaded that the Spirit is at work with them, and don't look upon themselves hardened, but after a while, when these affection fail them, and they find themselves dull and senseless, now they are afraid that the Spirit has left them: whereas the reason is, the spirit has changed his work, and is about to show them what hearts they have in order to the work of Humiliation: if men could maintain their lively affections they would never come to Christ: therefore the Spirit of God does leave them unto, and lead them into an experimental knowledge of the hardness of their hearts: so that this is no sign of the Spirits leaving you, but an effect of the presence of the Spirit: his manner is to convince men that they are poor and wretched, and blind, and miserable, Rev. 3.17.
3. The reasons why persons under the work of conversion fear that they are giv•n up to hardness, and ⟨p. 298⟩that the Spirit of God has forsaken them, is because the spirit does after a while change its way of working: when the Spirit begins to work upon them, his manner is to discover their danger, and after a while to give them some encouragement, whereby they come to have strong affections, sorrow, desire, delight, and now they are easily perswaded that the Spirit is at work with them, and dont look upon themselves hardened, but after a while, when these affection fail them, and they find themselves dull and senseless, now they are afraid that the Spirit has left them: whereas the reason is, the spirit has changed his work, and is about to shew them what hearts they have in order to the work of Humiliation: if men could maintain their lively affections they would never come to Christ: therefore the Spirit of God does leave them unto, and lead them into an experimental knowledg of the hardness of their hearts: so that this is no sign of the Spirits leaving you, but an effect of the presence of the Spirit: his manner is to convince men that they are poor and wretched, and blind, and miserable,