N00802:1420
The truly blessed man
The truly blessed man: or, The way to be happy here, and for ever: being the substance of divers sermons preached on, Psalm XXXII. / By Samuel Willard, teacher of a church in Boston. N.E. ; [Five lines from Isaiah]
printed by B. Green for Michael Perry, 1700
Sermon › Doctrine 1: Contumacy to be avoided if we would have true peace. DOCTRINE I.
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.
1. It is rich mercy that God will use any means with you, though never so severe, to bring you to Repentance. Without this there is no escaping his wrath; it is the one way for your deliverance; and whatever it cost you, it will be your happiness so to escape. If God lay you under forest terrors, and make his ⟨p. 465⟩sharpest arrows stick in you, yet if he give you Repentance, and Remission, you are happy for ever, and this he offers you by these means; and▪ this is unspeakable kindness.
1. It is rich mercy that God will use any means with you, though never so severe, to bring you to Repentance. Without this there is no escaping his wrath; it is the one way for your deliverance; and whatever it cost you, it will be your happiness so to escape. If God lay you under forest terrours, and make his ⟨p. 465⟩sharpest arrows stick in you, yet if he give you Repentance, and Remission, you are happy for ever, and this he offers you by these means; and▪ this is unspeakable kindness.
2. It is joy and happiness which this Repentance leads to. There is bitterness in it, shame, sorrow, mourning, severity, cutting off right hands, &c. But all this is to bring you into the favour of God, settle your peace with him, and promove your blessedness: and who would not undergo this for such an advantage? Psal. 126.5.