N04231:51
The poor doubting Christian drawn to Christ. Wherein the main hindrances, which keep men…
The poor doubting Christian drawn to Christ. Wherein the main hindrances, which keep men from coming to Christ, are discovered. : With special helps to recover God's favour. / By Thomas Hooker. ; With an abstract of the author's life. ; [Four lines from Isaiah]
Boston: printed by Green for D. Henchman, 1743
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.
2. Secondly; (Mark this, I beseech you) Thou art the Cause why thy Heart is not softened, and why the Word works not upon thy Soul: The Distemper of thine own Heart, hinders the working of the Word, and Dispensation of God's Providence, and the Tenor of the Covenant of Grace. Thou thinkest to limit the holy One of Israel; but that may not be: For, his Covenant is a Covenant of Grace; and the Lord (who is free) will not stand bent to thy Bow, or give thee Grace when thou wilt; for,1 it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons. What if the Lord will not give thee Grace this Year, nor the next, nor all thy Life? If at the last Gasp he will drop in a ⟨p. 14⟩little of his Favour, it is more than he owes thee. Therefore hear to Day, and wait to Morrow, and continue in so doing, because thou knowest not when God may bless his own Ordinances. Complain not of Delays, but wait, for God hath waited for you long; and therefore if he make you wait for Peace of Conscience, and Assurance of his Love, he deals but equally with you, and as shall be best with you. God gives what, and when, and how he will; therefore wait for it.
2. Secondly; (Mark this, I beseech you) Thou art the Cause why thy Heart is not softned, and why the Word works not upon thy Soul: The Distemper of thine own Heart, hinders the working of the Word, and Dispensation of God's Providence, and the Tenour of the Covenant of Grace. Thou thinkest to limit the holy One of Israel; but that may not be: For, his Covenant is a Covenant of Grace; and the Lord (who is free) will not stand bent to thy Bow, or give thee Grace when thou wilt; for,1 it is not for us to know the Times and Seasons. What if the Lord will not give thee Grace this Year, nor the next, nor all thy Life? If at the last Gasp he will drop in a ⟨p. 14⟩little of his Favour, it is more than he owes thee. Therefore hear to Day, and wait to Morrow, and continue in so doing, because thou knowest not when God may bless his own Ordinances. Complain not of Delays, but wait, for God hath waited for you long; and therefore if he make you wait for Peace of Conscience, and Assurance of his Love, he deals but equally with you, and as shall be best with you. God gives what, and when, and how he will; therefore wait for it.