Englands Duty Under the Present Gospel Liberty, Illustration – To the reader 1
…ffigies of Iohn Flavell.
Aetatis suoe. 59 An̄o Dom 1689.
Englands Duty, Under the Present GOSPEL LIBERTY. FROM Revel. III. vers. 20. Wherein is Opened The Admirable Condescension and Patience of Christ, in waiting upon trifling and obstinate Sinners. The wretched State of the Vnconverted. The nature of Evangelical Faith, with the Difficulties, Tryals, and Means thereof. The Riches of Free-grace in the offers of Christ, Pardon, and Peace to the worst of Sinners. The invaluable Priviledges of Vnion, and Communion, granted to all that receive him, and the great Duty of opening to him at the present Knocks and Calls of the Gospel; with the danger of neglecting these Loud (and it may be) last Knocks and Calls of Christ, discovered. By Iohn Flavell, Preacher of the Gospel at Dartmouth in Devon.
Rom. II. 4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
London, Printed for Matthew Wotton at the Three Daggers near the Inner-Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1689.
Licensed,
Septemb. 29th. 1688.
AN EPISTLE TO THE READER.
Candid Reader,
THE following Discourse comes to thy hand in that Native plainness wherein it was Preached. I was conscienciously unwilling to alter it, because I found by experience, the Lord had blessed and prosper'd it in that dress, far beyond any other composures on which I had bestowed more pains. Let it not be censured, as vanity or ostentation, that I here acknowledge the goodness of God in leading me to, and blessing my poor Labours upon this Subject: Who, and what am I, that I should be continued, and again employed in the Lords Harvest, and that with success and encouragment; when so many of my Brethren, with their much richer Furnitures of Gifts and Graces, have, in my time, been called out of the Vineyard, and are now silent in the Grave! 'Tis true, they enjoy what I do not; and 'tis as true, I am capable of doing some Services for God which they are not. In Preaching these Sermons I had many occasions to reflect upon the mystical sense of that Scripture, Amos 9. 13. The Plow-man shall overtake the Reaper, and the Treader of Grapes, him that soweth Seed. Sowing and Reaping time trod so close upon one another, that (in all humility I speak it to the praise of God) it was the busiest and blessedst time I ever saw, since I first Preached the Gospel.
England hath now a day of special Mercy: There is a wide door of opportunity opened to it; O that it might prove an effectual door! 'Tis transporting and astonishing, that after all the high and horrid provocations, the Atheism, Prophaness, and bitter enmity against Light and Re…ormation; this sweet Voice is still heard in England, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. The Mercies and Liberties of this day are a new Tryal obtained for us by our potent Advocate in the Heavens: If we bring forth fruit, well, if not, the Ax lieth at the root of the Tree. Let us not be secure. Jerusalem was the City of the great King: The seat of his Worship and Symbols of his presence were fixed there. It was the joy of the whole Earth; the House of Prayer for all Nations; thither the Tribes went up to Worship; the Tribes of the Lord, unto the Testimony of Israel. For there were set Thrones of Iudgment, the Thrones of the House of David, Psal. 122. 4, 5. These priviledges she enjoyed through the succession of many Ages, and had ramained the glory of all Nations to this day, had she known, and improved, in that day the things that belonged to her peace; but they neglected their season, rejected their mercies, and miserably perished in their sins: for there ever was, and will be found, an inseparable connection betwixt the final rejection of Christ, and the destruction of the Rejecters, Matth. 22. 5, 6, 7. The contemplation whereof drew those compassionate Tears from the Redeemers eyes, when he beheld it in his descent from the Mount of Olives, Luke 19. 41, 42.
Let all that are wise in Heart henceforth depose their animosities; sadly reflect on their past follies, encourage and assist the Labours of their Brethren in the Lords Harvest; and rejoyce that God hath set them at liberty by Law, whose assistance, in so great an opportunity, is so necessary and desirable: It is against the Laws of Wisdom and Charity, to envy the Liberty, and much more the Success, of our Brethren, 1 Cor. 13. 4. If the Workmen contend and scuffle in a catching Harvest, who but the owner suffers damage by it? If after so miraculous, recent, and common a Salvation as this, we still retain our old prejudices and bitter envyings; if we smite with the Pen and Tongue when we cannot with the Hand; and study to blast the Reputations and Labours of our Brethren; and still hate those we cannot hurt. In a word, if we still bite and devour one another, we shall be devoured one of another: let us not lay the fault upon others, we our selves have been the Authors and Instruments of our own ruin; and this must be the inscription upon our Toombstone, O England, thou hast Destroyed thy Self. I am more afraid of the rooted enmity, and fixed prejudices, that are to be found in many against holiness, and the serious Professors of it; and inflexible obstinacy and dead formality in many others, (the tokens of a tremendous infatuation) than I am of all the whispered fears from other Hands, or common Enemies upon our borders.
To prevent these mischiefs, and promote zeal and unanimity among the Ministers of the Gospel, I have presumed to address to them in the following Epistle. I judged it necessary on several reasons to write it in Latin, as what allowed me a greater freedom of expression, than might seem convenient in the common Language. I am conscious of my own unworthiness to be their Monitor, and of the defects their Iudicious Eyes will easily discern, in the style wherein it is written; and yet can promise my self a becoming reception of what is so faithfully, seasonably, and honestly designed for their good. I am satisfied that no candid and ingenuous Person will put Words upon the Rack, quarrel a Similitude, or expose a Trifle, when he finds the design Honest, and the matter Good and Necessary.
As to the Treatise it self, thou wilt find it a Persuasive to open thy Heart to Christ. Thy Soul, Reader, is a magnificent Structure built by Christ; such stately Rooms as thy Vnderstanding, Will, Conscience, and Affections; are too good for any other to Inhabit. If thou be in thy Vnregenerate state, then he solemnly demands, in this Text, admission into the Soul he made, by the consent of the Will: which if thou refuse to give him, then Witness is taken that Christ once more demanded entrance into thy Soul which he made, and was denied it. If thou hast opened thy Heart to him, thou wilt, I hope, meet somewhat in this Treatise that will clear thy Evidences, and chear thy Heart; Pray, Read, Ponder, and Apply.
I am, Thine and the Churches Servant Iohn Flavell.