PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Whole Works of John Flavel — Volume 3
Flavel, John, 1630?-1691 · 303,410 words · 253 reading sections
Section 1
REV. MR. JOHN'FLAVEL, LATE MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT DARTMOUTH, DEVON. AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS CONTAINED IN THE WHOLE. PRINTED FOR W. BAYNES AND SON, 23 & 54, PATERNOSTER-ROW; WAUGH AND INNES, EDINBURGH, AND M. KEENE, DUBLIN. A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF «AN. . "^ </ n ^ 2 Pet. i. 13, U. 't^, …
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The point lies very plain before us in the scriptures. That is a remarkable expression we have in Job xvi. 22. " When a few years *' are come, I shall go the way whence I shall not return."" In the Hebrew it is, * " When the years of number, or my numbered " years are come ; years so numbered, that they are circumscrib…
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And both these, viz. the divine appointment and pro\4dence, are in pursuance of a double design, or for the payment of a two-fold debt, which God owes to the first and to the second Adam. (1.) By cutting off the life, or dissolving the tabernacles of wick- * We die daily, for some part of life is taken away daily, an…
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But though death be inevitable by all, it is not alike evil, bitter, and dreadful to all. Some tremble, others triumph at the appear- ances of it. Some meet it half-way, receive it as a friend, and can bid it welcome, and die by consent ; making that the matter of their election, which, in itself, is necessary and unav…
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I know it is a common presumption of most men, that they shall be in heaven, when they can be no longer on earth, Presumendo sperant, et spera?ido pereunt. But a few moments will convince them of their fatal mistake ; their poor souls will meet with a con- founding repulse, like that, Matth. vii. 9,% There is indeed a …
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Inf. 3. Must we put off our tabernacles, and that shortly? What a spiir is this to a diligent redemption^ and improvement of time f This is the use Peter made of it here, and every one of us should make. It was said of Bishop Hooper, he was spare in his diet, spare in his words, but most of all spare of his time. You h…
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soever their burden be^ yet they shall carry it but a little xvay. It is said, 2 Cor. v. 4. " We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being " burdened." Good souls, in this state, are every where groaning under heavy pressures. Their burdens are of two sorts, sympa- thetical, whereby they grieve with, and on the accou…
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(1.) " Ye are come, saith he, to mount Sion,] not the earthly, but the spiritual Sion. Mount Sion was the place celebrated above all the world for the worship of God, Psal. Ixxxvi. 7. " All my " springs, saith God, are in thee."" There was the temple, the ark; of the covenant, the glory of the Lord dwelling between the…
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(1.) We that live under the gospel-light, are come to a clearer apprehension, sight, and knowledge of the blessed and happy estate of the souls of the righteous after death, than ever they had, or or- dinarily could have, who lived under the types and shadows of the law, Eph. iii. 4, 5. And so we are come to them in re…
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(1.) As it is preventive of much guilt. (2.) As it gains a more inward knowledge of its nature. (1.) The serious and fixed thoughts of the parting hour, is pre- ventive of much guilt; and the greatest part of the horror of death rises out of the guilt of sin ; " The sting of death is sin,'' 1 Cor. XV. 56. ■[- Augusti…
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The agonies of death are expressed in scripture, by a -f* word which signifies " the travailing pains of a woman,"*' yea, by the sharpest and most acute pains they at that time feel, Acts ii. 24. And yet all are not handled alike roughly by the hands of death ; some are favoured with a desirable gu^avacr/a, gentle and…
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That body which was fed so assiduously, cared for so anxiously, loved so passionately^, is now tumbled into a pit, and left to the mercy of crawling worms. The change which judgment made upon that great and flourishing city Nineveh, is a fit emblem to sha- dow forth that change which death makes upon human bodies : tha…
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Proposition 4. The souls of' the righteous, at the instant of their separation, are received hy the blessed angels, and by them trans- Jerrcd unto the place of blessedness. Though angels are by nature a superior order of spirits, differing from men in dignity, as the nobles and barons in the kingdoms of this world, di…
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But when the soul is freed, both from flesh and sin, and shall enjoy itself in a nature, hke to these pure and holy spirits, the dread of angels is then vanished, and the soul will take great con- tent and satisfaction in their company and communion : The soul then finds itself a fit companion for them ; looks upon the…
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I do not say this lower world receives no benefit at all by them after their death ; for though they can speak no more, write no more, pray for, and instruct the inhabitants of this world no more, nor exhibit to them the beauty of religion in any new acts or exam- ples of theirs (which is what I mean by saying they hav…
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2. Others think, when they are loosed from the body at death, they hover about the graves and solitary places where their bodies lie, as willing, seeing they can dwell no longer in them, to abide as near them as they can ; just as the surviving turtle keeps near the place Vrhere his mate died, and may be heard mourning…
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dolorous groans of gracious souls, upon the account of indwelling sin. What the angel said to Joshua, Zech. iii. 3, 4. the same doth God say of every upright soul, at the time of its separation. " Take " away the filthy garments from him, and clothe him with change " of raiment, and set a fair mitre upon his head." Thu…
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Let but the intention of the mind be strongly carried another way, and for that time, (though there be no guilt or wound upon the soul) the most pleasant enjoyments lose their pleasure. What deliglit, think you, would bags of gold, sumptuous feasts, or ex- quisite melody have afforded to Archimedes, when he was wholly …
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To conclude ; the pleasures it hath here, are but the pleasures of hope and expectation, which cannot bear any proportion to those of sight and full fruition. O see the advantages of an unbodied state ! Prop. 10. That gracious souls, separate from the hodij^ do attain to the perjection qfknowledge, zoith more ease tha…
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5. To conclude : This perfect, and most comfortable knowledge, is attained without labour by the separate soul. Here every degree of knowledge was with the price of much pains. How many weary hours and aching heads did the acquisition of a little knowledge stand us in ! But then it flows in upon the soul easily. It was…
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But as the spirits of just men made perfect know no remissions in the degree, so neither any intermissions in the acting of their grace : " They shall serve him day and night in his temple,'' Rev. vii. 15. You that would purchase the continuance of your spiri- tual comforts but for a day, with all that you have in this…
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Christ will never cease to be the immediate head of the whole glorified creation. God having gathered all the elect, both angels and men, unto a head in him, and he being the knot and centre of that collective body, the whole frame of the glorified church would be dissolved, should he lose his relation of a head to it.…
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In this rapture his soul ascended above this world, it was caught up into paradise, into the third heaven, the place in which Christ's soul was after his death ; and there he heard those a^onra ^?;/xara, unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter; For, alas ! poor mortals cannot pronounce the Shibbolet…
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' sure of joy unspeakable and insupportable; and at last, perceiv- ' hig a spring of water in his way, he, with some difficulty, alight- ^ ed to cleanse and cool his face and hands, which were drenched ' in blood, tears, and sweat. ' By that spring he sat down and washed, earnestly desiring, if < it were the pleasure …
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Sol. 9,. But though we acknowledge it to be a great difficulty to trace it beyond the limits of this world, though we perceive nothing to depart from the body at the instant of its expiration, but a puft* of breath which vanishes like smoke into the air : and though athe- istical * wits daringly pronounce an immaterial…
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Sol. For the clear stating and satisfying this question, I will lay ♦ The understanding and •will are the primary faculties of the soul, and there- fore are called inorganical, because not fixed to any member of the body, as the sensitive appetite and loco-motive powers are to their proper organs. The soul therefore h…
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4. Purity and peace of conscience make a death-bed soft and easy. The strains and wounds of conscience, in the time of life, are so many thorns in our bed, or pillow, in the time of death, 1 John iii. 21. But integrity gives boldness. 5. The work of obedience faithfully finished, or a steady course of holiness through…
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The same Mr. Knox, in the year 1566, being in the pulpit at Edinburgh, upon the Lord's day, a paper was given up to him, among many others, wherein these words were scoffingly written concerning the earl of INIurray, who was slain the day before, — *' Take up the man whom ye accounted another God." At the end of the se…
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ters he sent to them, and mahy heartv prayers to heaven for Iheili. But about a fortnight before they were infected, he fell about break of day into this dream, That he was in a great inn which was full of company, and being very desirous to find a private room, where he might seek God for his parents life, he went fro…
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2. By the knowledge such souls are supposed to have after death both of persons and things in this lower world, we understand not a general knowledge, which one sort of them have of the state and condition of the church militant on earth ; for this, we think, cannot be denied to the spirits of the just made perfect, se…
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"f (5.) Tditametitum f Ul piano dcfinientej est voluntatis noslrte juslu sententia de eo quail 'post jv.or tern nonrain.fxn voliimus. Testamentam autcm tauquam res sacra ab omnibui& ■ gentibus religiose ubservatur, Gal. iii. 15. Jtatio atitcm tarn religiosee tnmque universalis obsendnti'd; est, quoniam uninias eorum qu…
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The morning before they went thence, the captain stayed longer than was usual in his chamber, and at length came into the doctor's chamber, but in visage and form much different from himself, with his hair and eyes staring, and his whole body shaking and trembling : Whereat the doctor wondering, demanded. What is the m…
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(1.) Because the scriptures every where describe the state of de- parted souls as a fixed state, either in heaven or in hell ; and assign the good or evil done in this world by spirits, not to the departed spirits of men, but to angels or devils : And it is our duty to regu- late our conceits by scripture, and not acco…
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all such acts and trusts, liveth : and tliougli tliey camiot avenge frauds, and injustice of men, he both can and will do it, 1 Thess. iv. 6. which, I think, is a weightier ground and reason to enforce duty upon men than the fear of ghosts. Besides, this is a case wherein all the living are concerned, all that die must…
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* not muie, and shut out from all mutual traffic with each other, ex- * cept what they have by the mediation of senses. ' Instances are found, that (as they say of two needles touched ' with the loadstone) the spirit of one at a distance, hath found ' itself affected with the motion and state of another. And this ' w…
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f E/crov iv auTOig, T1^'W, Cum puncts sinistra, loeutus est ore, aut corde cogitavit, 7ne- iUtatits est. \ There are two doors with respect to others, and unless thou open both of these, it is not possible that another man can know what passes in thy mind, or be adaaitted into the secrets of thy heart. On the part of …
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3. To conclude ; In the discourses of the best of men on earth, there is too much froth and vanity ; many words, like water, run away at the waste spout, but there God is the centre, in which all terminates. O therefore let us long to be among the unbodied people ! this world will never suit us with companions in all t…
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Arg. 1. The soul and body are the two constitutive parts of man ; either of these being wanting, the man is not complete and perfect. The good of the whole is the good of the parts them- selves ; and every thing hath a natural desire and appetite to its own good and perfection *. It is confessed, the soul, for as much …
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So that the very best desire is but comparative, and it is but few who find the love of this animal life sub-acted and over-powered by high-raised acts of faith and love. The generality, even of good souls, feel strong renitencies, and suffer sharp conflicts at their dissolution ; all which discovers with what lothness…
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Object. 2. But this hypothesis seems to thwart the account given hi scripture of the rest^ and placid state of separate souls : for look^ as bodies which gravitate and propend do not rest^ so neither do soids which incline and d.esire. Sol. There is a vast difference betwixt the tendencies, and pro- pensions of souls …
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The business and employment of dying persons is of so vast im- portance and weiglit, that every moment of their time needs to be carefully saved and applied to this their present and most important concern. How well soever you have improved the time of life, be- Heve it, you will find work enough upon your hand at deat…
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And it deserves a most serious animadversion, that this vast ca- pacity of the soul for eternal blessedness, must of necessity make it capable of so much the more misery and self-torment, if at last it fail of that blessedness : For it is apparent they do not perish be- cause they are uncapable^ but because they are un…
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I know there is a pure, simple, natural fear of death, from which you must not expect to be perfectly freed, by all the arguments in the world. And there is a reverential, awful fear of death, which it would be 3^our prejudice and loss to have destroyed. You will have a natural, and ought to have a reverential fear of …
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It is a clear dictate of reason, in case of choice, to chuse that 106 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAX. which is best for us. Who is there that freely exercises reason and choice together, that will not do so ? What merchant vail not part with an hundred pound's worth of glass beads and pendants for a tun of gold ? A f…
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* me."* All this the flesh can plead, and a great deal more than this, and that a thousand times more powerfully and feelingly, than any words can plead the case. And all its arguments are backed by sense ; sight and feehng attest what nature speaks. Let us, in the next place, weigh the pleas and reasons, which notwit…
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It is so great an evidence of the truth of gi'ace, that the scri|> lures have made it the descriptive periphrasis of a Christian : so we find it in 2 Tim. iv. 8. the crown of life is there promised to all them that love the appearance of Christ, i, e. those that love to drink of it, that delight to steep their thoughts…
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Arg. 4. The consideration of what we part from, and what we go to, should make the medium, by which we pass from so much evil to so great good, lovely and desirable in our eyes, how unplea- sing or bitter soever it be in itself. No man desires physic for itself There is no pleasure in bitter pills and loathsome potion…
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But by the door of death every gracious soul makes its escape from the tempting power of Satan : He can no more touch or affect the soul with any temptation, than we can better the body of the sun with snow-balls : For as Satan can have no access to that place of blessedness, where the souls of the saints are ; so if h…
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That the fulness of this joy cannot be in us whilst we tabernacle in bodies of flesh, is as plain. When Moses desired a sight of that face which the spirits of just men made perfect do continually be- hold and adore, the answer was, " No man can see my face and " live," Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19, 20, q. d. Moses, thou askes…
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no more, Job vii. 9, 10, 11. We shall see our children and dear relations no more, Job xiv. 21. His sons come " to honour, and he " knoweth it not." These things make death terrible to men ; but that which cures all this trouble is, that we shall neither need, nor desire them, being thenceforth admitted to the beatific…
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4. It will be a deeply affecting sight : your eyes will now so af- fect your hearts as they were never affected before. The first view of God will snatch away your hearts to him, as a greater flame doth the less. Love will not now distil from the heart, as waters from a cold still, but gush out as from a sluice or floo…
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I am convinced that \eYy many of our afflictions come upon this score and account, to make us willing to die. Is it not sad that God is forced to bring death upon all our com- fortable and desirable things in this world, before he can gain our consent to be gone ? Why will you put God upon such work as this ? Why cann…
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O that these arguments might prevail ! O that they might at last win the consent of our hearts to go along with death ; which is the messenger sent by God to bring us home to our Father's house. But I doubt, when all is said, we are where we were : all this suffices not to overcome the regrets and reluctancies of natu…
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1. Their sin on earth, which is both specified and aggravated. (1.) Specified ; namely their disobedience. They were sometimes disobedient and unpersuadable ; neither precepts nor examples could bring them to repentance. (2.) This their disobedience is Locus hie omnium pccne interpretumjudicio difficiUimus. Estius. I…
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Fourthly^ Prisons are dark and noisome places, not built for plea- sure, as other houses are, but for punishments ; so is hell, Jude, ver. 6. " Reserved in everlasting chains under darkness," as he there describes the place of torments, yea, outer darkness^ Matth. viii. 12. extreme or perfect darkness. Philosophers tel…
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Now, before th.at general judgment, every soul comes to its particular judgment, and that immediately after death: of this I apprehend the apostle to speak in Heb. ix. 27. " It is appointed for " all men once to die, but after that the judgment." The soul is presently stated by this judgment in its everlasting and fixe…
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tije clothes, i. e. reach the outward i.ian : Ikit hi hell, the spirit of mail is the white at which God himself shoots. All his envenomed arrows strike the soul, which is, after death, laid bare and naked to be wounded by his hand. At death, the soul of every wicked man immediately falls into the hands of the living G…
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5. The shamings of conscience are insufferable torments. Shame ariseth from the turpitude of discovered actions. If some men's secret filthinesses were but published in this world, it would confound them : what then will it be, when all shall lie open, as it will, after this life, and their own consciences shall cast t…
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4. To conclude, " the pleasures of sin are but for a season, as you read, Heb. xi. 25. but the wrath of God in hell is for ever and ever. There is a time when the pleasures of sin cannot be called pleasures to come, but the wrath of God that will still be wrath to come. Oh ! consider for what a trifle you sell your sou…
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Is it not ravishing, melting, overwhelming, and amazing, to tliink thus with thyself! Here sit I with a joyful plenary free pardon of sin in my hand, whilst many, who never sinned to that height and degree I have, lie groaning, howling, sweating, and trembling under the indignation of God, poured out like fire upon the…
1,273 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.