PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Whole Works of John Flavel — Volume 4
Flavel, John, 1630?-1691 · 295,325 words · 248 reading sections
Section 1
■•=;•'••■ ^ •?•' r ;•; -^ A. V v-^.. /.A-v . ■•-^' ^-i^^^v/^^-T^t/ r^>?:^ .■V,r•;••■'•••:w^;;^ , BX 8915 .F58 1820 v. 4 Flavel, John, 16307-1691 The whole works of John Flavel REV. MR. JOHN FLAVEL, LATE MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT DARTMOUTH, DEVON. OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS CONTAINED IN THE WHOLE. PRINTED FOR W. BA…
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In the spring, the earth, Hke a most bountiful parent, opens her bosom, produces variety of herbs, adorns the meadows with abundance of flowers ; the trees which had been stript of their for- mer green leaves are clothed >vith new ones ; the cold being now driven away, the air becomes warm, and the cattle bring home ud…
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supplicated for) given me to see the happy effects of sound doctrine, and hath long ago blessed it unto many. These first-fruits of Restored Liberty, and wliich many have importuned me to publish, I now most humbly offer unto you. Induloe a brother, the weakest of all, and one who reckons him- self justly inferior to …
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But there are many others, zealous of peace and truth, agreeing in fundamentals, and standing equally against the common enemies oi^ the reformed reHgion, who, notwithstanding, differ (alas !) about matters not necessaiy to salvation, and split into opposite parties, and cause strife : while this fierce contention spre…
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With the hopes of this, let us rouse up and fortify our drooping hearts gainst the mockings and troubles we may expect for th^ sake of the gospel. What bowels of compassion ought we to put on, when we speak to such men of saving their souls, and shunning perdition, into which they may quickly fall, but who, in the mea…
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It was a wise reproof which a grave divine administered to a young preacher, who entertained his auditory with an elaborate discourse : after he had commended his parts and pains, there was (said he) one thing wanting in the sermon ; / could not perceive that the Spirit of God was in it. And though inorcdity is good, a…
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S. His posture and action^ / sta7id at the door, and Tcnocl' ; the word is in the f preter tense, I have stood, but being here joined with another verb of the present tense, it is fitly translated, / standi yet so as that it notes a Continual action^ I have stood, and do still Btand \vith unwearied patience ; I once st…
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II. Next let us consider what are the object matter unto which they give their testimony, and that will be found two-fold, accord- ing to the two-fold event the gospel hath upon them that hear it : of both which the apostle gives this account, 9. Cor. ii. 16. " Unto " some we are the savour of life unto life, and unto …
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^d Infer. What a spur is here to ministerial diligence andjaitli- J'ulness ? It is an awful work that is under our hands ; the eifects of the gospel which we preach, will be the savour of life or death to them that hear us. If the Lord prosper it in our hands, we shall be Avitnesses for you, it \vill be an addition to …
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Consider the multitudes, multitudes without number, that are to be judged in that day, even all the posterity of Adaip, which are as the sand upon the sea-shore ; that not only so many per* sons, but all that they have done, must come into judgment, even the very thoughts of their hearts, which never came to the know- …
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is beaten before you^ by thousands of sinners for your encouragement. You are not the first that ever adventured your souls in this path ' multitudes are gone before you, and that under as much guilt, fear, and discouragement as you that come after can pretend unto ; and not a man among them repulsed or discouraged : h…
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Nor is this promise made absolutely, but conditionally ; the con- nection of the promise with the command, enforces this qualified sense ; as 2 Chron. xv. 2. " The Lord is with you, whilst you Bxe " with him."" Ignorant, idle, unqualified persons cannot claim the benefit of this gracious grant. Once more, this promise…
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II. Why it is necessary he should be so. First, By what e\"idence doth it manifestly appear that there is such a presence of Christ with his churches and ordinances. And this will appear by two undeniable evidences thereof. 1. By their wonderful preservations. 2. From their supernatural effects. 1. From their wonde…
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2. The presence of Christ is necessary to assist and enable his ministers in their work, for it is a work quite above their owtv strength ; it is well we are workers together with God, else we should soon faint under our labours. When Moses objected, / am not eloquent, the Lord told him, / will he with thy mouth, Exod.…
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First, The opposition of enemies from abroad. Secondly, The obstinacy and stubbornness of the hearts they work upon. Satan is a jealous prince, and will raise all manner of outcries and oppo- sition against those heavenly Heralds, that come to proclaim a new prince in his dominions, and -vnthdraw his miserable subjects…
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Infer. 7. If Christ he present, by way of spirit and energy in his ordinances, th^n there is no reason to despair of the conversion and salvation of the greatest sinners that yet lie dead under the gospel. What though their hearts be hard, their understandings dark, and their wills never so perverse and obstinate.? all…
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1. Natural Every soul comes into this world shut up and fast closed against the Lord Jesus. The very will of man, Avhich is the freest and most arbitrary faculty, comes into the world barred and bolted against Christ, Rom. viii. 7. " The carnal mind is en- ^' mitv against God ; for it is not subject unto the law of God…
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It obstructed his miraculous works when he was on earth, and it obstructs his gracious work, now he is in heaven. A Saviour is come into the world, but poor unbeliever, thy soul can neither have union nor communion with him till this bar of thy unbelief be removed. The gospel is come among us with mighty arguments; to …
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Thus Justin Martyr complains, that Christians were every where condemned bia rr^M (pruirtv, by common fame ; and upon this account Christ pronounces a woe upon the world because of offences. Mat. xviii. 7. Alas ! it will be the ruin of thousands ; some have sucked in such prejudicate opinions and vile notions of religi…
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If every heart by nature be secured for Satan under so many locks and bars, then the opening of any heart to Christ is de- servedly marvellous in our eyes. You all acknowledge that the opening of the graves at the resurrection will be a glorious display of Almighty Power, and so it will : it will be a wonderful thing t…
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For want of such wrestlings with God in prayer, there is so httle efficacy in ordinances. Martha told her Saviour, John xi. 21. *' Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died ;" and I may tell you, that if the Spirit had been here, your souls had not remained dead under the word as they do this day. O when th…
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iihining into them, 2 Cor. iv. 6. If therefore any man's eyes be still blinded with ignorance, prejudice, &c. so that he apprehends not his own guilt and misery, nor sees the worth and necessity of a Saviour; that man's heart is still under Satan's lock and bar, sin is shut in, and Christ is shut out of that man's soul…
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their own righteousness to their own ruin : There is a gross and a more refined self-righteousness ; the one more palpable and easily liable to conviction, the other much harder to be discovered and cured. Ask some men upon what their hopes of salvation are grounded ? and they will tell you, they are just in their deal…
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II. Consolation. The opening of the heart to receive Christ, is the peculiar effect of the divine and Almighty Power of God ; the arm of an angel is too weak to break those strong bars before-mention- ed. Therefore the exceeding greatness of his power is applied unto this work of believing, Eph. i. 19. " And what is th…
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Beloved, when the gospel is effectually brought home by the Spirit to the heart of a sinner, and wounds him for sin, sends him home, crying, O sick, sick of sin, and sick for Christ ; the news thereof is presently in heaven, and sets the whole city of God a re- joicing. Christ never rejoiced over thee before ; thou has…
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The greatness of his patience flows from the greatness of his power : So the apostle speaks, Rom. ix. 22. " What, if God wil- *' ling to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured *' with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath, fitted, or made up *' to destruction .^" And therefore when Moses prays for the …
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3. It is yet a greater evidence of the patience of God in bearing with, and forbearing us under the guilt of that special sin, viz. The slighting and neglecting of Jesus Christ: here is a sin that goes to the very heart of Jesus Christ ; he can bear any other sin rather than that ; and yet this hath Christ borne from e…
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Thus I have given you seven evidences of the wonderful patience of Christ, who hath stood, and still doth stand at the door and knock. Next we will enquire into the grounds and reasons of this marvellous |)atience of Christ, this astonishing long-suffering of God towai'ds sinners ; and there are divers obvious reasons …
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The prayers and intercessions of the saints are a skreen betwixt wicked men and the wrath of God for a time, Job xxii. 30. The innocent preserve the island. The world stands by the prayers of the saints ; what multitudes of rebellious Christ-despising sinners swarm this day in every part of this nation ? Such as declar…
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This inference breathes pure gospel ; it is a cordial to cheer the heart that is moving towards Christ with fear and trembhng. It is a great artifice of the devil to daunt and discourage poor convin- ced sinners, by telling them there is no hope of mercy for them ; that they shall find the arms of mercy closed, the bow…
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Infer. 4. From the patience and long suffering of Christ, we may learn the invaluable preciousncss of souls, and the high esteem Christ luithfor them. Though your souls be cheap in your o^vn eyes, and you are con- tented to sell them for a trifle, for a little sensual pleasure and ease, (some of you will hazard them f…
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(2.) You will have occasion to exercise your patience in bearing the burden of reproaches, and sufferings for Christ; " For to you " it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe, but also " to suffer for his sake," Phil. i. 29. Sufferings, you see, are the gifts of Christ, the comfort of suffering is his gi…
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time when the master erf" the house will rise up, and the door be shuti You liave had to do witli si meek and patient Christ hitherto ; but believe it, sinners, there is a day called the day of ike wrath of the Lamh^ and that day is dreadfal, Rev. vi. 16. where you find sinners crying to the roclis and mountains to Jai…
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Consideration 1. Bethink yourselves of the great and manifold provocations you have given the Lord to put an end to all further patience towards you ; not only in the days of your vanity and un- regeneracy, but even since your reconciliation to him. Do you not believe thousands of sinners are now in the depths of hell,…
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Do we thus requite the Lord ? Is this the return we make him for all his admirable kindness, and unparalleled love towards us .'' Certainly Christ can put up a thousand injuries from his enemies, easier than such affronts from his own people. Did you not pro- mise him better obedience ? Did you not engage to more holin…
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when the time of love was come. Ah, it was not the tractab]eness of thine own will, the easy temper of thy heart to be wrought upon ; the Lord let thee stand long enough in the state of nature to discover that ; there was nothing in nature but obstinacy and enmity. Thou didst hear as many powerful sermons, melting pray…
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2. Within this is the royal gate of the soul, viz. The will of man, that noble and imperial power. Many things may pass into the mind, or understanding of a man, and yet be able to get no further ; the door of the will may be shut against them. There were many precious truths of God let into the understandings of the H…
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S. The next thing implied in this action of Christ is this. That the first motions towards the recovery and salvation of sinners begin not in themselves, but in Christ : We never knock at heaven's door by prayer till Christ hath first knocked at our doors by his Spirit : Did not Christ move first, there would be no mot…
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* pels men to come in, by shewing to their will such an excelling * good as it cannot but embrace :' For voluntas naturaliter fertur in boinnn^ the will is naturally carried to the best good. And thus the Spirit works upon the soul harmoniously, and agreeably to its own nature. That is the third thing implied in Chris…
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XI. 28. " Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden ; '• and I \^ill giv3 you rest/' O what a charming voice is here ? he that considers it may well wonder what heart in the world can resist it : hke unto this is that in Isa. Iv. 1. ^' Ho, every one that *• thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; and he that hath…
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make way tor Christ into your hearts. It would be an endless task to enumerate all the mercies bestowed to this end upon the unre- generate : but surely this is the errand of them all ; and the Lord takes it very ill when his end is not answered in them : hence is that complaint, Jer. v. 24. *• Neither say they in thei…
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4, Sometimes Christ knocks with a thick succession of con- victions, a quick repetition of his calls. Some men have had thousands of convictions in a few years ; for in this case the Lord saith, as it is Exod. iv. 8. " If they will not hearken to the voice '' of the first sign, yet they may believe the voice of the lat…
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8. Every effectual knock of Christ gives an alarm to hell, and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the possession of the convinced sinner. The devil is a jealous spirit, and when his inte- rest is in danger he bestirs himself to purpose ; the time of convic- tion is an hour of temptation. " We wrestle not w…
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I. Ignorance of the nature of regenerating grace, taking that for regeneration, which is none of it; thus did the Jews, John viii. 25. confidently affirm God to be their God, and yet they did not know him. How many poor ignorant creatures think there is no need of any other work of regeneration, but what pas- sed upon …
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cious ointment of the promises upon them that were never heart- sick for sin ; when upon every shght trouble which is but as an early dew, the peculiar consolations of penitent and believing souls are hand over-head applied to them. How many such unskilful emperics are there in every place ? Such as the prophet Jeremia…
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Motive 2. The Lord Jesus is this day come nigh to every one of your souls. I may say to you as Christ did to them, Luke x. 9. ^' The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." The Lord grant he be not as nigh to some of you as ever he shall be ; for he must come nearer, or else you are lost for ever. It is not Christ among…
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Spirit, such as knowledge, vanishing convictions, &c. but the opeft- ing of the heart by faith is the special, saving, and peculiar work of the Spirit, John vi. S9. " This is the work of God that ye believe.'' Yea, it is the effect of the Almighty Power of God, the exceeding greatness of his power is exerted in the wor…
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1. Demonst. In the covenant of redemption he made 'vvith God concerning us before this Avorld had a being ; for such covenants and promises did really pass betwixt him and the Father before all time, or else I know not how to understand that scripture. Tit. i, S. " In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, p…
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Christ was in the world as a load-stone drawing all men to him ; liis deportment was every way suitable to his commission, which was " to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken- " hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of " the prison to them that are bound," Isa. h. 1. 3. As his …
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8. The dreadful threatenings of Christ against all that refuse him, and shut the doors of their hearts against him, speak his vehement desire to prevent the loss and ruin of souls. The threats of Christ are not intended to discourage any from coming to him, to fright away souls from him; no, that is not their intention…
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Both together making up the fulness of his sufferings : when you shall hear what Christ hath endured in both kinds, to pur- chase you to himself, then you may guess what a value he put upon you, what desire he hath after you. Now (1.) as to the exter- nal sufferings of Christ in his body, they were exceeding great, for…
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1. The death of Christ obtains complete righteousness for guilty sinners ; and if any thing in the world will draw the heart of a sinner, this will. The anxious search and enquiry of a convinced sinner is after a perfect righteousness to justify liim before God. O, that is it the sinner wants ! conscience saith, thou h…
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2. The ends of his ascension, as they are declared in scripture, plainly speak the vehemency of Chrisf s desire to draw souls to him. Now the declared ends of his ascension were, (1) To make way for the Spirit's coming to convince, convert, and com- fort the souls of all that come unto him ; John xvi. 7. " Neverthe- ^'…
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Knowest thou not, sinner, that among the unsanctified there are to be found multitudes of men and women of more raised and ex- cellent parts, nimble wits, strong memories, solid judgments ; yea, men and women of cleaner conversations, strict morality, adorned with excellent homolitical virtues, capable, if called, to d…
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Some there are that labour to create jealousies, and beget dis- tastes and prejudices in the souls of men against Christ and his ways ; men that bring up an evil report upon Christ, and strict re- ligion, as that which will beggar them, and expose them to all the miseries of the world : Who instigated by Satan, whis})e…
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1. The same dav and hour you give your cordial consent to take Christ upon gospel-terms, that is to say, Christ with his yoke of obedience, and Christ with his cross of sufferings, all your debts to the law are discharged and paid. What have you been doing, ever since you came into the world, but running upon score to …
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Secondly, Upon the other side cast up the account, what you may lose by youi* consent to be Christ's ; and whether these losses be sufficient to balance or preponderate the gain that comes by such a consent ; that so your choice of Christ may be a deliberate and full choice, and you may never repent afterwards of the c…
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work you have now to do ; and really you cannot safely demur any longer ; this matter must come to a conclusion, and the sooner the better. For you know, (1.) that your lives are immediately un- certain, and it is an unaccountable madness to let the great con- cern of your salvation lie one day or night at hazard ; you…
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Direct. 1. If ever you bring the treaty betwixt Christ and your souls to a happy issue and conclusion, you must, as before was noted, sit down and count the cost, Luke xiv. 28. it will be vain else to engage youi'selves in the profession of religion : it is not Christ's design to draw you under a rash inconsiderate eng…
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Direct. 6. Labour to make a resolved adventure upon Christ,. amidst all those encouragements, let the issue be what it will ; re^ solve to venture, though you have not the least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and pardoned. This is that brave and noble act of faith, which carries the vsoul to Christ : mu…
1,280 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition from Internet Archive OCR; OCR may contain recognition errors. Included as historical Christian writing, not Scripture.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.