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Select Practical Works of Rev. John Howe and Dr. William Bates (1830)
Select Practical Works of Rev John Howe and Dr William Bates - 1830 Author:John Howe Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHRISTIAN READER. You whose hearts arc set on heaven, who are daily laying up a treasure there, here is a welcome messenger, to tell you more than perhaps you... more » have well considered, of the nature of your future blessedness, and to illustrate the map of the land of promise, and to bring you another cluster of its grapes : here is a useful help to make you know that holiness doth participate of glory, and that heaven is at least virtually in the seed of grace. Though this life be properly called a life of faith, as contradis- tinct from the intuition and fruition hereafter, as well as from the lower life of sense; yet is it a great truth, and not sufficiently considered and improved, that we have here more than faith, to acquaint us with the blessedness expected. Between faith and glory, there is the spirit of holiness, the love of God, the heavenly desires, which are kindled by faith, and are those branches on which the happy flower and fruit must grow : they are the name and mark of God upon us: they are our earnest, our pledge and the first fruits. And is not this more than a word of promise only ? Therefore though all christians must live by faith, marvel not that I tell you, that you may, you must have more than faith. Is not a pledge and earnest, a first-fruits more ? Therefore have christians, not only a Spirit to evidence their title, but also some foretaste of heaven itself. For faith in Christ is to recover us to God, and so much as we have of God, so much of fruition ; and so much as faith hath kindled in you of the love of God, so much foretaste you have of heaven ; for you are deceived, if you think, that any one notion speaketh more to Tou of heaven and of your ultimate end, than the love of God. And though no unsound, ill-grounded faith will serve to cause this sacr...« less