A30243:1545
Spiritual refining
Spiritual refining: or A treatise of grace and assurance Wherein are handled, the doctrine of assurance. The use of signs in self-examination. How true graces may be distinguished from counterfeit. Several true signs of grace, and many false ones. The nature of grace under divers Scripture notions or titles, as regeneration, the new-creature, the heart of flesh, vocation, sanctification, &c. Many chief questions (occasionally) controverted between the orthodox and the Arminians. As also many cases of conscience. Tending to comfort and confirm saints. Undeceive and convert sinners. Being CXX sermons preached and now published by Anthony Burgess sometime fellow of Emanuel College in Cambridge, and now pastor of the church of Sutton-Coldfield in Warwickshire.Spiritual refining: or A treatise of grace and assurance Wherein are handled, the doctrine of assurance. The use of signs in self-examination. How true graces may be distinguished from counterfeit. Several true signs of grace, and many false ones. The nature of grace under divers Scripture notions or titles, as regeneration, the new-creature, the heart of flesh, vocation, sanctification, &c. Many chief questions (occasionally) controverted between the orthodox and the Arminians. As also many cases of conscience. Tending to comfort and confirm saints. Undeceive and convert sinners. Being CXX sermons preached and now published by Anthony Burgess sometime fellow of Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and now pastor of the church of Sutton-Coldfield in Warwickshire.
London: printed by A. Miller for Thomas Underhill, 1652
Title page typeset from the transcription.
A TREATISE OF GRACE and ASSURANCE; Being CXX. SERMONS. › Section 7 › Sermon 58
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.
Secondly, This Moral Virtue is not Godliness, because they erred in the manner 1also of obtaining it: They looked upon virtue, as that which was acquired by their own industry and customary actions; they call them acquired habits, not infused: They thought by often actions of Temperance, Meekness and Righteousness, to get the habits of them; but in Christianity it is far otherwise, God first makes the tree good, then the fruit will be good: First he infuseth into our souls supernatural principles, enabling us to walk holily, and then we walk in his Commandments; this is called, The taking away of an heart of stone, and giving an heart of flesh, Ezek. 32. and Writing his Law in our hearts, Jer. 31. so that when we are righteous, temperate, in a Christian way, it is not because we often accustomed our selves to such actions before, but because God first sanctified our natures thereunto; whereas all Moral Virtue is obtained by a studious and ⟨p. 360⟩[…] ⟨p. 361⟩[…] ⟨p. 360⟩diligent exercise of our selves in such ways; therefore they called this Art or Doctrine, Ethics, from [Greek or Hebrew], Custom, because they did frequently use themselves to such manners; And how common is this amongst us? Have men been formerly given to such and such vicious and sinful courses? if they recover out of these, they do it by an humane power, they stint themselves in such and such a manner: All this is well done, but still they must look higher, they must expect and beg for grace, to be infused in their hearts by Gods spirit, not obtained by their own labours: Therefore men thus moralized, and no more, are never zealously affected with the Grace of God converting them; they never are admiring, as you see Paul is, sometimes to ravishment, of the riches of Gods grace, and his unspeakable love to them: Nor have they such discovery of Grace in them, as to be often speaking of, and affected with the original of it.
Secondly, This Moral Vertue is not Godliness, because they erred in the maner