A64642:422
Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification,…
Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification, by Christ. By the Right Reverend James Usher, late Arch-bishop of Armagh in Ireland. Published by Jos: Crab. Will: Ball. Tho: Lye. ministers of the Gospel, who writ them from his mouth, and compared their copies together. With a preface concerning the life of the pious author, by the Reverend Stanley Gower, sometime chaplain to the said bishop.Eighteen sermons preached in Oxford 1640 of conversion, unto God. Of redemption, & justification, by Christ. By the Right Reverend James Usher, late Arch-bishop of Armagh in Ireland. Published by Jos: Crabb. Will: Ball. Tho: Lye. ministers of the Gospel, who writ them from his mouth, and compared their copies together. With a preface concerning the life of the pious author, by the Reverend Stanly Gower, sometime chaplain to the said bishop.
London: printed by S. Griffin for Will, 1660
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.
So that now to come to that great matter, without which, Christ profiteth us nothing, which is Faith. The Well is deep, and this is the bucket with which we must draw. This is the hand by which we must put on Christ; As many as are baptized put on Christ: thus must we be made ready: we must be thus clothed upon, and by this hand attire our selves with the Son of Righteousness. Wherefore I declared unto you that this Faith must not be a bare conceit, floating in the brain; not a device of our own. The devil taking hold on this, would soon lead a man into a fools Paradise. To say, I am Gods Child, and sure I shall be saved, I am persuaded so: this the Devil would say Amen to, and would be glad to rock ⟨p. 414⟩men a sleep in such conceits. Such are like the foolish Virgins, That went to buy oil for their Lamps; and were perswad•d they should come soon enough to enter with the Bride-groom; but their persuasion is groundless, and they are shut out. So such groundless persuasions and assurances in a mans soul, that he is the child of God, and shall go to heaven, is not Faith; thou mayst carry this assurance to hell with thee: This Faith is not Faith; For faith comes by hearing, and that not of every word or fancy, but by hearing the word of Truth. Faith must not go a jot further then the Word of God goeth. If thou hast an apprehension, but no warrant for it out of the Word of God, it is not faith, for its said, After you heard the Word of Truth you believed. So that we must have some ground for it out of the Word of Truth, otherwise it is presumption, mere conceits, fancy, and not Faith.
So that now to come to that great matter, without which, Christ profiteth us nothing, which is Faith. The Well is deep, and this is the bucket with which we must draw. This is the hand by which we must put on Christ; As many as are baptized put on Christ: thus must we be made ready: we must be thus clothed upon, and by this hand attire our selves with the Son of Righteousness. Wherefore I declared unto you that this Faith must not be a bare conceipt, floating in the brain; not a device of our own. The devil taking hold on this, would soon lead a man into a fools Paradise. To say, I am Gods Child, and sure I shall be saved, I am perswaded so: this the Devil would say Amen to, and would be glad to rock ⟨p. 414⟩men a sleep in such conceipts. Such are like the foolish Virgins, That went to buy oyl for their Lamps; and were perswadd they should come soon enough to enter with the Bride-groom; but their perswasion is groundless, and they are shut out. So such groundless perswasions and assurances in a mans soul, that he is the child of God, and shall go to heaven, is not Faith; thou mayst carry this assurance to hell with thee: This Faith is not Faith; For faith comes by hearing, and that not of every word or fancy, but by hearing the word of Truth. Faith must not go a jot further then the Word of God goeth. If thou hast an apprehension, but no warrant for it out of the Word of God, it is not faith, for its said, After you heard the Word of Truth you believed. So that we must have some ground for it out of the Word of Truth, otherwise it is presumption, meer conceipts, fancy, and not Faith.