A64642:542
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.
Sol. Yes, there may be for a time, a greater and more vehement desire in a temporary then in a true believer, then in the elect themselves all their life.
Object. Where's the difference then? I thought all had been well with me, when I had such a desire, as I could scarce be at rest till it were accomplished.
Sol. I answer, beloved, It is a hard matter to tell you the difference: but you must consider,
1. From whence this desire flows; whether it come from an accidental cause: as if by accident my heart be made more soft, and I more sensible of my condition, or whether my nature be changed; to give you an instance, in iron: when iron is put into the forge it is softened, and as soon as it's taken forth, we say 'tis time to strike while the iron is hot; the fire hath made a change in it, it's malleable, the hammer is able to work on it; but let the fire be gone, and it's as hard as before; nay, we say steel is harder, so that there is no change in the nature of iron, it's hard still, redit ad ingenium, it goes back into its own estate. If it be softened, it is by an accidental cause; so here, as long as the temporary faith is in the furnace of afflictions, when God shall let loose the cord of his conscience, and makes him see that there is no way for salvation