N00887:119
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord:…
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetched out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their leisure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetch'd out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their liesure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1702
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Christianus per Ignem. Or, A Disciple WARMING himself And OWNING hi… › Meditation 4: Meditation IV.
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.
Wherefore, What shall I do? The first thing to be done, in answer to that Question, is for every man to put another Question; even that, What have I done? It would be an agreeable thing, for a man to take a well expressed Catalogue of Things Required & of Things Forbidden, in the Ten Commandments of God. Beholding himself in that Glass, a man may come to see his own criminal Omissions, and Commissions, and know what there is to be mended in him. When a man has gone thus far towards the mending of himself, let not his next work be, according to the preposterous Divinity of our Days, to make Vows, That he will do no more Amiss. Those ill timed Vows will be broken on the next Opportunity, or Temptation to break them. No, the Next work is to Confess and Bewail, all that we find Amiss before the Lord, and therewithal ⟨p. 62⟩to Impl••e, and Adore, and Accept the Pardoning Mercy of God through' the Lord JESUS CHRIST; and by Faith to entreat and expect a Pardon from God, through' the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son, which cleanseth from all Sin. Un•i• a man do by Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, for Atonement and Righteousness, come into the Covenant of Grace, 'tis very certain that Sin will have Dominion over him. And until God be Reconciled unto a man, through' the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ applied unto him, he will remain a Slave to the Lusts, into the dreadful Hands whereof, he is put over by the spotless Justice of Heaven. While a Sinner is in this unpardoned, and unhappy State, all hi• Resolutions to Amend what is Amiss with him, will signify no more, than the Green Withes, which once bound the Champion: without passing from the Fire, to come at a similitude for them, They will be as a Thread of Tow is broken, when it toucheth the Fire. But having sought the Pardon of what we find Amiss with us, Then 'tis time to proceed, and purpose, and resolve against our miscarriages, We must humbly ask of God, the Help of His Grace, to Amend what is Amiss with us, under this encouragement, That our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased this Grace for us, and His New Covenant has promised it. Encouraged and Fortified with this consideration, a man may do well considerately to Draw up, ⟨p. 63⟩the several Points of Amendment, that he would propound unto himself.