N00887:138
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 6: Meditation VI.
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.
And here it will not be amiss, to bestow an Illustration, upon that obscure Text, Mark 9. ⟨p. 77⟩49. Every one shall be Salted with Fire, and every Sacrifice shall be Salted with salt. Every One, must not be understood of Every man, but Every one whose worm dieth not, and whose Fire is not quenched, whereof we read in the words immediately preceding The Import of this passage, will be better perceived, if we consider, That our Lord Jesus Christ here uses the last words in Isaiah's Prophecies. It is there said; they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have Transgressed against me; For their worm shall not Die, neither shall their Fire be quenched; and they shall be an Abhorring to all Flesh. Upon these words, the Jews write thus; Is not the Finger of a man, If it be put into the Fire, immediately burnt? But God gives power [or, Being] unto wicked men, to Receive Torments. And Kimchi particularly does write thus. They shall see the Carcasses of them full of Worms, and Fire burning in them, and yet the Worms die not. The words of our Saviour have Respect hereunto; Their Worm dyeth not, and the Fire is not quenched; for Every one of them shall be Seasoned with Fire it self, to become unconsumeable. As Salt preserves from corruption, here the Fire it self shall be of such an operation, as to render the objects of it capable of being for ever tormented in it. Whereas tis added, And […] Sacrifice shall be Salted with Salt; we may remember, tis said, ⟨p. 78⟩Lev. 2. 13 With all thine Offerings thou shalt offer Salt In the former clause, the Allusion was to the Fire of Gehinnom, where Dead carcasses, with other Filthy things, were consumed: a Fire for that use constantly preserved and maintained. The Dead carcasses in this Prophecy, crawl with Worms, and instead of Salt, that secures against Worms, they shall be cast into a Fire that shall […] them, and yet even in that Fire, the Worms die not. But in this latter clause, there is an Allusion to the Fire of the Altar. He that is a true Sacrifice to God shall be seasoned with the Salt of Grace, to Incorruptible Glory. This refers to what the Prophet had said: They shall bring their Brethren out of all the Nations, for a Gift unto the Lord, as the Children of Israel, bring an Offering in a clean Vessel, into the House of the Lord.