N00887:185
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 15: Meditation XV.
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.
Meditation XV.
On the Torment of the fire.
I Do not Approach to the Fire, so near as to meddle with it, without being made sensible, That the Torment of being Burnt in the Fire, is very Terrible; perhaps no Torment so very Terrible! Being sensible hereof, I cannot but give Thanks to God, for preserving me and mine, from the painful Affliction of being scorched in the Fire; which is an Affliction, that from one Disaster or another, men do often fall into. But then, I do also with Astonishment call to mind, the Courage of those Martyrs, who have courageously and cheerfully undergone the Torment of Burning, for their Faithfulness to the Truths and Ways of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was of old said, Isa. 24. 15. Glorify ye the Lord in the Fires, even the Name of the Lord God of Israel in the Isles of the Sea. Truly, in the British Isles of the Sea, more than on any part of the Earth beside, there have been called forth Martyrs, in the strictest sense, to Glorify the Lord in the Fires. The popish and monstrous Figment of Transubstantiation, and the Abominable Doctrines depending on it, was formerly endeavoured there to be thrust down the Throats of Good men with Burning Five brands. That Sham ⟨p. 100⟩Law, De H•eretico Comburendo, tied many Hundreds of Godly persons, of both Sexes, of divers Qualities, & of all Ages, to the Stake. And I would now Glorify the Lord, for the Grace and Strength with which His Holy Spirit inspired those Blessed Champions. It was a wonderful Operation of the Holy Spirit, on the minds of those brave Christians, That rather than they would pollute their Souls, by Denying the Evangelical Truths, wherewith Heaven had illuminated them, or by practising the Antichristian Ways of Idolatry, they would Expose their Flesh to all the horrible Torment of Burning to Death. Certainly, these Heroic Souls had a very powerful Fear of the Divine Anger, to avoid which they were not Afraid of the cruel Flames; and certainly, they had a very powerful Faith of their own Resurrection from the Ashes, & of a State of Heavenly Blessedness both before and after the Resurrection, or they would not so cheerfully have gone to the Flames that made Ashes of them. The Martyr Bilney, the Night before his Burning, thrust his Finger into the Fire, to try whether it could be born or no. Now I am Sitting before my Fire, I am Trying, whether I should be able to bear Burning for the Cause of God.