N00887:41
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.
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.
Reflection I.
A very grievous Apostasy, tho' not a Total Apostasy, not a Final Apostasy, may befall a man of Real Christianity. The Christianity of Peter, was not utterly extinct, nor utterly did his Faith fail, when he fell into the Action of Denying the Lord that bought him. It was by the Fire-side, that Peter was guilty of this Action; and by the Fire side sometimes we may see an Emblem of his Condition in it. You may think, there is no Fire left, when yet you'll find raked up in the Embers, a Coal, that will be afterwards improved into a mighty Flame. The Faith of Peter was a Coal covered in the Embers; he still had a principle of Christianity in him, which was ready, when the present Sifting was over, to have asserted, as once he did, his Jesus, to be, The Christ, the Son of the Living God. Nevertheless, it was a terrible Swoon of Apostasy, which this famous Christian was fallen into. The Perseverance of the Faithful, is an Illustrious and Important Article of, The Faith once delivered unto the Saints. To Deny the Perseverance of the Faithful, or, to affirm, That every Believer shall not certainly persevere in the Faith, is a very dangerous Heresy, of men that are not found in the ⟨p. 27⟩Faith. It must be granted, That Hypocrites may prove Apostates. There is a Show of Grace, that may be Lost; a Seeming that may be taken away. A Temporary Faith will prove no more than Temporary. [See Heb.6.4] Yea, it must be granted, That if the Saints were Left unto themselves, they would fall away Totally and Finally. Angels themselves did so. The Dragon would sweep down Stars from Heaven, if they were not kept there, by the mighty power of God. But for all this, The Perseverance of the Saints, is infallibly secured. The Great God of Truth, has both Declared, and Promised, the Perseverance of the Faithful in their Faith. It is declared, in 1 Joh.3.9. Whatsoever is Born of God, his seed remaineth in him. It is promised, in