The Continuation of Christs Alarm to Drowsy Saints, Title page – Errata
THE CONTINUATION OF CHRIST'S ALARM TO Drowſie Saints.
WITH
A Treatiſe of Effectuall Calling.
The Killing power of the Law.
The Spirituall Watch.
The New Birth.
A Chriſtians ingrafting into Chriſt.
A Treatiſe on the Sabath.
Which were never before publiſhed.
BY The Reverend and Faithfull Miniſter of JESUS CHRIST, Mr. WILLIAM FENNER, Late Miniſter of Rochford in Eſſex.
LONDON, Printed for John Rothwell at the Fountain in Cheapſide, and Tho. Parkhurſt at the three Crowns againſt the great Conduit at the lower end of Cheapſide.
MDCLVII.
To the Reader.
Chriſtian Reader,
HE that ſhould ſpeak to the praiſe of this Authour ſhould commit the ſame ſoloeciſm that he did who writ De laudibus Herculis, of the praiſe of Hercules, whom no man ever diſpraiſed. Should all men be ſilent, ſtones would ſpeak for him; thoſe at leaſt, of whom through Gods mercy he raiſed up children to Abraham. He was a man of great abilities, great experiences, and great induſtry; which three concurring, muſt needs make him a workman that needs not be aſhamed. He was a man well ſeen in the ſtate of ſoules, and one who knew with wonderfull prudence and judgement to accommodate himſelfe to mens various conditions, which is a chiefe part of a ſpirituall Phyſitian. The ſubject here preſented to thee is of great worth, and great difficulty; it is about the beſt created object, a Saint, & de corruptione optimi, the corruption of the beſt, the eclipſes of thoſe Lights; the falls, or rather the tremblings of thoſe pillars: a point wherein, if in any, there is need of great accurateneſs, leſt a man foreign, whiles he avoyds one extreameQuae Deus abſcondit, ne ſcrutemur; quae in apertum protulit ne negligamus; ne aut unâ ex parte nimiae curioſitatis, aut alterâ ingratitudin is damnemur. runs into another: Need of great warineſs, leſt a man either harden the hearts and ſtrengthen the hands of evill doers, or ſadden the hearts of thoſe whom God would not have made ſad. It is one of thoſe points which, it is like, many think fitter to be ſmothered in perpetuall ſilence, becauſe of the ſad conſequences will almoſt unavoidably follow upon it. But ſurely there is a great deale of truth in that ſaying, To ſearch into thoſe things which God hath thought fit to conceale is boldneſſe, and curioſity; to neglect thoſe things which God hath revealed is groſſe ingratitude. And therefore leaving events to God, for our parts we conceive the pains of this Reverend Authour are to good purpoſe, and ſuch a ſubject deſerved to be handled by ſuch an hand. The former part (ſetting aſide what concerns the Miniſters of Chriſt, &c.) ſpeaks to dead Chriſtians, to the ſect of Nominales, ſuch as had meerly a name to live, but were dead; and diſtinguiſheth between the dead child and the living. This ſecond part ſpeaks to the diſtempers of living Chriſtians, who, though they ſhall not ſee death, yet may with Epaphroditus be brought nigh unto death; yea, with Eutychus may be taken up for dead, and ſo judged by the ſtanders by: You have here a Chriſtian in his Autumne, or his winter, wanting not onelyonly the bloſſome of a glorious profeſſion, but alſo the fruit of a pious converſation for ought that either himſelfe or others converſing with him can diſcover.
Surely this is one of the ſaddeſt and moſt amazing meditations that a gracious heart can pitch upon: it is one of the foreign, the hidden things of God, which we ſhall never throughly underſtand the reaſon of, donec Elias venerit, untill the comming of Elias: for the proſecution of this point, the Authour takes that courſe which a prudent Phyſician doth in the cure of bodily diſtempers: Firſt, he opens the natures, ſhews the cauſes, gives the ſignes both Diagnoſtick and Prognoſtick; and then comes to the Therapeutick part. And all of them handled ſo ſubſtantially, and ſeriouſly (pro more ſuo) that we doubt not, thoſe that feare God will look upon it as a ſingular providence of God, that hath brought ſuch a Treaſure to light. We may well conjecture that it will be a Book wherein the people of God vvill be ſeriouſly converſant, the ſubject matter thereof being of ſuch conſtant and neceſſary concernment.
To this is added a Treatiſe of Effectuall Calling; and other Treatiſes, wherein you vvill meet vvith divers things vvorthy of the Authour. And although all of us vvho have ſubſcribed this Epiſtle have not peruſed the vvhole, yet vve have good cauſe to hope that it is a book, vvhichwhich if it be read vvith prayer and conſideration vvill adde to thy ſpirituall ſtature and comfort in Chriſt: onelyonly remember that it is not enough to be a formall reader, vvithout perſonall and practicall application. But vve vvill not detain thee by our Preface from this profitable piece, vvhichwhich vvith thy ſelfe vve commend to the rich bleſſing of the Almighty, through our deare adored Saviour, in whom vve are thine in the ſervice of the Goſpel,
Simeon Aſhe.
William Taylor.
Matthew Poole.
John Jackson.
John Seabrooke.
London, Octob. 21. 1656.
Imprimatur
EDMUND CALAMY.
Errata in the Continuation of Chriſts Alarm.
PAge 1. l. 44. r. it may. p. 5. l. 20. r. ſtrive with: p. 70. l. 4. r. ſinning againſt. p. 78. l. 27. r. are bidden.
Errata in Effectuall Calling.
Page 4. l. 25. r. of Darkneſs. p. 7. l. 6. may r. muſt. p. 14. l. 21. r. reſtore unto me the joy. p. 33. l. 50. r. and what. p. 39. l. 17. r. a Reception on mans ſide. p. 44. l. 35. r. no poſſibility. p. 47. l. 1. r. define faith. l. 45. r. throw thy ſelf. p. 51. l. 40. r. Hope of. p. 56. l. 21. r. to task. p. 58. l. 53. r. to pray. p. 60. l. 36. r. have him. p. 69. l. 29. l. 29. r. thine hand. p. 72. l. 27. r. that a juſtifying. p. 77. l. 2. r. that hath affiance. p. 79. l. 5. r. every man.
Killing power of the Law.
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