Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n
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A43064
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A sermon preach'd before the King at His Majesty's chappel in Windsor-Castle, Novemb. 10, 1695 by Greg. Hascard.
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Hascard, Gregory.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing H1116; ESTC R25417
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12,336
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29
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the good Confession that Christ himself witness'd before Pontius Pilate 1 Tim. 6.13 This was Mary's Creed And this was that the doubting Disciple made upon his Conviction My Lord and my God Joh. 20.20 28. And all this naturally producing Charity and Meekness and such excellent Virtues And the belove Disciple tells us this was the Character of one that is born of God That he should believe that Jesus was come in the flesh And the great Apostle makes this the Sum of all Religion Charity out of a pure heart 1 Tim. 1.5 a good conscience and faith unfeign'd And when the rest of the Apostles and Apostolical men laid down the several Notes for men to judge by whether they should be sav'd or no as Grace and Spirit Decrees and Church and the like they all center here tho express'd by different Names Faith Sanctification Regeneration purifying and cleansing and all Prayers and Sacraments Temples and Altars Discipline and Ceremonies aim at this to guard this short Creed and an honest Conversation That no Age nor Sex Interest nor Party of men might call themselves the People of God except they wrought Righteousness chang'd their Manners and by Evangelical allowance became perfect and holy as their supposed Heavenly Father was And such a Religion as this and this alone is pure and undefiled The Conclusions that follow from this whole Discourse are these Two 1. That if such a Faith as this will save us we are safe and secure in this Church fo England notwithstanding the Damnation that some men denounce against us and the Anger of others that separate from us For this is the Creed of our Church this we firmly and sincerely believe And if these early Christians could be undoubtedly sav'd by the Confession of such a Faith why not we who believe this in the same sense that Christ and his Apostles delivered it and in a more diffused and explained manner as the Christians about the first 300 years taught us in their Three most famous and celebrated Creeds and also what is necessarily presupposed or implied in this short Creed or by natural Consequences deduc'd from it But those things that have no dependance upon or relation to this Creed or endeavoured to be derived from it only by dark or remote Implications and rather seem destructive of it we cannot Christen Articles of Faith or Fundamentals in Religion How comes it to pass that those First Christians could be sav'd by this Faith and nor we upon whom the ends of the World are come Are there Articles of Faith necessary for one Age of the Christian World and not for another Or was there any other Authority given to stamp new Articles for the urgent Necessities of the Church Or how come these new Necessities And why must the narrow way be made narrower still Those that do dissent from our Church could never justly charge any Rules or Doctrines upon it leading to Ill Manners or Impiety but that it reaches universal Justice and Charity towards all and especially all Humble Deportment and Duty to our Superiors And we are sure upon the Word of an Apostle That our Creed is full and firm And if he that believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God we are sure then that we are the Sons of God And with Peace and Security to our Minds and Consciences we may say of our Church which is nothing else but Old Christianity as the Disciples did of its Author the Blessed Jesus Thou art He and we look for no other 2. Let us consider the Nature of the Faith that we rely upon for our Salvation For many are so fond of and dear to their own Persons as to call themselves Saints and Favourites of Heaven who are violent in their false hopes and by force storm Heaven with no other Title than the Mad man of Athens had to the Ships coming into that Port his Fancy or his Frenzy Give a reason therefore of your Hopes and Expectations You perhaps believe That Jesus is the Christ his Person Innocent and his Doctrine Pure but if this be all if it reach not your Lives 't is but the Creed of the Spirits in despair who perhaps do more than you both believe and tremble too Your Passions sometimes are warm and you magnify the Atchivements of your dying Lord extol his Charity court and admire his Promises and the Purchase he hath made for you but will this heat of Devotion alone serve the turn then Hypocrites and other Vicious Persons can be lovers at an equal rate who cannot but admire Jesus who hath secur'd Heaven for them and given them a dispensation for their Vices at the same time You Pray and Communicate you Vow and Resolve and once in a Year you give your Souls a little Physick in the Spring and keep a Lenten Fast 't is well run hitherto but if your Devotion be out of breath not to outstrip and leave your Sins 't is Road and Custom Popular Fame or Slavish Fear but no true Principle or Ground of Hope You Sin and Repent to give your Mind a little ease but you go not forward for you Sin and Repent again and you are got into a Circle and such a round as this will make you giddy that at length by Custom you will scarce know which is Virtue and which is Vice And 't is hard to conceive that Men are fully perswaded that the Flames burn under their Feet and yet make from them only by such dull Paces or that Heaven and a Soul are of that moment yet put them both upon perhaps and peradventures In short no Man's Faith is true no Man's Hope is well-grounded no Man can truly call himself a Son of God except he be baptized into and live in the Jaylor's Faith What is that To make Confession of his Faith and Sins together the Commands and Creed to be equally reverenc'd to make him a true Christian a better and braver Man than the common Lump and Mass of Mankind and to reduce his extravagant Passions to the Regal Authority of Christ Such a Faith this must be that chuseth Christ to be his King as well as his Priest to become his Sacrifice or his Prophet only to tell him Futurities That when Interest and Pleasure come in Competition and rival his Religion and Innocency he can shake Hands with all those and stick fast to his Conscience and his God Such a Faith this is that believes the Incarnation of Christ to condemn Sin in the Flesh Such as believes his Circumcision in order to Mortification and Purity Such as believes his Resurrection not only to ascertain us of Glory but to remind us also of newness of Life Such which makes the solemn Design of the Gospel all the Mysteries of the Blessed Jesus with Prayers Praises and Sacraments and the whole Frame of his Religion not only to assure us of Imortality and to carry our Burthens but to be Arguments and Inducements also for our Obedience here and Preparations for that Divine State we call Heaven hereafter Such that are so minded in their Faith there will be Peace and Salvation upon them and the whole Israel of God and their Hopes will be well founded that when Christ the Author of their Life and their Religion too shall appear they all may appear with him in Glory To whom be all Honour Glory and Praise both now and for evermore Amen FINIS