Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n
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A35903
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A dialogue between Timothy and Titus about the articles and some of the canons of the Church of England wherein super-conformity is censured and moderation recommended : with a serious perswasive to all the inferiour clergy of that Church / by one that heartily wisheth union amongst Protestants.
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One that heartily wisheth union amongst Protestants.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing D1336; ESTC R734
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65,452
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44
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here what high and noble priviledges are signified and sealed to us by our Baptism Regeneration Adoption and Remission To which our Church explaining this Article in her Catechism adds Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven What Obligations to an holy Life can there be greater or stronger than these Tim. None surely Tit. Add hereto the Covenant on our part to renounce the Devil and all his Works to believe the Articles of the Christian Faith and obediently to keep Gods Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of our Lives Which Covenant unless we perform and keep we have no right to or benefit by the aforesaid Priviledges Nay our Baptism will prove but an aggravation of our Condemnation in the day of Judgment and an unbaptized Heathen would not change estates at that day with such a baptized Christian Moreover we who are made Ministers do most solemnly devote and dedicate our selves to God to holy services and gaining of souls as the Deputies of Christ in the day that we enter into holy Orders And if none of all these bonds will hold us certainly we are the worst of men and deserve the highest Censures the Church can inflict upon us And our Church will never be glorious till all such Apostates he either throughly reformed or totally ejected out of her Tim. I hope I do forsake all the Works of the Devil Tit. Except Drunkenness and Swearing Tim. Truly 't is very seldom In a passion perhaps an Oath may slip and when I meet with good Company I am loath to part and apt to be merry but 't is rare And bating these I think I have no fellowship with the Works of darkness Tit. But there is another Vice I know not whether you will allow it a Work of the Devil or not you are almost incurably infected with for 't is Chronical Tim. What 's that Tit. That which I think in a Minister as bad as either of the former Tim. I can't imagine what you mean. Tit. I mean Sloth horrible Sloth and Idleness spending little or no time in fitting and improving your self for the difficult and weighty Duties of your Office. And this Vice exposeth you to the rest and all other whatever Besides this makes you so profoundly ignorant that you are not able in any tolerable manner to defend our Religion against Papists and Sectaries and your weak defence of the Truth confirms them in their Errour and makes them cast off all thoughts of reconciliation to our Church Doubtless therefore Idleness in a Minister is a great sin a woful shame and the Mother of many sins And till I see you reform this I shall have small hopes of you as to the rest But this is all I shall hint to you from this Article which puts you in mind of your Priviledges and Obligations by your Baptism Now proceed ART 28. Tim. The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the Love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christs Death Insomuch that to such as rightly worthily and with Faith receive the same the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and likewise the Cup of blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ Transubstantiation or the change of the Substance of Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions The Body of Christ is given taken and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was not by Christs Ordinance reserved carried about lifted up or worshipped Tit. You may read the two following for they both relate to this ART 29. Tim. The wicked and such as be void of a lively Faith although they do carnally and visibly press with their Teeth as S. Augustin saith the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ yet in no wise are they Partakers of Christ but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the Sign or Sacrament of so great a thing ART 30. The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people For both the parts of the Lords Sacrament by Christs Ordinance and Commandment ought to be ministred to all Christian men alike Tit. What is your sentiment of these three Coherent Articles and what do you observe from them Tim. I think they contain very sound Doctrine and I observe our Church throws out Transubstantiation and Half Communion Tit. Nothing else Tim. No What Observations do you make from them Tit. Such as I think reprehend both your Practice and Doctrine Tim. Pray what are they Tit. First this Twenty ninth Article which with the rest you have subscribed â—x animo to be agreeable to the Word of God declares That wicked persons void Vid. Canon 3â— of lively Faith receiving the Sacrament in no wise partake of Christ but rather to their own condemnation And doth not your Conscience tell you you have been oft such a Receiver Tim. I bless God not in the least Tit. I am sorry for it For whoever continues in any known sinful Courses open or secret is a wicked Person Now to omit secret Impieties not observable by Man yet are not by any Coverts to be hid from the notice of God your Swearing and Drunkenness and Idleness are publick sinful Courses and continuing in these as you do hitherto I cannot learn by this Article how you can be a worthy Communicant at this Sacred Ordinance nay I wonder you do not tremble to think of that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. He that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgment to himself Tim. But before I come to the Sacrament I repent of these miscarriages Tit. What Repentance without Reformation This is new Divinity Repent of Sin and not forsake Sin The Scriptures teach us other manner of Repentance than this Repent and turn Ezek. 18. and Let the wicked forsake his way Esa 55. And our Liturgy will tell you in her Confession That true Repentance consists in sorrowing for Sin forsaking Sin and living soberly righteously and godly for the time to come Besides had you this lively Faith in Christ which our Church saith is necessary to make us worthy Receivers I must tell you it would purifie your heart and reform your life 1 John 3. 3. He that hath this hope c. Believe it therefore that Faith and Repentance that consists with the allowed and daily practice of such foul irregularities in the Life will never render you a worthy Receiver at Christs Table on Earth or procure you admittance into his Kingdom in Heaven Often read this Article and take this Reprehension
Tit. Then I perceive you are sound as to this Article Read the last ARTICLE 39. Tim. As we confess vain and rash Swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle So we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but that a man may Swear when the Magistrate requireth in a Cause of Faith and Charity so it be done according to the Prophets Teaching in Justice Judgment and Truth Tit. The summe of this last Article is this That vain and rash Oaths are unchristian and forbidden by the Gospel And that a lawful Oath by the same word may be given and taken in Justice Judgment and Truth Or when we are lawfully called to it by a lawful Magistrate Now touching the former some are too forward and as to the latter some too backward And all that I shall say here having spoken somewhat to you of this nature already is this I heartily wish that as some Dissenters from our Church may justly be charged for Swearing too little so that they could not as justly charge many of our Church with Swearing too much Tim. I wish so too the Lord grant it Tit. Sure I am that because of Oaths such as this Article forbids c. our Land mourns I pray God therefore that all Christians Ministers especially may learn of the Prophet David to set a watch upon the door of their Lips that they may not in this kind above all at any time offend with their Tongues Tim. Amen Tit. Now you have heard this short account of the Articles of our Church which you have subscribed give me your serious thoughts of them Tim. In brief and sincerely as I subscribed them I am convinced they are sound and good That those Ministers who deviate from them in Doctrine or Practice as I and many more have done God forgive both me and them are greatly to blame and justly deserve to be censur'd for it by the Governours of our Church And that such as hold them firm and inviolable Preaching and Living according to them are not only in regard of their subscription the most Conscientious Person but must needs be also the Truest Friends to our Church and strongest Foes to Rome and all other our Churches Enemies Tit. God be thanked for this Conviction and while you are in this good mind with my Prayers to God that you may continue so I bid you Farewel A Friendly and Cordial Exercitation to my Brethren in the Ministry Whose Lives are unbecoming their Function Reverend Brethren I Call God and his Holy Angels to Witness I have had many sad and serious thoughts for the Miseryand Destractions of our Church And can truly say the former discourse is the effect and result of such thinking and how would my heart rejoyce and my sadness be turned into singing might I conduce any thing by what I Preach or Write to her Settlement and Union But who can hope this till all her Sons shall speak and do the same things Preaching according to her Articles and acting and living answerable to her Prescriptions which are Sober Righteous and Godly Nothing gives a greater blow and bane to Religion than the discords and loose lives of her Professors and much more of her Ministers If Pride and Covetousness if Envy and Malice if Slander and Censoriousness if Division and Uncharitableness if Debauchery and Loosness look ill and are of ill Consequence in other men much more in Ministers We are not called the Salt of the Earth to corrupt others Lights to walk in Darkness Stewards to be Unfaithful and Angels to live like Devils We cannot Sin at so easy a rate as other men for as our evil examples do more hurt than others so our doom will be more dreadful when we come to give up our account to our Lord Jesus the Bishop of our Souls and of the Souls committed to our trust whom he hath redeemed by his Precious Bloud It is noted among King Alphonsus sayings that a great man cannot commit a small Sin. I may say much more that a learned man and a Teacher of others cannot commit a small Sin or at least that Sin is great in him which is smaller in another For we Sin against more knowledg and against more light and means of knowledg there must needs therefore be more wilfulness in our Sins If we Sin 't is because we will Sin. Yea our Sins must needs have more Hypocrisy in them than other men's by how much the more we have spoke against them O what an hainous thing is it in us to study how to disgrace Sin to the utmost by setting forth the Author Nature and danger of Sin thereby to make it as frightful and odious â—o our People as we can and when we have done to live in it and secretly cherish that which we openly disgrace To cry it down in others and keep it up in our selves in our own Hearts and Lives To call it publickly all to naught beastly Drunkenness hellish Swearing damned Covetousness Body and Soul destroying Whoredom c. and yet make it our Bedfellow and Companion what vile Hypocrisy is this is not this to bind heavy Burthâ—ns for others and not to touch them our selves with a finger what can you say to this in the day of Judgment Did you think still of Sin as you spake or did you not If you did not why did you dissemble if you did why would you keep and commit it if Sin be evil why do you live in it if it be not why do you disswade men from it if it be really dangerous how dare you venture on it if it be not why do you tell men so if God 's threatnings be true why do ye not fear them if they be false why do you trouble Men needlesly with them and put them into such frights without cause Do you know the Judgment of God that they that commit such things are worthy of Death and will you do them O my Brethren yet let not any of us who bear the Name of Christs Ambassadors bear the Badge of a miserable dissembling Pharisee They say but do not Our Sins have more perfidiousness in them than other Mens We have more engaged our selves against Sin. Besides all our common Engagements as Christians we have many more as Ministers How oft and how earnestly for God's sake Religions sake and their own Souls sake have we called others from it how oft have we declared the Terrors of the Lord against it All these did imply that we renounced it our selves Every Sermon that we preach against it every private Exhortation and Admonition every Confession of it in the Congregation is a renewed engagement upon us to forsake it Every Child that we Baptize and receive into Covenant with Christ every Administration of the Holy Supper of our Lord wherein we call upon Men to repent and forsake Sin to renew their Covenant with God and lead a new Life according to his