to God whiche Spirite we receaue by Christ at our regeneration Of this newe man speaketh our Sauiour Christe thus That whiche is borne of the spirite is spirite Also S. Paule Be renued in the spirit of your minde and put on the newe man whiche after God is shapen in righteousnesse and true holynesse Againe put on the newe man which is renued in the knowledge and image of him that made him What is it to denye our selues Playnly to professe that all our laboures and works profit nothing vnto saluatiō to slea the old Adam with al his lusts affectiōs What is it to forsake all that we haue for Christes sake To esteeme al that we haue not to be ours for his sake and willingly if neede so require for the profession of his name to depart from wyfe children parentes freendes countrey house landes and all thinges els that we doo or may enioye yea and to put our selues in danger of all perill for the name of Christ and profession of the Gospell He that loueth father or mother more then me saith Christ is not worthy of me And he that loueth sonne or daughter more then mee is not worthy of me And he that taketh not his crosse and followeth me is not worthy of me He that findeth his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life for my sake shall finde it Agayne if a man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wyfe and children and bretheren or sisters yea his owne life also he cannot be my disciple And whosoeuer doth not beare his crosse and come after me he cannot be my disciple What is the crosse that we must take vpon on vs Any sorow or payne that belonggeth to any vocation or trade of life for the tryall and profe of our faith and pacience Also it is the correction chastening rodde and staffe of the Lord wherewith he punisheth them whome he loueth not to theyr damnation or vtter casting away from his fauour but to saluation and to teach vs to flye vnto him in our trouble aduersity as children to our most deare louing father What is ment by the name of the Lorde whose glory we must set forth The glory prayse wysedome might power worship honor and maiestie of the Lorde Or the knowledg preaching and aduauncement of his holy worde What is the temple of the holy Ghost An honest godly and faithfull christian hart in the which God is rightly worshipped in spirite and truth wherein are offered spirituall sacrifices of prayse innocencie thankes geuing of an humble and contrite hart whose chiefe corner stone is christ Knowe ye not saith Saint Paule that ye are the temple of God and howe the spirite of God dwelleth in you ▪ If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroye For the temple of God is holy which temple ye are Saint Peter also sayth Ye as liuing stones are made a spirituall house an holy Priesthode for to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. What is the kingdome of heauen The kingdome of heauen is diuerslye taken in the Scriptures First for the holy Gospell and worde of God bicause that is the scepter and yron rodde whereby God ruleth reygneth and dwelleth in the hearts of the faythfull Of this kingdome speaketh Christ in the Gospell on this wise I will giue thee the keyes of the kingdome of heauen that is to saye I will commit vnto thee the office to preache the Gospell of saluation which openeth and vnlocketh vnto men the waye and doore by the whiche they may be saued and enter into the kingdome of heauen Item the kingdome of heauen is lyke vnto leauen which a woman tooke and hydde in three peckes of meale tyll it were all leauenned Secondlye the kingdome of heauen is taken for fayth it selfe as Saint Paule sayeth The kingdome of heauen is not meate and drinke but righteousnesse and peace and ioye in the holy ghost Thirdlye the kingdome of heauen is expounded the whole congregation of the faythfull abyding in this lyfe in whome the Lorde by his worde and spirite doth inuisibly dwell and reygne Of this kingdome speaketh Christ in the Gospell on this maner The kingdome of heauen is lyke to ten virgines whiche tooke their lampes and went to meete the Brydegrome Fyue of them were wyse and fiue were foolishe c. Fourthlye the kingdome of heauen is taken for the ioye felicitie and pleasure which the soules of the beleeuers enioye when they are departed out of this world and their bodies also ioyned with the soules at the day of Iudgement shall enioy euen in that place which Christ hath prepared for them to possesse where they shall bee comforted with the sight of his Maiestie and Godheade and with the fruition of his perpetuall felicitie with him Of this kingdome speaketh Christ in the Gospell When ye shall see Abraham Isaac and Iacob and the Prophets in the kingdome of God and you to bee driuen out of the dores Finallye the kingdome of heauen is wheresoeuer Gods worde is preached from which kingdome they onely are excluded whiche beleeue not the worde according to this saying of Christ He that is of God heareth the wordes of god But yee heare not bicause yee are not of god Agayne My sheepe heare my voyce Item Euerye one that is of the truth heareth my voyce What meanest thou by a lande that floweth with milke and honie Pleasaunt abundance of all things both sweete and profitable By the honie is vnderstoode sweetenesse ioy gladnesse and pleasure By the milke pure nourishment whereby we still continue growe and increase in fayth and godlynesse vnto the measure of Christ. When shall we enter vppon and enioye this kingdome this promised lande that floweth with milke and honie The church militant in this worlde gouerned by the spirite of their most mightie valiant victorious and triumphant Captayne Christ already enioyeth after a certayne maner in spirite thorowe fayth in this kingdome and blessed lande as it is written He that beleeueth on the Sonne hath euerlasting life Hee that beleeueth not on the Sonne shall not see lyfe but the wrath of God abydeth vpon him But when they are ioyned togither both bodie and soule with the reast of the faithfull congregation which are departed out of this world in the faith of Christ to make one whole tryumphant congregation when they haue by the power of Christe conquered the malignant church of the deuill which shall be at the last day of iudgement which we doo dayly looke for nowe in these latter times then shall they truely and perfectly enioye and possesse all the ioyes and pleasures of that most ioiful and pleasant lande whereof Dauid speaketh on this manner I beleeue to see the good things of the Lorde in the land of the liuing Nowe we see in a glasse sayth the Apostle euen in a
consyst Of two partes that is to saye of the element and of the worde Howe manye Sacramentes are there Two Baptisme and the Lordes supper What is Baptisme The washing of euerye beleeuing Christian in water that taketh vppon him to professe the name of Christ whiche water certifieth our fayth of the inwarde washing and clensing of our soules by the spirite of God a token of our regeneration of the mortification of our fleshe of our buriall with Christe and of our resurrection vnto a newe lyfe If the beleeuing Christians onely be baptised according to this saying of Christe He that beleeueth and is baptised shall bee saued Why shoulde the Infantes be baptised which for imperfection of age are not able to beleeue Though Infantes haue not power to beleeue or to confesse their beliefe yet haue they fayth imputed vnto them for the promise sake of God bicause they bee the seede of the faythfull as hee sayde to Abraham I will be thy God and the God of thy seede Seeing then that they also haue that promise of saluation why should they be forbiddē the promised pledge or seale of that same promsied saluation The Sacraments of the Iewes diffred nothing from ours in effect but onelye in the outwarde element and forme of executing the same Why then shoulde oure Infants be more forbidden Baptisme than the Iewes infantes were forbidden Circumcision at the eyght daye Seing we reade that the Apostles baptised sundrie housholdes as of Stephana Lidia Onesiphorus c. if a man may gesse at a thing whereof wee haue no certaintie it is lyke inoughe that they baptised some Infantes also But to leaue all gesses and vncertain coniectures we are sure that the Iewes infantes passed with their parentes out of Egypt thorow the red sea and vnder the cloud which were tokens of our baptisme What if the infants die before they receaue the Sacrament of Baptisme Gods promise of saluacion vnto them is not for default of the Sacrament minished or made vayne and of no effect For the spirite is not so bound to the water that it can not worke his office where the water wanteth or that it of necessitie must alway be there where the water is sprinckled Simon Magus had the Sacramētal water but he had not holy Ghost being in dede an Hipocrit and filthy dissembler In the Chronicle of the Apostles Artes we reade that while Peter preached the holy Ghost came vpon them that heard him yea and that before they were baptised by the reason whereof Peter brast out into these wordes saide can any man forbyd water that these should not be baptised which haue receaued the holy Ghost as well as we True Christians whether they be old or young are not saued bicause outwardly they bee washed with the Sacramentall water but bicause they be Gods children by electron through Christ yea and that before the foundacions of the world were layd and are sealed vp by the spirite of God vnto euerlasting life the giftes and calling of God being such that it can not repent him of them Notwithstanding the Sacrament of Baptisme ought not therefore to be neglected but with all reuerence to be embraced both of old and young For he that despiseth the Sacrament despiseth not the Sacrament only but the authour of the Sacrament which is Christ Iesus the Lorde What is the Supper of the Lord or the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ Bread and Wine consecrated that is to say made and appoynted of God to bee a Sacrament to put vs in rememberance that as the bread is broken and the wine powred out so Christes body was broken and his blood shed for our redemption And as the bread receaued through our mouth and digested in our stomacke driueth away our hunger and norysheth our body the wine likewise receiued and digested quencheth our thirst and quickeneth our bloud so Christes bodie and bloude receyued by fayth digested with worthie continuaunce therein not disagreeing from the right receyuing thereof slaketh our hunger and thirst that is to saye our emptynesse of grace and drynesse of fayth nourysheth and quickeneth both our bodye and soule making vs partakers of the whole merites and dignitie of the bodie and bloude of christ And as the bread of many granes is made one loafe and the wyne pressed togither of sundry grapes so wee being many are one body in Christ And bicause we are of his body we must needes also be quickened by his bloude and lyue of hys spirite Remayneth there the substance of breade and wine after the wordes of consecration as they terme them or but the accidentes of them onely as the authors of Transubstantiation haue heretofore taught If the substaunce of breade and wyne shoulde bee denied to remayne in the Sacrament of the bodie and bloude of Christ so shoulde it cease to be a Sacrament For euery sacrament as we haue tofore hearde consisteth of the word and of the element Now yf we take away water from Baptisme so is there no Sacrament verely euen so in like manner take away Bread and Wine from the Lordes Supper so ceaseth it to be a sacrament To declare that bread remayneth after the wordes of consecration Saint Paule calleth it breade diuers times as we may see in his first Epistle to the Corinthians S. Luke also in his Chronicle of the Apostles actes whēsoeuer he maketh mention of the Lordes Supper calleth it the breaking of breade And it is to bee thought that so worthye learned men woulde haue presumed to call so honourable a mysterie breade if there had bene no breade remayning but onelye the accidentes of breade as oure Transsubstantiators teache Doth not our Sauiour Christe after the wordes of consecration call the misterie of his bloud the fruite of the vine And who is so farre estraunged from the right rule of reason whiche knoweth not that the fruite of the vine is wyne Here doth it euidently appeare by the authoritie of Gods worde that in the Sacrament of Christes bodie and bloude there remayneth after the wordes of consecration the substance both of breade and wine whereof it truly followeth that the Popishe doctrine of Transsubstantiation is nothing else than a vaine dreame and foolishe fancie brought in by Antichrist neuer knowne of the ancient fathers of Christes church nor yet receyued of the Greekes vnto this day Why sayst thou there but two Sacramentes when we haue heretofore bene taught that there are seauen Sacramentes Bicause Christ in the newe Testament lefte no mo to be occupied in his Churche As there were giuen to the people of the olde lawe but two Sacramentes That is to say Circumcision and the Passeouer so likewise in the newe Testament Christe appointed but two Sacraments that is in steade of Circumcision Baptisme and in the place of the Passeouer the Lordes Supper Therefore as for the rest they be not aptly called Sacraments They
the number of the leaues be considered but yf the matter therof be diligently pondered it shal be found both great profitable Thus for this present taking my leaue of you I vvysh to you and to the vvhole Tovvne all good and prosperous things both for your bodyes soules most humbly beseeching God to finishe that good vvoorke vvhich he hath begun in you vnto the glory of his name vnto the profite of his holy congregation Amen From my house at Caunterbury the fyrst of September 1563. The Demaundes of holy Scripture WHO did create vs God who also made al the world of nought What things damned vs Sinne. In so much as Adam did eate by the perswasion of Eua of the Apple forbidden him of god For sinne is the breaking of the commaundementes of GOD. Who redemed vs and set vs in the fauour of GOD againe Iesus Christ by takyng our nature on him What is God vnto vs Whereas before he was a seuere straight Iudge through Christe he is become our most louing tender and mercifull father What are we His dearely beloued children What thing is GOD An infinite substaunce which onely with his word of might did create and make all thinges and with his most high and incomparable wisedome gouerneth all thing and of his inestimable goodnesse suffereth and preserueth all thing I call that infinite both which hath neyther beginning nor ending and that which can not be comprehended nor compassed by mans braine what thing it is And in both these significacions God is infinite Furthermore that is to euery man god or a god that he loueth dreadâ—th and worshippeth with all his hart The Scripture also calleth the Iudges and Officers of the earth gods What is a strange God or an other God What soeuer thing we worshyp besides the very lyuing god And that also that doth alienate and turneth our harte from Gods worde is called a strang or an other God. What thing is fayth It is a full and perfite confidence and trust in God through Christe ingendred in our harte by hearing the worde of God and as Paul defineth faith Faith is a sure confidence of thinges which we looke for and the certaintie of promises What is hope A styffe and firme expectacion of such thinges as be promised vs of the worde of GOD. What is charitie The principall fruite of faith a prompte and redy wyll to doo good to our neighbour Otherwhyles the workes of mercie are called charitie What is the lawe It is the liuely wyll of God geuen vs by commaundement as well in the newe testament as in the olde whose worke and operacion is to shewe sinne to shewe that God is angry with vs for our euill doing and dayly transgression of his commaundement whose duty is to accuse vs in our conscience to cast vs downe and make vs seeme vyle nought worth in our sight and by this meanes eyther bringeth vs to vtter desperacion or els leadeth vs as it were by the hande to Christe the only true pacifier of the conscience What is the Gospel It is a glad tiding Or els you may call it euery promise that God made of Christe and of other his good benefites wherby the cloudes of the conscience be put awaye and mans minde erected and made mery whether these promises be in the new testament or in the old Paule saith it is the power of God where by all that beleeue are brought to healthe and sauegarde What is it to be a godly man or who is godly He or shee that hath faith and the feare of God before their eyes Who is wicked or vngodly He or shee that beleeueth not the promise of God and that hath not the dreade of God before them Who is a Christian man He that beleeueth on Christe and liueth according to his worde Who is an Ethnike or Miscreant He that vseth not those lawes and ordinaunces and hath not the faith that we haue Or els he that seeketh to be saued by some other meanes then by Christ. Who is an Heretik He which thinketh and styfly mainteineth any thing against the doctrine of faith that is to say the word of God. Marke here the word of God to be called the doctrine of faith because faith draweth from no whence els her principles then from the worde of god Because she only learneth marketh and beareth away the word of God. What is the kingdome of Heauen It is where the word of God is truly preached and receiued and where it beareth fruite meete for the doctrine whose king and Lord is Christ. What is the worlde An heape and mustre of men without the word of God among whom the word of God is despised and persecuted where is a rablement of al vices whose Prince and God is Sathan In some place it is called an hot boyling Sea which can not rest and be asswaged What is the word of God It is the decreed sentence word and will of God expressed and left behind of the Prophetes and Apostles to vs in the canonical bookes of the newe testament and the old whiche word he that reciueth that is to say knowledgeth in his hart to be true and holy and liueth according to it receiueth God and he that refuseth it despiseth God and as much as lieth in him he maketh God a lyer The word of God hath sundry names in Scripture as the sword of the spirite a two edged sword a fire sword an iron wal a strong hold a well fensed towre consuming fire It is also called whete the rod of the mouth of the Lord the breth of the mouth of the Lorde a mysterie an oracle the print or secreat wyll of the Lord. What are mans tradicions What soeuer mans reason hath or doth imagen without the word of God and ordeyneth and wylleth it to be reputed and taken as good godly and pleasant in the sight of god They be called in Scripture Cocle and Chasse Of these speaketh Christe where he saith They do serue me in vaine whyle they teach such doctrine as are nothing but the commaundementes of men Who be good Only God is good Notwithstanding because all they that haue the spirite of God and are ruled by his word be of the flocke of God and vnder his keeping therefore God doth communicate and imparte his goodnesse to them and so they be called good as theyr Father Lord and Gouernour is Who be euill They that haue not the spirite of God nor be ruled by his word whether they liue vpright outwardly and according of the letter of the lawe as Cato Socrates and they that be counted good and vertuous among the Turkes and Iewes or els they that be open transgressours of the lawe For in Christ only is saluacion and remission of sinnes And vnto that time that our
speake vnto you they be spirite and life meaning they amount and passe the fleshe and sence of reason they be spirituall and heauenly It is sometime put for what so euer liueth and breatheth as all the spirits prayse ye the Lorde sometime for the breath and winde What is the fleshe Euery affection the hart the minde and thought of man and what so euer els man doth or can do by al the powers of his reason destitute of the worde of God. For Christe saith That which is borne of the fleshe that is it vnderstandeth not thinges that be spirituall Fleshe other while betokeneth the letter and fleshly vnderstanding The fleshe profiteth nothing it is the spirite that quickeneth What is the newe man It is the man that is renued and borne againe by faith and the worde through the spirite of god Except a man be borne a new he can not se the kingdome of heauen To be borne anewe he calleth where as before we were but carnall and fleshly not vnderstanding the misteryes of the spirite we must be borne agayne in spirite that is to become spirituall and more meete to vnderstanâ—e espirituall thinges What is the olde man Our affections appetites and vnderstanding according to reason without faith euen as we be all naturally borne of our mother as it appeareth in diuers places of the Scripture Also the whole body of sinne is called the old man in Scripture and they liue according to the old man that liue in ignoraunce and followe the lustes of their hart not walking in the newnesse of lyfe Who is blessed or happy All be it I may aunswere with Christ blessed is he that heareth and kepeth the woorde of God yet is he otherwyse defined in the Scripture As he is to be thought happy who holdeth him selfe well content with his fortune and thankefully receyueth whatsoeuer God sendeth him and who is at one with God and al creatures that is doth not murmure against God and on the other side enuieth nor dispiseth any man. Who is a wretch or vnhappy He that holdeth not him selfe content with that that God hath sent him He with whome nothing goeth forwarde nor agreeth not with God nor man. Who is poore He that can not make any great boastes or crakes of himselfe and who is destitute of all helpe as be they of whome Christe saith blessed are the poore in spirite in Scripture he is called lowe humble and hungry and he who is nowe in aduersitie Who is riche He is called riche in Scripture which needeth no helpe concerning his saluacion but hath workes ynough and more then ynoughe to bring him to heauen And as a man may call it full vp to the throte of the righteousnesse as be all Hipocrites Phariseies and iustifiers of them selues they also be called riche in Scripture which be proud mighty and dronken with fortune and prosperitie euer polling the poore Who is wyse and circumspect He which knoweth God and his worde which when he doubteth as keth counsell and doth all thing thereafter Who is a foole He that rashly is caried hither and thither with euery mocion that considereth nothing regardeth nothing nor suffereth himselfe to be corrected and warned of his euill doing but headlong runneth as he began forsing not whether he sinke or swymme or what becommeth of him and who as he knoweth not the worde of God so he passeth not on it The wisedome of God taken as foolishnesse before the worlde is the preaching of the Crosse of Christ and the iustifiing by faith that is to say though to suffer persecution for the worde of God and to preach that we iustified by faith be godly and the wisedome of the spirite yet the world laugheth it to scorne and counteth it highe foolishenesse The wisedome of the fleshe is foolishnesse before God. What is a childe or to be a childe A childe in Scripture is a wicked man or he that is ignoraunt and not excercised in godlynesse and Gods word be he olde or be he young Or he that lacketh spirituall iudgemeÌ„t in discerning chosing things Wo be to the countrey whose King is a childe And he shall die a childe of a C. yeere olde A child also is sometime taken for humble or meke Who soeuer huÌ„bleth him selfe as this childe is greatest in the kingdome of Heauen What is an olde man auncient or elder He which is well taught and instructed in the worde of God and exercised therein He which liueth honestly and without reprose hauing horenesse of maners authoritie grauitie and high knowledge in the worde of God. What is Christe The annointed king and priest of God sitting on the right hande of the father hauing full power to defend and warrant his flocke and being a ready aduocate for his at their neede And by him all Christen men be annoynted kings and priestes They be called kinges when in Christe and through Christe they subdue their wylde affections the diuell and death They be called priestes and sacrificers when they offer vp their bodyes into a liuely holy and acceptable sacrifice vnto God which is our reasonable seruing of God. What is Antichriste The adnersary of Christe and he which goeth about to obscure or vtterly to abrogate and pull away his glory teaching defining and determining that Christe is not the king priest and aduocate of his flocke What is prayer A brenning desire or peticion of the minde lift vp and directed vnto God springing and comming of the neede and lacke that we find in our selfe as farre foorth as faith and the promise of God suffereth and permitteth vs where marke that we aske such thinges as be honest and lawfull Sometime it is taken for the lifting vp of the handes the desire trying and sighing of the poore and such as stand in neede And some doth call it more generally the lifting vp of the mind to God. What is temptation The profe and trial of our faith and an exercise and practise of the worde Otherwhiles it is called the rod and staffe of the Lorde and the discipline whereby we see our selues and perceyue how well we haue profited and gon forwarde in the word which may best be tryed then when that we goe about doth not goe forward as we woulde What is desperacion It is when in temptacion and such trying of vs wheither it be by aduersitie or any other thing we fall downe distrust and cast away all hope of the mercie and goodnesse of God then I say when of no side appeareth any hope or succor and when we be as seemeth to vs vtterly forgotten and cast away of God. Of which temptacion we may see a manifest example To speake properly desperacion is the vtter and finall dispayre and distrust of helpe VVhat is vocacion or calling It is the manner of life vnto which God hath