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A02043 Lectures of I.B. vpon the xii. Articles of our Christian faith briefely set forth for the comfort of the godly, and the better instruction of the simple and ignorant. Also hereunto is annexed a briefe and cleare confession of the Christian faith, conteining an hundreth articles, according to the order of the Creede of the Apostles. Written by that learned [and] godly martyr I.H. sometime Bishop of Glocester in his life time.; Briefve et claire confession de la foy chrestienne. English. Baker, John, minister.; Hooper, John, d. 1555.; Garnier, Jean, d. 1574. Briefve et claire confession de la foy chrestienne. English. 1581 (1581) STC 1219; ESTC S110441 203,151 484

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of heauen for y● elect not their works but because they were blessed of his father and that the kingdome was prepared for thē before they were borne or did any good workes for it yea before the fundations of the worlde were layde as Paul Ephes 1 sheweth most notably Wherefore good Christians flee the corruption which is in the worlde and giue great diligence to bring forth good works for those are good and profitable vnto mē and so ye shall be knowen to bee good and fruitfull trees Ioyne moreouer vertue with your faith with vertue knowledge with knowledge tēperance with tēperāce patience with patience godlines with godlines brotherly kindnesse with brotherly kindnes loue For if these things be amōg you and aboūde they wil make you that ye neither shall be idle nor vnfruitfull in the acknowledging of our Lorde Iesus Christ and he that hath not these things is blinde and can not see a farre off and hath forgotten that he was purged frō his olde sinnes Giue therefore diligence to make your calling and election sure for if ye doe these things ye shal neuer fal for by this meanes an entring shall be ministred vnto you abundantly into the euerlasting kingdome of our Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ We haue heard nowe the sixe articles that appertaine to the person of Iesus Christ and conteine the benefites he hath wrought for vs wherein is our whole saluation For if we seeke saluation his name Iesus doeth shewe it is in him alone If we desire puritie it is in his conception If we require a kinde of familiaritie and gentlenes wherewith he hath made him selfe like vnto vs we shall haue it in his natiuitie Wouldest thou haue redemptiō for thy sinnes looke it in his passion and death If newnes of life thou hast it in his resurrection If inheritance of the heauenly kingdome it is in his ascension If thou askest a full possession of it thou shalt haue it when hee commeth to iudgement To be briefe If thou desirest the giftes of the holy ghost absolution remission of sinnes satisfaction and purgation for thy vnclennes reconciliation mortification of the flesh and at a worde all treasures of euery heauēly gift thou hast them all in Iesus Christ as in a well euer springing and a fountaine that is neuer drie Of whose fulnes thou and all men haue receiued and he is made of God the father vnto thee wisedome righteousnesse holinesse and redemption that thou shouldest glorie in him alone Take heede therefore that seeing he is all in all to thee that thou goe not from him to any other or ascribe any one part or portion neuer so litle of thy saluation to any creature whatsoeuer For if thou doe thou marrest all Iesus Christ will haue all or neuer a whit as Esaie sayeth I will not giue my glorie to an other Well to conclude this article let vs giue to Iesus Christ most humble and heartie thanks that he wil one day come downe from heauen to fetche vs vp thither vnto him to immortall blessednesse and let vs in the meane time desire of him the spirit of patience to wayte for his comming to iudgement for our full redemption that we may haue our oyle our garmentes and our lampes ready that we may be waking when he shall knocke and open the doore forthwith vnto him that in so doing we may enter in with him to the mariage there raigne perpetually with him in the glorie of his father Which he graūt vnto vs for his sonnes sake to whom with the holy ghost three persons and one immortall God in vnitie bee rendred all prayse glorie and giuing of thankes from this time forth for euer more Come Lord Iesus quickly Amen so be it The eight Lecture vpon the eight article of our Christian fayth I beleeue in the holy Ghost HAuing ended two partes of our Christian faith the one cōcerning God the father in the first article the other concerning Iesus Christ the second person in trinitie conteined in the sixe articles folowing nowe foloweth in order the third part concerning our faith in God the holy Ghost which is the third person in trinitie And this is the eight article of our beliefe I beleeue in the holy Ghost that is to say I that am a Christian man do beleeue and trust in God the holy ghost the third person in the blessed trinitie which proceedeth equally from the father and the sonne being the naturall essentiall power of them both of the same substance Which spirite sanctifieth comforteth me in all troubles and assureth me that I am the childe of God and seruant of Iesus Christ and shall haue his benefites plentifully powred vpō me Out of this article we learne two things first what is the holy ghost secondly what are his effects workes as well in it selfe as in man in whose heart it worketh and moueth him forward to that which is good to imbrace and followe it with all earnestnes but to hate and abhorre from the heart that which is naught and wicked This holy ghost or spirit is the euerlasting power and infinite might of God the father which spirite is no creature but a creator of all things and very God because we are here taught to beleue in him which suerly except he were very God were idolatrie to do for we must not beleue in any creature or put our trust in any but in God onely And that the holy ghost is God which certaine heretikes haue denied it is manifest in the fift chapter of the Actes of the Apostles where saint Peter speaking of the holy ghost nameth him God For he reprehendeth Ananias and Sapphira his wife for their hypocrisy and dissimulation and telleth them that they lyed vnto the holy ghost and immediatly after sayth that they lyed not vnto man but vnto God In the first of Genesis it is sayde that the spirite of the Lorde moued vpon the waters This was the third person in trinitie which except he had bene God could not haue so moued vpon this great depth and secretly by his power and maiestie preserued and maintained it from falling to nothing Dauid saieth All things were made and created by the breath of his mouth Therfore if he made al things he was very God For this is proper to God alone to make to create things That argument of Paul in the 1. Cor. 2. chap. doth sufficiētly proue this matter vnto vs where hee saieth that this spirit searcheth al things yea the deepe things of God and that no man knoweth the things of God but the spirit of God Now if the spirit of God knoweth al things searcheth al things thē is he very God for no creature doth this If this be so thē we rightly beleeue in the holy ghost here we gather this singular comfort that we may pray to this holy ghost at all times for his helpe to impart some of his knowledge vnto vs
moone which doth represent the Church which taketh her light from the sunne Iesus Christ hath byn persecuted turned into blood and not giuen her light by reason of troubles and the starres which are likened to the preachers haue fallen away and otherwise stept aside These things and the lyke may put vs in minde that the cōming of Christ is not far off euen as when we see the trees begin to budde we know then that the spring time is neere We know furthermore that the time of this iudgement shal be very sudden as the lightnings or as the cōming of a thiefe and as the sudden crying out of a woman with childe For as it was in the dayes of the floud in Noes time the waters came and tooke them all away so shall the comming of the sonne of man be Likewise also as it was in the dayes of Lot they ate they dranke they bought they solde they planted they buylt they gaue in marriage and married wiues but in the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rayned fire brimstone from heauen and destroyed them all After these ensamples shall it be in the day whē the Sonne of man is reuealed And surely this day is hid from our eyes that we shoulde be prepared euery day not be secure or careles to differre repentance and put it off from day to day as a great many do among vs. Seeing then the time is at hand and yet vnknowē we ought to be prepared and be in a readines to follow our Masters counsel for he saith Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfeting drunkennes and cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnwares for as a snare shall it come vpon all them that dwell vpon the face of the whole earth Watch therefore and pray continually that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe that ye may stande before the Sonne of man This daye is as the day and time of our death as we knowe not when we shall die and yet it is most certaine that we shall die so it is with this day And whether a man shoulde looke for the day of his death or this day of iudgement first truely I can not tell they are both so vncertaine neither haue we longer warrant of time prescribed vnto vs in the scriptures of the one then of the other I praye God the Lord Iesus may finde vs as good seruants doing his will and woorke at his comming that wee may haue our candles burning in our handes with oyle in our lampes and the marriage garment on our backes ready to open the doore when he cōmeth and knocketh for vs. Happy shal we be if the Lord find vs so doing otherwise if he finde vs smiting our felow seruants eating and drinking being drunken he shal come vpon vs at vnwares and cut vs in pieces giue vs our portion with the vnbelieuers hypocrites where shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Let vs therefore I beseeche you brethren by the Lorde Iesus knowing the time is short and at hande euen in the doores gird vp the loines of our minde that when our Sauiour knocketh we may open vnto him immediatly Thus wee see what we haue to note and learne vpon the time of the comming of Christ vnto iudgement The place also is to be considered the nations and kinreds of the people that shall appeare that day are so many and innumerable that the earth shall not bee able to conteyne them all therefore Saint Paul saith that we shall be caught vp in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the ayre So that all shall bee taken vp into the ayre as the place of iudgement But I come to the last poynt which is more materiall to our purpose for what ende this great and last day is reserued and kept in store It hath two endes or causes why it is ordayned of the Lorde the one is that the godly may be deliuered out of their miseries and troubles which they haue here stoutly endured for Christes sake and be receyued into euerlasting life The other is that the wicked reprobate and all the companie of infidels which haue herecontemned the Lord liued in pleasure and delites of the fleshe may be iustly punished as they haue well deserued with euerlasting fire brimstone which is the second death For it might seeme if there were no iudgement or life after this that the Lord were notiust in his doings for neither are the godly and ryghteous rewarded many times in this life neyther are the vngodly punished for their offences while they liue here for the most part Now God is most iust which will rewarde all godlines and vertue and seuerely punish vice and wickednes These two endes doth our Sauiour mention in the general iudgement the one sort saith he shall goe into euerlasting life and the other sort into euerlasting fire Matth. 25. Saint Paul likewise doth make mention of these causes in the second epist of the Thessalonians the first chapter shewing as well what the good shall haue as the bad saying on this wise It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you and to you which are troubled rest with vs when the Lord Iesus shall shewe him selfe from heauen with his mighty angels in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them that do not knowe GOD and which obey not the Gospel of our Lorde Iesus Christ which shal be punished with euerlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord and from the glorie of his power thus much for the wicked Now foloweth rewarde for the good when hee shall come the bee glorified in his saintes and to bee made marueylous in all them that beleeue in that day Here wee may haue a notable discourse as is in any place of scripture why our sauiour Christ shal come to iudgement both in respect of the good and bad yea the wicked angels and spirites them selues as Iude saith hee hath reserued in euerlasting chaines of darkenesse vnto the iudgement of the great day This day is greatly desired and longed for of the godly and especially of the true ministers of Christes Gospell that their cause may bee knowen to bee good agaynst the wicked and their sayings veryfied concerning this iudgement for surely there is nothing almost seene of God or beleeued of the wicked vntyll that day Tell them of this day and terrifie them with it they make a mocke at it they count them for fooles and simple persons that liue a godly and Christian life but when this day commeth as it will come certainly it will make a recompence for all and they shall finde all our sayings threatnings to be most true Therefore the godly desire it in respect of Gods glorie chiefly which the wicked haue defaced A great many of them thinke that there
church may and hath erred as euery member particularly may erre as Peter did in the vocation of the Gentiles Act. 10. and in dissimulation in eating with the Gentiles withdrawing himself from them againe when Iames came to him and was iustly therefore reprehended of Saint Paul Gal. 2. Then if Peter erred so notable singular an Apostle others may erre also but yet returne with Peter yea the whole church at some time haue erred as al the Apostles doubted of Christes resurrection and yet they were the Church of Christ and the best men and most perfite that were then aliue Mark 16. verse 14. This I say to that ende that none should imagine such a perfection in the church as the Anabaptists doe and others which can not be attayned vnto in this life And therefore because they see some abuses some dissolute persons and some errors in the Church which is like a field that hath corne and tares in it they by and by depart from it and break and diuide the vnitie of the Church by their ignorance and frowardnesse not knowing that the kingdome of heauen which is the Church is cōpared of Christ himself to a net cast into the Sea that taketh both good and bad fyshes together in it Mat. 13. I speake not this to mayntayne any thing that is amisse if it may be reformed by order For I wish all thinges to be wel which are out of order in our church and I hope God will in his time cut off all disorders but I speake it to this ende that none should separate himself from hearing the woorde and receauing the Sacraments and from publicke prayers in the congregation If al things in the ministery be not so perfect as euery goodman would desire and as the word of God requireth it should bee we must in deede contend and indeuour for a perfection as much as lyeth in vs which I pray God may be earnestly sought for of euery one in his vocation But they that are priuate men must helpe with their prayers their teares and groninges and must seeke to further this woorke by continuall intercession to the Lorde and neuer to leaue off neyther to giue him any rest vntill he repayre and vntill hee set vp Ierusalem the prayse of the worlde And so for Sions sake they must not holde their tongue vntil the righteousnesse therof breake foorth as a light and the saluation thereof vs a burning lampe Which God put into the heartes and mindes of them that haue authoritie in the buylding and repairing of this spiritual Church vnto the Lord. For Christ himselfe frequented the temple at Hierusalem and there taught the people his fathers wil although the hie Priests the Scribes and Pharises had made it a dēne of theeues and wonderfully corrupted all things in it both by their doctrine and also by their manners neither did Paul separate himselfe from the church of the Corinthians although many abuses had crept in among them in so much that some denied the resurrection the chiefest poynt one of them in Christianitie yet notwithstanding all this hee called it a Church and the Corinthians sanctifyed in Iesus Christ And so wee see he did not withdrawe himselfe from them but vouchsafed thē the name of the church and goeth about as wee should all doe to bring them to the purity of the Gospel againe Thus much for this poynt let vs returne to our purpose Christ being the head of this church it shall not be hard for vs to discerne who are the members of it and who appertayne vnto the same This church is said to be holy and the communion of sayntes then all they that are holy sāctified by the spirit of Iesus Christ are of the nūber of this cōgregation for if they wil be of his body they must haue frō him holinesse which hath said Be ye holy for I am holy they ought to resēble him in their life cōuersatiō in godlines in integrity in innocēcie al other christiā vertues We see then howe we onght to endeuour to be like him these are the words of S. Iohn where that he sayth He that remayneth in him ought euen so to walke as hee hath walked That is he must be incorporated ingrafted to the body of Christ otherwise there is no saluation for him He is the true vine and we are the branches if we abide in him we bring forth much fruite wee shal be purged to bring forth more fruite but as the branche except it abide in the vine dieth withereth away without any fruit and is cast into the fire so is euery one that is not of the body of Iesus Christ Let vs therefore indeuour to be of this body for without the Church is no saluation as all perished by the waters which were not in the arke of Noe which was a true signe and figure of the church 1. Pet. 3. And as the hand cut off frō the body dieth and lacketh life so it is in the mysticall body of the Church no lyfe without the body of Christ and that is the thing that is meant in these places of holy scripture In the thirteenth chapter of Ezechiel the Lord threatneth the false prophets that his hand shal be vpon them that see vanity deuine lyes saying They shall not be in the assembly of my people neither shal they be written in the writing of the house of Israel neither shal they enter into the land of Israel Wherby he excludeth them frō his church So it is said in Ioel the second In mount Sion and Ierusalem shal be deliuerance as the Lord hath sayde The like is in Abdie but most notable is that place in the second of the Acts where it is sayd that the Lorde added to the church from day to day such as shoulde be saued giuing vs thus much to vnderstād that vnles they be in the church there is no saluation for them By this then we gather that if they only be mēbers of this church which beleeue in Christ and are holy then the Turkes Iewes which beleeue not in Christ but persecute him most deadly are not of the church because they are not vnited ioyned to this body Likewise all the Heretikes which haue broken the vnity peace of this Church some by denying the humanitie of Christ and some his diuinitie are not to be counted members of Christ neither they that haue departed from the felowship of the godly and sayntes of God to Antichrist can haue any part in this congregation or be heyres of life vnles they returne againe with speede to the Church Here likewise are all Atheists and vngodly liuers shut out from this church For they communicate not with the saintes either in life or doctrine neither doe they relieue the poore and afflicted members of Iesus Christ with the blessings which God hath bestowed vpon them so that there is no communion of brotherly loue among