Abrahams Faith, Dedication 2
TO THE HOLY AND Chriſtian congregation of England, being a moſt liuely member of Chriſtes Catholicke and viſible Church: Ioſias Nicholls, Miniſter and ſeruant of Ieſus Chriſt, as a ſon to his moſt deare mother, wiſheth all grace and ſpirituall bleſſinges in heauenly things in Chriſt, and all peace and proſperitie in godlineſſe & truth for euer.
NO Nation euer vnderunder heauen,Engliſh men grealy bound to praiſe and ſerue God, for his rich bleſſings in & by the Goſpell, vnderunder the happie raigne of her maieſtie. more bound to praiſe & ſerue God, then we Engliſh men; now aboue fortie yeares, vnderunder the happie raigne of our deare Soueraigne and Ladie Queene Elizabeth, (whom God long preſerue) taſting & enioying the ſweet goodnes & fauor of God moſt kindly ſhewing it ſelfe, and ſhining into our harts, by his moſt bleſſed and ioyfull Goſpel. No nation euer vnderunder heauen hath had more cauſe of ioy, and comfortable encouragement vntounto godlineſſe and honeſtie, then we Engliſhmen, all theſe yeares: when God moſt miraculouſly by a maiden Queene, (the weaker veſſell) hath made his name knowen, and his Saintes glorious by deliueraunce: when mightie potentates could not ſtand in battaile, hee hath raiſed health by a woman, and made the weake to confound the ſtrong. No nation euer vnderunder heauen, hath had more ſure and perfect experience of the truth of God and his worde, and of the certaine knowledge of the holy faith and pure religion, then we Engliſhmen (whoſe eyes the God of this world hath not blinded) moſt abundantly hauehave had, that we might glorie in our God, and magnifie the rich grace of Ieſus Chriſt, and the effectuall power of his holy and bleſſed ſpirit. For we hauehave ſeene the breath of Gods mouth, mightie to conſume Antechriſt, and the light of his word to make all things manifeſt: that it might be ſaid of vsus, as by prerogatiue it was once ſpoken of Iſrael:Pſal. 147.19. He ſheweth his worde vntounto Iacob, his ſtatutes & his iudgements vntounto Iſrael, he hath not ſo dealt with euerie nation, &c.
The entrance of her Maieſties raigne a moſt bleſſed day vntounto England.There was a day of darkeneſſe, a day of great blacknes & ſorrow, when the people of this land were made ſlaues, vnderunder the thraldome of ſpirituall Aegipt and Babilon: when they knew not aright the true and liuing God, nor the power & grace of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, but were led after vaine things, in whom there was no helpe; and men by a iuſt plague of God, were giuen ouer vntounto their owne luſtes and fancies, yea euen vntounto moſt abhominable idolatrie. But the day of her Maieſties moſt royall coronation was a day of light and glorie, a day of cleare and perfect ioy: in that day did the ſunne of righteouſnes ariſe & ſhined from on hie, hee caſt forth his bright and pleaſant beames, and enlightened all the land. Then fell away the groſſe miſſe of palpable fooliſhneſſe and ignorance, and the vaile of mans preſumption was taken from our hartes. Then humane deuiſes, and the greeuous yoke of the apoſtaticall bondage in tradition & voluntary ſeruice of men, was taken from our necks. Then were our hearts opened and the light of the knowledge of the glorie of God, and his bright ſhining countenance in the face of Ieſus Chriſt did ſhine into our ſoules. It was a day that the verie Angels of heauen did reioyce and ſing, becauſe of the ſweet & bleſſed tidings of great ioy vntounto al the people of this land. For the grace of God, which bringeth ſaluation vntounto all men, did then appeare: and the beautifull feet of the meſſengers of peace, which brought tidings of good thinges, and ſaid vntounto eueryevery elect ſoule, Thy God raigneth; had then a merrie and comfortable paſſage and ſafe trauell ouer all the land: the embaſſadors of God brought vntounto vsus the wholſome word of reconciliation. Then did the Lorde plant his vineyard, and build his holy temple among vsus, and hee became our ſtrong ſanctuarie, and viſited vsus with his rich merciemercy and ſaluation: his bleſſings ſpirituall and corporall moſt plentiful, flowed down from heauen vponupon our land. So that our enemies being Iudges, it muſt needes be ſaid: God hath done great things for vsus, and hath giuen vsus all things aboundantly to enioy. In which time many nations round about vsus, in greeuous darkneſſe and bloudy miſerie, euen mourning dayly before our eyes, might well hauehave counted themſelues happie, if they had part of our peace. We hauehave lent and not borrowed, wee hauehave giuen and not taken: we hauehave beene a refuge for the poore, and a place of ſuccour for the perſecuted: our men and money hauehave beene a reliefe to the oppreſſed and deliueraunce to many in great daunger and diſtreſſe. Our prince hath bin an hyding place from the wind, & as a refuge for the tempeſt, as riuers of waters in a drie place, and as the ſhadow of a rocke in a wearie land. My pen is inſufficient, and I am vnworthie and vnable to rehearſe the manifold and conſtant goodneſſe and fauours of God vponupon vsus theſe many yeares: O let vsus louelove the Lord and ſerue him, let vsus praiſe and glorifie him, who hath beene ſo beneficiall and bountifull vntounto vsus. Hee hath deliuered our ſoules from death, our eyes from teares, and our feet from falling, hee hath brought vsus out of the horrible pitte and mierie clay, and ſet our feet vponupon the rocke and ordered our goings, & hath put in our mouthes a newe ſong of praiſe vntounto our God: many that hauehave ſeene this hauehave reuerenced the Lord, and put their truſt in our God.All Engliſhmē are bound to louelove the Queenes moſt excelent Maieſtie. And who can but louelove the bleſſed and worthy inſtrument of our peace and ioy? whoſe heart is not inflamed with her deſire? If wee were tenne thouſand times more then wee are, and euerie man had a thouſand liues, who would not willingly lay them downe at her feete in the cauſe of truth, to ſhewe his thankfull mind vntounto her Maieſtie: who hath conſtantly paſſed through many hazardes of her life for louelove of Gods truth and care of his Church? whoſe hart is not greatly moued to glorifie God, who hath giuen vsus, ſo faithful & conſtant a nurſe & louing mother, & ſo wō derfully defended and preſerued her, and by & vnderunder her moſt happy gouernment hath made vsus ſo many yeares together, without feare the free poſſeſſors of moſt vnſpeakable ioy, in the participation of incomparable heauenly treaſure and moſt flouriſhing earthly proſperitie.
We are to conſider whether we hauehave rendred to the Lord according to his kindnes toward vsus.But O my deare mother, my good & reuerend fathers and brethren, hauehave wee rendred to the Lorde according to his kindneſſe? hauehave wee with reuerence receiued, with thankfulneſſe acknowledged, and with care & conſcience vſed theſe mercies of our good and louing God and mercifull father in Ieſus Chriſt? O that I could boldly and faithfully ſo ſay; & that our ſiluer were not become droſſe, and our wine mixt with water. And that the vine which God hath planted with good and pleaſant plants, did not in ſtead of grapes bring forth wild grapes: and men did not neglect yea forſake the word of the Lord, and follow the fooliſh imaginations of their owne heartes. O that it might not be iuſtly ſaid, that the Lord hath a controuerſie with this lande, becauſe there is no truth, nor merciemercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By ſwearing and lying, and killing, and ſtealing, and whooring, they breake out, and bloud toucheth bloud. And that men did not encourage one another, in their wicked and vicious liuing, ſaying: come and let vsus bring wine, and wee will fill our ſelues with ſtrong drinke, and to morrow ſhall bee as this day, and much more aboundant, let vsus eate and drinke for to morrow we ſhall die. O that men would conſider and that their hearts would ſmite them, in remembring and forethinking what a fatherly watch word, our tender and louing God hath giuen vsus, by many and ſundry moſt mild and kindly tempered corrections and chaſtiſementes, at many times: but eſpecially within theſe eighteene yeares laſt paſt, when hee beganne at his ſanctuarie, and lightly touched his holy remembrancers, when he cauſed a great and cloudie miſt to couer the verie heauens, ſo that many bright ſtarres were not ſeene to ſhine for a certaine ſeaſon. Then did the windes burſt out ſhaking our houſes ouer our heades, as vnworthie to dwell vnderunder ſo good and plentifull grace: our bodies and liues were aſſailed with grieuous peſtilence, dearth, ſcarſitie, and the threatning ſword did aduance themſelues againſt vsus. Thouſands hauehave gone forth and returned but by hundreds. And now ſeeing all theſe things hauehave not made vsus to turne to him that ſmiteth, neither do men ſeeke the Lord: behold euerie man ſeeth how his anger is kindled more and more, and how neere his ſword is come vntounto vsus, that the Lords wrath is not turned away, but his hand is ſtretched out ſtill. But yet if it pleaſe thee O God and mercifull father, bee thou entreated by thy poore ſeruants, (who ſeeing the plague, call night and day vponupon thee) that thou take not ſo great vengeance of our ſinnes, as to make the ſweete ſtreaming fountains, which water all thy holy temple and the garden of thy delight among vsus, to be ſalt and vnſauourie: or to let that burning ſtarre of wormewood, which is fallen from heauen to touch our riuers of waters: or that thou ſhouldſt make the heart of this people fat, and their eares heauie & ſhut their eyes, leaſt they ſee with their eies, and heare with their eares, and vnderſtand with their heartes and conuert and thou heale them. Why ſhould we be as men of another generation, which know not and remember not thy great workes, which thou haſt done, by our princely Iehoſhuah, and the great victorie ouer the Cananites of the land, by thine annointed handmaid our renowned Deborah: that our eyes ſhould looke backe to the fleſh pots of Egypt, or that wee ſhould returne to ioyne in friendſhip, with that wicked Babilon, whom thou haſt commanded vsus to reward with double, as they hauehave rewarded vsus: and learning their maners, & being partakers of their ſinnes, we ſhould be partakers of their puniſhmentes, and thou ſhouldſt giuegive vsus ouer to the enemie, and they which hate vsus ſhould be Lords ouer vsus: and then al theſe good things and the light of thy countenance ſhould bee quite turned from vsus, and our glorie forſake vsus. We hauehave indeed ſinned moſt deare father, and our offences are many: yet is there merciemercy with thee that thou maieſt bee feared: Teach vsus therfore thy way O Lord, that we may walk in thy truth: and knit our hearts vntounto thee, that we may feare thy holy name, euen for thy holy Son ſake our deare Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt Amen.
When men waxe rich they begin to bee careleſſe: and by aboundance of peace,Deut. 32.15. men forget themſelues and fall away: as it is written: When he waxed fat, he spurned with the heele. For this cauſe hath God ſet vsus miniſters as watchmen to ſee the plague when it commeth, and to admoniſh the people, that they die not in their ſinnes and to ſay vntounto them: Take heed, you forget not the Lord your God which hath done all theſe good thinges for you, but feare ye the Lord your God,The cauſe matter & purpoſe of this booke. and ſerue him, thou ſhalt cleaue vntounto him and ſweare by his name. And this is verily the reaſon of the publiſhing of this treatiſe: wherein I ſhew that the religion and faith publikely profeſſed in this Realme, and maintained by the righteous ſcepter and ſword of our dread ſoueraign and gracious Queene Elizabeth, is of the onelyonly truth, moſt auncient, catholicke, and vnchangeable; out of which none euer hauehave beene ſaued, from the beginning of the world, neither can or ſhall bee. And that the faith and religion, vnderunder the pretence and name of Chriſt, Peter and Paul, and of the glorious ſhew and title of the Church, which is now profeſſed at Rome, and followed by the vaſſals of the pope, is but a new, vpſtart, hereticall and ſuperſtitious deuiſe of man, contrariant to the faith of Gods elect, & of the ancient couenant which God gaue & taught Abraham both for Iewes and Gentils, and which Moſes and the prophets declared & expounded, and Chriſt fulfilled and eſtabliſhed, and his holy Apoſtles publiſhed to all the world, and taught all nations by Chriſtes commandement. For I thought my duetie firſt vntounto God, and then to my gracious prince, to ſhew ſome token of my thankefull mind, and ſecondly to acknowledge my bounden duetie to Chriſtes Church here among vsus, my deare mother, in whoſe wombe I freely confeſſe my ſelfe to be bgotten and borne one of Gods children, and though of thouſands the moſt vnworthie yet one of the ſeruants of Chriſt and of his congregation in the miniſterie of his Goſpell. And eſpecially that I might call to remembrance and ſet before the eyes of my louing country men, my louing and faithfull brethren and ſiſters in Chriſt, the aſſuredneſſe of truth and the good treaſure of God among vsus: namely that wee are lighted vponupon that heauenly pearle (bleſſed be God) for which a man would ſell all that he hath: that this might bee ſome meanes to blow away the aſhes from the cooling zeale of ſome: ſtirre vp and awake ſome that are now readie to ſleepe, and bring backe againe ſome, (if it pleaſe God) which are readie to go out of the way: and that I might admoniſh others that they receiue not the grace of God in vaine. For when a man ſhall thinke with himſelfe (and well way it in his heart) that we hauehave the true faith which is vnchaungeable, by which all Gods elect are ſaued: will it not moue him to beſtir himſelfe, that he neglect not ſo great ſaluation, and that he trie euerie ſpirit, before he beleeue, and that he be not caried away with the vaine ſhew of oſtentation in men of ſchoole learning: but whomſoeuer he heare with the men of Berea to ſearch the Scriptures whether thoſe things be ſo? yea though it were Paule or an Angel from heauen ſhould preach another doctrine then that wee hauehave receiued, we ſhould hold him accurſed. I pray God for Chriſtes ſake to bee mercifull vntounto mee, that as he put into mine hart to take this worke in hand, & hath graciouſly aſſiſted me and ſtrengthened me to finiſh it, and now to publiſh it. So it would pleaſe him to vouchſafe his bleſſing to accompanie the ſame, that it may bee accordingly profitable to many, and hauehave an effectuall fruit to his glorie and the good of his church, in the encouragement and ſtrengthening of weake Chriſtians. I humblie beg this at his fatherly hands in and by the mediation of his ſon Ieſus Chriſt euen for his holy and bleſſed name, to whom with his holy ſpirit be all praiſe power and dominion for euer. Amen.
From Eaſtwell in Kent the 26. of March. 1602.