Opening Prayer.
Intro.
•The kingdom of Christ and history.
•Present suffering and eternal joy.
•Conquering by being conquered.
•Combatting the enemy by the truth.
•Being faithful unto death.
To the True and Faithful Members of Christ's Church.
Lesson 5. The Necessity of the Study of Church History.
1. The Catholic Church and hypocrisy.
2. Justified before men, accursed before God.
Not without cause, Historia in old authors is called the witness of times, the light of verity, the life of memory, teacher of life, and shower of antiquity. Without the knowledge whereof man’s life is blind, and soon may fall into any kind of error, as by manifest experience we have to see, in these desolate latter times of the church, when as the Bishops of Rome under color of antiquity have turned truth into heresy and brought such new-found devices of strange doctrine and religion as in the former age of the church were never heard of before, and all through the ignorance of times, and for lack of true history.
1. The need for a full and complete history of the Christian Church. (Foxe's work being the most notable since Eusebius)
2. It behooves us to uncover through diligent study the lives of these faithful martyrs.
3. The contrast between antiquity and novelty. The deceit of Catholic historians to portray the papacy as descending from Peter.
(Gregory the first pope, the rise of papal supremacy with Leo III, Gregory VII, Urban II, Boniface VIII)
4. Without a true knowledge of church history, we wander blind as to where we came from and where we are going.
For to say the truth, if times had been well searched, or if they who wrote histories had without partiality gone upright between God and Baal, halting on neither side, it might well have been found the most part of all this Catholic corruption intruded into the church by the bishops of Rome.
1. If a true search into history was made, corruption in the church should be found to proceed from Rome.
2. On the contrary, those early Protestants who were labeled as heretics by the Roman Catholic church and executed were found to be pious and zealous for good works.
As transubstantiation, elevation, and adoration of the sacrament, auricular confession, forced vows of priests not to marry, veneration of images, private and satisfactory masses, the order of Gregory’s Mass now used, the usurped authority, and summa potestas of the See of Rome, with all the route of their ceremonies and weeds of superstition overgrowing now the church, all these (I say) to be new nothings lately coined in the mint of Rome without any stamp of antiquity, as by reading of this present history shall sufficiently, I trust, appear. Which history therefore I have here taken in hand, that as other story writers heretofore have employed their travail to magnify the Church of Rome, so in this history might appear to all Christian readers the image of both churches, as well of the one as of the other, especially of the poor oppressed and persecuted church of Christ. Which persecuted church though it has been of long season trodden under foot by enemies, neglected in the world, nor regarded in histories, and almost scarce visible or known to worldly eyes, yet has it been the true church only of God, wherein he has mightily worked hitherto in preserving the same in all extreme distresses, continually stirring up from time to time faithful ministers, by whom always have been kept some sparks of his true doctrine and religion.
1. Roman Catholic tradition has no basis in scripture, but is twisted from it violently.
2. It has no basis in church history.
3. The true church of God hath often been oppressed and scarce visible to the world.
4. Encouragement to the people of God.
5. The role of ministers in propagating true religion.
•Preaching the gospel.
•Defending the truth.
•Refuting heresy.
•Establishing families in the faith.
•Encouraging them to read history and sound doctrine.
•Leading his own family in the Reformed faith.
i. By word.
ii. By example.
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.
Негізгі бет The Study of Church History a Condemnation of Antichrist.
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