A04472:46
An expositio[n] upon the two epistles of the apostle S. Paul to the Thessalonians…An expositio[n] vpon the two epistles of the apostle S. Paul to the Thessalonians…
An expositio[n] upon the two epistles of the apostle S. Paul to the Thessalonians by the reverend Father John Jewel ... ; whereunto is adjoined a very necessary table of the principal matters contained in this exposition.An expositio[n] vpon the two epistles of the apostle S. Paul to the Thessalonians by the reuerend Father Iohn Ievvel ... ; vvhereunto is adioined a very necessarie table of the principal matters contained in this exposition.
London: printed by Ralfe Newberie, 1584
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But, the Church of God is in God the father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ: it is the company of the faithful whom God hath gathered together in Christ by his word and by the holy ghost to honour him, as he himself hath appointed. This Church heareth the voice of the shepherd. It will not follow a stranger, but flieth from him: for it knoweth not the voice of strangers. Of this Church Saint Jerome sayth, Ecclesia Christi in toto orb 1ecclesias possidens, spiritus unitate coniuncta est, & habet urbes legis, prophetarum, evangelij, & Apostolorum. Non est egressa de finibus suis, •d est, de Scripturis. The Church of Christ which containeth the churches through all the world, is joined together in the unity of the spirit, and hath the cities of the Law, of the Prophets, of the gospel, and of the Apostles. This church goeth not forth, or beyond her bounds, that is, the holy Scriptures. It is the pillar of the truth: the body, the fullness, and the spouse of Christ: it is the vine, the house, the city, and the kingdom of God. They which dwell in it, are no more strangers and foreigners, but 2Citizens with the Saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner stone, in whom all the building coupled together, groweth ⟨p. 10⟩unto an holy temple in the Lord. This Church Christ loved, and gave himself for it, that he 3might sanctify it, and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word, that he might make it unto himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blame. Such a Church was the Church of God at Thessalonica, such a Church are they who so ever in any place of the world fear the Lord, and call upon his name. Their names are written in the book of life: they have received the spirit of adoption, by which they try Abba Father: they grow from grace to grace, and abound more and more in knowledge and in judgement: they cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light: they are made absolute, and perfect unto all good works: