N20568:7428
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being…
The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of martyrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].The new and complete book of martyrs; or, An universal history of martyrdom: being Fox's Book of marytrs, revised and corrected, with additions and great improvements. : Containing an authentic account of the lives, persecutions and sufferings of the holy martyrs; and the many dreadful persecutions against the Church of Christ in all parts of the world, by pagans, Jews, Turks, papists, and others, from earliest ages of the church to the present period. ... The whole forming at once a general Christian martyrology, and a complete history of persecutions. / By the Rev. Mr. John Fox, M.A. late of Magdalen College, Oxford. ; Now revised, corrected and improved, with many additional articles, relating to the acts and monuments of the church. By Paul Wright, D.D. ; Embellished with forty elegant copper plate engravings. ; In two volumes. Vol. I[-II].
New-York: printed by William Durell, 1794
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
though of duty we ought to accomplish all that he requireth, and are culpable and guilty if we do it not, yet he requireth not these things further of us than to make us more in love, and more certain of this his covenant, that he is our Lord and God. In certainty whereof, as he hath given us this whole world to answer our necessities and conveniences, so hath he given us his Son Christ Jesus, and in Christ, himself to be a pledge, whereof the Holy Ghost doth now and then give us some comfortable taste and sweet smell to our eternal joy. THEREFORE, as I said, because God is our Father in Christ, and requireth of you steadfastly to believe it, give yourself to obedience, although you do it not with such feeling and readiness as you desire. Faith must first go before, and then, by the operation of love, zealous affections will follow. If our imperfections, frailty, and many evils should be the occasions whereby Satan would have us to doubt; let us abhor that suggestion as much as possible, as of all others the most pernicious; and indeed so it is. For when we stand in doubt whether God be our Father, we cannot be thankful to him, we cannot heartily pray, or think any thing we do acceptable to him: we cannot even love our neighbours as we ought to do; and therefore Satan is very subtle, for he well knoweth that if we doubt of God's eternal mercy towards us, through Christ, we can neither please God, nor rightly do our duty to man. He continually casteth into our thoughts our imperfection, frailty, falls, and miscarriages, to make us despair of God's mercy and favour. THEREFORE, my good sister, we must not be sluggish herein, but as Satan laboureth to weaken our faith, so must we endeavour to strengthen it by meditating upon the promises and covenant of God in Christ's blood; namely, that God is our God with all that ever he hath: which covenant entirely dependeth on God's own goodness, mercy, and truth, and not on our obedience or worthiness in any point; for then we should never be certain. Indeed God requireth of us obedience and worthiness, but not that thereby we may be his children, and he our Father: but because he is our father, and we his children through his goodness in Christ, therefore he requireth faith and obedience. Now if we want this obedience and worthiness which he requireth, shall we doubt whether he be our Father?
though of duty we ought to accomplish all that he requireth, and are culpable and guilty if we do it not, yet he requireth not these things further of us than to make us more in love, and more certain of this his covenant, that he is our Lord and God. In certainty whereof, as he hath given us this whole world to answer our necessities and conveniencies, so hath he given us his Son Christ Jesus, and in Christ, himself to be a pledge, whereof the Holy Ghost doth now and then give us some comfortable taste and sweet smell to our eternal joy. THEREFORE, as I said, because God is our Father in Christ, and requireth of you stedfastly to believe it, give yourself to obedience, although you do it not with such feeling and readiness as you desire. Faith must first go before, and then, by the operation of love, zealus affections will follow. If our imperfections, frailty, and many evils should be the occasions whereby Satan would have us to doubt; let us abhor that suggestion as much as possible, as of all others the most pernicious; and indeed so it is. For when we stand in doubt whether God be our Father, we cannot be thankful to him, we cannot heartily pray, or think any thing we do acceptable to him: we cannot even love our neighbours as we ought to do; and therefore Satan is very subtle, for he well knoweth that if we doubt of God's eternal mercy towards us, through Christ, we can neither please God, nor rightly do our duty to man. He continually casteth into our thoughts our imperfection, frailty, falls, and miscarriages, to make us despair of God's mercy and favour. THEREFORE, my good sister, we must not be sluggish herein, but as Satan laboureth to weaken our faith, so must we endeavour to strengthen it by meditating upon the promises and covenant of God in Christ's blood; namely, that God is our God with all that ever he hath: which covenant entirely dependeth on God's own goodness, mercy, and truth, and not on our obedience or worthiness in any point; for then we should never be certain. Indeed God requireth of us obedience and worthiness, but not that thereby we may be his children, and he our Father: but because he is our father, and we his children through his goodness in Christ, therefore he requireth faith and obedience. Now if we want this obedience and worthiness which he requireth, shall we doubt whether he be our Father?