The fyrste article. I Beleue in God the father almigh­tie maker of hea­uen and yearth.

Dearely beloued and seruantes of our lord God, I haue here in hād this day to read and set furth vn­to you the right and perfit know ledge of God, to be learned and gathered out of our common Crede, the same being vnto vs (as it were) an abridgement, or a breif collection of all thinges necessary to be beleued or knowen of God. Lyft vp your hartes therfore and prepare your selues, like beneuolent and attentiue hea­rers, to receiue the same: Considering wish your selues, that the tyme of your partes spent in [...]er­nyng therof, shalbe but shorte: the labour therm taken, can not be great: the fruite and profite of knowyng God, is life euerlasting. Our sauiour Christ wytnessing the same, sayth: John, x [...]ii. This is euerla­sting [Page]life, to knowe thee to be the onely true God, and thy sonne whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ.

And to the obteinyng of this sure knowledge of God, first geue eare to learne the first article of your Crede, whiche begynneth on this wise. I be­leue in God the father almightie creator of heauen and yearth. By the whiche article we are taught the right and perfite knowledge of God, by the Catholyke fayth of Christes churche, and euery man in folowyng the doctrine of the same to say. I beleue in God. And albeit there is a knowledge here to be gathered & learned of God, partlye by natural reason, partly by the testimony & recorde of auncient writers and holy fathers, partly by the creatures, and by conference made of them vnto God: yet the most certain & surest knowlege here to be had of God, is by the catholike fayth of Christes churche, and by the doctrine of the same churche to say: I beleue in God. Fyrst by natural reason, there is a knowledge to be had of God, when natural reason sayth. Omne causatum indiget alio vt sit. Euery thing that is made must nedes haue ano­ther thing as his causer or maker: And that causer or maker, being in like maner made, must haue of necessitie another, whiche was his causer or ma­ker: and so furth generally to speake of al thinges made, vntill we must by natural reason come, & fynde out one cheif causer, creator and maker of all thynges, beyng it selfe not caused or made of any other, whiche is onely God, and none other. And as touching the creatures of God, in what knowledge they bring vs to of God, it is easelie [Page]to be gathered: when the ample greatnes, the profounde depenes, the largenes, the strongnes, the beautifulnes, the purenes, and the swetenes of the creatures, do instruct and teache vs, how ample and great, howe profounde and depe, how large, howe stronge, how beautiful, how pure, & howe swete is God the creator & maker of them all: all creatures acknowledging, and confessing the magnificence of God their creator, euery one of them sayinge after their maner of speche. Quo­niam ipse est, qui fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. It is he that hathe made vs. It is ipse deus, that God. Et non ipsi nos: And not we, that did or coulde make our selues. The creatu­res of God are here in this worlde, as it were, a myrrour or glasse, wherin we may beholde, and see the wonderfull myghte, power, and goodnes of God. The Apostle Paule in witnessyng of the same, saith. Roma. [...]. The inuisible thinges of god (as his e­ternal power & godhed) are perceyued and vnder­stande by his creatures, which he hath made. But of all the moste certayne and surest knowledge of God, is that which is here taught vs in the first article of oure Crede by the catholike fayth, and wyth the same to saye. I beleue in god. And thys my beleife doeth ingraffe in me a reason, an vn­derstandynge, and a sure knowledge of God: So that the most assured, and most certayne know­ledge that a Christen man can haue here of God, is assuredly and certaynly to say. I beleue in God. And to beleue in God, is not onely to beleue that God is, or that there is a God of suche inuisible and spirituall substaunce, that he can not be seen [Page]wyth eye, nor yet by wit vnderstanded, or yet to beleue that God is of power infinyte, of nature eternall, wythoute begynnynge or endynge, of knowledge incomprehensible, of wysdome not to be apprehended, of goodnesse, iustice, and mercye alwayes furth infinite, and lyke vnto hym selfe, or to beleue that God in al his sayinges and do­ynges is iuste and true: But to beleue in God, is in beleuynge, to put our whole trust and affiance in God, and in beleuynge and trustynge in God, to loue God, and so to loue, truste and beleue in God, that our lyues and conuersations be cleane turned and wholy bent to please and serue hym: So that to beleue in God (as this firste article teacheth vs) is in beleuing to renounce the deuil, the worlde, and the fleshe, wyth all their pompes and workes, and to dedicate our selues wholy to the seruice of God. And therfore in thys first ar­ticle we saye: Credo in deam. I beleue in God, speakyng but of one God in the singular numbre: therby to seclude the seruice or beleife of many goddes, as of the deuell, the worlde, the fleshe, or other lyke: when it is written. Deut. vi. Geue eare Israell for the Lorde thy God, is but one. And therefore thou shalt feare the Lorde thy God, and hym onely shalte thou serue. By this fyrst article of oure Crede, is subuerted all Idolatry, Psal. xcvi. false adoration and wor­shypping of many gods, when the Prophet Da­uid putteth vs out of al doubtes, quod omnes dij gen­tium daemonia, that all the gods of the ethnykes, not be­leuing in this one God, be deuels, and not gods. By thys first article, is abolished all forcery, witche­craft, [Page]and necromancie most, vaynely abusing the creatures of God, agaynst their creator almygh­tye God. By this article, are condemned all glo­tons and carnall lyuers: whose belly, is their God, Philip. ii. saith sainct Paule, and all couetous persons and inordynate louers of the world: when couetous­nes (as saith sainct Paul) est idolorum seruitus, Aephes. v. is a ser­uice of idols. And more generallye to speake, by this first article of our Crede, are condemned all kynde of synners, when sinne doth cause them to preferre, and more set by the creatures, then their creator almightie God: so that this article to be­leue in God, shall make oure lyfe here swete and pleasant, and deliuer the same from all terrour, dread and feare of Sathan, synne, death, helfire, and all their armye: when thys fyrme fayth and belefe in God, shall cause and encourage euerye one of vs boldely to say with the prophet Dauid. Et stambulauero in medio vmbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es. Psal. xxii. And if I shoulde walke thorow the valley of the shadowe of death, I will feare none euell, be­cause thou arte with me. Virga tuaet baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt. Thy rod and thy staffe do comforte me. For as thapostle Paule saith. Roma. viii. Sideus pro nobis, quis con tra nos? If God be wyth vs, who can stande agaynste vs? gods prouidence and care beyng such ouer vs, quod oēs capilli capitis nostri numerati sunt. That all the heares of our heades be numbred, Math. x. and that not one of them shall peryshe, wythoute hys wyll and pleasure.

Seyng therfore (dearely beloued in our Lorde God) so many and great euils, as al kynd of Idolatrie, synne, and detestable liuing, are auoyded, [Page]by this first article of our Crede. Seyng that so many profites, commodities, and pleasures are gotten and ꝓcured by the same: Let vs therfore here first beginne to pitche and stay our selues, & with a firme persuasion of heart to beleue, and with no lesse truth of mouth to confesse and say: Credo in deum patrem. I beleue in God the father. In that this first article of our Crede teacheth vs to be­leue in God the father, it dothe expresse vnto vs two notable pointes of fayth. The first is, the vnitie of the Godhead & of the diuine substaunce and essence of God. The second, is the pluralitie of persones: when this worde, father, can not be verified of God the first persone, but in relation of God the sonne the second persone: when with out a sonne God can not be a father. Therfore in that this first article of our Crede teacheth vs to beleue in God the father, it teacheth vs, that Iesus Christ our Lord, the second persone in trinitie, is God the sonne, beyng the very image of God the father, and of one substaunce with the father, coeternal, and in deitie coequal with God the father, beyng one God with God the father, one nature, one essēce, & being with him, both of them being of like might, like power, like wise­dome, like knowledge, like righteousnes, & in all other thinges like, appertainyng vnto the deitie. The assured knowledge & vnderstanding therof can not be attained, but onely by fayth taught vs in this first article of our Crede, & euery one of vs to say: I beleue in God the father omnipotent. And therfore worthy to be beleued, and worthy [Page]to be beloued. To be beleued, because he is omni­potent, and hable to do all thinges that he wyll, bothe in heauen and in earth, and that nothinge is vnto him impossible, and thinges being subiect vnto his power. And to be beloued, because he is a father, and stretcheth out his great might and power vnto vs, not as a rigorous lorde, but as a mercifull father: here in defending vs frō the in­iurie of all oppressours, as a father, in conser­uing and gouerning of vs, as a father. in fedinge and clothing of vs, as a father: making and cau­sing all his other creatures to obey and serue vs as a most benigne & louinge father. And in sure profe and declaration of this oure fathers loue, great might, power, and omnipotencie, this first article of our crede teacheth vs to beleue in god the father Omnipotent, maker and creator of heauen and earth. And in that, that he did create and make of nothing both heauen and earthe: it is probation sufficient of his omnipotencie. And here is to be obserued, howe by the creation of heauen whiche is the throne or seate of God, Mat. v. and the highest creature of God) and by the creation of the earth (whiche is the fotestole of God, and the lowest creature) is meant and vnderstanded the creation of all creatures meane and betwene bothe heauen and earth, and all creatures there­in contained, whether they be heuenly creatures aboue, or earthlye beneth, spirituall or corporall, materiall or immateriall, visible creatures or in­visible. God the father is the creator of them all, and did geue vnto them al their forse, might, and [Page]power, and doeth from time to tyme continually preserue, gouerne, sustayne and maynteyne the whole worlde, and all the creatures thereof, by hys onely goodnes and highe prouidence: In so­much that without the continuance of his migh­tie workynge, nothyng in heauen or in earth, vi­sible, or inuisible shoulde be hable anye whyle to contynewe. And here to conclude in thys fyrste parte or artycle of oure Crede. I beleue in God, the father almyghtye maker of heauen and earthe. We be taught to beleue in one God, and to abo­lishe all other fayned and false goddes, and thys fayth so stedfastly to reteyne, and embrace in our herts, as neuer to swarue or decline frō the same for any argument, persuasion, or autoritie that may be obiected, or for any worldly affection, or respect of pleasure, payne, persecution or torment what soeuer shall happen vnto vs. And besyde this constant fayth and belefe, we are taught by this first article, most firmely to betake and com­mitte our selues, and all that we haue, wholy to God, and to fyxe all our whole hope, truste, and confidence in him, and to quiet our selues, and all our thoughtes, wordes and workes in hym: be­leuynge moste assuredlye, that he wyll in verye deede, shewe no lesse goodnes, loue, grace, mercye and fauour vnto vs, then a very deare and ten­der father vnto his owne children, beynge omni­potent and of all might, force and power to per­forme the same: and to defende, helpe and saue vs his poore creatures, not onely from all afflictiōs, maladyes and miseryes of thys present lyfe, but [Page]also at the terme and ende therof, to rewarde vs wyth lyfe euerlastynge, and to crowne vs wyth the eternall crowne of glorye, whiche he graunte vs all, that hathe so louynglye, and moste lyke a tender father, prepared it for vs. To whom wyth God the Sonne, and God the holy ghost be prayse, honor and glory bothe here and euer.

Amen.

I Beleue in Iesus Christe his onely sonne our Lorde which was con­ceiued by the ho­lye ghoste, borne of the virgin Marye. These two articles of oure crede intreated vpō in your les­son and homilie of this daye, do apperteyne to Iesus Christ, the very sonne of God, Iohn. xvij. and seconde person in Trini­tie: when, by the testimonye before recyted in the fyrst artycle, of the Euangelist S. Iohn: Euer­lastyng lyfe doeth not onely depende and consyst in the knowledge of God the father, to be the onely and true God: but it doeth consyst also in the perfect knowledge of his sonne Iesus Christ, whom he dyd sende vnto vs. Of whom, to haue a ryght and perfect knowledge, to the wynnynge of this euerlastynge lyfe, you shall haue here this daye, the ryght sense and interpretation of these two articles, apperteynynge vnto him, set furth and declared vnto you. Wherof the fyrste. (I be­leue in Iesus Christ his onely sonne our Lord) doeth bring vs in perfect knowledge of hys diuine na­ture, and deitie. The seconde article (whiche was [Page]cōceyued by the holy ghost, borne of the virgin Ma­rye) doeth put vs to knowledge of hys humani­tye. In the vnderstandynge of bothe the whiche natures, doeth consist the whole & perfect know­ledge of Christe. And touchynge the firste, it is with muche diligence of our partes to be obser­ued, that where as our Crede teacheth vs to be­leue in Iesus Christe hys onely sonne, meanyng that Iesus Christ is the onely sonne of God the father: That we do not furth withal, lyke carnal men, fantasey with our selues any kynde of car­nall propagation to be betwene God the Sonne and God the father: But the maner of generatiō betwixt thē to be such that it is not to be mused vpō, farre exceding al wit & imaginatiō of man: When God the first person in Trinitie, is a ve­ry father to God the sonne the secōde person, not by carnall generation, nor yet by predestination. Of the which Paule to the Ephesians: Ephes. i. Grace & peace vnto you from God the father, whiche hathe predestinate you in adoptiō of the sōnes of God: nor by creatiō. Of the which Deu. xxxij. Deut. xxxij. Is not he thy father, which made the & created the? nor by redēp­tion: of the which the prophet Esaye sayth: Esay. lxiii. Tu dn̄e pater noster, & redemptor noster. Thou o lord art our father & our redemer: nor yet by any sacramētal regene­ratiō, of the which S. Peter speaketh. i Pet. i. Blessed be god and father of our Lord Iesus Christ, which hath regenerate vs: (And to be short) nor yet father by adoptiō of grace, or cōference of glory: But God the first person is father to God the son, by an e­ternall generatiō: of the which the prophet Esay [Page]speaking sayth: Esay. iij. Generationem eius quis enarrabit? who is hable (sayth the prophet) to expresse or to shew this his eternal generatiō? Whē in this generation God the sonne is begot of the nature and substance of God the father, beynge the very same substaunce with God the father, coequal & eternal with God the father. The mysterie therof is so wonderfull that Esay the prophet sayeth: It can not be expres­sed: and therfore not to be reasoned vpon, but to be beleued of all men, and euery man to say: I be­leue in Iesu Christe his onely sonne (by eternall ge­neration) our Lorde. In the whych article of our Crede (beside that we are taught to beleue this eternal generation of Christ, & therby his deitie and diuine nature) wee are by the same article taught also, to beleue that he is our Iesus and sauiour, our Christ, preist, and prophete: our lord, protector and defend or: when to beleue in Iesus Christ his only sonne our lord, is to beleue, that Iesus Christ was eternally preordeyned and appointed by the decre of the whole Trinitie, to be our lorde & redemer, and to pacifie the wrath and indignation of god the father towardes vs, and to reconcile vs into his fauor, and to loose & deliuer vs from the yoke & tyrannye of Sathan, synne, death, helfyre, & all their armie, that they shal no lōger against vs preuaile, but hath made vs free from them, and taken vs into his owne protectiō, and made vs partakers of his iustice, his power, his life, his felicitie, and of all other his goodnes, and hath in suche plentifull and a­boundant wayes powred vpon vs his holy spirit [Page]and graces: as his fayth to illumine and directe our weake reason and iudgementes: his charitie to rule our willes and affections: his wisedome to gouerne our feble weaknes: his cleare bright­nes to put awaye our darknes, that we maye be bolde to saye and beleue, that neither synne, nor death, nor hell shall haue anye longer power or preuayle agaynste vs: but after this transitorye lyfe, we shal perpetually reigne with him in glo­rye, ioye and felicitie, And therfore of our partes worthely to be beleued and called Iesus, that is to saye, our sauiour: to be called Christ, that is to saye, our annoynted kynge and priest: And to be called Lorde, that is to say, our redemer and go­uernour: when for our sakes he hath done & ful­fylled the very office of a sauiour, of a priest, and of a lorde and kynge. Of a Sauiour, in that he hath (accordynge as the angell sayde) saued hys people from their synnes. Of a priest, Math. i. in that he hath offered vp his owne bodye in sacrifice vpon the altar of the Crosse for vs. In the whiche ob­lation he was both the priest, and the sacrifice it selfe. And of a kynge and Lorde, in that he hathe lyke a moste myghtye conquerour ouercome and vtterly oppressed hys enemyes, and hathe nowe spoyled them of the possession of mākinde, which they wanne before by fraude and deceyte, by ly­enge and blasphemynge, and hathe broughte vs nowe into his possession, & dominion, to reigne ouer vs in grace and mercy lyke a moste louyng Lorde and gouernour. And therfore sythen he is our Iesus and sauiour, our Christ, priest, and sa­crifice, [Page]our Lorde, kynge and gouernour, let vs put our whole trust and confidence in hym. For he is the lambe of God whiche taketh awaye the sinnes of the worlde. Iohn. i.xi. Ibidem. Iohn. x. He is oure resurrection, health, life, and saluation. He is the waye, trueth, and life: no man cometh to the father, but by him. He is the good shepherd, by whom we be saued from the wolfe: & the dore, by whom we must enter into by grace: He is the vine, Ibidem. xv.i. Cor. x. in whom we being ingraffed, must nedes bringe furth much fruite. He is our wisedom, righ­teousnes, iustification and redemption. He is oure peace, Ephes. ij.i. Timo. ii. Apocs. i.xxi. our mediatour and aduocate, and finallie he is alpha and omega, that is, the beginning and endinge of our saluation. Let vs therefore haue the selfe same fayth and affyaunce in hym in all poyntes, whiche we haue in God the father, acknowledg­yng him to be our lord, our Christ, & our sauiour, lyke as we are taughte in this seconde article of our crede, most fyrmely to beleue in Iesus Christe his onelie sonne our Lord.

The seconde article apperteignynge to the se­conde person in Trinitie, touched in the homylie of this day, doeth teache vs to beleue hys huma­nitie and humane nature, saying: which was con­ceiued by the holy ghost, borne of the virgin Mary. For declaration of the whiche article, ye shal vn­derstande, that when the tyme was come, in the which it was before ordeyned and appoynted, by the decree of the whose Trinitie, that mankynde should be ransomed and redemed: then the sonne of God Iesus Christ the seconde person in Tri­nitie, and very God, descended from heauen into this worlde, and toke vpon him the very habite, [Page]forme, and nature of man, in the same to worke, suffre, and fulfyll all those thynges, which were necessarye for the redemption and saluation of man: vnto whom God the father commaunded the worlde to geue full credite, saying to al men. Ipsum audite. Heare hym: Who descendyng from hea­uen dyd lyght downe into the wombe of the bles­sed virgin Mary, Mat. xvij. and dyd take vpon hym of her fleshe, our very fleshe, very nature & substance, & so did in her vnite & conioyne together the same nature of man, with his godhead in one person, with suche an indissoluble and inseperable knot and bonde: that he being one person Iesus Christ was then and euer shalbe in the same person ve­rye perfect God, and very perfecte man. Whiche holy worke of Christes incarnatiō was brought to passe, not by the seede of man, but by the holy ghost, descendyng into the wombe of the blessed vyrgyn, and there of her fleshe and substaunce workinge this ineffable & incomprehensible my­stery of the incarnation of Iesus Christ, and that without any motion of concupiscence, or spot of synne: So that she bothe in the conception & also in the birthe and natiuitie of our sauiour Christ, and euer after, reteyned styll her virginitie pure and immaculate (his conception & birth beynge, by the onely workemanshyppe of the holy ghost, accompleshed in her without any violation or de­triment of her virginitie: Christes birth beynge altogether thus pure, holy, and vndefiled, that he myght be impollutus pontifex, an vndefyled priest and byshoppe, to make sacrifice and oblation to God [Page]the father for oure synnes, and that he myghte by his immaculate purenes, purge the fylthines of our synnes, and that he beyng the lambe sente of God to take awaye the synnes of the worlde, myght (beyng without all spot & wemme) purge and make cleane the great malice of our synnes, and the fylthy wickednes of the same: that oure fylthynes beynge in thys wyse (by hys purenes) clensed and put awaye, we myghte with him fy­nally enioy the benefyt and profit of his most ho­ly conception, and blessed incarnation, of his ioy­full birth and natiuitie, of his baptisme, fastynge and temptation, of his great paynes, trauayles, and laboures, by preachynge teachyng, and my­racles doyng, of his many wrongefull reprofes, rebukes and infamies by the Iewes, of his most tedious agonye, when he swette both water and bloud, of his fatigation and faintyng vnderneth the crosse, of his crucifixion and nayling, & moste pytyfull hangynge vpon the same, of hys death, passyon, and yeldynge vp of hys spirite into the handes of God the father, and finally of his ho­norable burial, his glorious resurrection, & mer­ueilous ascension into the ioyes of heauen and of eternal glorye. Vnto the whiche he bring vs all, that by so many paines & traueiles hath so dere­ly bought it for vs: not by corruptible golde or siluer, but by the effusion of his most precious bloud. To whom with God the father, and God the holy ghost be all praise, honor, and glory for euer and euer.

Amen.