TRACTS FOR THE TIMES.
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ[1], first give to God your hearty thanks for having preserved you a member of the "One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church," which teaches the way of God in truth[2], "neither handling the Word of God deceitfully," like the second class, nor following cunningly devised fables[3], like the third, but by manifestation of the truth, commending itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God[4]. Next pray to Him for yourself, that you may have grace to walk worthy of your high calling and privilege; in repentance, faith, and holiness, and in close communion with the Church, especially by a frequent participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which is at once the highest and most essential act of Christian worship, and the surest token of Church membership. Next pray to God for mercy upon all, both those who have gone beyond or fallen short of the Truth, and those who have altogether rejected it; that He may be pleased so to turn their hearts, and fetch them home to His flock, that they may be saved together with His true servants, and be made one fold under one Shepherd.
One word more. From each of these three Classes, which have been here considered, the Church in England has undergone persecution. 1st. In the 4th and 6th centuries, from those who reject the Truth, when they who denied that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, expelled and murdered those who believed in Him, and called upon His Name. 2nd. In the 16th century, from those who teach more than the Truth, when the Papists or Romanists burned alive those who rejected their corrupt additions to the Catholic faith. 3rd. In the 17th century, from those who teach less than the Truth, when the Protestant Dissenters expelled and barbarously treated the Clergy, shut up the Churches, and forbade the use of the English Liturgy. But on each occasion, though it pleased God for a while to try the faith and constancy of his servants by sufferings, He failed not finally to deliver His people, and to protect and strengthen His Church.
