1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1574 
MarginaliaAnno. 1555. Iuly.and priuately bewaile our synnes: but so that hereto we ioyne, ceasyng from wilfulnes and synne of purpose, MarginaliaThe prayers of sinners be not heard.for els the lorde heareth not our praiers, as Dauid saith. And in S. Ihon it is written: The impenitent synners God heareth not. Now, impenitēt are thei which purpose not to amende their liues. As for exāple: not onely suche which followe still their pleasures, vncleannesse, carnalitie: but those also whiche for feare or fauour of men, do against their conscience, to consent to the MarginaliaRomish rages, and rotten religion.Romishe ragges, and resort to the rotten Religion, communicatyng in Seruice and ceremonies with the Papistes, thereby declaryng thē selues to loue more the worlde then God, to feare man more then Christe, to dread more the losse of temporall thynges, then of carnall: in whom it is euidente, the loue of God abideth not. For he that loueth the worlde, hath not Gods loue abidyng in hym, saieth S. Ihon: therefore my deare hartes, and deare again in the lorde, remember what you haue professed, Christes Religion and name, & the renouncyng of the Deuill, Synne, and the Worlde.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe A. B. C. of the Christians beginneth with Christes crosse.Remember that before yee learned A.B.C. your lesson was Christes crosse.
Bradford is alluding to the fact that a cross was placed next to the row of the letters of the alphabet in primers.
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My dearly beloued, therfore for the lordes sake, consider these thynges which now I write vnto you of loue, for my Vale, & last farewell for euer in thys present life. Turne to the Lorde: repent you your euill and vnthankfull life, declare repētaūce by the fruites: take tyme while you haue it: come to the lorde whiles he calleth you: run into his lappe whiles his armes be open to embrace you: seke him whiles he maie be found: call vpon hym whiles tyme is conuenient: forsake & flie from all euill, bothe in religion, and in the rest of your life & conuersation.MarginaliaHe exhorteth to amendement in religion, and conuersation. Let your light so shine before men, that thei may se your woorkes, and praise God in the daie of his visitation. Oh come againe, come againe you straunge children, and I will receiue you saieth the Lorde. Conuert and turne to me, and I will turne vnto you. Why? will ye nedes perish? As sure as I liue (sweareth the lord) I wil not your death: turne therefore vnto me. Can a woman forget the child of her wōbe? If she should, yet will not I forget you, saieth the Lorde your GOD. I am he, I am he whiche put awaie your synnes for myne owne sake.
[Back to Top]Oh then deare frendes, turne I saie vnto your dearest father. Cast not these his sweete and louyng woordes to the ground, & at your taile, MarginaliaThe lord watcheth to performe his word doublewise.for the Lorde watcheth on his worde to performe it: whiche is in twoo sortes: to thē that laye it vp in their hartes, and beleue it, will he paye all, and eternall ioye and comfort. But to them that cast it at their backes, and will forget it, to them (I saie) wil he poure out indignation and eternall shame. Wherefore I hartely yet once more beseche and praie you and euery of you, not to contemne this poore and simple exhortation, which now out of prison I make vnto you, or rather the Lorde by me. Loth would I be a witnes against you in the last daie: MarginaliaBradford must be a witnes in the last day too them that reiect his counsayle.as of truthe I must bee if ye repent not, if ye loue not Gods Gospell, yea, if ye liue it not.
[Back to Top]Therefore to cōclude, repent, loue Gods Gospell, liue it in all your cōuersation so shall Gods name be praised, his plages mitigated, his people comforted, and his enemies ashamed. Graunt all this thou gracious Lord God to euery of vs for thy deare sonnes sake, our Sauior Iesus Christ: To whō with thee and the holy Ghost, be eternall glorie for euer and euer, Amen. The. xij. of February. 1555.
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By the bondman of the Lorde, and your
afflicted poore brother, I. Bradford.
CloseThis letter was first printed in 1563 and then printed in Letters of the Martyrs, pp. 331-34. It was reprinted in all subsequent editions of the Acts and Monuments. As Foxe explains in a marginal note, Bradford did not print the names of the recipients of this letter because of his fears that the letter would be intercepted. Aubrey Townsend, the Victorian editor of Bradford's works, speculated that the enigmatic 'B. C.' to whom the letter was addressed were Augustine Bernher and John Careless (Bradford [PS], II, p. 34). In support of this theory, the recipient(s) are identified as 'B. and C.' in Letters of the Martyrs, p. 331. Yet the name is given as 'B. C.' in all editions of Foxe. Moreover, the letter appears to be written to people at liberty, whereas Careless was in prison at this time. The letter is also addressed to the wives and families of 'B. C.' (or B. and C.) and Bernher was unmarried at this time. The identification of Bernher and Careless as recipients of this letter is quite problematic.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaAn other letter of Maister Bradford to certaine frendes of hys, whom for danger of that tyme hee woulde not name.I Beseche the euerliuyng God, to graunt you all, my good brethren and sisters, the cōfort of the holy spirite, and the continuall sense of his mercie in Christ our Lorde, now and for euer, Amen.
[Back to Top]The worlde my brethren semeth to haue the vpper hande, iniquitie ouerfloweth, the truthe and veritie seemeth to bee suppressed, and thei which take parte therwith, are vniustly entreated: as thei which loue þe truth lament to se and heare, as thei doe. The cause of all this is Gods anger, and mercy: his anger, because we haue greuously synned againste hym: his mercie, because he here punisheth vs, and as a father nourtereth vs.MarginaliaGods anger & mercy both together vppon his church. We haue bene vnthankfull for his word: We haue contemned his kindenes: we haue been negligent in prayer: we haue been to carnall, couetous, licēcious. &c. We haue not hastened to heauenwarde, but rather to helward. We were fallen almost into an open contēpt of God, and all his good ordinaūces: MarginaliaThe contempt of God and his gospell punished.so that of his iustice he could no longer forbeare, but make vs fele his anger: as now he hath done in takyng his worde and true seruice from vs, and permitted Sathan to serue vs with Antichristian religion, and that in such sorte, that if wee will not yelde to it, and seme to allowe in deede and outwarde facte, our bodies are like to bee laied in prison,
CloseThis passage would seem to date this letter before 16 August 1554 when Bradford was sent to prison. Since Careless was already in prison, it suggests that he was not the recipient.
This should we loke vpon as a signe of Gods anger, procured by our synnes: whiche my good brethren, euery of vs should now call to our memories oftentymes so particularly as we cā, MarginaliaExhortation to repentance and amendment.that we might hartly lament them, repent them, hate them, aske earnestly mercy for thē, and submit our selues to beare in this life any kinde of punishment, whiche God will lay vpon vs for thē. This should we do, in cōsideration of Gods anger in this tyme. Now his mercie in this tyme of wrathe is seen, & should be seen in vs my dearely beloued, in this, that God doeth vouchsafe to punish vs in thys present life. MarginaliaGods mercy the cause why we are punished here.If he should not haue punyshed vs, dooe not you thynke that we would haue contynued in the euyls we were in? Yes verely we would haue bene worse, & haue gone forwardes in hardenyng our hartes by impenitēcy and negligēce of God and true godlines. And then if death had come, should not wee haue perished bothe soule and bodie, into eternall fire and perdition? Alas, what miserie should we haue fallen into, if God should haue suffered vs to haue gone on forwarde in our euils? No greater signe of damnation there is, then to lye in euill and synne vnpunished of God, as now the Papistes (my dearly beloued) are caste into Iezabels bed of securitye,MarginaliaIesabels bed of security. which of all plages is the greuousest plage that can bee. They are bastards and not sonnes, for they are not vnder Gods rod of correction.
[Back to Top]A great mercy it is therfore that God doeth punishe vs: for if he loued vs not, he would not punishe vs.MarginaliaApocal. 3. Heb. 12. Now doth he chastice vs, that wee should not bee damned wyth the worlde.Marginalia1. Cor. 11. Now doeth he nourture vs, because he fauoureth vs. Now maie we thinke our selues Gods house and childrē, because he begynneth his chastisyng at vs:Marginalia1. Peter 4. Nowe calleth he vs to remember our synnes past. Wherefore? that we might repent and aske mercie. And why? MarginaliaThe ende wherfore gods Saintes be afflicted in this world.That he myght forgeue vs, pardon vs, iustifie vs, and make vs his children, and so begin to make vs here like vnto Christe, that wee might bee like vnto him els where, euen in heauen where already we are set by faithe with Christ, and at hys comming in very deede, wee shall then most ioyfully enioye, when our sinfull and vile bodies shalbee made lyke to Christes glorious bodie, MarginaliaPhillip. 3.according to the power whereby he is able to make all thynges subiecte to hym self.
[Back to Top]Therefore my brethren, let vs in respect hereof, not lament but laude God, not be sory but be merie, not weepe but reioyce and be glad, that God doeth vouchsafe to offer vs his crosse,MarginaliaRom. 8. Marginalia2. Timoth. 3. MarginaliaMath. 19. therby to come to him to endlesse ioyes and comfortes. For if we suffer, we shall raigne, if we confesse hym before men, he will confesse vs before his father in heauen: if we be not ashamed of his Gospell now, he will not be ashamed of vs in the laste daie, but wyll be glorified in vs, crowning vs with crounes of glorie and endlesse felicitie: MarginaliaMath. 5.For blessed are thei that suffer persecutiō for righteousnesse sake, for theirs is the kyngdome of heauen: Be glad (saieth PeterMarginalia1. Peter 4. 1. Peter 5.) for the spirite of God resteth vpon you. After that you are a little afflicted, God wil comfort, strengthen, and confirme you. And therfore my good brethren, be not dis-
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