Christ and his Church: or, Christianity explained, under seven evangelical and ecclesiastical heads; viz. Christ I. Welcomed in his nativity. II. Admired in his Passion. III. Adored in his Resurrection. IV. Glorified in his Ascension. V. Communicated in the coming of the Holy Ghost. VI. Received in the state of true Christianity. VII. Reteined in the true Christian communion. With a justification of the Church of England according to the true principles of Christian religion, and of Christian communion. By Ed. Hyde, Dr. of Divinity, sometimes fellow of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge, and late rector resident at Brightwell in Berks.

SECT. V. The Authority of God, and of his Church for a solemn Festival to celebrate the coming of Christ; and that the Church did not more then her duty in appointing that Festival, and an Advent Sunday to prepare for it; and that we cannot justly or safely gain∣say that appointment.

LEss then a fulness of time would not serve God to give his Son: Less then a fulness of time may not serve us to ac∣knowledge that gift: So that we have a sufficient warrant for a long and a solemn Festival to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. God himself observing a time and a fulness of time to send forth his Son to come to us, is warrant enough for us to observe a time and a fulness of time to give thanks and to rejoyce for his coming▪ Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ, was the Apostles irresistible argument for the Corin∣thians obedience, 1 Cor. 11. 1. And it may still be the Argu∣ment of every National Church, (which is the Grand Apostle of its own Nation, and must be, till the worlds end) you are bound to be followers of me when and where I do follow Christ, though no further may you obey me, nor may I challenge your Obedience, then that we may both together follow our blessed Saviour. The Authority of the Apostle is under the Auhority of Christ; The Authority of the Church, under the Authority

of Scripture, the word of Christ: But where the Apostle doth indeed follow Christ, there to run away from the Apostle, is in effect to run away from Christ; even as to follow him, is indeed to follow Christ: The like must be said of the Authority of the Church, which succeeds the Authority of the Apostles, unless we will suppose all the promises of Christ to his Apostles, and all the Precepts of the Apostles to the People, to have been meer∣ly momentary and temporal, and not to have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come, 1 Cor. 10. 11. A supposition so far from true godliness, that you see it is directly against the express Word of God: Wherefore we may not doubt to follow the Church in those things wherein the Church follows Christ; And the Church follows Christ in all those things, for which she can alledge either Precept or Pre∣cedent from the Word of Christ, or can give a reason agreeable with his Word; And we cannot deny but that in this case the Church hath both Precedent, and Precept, and Reason, drawn from the Word of Christ; The Precedent is in general from the Jews appointing the Feast of Dedication without any peculiar command of the Old, yet not without the approbation of the New Testament, John 10. 22. In special from the Angels of God, who most zealously kept this Festival: The Precept is from the general equity of the Levitical Law, which still ob∣ligeth Christians, as it is subservient to Moral and Religious, though not to Typical and Ceremonious worship, and that plainly calls for Annual Festivals in honour of Christ, unless we will say that less honour is due to him since he is come in the flesh, then was due to him before his coming: The Reason is clearly from the very institution of the Church; for God gave Pastors and Teachers for the edifying of the body of Christ, Ephes. 4. 12. but the right way of edifying, is to lay the foundation upon the chief corner-stone: And doubtless this was the reason why the Church first appointed an Advent Sunday (which must needs be very antient, or else all the Order of the service could not depend upon it) because she observed that all the Docu∣ments of the Old Testament, did aim only at this, To fit and prepare men for the coming of Christ, and therefore was desi∣rous That we might so prepare our selves to receive Christ at his first coming to save us, that we might not tremble at his second

coming to Judge us: Accordingly the Greek Church began their preparatory Feast for the Nativity of Christ, on the 20. of December, (that is five compleat daies before the Feast it self) as appears by their Chronologie, where the 20. of Decem. is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉: the beginning of the Preparatory feasts of the In∣carnation of our blessed Saviour. Lord, make me so to celebrate thy coming to us in our flesh, that I may daily find and feel thy coming to me in my soul: God observed a time; so may we, in that he teacheth us by his example: God observed a time for his Son; so will we, if he doth also teach us by his Commu∣nion. Saint Peter intimates both kinds of Gods teaching man, 1 Pet. 1. 15, 16. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye ho∣ly, for I am holy: As if he had said, ye ought to be holy not on∣ly for the example, but also from the Communion of my Holi∣ness: It is not for Christians to be guilty of prophaness, when Christ by his communion calleth them to holiness.