Selected quad for the lemma: church_n
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A66289
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The principles of the Christian religion explained in a brief commentary upon the church catechism. By William Wake, D.D. rector of St. James Westminster, and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.
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Wake, William, 1657-1737.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing W258; ESTC R217651
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113,834
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200
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for which the Holy Spirit was given by Christ to his Church A. No His Operations are very many and can hardly be particularly Enumerated He not only Regenerates and Sanctifies Us Disposes us to our Duty and Fortifies Us against Temptation but moreover Directs us in Our Doubts Comforts us in our Afflictions Supports us in our Troubles Arms us against the Fear of Death Gives us Strength and Courage in Trials and Persecutions And in such Cases as he sees needful Seals our Souls with such an Inward Sense and Assurance of God's Favour as makes us firmly satisfied of our future Everlasting Salvation Rom. v. 5 viii 14 17. 2 Cor. i. 22 Eph. i. 14 Gal. iv 6 Q. How long shall the Holy Ghost continue thus to Comfort Sanctify and Guide the Faithful A. As long as there shall any Faithful Remain in need of his Assistance Which because there will be to the End of the World therefore Christ has promised that He shall also till then continue to Conduct and Govern his Faithful Servants Jo. 14.16 Mat. xxviii 20 SECT XVI Q. WHat does the FOVRTH and Last Part of your Creed Relate to A. To the Church of Christ Its Duty and Privileges here and its future Hope of Glory and Immortality hereafter Q. What is the First Thing which you are taught to believe concerning Christ's Church A. That there is a Holy Catholick Church Q. What is that Church of which this Article speaks A. It is the Vniversal Church of Christ the General Assembly of All those who from the time of the first publishing of the Gospel to this Day have believed in Christ or shall hereafter profess his Faith to the End of the World Q. How can such a Church be the Object of our Faith A. Not as to that part of it which we see and communicate with but chiefly in these Two Respects First As we Believe by the Word of God that those who have Gone before Us in the true Faith of Christ and the Fear of his Holy Name though out of all Visible Communion at present with Us do yet Live to God and are still Members of Christ's Church though in a different State from Us and shall together with Us be gather'd into One Glorious Society at the last Day And Secondly As upon the same Grounds we do also farther believe that in all the Ages yet to come to the End of the World Christ shall continue to have a Church upon Earth So that no Power of Men or Malice of the Devil shall ever be able utterly to Root it out or to destroy it Q. How can a Society consisting of such different Members and those at so great a distance both in Time and Place from One Another yet all together make but One Church A. Because how different so ever the Members of this Church may otherwise seem to be yet they are all * United together under One Head the Lord Jesus * Are * Sanctified and Ruled by the same Holy Spirit * Endued with the same Love to God and towards One Another * Live by the same Laws * Profess the same Faith * Partake of the same Sacraments * Have the same Hope of Salvation set before them * Worship the same God by the same Advocate and Saviour Jesus Christ And as to what concerns all the true and lively Members of this Society * shall one Day be Gathered together into One actual Place and Portion in the Glorious Kingdom of God for Ever Q. Wherefore do you give this Church the Title of Catholick A. Upon several Accounts but chiefly these Two First To distinguish it from the Jewish Church which was confined to a certain People and was to continue but for a certain Time Whereas the Christian Church takes in all Mankind and is to last to the End of the World Psal. ii 8 Acts x. 34 35. Mat. xxviii 19 Mark xvi 15 Luk. xxiv 47 1 Cor. xii 13 And Secondly To shew that in this Creed which comprehends what is to be Believed by all Christians we profess not our Faith of any One determinate Church which may cease and fail such as the Church of England or Church of Rome but of the Catholick or Vniversal Church of Christ as that which shall never fail and to which alone the Promises of God belong Q. May not any One determinate Church be called the Catholick Church A. No it may not any more than London may be called England or England the Whole World The Catholick Church is the Vniversal Church and that neither Ours nor any other particular Church is nor whilst there are more such Christian Churches in the World can be But a Catholick Church a Particular Church may be called And such Ours is though that of Rome I doubt will hardly be able to make a Good Pretension to this Title any more than to the Other Q. Do you make a difference then between A Catholick Church and THE Catholick Church A. There is certainly a wide difference between them THE Catholick Church is as I before said The whole Church But A Catholick Church implies no more than a Sound part of it a Church in Communion with the Catholick Church of Christ in opposition to the Conventicles of Hereticks and Schismaticks Who whatsoever they may pretend are really no parts of the Catholick Church nor shall be consider'd by Christ as such Q. Whom do you account Hereticks and Schismaticks And how does it appear that they are not Parts of the Catholick Church A. The Catholick Church is that Church which professes the true Faith which Christ and his Apostles deliver'd to it and that if not free from All Errour whatsoever yet without any such Errours as destroy the Foundation of that Doctrine which was committed to its Custody Now a Heretick is One who not only Errs in some Matters of lesser moment but in Matters of such Consequence as subvert the very Foundation of Christianity But he who does this can never be a Member of that Church whose Doctrine he not only does not Receive but rejects And who by his Errours destroys that very Faith by which alone he can be intituled to the Character either of a true Disciple or a sound Member of Christ's Church Q. But why may not Schismaticks be accounted true Members of Christs Church A. Because none are Schismaticks but such as forsake and cut themselves off from the Communion of the Catholick Church Now it is a Contradiction that those should continue Members of the Catholick Church who by their Own voluntary departure from it have renounced the Communion of it Q. Do you look upon the Church of England to be a true part of the Catholick Church A. It certainly is Inasmuch as it professes the true Catholick Faith deliver'd in the Holy Scriptures and drawn up in the Creeds of the Church and by the most ancient Councils acknowledged to be sufficient to denominate those who profess'd according thereunto
to be truly Catholick Christians And also holds Communion with all such Churches as profess the same Faith and as far forth as they do so Q. What is your Opinion of the Church of Rome in this particular A. That she is both Schismatical and Heretical Schismatical in cutting off all Others from her Communion who will not profess her Errors and submit to her Vsurp'd Authority Heretical in professing such Doctrines as quite destroy the Foundations of Christianity and are inconsistent with that Truth which yet she pretends to maintain Q. In what Respect do you believe the Catholick Church to be Holy A. As both the * End of Christ in Gathering of it the * Rules he has given to it the * Promises he has made it * It s Sacraments * Ministry all its * Ordinances were design'd to make it Holy But especially as * All Those who are indeed the Faithful Members of it are actually Sanctify'd by the Grace of the Holy Spirit And so are truly though imperfectly Holy now and shall be made altogether Holy and without Spot hereafter Eph. 5.25 SECT XVII Q. WHat is the first Duty or Privilege belonging to those who are Members of Christ's Church A. The Communion of Saints Q. What do you mean by Saints A. Though the Word in our Language be more Restrain'd yet in that in which this Creed was composed it may indifferently denote either Holy Persons or Holy Things And this Article may very well be extended to both of Them Q. Whom do you mean by Holy Persons A. Though all Christians in General are so called in Scripture and we are Charitably to presume that All such are Holy Persons Yet by Saints we are most properly to understand such as answer the End of their Calling by a Lively Faith and a Holy Conversation in which Two the Gospel-Saintship seems to consist Q. With Whom and in what Things do you believe such Persons to have Communion A. I believe that all the true Members of Christ's Church have a Right of Fellowship or Communion with God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ as they are Received into Covenant by the One through the Death and Passion of the Other I believe that they have a Fellowship with the Holy Ghost by his Dwelling in Them and Sanctifying of Them I believe that they have Fellowship with the Holy Angels who both Minister unto them in their Exigencies and have a most tender affectionate Concern for Them I believe that they all have a Fellowship with One Another as * Members of the same mystical Body of Christ * Professors of the same Faith * Heirs of the same Promises * Guided by the same Spirit and * Governed by the same Laws And I believe that they ought as living Members * to have a Fellowship of Love and Charity also towards Each Other And Lastly I believe that they have a Right of Communicating in all the Ordinances of the Gospel In the Prayers of the Church in the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments and whatsoever else hath been ordain'd by Christ or establish'd in the Church for the common Good and Benefit of all the Members of it Q. Do you not by this Account of the present Article utterly shut out those from any part in it who yet are most commonly called Saints I mean Such as have departed this Life in the Fear of God and the Faith of Jesus Christ A. No by no means I believe them to partake in this Communion also as they are still living Members of Christ's Holy Catholick Church And therefore I believe that They have a Fellowship no less than We with God and Christ. That they are Sanctified by the same Spirit Are Visited by the Holy Angels Have some kind of Fellowship with One Another and with Vs also however separated by Death from Us. Q. Wherein do you suppose their Fellowship with Us to consist A. I look upon the Case to be much the same with Us as it is with Members of the same Civil Society upon Earth when they are in a foreign Country far distant from One Another * We are Members of the same Church * Vnited to the same Head * Sanctified by the same Spirit * Heirs of the same Promises * Shall in a little time be in the same Place and State and when the End of the World comes * we shall All be translated to the same Glory and Happiness in God's Heavenly Kingdom Q. To what Offices of Communion does this Belief oblige Us at present towards Each Other A. To the Members of Christ's Church still Living it obliges Us to Love and Charity to mutual Prayers for and Help of Each other in all such Things as may promote the Salvation of Us all How the Saints departed maintain Communion with Us We cannot tell Probable it is that they do in general pray for us as it is certain they wish well to Us. But for our selves who are yet here on Earth we must Bless God for the Grace he was pleased to bestow upon Them and by which they were delivered from the Sins and Temptations of this Evil World and enabled Faithfully to serve him unto the End We must set before Us their Examples and Imitate their Vertues We must account of them as Living Members of Christ's Body and be not only Ready but Desirous to Go to them whenever it shall please God to call for Us. We must take care decently to dispose of their Bodies and faithfully to fulfil as much as in Us lies what they have left in trust with Us to be done for Them after their departure Q. What think you of that Honour which is paid to Them in the Church of Rome A. It is not only Vain and without all Warrant from God's Word but is indeed Superstitious and Idolatrous To Pray to any Creature and He at a vast Distance from Vs In the House of God with all the Outward Marks of Adoration nay and oftentimes in the same Words and in the same Breath that We pray to God and that lastly with a Confidence that the Person so pray'd to can Hear our Prayers and Answer our Desires being evidently to Give to the Creature the Honour due to the Creator which cannot be done without the Peril of Idolatry SECT XVIII Q. WHat is the next Privilege which you believe does of Right belong to those who are the Members of Christ's Church A. The Forgiveness of Sins Q. What is Sin A. It is the Transgression of God's Law 1 Jo. iii. 4 Whether by our Omitting to do what that Required us to have done Or by Our doing any Thing contrary to its Commands Q. What mean you by the Law of God A. The Will of God howsoever made known to Us whether by the Light of our Own Consciences or by the Declarations of his Word especially that which is deliver'd to us in the Books of the New Testament Q. How does God