at his mouth for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts Mal. 2. 7. And so are the Ministers of Christ among us Christians Loe I am with you teaching them all things whatsoever I have commanded and that always even to the end of the World. That is with you during your own lives and the Pastors and Teachers your Successors for ever after your deaths Mat. 28. 20. So that if we would give ear to Christ and own him for the Prophet of the Church we must seek the mind of God from the Holy Scriptures and from the mouths of our Bishops and Pastors who are his established Ministers to inculcate and explain those Scriptures Quest. Another Office you say he was design'd and anointed to was the Office of a Priest. Wherein doth that consist Answ. In two things 1. The payment of a Price to make Reconciliation and expiate mens sins with God. And 2. Interceding for ever after that they should have the benefit and blessing of it A Prophet is employ'd from God to men to declare his will and pleasure to them But a Priest is employ'd from men to God ordain'd as St. Paul says for men in things pertaining to God Heb. 5. 1. So that a Priest stands for the Church to make Reconciliation and intercede for it Quest. And did Christ act the part of a Priest for the Church paying a Price to make Reconciliation with God and in virtue of that to intercede for it Answ. Yes he reconciled us to God by dying in our stead We are reconciled to God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. 10. And being now raised from the Dead he is entred into Heaven where he ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7. 25. Quest. Doth he intercede that men may have this Reconciliation whilst they go on in sin Answ. No but only when they forsake it and Repent that their sins may be blotted out Act. 3. 19. So that till they amend they must never expect that he should move for them Quest. What doth the consideration of Christ's Priesthood teach us Answ. To hope for the Mercy of God for our sins upon our true Repentance If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. And having him our High-Priest we may draw near with full assurance of Faith if once our Hearts are sprinkled and cleansed from an evil Conscience Heb. 10. 21 22. And in general it teaches us whensoever we want any Mercy or Favour from God to apply to him by Jesus Christ who is anointed to be the sole Intercessor or Great Master of Requests from whom he will receive our Prayers Quest. You said thirdly that Christ was invested with the Office of a King to his Church what doth that imply Answ. Two things 1. That he govern it by his Laws and Officers the Bishops and Pastors 2. That he protect it from all visible and invisible Enemies by his Spirit and Providence And both these Parts of Regal Power Christ exercises over his Church He is our Lord to command the Head over all things to his Body which is the Church Eph. 1. 22 23. and sits now as a Protector at God's Right-hand till his Enemies be made his Foot-stool Psal. 110. 1. Quest. 'T is plain he exercises his Kingly Power of Governing us by his Laws which are contain'd in the holy Scriptures But doth he also govern his Church by his Officers viz. the Bishops and Ministers making them his Deputies here on Earth Answ. Yes for they are called his Pastors Eph. 4. 8 11. which is the Scriptural word for Governours to feed and to rule being used promiscuously in the holy Language That saith of Cyrus he is my Shepherd that is my Deputy in Power or Substitute in Government Isa 44. 28. And God brought David to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance that is to Rule them So he fed them according to the Integrity of his Heart and guided them according to the skilfulness of his Hand Psal 78. 71 72. His Ministers are his Substitutes in Government whom we are to hearken to and obey in his place Know them that are over you in the Lord and admonish you 1 Thess. 5. 12 13. and obey those that have the rule you for they watch for your Souls Heb. 13. 17. Quest. What must this teach us Answ. To submit to our own Bishops and Ministers acting for and under him as we would to Christ himself if we would own him to be King over us For they are his Deputies to Rule the Church in his place And whilst they act according to his Commission he Decrees and Sentences Binds and Looses Speaks and Acts by them as every Royal Prince doth by his Representatives and Ministers in all Authoritative Acts whereto they are commission'd by him which when done by them have the same Authority and Force as if performed by himself in Person And therefore if we reject them in such cases we shew that we will not have him to Reign over us He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me Luk. 10. 16. And accordingly St Paul both in binding and loosing declares he acted in the person of Christ 2 Cor. 2. 10. and commends the Galatians for receiving him as Christ Jesus Gal. 4. 14. Quest. And wherein must we shew this Submission Answ. In uniting with them in Prayers and Sacraments they having the charge of ministring in his Worship and Service and what he solemnly and openly receives in his Princely Dependancies being from the Mouths and Mediation of his own Stewards and Officers In hearkening to their Godly Admonitions because he has left them to instruct and rebuke Sinners In meekly undergoing their deserved Censures and seeking again the Peace of the Church by true Repentance And lastly in chearfully conforming to all their Church-Laws and Constitutions when they do not thwart or oppose his Christ himself our Soveraign Lord and King has given Laws for all necessary things but has left them to regulate Rites and Ceremonies which are variable matters and to take care of the Order and Decency of Worship in the publick Assemblies Let every thing be done decently and in order in the Church 1 Cor. 14. 40 is a Precept given to Church-Governours for they have the care of God's Publick Service And when they make any innocent or useful Appointments in these things we must cheerfully obey and conform our selves Obey them that have the Rule or Guidance over you for they watch for your Souls Heb. 13. 17. Quest. Is it another part of his Kingly Power to protect his Church from all visible and invisible Enemies Answ. Yes he guards it against all inward and invisible Enemies by his Spirit and from all outward and visible Enemies by his Providence But the security he gives against these is not that it shall never be eclipsed and persecuted but only
their works without any need of Redemption by Christ's Sacrifice as I have already shewed Quest. And S. Paul though he denies such Jewish works asserts works after the Christian Faith wrought in us by God's Grace and accepted through Christ's Sacrifice to justifie and make us Righteous Ans. Yes in the very same Verse wherein he rejects the Law of works that is Jewish works he declares we are justified by another Law viz. the Law of Faith in performing what it imposes Rom. 3. 27. And the Faith which avails to Righteousness in Christ Jesus he says is a working Faith Gal. 5. 6. And the same S. Paul speaking of the Faith which justified the Ancient Worthies particularly notes those correspondent Affections and Practices which it produced in them to make them Righteous As Noah's holy fear and obedience in building of the Ark though all the while he was laughed at for his pains by a merry and secure World and Moses's quitting the highest hopes and honours of Egypt to associate with the persecuted People of God and Abraham's leaving his Country and sacrificing his Son at God's command and all the other instances above-mentioned Quest. By what you have said I plainly perceive that a working Faith or a Faith that suitably influences and affects us is the Faith that always did and always must recommend Men to Almighty God Which when the Scripture contents it self barely to imply the effects it simply calls Faith when it would speak out and express both it calls Faith and Repentance Ans. Very right Quest. But since all Faith doth not atchieve these noble feats and all Graces do not grow upon this single stock in all Believers Pray what are the great properties that fit Faith for these effects and distinguish the Faith of those that show these Fruits from the Faith of those that want them Ans. They are reducible I think to these Two the sincerity and the strength of it Quest. What mean you by the sincerity of this Faith Ans. First That it be real and unfeigned Not a meer pretence of Faith under which Infidels may disguise themselves among Christians to be trusted or emploied Nor a meer outside profession which unthinking Men may chuse and put on as they do their Cloathes without looking for any further reason than to be in the fashion and which they can as easily and readily alter again as they do their Habit when the Mode shall turn But a real inward belief and persuasion It is an unfeigned Faith that S. Paul commends in Timothy 2 Tim. 1. 5. and an unfeigned Faith out of which flows charity 1 Tim. 1. 5. and the Faith or Wisdom which makes Men pure and peaceable c. says S. James is without Hypocrisie Jam. 3. 17. So that they are never like to be fruitful Believers who follow Jesus as some Jews did only to run in with the Crowd or for the sake of the Loaves more than out of inward Convictions Secondly That it be Hearty and Affectionate Not a meer speculative Opinion and careless Notion as of things wherein we are not much interested but a moving and influencing perswasion wherewith all the powers of the Soul are affected Our Opinions must form our Passions and advance into Love Desire Hope Fear Care Endeavour and the like according to the different nature and power of the things believed The Belief that saves says S. Paul is a Belief with the heart as well as with the head Rom. 10. 9. And the Faith which avails to Righteousness works by love Gal. 5 5 6. And therefore they are never like to prove fruitful Believers who read and credit the Story of Jesus and the things of Christianity as they would the Story of Caesar or Alexander of the Assyrian or Persian Empire as things that are very remote in Place or Time and being of little concern to them do not much either delight or afflict them Such indifferent and unconcern'd Believers are like to make no better than Christian News-mongers whose Christian Faith furnishes them only to talk and tell stories Quest. Besides this sincerity is it necessary to a saving and effective Faith that there be moreover a good degree of strength and firmness in it Ans. Yes for such a strong Faith it was that made Abraham and other Holy Men obey God whereupon they were accepted Abraham says the Scripture was not weak or sickly but strong in Faith whereby he gave glory unto God Rom. 4. 19 20. the Faith that fits us for Christian Privileges and the Blessings of Baptism as Philip told the Eunuch is a belief with all the heart Act. 8. 37. If good Fruits do not spring from Faith it is because there is but little of it why take ye thought O ye of little faith Matth. 6. 30. 8. 26. or because there is very small or no life in it Faith being as dead as the body is without the spirit when it stands alone and no vital motions or effects stream from it Jam. 2. 17 20 26. Quest. I perceive this strength of Faith is necessary to enable it to do its work and conquer all that doth oppose it But in what doth this strength consist Ans. In three things especially 1. That it be assured and confident 2. That it be honest or seated in one that makes conscience of being just to his word 3. That it be resolute Quest. Must the Faith that produces these suitable effects be assured and confident Ans. Yes for a wavering Opinion will not accomplish its work It must make us forego many grateful things and undergo many ungrateful ones and attempt many that are very difficult and laborious And Men will not run these ventures and bear these losses on uncertain hopes but only on firm and certain expectations And therefore right and acceptable Believers are exhorted to draw near to God with full assurance of faith and to hold fast their profession without wavering Heb. 10. 22 23. and to shew diligence to the full assurance of hope tâ— the end Heb. 6. 11. And half Faith makes such Believers to be like King Agrippa only half and almost Christians Act. 26. 28. Quest. Must it also be honest that is haâ—e a â—â—â—d Conscience accompanying it and be seated in one who is careful to be just to his word Ans. Yes as it implies the owning of Doctrines and Propositions so it leads to ingage in Promises and Undertakings the good performance whereof includes not only Understanding and Knowledge but also Honesty and good Conscience So that a fruitful Faith must not be a bare skilfulness in Opinion but also a trustiness and integrity in discharging a Profession It effects Obedience only in just and upright tempers that make Conscience to perform their promises to fulfil their pretences and answer all just expectations Among all those several sorts of hearers by whom it was received the word believed brought forth fruit only in an honest and good heart as our Lord himself notes
Luke 8. 15. And to draw us near to God with a full assurance of faith we must joyn a true heart and a clean conscience Heb. 10. 22. and the charity which the Law requires flows then only from an unfeigned faith when 't is accompanied with a pure heart and a good conscience 1 Tim. 1. 5. And therefore in Simon Magus it bore no Fruit because his heart was not right in the sight of God Act. 8. 13 21. So that we must not wonder if we see a crue Faith prove barren and producing no obedience in a dishonest and false Man. Since it is not Faith alone but Honesty that must make a Man careful to remember and perform his undertaking and false unjust Persons how right soever they may be in their belief and apprehensions will be as like to break their word with God as they are with their Neighbours Quest. Must it also lastly be resolute and fully fixed after all things are well considered That so when any hardships arise in the way of Faith we may not be soon staggered in mind and put to deliberate anew whether or no to go on in it Ans. Yes when they want this resolvedness Men are not like to hold on in a way of difficulties and such as do every where occur in Faiths race Every true Believer must have cast up all the cost and pains of his way beforehand as our Saviour tells us in the Parables of the wise builder and of the king going to war Luke 14. 28 31. They must stand prepared to run all hazards and sustain all losses setting Faith above all things else and resolving to stick to it whatever prove its trials and discouragements And such Believers as these the Scripture calls grounded and settled in the faith Col. 1. 23. and rooted built up and established in it Col. 2. 7. And the believers or receivers of the word who fell off in tribulation are said to have had no root in themselves Matth. 13. 21. A deliberate resolution is a sure Ground-work and what is built on that may be like to stand a Storm and after all the Assaults that are made upon it remain unshaken Quest. So that the Faith whereon all the fore-mentioned Fruits are like to grow must not be a meer pretence of Faith but sincere and undissembled it must not be â—n empty profession and formal out-side out inward in the apprehension of the mind â—t must not be a wavering Opinion but confident and well assured it must not â—e a speculative cool and unmoving Notion but hearty concerning and affectionate it must not be in a careless forgetful and failing but in a conscientiously careful just and performing Man it must not act on an irresolute heart which will be easily daunted or soon staggered but one that upon good reason and after due deliberation is fully fixt and resolved to follow it Ans. Yes the Faith that influences the Heart and Life and stands in all times and trials must be thus qualified And the Faith which is either dissembled formal wavering unaffecting careless or irresolute some one or other of which the Faith of all Sinners is is like to have no such Blessed Fruits proceding from it As Simon Magus's had not whose heart was not right â—or Agrippa's whose Faith was but almost â—or the Temporary Believers whose faith â—ell away because it wanted root So that these different attendants and various qualifications of Faith make the difference in its Fruits and Effects and distinguish the Faith of Saints from the Faith of Sinners Quest. It has been often said of Faith by some that it is an act of Recumbency or leaning and rolling our selves on Christ for Salvation Are such Phrases applicable to Faith in a literal and common understanding of them Ans. No for Faith is an act of our Spirits and though Bodies lean and rest on Bodies yet Spirits have none of these Bodily Gestures and Affections When such words are used in expressing mental acts they are Metaphors which are applied to them on account of some Similitude and Resemblance Quest. What acts can the Faith of a Man's mind exert about a Person which may answer these forms of recumbing or leaning upon him Ans. Either Believing some Doctrine which he teaches or relying on some Promise which he makes These may be set off by the acts of recumbing leaning and rolling For as these are ways of Bodies resting and depending so are those of a Man's mind's doing the same upon any Person They acquiesce and rest on his Judgment in what he says and on his Fidelity in what he promises which gives them the same ease and settlement as the acts of rolling leaning and recumbing do to Bodies Quest. Faith is also called by some the hand of the Soul that reaches at and apprehends and applies Christ's Merits What is there in this Spiritual Grace that can answer these expressions Ans. Reaching at them is assenting to some Propositions about them And laying hold of and applying them is consenting and complying with some Overtures or fulfilling some terms and conditions whereby they become our own Putting out these mental acts has the same effect and use to our Souls as stretching out the hand to apprehend and apply things has to our Bodies that is to bring the thing desired down to our selves Quest. So that to roll and lean upon Jesus Christ is in plain English only to believe what he says and to rely upon what he promises And to apprehend or lay hold on Christ and apply his Merits in clearer and more intelligible Language is only to fulfil the Gospel-terms or to have Faith with its fore-cited effects that is to believe and repent whereby his benefits become ours Quest. Yes that I take to be the true meaning and explication of these obscure Phrases I confess I am a great lover of plain and intelligible Speech And above all things else I love to hear Men speak plain in the great Truths of Religion and Points of Salvation wherein there is the most need of all to inform and edifie Men's understandings And therefore I heartily wish these dark and intricate words were less used or wholly laid aside in these important matters they being words of Mens invention which the Holy Scripture no where uses about them and such words too as I am sure do more amuse than instruct those that hear them But if any think fit still to use them or meet with Faith set off by them in Books or Discourses this and no more in a true sense and in plain intelligible English I think is the meaning of them Quest. If Faith in Christ be a Faith in his Word then is it no part of Faith for any Man to believe his sins are pardoned nor of Infidelity to doubt of it because particular Men have no word of his for that Ans. Very right He tells us in the general he will pardon Penitents but in his Word he has not descended to