Selected quad for the lemma: earth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A66289
|
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.
|
Wake, William, 1657-1737.
|
1699
(1699)
|
Wing W258; ESTC R217651
|
113,834
|
200
|
being neither capable of being Deceived Himself nor of Imposing upon any Other when I give my Assent to what he has Revealed I do it not only with a certain Assurance that what I believe is true but with an absolute Security that it cannot possibly be false Q. But why do you say I Believe and not WE Believe as when you pray you say OVR Father c A. Because though One Man may Pray yet One Man cannot Believe for another And however in Charity I may suppose every Christian to believe what is here delivered yet since 't is certain there are many Infidels and Hypocrites scatter'd up and down among the Faithful and I cannot certainly distinguish who are indeed Believers and who not neither can I with an Assurance of Faith say WE Believe because I cannot certainly tell whether another Man does truly believe these Articles or No. Besides that this Creed being intended to be the Form upon the Confession whereof Persons should be admitted to Baptism and in that Case every One was to make a distinct Profession of his Faith in order thereunto it was fitting the Creed its self should be penn'd after such a manner as was most proper for the main End for which it was Compos'd Q. Are all the things contain'd in this Creed to be proved by Divine Revelation A. They are all plainly deliver'd to us in the Holy Scriptures which being confessed by all Christians to be the Word of God what is deliver'd by them must be look'd upon to be delivered to Us by God Himself Q. What are the General Parts of which this Creed does consist A. They are these Four First It shews us what is most needful to be Believ'd and Professed by Us concerning God the Father Secondly Concerning our Lord Jesus Christ Thirdly Concerning the Holy Ghost And Fourthly Concerning the Church of Christ its Duties and Privileges here and the Blessings and Glory which God has prepared for it hereafter Q. Do you think it necessary not only to Believe all these things but also upon Occasion to Profess the Belief of them A. I do think it necessary whenever our Duty to God or the Edification of our Neighbour or the Honour of our Religion shall Require it of Me. Mat. x. 32 Whosoever shall Confess me before Men him will I Confess also before my Father which is in Heaven But whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven Rom. x. 9 If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy Heart that God hath Raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved For with the Heart Man believeth unto Righteousness and with the Mouth confession is made unto Salvation See 1 Pet. iii. 14 SECT VII Q. WHAT is the first Article of your Creed A. I Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth Q. What is God A. He is an Eternal Infinite Incomprehensible Spirit Immortal Invisible most Perfect himself and the Giver of all Perfection to all Other things Q. How do you profess to Believe in God A. I do firmly Believe that there is such a Being as God Heb. xi 6 and that there is but One such Being so that besides Him there neither is nor can be any Other 1 Cor. viii 4.6 We know that there is none Other God but One To us there is but One God the Father Isaiah xlv 5 6. I am the Lord and there is None else there is no God besides Me I am the Lord and there is None else Q. Upon what Account do you give to God the Title of FATHER A. Upon several Accounts but chiefly on these Two 1. With Respect to our Lord Jesus Christ whom in the next Article we profess to be his Son And secondly as he may also be accounted our Father 2 Cor. i. 3 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. See Joh. x. 25 29 c. Q. How do you believe God to be our Father A. By Right of Creation so he is the Father of all Mankind 1 Cor. viii 5 To Vs there is but One God the Father of Whom are all things By Right of Adoption so he is the Father of Us Christians in particular Eph. i. 3 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who hath predestinated Vs unto the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to Himself Q. What do you mean by the Attribute of ALMIGHTY A. I mean Two things 1 st That God has a Right of absolute Power and Dominion over all the World Dan. iv 34 His Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion and His Kingdom is from Generation to Generation And 2 dly That He has an Infinite Power of Action so that He can do all things and with Him nothing is Impossible Mat. xix 26 Q. Can God then Do All things A. He can do All things that are not either simply Impossible to be done as implying a Contradiction Or else contrary to his Goodness and Perfection to Do as to Sin to be Ignorant and the like Q. By what Act especially has God manifested Himself to be Almighty A. By Making the Heaven and the Earth Q. What do you understand by that Expression The Heaven and the Earth A. I comprehend under it All things that ever were made Visible and Invisible as being all Made and Created by God Q. How did God Make All these A. After Two different Manners Some He produced by an Immediate Creation Thus were the Angels form'd and the Spirits of Men And thus was that first Matter produced of which Moses speaks Gen. i. 1 That in the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth To the Other parts of the Creation he gave Being by forming them out of an Antecedent Matter So he made this Visible World as we Read Gen. i. Q. By Whom did God make the World A. By his Son sometimes call'd The Word Job i. 3 All things were made by Him and without Him was not any thing made that was made And again vii 10 The World was made by Him Q. Was this Son the same JESVS who afterwards came into the World to publish the Gospel and Die for Us A. So the Scriptures expresly tell us Heb. i. 1 2. God who at sundry Times and in divers Manners spake in Time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets Hath in these last Days spoken unto Vs by his Son by whom also he made the Worlds And St. Paul speaking of him in Whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the Forgiveness of Sins Col. i. 14 tells us Ver. 16. That by Him were All things Created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth Visible and Invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were Created by him and for him and He is before all things and by him all things Consist Q. Is there any thing
with Diligence with Attention with Fervour and with Perseverance Q. Are these Conditions so strictly Required by God that no Prayers are heard by Him which want any of Them A. That may not Generally be affirm'd There are great Inequalities in the Affections of the best Men in their Prayers Nor can Any avoid all kind of Wandrings and Disturbances in them Nay sometimes the best Christians may be the most distracted with vain Thoughts and melancholy Fancies in their Devotions That which is certain is this that Every Man ought to Pray as frequently as his Circumstances of Life will permit him and when he does pray ought to do it with the utmost Zeal and Attention that He is able to do Which having sincerely Endeavour'd he ought not to doubt but that God will Pardon his Infirmities in that as well as in the other Instances of his Duty and accept his Prayers and grant him his Desires Q. What are the Things which we ought to Pray for A. For those of this Life in General only unless it be on some special Occasions and with an intire Submission of our Selves to God's Will in whatsoever He shall please to Order for Us. But as to the Graces which are necessary for Us in Order to the Other Life we are to pray particularly earnestly absolutely and without any Qualifications because we know these Things to be always proper for Us to Ask and always Suitable to the Will of God to Give to Us. Q. At what Times ought We to Pray A. Continually and without Ceasing Not that we are to account our selves thereby Obliged to Spend our whole Time in Prayer but to look upon those Expressions to imply a constant daily Attendance upon this Duty the Frequency whereof must be left to Every One's State and Condition to determine Q. What is that General Proportion which Every Christian ought to observe in the Times of his daily Prayers A. If He has Opportunity for it and can have leisure so to do it were to be wish'd that He should come Every Day to the Publick Prayers of the Church But if this cannot be done He must at least every Day without fail Pray to God in Private Morning and Evening and if He has a Family he should every Day at some convenient Time Pray with that also in Order to the better keeping up a Sense of Religion in it Q. Do you think it to be a Matter of Necessary Duty to Pray Publickly with the Church A. In General it certainly is especially upon the Lord's Day and such Other Solemn Times of Prayer as both the Laws of the Realm and the Canons of the Church require of Us. As for the daily Prayers if we live in a Place where they are publickly Read and are not hinder'd by any necessary Business to come to Them I do not see how we can excuse our selves from usually joining to Them Q. Has our Saviour left Us any particular Direction how we should Pray A. He has left Us a Form of his Own Composing not only to be continually made Use of by Us but also to be a Pattern to Us after what manner We ought to put up our Own Addresses to God Q. In what does that Form chiefly direct Us to compose aright our Own Prayers A. It teaches us especially these Four Things First That we should make our Prayers short and pertinent as being most suitable both to the Wisdom and Majesty of God and to our Own Weakness and Infirmities Secondly That we should Pray for Others as well as for our Selves and that in our Private as well as our Publick Prayers Thirdly That we may pray for the Necessaries of this Life though our main Concern should be in our Prayers as well as our Endeavours after Those of the Other Fourthly That we should Pray to God ONLY and to Him as our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. Q. Have you any thing Else to Observe from the Form of this Prayer A. This only that to Pray to God by a Set-form is so far from being a Thing either in its self Vnlawful or Injurious to the Holy Spirit that we see our Saviour himself has here given Us an Example for it as under the Law God was pleased in several Cases to direct the very Words in which he would be address'd to by the Jews SECT XXXIV Q. SAY the Lord's Prayer A. Our Father c. Q. What are the General Parts of this Prayer A. It is divided into Three General Parts * A Preface or Introduction * The Petitions and * A Doxology or Conclusion Q. What is the Preface to this Prayer A. Our Father which art in Heaven Q. Wherefore did our Saviour begin his Prayer with this Compellation of God Our Father A. To shew us that all our Hope of being heard or accepted by God is by vertue of that Relation wherein we stand to him in and through his Son Jesus Christ. Jo. xiv 6 No Man cometh unto the Father but by Me. Jo. xv 16 xvi 23 24. Verily Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name he will give it you Ask and ye shall Receive that your Joy may be full See Col. iii. 17 Q. Why was that Circumstance added Which art in Heaven A. To shew the Difference between Him and our Earthly Parents who sometimes are hard towards their Children and will not give them what they ask Oftentimes are not able to supply their Needs And in many Cases cannot tell what is best for them but either deny them when they ought to have given them what they desired or Give them when it would have been more advisable not to have done it Whereas our Heavenly Father is All-Merciful All-Powerful and All-Wise and by consequence liable to none of these Defects Q. What do you Learn from this Introduction A. To come to God with Great Assurance but with Great Reverence too Who as Our Father will not fail to hear his Children if they ask as they ought of him As he is a Heavenly Father can give us whatsoever we stand in Need of Q. Is God so in Heaven as our Earthly Fathers are upon Earth A. No by no means For God being infinite is every where present neither shut out of any Place nor Circumscribed by any But because God is pleased to shew himself in Heaven in the highest Excellencies of his Divine Majesty and Glory and is there attended by his Holy Angels therefore Heaven is consider'd as his Court and his Throne And we very properly direct our Prayers to God there where our Saviour sits to Intercede with Him for Us and where the Blessed Spirits attend upon him and fall down before him and worship him Q. Wherefore are we taught to say OVR Father A. Not as if God were not the Father of Every One of Us in Particular as well as of Us All in General or that We might