by the preaching of the Gospell 28 Q. How is this faith confirmed in thee A. By hearing the same Gospell preached and using the Sacraments 29 Q. What are Sacraments A. They are signes and seals of the righteousnesse of faith 30 Q. How many Sacraments are there A. Two onely Baptisme and the supper of the Lord. Q. What benefit hast thou by Baptisme A. A new estate in Christ and so the forgivenesse of my sinnes if I repenting do believe according to the Covenant of Baptisme 32 Q. What benefit hast thou by the Lords supper A. The body and bloud of Christ verily and indeed taken and received by my believing soul 33 Q. How must thou reverently prepare for this Sacrament A. I must examine my self whether I have desire repentance faith thankfulnesse and charity fit for the Lords table 34 Q. Is not prayer an excellent means also to make thy faith grow A. Yes it is a speciall means appointed by God 36 Q. What is prayer A. A religious moving of our souls to God to draw us into communion with him against sin for grace and all blessings 37 Q. Where canst thou more fully learn the matter of prayer A. In that which is commonly called the Lords prayer 38 Q. What is the enterance into this prayer A. Our Father which art in heaven 39 Q. What is the first petition A. Hallowed be thy Name 40 Q. What is the second A. Thy Kingdome come 41 Q. What is the third petition A. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven 42 Q. What is the fourth Petition A. Give us this day our daily bread 43 Q. What is the fift petition A. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us 44 Q. What is the sixt A. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evill 45 Q. What is the conclusion of this prayer A. For thine is the Kingdome the power and the Glory for ever Amen A briefer Catechisme to be opened at first Question GIve me the summe of Religion in one sentence A. A sinner being justified by faith is bound to live a godly life Here consider three things 1 Thy danger A sinner therefore subject to the miseries of this world and that to come 2 Thy deliverance Being justified by faith and therefore in Christ by the Covenant of grace for forgivenesse and all other things promised 3 Thy duty Is bound to live a godly life and therefore from Christ bound in the Sacraments to faith working by love Or more fully thus Q. Give me the summe of Religion in four words A. My Generation Degeneration Regeneration and Glorification Here thou must consider 1 What thou art from God A creature brought into the world from thy parents 2 What thou art in and from Adam A sinner subject unto all miseries even to the nether-most hell 3 What thou art in Christ A new creature delivered from the curses of the law that thou maist embrace the blessings of the Gospell 4 What thou art from Christ walkin a new course till thou comest unto Glory Or the words of Scripture thus Q. Tell me what is thy Religion A. 1 It is the faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which is after godlines Tit. 1.1 2 It is my holding fast of the form of sound words which I have heard in faith and love 2 Tim. 1.13 3 It is all things pertaining to life and godlinesse 2 Pet. 1.6 4 It is the knowledge and service of God 2 Chron. 28.9 5 It is faith working hy love Gal. 5.6 None of these descriptions are contrary either to other but subordinate and provided you comprehend under them what is necessarily to be believed and to be practised all is well TO His much Honoured Patronesse the Lady HONORIA NORTON of Southwick in Hantshire All happinesse here and here-after MAdam I must make my Apology before I say a word more I present a Catechism unto you who are able to instruct others and a mothers Catechism for her children when you have no children of your own under your instruction now This may seem strange to them that know not you to be to me a great encourager to this little work to them that are ignorant of your affections to a common good You have had experience of the power and profit of it in your family and in the Congregation over which you care and you will have me do some little good by it as you think to others that may see and use it The blessing of God be upon it and their blessing fall upon you if they receive good by it who have bin the main cause under God of my setting it forth I confesse that I have thus many yeares last past been solicited by many well minded people who have had the benefit of my private exercises to have let this unpolished birth to walk into many houses But being loath to hold out a little candle to a quick-sighted age or to prevent the more elaborate endeavours of my learned brethren I have shut it up rather in my head where it stuck by judgment and frequency then under my pen which is not so happy as my tongue in this kinde But now being overcome by your Ladyships entreating-commands and commanding favours I can hold it a prisoner no longer I let it loose from my head and heart to my pen and paper and from thence to every English soul to be either embraced or rejected according to present fansie If it prove un-successefull I 'le bear the blame who as an old man being ready to deny my self a being in this world have a little learned to deny my self in this and suffer words of diminution But if it prove acceptable to Christs Church and profitable to his meanest Members you Madam shall have the thanks and credit under whose wings it hath found leisure to be born I know that you will be cōmending it to some of your friends if not out of self-worth yet out of a conceit and expectation of some such like thing But I beseech you be wary To praise that which deserves it not may speak well of your affections but discommend your judgment and I would not have you engage where it may be a prejudice to you in the issue Indeed this little Treatise is a Catechism And whereas preaching is a speaking unto men to instruction 1 Cor. 14.3 Luk. 1.4 Act. 2. Mat. 22.37 Joh. 3.16 edification and comfort Catechising is a speaking to men for instruction mainly preaching is a dilating of one member of religion into a body Catechising is the contracting of the whole into a a sum Preaching is for all sorts Catechising for the yong and ignorant this may commend the work if the workman were answerable and as a Master-builder did lay the foundation But I know not how it fals out this Treatise is much in a little and that little derived from the capacitie of a mother to the
Christian He had so digested Christ into his soul by faith that he could speak nothing but Christian So let it be with thee This can faith do and it is wonderfull in our eyes Tell me next 28. Q. How is this faith confirmed and made stronger in thee A. By hearing the same Gospel preached and using the sacraments Here thou knowest the means which confirm thy faith and truly there is not a readier way to do it under God The Thessalonians heard the Gospel preached unto them 1 Thes 3.20 2 Thes 1.3 Prov. 4.18 and though at first there was something lacking in their faith yet as they heard the Gospel their faith grew exceedingly as just men their path was as the shining light which shined more and more unto the perfect day And for the sacraments it cannot seem strange that they should confirm thy faith For if I make a promise unto thee that I will give thee ten twenty thirty forty pounds if thou think me to be in earnest and to be able and willing to give it unto thee the oftener I promise it the more thou wilt beleeve it but if I set my hand and seal to it then thou art sure of it and maist sue me for it Such is the case betwixt God and thy soul He promises to give thee salvation by Jesus Christ if thou beleevest The oftener thi promise repeated the more thou beleevest But when God hath set it under his hand and seal in the word of God and sacraments now thou hast cause to beleeve it more and maist humbly sue him for it at the throne of Grace Vse Therefore my childe remember this Thou wilt presse after assurances and confirmations in every thing for thy body and estate why not for thy soul Thou would'st be sure of houses lands portion and health do what thou canst to be sure of salvation by Christ And because this is the way to hear the Gospel often that the word of grace may dwell richly in thee Col. 3. and to receive the sacraments as thou lovest the comfort of thy soul neglect them not Hear in season and hear out of season and as oft as thou canst ply the seals of Gods love that thy faith may be encreased If thou still doubtest whether yet thou shalt be saved or no God loves the importunity of his children Go to the throne of Grace and implead God Blessed God hast not thou promised that if I beleeve in Christ I shall be saved Hast not thou sent thy Ambassadours to tender this promise again Hast thou not set thy hand and seal to it in the word and sacraments Hast thou not made my heart go out of it self to rest upon thy blessed sonne onely Oh why do I languish in doubting despairs Why do I begin to sink for want of hold on my Saviour How long Lord how long Let the light of thy countenance shine upon me and I shall have peace Thus I have cleared to thee the means to beget and encrease faith and because the Sacraments are one therefore tell me 29. Q. What are Sacraments A. They are signes and seals of the righteousnesse of faith Here thou layest down the nature of Sacraments The nature of the sacraments By the righteousnesse of faith thou must understand that righteousnesse which thou hast by the Covenant of the Gospel that is the meritorious obedience of Christ for thee as thy surety rested upon by faith And the Sacraments Rom. 4.11 are signes and seals of this righteousnesse of faith They are signes because they signifie something unto thee Thou knowest that a picture or similitude upon a poste at an Inn or Ale-house house dore is called a signe because it signifies that thou maist have meat drink and lodging there for thy mony so is the Sacrament called a signe because it signifies something unto thee When thou seest the bread and wine set apart on the Lords table for this speciall service it signifies that God the father hath set apart and sealed Jesus Christ for thy salvation Joh. 6. The bread signifies the body of Christ The wine signifies the bloud of Christ The breaking of the bread signifies the suffering of Christ upon the crosse The powring out of the wine signifies the shedding of Christs bloud upon the crosse The Minister presenting these unto thee signifies God the Father whose Ambassadour he is offering unto thee his sonne for thy salvation and thy receiving of it into thy hand and mouth signifies thy faith by which thou makest Christ and his merit thy own Thus by these signes thou discernest the Lords body and bloud 1 Cor. 11. without which thou catest judgement to thy self which is damnable without repentance will in the issue prove thy damnation So in the other Sacrament of Baptisme water signifies the bloud merit and spirit of Christ laying on of the water as well as dipping and plunging signifies thy death and buriall with Christ Rom. 6. washing and cleansing signifies forgivenesse of sinnes and wiping off the water as well as rising out of it signifies our rising with Christ to a new holy and cleansed estate Sacraments are also seals As Abraham was said to have received the signe of Circumsion Rom. 4.11 as the seal of the righteousnesse of faith so doest thou receive our Sacraments Now thou knowest the use of seals among men When men make a bargain and set their hands and seals unto it then the bargain is concluded When men make a promise and set their hands and seals unto it then their promise is confirmed we have just cause to beleeve it When men convey houses and lands either to other and set their hands and seals to an instrument drawn to that end then those houses and land upon delivery are conveyed and therefore it is called a conveyance For such like reasons the Sacraments are called seals because they do conclude confirm and convey In the Sacrament there is a Covenant or bargain betwixt God Heb. 8.6 and thee Christ is called the Mediatour of a better Covenant Heb. 8.10 By this Covenant God promiseth that he will be to us a God even our God and we shall be to him a people Jer. 31.33 even his people By vertue of this he gives the forgivenesse of sinnes Jer. 32.40 Heb. 8.10 11 12. illumination sanctification experimentall knowledge and perseverance in the wayes of grace This blessing and blessed covenant is concluded in the Sacraments In Baptisme thou publikely enterest into this covenant Rom. 4.17 and that God who calleth things that are not as if they were is pleased to call thee a beleever not so much by vertue of thy parents faith as by vertue of his covenant to Abraham and his seed according to the flesh Act. 2.36 and according to the spirit which makes parents and their children one and in one covenant In the Lords Supper thou publikely renewest thy covenant Conscience tels thee
that though thou art sorry for thy sins by which thou hast broken thy Covenant of Baptisme and purposest to do so no more and therefore canst look back to thy Baptisme with comfort yet thou failest again and again And therefore thy God of mercy hath pleased to give thee leave to come and renew thy covenant again and again in the Supper of the Lord and if thou purposest to deal faithfully with God as thou renewest thy covenant with God so God renews his Covenant with thee Therefore it is called a seal to conclude this Covenant betwixt God and thee Again Joh. 3.16 in the Sacrament is confirmed thy faith in the promise when thou art of years to judge what thou hast done and doest God makes a gracious promise in the Covenant of the Gospel that if thou beleeve in Christ thou shalt be saved Oh how hard is it for thee to grapple with thy unbeleeving heart When thou lookest to Gods love and Christs merits thou art cheered but when thou lookest to thy own unworthinesse thy faith flags and faints Therefore thy good God doth send his Ambassadour 2 Cor. 5.20 with bread and wine to confirm thy faith and assure thee that as sure as thou hast this bread and this wine given unto thee so surely God will make good thy salvation to thee if thou beleevest in his Christ Lastly the Sacrament as a seal doth convey Jesus Christ and all his benefits to thee so as thou maist say I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine Look as houses and lands may be conveyed unto thee by a sealed writing and though thou never see either house or land yet in a court of Record thou maist have it made thine if it be within the Kings dominions So Christ by his promise and seal is made thine and though thou see him not according to the flesh yet thou hast communion with the body and bloud of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 by the court of Record in the Scriptures in the kingdome of the great King of heaven and earth The manner of this conveyance is sacramentall that is as a signe and seal For it doth not convey Christ as I can convey money to thy purse or hand or as cloaths to thy back by naturall instruments but as Sacraments can convey him that is they can signifie the conveyance of Christ and seal it unto thee by the covenant and ordinance of God Vse Therefore let me charge thee my good childe to prize this truth as a seal upon thy heart and a signet upon thy right hand Wert thou not most miserable if thou wert not in covenant with God If he did not take thee into speciall protection as thy God If thou didst not engage thy self to be one of his people who have illumination forgivenesse sanctification and perseverance All this God doth assure thee of in the seal of the Sacrament Would'st thou not account thy self in a sad condition if God had made thee a promise of salvation by Christ and when thou art beaten off by the sin of thy heart thou hadst no confirmation of it from the God of truth yet this is confirmed by the seal of the Sacrament Would it not adde to thy saddest thoughts If thou hadst many promises of comfort by Christ and yet hadst no performances Behold the seale of the Sacrament doth convey Christ unto thy soul by faith Is it not registred in the Records of heaven that this bread is my body Luk. 22. 1 Cor. 11. this wine is my bloud as Christ hath witnessed Hadst thou but a cut finger thou couldst not have the vertue of the salve to cure it except thou hadst the plaister of the salve it self nor canst thou have the merits of Christ except thou hast Christ himself though not in a carnall way Use the Sacrament as a signe to signifie but let it be a signe and not the proper thing signified Use it as a seal yet let it be but a seal to assure a possession of what thou hast though thou seest it not Get possession of Christ and it is enough In the mean time turn thou this doctrine into practice and plead with God from the Sacrament Good father let these signes signifie powerfully thy love to my soul Let these seals be a sweet conclusion of the covenant of Grace betwixt thee and me be a confirmation to my doubting faith and be a conveyance of Christ to me that he may live in my soul by faith and confound sinne more and more and quicken me to all Grace to thy Glory Now cast thy eye backward and tell me seeing thou must have faith or else thou canst not be saved by Christ Q. Who must work faith in thy heart A. The Holy Ghost Q. Why must he work it A. Because it is an infinite comfort against the infinite horrour of my sin Q. Where must it be wrought A. In my heart Q. Why saist thou so A. To put a difference betwixt the faith in the head and the faith in the heart Q. How must it be wrought in thee A. By the outward preaching of the Gospel Q. How many wayes is faith encreased A. Two wayes Q. Which is the first A. By the preaching of the Gospel Q. Why is faith encreased thus A. Because the oftner we hear the word of promise the more we will beleeve it Q. What is the second A. By receiving the Sacraments Q. Why is faith confirmed by them A. Because they are seals to assure Gods promises Q. What are Sacraments A. Signes and seals of the righteousnesse of faith Q. What is the righteousnes of faith A. The meriting obedience of Christ rested on by faith Q. Why are the Sacraments called signes A. Because they signifie something unto us Q. What doth the water in Baptisme signifie A. The bloud merit and spirit of Christ Q. What doth laying on of the water signifie A. My death and buriall with Christ Q. What doth the running or wiping off of the water signifie A. My rising with Christ to a new life Q. What doth washing or cleansing signifie A. Forgivenesse of my sins Q. What doth the bread signifie A. The body of Christ Q. What doth the wine signifie A. The bloud of Christ Q. What doth the breaking of the bread signifie A. The suffering of Christ upon the crosse Q. What doth the powring out of the wine signifie A. The shedding of Christs bloud upon the crosse Q. What doth the Ministers presenting them to thee signifie A. God the Fathers offering his sonne to me Q. What doth thy receiving them signifie A. The faith of the Gospel Q. Why are they called seals A. Because they do conclude confirm and convey Q. What is concluded A. A Covenant betwixt God and me Q. What is that Covenant A. That God will be my God and I will be one of his people Q. What is confirmed in the Sacrament A. Faith in the promise Q. What is that promise A. That if
thou hast of the nature and use of it Speak therefore on this manner to thy soul O my soul thou art now going to the Lords table doest thou know that God Nah. 1. Mal. 4. with whom thou haste to do who is a Lord of Anger and a consuming oven to approaching stubble and a God of mercy to humble souls Doest thou know thy sinne so farre as to hate it for drawing thee from thy God and making thee a stranger to the covenant of promise Doest thou know thy Christ who is the Covenant of his people Doest thou know the nature and use of the Sacraments which bindes God to thee on his part and thee to God on thine If thou do not thou wilt never desire to come unto the Sacrament as thou oughtest to renew thy covenant with God If thou knowest all this which is the ground of thy desires doest thou finde thy desires caried aright What doest thou principally desire when thou comest to the Lords Table doest thou not desire Christ Saist thou not Ps 42.1 2. my soul panteth after thee O God even for the living God Doest thou not desire all Christ a Jesus to save thee a Christ to anoint thee a Lord to rule over thee Doest thou not throw away what ever may hinder the comfort of the Sacrament He that desires to fill his hands with gold and silver will lay aside what ever baser matter he hath in them Doest thou desire to cast away thy old transgressions that thou maist become a new creature in Christ Doest thou finde that thou hast no contentment without Christ no rest till thou enjoy Christ and that when thou hast him he is all in all unto thee Then comfort thy self from thy fit desires Secondly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy Repentance Repentance The King never offers a sealed pardon before Delinquents are sory for their faults and promise amendment neither will God seal thy pardon in the Sacrament before thou do thus 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Exod. 12. Thou must purge out the old leven and then keep the feast The Paschal Lamb must bee eaten with the sowr hearbs of Repentance As the Jewes did not eat the Passeover before they had separated themselves from the abominations of the heathens Ezr. 6.21 22. so nor thou must come to the Lords table before repentance hath disingaged thee from thy sinnes Tit. 1.15 Hag. 2.13 14. Conscience defiled with any known sins corrupteth the holy thing of God to thee Now this Repentance stands in grief for thy sins past hatred also and loathing of sinnes past and present and an holy purpose and endeavour to forsake them This is that repentance which thou must examine Speak therefore on this manner to thy soul Vse O my soul Lam. 3.39 thou art now going to the feast of fat things and fined wines Doest thou search and try thy wayes that thou maist turn unto the Lord Dost thou know what sinnes of thine have made a separation betwixt God and thee and kept good things from thee Doest thou see how these things gape upon thee thy ignorance infidelity security deadnesse of heart prophannesse of spirit and the like Are these and other sinnes as pride hypocrisie gluttony drunkennesse whoredome envie hatred malice and all thy injustice so noticed unto thee as thou grievest to think that thou hast offended so good a God Jude and hatest the garment spotted of the flesh and resolvest never to do the like again Art thou full of care to forsake thy sinnes and to keep thy self from offending thy God Art thou full of clearing to pacifie thy conscience from wrath present to come The bloud of Christ rested on by faith 2 Cor. 7.11 Art thou full of indignation against thy sins and thy self for sin as David who chides himself so foolish was I and ignarant Psal 73. and as a beast before thee Art thou full of fear of offending God lest thou should fall into the same sin a 2d. time Art thou full of desire to walk with thy God and to do his will with all well pleasing Art thou full of zeal to run the way of Gods commandements and to purifie thy self from sin Art thou full of indignation to beat down thy body by holy acts of mortification to bring it into subjection to the will of God If thou art then thou hast this Repentance fit for the Sacrament Thirdly Faith thou must examine the fitnesse of thy faith The Sacrament is not appointed to begin faith but to encrease and confirm it Rom. 4.11 and therefore is it called a seal And as a man will not be such a fool as to set his hand and seal to a blank for then any man that hath it may put in any covenants and conditions so nor is God so unwise as to give a seal to thy soul where faith hath not written thy obligation and Gods promises Heb. 4.1 As the word of God profits not except it be mixed with faith so nor the Sacrament It is faith which is the eye foot hand and mouth of thy soul as I have said Besides when thou comest to the Sacrament thou drawest near to God and art at peace with him and thou must draw near to God by faith Heb. 10.22 and being justified by faith thou art at peace with him though not with his enemies Speak then my childe on this manner to thy soul O my soul now the fatted Calf is provided for thee in the Sacrament hast thou a fit faith to feed upon him Doest thou cast thy eye upon sinne and hate it because it is against thy word of faith Doest thou cast thy eye upon Christ and rest with confidence upon him for thy salvation Hast thou a license of Christ to rest upon him Thou knowest that every slovenly Clown with his dirty hands must not rest upon a King nor must every wicked sinner rest upon Christ There is not the wretchedst beast in the world but will say if he know Christ that all the world shall not beat him off from resting upon him But hath Christ given him a license If he have not he will say Touch me not Depart from me I know thee not Mat. 11.28 He doth give a license to some saying Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Doest thou labour under the burthen of sinne crying out with David my sinne is an heavy burthen too heavy for me to bear Art thou heavie laden to think that thou canst not be so good as thou would'st and therefore criest out with the Apostle Rom. 7.24 Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Doest thou finde that thy faith works purgation and charity True faith doth purifie the heart Act. 15. fundamentally in Christ derivatively from Christ Rom. 6.1 2 and argumentatively by drawing such reasons from the
I beleeve in Christ I shall be saved Q. What is conveyed in the Sacrament A. Christ with all his benefits Q. How can the Sacrament convey CHRIST unto thee A. Sacramentally Q. How is that A. As a sign and seal Thus have I by Gods blessing brought thee from thy creation to thy fall from thy fall to thy curse from thy curse to thy deliverance by Christ from thy deliverance to the settlement of it upon thee by faith and from thence to the means working encreasing and confirming Now proceed and tell me 30. Q. How many Sacraments there are A. Two onely Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord Here thou tellest me the number The number of the Sacraments and what they are in particular 1 Cor. 10.2 2 3 4. and names of the Sacraments The number there are but two For thou findest but two ordained by Christ and where Paul speaks of purpose of them he names onely two under those that went before them yea two are aboundantly sufficient for their end one to signe and seal our engrafting into Christ that is Baptisme and another to signe and seal our growing in Christ that is the Supper of the Lord yea lastly the true nature and use of a Sacrament agrees onely to these two for onely these two are signes and seales of a thing signified and sealed having a word of commandement and a word of promise to all beleevers Act. 10. Matth. 28. Rom. 6. Their names are Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord. Baptisme is a washing with water consecrated by the word and prayer by a Minister in the name of the Father Sonne and holy Ghost to signifie and seal our grafting into Christ The Lords Supper is bread Matth. 26.26 Luk. 22.19 20. 1 Cor. 11. and wine consecrated and broken by a Minister given received eaten and drunk by the Church to signifie and seal our growing in Christ Thus maist thou conceive these two Vse Therefore my childe see the wonderfull love of God to thee who would not onely have the fellowship of Christ bestowed upon thee but will signifie and seal it unto thee also Doest thou doubt of thy union with Christ Thou hast it by covenant in Gods promise thou hast it by application in the exercise of thy faith about saving Christ and thou hast it sacramentally by signe and seal in Baptisme Doest thou doubt that God wil not provide for thee a feast of fat things Esa 27. Luk. 15. and fined wines even that fattest Calf to nourish and feed thee to eternall life because thou hast been a wicked prodigal sinning against the covenant of Baptisme Do but thou condemn and alter thy course and renew thy covenant and then thou hast Gods promise for it in the covenant the settlement of it upon thee by faith and thy assurance of it in the Lords Supper To make it more plain tell me 31. Q. What benefit hast thou by baptisme A. A new estate in Christ and so the forgivenesse of my sins if I repenting do beleeve according to the Covenant in baptisme This is an excellent benefit indeed The benefit of Baptism if thou rightly understand it and do make use of it accordingly Thou hast a new estate in Christ Gal. 2â— 7. Rom. 6.3 4 5. for in baptisme thou doest put on Christ and art planted into his death and resurrection Thou hast the forgivenesse of thy sins for Peter saith be baptized for the remission of sinnes Act. 2.38 Act. 22.16 and Ananias said to Paul arise and be baptized and wash away thy sinnes yet know that thy baptisme doth not this as the bloud of Christ by way of expiation and attonement not as the Holy Ghost by an infinite power How in baptisme is the forgiveness of sins but onely as a Sacrament and that three wayes First by signification for as the water doth wash thy body Heb. 10.22 so Christ's bloud being sprinkled upon thy conscience by faith doth wash thee from thy sins Secondly by the receit of Beleevers As if a Prince made a Proclamation that he that can bring in the head of a traytour shall have a thousand pounds so soon as he hath this head he sees his thousand pound and is confident upon the word of the Prince so a beleever when he heares this proclamation of God Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ Act. 2.38 for the forgivenesse of sinnes when he sees and feels his repentance and hath notice of his baptisme he is confident for the forgiveness of his sins upon the word of God Thirdly by the Covenant of God God strikes a Covenant with his people upon this condition that if they beleeve they shall have their sinnes forgiven He gives his seal for it that certainly he will be as good as his word When the Christian sees his faith he builds upon this covenant and sayes surely God hath forgiven my sins Indeed it is the bloud of Christ that deserves thy forgivenesse the Father that pronounceth it and the Holy Ghost that effectually applies but Baptisme by Gods covenant doth signifie and seal it unto thee Use This may be either comfortable or terrible to thee to consider It is terrible if thou keep not the condition of the covenant that is if thou repenting beleeve not Mat. 3.11 Thou must make thy Baptisme a baptisme of repentance to amendment of life Mar. 1.4 Mar. 16.16 and God will make it to be a baptisme for remission of sinnes Thou must beleeve and be baptized and then thou shalt be saved Thou shalt not be made partaker of these benefits without observing the condition Act. 2. Indeed God accounts thee a federall beleever when thou wast an infant and wast baptized as he accompted the Jewish children when they received the signe of circumcision as a seal of the righteousnesse of faith Rom. 4.11 But as it was accounted uncircumcision to them if they kept it not when they came to years of discretion because he is not a Jew which is one outwardly Rom. 2. neither is that circumcision which is litteral but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is not of the letter but of the spirit so thy baptisme shall be accounted nothing if with a penitent heart thou doest not when thou comest to years of discretion beleeve according to the covenant But if thou doest out of conscience bethink thy self of thy covenant get into this new estate wherein thou maist be baptized into Christs death and resurrection then what a sweet comfort to thee is it to see thy assurance of the forgivenesse of thy sins Be sure therefore that thou have faith working by charity to the author of faith by obedience to the word of faith by hearing and the houshold of faith by love and then thou maist look back with joy to thy baptisme and say surely my good God hath given me forgivenesse of sins For it is not laying
the husband hath his wife Prov. 2. and the wife hath her husband by vertue of the Covenant of God by which they are made one flesh So mayst thou have God by Covenant when thou cleavest unto him by knowledge faith feare love confidence worship and the like Use Be thou sure my good child to have the true God onely to be thy God thus When thou knowest not God and doest not beleeve love and feare him nor put thy trust and confidence in him that thou mayst enjoy him and use him as thine thou hast him not no nor thou doest not give him these graces alone Thou hast there articles of the Covenant for him alone and for other things and persons under him and for his honour onely 10. Q. What is the second Commandement A. Exod. 20.4 5 6. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven Image nor any likenesse of things that are in heaven above nor in the earth beneath nor in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bowe down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquitie of the Fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandements Here God requires the worshipping of God with his own outward worship What God requires in the second commandement God sees the vaine wickednesses of Idolaters Because they are carnall they must have carnall helps of their own inventions Hence is it because they have not bodily communion with their gods they ordinarily see them not heare them not feele them not therefore they set up their Images likenesses and similitudes they doe honour and worship to them in the place of their gods they adorn them they cense to them they kneele bowe courtesie and pray to them they think that there is a religious and divine power and presence in them to be a chariot of their devotions and to convey the Influences of their hearts and words to their patrons their great gods But God will not be worshipped in this carnall way Deut. 4.15 16 17 18. He manifested no similitude on the day that the Lord spake out of the midst of the fire lest we should corrupt our selves and make a graven Image the similitude of any figure the likenesse of male or female God is a consuming fire Deut. 4.24 and a Jealous God and will have none of his worship conveyed to any devises of man or by them to him but he will have his own worship by an acknowledgement of such divine excellencies as are in him in the way and by the means that he hath appointed that is by the Word Sacraments and Prayer Vse Therefore my child look upon all Idolaters so as to hate their abominable course Doe not thinke to please God by devices of thine owne or others Imagine not that Images or Idols either graven or carved or painted can carry thy worship to those Gods or divine things or Persons whom they represent Bestow not thy divine respects upon any thing or person but God alone Frame not any will-worship thy selfe for the true and good God But as thou learnest out of the word the worship to give him all manner of prayers and prayses to heare his word to receive his Sacraments and to offer up any spirituall sacrifices so doe that thou provoke not God to jealousie and so to hate thee and to plague thine before thy face to thy confounding discomfort 11. Q. What is the third Commandement A. Exod. 20.7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine Here God requires the worshipping of him in his owne manner What God requires in the third Commandement so as it may not be in vaine If it be not done as he would have it as good never a whit as not done as he would have it The name of God is God himselfe any wayes made knowne unto thee Thou art knowne by thy name and God hath a name whereby he is or may be made known to all mankind to wit his works his word his titles his attributes his religion his worship this is his name To take it signifies to take it up or to challenge it from contempt and blasphemy so as God may not be dishonoured by thine or others use of it To take it in vaine is to use it to no end to a fruitlesse end or to a wicked end as when thou usest the names titles and attributes of God to tosse them like Tennice balls to no use but as fruitlesse imbellishments of thy speech when thou usest them in asseverations and oathes to belch out the passions and bitternesse of thy heart to or against others and when thou usest them in word or actions to vent the malice or hypocrisie in thy heart Vse Take heed of doing thus my child Thou art a Christian and wouldest be accounted godly and so thou takest up Gods name Do it so as God and his people may not be ashamed to acknowledge thee for such Thou sometimes takest up the name of God in thy mouth doe it with all reverence When thou swearest doe it when thou art justly called unto it Joh. 7. Heb. 6. Jer. 4.2 to cleare the innocency or to end strife among men in truth in righteousnesse and in judgement When thou prayest hearest vowest or receivest the Sacraments doe them as sincerely desiring to draw thy self into communion with God in Christ If thou doe not though men are found to be carefull for preserving of their owne names more then Gods yet God tenderly respects his owne name and will account thee guilty and bind thee over to be plagued in this world and for ever 12. Q. What is the fourth Commandement A. Exod. 20.8 9 10 11. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy work But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt not doe any worke thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant nor thy cattell nor thy stranger that is within thy gates For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it Here God requires the worshipping of God by his owne meanes upon that time which is appointed It is said What God requires in the fourth Commandement That the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it which thou must not conceive to be an idle repetition of words of the same value in so short a summe and therefore compare other Scriptures and the sense will be cleare and distinct unto Esau cries out to Jacob Gen. 27. Blesse me even me also my father and then Jacob gave him a
thou doest not record truth as it is found Thou mayst sinne against truth and charity privately either against thy selfe or others Against thy selfe when thou dost not regard thine owne credit or thinkest either too basely or boastingly of thy owne person Against others when thou praysest them above deserts or praysest mens vices or givest not them their due truth by scorning backbiting slandering or the like Vse Thus my child maist thou sinne against truth but take heed God would have truth precious with thee and all men Therefore discerne it as cleare as thou canst honour it by not withholding the truth in unrighteousnesse and maintaine it in thy selfe and others that justice may flourish It is true that many times truth breeds hatred among men but beleeve God who saith that he that deales truly is Gods delight 18. Q. What is the tenth Commandement A. Exod. 20.17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is thy neighbours Here thou art at the very foot of the ladder and from hence thou mayst rise to the highest pitch of morall vertue What is required in the tenth commandement or of sinne against it If thou have this coveting after that which is thy neighbors thou wilt not spare falshood to get it If thou canst once out-face truth then have at thy neighbours goods for thy profit thy neighbours honesty for thy pleasure yea thy neighbours life rather then thou wilt misse of either and next have at thy neighbours honour that thou mayst have none to punish thee and then have at thy God in all disobedience for if thou sinnest against thy neighbour whom thou seest thou wilt much more sinne against thy God whom thou doest not see but in his word and works Therefore God requires in this Commandement such an evennesse of spirit that nothing that is thy neighbours doe trouble thee Hath thy neighbour better house better wife better servants better cattell better any thing then thee thy eye may not be evill because Gods is good If thou have God it is enough it is all things nothing that is thy neighbours must trouble thee This Coveting is call'd Evill concupiscence Col. 3.5 and is an inordinate motion of thy soule soliciting to evill against thy neighbour This is of two sorts originall and actuall Originall referred to neighbours is part of thy flesh which by pronenesse poysoneth thy soule and moveth thee to injustice Actuall are ill motions rising from thence in thy mind by foolish fansies thoughts and judgements and in thy heart by affections wishes and desires inordinately carried after pleasures the lusts of the flesh profits the lusts of the eyes and honour the pride of life This Coveting must not be carried in speciall after things without life as thy neighbours house nor after things with life which are reckoned according to their honour as thy neighbours wife servants oxe or asse nor in generall after any thing that is thy neighbours that so thou mayst know that nothing is to be excepted These home-bred broyles and covetings are the causes of all evils when they are yeelded unto therefore God hath set them at the lower end of this Ladder Vse Be carefull my child to watch with all care and diligence in thy soule about these covetings Have such a quiet resting in God and all that he gives thee be it little or be it much that nothing that is thy neighbours trouble thee If thou doe not thou wilt trouble thy selfe and thou wilt be provoked to hurt and trouble thy neighbour and to rise higher to a more direct sinning against thy God Thus have I given thee fit for thy capacity I hope a short summe of these Ten Lawes of God now look back and let me see what thou hast observed Thou hast told me that God made thee to serve him as he hath commanded in his Lawes Q. Where are these Laws set down A. In Exodus and Deuteronomy Q. How many of them are they A. They are ten in two Tables Q. What doth God require in the first A. My having the true God onely to be my God Q. How canst thou have God A. By cleaving unto God by Covenant Q. How must that be A. By knowledge faith love hope feare confidence patience prayer and vowes Q. What doth he require in the second A. My giving of God his owne worship and service Q. How canst thou doe that A. By abhorring the will-worship of Idolaters and serving him according to his owne will Q. What doth he require in the third A. My worshipping of God in his owne manner Q. How must that be done A. By observing not onely the matter of his worship but the manner that it be done well Q. What doth he require in the fourth A. My worshipping of God by his owne meanes upon that time that is appointed by him Q. What are his means to advance his worship now A. The Ministery of the word of God Q. What is the appointed time A. The seventh part of time as the Sabbath was in the old World so the Lords day in the new Q. What doth he require in the fifth Commandement A. Superiours and Inferiours with their severall duties Q. Whom doe you meane by Superiours A. Those that are in state of excellency above us Q. Whom doe you meane by Inferiours A. Those that are in severall orders under them Q. What is it to honour them A. According to their order above us to have reverence obedience feare and thankfulnesse Q. What doth he require in the sixth Commandement A. The preservation of our owne and our neighbours lives Q. May none be killed A. Yes upon a just cause by a just person in a just order and with a just mind Q. What then is murder A. An unlawfull hurting of the life of any man in thought word and deed or inclination Q. What doth he require in the seventh Commandement A. The preservation of our owne or neighbours chastitie Q. What doe you meane by adultery A. Properly the abusing of anothers bed Q. What doe you meane by it here A. All unchastity in nature preparation or thought word and deed Q. What doth he require in the eighth Commandement A. The preservation of our own and neighbours goods Q. What is meant here by stealing A. A close conveyance away of our owne or our neighbours goods Q. What is comprehended under it A. All hurting of our neighbour in his goods either in nature or thought word or deed Q. What doth God require in the ninth Commandement A. The preservation of our owne or our neighbours truth Q. What doe you meane by false witnesse A. Any testimony by word or deed which is either against truth or against truth and charitie Q. What doth God require in the tenth Commandement A. Such an evennesse of spirit that nothing that is my neighbours trouble me
in Adam the sonne of God by falling in him Joh. 8.44 thou becamest the sonne of the Devil thy Saviour comes to make thee the sonne of God againe without which thou canst not be the heire of glory Now marke God cannot give thee what he hath not The Father is not the Sonne neither is the Holy Ghost the Sonne but the Sonne is the Sonne Therefore he becomes thy Saviour to give thee sonship The Sonne of God becomes the sonne of man to make the sonnes of men become the sonnes of God He is made man that he might be a fit sacrifice Man is a more noble sacrifice then a woman Mal. 1.14 for cursed is he that hath a male in his flock and offers a corrupt thing Vse Now ponder seriously on this my child with thy selfe that thy Saviour is the eternall Sonne of God I tell thee that if thou have but any ingenuity in thee it will make thee both hate and avoid sinne Hadst thou such a Plague soare botch or boyle about thee that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Kings sonne and the King should be so loving as to kill his onely sonne for thy health would'st thou not hate such a disease and take heed that thou never didst fall into such a disease againe This is thy case Thy sinne is a soare wound and plague that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Sonne of God God out of his infinite love did send him into the world to take thy nature upon him that he might be reviled for thee spit upon for thee scourged for thee crowned with thornes for thee sweat drops of bloud for thee be crucified for thee and shed the bloud of his hands feet and heart for thee and all to cover and cure thy finne Wilt thou not now hate thy finne and be carefull to suppresse it and never fall into the like againe I hope thou wilt or else thy latter end will be worse then thy beginning Goe on now and tell me 23. Q. What hath Christ Jesus done for thee A. He suffered the paines of death for me Thou hast seene what Christ was What Christ hath done for us and is now sadly consider what he hath done for thee Thou happly mayst thinke it little for him to be borne for thee to live for thee though it were infinite love but because the purity of his nature and perfection of his obedience have influence into the value of his sufferings therefore thou doest mention onely these paines of death Peter mentioneth these paines of death Act. 2.24 and Paul cals them Rom. 6.9 the Dominion of death Phil. 2.8 and his humbling of himselfe and becoming obedient unto death even the death of the crosse What paines and torments Christ endured for thee then is unexpressible yet they may be valued a little Heb. 5.7 by his offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares to his Father and by sweating drops of bloud when he grovelled upon the ground in so cold a season as made Peter creep to the fire in the high Priests Hall Surely there was fire nigh which caused this sweat What may the cause then of these paynes and torments be Surely the sight of our sinnes charged upon him Heb. 7.22 and the sense of his Fathers wrath He stood a Surety in our roome and was to answer for all our sinnes to God and not be discharged till he had satisfied for them all Look therefore as if a man were bound for a million of thousand pounds for other men when he was once attached his whole charge would be put in against him and this sight would be fearefull to him especially if he considered that they were his chiefe enemies for whom he was bound and a nest of unthankfull creatures who did load him with disgrace and obloquy Just thus was it with thy blessed Saviour Though he had the testimony of his enemies that never man spake as he did Joh. 7.46 Mar. 7.37 Act. 10.38 and that he had done all things well because the Lord was with him Yet when he was under arrests and executions Esa 43.24 he was made to serve with our sinnes and was wearied with our iniquities 2 Cor. 5.21 for he was made sinne for us who knew no sinne when all our sinnes were charged upon him and he was to make satisfaction to God his Father for them And whose sinnes were these The sinnes of those that were his enemies Rom. 5.10 the sinnes of his Disciples who runne away from him the sinnes of Peter who denied him and the sinnes of Jewes and Gentiles who crucified him The Jewes and Gentiles bare a world of enmity against him Eph. 2.16 yet he reconciled both unto God in one body by the Crosse having slaine the enmity in himselfe Thinke seriously whether this was not a torment and paine of death to have all the debts presented unto him of such sinners to be satisfied for Besides when God his Father saw him thus covered with sin in the State of a surety though the holinesse of his person was never polluted he withdrawes the blessed vision of the divine nature Wheresoever it shined abroad upon others yet though hee was personally united unto it it shined not upon himselfe but left him to sweat drops of bloud and his soule to be heavy unto death and his heart and tongue to cry out Psal 22.1 Mat. 27.46 My God My God why hast thou forsaken me Is not this an unutterable paine and torment of death Was it not enough for him to die but he must endure the sorrowes of death thus Use Oh my deare child forget not this point It will humble thee for sinne drive thee from sinne and comfort thee against sinne It will humble thee for sinne to think that it should present such a cursed visage to God that such a fearfull load must be laid upon thy Surety for it It will drive thee from sinne to thinke that if thou neglect so great salvation as Christ hath offered unto thee thou shalt be for thy sins in a worse case then he was He was able to slay hatred and enmity but thou canst not by suffering millions of millions of ages and therefore thou shalt have thy sinnes lye before thee for ever and the wrath of God will presse thee to all eternity It will comfort thee against sinne to thinke that thy Surety having endured this for thee it were unjust for God to impose it upon thee againe Onely be sure that thou keepe the Covenant of the Gospel that is when thou hast been translated out of the kingdome of darknesse into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne that thou honour the Father in the Sonne by beleeving in him with a faith working by love and then thou wilt have cause to triumph as Paul Rom. 7.25 I thanke God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now let me see what thou remembrest and
truth of the Law and Gospel also yet Devils and wicked men may doe thus much and yet not have saving faith Yea what thou doest not actually know and assent unto now thou must have a prepared and ready mind to know and agree to it when God shall reveale it unto thee from the Scriptures Others will tell thee that this faith is a full perswasion of thy heart that what God hath promised in Christ he will make it good to thee It is not a full perswasion But take heed for this will be a rise for fearefull temptations Put case the Devill should tempt thee and say If thou be a Christian indeed thou hast true saving faith If thou have this faith thou art fully perswaded that thou art one of Christ's saved ones Tell me then art thou fully perswaded thus If the ground should now open and swallow thee up quite if thou wert now to give an account of all things that are done in thy flesh whether they are good or evill art thou fully perswaded that without more faith repentance obedience thou shalt go to the heaven of heavens What saist thou now faith Satan art thou fully perswaded If not thou hast no faith if thou hast no faith thou art no good Christian therefore go with me to thy own place Where art thou now Act. 1. How is thy soul perplexed It is true that thou must labour to be fully perswaded for God saith 2 Pet. 1.10 make thy calling and election sure and it is proper to faith to work this full perswasion in Gods people at many turnes but there is a vast difference betwixt the working of faith in it self and the work of it in thee Thy handkerchief band cuffs or any part of thy linnen may be very white yet put it into an Ink-pot and it will soon be made black So true faith works full perswasion of it self but put it into thy heart where there is too much flesh and unbelief and doubting and self-policy and the work of faith is too much too long too often hindred which makes thee cry out Lord I beleeve help my unbeleef Besides nothing can work this full perswasion but faith for faith is an argument to conclude it Therefore Paul saith Ephe. 1.13 that after ye beleeved ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise as if he should say after the spirit had wrought faith in your hearts for faith is a fruit of the spirit the same spirit took faith Gal. 5. and thence concluded to your souls as with a seal that the promise of salvation did belong unto you Thou seest then that faith is one thing and a full perswasion is another a full perswasion is nothing but a conclusion or consequence that issueth from true faith Therefore pitch not upon that description of faith Build then upon that which thou hast given It is a resting upon Christ for salvation that it is the resting of thy soul upon Christ for salvation Thou would'st fain be saved and lookest through all heaven and earth to satisfie thy weary soul with sinne thou findest Christ and seest his fitnesse and fulnesse and then resolvest upon him onely and restest upon him for thy salvation This is called confidence affiance trusting but this is the plain English sense Esa 10.20 a resting upon Christ This is described by staying upon the Lord 2 Cor. 3.4 Psal 37.5 Joh. 3.15 16. by trusting through Christ to God-ward by rowling our way upon the Lord by beleeving upon Christ and in Christ but the plain sense of all is 1 Joh 3.23 Eph. 3.12 thy resting upon Christ Because Christ is Gods onely ordinance to keep thee out of hell Who shall save thee Christ How shall he save thee By his holy death rightly applied Whom shall he save Those that trust in him or rest upon him Joh. 5. and so honour the Father in the Sonne If thou do thus thou shalt be guarded by the mighty power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1.5.9 Put case that the mouth of hell were opened and thou wert ready to be tumbled into it Thou seest Christ set by God like the tree of life in the way to stay thee from that bottomlesse pit and thou rowlest thy self upon him and resolvest there to live and die what ever comes this is faith Mat. 16.18 Christ is called A Rock oftentimes in the Scripture Put case that a man were cast into the sea he spies a rock and swims to it as fast as he can one wave after another beates him back yet his face is to the rock and he will not give over He strives and strives and at last he gets hold of it There he prayes and cries and looks to heaven and resolves there to live and there to die So thou art cast into a sea of grief for thy sea of sinne Thou espiest Christ thy rock fastened by God for him hath God the Father sealed to keep thee from perishing Joh. 6. Thou hungerest after him thou makest to him with the strength of thy heart Thou art beaten off again and again by many temptations and art ever and anon ready to give over yet at last by the mercy of thy God thou dost imbrace him and grasp him Then thou criest out as Jacob Gen. 28. I will not let thee go without a blessing Thou resolvest to live and die with him in whose bosome thou now doest lye this is thy faith And though sometimes thou hast not a full perswasion yet in this resting there is more or lesse for thy soul An old man can rest upon a staffe and so can a young man and so can a palsie man one weakly another strongly another shakingly yet all rest upon it according to the measure of strength So a weak faith a stronger faith and the strongest faith of all can rest upon Christ according to the measure of their faith There is a latitude in resting to hold up a fainting soul One rests weakly upon Christ yet he rests another strongly yet he doth but rest Vse Therefore my dear childe finde this faith this true and living faith to be in thee without it no salvation with it are all things belonging to faith and godlinesse This faith makes thee one with Christ and Christ with thee and so bringeth thee to suck honey out of the rock This faith brings Christ in the mouth of it to God the Father who therefore can deny thee nothing This faith makes arguments out of the word of God to conclude convincingly for a powerfull holinesse He that is in Christ must be a new creature but I am in Christ by faith Rom. 6. He that is in Christ must be led with boldnes to the throne of grace Col. 3. but I am in Christ by faith He that is dead with Christ must not live to sin but I by faith am dead with Christ He that is risen with Christ
must seek the things that are above above sin grace above the world the church above earth heaven Rom. 8.1 but I am by faith grafted into the similitude of his resurrection He that is in Christ hath no condemnation which shall touch him but I am in Christ by faith because I live not after the flesh but after the spirit This faith can do wonders pacifie God with the bloud of Christ shed above a thousand six hundred years ago purifie thy heart open the windowes of heaven and triumph over death and hel Rest not therfore before thou finde it in thy soul and if thou canst not finde rest unto thy soul with the resting of a strong man yet comfort thy heart that thou doest it with the resting of a childe and labour in the use of Gods means and by experience of his love to encrease it more and more Now look back a little and let me see what thou hast profited Q. How many natures had Christ A. Two he was God and man Q. Why was he a man A. Because man had sinned and man must give satisfaction Q. Why was he a God A. Because by his sufferings he might bring in the righteousnesse which is of God Q. What use did he make of his humane nature A. To dye for my sinnes Q. What use did he make of his divine nature A. To rise again for my justification Q. Can the rising of Christ justifie thee A. Yes by certifying me that my surety hath payed all my debts Q. But who shall have the benefit of Christs death A. Those only who have a lively faith Q. Why so A. Because faith onely is the eye foot hand and mouth of the soul for enjoying of Christ Q. What then is this faith A. A resting of my soul upon Christ for salvation Q. Why must thou rest upon Christ for salvation A. Because he is Gods ordinance to keep me out of hell Thus have I led thee along my child from thy creation to thy misery and frō thy misery to thy deliverance When thou wast made thou sinnedst against thy creation when thou hadst sinned thou layest under the curse when thou layst thus miserable Christ came to save thee he came to save in the fine only beleevers and thou hast now heard what this faith is But now thou maist say Joh. 4. the well is deep and there is no body to draw I cannot tell how to reach this faith therefore tell me 27. Q. How must this faith be wrought in thee A. The Holy Ghost must work it in my heart by the preaching of the Gospel In this thou saist right also Faith is one of the fruits of the spirit Gal. 5.22 and it was the Lord Act. 16.14 who opened the heart of Lydia and made her attend to the preaching of Paul Joh. 6.44 and drawes us unto Christ and that he doth it by the preaching of the Gospell may appear to thee in what Paul saith to the Romans and to the Galathians Rom. 10.14 15. To the first he saith they cannot beleeve in him of whom they have not heard and they cannot hear without a preacher and they cannot preach now unlesse they be sent to preach the glad tydings of good things Gal. 3.2 Act. 11.14 To the second he saith that they received the spirit of the hearing of faith Hence Peter tels that God gave him a Commission to tell Cornelius words that is to preach the Gospel whereby he and his wife should be saved It is not man that can work in thy heart were he as an Angel from heaven He may tell thee the whole history of the Gospel and all the promises of salvation by Christ and thou wilt be never the nearer to powerfull believing But if the holy Ghost bring home the word of Christ to the soul he will write it there Heb. 8. and so seal it home that he will make an impression of faith upon thy soul And in truth it must be the holy Ghost that must do it For Faith is an infinite comfort against an infinite horrour of sinne Nothing should deeper wound thee then sinne and thy sins in respect of thy self are infinite in guilt and number Who can comfort against this but an infinite God who can rebuke thy unbeleeving heart Besides will it not seem contrary to thy reason that thou shouldest be made wise by another mans wisdome righteous 1 Cor. 1.30 by another mans righteousnesse holy by another mans sanctification and persevering by another mans full redemption But let the holy Ghost bring the Word to thy heart and convince thee that Christ was thy surety and so one person with thee doing and suffering in thy room and for thee then wilt thou beleeve that Christ is not another person but one with thee and so his riches are thine Agaiu thou saist that the Holy Ghost works faith in thy heart Rō 10.10 for with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse This must put a difference betwixt the faith in the head and faith in the heart Wicked men and devils have the faith in the head where they know and assent to the truth of the Gospel and they are said to tremble Jam. 2. because they have no share and part in it But good people onely have faith in the heart whereby they savingly rest upon Christ as a wife upon an husband for protection provision and pleading their cause even to their perfection in the body of Christ Vse Therefore my childe depend not upon thy own strength nor upon the wisdome of flesh and bloud for the attaining of this faith neither think it an easie worke as they do that lay the weight of their salvation upon an easie possibility of believing at their latter end but submit thy self to the holy Ghost Eph. 3. who onely can strengthen thee in the inner man and work Jesus Christ to dwell in thy heart by faith This will argue a goodnesse in thy soul if when thou comest to hear the Gospel preached and so often as thou doest it then pray to God for Christs sake that the spirit of God may accompany the word according to his covenant Esa 59.21 to work faith in thy heart that Christ may be one with thee and thou with Christ And because thou maist have a faith in the head by connexion and not a faith of the heart by true conversion unto Jesus Christ pray also that by the word thou maist not onely submit to the truth of the Gospel but receive it into thy soul so as thou maist be changed into the image of Christ thy husband and be called a true Christian I remember I have read of one in the primitive Church who being examined what he was he answered a Christian What is thy name he answered Christian What is thy profession he answered Christian What life leadest thou he answered Christian What are thy thoughts words and deeds he still answered
discharge thy heart from all desire of revenge and canst thou be content to be nothing for Christ Art thou willing to perform all offices of charity in working reconciliation betwixt neighbour and neighbour and communicating to the necessities of the Church If it be thus with thee thou hast that Charity which is fit for the Sacrament Now look backward and let me see what thou hast profited Seeing there are but two Sacraments Baptisme and the Supper of the Lord Tell me Q. What is Baptisme A. A washing with water consecrated by him that hath authority to preach in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost to signifie and seal our grafting into Christ Q. What is the Lords Supper A. Bread and wine consecrated broken and given by a Minister received eaten and drunk by Gods people to signifie and seal our growing in Christ Q. What comfort do you receive by Baptisme A. A confirmation of my new estate above what I had by nature Q. What gottest thou in this new estate A. The forgivenesse of my sins Q. How can Baptisme forgive thy sinnes A. As a signe and seal Sacramentally Q. How is that A. With reference to the covenant when I make it a baptisme of Repentance to amendment of life God makes a baptisme for forgivenesse of sinnes Q. Why then should'st thou be baptized before thou repentest and beleevest A. Because I am while I am in Infancie a beleever in state though not in manifested act Q. How doth that appear A. By the promise which GOD makes to beleevers and their seed Q. Was not this made onely to the Jewes A. No but to them also that were a farre off even to so many as God shall call Q. What followes hereupon A. That if Jewes children had right to circumcision which was a seal of the righteousnesse of faith so have the children of Christians to Baptisme which is no more though more clearly Q. What comfort doest thou receive by the Lords Supper A. A reall communion of the body and bloud of Christ Q. How canst thou do that seeing Christ is in heaven A. By vertue of the covenant of God with my beleeving soul Q. How doth God offer Christ unto thy soul A. In a promise Q. How doth thy soul receive him A. By beleeving Gods promise Q. How must thou prepare thy soul to receive Christ in the Sacrament A. By examining my self Q. What is it to examine thy self A. To commune with my heart by asking my soul questions how fit it is Q. What must thou examine thy self of A. Whether I have a fit desire repentance faith thankfulnesse and charity Q. Why must thou have desire A. Because God filleth the hungry with good things Q. What must thy desire be grounded on A. Upon the knowledge of my God my sinne my Christ and the doctrine and use of the Sacraments Q. What must thou desire A. To renew my Covenant with God Q. Why must thou have repentance A. Because there can be no communion betwixt light and darknesse Q. What must be the ground of thy repentance A. An assurance that I have broke my covenant in Baptisme Q. How doest thou know thy repentance A. By sorrow for my sinne and a conscionable care to doe the will of Christ with all my strength Q. Why must thou have faith A. Because the Lords Supper is appointed to encrease and confirme faith Q. What must be the ground of thy faith A. The offer of Christs body and bloud in the Lords Supper Q. How knowest thou whether thou hast faith A. If my heart close with Christs promise and I rest upon him for salvation with confidence and rejoycing Q. Hast thou a license to rest upon Christ thus A. Yes if I am weary and heavy laden under the burthen of sinne Q. Why must thou have thankfulnes A. Because the end of the sacrament is a thankful remembrance of Christs death Q. What must be the ground of thy thankfulnesse A. A speciall love to God for this high favour Q. How knowest thou whether thou art thankfull A. If I speake of this mercy to others praise God himself for it and submit unto him in all things Q. Why must thou have charitie A. Because we that are partakers of one bread are one bread and one body Q. What must be the ground of thy charitie A. The Communion of Saints and samenesse of nature Q. How knowest thou whether thou hast charitie A. If my heart be pacified from all desire of revenge and I be willing to live in love with all especially with the houshold of faith and communicate to their necessities Thou must remember now my good child how farre we are gone I have learned thee to know God and thy self Thou hast seen thy creation thy fall thy curse thy remedy by our Lord Jesus Christ Thou hast seen that Christ must become thine by faith I have discovered how faith is begotten in thee and how it is encreased namely by the word of God and Sacraments I have shewed thee the nature the number and the use of the Sacraments from God I have shewed thee how thou shouldst use them for thy comfort and especially how thou must prepare thy self for the Lords Supper so as thou mayst carry Christ home with thee from thence There is but one thing more wherein I desire to informe thy childish understanding in and that is prayer Tell me then 34. Q. Is not prayer an excellent means to make thy faith grow A. Yes It is a speciall means appointed of God Mark this truth Prayer is an excellent means to encrease faith The word of God and Sacraments are sweet means But how these will be made effectuall without thy prayer thou canst not tell Christ saith Matth. 7.7 Aske and ye shall have seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you All these phrases presse upon thee prayer for the enjoying of any blessing Act. 4.31 When the Disciples had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost God answered them extraordinarily to confirm them upon their prayers And therefore when the Apostles found their faith weake for the forgiving of wrongs Luk. 17.5 they prayed Lord encrease our faith Gods promises goe along with power Psal 145.19 Psal 34.15.17 He will fulfill the desire of them that feare him His eares are open to their cry Therefore David looks upon God with confidence and saith Psal 4.3 The Lord will heare when I call And thou canst not wonder that prayer should be such a powerfull means to encrease thy faith For it moves God to be mindfull of us amid a thousand vexations When Christ was on the crosse and vexed from heaven and earth yet when the good thiefe prayed Christ he answered This day shalt thou be with me in Paradice Yea prayer doth in a manner binde God and therefore when Moses prayed God said Now Moses let