Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	covenant_n	sacrament_n	seal_v	3,518	5	10.1195	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67085	The key of saving knovvledge, opening out of the holy Scriptures, the right way, and straight passage to eternall life, or, A dialogue wherein the chiefe principles of the Christian religion are unfolded for the enabling of Christian people, to understand the Word of God ... composed by Geo. Walker ...	Walker, George, 1581?-1651.	1641 (1641)	Wing W360; ESTC R39413	43,048	124

remembrances of the invisible graces promised and given in Christ the Covenant of grace is sealed to his people their Faith confirmed and all holy graces stirred up quickened and increased in them Quest How many Sacraments are now in use under the Gospell Answ. There are but two properly so cald and ordeined to be seales of the whole Covenant of Grace Baptisme and the Lords Supper For these two are expresly commanded and commended by our Saviour to the Church in the Gospell and to every true member thereof There are divers other signes pledges and remembrances of benefits and blessings past or to come but they either do not belong to all Christians as imposition of hands in ordeining Pastors and Elders is proper to them who are so ordeined Or els beside their signification they have other more principall uses as the weekely Sabbath besides that it is a pledge of the eternall rest in Heaven and a signe that God is our God who doth sanctifie us It serves chiefly to be the first fruits of our time and is to be spent wholly in the worship of God publike and private preaching and hearing of the Word Prayer and other Religious exercises by which God is immediatly served and our soules edified So also holy Feasts and Dayes which are remembrances of some great blessings as Easter Pentecost the dayes of Christs Nativity Passion and Ascension besides their signification have other far more principall use to wit the solemne worship and service of God such as is used on the Sabbath and therefore they are called holy Signes and Sacraments improperly and in a secondary sense But Baptisme and the Eucharist serve only for Signes Seales and Pledges and have no other notable use Quest What is the Sacrament of Baptisme Answ. It is an outward washing of the body with pure water applyed therto by dipping or sprinkling ordeined by God to be a Sacrament that is a Signe Seale and Pledge of regeneration to the party baptized by which outward rite hee is received into the true visible Church and dedicated to Christ to bee a member of his body and a faithfull servant of God all the dayes of his life Quest To whom doth this Sacrament belong Answ. It belongs to all that are either borne in the Church of God or by the Word preached are called to beleeve in Christ and to professe true Christian Religion after they are come to yeares of discretion Quest What warrant have Gods Ministers to baptize Infants and to give them the Signe Seals and Pledge of Regeneration which a great number of them that are borne in the Church never have but are reprobates and shew themselves so to be by living in sin all their dayes and dying in impenitency Answ. They have sufficient warrant in the Word of God For the Apostle saith that children of beleeving parents are not uncleane but holy 1 Cor. 7. 14. that is they are so far within the Covenant being in their infancy as it were members of their beleeving parents and wholy at their disposing that they may justly bee dedicated to God by Baptisme as Samuel was by his mothers vow and received into the true Church The vow which their parents and guardians made for them in baptisme is a band to tye them to serve God so soon as they begin to have knowledge and discretion Certeinly Gods grace and bounty towards Infants of Christian Parents under the Gospell is not straitened more than to Infants in the Old Testament whose males were Circumcised the eight day after their birth Baptisme and the promise and Vow therein ma●e for them is as powerfull a meanes and motive to provoke them from their youth to serve God as Circumcision was to the children of Israel Also Christ hath taught us that his blessing the Kingdom of eaven belongs to them Marc. 10. 13. And the Apostles baptized whole housholds of beleeving men and women not refusing any children as we read of Lydias and the Iaylors houshold Acts 16. 15. 33. In a word many who were at full age called by the Gospel preached to beleeve by a temporary carnall saith and to professe Christ were never truly regenerate as Judas Simon Magus Demas and others but proved hypocrites and backsliding reprobates and yet this was never counted a just cause to hinder or restraine the Apostles from baptizing al who professed Christ outwardly for feare of prophaning the Sacrament of Baptisme and abusing the holy ordinance of Christ Quest How doth the Spirit of God by Baptisme increase grace in men and set it a worke Answ. So often as they are put in minde of their Baptisme either by the name of Christians or their owne proper names given in Baptisme when they are called by them or by seeing others baptized the Spirit of God doth thereby as by a sure pledge assure the Faithfull that God is their Father and they are his children in his Son Christ borne againe of the Spirit and so confirmes their Faith in that communion which they have with God the Father and his Son Iesus Christ hereby he stirs them up to remember that their endeavour ought to be to walke in newnesse of life as new creatures adopted to God called unto Christ out of the world mortified and dead to the world and sinfull lusts and sanctified to lead a godly life in all righteousnesse and true holynesse Quest What is the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Answ. It is that holy ordinance instituted by Christ after his last Supper in which by Bread and Wine consecrated with blessing and giving of thankes and by the publike Minister given and distributed and received eaten and drunk by the people assembled Christ God and Man their Redeemer together with all his obedience and full satisfaction made and performed in the dayes of his humiliation in the forme of fraile flesh and bloud is signified and sealed to them and in greater measure given and of them received by Faith as a spirituall nourishment to feed their soules to life eternall Quest Is Christ given to all and received of all who partake of this Sacrament Answ. He is Sacramentally given that is the true signes and pledges of him are given to all and of them received but he is not spiritually given to any but true beleevers and worthy receivers Neither do any effectually receive him or his benefits to the feeding of their soules but only they who lay hold on him by a lively working Faith For the giving receiving eating drinking is not carnall but spirituall as our Saviour himselfe sheweth John 6. 63. saying It is the Spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake they are spirit and they are life Quest Why doth Christ call the Bread given and eaten his Body and the Wine his Bloud if hee be not in them bodily present and his Flesh and Bloud given and received bodily Answ. The true reason of his speaking so is to call our thoughts to the

remembrance of him in the state of humiliation and of his infirmities obedience and sufferings which in that estate he did undergo in the forme of fraile flesh and bloud for us and to stirre us up so to apprehend him and feed on him by Faith For Christ did not redeeme us and pay our ransome by any thing which he did as God before his Incarnation nor by any thing which he doth as man exalted and glorified but as hee God and Man in the dayes of his flesh fulfilled the whole Law and suffered all punishments due to mans sin so hee paid our ransome brought in eternall righteousnesse and made full satisfaction to Gods Iustice and these are the things which together with himselfe are signified and sealed by Bread and Wine and are Spiritually given to and received by the Faithfull in this Sacrament Quest How can true Beleevers bee said to receive Christ and his benefits seeing they are already united to him and have Communion of them all and his satisfaction and righteousnesse is made theirs before in their regeneration when they were first effectually called and made fit to partake of this Sacrament Answ. The Spirit of God by this Sacrament rightly administred doth as by a sure pledge confirme and increase their Faith and set it a worke to lay hold on Christ and to apply him and his righteousnesse and satisfaction to themselvs more strongly and sensibly and by this meanes they are more feelingly united to him in love and affection and have a more sweet communion with him of all his benefits which doth like a plentifull feast refresh and feed their soules strengthen them in all grace and this is as it were a new and fresh receiving of Christ and the benefits of his Life and Death more abundantly in greater measure than they had him before Quest You have well declared the efficacy of the Sacraments and how the Spirit worketh by them Now tell me what the other meanes are and first what is prayer and invocation both publike and private Answ. Prayer and Invocation if it bee publike is the speech of the whole Congregation and if it be private of one person or more directed to God in the Name of Iesus Christ wherein all needfull blessings and increase of grace are asked and desired in Faith and Hope that God will give them for Christ his sake in such a measure as he in his wisdome doth know to be fit for every one Quest How is grace thereby increased Answ. The Spirit of God by stirring our hearts to pray and by putting fit words in our mouths or in the mouths of them who are the mouth of the Congregation inflameth our affections exerciseth our Faith kindleth our desires and reviveth the sense and feeling of our wants And by directing us to pray to God in the Name of Iesus Christ he maketh us implicitely to acknowledge and confesse that God is the author of all blessings and giver of all grace and so maketh us to give to him in our prayers all the glory with all humble thankfulnesse And God who is gracious rich in mercy faithfull and true in his promises will accept our holy and humble desires and for Christs sake and his own truths sake grant our requests and give a supply of grace and an increase of blessings Quest How doth the publike worship of God increase grace Answ. The publike worship of God performed outwardly and frequently in the congregation of his people by holy preaching and reverent hearing of his Word prayses thankes singing of Psalmes and reverent gestures and behaviour according to Gods Word is a speciall meanes by the inward operation of the Spirit to kindle and increase devotion in the hearts of all his people It is their using of his talents and improving of his graces in them to his glory And God hath promised that as they get more gaine of grace Mat. 25. 29. so hee will still adde more unto them and will surely establish them give them the gift of perseverance and uphold them by his grace unto the end till they be received to glory and come to eternall life and blessednesse Quest Wherein doth the eternall life and blessednesse of the Elect consist Answ. In the eternall sight knowledge and fruition of God in his Heavenly glory Ephes. 5. 27. For when Christ hath fully purged and sanctified his Church and people and made them fit to see God then will he present them before his glorious Maiesty to dwell in his presence where is fulnesse of joy and pleasures for evermore Psal. 16. 11. Quest Where shall they enjoy this blessednes Answ. In the Heavens where a Kingdom is prepared for them Luk. 12. 32. and John 14. 2. an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled which shall never fade away 1 Pet. 1. 4. which is farre above all that the eye hath seen or the eare heard or that ever entered into the heart of man 1 Cor. 2. 9. Quest When shall they come to possesse this blessed inheritance Answ. They have the earnest of it in this life in the state of grace even the Spirit of adoption by which they are sealed up to the day of full redemption and even here in this life they finde that sweetnesse and communion with God that though they see him not yet beleeving they rejoyce with joy unspeakeable and full of glory But when their soules are loosed out of the prison of the body then shall their spirit bee made perfect and they shall in that better part depart hence and be with Christ and reigne in glory untill the last great day of account the generall judgement At which time the Lord Iesus Christ shall descend from heaven bring them with him And he the Prince of Angels with the commanding voyce of the Archangell shall call all the Angels of God to attend him and to gather before him al his Elect from the foure winds from one end of Heaven to the other and by the power of his voyce and the sound of the trumpet of God shall raise up their dead bodies purged in the grave from all the degrees of corruption and brought up in a most glorious forme like unto his own glorious body Which bodies shall not be prevented by the Elect and Faithfull then alive on earth but shall bee first raised up and joyned with their glorified soules before those then living shall be changed and in a moment in the twinckling of an eye shall they all together be ready to meet the Lord in the ayre whither they shall be caught up and being set at his right hand shall receive this comfortable sentence Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world and so they shall bee ever with the Lord and raigne with him in glory world without end 1 Thes. 4. 17. 2 Tim 2. 12. Rev. 22. 5. Quest But what shall become of all wicked

beleeving applying of Christs righteousnes to themselves is the justifying act of Faith And whereas the historicall saith of Devils and carnall men is only an assent unto the Word of God that it is true arising from carnal reason and arguments convincing the judgement without any affection to the truth or any relying on it On the contrary every act of beleeving any word or promise of God if it proceeds from a true Faith in the elect is not a naked assent ruled by humane and naturall reason but guided by Gods Spirit and joyned with a relying on God and his Word upon the Divine authority of the speaker and may be brought as an evidence of their salvation may in that respect be called a saving beliefe as we see at large Heb. 11. where beleeving that the worlds were framed by the Word of God And that God would bring a flood upon the world and destroy all except them that were in the Arke made by his appointment and that he would give the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham the Israelites and after 400 yeares deliver them out of Aegypt and such like acts of beleeving proceeding from an holy spirituall Faith are declared to bee saving Faith Quest How doth actuall beleeving set a work all other graces and increase them more and more in the Elect regenerate and justified Answ. By the sense feeling and sweet fruition of Christ and his righteousnesse satisfaction and intercession it brings us to the sight and experimentall knowledge of the goodnesse bounty love and mercy of God to us in Christ And being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and hereby the holy Ghost sheddeth the love of God abroad in our hearts so that being inflamed with the love of God wee begin more and more to hate and abhorre our owne vile corruptions and sins which are offensive to his holy Majesty We are ashamed and confounded because we have by our sins so often provoked so gracious a God and mercifull Father wee grieve and mourne and sorrow with godly sorrow to repentance wee strive and wrastle against our lusts and by the assistance of the Spirit tame and subdue them so that sinne can no more reigne in our mortall bodies we contend to sollow hard after God to cleave to him in love and to bee still more more united to Christ in love and zealous affection of heart And in holinesse and newnesse of life we study and strive to be conformable to his image and in a word we are stirred up to use all care and endeavour that wee may abound in all good works and still forgetting those things which are behind may reach forth unto those things which are before and presse hard towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus In all which workes of saving grace as God moves us by his Spirit so we being moved enabled and made a free people do cooperate and work together with him till we come to the measure of the age of the fulnesse of Christ and be fitted to see God in glory Quest What outward meanes are to bee used whereby the Spirit of God may worke in the Elect and beget and increase Faith and beliefe with all other saving graces in them Answ. The chiefe outward meanes is the Word of God without which God doth not ordinarily shed his Spirit on them beget them again and by his Spirit work saving grace and the works of grace in them For they are borne again of incorruptible seed that is of the Spirit by the Word of God 1 Pet. 1. 23. and regeneration which is Gods shedding of the holy Ghost on them through Christ and the first saving worke even the ground worke of all other saving graces is not to be found where the Word is not Preached By the Word of Christ the holy Gospell only the Spirit speaks inwardly to mens hearts and leads them into all truth John 16. 13. By the Word preached hee begets Faith for Faith commeth by hearing and none can beleeve except heheare Rom. 10. 14 17. The Word is the whole and perfect rule of Faith and whatsoever the elect beleeve to salvation is conteined in the Word and there only to be learned John 3. 39. The threatenings of the Law are the meanes by which the Spirit discovers to beleevers the danger of sin and their own misery humbles them in their own eies and drives them out of themselves to Christ by repentance The precepts of the Law prescribe to them the right way in which they ought to walk and is a lamp to their feet and light to their steps Psa. 119 105. The Word of the Gospell is the Covenant of life and sets before them the goodnesse bounty love and mercy of God in Christ and by it the Spirit inflames them with the love of God with joy and delight in God and with zeale for his glory and stirres them up to imitate God in works of mercy love and charity and in all holinesse and sanctification till they be conformed to Christ and to serve honour and worship God And in a word the whole Scripture which is the sure infallible Word of God given by Divine inspiration is profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction and for instruction in righteousnes that the man of God may bee perfect thorowly furnished unto all good works 2 Tim. 3. 16. 17. Quest How must the Word of God bee used that it may be such an effectuall meanes of the Spirit to worke all these gracious effects in Gods elect people Answ. It must not only be read out of the Sacred Scriptures in which it is recorded by the Prophets and Apostles but also preached and expounded by godly able and learned Ministers who are called and sent of God Rom. 10. 15. For they are Gods watchmen who have a charge given to watch for mens soules Ezek. 3. 17. Heb. 13. 17. They are his Shepheards and Overseers to feed his flock with his Word the Bread of Life Act. 20. 28. Ezek. 34. 1 Pet. 5. 2. Ephes. 4. 11. And by delivering Gods message faithfuly they obteine this honour to themselves to bee called the Angels of the Lord Mal. 2. 7. and Gods Ambassadours 2 Cor. 5. 20. and to be spirituall Fathers under God who beget children to God in Christ by the Gospell 1 Cor. 4. 15. Quest What other meanes are to be used Answ None but such as God hath prescribed in his holy Word to wit the Sacraments which are seales annexed to the Word publike Prayers Invocation and Worship of God And also good education and private Prayers and instruction and often reading of Gods Word alone and in private Families Quest What is a Sacrament Answ. It is a religious action prescribed by God in which by using outward visible rites consecrated to be signes seales pledges and