of old was without the City and as the Gallows and Gibbets are builded without the Towns so Christ hath ordered that they who are to be punished with this kind of Torment shall be taken away Take hm away saith he out of this World and cast him into utter darkness and let him have his punishment there there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Besides Faith is not to be wrought by looking into Hell and seeing the damned tormented before our Eyes but by hearing the Word of God for he that shall not believe Moses and the Prophets will not be perswaded should one come from the dead yea should one come to them in flames to perswade them Mat. 22.13 Rom. 10.17 Luk. 16.27 28 29 30 31. Q. Are there degrees of torment in Hell A. Yes for God will reward every one according to their works Wo to the wicked it shall go ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him Isa 3.11 Q. Who are like to be most punished there Men or Children A. The punishment in Hell comes not upon sinners according to age but sin so that whether they be Men or Children the greater sin the greater punishment for there is no respect of persons with God Rom. 2.11 Q. How do you distinguish between great sins and little ones A. By their Nature and by the Circumstances that attend them Q. What do you mean by their Nature A. I mean when they are very gross in themselves 2 Chron. 33.2 Ezek. 16.42 Q. What kind of sins are the greatest A. Adultery Fornication Murder Theft Swearing Lying Covetousness Witchcraft Sedition Heresies or any the like 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.3 4 5 6. Col. 3.5 6. Gal. 5.19 20 21. Rev. 21.8 Q. What do you mean by Circumstances that attend sin A. I mean Light Knowledg the Preaching of the Word Godly Acquaintance timely Cautions c. Q. Will these make an alteration in the sin A. These things attending sinners will make little sins great yea greater than greater sins that are commited in grossest Ignorance Q. How do you prove that A. Sodom and Gomorrah wallowed in all or most of those gross Transgressions above-mentioned yea they were said to be sinners exceedingly they lived in such sins as may not be spoken of without blushing and yet God swears that Israel his Church had done worse than they and the Lord Jesus also seconds it in that Threatning of his I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for thee Ezek. 16.48 Mat. 11.24 Luk. 10.12 Q. And was this the reason namely because they had such circumstances attending them as Sodom had not A. Yes as will plainly appear if you read the three Chapters above mentioned Q. When do I sin against Light and Knowledg A. When you sin against convictions of Conscience when you sin against a known Law of God when you sin against Counsels and disswasion of Friends then you sin against Light and Knowledg Rom. 1.32 Q. When do I sin against Preaching of the Word A. When you refuse to hear God's Ministers or hearing them refuse to follow their wholsome Doctrine 2 Chron 36.16 Jer. 25.4 7. chap. 35.15 Q. When else do I sin against the Preaching of the Word A. When you mock or despise or reproach the Ministers also when you raise lies and scandals of them or receive such lies or scandals raised you then also sin against the preaching of the Word when you Persecute them that Preach it or are secretly glad to see them so used 2 Chron. 30.1 10. Rom. 3.8 Jer. 20.10 1 Thes 2.15 16. Q. How will godly acquaintance greaten my sin A. When you sin against their Counsels Warnings or Perswasions to the contrary also when their lives and conversations are reproof to you and yet against all you will sin Thus sinned Ishmael Esau Eli's sons Absolom and Judas they had good Company good Counsels and a good life set before them by their godly Acquaintance but they sinned against all and their Judgment was the greater Ishmael was cast away Esau hated Eli's sons died suddenly Absolom and Judas were both strangely hanged Gen. 21.10 Gal. 4.30 Mal. 1.2 1 Sam. 2.20 25. 2 Sam. 16. Q. Are sins thus heightned distinguished from others by any special name A. Yes they are called Rebellion and are compared to the sin of Witchcraft they are called wilful sin they are called Briers and Thorns and they that bring them forth are nigh unto Cursing whose end is to be burned 1 Sam. 15.23 Heb. 10.26 chap 6.7 8. Q. Are there any other things that can make little sins great ones A. Yes As when you sin against the Judgments of God As for example you see the Judgments of God come upon some for their transgressions and you go on in their iniquities also when you sin against the Patience Long-suffering and Forbearance of God this will make little sins great ones Dan. 5. Q. Did ever God punish little Children for sin against him A. Yes When the Flood came he drowned all the little Children that were in the old World he also burned up all the little Children which were in Sodom and because upon a time the little Children at Bethel mocked the Prophet as he was a-going to worship God God let loose two she-Bears upon them which tore forty and two of them to pieces 2 King 2.22 23. Q. Alas What shall we little Children do A. Either go on in your sins or remember now your Creator in the days of your Youth before the evil dayes come Eccles 12.1 Q. Why do you mock us to bid us go on in our sins you had need pray for us that God would save us A. I do not mock you but as the wise-man doth and besides I pray for you and wish your Salvation Q. How doth the wise-man mock us A. Thus Rejoice O young man in thy Youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine Eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment Eccles 11.9 Q. What a kind of mocking is this A. Such an one as is mixed with the greatest seriousness as if he should say I do sinners go on in your sins if you dare do live in your vanities but God will have a time to judg you for them Q. Is not this just as when my Father bids me be naught if I will but if I be naught he will beat me for it A. Yes or like that saying of Joshua If it seem evil to you to serve the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serve serve your sins at your peril Josh 24.15 Q. Is it not best then for me to serve God A. Yes for they that serve the Devil must be where he is and they that serve God and Christ must be where they are Joh. 12.16 Mat. 25.41 Q. But when had I
best begin to serve God A. Just now Remember now thy Creator now thou hast the Gospel before thee now thy heart is tender and will be soonest broken Q. But if I follow my play and sports a little longer may I not come time enough A. I cannot promise thee that for there be little Graves in the Church-yard and who can tell but that thy young life is short or if thou dost live perhaps thy day of Grace may be as short as was Ishmael's of old read also Prov. 1.24 25 26. Q. But if I stay a little longer before I turn I may have more wit to serve God than now I have 〈…〉 A. If thou stayest longer thou wilt have more sin and perhaps less wit for the bigger sinner the bigger fool Prov. 1.22 Q. If I serve God sometimes and my sins sometimes how then A. No Man can serve two Masters Thou canst not serve God and thy Sins God saith My Son give me thy heart Also thy Soul and Body are his but the double minded Man is forbidden to think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord Mat. 6.24 Prov. 23.26 1 Cor. 6.20 Jam. 1.7 8. Q. Do you find many such little Children as I am serve God A. Not many yet some I do Samuel served him being a Child when Josias was young he began to seek after the God of his Father David And how kindly did our Lord Jesus take it to see the little Children run tripping before him and crying Hosannah to the Son of David 1 Sam. 3.1 2 Chron. 34.3 Mat. 21.15 16. Q. Then I am not like to have many Companions if I thus young begin to serve God am I A. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Yet some Companions thou wilt have David counted himself a Companion of all them that love God's Testimonies all the Godly though Gray-headed will be thy Companions yea and thou shalt have either one or more of the Angels of God in Heaven to attend on and minister for thee Mat. 7.13 14. Psal 119.63 Mat. 18.10 Q. But I am like to be slighted and despised by other little Children if I begin already to serve God am I not A. If Children be so rude as to mock the Prophets and Ministers of God no marvel if they also mock thee but it is a poor Heaven that is not worth enduring worse things than to be mocked for the seeking and obtaining of 2 Kings 2.23 24. Q. But how should I serve God I do not know how to worship him A. The true Worshippers worship God in Spirit and Truth Joh. 4.24 Phil. 3.3 Q. What is meant by worshipping him in the Spirit A. To worship him in God's Spirit and in mine own that is to worship him being wrought over in my very heart by the good Spirit of God to an hearty Compliance with his will Rom. 1.9 Chap. 6.17 Psal 101.3 Q. What is it to worship him in truth A. To do all that we do in his Worship according to his Word for his Word is truth and to do it without dissimulation Heb. 8.5 Joh. 17.17 Psal 26.6 Psal 118.19 20. You may take the whole thus Then do you worship God a-right when in heart and life 〈…〉 Q. How must I do to worship him with my spirit and heart A. Thou must first get the good knowledg of him And thou Solomon my Son said David Know thou the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart Mind you he first bids know him and then serve him with a perfect heart 1 Chron. 28.9 Q. Is it easie to get a true knowledg of God A. No Thou must cry after Knowledg and lift up thy voice for Understanding If thou seekest for her as Silver and searchest for her as for hid treasure then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledg of God Pro. 2.1 2 3 4 5. Q. How comes it to be so difficult a thing to attain the true Knowledg of God A. By reason of the pride and ignorance that is in us as also by reason of our wicked ways Psal 10.4 Eph. 4 18 19. Tit. 1.16 Q. But do not every one profess they know God A. Yes But their supposed knowledg of him varieth as much as doth their faces or complexions some thinking he is this and some that Q. Will you shew me a little how they vary in their thoughts about him A. Yes Some count him a kind of an heartless God that will neither do evil nor good some count him a kind of an ignorant and blind God that can neither know nor see through the Clouds some again count him an inconsiderable God not worth the injoying if it must not be but with the loss of this World and their Lusts Moreover some think him to be altogether such an one as themselves one that hath as little hatred to sin as themselves and as little love to holiness as themselves Zeph. 1.12 Job 22.12 13. chap. 21.9 10 11 12 13 14 15. Psal 50.21 Q. Are there any more false Opinions of God A. Yes There are three other false opinions of God 1. Some think he is all Mercy and no Justice and that therefore they may live as they list 2. Others think he is all Justice and no Mercy and that therefore they had as good go on in their sins and be damned as turn and be never the better 3. Others think he is both Justice and Mercy but yet think also that his Justice is such as they can pacifie with their own good works and save themselves with their own right hand Rom. 3.8 Jer. 2.25 Job 40.14 contrary to these Scriptures Hab. 1.13 Isa 45.21 Q. How then shall I know when I have the true Knowledg of God A. When thy Knowledg of him and the holy Scriptures agree Q. The Scriptures do not all false Opinions of him flow from the Scriptures A. No in no wise 't is true Men father their errors upon the Scriptures when indeed they flow from the ignorance of their hearts Ephes 4.18 Q. But how if I do not understand the holy Bible must I then go without the true knowledg of God A. His Name is manifested by his World the Scriptures are they that testifie of him and they are able to make the Man of God perfect in all things and wise unto Salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ John 17.6 7 8. John 5.39 2 Tim. 3.15 16. Q. But what must one that knoweth not God do to get the knowledg of God A. Let him apply his heart unto the Scriptures as unto a light that shineth in a dark place even this World until the day dawn and the day-Star arise in his heart Eâ—â— 22.7 chap. 23.12 2 Pet. 1.19 20. Q But how shall I know when I have found by the Scriptures the true knowledg of God A. When thou hast also found the true knowledg of thy self Isa 6.5 Job
42.5 Q. What is it for me to know my self A. Then thou knowest thy self when thou art in thine own eyes a lothsome polluted wretched miserable Sinner and that not any thing done by thee can pacifie God unto thee Job 42.5 Ezek. 20.43 44. Rom. 7.24 Of Confession of Sin Quest YOu have shewed me if I will indeed worship God I must first know him aright now then to the question in hand pray how must I worship him A. In confessing unto him Nehem. 9.1 2 3. Q. What must I confess A. Thou must confess thy transgressions unto the Lord Psal 32.5 Q. Was this the way of the godly of old A. Yes Nehemiah confessed his sins David confessed his sins Daniel confessed his sins and they that were Baptized by John in Jordan confessed their sins Nehem. 1.6 Psal 32.5 Dan. 9.4 Mat. 3.6 Q. What sins must I confess to God A. All sins whatsoever for he that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall find Mercy Pro. 28.13 1 John 1.9 Q. But how if I do neither know nor remember all my sins A. Thou must then search and try thy ways by the holy Word of God Lam. 3.40 Psal 77.6 Q. But how if I do not make this search after my sins A. If thou dost not God will if thou dost not search them out and confess them God will search them out and charge them upon thee and tear thee in pieces for them Psal 50.21 22. Q. Where must I begin to confess my sins A. Where God beginneth to shew thee them Observe then where God beginneth with conviction for sin and there begin thou with confession of it Thus David began to confess thus Daniel began to confess 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9 10 11 12 13. Dan. 9.3 4 5 6 7 8. Q. What must I do when God hath shewed me any sin to make right Confession thereof A. Thou must follow that Conviction until it shall bring thee to the Original and Fountain of that sin which is thine own heart 1 King 8.38 Psal 51.5 Q. Is my heart then the Fountain and Original of sin A. Yes For from within out of the heart of Man proceedeth evil thoughts Adulteries Fornications Murders Thifts Covetousness Wickedness Deceit Lasciviousness an evil Eye Blasphemy Pride Foolishness All these evil things come from within and defile the Man Mar. 7.21 22 23. Q. When a Man sees this what will he think of himself A. Then he will not only think but conclude that he is an unclean thing that his heart hath deceived him that it is most desperate and wicked that it may not be trusted by any means that every imagination and thought of his heart naturally is only evil and that continually Isa 64.6 Prov. 28.26 Isa 44.20 Gen. 6.5 Q. You have given me a very bad character of the heart but how shall I know that it is so bad as you count it A. Both by the Text and by Experience Q. What do you mean by Experience A. Keep thine eyes upon thy heart and also upon Gods Word and thou shalt see with thine own eyes the desperate wickedness that is in thine heart for thou must know Sin by the Law that bidding thee do one thing and thy heart inclining to another Rom. 7.7 8.9 Q. May I thus then know my heart A. Yes that is something of it specially the Carnality of thy mind because the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Rom. 8.7 Q. Can you particularize some few things wherein the wickedness of the heart of man shews it self A. Yes by its secret hankering after sin although the Word forbids it by its deferring of Repentance by its being weary of holy Duties by its aptness to forget God by its studying to lessen and hide Sin by its feigning it self to be better than it is by being glad when it can sin without being seen of Men by its hardening it self against the Threatnings and Judgments of God by its desperate inclinings to Unbeleif Atheism and the like Pro. 1.24 25 26. Isa 43.22 Mal. 1.12 13. Judg. 3.7 Jer. 2.32 Psal 106.21 Hos 2.13 Pro. 30.20 Jer. 2.25 Rom. 1.32 chap. 2.5 Zeph. 7.11 12 13. Q. Is there any thing else to be done in order to a right confession of sin A. Yes Let this Conviction sink down into thy heart that God sees much more wickedness in thee than thou canst see in thy self If thy heart condemn thee God is greater than thy heart and he knows all things besides be hath set thy secret sins in the light of his Countenance 1 Joh. 3.20 Psal 90.8 Q. Is there any thing else that must go to a right confession of sin A. Yes In thy confessions thou must greaten and aggravate thy sin by all just circumstances Q. How must I do that A. By considering against how much Light and Mercy thou hast sinned against how much Patience and Forbearance thou hast sinned also against what Warnings and Judgments thou hast sinned and against how many of thine own Vows Promises and Ingagements thou hast sinned these things heighten and aggravate sin Ezra 9.10 11 12 13 14 15. Q. But what need I confess my sins to God see 〈…〉 A. Confession of sin is necessary for many Reasons Q. Will you shew me some of those Reasons A. Yes One is by a sincere and hearty Confession of sin thou acknowledgest God to be thy Sovereign Lord and that he hath right to impose his Law upon thee Exod. 20. Q. Can you shew me another Reason A. Yes By confessing thy sin thou subscribest to his righteous Judgments that are pronounced against it Psal 51.3 4. Q. Can you shew me another Reason A. Yes By confession of sin thou shewest how little thou deservest the least Mercy from God Q. Have you yet another reason why I should confess my sins A. Yes By so doing thou shewest whether thy heart loves it or hates it He that heartily confesseth his Sin is like him who having a Thief or a Traitor in his house brings him out to condign punishment but he that forbears to confess is like him who hideth a Thief or Traitor against the Laws and Peace of our Lord the King Q. Give me one more reason why I should confess my sins to God A. He that confesseth his sin casteth himself at the feet of Gods Mercy utterly condemns and casts away his own righteousness concludeth there is no way to stand Just and acquit before God but by and through the righteousness of another whither God is resolved to bring thee if ever he saves thy Soul Psal 51.1 2 3. 1 Joh. 1.9 Phil. 3.6 7 8. Q. What frame of heart should I be in when I confess my sins A. Do it heartily and to the best of thy power thoroughly For to feign in this work is abominable to do it by the halves is wickedness to do it without sence of Sin cannot