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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

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the sure spirituall band of union betweene Christ the head and them the members of the same mysticall body Quest What is Adoption Answ. It is a necessary consequent of the union of the Elect with Christ For Christ being the only begotten Son of God by eternall generation as hee is God and as hee is Man by personall union with God the Sonne and by a supernaturall and miraculous generation and so heire of all things Heb. 1. 2. It must necessarily follow that whosoever are in him one body with him and lead by his Spirit do thereby come under the account of children and heires of God and of coheires with Christ and so God the Father doth esteeme respect and accoumpt them the Spirit dwelling in them doth witnesse with their spirit that they are the children of God Rom. 8. 16. Quest What is the Communion with Christ of all his benefits Answ. It is a consequent that is a grace necessarily following from union with Christ For whosoever are by one Spirit baptized into Christ and made one spirituall body with him as really and substantially as all members in a mans body are one naturall body with the head they must needs have such a spirituall communion of all Christs treasures vertues and endowents as is the naturall communion which all the members in a mans body have with the head Christs sufferings satisfaction for sin righteousnesse ransome and intercession are theirs and they have a right and interest in them and communion of them all And thus God justifies and makes them fundamentally righteous by Christs perfect righteousnesse frees them from the guilt of all their sins by his satisfactory sufferings and accepts them for his redeemed and reconciled ones through Christs intercession and makes them actually accepted in his beloved Christ Eph. 1. 6. Quest What are the works of saving grace which God so worketh in the Elect that they also being moved by his Spirit do cooperat and worke together with him Answ. They are the actions of the Elect regenerat exercising by the motion of the Spirit those spirituall gifts and Christian vertues which were given them by renovation or renuing of the holy Ghost Quest Which is the first of them Answ The first is actuall Faith or Beleeving in God and in Christ for as the gift of Faith is the first of all spirituall gifts which by the renuing of the holy Ghost is wrought in the elect regenerate So the worke of their Faith that is actuall beleeving is the first of all which by the motion of the Spirit they performe after they are quickned and raised up to live a spirituall life Quest Why is the work of their Faith the first before the acts of knowledge repentance love hope and the rest Answ. Because Faith possesseth the whole heart and soule of man and informeth after a sort all the powers and faculties thereof even the understanding will and affections It is the opening of the understanding to take notice of Gods goodnesse and of the truth of his Word It is the inclining of the will to give assent to the whole Word of God and all truth therein revealed and to acknowledge all Gods Truth Goodnesse and Mercy in Christ It is the rectifying of the affections and the plyablenesse of them to trust in God to rely on him to hope in his mercy to love feare and reverence him and to hate all offence of his holy Majesty to sorrow for sin with godly sorrow to repentance to rejoyce and delight in the things of God and to bee zealous of good works and resolve to serve honour and obey God in a constant course of life This saving Faith sets a work all other graces and therefore all works of true godlinesse holinesse and righteousnesse performed by the Elect regenerate and sanctified are called fruits of Faith by which their Faith is openly shewed and made knowne as a tree by the fruits of it Quest Which is the proper work of true saving Faith Answ The proper work of it by which all other graces are set a work is a firme and stedfast beleeving with the whole heart of the Word of God and all things therein revealed which concerne their salvation by Christ that is both eternall life in the fruition of God and the way to it Quest What difference is there betweene this beleeving and that which is in Devils and in carnall hypocrites who beleeve these things or at least many of them at some times Answ. There is as great difference between them as between light and darknesse The beleeving of the Elect regenerat proceeds from a supernaturall cause and from a Divine and holyroot even the Spirit of God dwelling in them as Gods immortall seed and sanctifying them and therefore it is holy firme and stedfast and reacheth beyond all hope sense and reason But that of the Devils and carnall hypocrites proceeds from their own naturall reason convinced by sense experience and plaine arguments or by a common illumination of the Spirit shining from without into the hearts of hypocrites and temporary beleevers as we read of Simon Magus Act. 8. 13. and the hypocriticall Iews who beleeved in Christs name when they saw his miracles John 2. 23. And therefore their beleeving is carnall temporary and vanishing and goeth no further than sense and naturall reason do lead The beleeving of the Elect is the subsisting of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. That is they have the things which they beleeve as certainly as they beleeve that they have them and hope for them and their beleeving is a cleare evidence to them of their being in Christ and of their communion with him in grace and of their portion in Heaven which things are not seene with carnall eyes of sense or reason For the Spirit which works this beleefe hath united them to Christ and made Christ and all his benefits theirs already so that their beleeving is infallible and cannot deceive them But Devils carnall men and hypocrites cannot reach so far as to beleeve their own particular salvation in Christ or their having of things thereto belonging And if any of them do at any time Mich. 3. 11. it is but a false and vanishing beliefe In a word whosoever doth by a true saving Faith beleeve historically the Word of God and the truth therein conteined he hath withall an affiance in God and grace to beleeve by all other acts of Faith even to apply to himselfe all Gods promise by beleeving steadfastly that they belong to himself in particular For as the Spirit wch works this faith is the fountain of all grace and unites the beleevers to Christ makes him all his benefits theirs So this Faith necessarily produceth all acts of beleeving in them and makes them able by beleeving to apply to themselvs to enjoy all blessings which are to be found in Christ Quest What benefits do the Elect receive by
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
THE KEY OF SAVING KNOWLEDGE Opening out of the holy Scriptures the right way and straight passage to Eternall life OR A Dialogue wherein the chiefe principles of Christian Religion are unfolded for the enabling of Christian people to understand the Word of God and to atteine to the true sense and mean●ng thereof Composed by GEO. WALKER B. of Div. and Pastor of S Iohn the Evangelists Church in LONDON LONDON Printed by THO. BADGER M.DC.XLI To his little flock the Inhabitants of the Parish of S. Iohn the Evangelist in Watlingstreet in London Georg● Walker their weake but wellwishing ●astor commendeth this small token of his unfeined love and hearty desire of their eternall happinesse in the fruition of God by their fellowship and communion with him in the Lord Iesus Christ BEloved in the Lord Christ seeing now I have spent one halfe of my dayes in Preaching to you and your predecessors the Gospell of Christ in expounding the sacred Scriptures in watching and labouring for the good of your soules to wit for the space of 29 yeares untill there is not one left alive of all those inhabitants who were masters of families at my first coming to this place and did all with one consent and voyce make choyce of me to be their Pastor I hold it high time for me to thinke of my departure from hence by putting off this earthly tabernacle and of leaving you as your predecessors who were my first flocke have left me their Pastor behind them to feed you a succeeding generation And least my labour and paines which I spent among them for the good of their soules should seeme to die with them and to bee buried in their graves I have thought good to renew the memory of them and to leave to the World some Monuments of that Doctrin I have Preached to them heretofore as also to you of latter times by Gods gracious assistance though in great weaknesse of body yet with a willing mind and with a courage never daunted with any menacings and threatenings of potent adversaries and malicious persecutors The principall heads and true platforme of which doctrine I have briefly comprised and compendiously set forth in this short Dialogue which containes in it the principles and foundations of Christian Religion and which I do here commend to you as a testimony of that unfeigned love which I beare to you and of my fervent desire of the salvation of your soules I have already published and have ready for the Presse divers larger Treatises wherein are conteined many particular doctrines which may be reduced to these principall heads and are there largely handled plainly opened and fully proved by Scriptures and the true use of them shewed in such manner as they have beene by my mouth publikly preached among you But this golden Key which is the quintessence of them all will open Heaven unto you if you can learn to use it aright It is made of divine metall even the Word of God revealed from Heaven which is more pure than the most refined gold It will teach you by a short and compendious way to know God not only in the unity of Essence in his essentiall attributes In the Trinity of persons and in his Works of Creation and actuall Providence overruling mans fall and disposing it and all the evils which entered in by it to his own glory and the good of his Elect but also in Iesus Christ in whom to know him the only true God is eternall life as our Saviour testifieth Iohn 12. 3. Here Gods eternall Counsell and Decree of Predestination is discovered Here you may learn the saving works of God in and by Christ God and man humbled in our nature What love God hath shewed in giving his Son for us and what Christ hath done and suffered for our Redemption Here you may see what saving works God works by his Spirit shed on his Elect through Christ as Regeneration Renovation effectuall calling Vnion with Christ Adoption Communion of his ransome for Redemption of his Righteousnesse for Iustification of his satisfaction for Remission of sins and Reconciliation And what Gods Spirit works in us and by us as Mortification Sanctification Faith Repentance and all holy graces and how and by what meanes he enables us to apply Christ and his benefits unto us and to enioy him and them for Salvation and also doth beget and increase grace in his Elect to wit by the Word preached and heard the Sacraments rightly administred and received faithfull and fervent Prayer and the like And how these worke in the Elect to eternall life and blessednesse and are abused by wicked reprobates to their owne everlasting damnation and destruction These things have I written to you Fathers and Masters that you may read them your selves and commend them to your children and families I commend them to you Young men that you may grow strong and may overcome the wicked one And I commend them to you litle children that you may learne to know his name and that your sins may be forgiven you for his names sake If after so much preaching teaching you be found ignorant unprofitable it is because the God of this World hath blinded your minds least the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto you This word will be to you the savour of death unto death and this booke shall witnesse for me against you that you are wilfully ignorant and a lost people But if as I hope and pray fervently and wish from my heart You do chearefully receive the love of this Truth then shall my Doctrine bee to you the savour of life unto life and wee shall both together I of my worke and labour in preaching and you of your reverence in hearing and faithfulnesse in obeying the Word Preached receive the reward of righteousnesse which Christ hath purchased for them that beleeve and obey the Gospell even the Crown of glorie which never fadeth This briefe summe of Christian Religion with other more large Treatises I have written in my bonds for the common benefit of you and others to testifie unto you that the many waters of troubles and persecutions which I suffer for the Truth sake which I have preached unto you cannot quench my love to you nor my desire of your salvation nor hinder mee from labouring for your good In all which I seeke not yours but you And as I have preached the Gospell freelie to you never seeking any of your temporall goods for my ministring of spirituall things plentifullie unto you but spending besides my spirits much substance over and above the revenues of my smal Benefice which from you I have received so I commend to you freely this and all other works and labours of my love which if you do lovinglie accept and use and imploy to your own advantage I shall thinke my work in some good measure rewarded and shall ever remaine a faithfull
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
labourer for the good of your soules according to the utmost of my power and Your welwilling though weake Pastor GEO. WALKER A briefe Dialogue wherein the Father examineth his Son concerning the principles of Religion in which he hath formerly instructed him Quest MY deare Child why doest thou complaine because of thy sicknesse and many paines and infirmities which often doe befall thee seeing thou by thy sins pullest them upon thee and causest God thus to punish and correct thee Answer Indeed in my book of the of the Psalmes of David I am taught to confesse that I was shapen in iniquity and that in sin hath my mother conceived me but this is the fault of you that are my parents from whom I received in my birth and with my first being this sinfull corruption Quest It is true that wee brought thee into this world a poore sinfull wretch But doest thou not know that this corruption commeth not from our selves as the first causes of it but from our first parents in whom thou and we and all mankind have sinned against God and lost that image and likenesse of God in which wee were created and are so infected with the poyson a●d malice of the Devill which hee breathed into our first parents that wee have no power or will to do the good which God requireth of us in his Law but are forward to run into all sins which God forbiddeth Answ. I remember now when you put me in mind of it that you have taught me oftentimes that God created all things good at the first and in Adam he created all man-kind in his owne image and likenesse and that the Devill by the Serpent did tempt the woman and breathed into her his poyson and drew her into sin and by her infected Adam who was the root and stock of all man-kind and by drawing him into transgression did corrupt him and all man-kind defaced Gods image in us al and stained and defiled our nature so that eversince we are by nature children of wrath and disobedience who of our selves have no power to will or do any good but do run into sin and actuall transgression continually Quest I see and perceive by this that you are ready to forget those instructions of godlinesse which you have often learned and have need to have your memory often rubbed up And therefore I will stirre you up to remember the things which I have often taught you by asking you questions concerning the chiefe points of Christian Religion which you have learned that they may be more deeply printed in your mind and that you may have them more ready to put them in practise when occasion shall be offered Answ. I acknowledge my selfe bound in a double bond of thankefulnesse unto you both for your godly paines in t●aching me saving Knowledge and for your fatherly care to ma●e me remember the things which you have taught me that I may both beleeve and practise the things which God requireth of me for the obteining of eternall life and blessednesse Quest My paines of teaching you are a pleasure to me when I see you willing to bee instructed And if you answer readily the questions which I shall aske you concerning the grounds of Religion which I have heretofore taught you I shall rejoice in hope and confidence that God hath chosen you to be a vessell of honour called you to the state of Grace and prepared you for the state of glory in Heaven Answ. I acknowledge with all thankfulnesse Gods infinite love mercy and bounty to me in that hee hath ordeined me to be borne of Godly and Christian parents who as they were meanes to bring me into the world a corrupt sinfull child of Adam so are Gods speciall instruments to beget me to God a new creature in Iesus Christ by instructing me in his holy Word by which his holy Spirit doth take possession of my soule worketh in me Faith and renueth me after the image of Christ wherefore I am ready according to my best understanding and memory to answer every question which you shall aske concerning the things which I have before heard and learned from your mouth humbly beseeching God to print in my heart and to enable me by his grace to practise in my life the things which by your often urging and pressing are printed in my memory Quest My first Question therefore shall be about that which is the first work of God by which he gave to man-kind their first being I meane the creation of Adam and all man-kind in him tell mee what you have been taught concerning it Answ. First I have learned that God created the whole world and all things therein Gen. 1. 2. Quest What God is he who did performe and perfect so great a work Answ He who is the one only true God and besides whom there is no other God Deut. 6. 4. Isay 45. 5. Quest What a one do you conceive this God to be Answ. I conceive him to bee such a one as his most proper name Jehovah doth signifie Quest What doth that name signifie Answ. It signifieth that he is and hath his being of himselfe from all eternity without beginning and without end and that bee giveth being motion breath life and all other things to all creatures which live move and breath and to all other things which have been are or shall bee in the world and without him nothing can ●e or come to passe Exod. 3. 14. Quest What do you learn from thence Answ. I learne First that God is most absolute of himselfe and depends upon none other neither needeth either for his being glory or blessednesse any help or for the increase of them Secondly that he is before all things and is the first cause of them Thirdly that he is eternall even one who was before all times and is and shall be the same for ever without beginning and without end Fourthly that he is immutable and unchangeable in his nature essence and being and in his counsels will and all other his attributes and properties Fiftly that he is most perfect one who wanteth nothing but hath in him all excellencies to the full so that nothing can bee added to him to increase his goodnesse or blessednesse Sixthly that he is infinite and incomprehensible no tongue can utter no eye can see nor eare heare nor heart conceive nor reason and understanding comprehend him or his excellencies Quest Wherein doth his infinitnesse consist Answ. It consists in this that he hath no bounds nor limits but is above all degrees of comparison his whole essence is at all times pr●sent in all places and neither Heaven nor the Heaven of Heavens nor all places in the World can conteine him or measure his Substance He is infinit in Wisdome Knowledge Power Goodnesse Mercy Iustice Will Counsell and all other Attributes and Properties able to do whatsoever he will He seeth and knoweth all things which are have