Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us Heb. 9. 24. Quest. Doth he then plead with God and move and Petition him for all the things we gain from him Answ. His Intercession is not by Words and formal Pleas and Supplications but by Actions that is by presenting of himself and shewing his own Sacrificed Body before God. He intercedes by shewing of himself and therefore St. Paul calls his Intercession his appearance in the presence of God for us Heb. 9. 24. Quest. And is this way as effectual as by forming Vocal Pleas Answ. Yes undoubtedly The Blood of his Sacrifice as St. Paul says speaks Heb. 12. 24. It doth not only breathe out Prayers but prefers Claims and Demands and those too not only in virtue of Gods Promise but also of his own Merits and dear-bought Purchase which is a way of moving with Power and Prevalence beyond all expressions Quest. Did the High-Priest among the Jews intercede thus Answ. Yes when he went in to intercede with God in the Holy of Holies after he had slain the Sacrifice he was not directed to make any set Speeches and vocal Supplications but only to carry in the Blood of Expiation and present it to God by sprinkling it upon and before the Mercy-seat Lev. 16. 14 15. which real exhibition of the thing it self that was to plead for them was more moving and effectual than any Verbal Speech or Vocal Prayer he could have put up for them Quest. And will Christ continue thus to intercede for us that is to shew himself and exhibit his Sacrifice before God in our behalf always Answ. Yes he ever lives to make intercession for us which renders him able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him Heb. 7. 25. And therefore the Heavens must receive him till the restitution of all things Acts 3. 21. It was enough for the Sacrificing part of his Priest-hood which made the Purchase to be once done But the Interceding part which brings down the purchased Blessings to all men in all times and places must still be a doing And therefore he continues in the presence of God to shew himself and intercede to the end of the World which will be so long as he will exercise his Mediatory Power or we shall stand in need of his Intercession Quest. What things will he move and intercede with God for which therefore we may make sure to speed in Answ. For all the Benefits he has purchased and God has promised which are all contain'd in the New-Covenant His intercession in virtue of his Blood is only to apply the Merits and Purchase of it So that as at first he shed it so now he shews his Blood for Covenant-Mercies and on Covenant-Terms but he never moves that any Person should obtain them otherwise Quest. Then he will never move for wicked and obdurate Sinners that God would relax the severity of his Laws for their sakes Nor for slothful and careless ones that by an over-powering and irresistible Grace he would do all for them and work his Will in them and so save all their Pains Since the New Covenant offers no Pardon but to the Penitent nor saving Grace but to the Sincere and Industrious Answ. Very Right Quest. By this I see we must by no means look upon Christ at God's Right-Hand as a Byassed Partial Advocate that seeks to wring what he can from God and gain all for our side But as an Equal and Impartial Mediator who has a just Regard to both sides and will shew himself as careful of God's Authority and Honour by securing him of our Duty as of our wellfare by obtaining for us his Mercy Answ. Most certainly For this cause saith St. Paul of purging our Consciences from dead Works to God's Service as well as that they who are called may receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance he is the Mediator of the New Testament Heb. 9. 14 15. In discharging this Trust we may be sure in the heighth of all his care for us he will be just to God. Nay being God's own Son and both intimately nearer Related to and better pleased with him than he is with us were he any ways capable of being byassed we cannot imagine it should be on ours but on his side So that in all the Part he acts as our Intercessor we must not imagine that he will in the least dishonour God to oblige us or ever once aim or attempt to make us secure in any undutifulness and contempt of his and our Heavenly Father Quest. Surely being the most dearly Beloved Son of God he must needs be an Intercessor of Great Power Answ. Yes of Absolute Power and infallibly sure to gain whatsoever he moves for For besides his Relation and Filial nearness he continually Represents his own infinite Merits which can claim any Favours Nay for the sake of those Merits on this Appearance to plead them before God he is made a Royal Priest and has all Power given unto him as a King so that he can grant what he pleases Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my Name I will do it Joh. 14. 13 14. Quest. This shews how able he is to Succeed but is he willing and ready to use all his Interest and move for us Answ. No doubt of that For his Love has made him shed for us his own Hearts-Blood and therefore it can never stick at any other Service or procuring for us any Blessings from Almighty God. He is a Merciful and Faithful High-Priest both true to our Interests and tender of our Infirmities having felt them in himself Heb. 2. 17. and 4. 15. and therefore is as willing and ready as he is able to intercede for us Quest. Is it particularly any part of his Intercession to hand and present our Prayers Answ. Yes This was the Business of the Jewish Priests One part of their Priesthood was to burn Incense which was to perfume the Peoples Prayers who as St. Luke notes prayed without in the time of Incense Luk. 1. 10. presenting their Prayers to God in these sweet Smells whence the Psalmist begs his Prayers may be set forth before God as the Incense Plal. 141. 2. And the Vials of Odors or Incense in the Revelations St. John says are the Prayers of the Saints Rev. 5. 8. And this accordingly Christ our Intercessor in Heaven doth for us for he is the Angel in the Revelations who on the golden Altar before the Throne offers the Incense with the Prayers of all Saints Rev. 8. 3. By him it is we must present all our Prayers whence we are said thro' him to have access to the Father Eph. 2. 18. and in him to have boldness and access with confidence Eph. 3. 12. Nay since the Prayers we put up have many sinful Defects adhering to them they are
himself in all things towards them and was correspondently treated by them as a Brother In any common Debates and particularly in the Council of Jerusalem he did not so much as preside as St. James there seems rather to have done but as an Equal gave his Reasons and his Voice among them Act. 15. 7. When his actings seem'd very Novel and Doubtful as his going in to Cornelius and his Gentile Friends the Brethren of the Circumcision freely required an Account thereof and stifly contended with him Act. 11. 2. And when they were really Blame-worthy as his dissimulation was at Antioch St Paul like his Com-Peer Apostle openly withstood and rebuked him Gal. 2. 11 12 13 14. These with sundry other like Passages shew how unknown such Universal Headship was in the Apostles time And the same may be made appear of the Church in the Ages following But that visible Unity which all Christians were obliged to endeavour after in the Church was preserv'd as I say by their joint readiness to communicate externally as Brethren not by a profest subjection of all Churches to one Visible Head and submitting to his Authority and Jurisdiction Quest. In this one Church indeed as it follows in the Creed there must be a Communion of Saints what is meant by Saints Answ. Christians By their Enemies they were styled Hereticks or Nazarenes But the Names they gave themselves were the Elect the Brethren the Christians or many times the Saints as is very commonly seen in the inscriptions or salutations of the Epistles writ to them by the holy Apostles Quest. And what is the Communion of these Saints or Christians Answ. Their joining in common in those things which make them Christians or in the common Offices and concerns of Christianity There must be Communion because of their Unity as one Body And this Communion must be in something sensible to shew a visible Unity which the World shall see and reflect upon as I noted from our Saviour Quest. In what doth this Communion consist Answ. In adhering to the same Doctrine Government and Worship both in Prayers and Sacraments For in these St. Luke places the Communion of the Primitive Church They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and breaking of Bread and in Prayers Act. 2. 42. Quest. How must they keep to the same Faith and Doctrine Answ. By adhering to the Holy Scriptures which ought to be every where the same Rule of it And this Unity of Faith requiring not only that they inwardly believe the same things but also that they outwardly profess that Belief to make Unity in this Profession in the first days there is mention of its being drawn up into a Form of Sound words 2 Tim. 1. 13. This Form was as some think the Apostles Creed which contains all that Catholick Doctrine that is necessary to make any Man a Good Christian and which accordingly has been always received as the Form in Baptism the most learned not professing more thereat nor the most ignorant less through all Ages of the Church Quest. This united Adherence to the same Rule and Form will keep up a visible Union in Faith or Doctrine But how can they all be thus united in Prayers and Devotions not having one and the same Forms of Prayer and Liturgies Answ. By making them all according to the same Rules and for the same intents and purposes For all their Prayers are put up to one and the same God for one and the same common mercies on the same common terms and expectations through the same common Merits and Mediation and with the same common Affection and Brotherly concern for each other Which make them in Substance the same Worship and Devotions though put up in far distant places or in different Forms of expression or Languages Quest. According to what you said before of the Unity of the Church the Members of this one Body must not only worship and pray like each other but be ready to worship and pray together But how can we communicate or joyn in the use of Prayers and Sacraments with all Christians who are so far spread and widely distant in their Habitations Answ. With Foreigners we are bound to joyn only as we meet with them When we happen to be amongst them or they amongst us to shew we are all of the same Body and that the Church is one we must mutually Associate in worship and receive each other to Communion not sticking at any different Rites and usages we find in other Churches whilst there is no Sin in them And as for the Christians of our own Country there is no difficulty of joining thus in Worship yea and Government too with them because we are all under the same Laws and spiritual Guides and live among them Quest. Do you lay much weight upon Publick Prayers and think the People ought to place much in attending the Churches Service and Praying along with the Minister Answ. Yes For though God is ready to hear any Good man by himself alone Yet for the Countenance of the Publick Worship and the maintenance of good order he sets particular marks of Favour on those Prayers which are offer'd to him in Publick in concurrence with his Minister Thus in the Jewish Law he appointed the Priests to Offer and burn incense twice a Day for a Daily Service the end whereof was to present those Prayers which the People offer'd up during this Ministration as a sweet smell to God in these Perfumes And David when he would desire a great Recommendation to his Prayers begs they may come fortifi'd with this advantage to be set forth in God's sight like Incense Psal. 141. 2. In like manner the four and twenty Elders in the Revelations that is the Bishops or Pastors of the Church are represented as having every one like the Jewish Priests Golden Vials full of Odors which are the Prayers of the Saints Rev. 5. 8. And when any Persons in sickness would have Recourse to Prayers St. James directs them to present them by their Pastors and send for the Elders of the Church Jam. 5 14. And Jesus Christ that Angel who at the Golden Altar offers up the Prayers of all Saints is set out particularly as presenting those Prayers of theirs which came up with the smoke of incense Rev. 8. 3 4. Not to mention the many other Advantages of Publick Prayer as its being an addressing to God in a Body and united Number which in all Addresses is confessedly a way of most Force and Power and among them perhaps in conjunction with some of the best Souls and very likely with several more Holy and dearer to him than our selves for whose sake he may be more like to hear our joint supplications as he would hear Job for his Friends when he would not accept either their Prayer or Sacrifice at their own hands Job 42. 7 8. And therefore it is a most fond
one another What becomes of their Apostasie If they proclaim the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to be the only true God whom we are to fear and worship and themselves to be fallen Angels who are no longer to be adored in Temples hearkened to in their suggestions nor imitated in their falshood pride envy hatred of God and Men and other practices they turn Angels of Light instead of being Powers of Darkness The Devils can work no Miracles for these ends except they should first turn Saints and change their Natures And therefore it was a most authentick and assuring mark which Jesus gave of the truth of his own Miracles when he called them the works his Father had given him to finish that is which were not wrought for any ill ends nor out of vanity to exalt his own Praise but to serve the ends of God and set on his Father's desires and purposes John 5. 36. Quest. Indeed in such kinds which seem more imitable by created powers these intents and designs would indisputably distinguish his signs from all Satanical Delusions Ans. Yes and so I might add in the last place would his manner of performance too For his usual way of working wonders was not by any Magical Rites and Invocations but meerly by a Word of his Mouth To the wind and sea he said Peace and it was still Mark 4. 39. to the deaf man's Ears Be opened and instantly he heard Mark 7. 34 35. to the blind man Go thy way thy faith hath made thee see and without more ado he saw again Mark 10. 52. to the leper I will Be thou cleansed and his leprosie was cured Luke 5. 13. Which way of effecting things by an all-commanding Word is as plain an evidence of a Divine Power as Creating all things was at first for then God only said Let there be light and there was light Gen. 1. 3. he only spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Psalm 33. 9. Not to mention moreover the vast number of his Miracles which more assuredly inferred a Divine Power in him than in any nay in all the Prophets put together who lived before him For whereas the Jews when to exalt Moses and the Prophets they ambitiously make the most of their Miracles after they have picked up all they can compute all his only at 76. and all theirs from the beginning of the World to the destruction of the Temple only at 74. which both together make but 150. in above 3000 Years time this single Jesus in three Years wrought so many that were they all written the world it self would not be able to contain the Books that should be written of them John 21. 25. To all which I might add lastly That he did not only show these great and numerous signs himself in Person but transmitted the Power to Numbers to do the same in his Name and conferred this Power on Gentiles as well as Jews which are things utterly unknown among all the wonder-workers of former times Quest. But in this point one thing sticks still with the Jews which is that Jesus and his Apostles in credit of their Miracles went about to overthrow the Law of Moses And may not they therefore confront all the Miracles wrought in justification of that Law against theirs Ans. They might to one that accused that Law as forged or erroneous Which Jesus was so far from doing that he all along makes Moses and the Prophets his Vouchers telling the Jews had you believed Moses you would have believed me for he wrote of me John 5. 46 and search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me verse 39. Quest. But did not those Miracles when they proved that Law to come from God prove also that none should come in after-time to abrogate and annull it Ans. No but on the contrary the Holy Prophets under that Law declared it should be changed and all those things subverted whereto it was adapted and which were the ground and foundation of it Quest. To what things was the Jewish Law adapted Ans. Their Moral Laws contained in the Ten Commandments were adapted not to the particular state and circumstances of any place or People but of the common humane Nature and therefore were unchangeable And accordingly when our Saviour comes to meddle with them he declares it was not to destroy or vacate but fulfil and add what was wanting in them Matth. 5. 17 18. But their Judicial Laws which prescribed the Rules of Courts and Judgments were fitted to their external Polity as they were a civil State in Canaan And as for their Ceremonial which order'd the Rules of their Religion and Worship to omit other specialties therein that chief part of them about Sacrifices was all to be administred by one Family viz. Aaron's line and was limited to one place viz. the temple of Jerusalem Quest. And did the Holy Prophets under that Law foretel any change in that Priesthood Temple-worship and Civil State or talk of any new settlement of things independent on or inconsistent with them Ans. Yes In the last days a known Phrase for the days of Messiah the mountain of the Lord's house says Isaiah shall be established in the top of the mountains and all nations shall flow unto it Isaiah 2. 2. God's Name shall be great among the Gentiles from the rising to the setting of the sun in every place shall incense be offered to his Name and a pure offering which cannot consist with Worshipping still in one appropriate place viz. the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Mal. 1. 11. A new Priesthood shall be erected says the Psalmist in the days of Christ not after the order of Aaron but Melchisedech Psalm 110. 4. and then shall God take to himself Priests and Levites out of other nations no longer confining his choice to Aaron and his Sons Isaiah 66. 19 20 21. a plain sign the Law was to cease when the Priesthood was which had the Ministration of it Heb. 7. 12. About Messiah's time says the Prophet Daniel shall God destroy the city and make an utter desolation the Scepter too departing as Jacob foretold when once Shilo was come and what place then for their Judicial Laws when they were no longer to be a Nation nor have any Established Polity to administer and judge by them He shall also destroy the Sanctuary and what then becomes of all the Sacrifices when once the place was demolished wherein the Law required they should all be offered Dan. 9. 26 27. In summ they declare as I noted before that God would set aside the Mosaick Covenant by reason of its insufficiency and give them a new and better Covenant in its place And that he would make this change at that time when a woman should compass a Man which plainly notes the days of Messiah Jeremiah 31. 22 31 32 c. Quest. Indeed these are plain proofs
in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus Abrahams Bosom And the care of conducting them thither as Christ noted in the account of Lazarus is committed to some good Angels For some of these as ministring Spirits always attend the death-beds of God's Saints and receive the departed Soul into their care to guard it from all frights and molestations of envious Fiends as it passes thro' the Regions of the Air which are the Principality or Territory of the Powers of Darkness and to guide it in all that long passage of new and unknown ways which lead to the Blessed Receptacles of departed Spirits Whereas the Souls of the Wicked when they are thrust out of their Bodies are left naked and defenceless to be seiz'd by those greedy and implacable Furies and hurried away upon the award of their most just Judge in extream anguish and despair to their most wretched Prisons Quest. But at the Resurrection I see both Good and Bad shall return to their Bodies again And shall that Life last for ever Answ. Yes for after once they are reunited their Souls and Bodies shall never part any more but the good shall continue in everlasting pleasure and the wicked in everlasting pain Quest. What happiness is there in that Eternal Life of the Righteous Answ. All possible happiness their hearts can wish or their Nature is capable of They shall see and enjoy God who will give himself to them and that implies every thing that is Beatifying all the Blessedness we can imagine and infinitely more being contain'd in God and communicated together with him Quest. And shall this Blessedness never be imbitter'd to them with any care or fear or grief or crosses as all the happyness of this present Life is Answ. No They shall neither hunger nor thirst any more Rev. 7. 16. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more Death nor sorrow nor crying nor Pain for all those former things are passed away Rev. 21. 4. Quest. Shall all their Senses be gratified with the most delightful and agreeable enjoyments Answ. Yes such as the Scripture is wont to set off by Feasts and Banquets and Marriage-Entertainments by melodious Songs and joyful Hallelujahs by transporting sights of all the Beauty the Glory and Magnificence of the Heavenly Court the Majesty of God's Throne and the Splendor of all the Heavenly Host that do surround it Indeed their exalted and refined Senses are above the gross delights of Eating and Drinking and giving in Marriage But such as these the Scripture uses because our present state places so much in them And whatsoever delight and satisfaction they may express to our present Capacities that and abundance more shall the enjoyments of that life yield to our glorified and improved Bodies Quest. 'T is a great heappiness to have clear and distinct knowledge of things and not to be distracted with doubts or posed with difficulties Shall the Righteous in that Eternal Life have such clear and advanced understandings Answ. Yes they shall get rid of all darkness and doubtfulness of mind and know every thing they desire without study or pains Now we see as in a Glass darkly but then face to face Now we know in part but then shall we know even as also we are known 1 Cor. 13. 12. Quest. 'T is a singular Point of Bliss to be perfect in Holiness which is one of the most Blissful Attributes of God himself Shall they also be such perfectly Holy Persons Answ. Yes they shall excel in every Virtue and Grace wherein Christ himself doth for when he appears we shall be like him 1 Joh. 3. 2. And those they shall enjoy free of all those weaknesses and defects whereby their Virtues are obscur'd and lessen'd in this World. For in new Jerusalem the Spirits of just men are made perfect Heb. 12. 23. Quest. And shall they exercise all this Holiness without trouble and reluctance which makes the practice of it painful here on Earth Answ. Yes for they shall neither have any inward Lusts to oppose it nor outward Temptations to draw them from it They hear no advice nor see any example but of what is good Their inclinations are all rectified and become Holiness to the Lord. Their Nature is perfect in good and duty is become their delight so that in conforming entirely to the will of God they do in the highest measure gratifie their own wills too Quest. And with this height of knowledge and of Holiness shall they also be inwardly pleased in their own minds and think themselves happy without which no man is happy Answ. Yes they must needs be infinitely pleased in every thing they have and in every thing they do for whatsoever comes to them is pure happiness and whatsoever proceeds from them is full of Wisdom and Goodness without the least word or action to repent of Their State is all Joy and Peace enter thou into the joy of thy Lord Mat. 25. 21. It is not bid to enter into them being infinitely more than they can hold but they into it as into a vast Ocean of Bliss whereof they shall always drink to the full but never empty or exhaust it Quest. Indeed such compleat Knowledge and perfect Holiness must needs give them cause of greatest satisfaction from themselves But what sort of Company must they keep will they be equally happy in that too Answ. Yes unimaginably happy For they will live always in the presence of God who will ineffably Communicate himself to them and of Jesus Christ who will infinitely rejoyce to see how happy he has made them and of the Holy Ghost who will eternally Congratulate the reward of his own Graces in them and converse with Angels Apostles and Glorified Saints and all their Godly dear Friends whom they valued as their own Souls and whom they clave so fast to in their hearts that they could have followed them into the other World when they were taken from them Quest. And all this God-like Society are every way fitted to be the most happy and delightful Companions Answ. Yes to be the most Blissful that possibly can be thought of For they are all light and quickness in their understandings and all love and tenderness in their Affections and most sweet and obliging in their carriage being perfectly free from all Anger Crossness Scorn or Contempt and every thing that may give offence They all look pleased and inviting in their countenances and are exquisitely wise useful and entertaining in all their Discourses and all agree in the same Opinions and speak the same things and pursue the same ends and are pleased in the same Objects and have no strife among them but who shall love highest and oblige most and be most like to God and agreeable to each other for evermore Quest. You say there shall be no strife but who shall love most Indeed a state of love which is not cooled by any unkindnesses nor crossed