Justification Rom. 4. 25. and who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again Rom. 8. 34. Quest. Was his Resurrection necessary on any other Accounts Answ. Yes for 2. In virtue of his death he was to be our Mediator to intercede with God for us and our Saviour and Deliverer to protect and rescue us from our Spiritual Enemies And these great works suppose a live man and are not to be performed by a dead person And being thus necessary to discharge his continual care of us it must be equally so to support our Faith and Trust in him When men are dead we expect no service or succour from them And therefore were he still in the Grave we should not fix our Hope and Trust in or make our Addresses to him Quest. Was it necessary to shew him to be the Messiah and to prove his Religion Answ. Yes for he had appealed to it as a sign of his being a true Prophet Mat. 12 38 39 40. And therefore by the way of tryal which God prescribed the Jews viz. the accomplishment of predictions he had appear'd to be a false Prophet had he failed in it So that if Christ be not risen saith St. Paul your Faith is vain 1 Cor. 15. 14. Quest. In his Death and Resurrection methinks we have a plain and palpable instance of the immortality of Humane Souls and of a future Life beyond the Grave where God may reward or punish us Answ. So we have For his Soul manifestly did exist apart from his Body during the time of their Separation till on the third day it was reunited again So that mens Souls can subsist without as well as in their Bodies and when they depart hence go into another place where they are capable of being called to account for all they have done in this life On which account as well as others St. Paul might well say That God hath given assurance of a future Life and Judgment by raising Christ from the dead Acts 17. 31. And St. Peter That God hath begotten us to the hope of an Eternal Inheritance thro' the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. Quest. We read of several others that rose from the Dead as well as Christ had he any thing singular in his Resurrection above them Answ. Yes he raised himself by his own power but they were all raised by him he was not only the first that rose but as the First-Fruits and all the World besides rise as the ensuing Crop which depends upon him Destroy this Temple saith he and in three days I will raise it up Joh. 2. 19 21. I lay down my life and take it up again Joh. 10. 18. He is the first-born from the Dead Col. 1. 18. Rev. 1. 5. As in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the First-fruits afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming 1 Cor. 15. 22 23. Quest. But did not Lazarus rise before Christ John 11. 44. and Jairus's Daughter Luk. 8. 55. and the Widows Son of Nain Luk. 7. 12 14 15. and how then is he said to be the first of the Dead that returned Answ. They returned to die again but he was the first that rose to life everlasting He being raised dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6. 9. Quest. By his Resurrection Christ got Glory and Happiness to himself even that Joy for which St. Paul says he endured the Cross Heb. 12. 2. But did he thereby acquire any Power over us Answ. Yes his Death purchased and his Resurrection invested him with an absolute Power and Dominion over us For this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living Rom. 14. 9. And after his Resurrection saith he All Power is given to me both in Heaven and in Earth Mat. 28. 18. Quest. If so his Resurrection lays an obligation upon us to obey him Answ. Yes like as he rose from the dead so must we rise to newness of life Rom. 6. 4. Quest How long stay'd he upon Earth after he was risen again Answ. For the space of forty days discoursing and speaking of the things concerning the Kingdom of God Acts 1. 3. Quest. Whither went he when he left it Answ. To Heaven whither he was taken up in a bright Cloud all the Apostles looking up after him till he was taken up out of their sight Acts 1. 3 9. And now he is there he sitteth at the right hand of God. Quest. What mean you by his sitting at the right hand of God Answ. His advancement to the heighth of Dignity and Authority in the presence of God. The Right-hand of a Prince is the place of peculiar Favour and of highest Honour and Respect as Solomon when he would do Honour to his Mother Bathsheba set her at his Right-hand 1 King. 2. 19. To be placed at hand by the priviledge of nearness gives opportunity for Conference and Address And to be placed at the Right-hand the Hand of use and business is to be in the way both of presenting all Offers and receiving of Returns whence it is a known mark of special Favour and Honour with all Potentates And so by Christ's sitting at God's Right-Hand is expressed his Soveraign Honour and Power in the presence of God. Or perhaps moreover his sitting in his humane shape on the Right-hand of that Bright Throne or Resplendant Glory which visibly accompanies and manifests some extraordinary presence of God as he appeared to Stephen in his Vision who saw the Glory of God and Jesus standing on the Right-hand of God that is I suppose at the Right-hand of that visible Glory wherewith God appeared Acts 7. 55. And this probably is what the Scripture means by his sitting at the Right-hand of Power Mat. 26. 64. and on the Right hand of Majesty Heb. 1. 3. That is on the Right-hand of such Glory or bright Appearance which is the usual Symbol of God's Power and Majesty which at other times is expressed by his sitting on the Right-hand of the Throne of God Heb. 12. 2. or on the Right-hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Heb. 8. 1. Quest. It was most just that he should be exalted thither in recompence of his meritorious sufferings as the Apostle notes Phil. 2. 8 9. and Heb. 12. 2. But is he gone thither to carry on any Designs for us Answ. Yes and those of the greatest importance For there in the highest manner and to the fullest effect he exercises all his Offices in our behalf Quest. I pray you explain the Designs he carries on for us there Answ. First The work of Intercession as our Priest. For he stands before God to mediate on our behalf and to obtain for us whatsoever God has promised or he has purchased or we stand in need of He is enter'd into
cut off as a Malefactor by corrupt Judgment noting the main circumstances both previous and concomitant and the particular and then unusual manner of his punishment And that after his Death he should return from the Grave and appear alive again All this the Psalmist and the Holy Prophets plainly foretel of him When we shall see him says Isaiah it will be without form or comeliness he is despised and rejected of men Isaiah 53. 2 3. He is to be betrayed and sold to his Adversaries for thirty pieces of silver Zach. 11. 12. And when he is in their Hands he shall be judged as a prisoner Isaiah 53. 8. his back shall be scourged and his face shall be spit on Isaiah 50. 6. He shall be tried and condemned and cut off out of the land of the living Isa. 53. 8. And as for the manner of his Death that shall be by the piercing of his hands and feet and keeping his Body between them so at stretch saith the Psalmist that they may tell all his bones a plain description of a Death on the Cross which being a Roman punishment and brought in among the Jews by their Conquest must needs be unknown in David's Age and so more observable to be foretold by him so many hundred Years before in describing the sufferings of Messiah Besides under this Execution they relate the very words wherein he should express the bitterness of his Sorrows and wherein the starers on would vent their cruel Scoffs and how they should seek to sharpen his Pains by a draught of vinegar and pierce or thrust him through as Zechary declared in a Text which the old Rabbins applied to Christ and when he was Dead share his garment by casting Lots for it They pierced my hands and my feet I may tell all my bones they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Whilst they stare upon me and laugh me to scorn saying He trusted in God that he would deliver him let him deliver him if he delight in him says the Psalmist Psalm 22. 1 7 8 16 17 18. Which Psalm and these passages of it according to the Letter never fully verified in the Story of David after the Jews of old the New Testament applies to Christ Matth. 27. 35 43 46. John 19. 24. These places evidently foretel the method of his Death and Humiliation And then after Death the same Prophets as evidently foretel that he should not lie to see corruption but return from the grave to a long happy and successful Life When he shall make his Soul an offering for Sin he shall prolong his days so that after his dying as a Sacrifice he was to be a live Man. Nay the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied so that he was also to be an active undertaking and successful Man verse 10. yea I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong that is be most Wealthy Potent and Victorious amongst Men verse 12. All which long active and happy Life was to be bestowed on him not only after his Death but as a recompence and reward of it He shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors that is was condemned and executed in the herd of Malefactors verse 12. Quest. I see all this was plainly prophesied of Messiah and was it fully made good in Jesus Christ Ans. Yes For he appeared in a poor and despicable condition as a carpenter's son He was sold by his own Servant for thirty pieces of silver which did the Traytor no good but by an over-ruling Providence was cast to the Potter or to buy the Potters Field for a Burying place as Zechary had foretold He was put in Bonds as a Prisoner and led about before the high-priest Herod and the Roman Governour They scourged him and spit upon him they condemned and cut him off according to the word of Isaiah not only as a Malefactor but also in company with them executing him †between two thieves as the Evangelists relate of him And as for the manner of his Death though Crucifixion was no Jewish but a Roman Punishment and after the High Priest had pronounced him guilty of Blasphemy by the constitution of the Jews and the Law of Moses he should have been stoned yet by the special ordering of God he suffered by the piercing of his hands and feet and hanging so at stretch upon the Tree that his bones might be numbered according to the words of David In his extremities though the custom of the Nation was to offer stupefactives as Wine and Myrrh to benum the Sense and ease the pains of dying Persons yet to verifie the saying of the Psalmist they brought him Vinegar to whet and sharpen his The chief Priests with the Scribes and Elders most inhumanly staring on him said with cruel scorn He trusted in God let him deliver him now if he will have him the very words which the Holy Psalmist had so long before set down for them and he himself cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The very words again which that Holy Prophet spoke for him in his extremity As he hung upon the Cross a Soldier pierced his side and thrust him through to fulfil the words of Zechary And when they saw he had expired the four Soldiers that stood by and were to share his Cloathes would not divide his seamless coat but cast lots for it according to the Prediction of the Psalmist Amidst all which strange congruities he had one other qualifying circumstance which the Prophet Isaiah remarks viz. to make his grave as with the wicked by dying for a pretended crime so with the rich in his death Isaiah 53. 9 which was verified by his being wrapt in fine linen and Entombed as by his care so in Joseph of Arimathea's own Sepulchre who was a rich man and an honourable counsellor And then as for his return to life again to be an undertaking successful and most potent happy Person that has been most notoriously and eminently made good in our Blessed Saviour's Resurrection and in the unparalleled success of his Religion in all places since that time And this again especially his Resurrection is another note which as it fits Jesus to be the Messiah so beyond dispute excludes all other Men. For though Theudas and Judas as Gamaliel observed and other false Christs in just reward of their Impostures have been condemned and slain yet was never any of them seen to return to life again to carry on their pretences and to prosper and thrive in them Quest. Have you any other notable and appropriating marks to add from
by Disappointments nor made unfortunate by the Follies or Sufferings of those we dearly love is absolutely the most agreeable pleasant and satisfactory Employment in the World. And amidst all these Companions shall the Righteous be Perfect in this Love Answ. Yes most Perfect For God is Love and he that dwells in God dwells in Love 1 Joh. 4. 16. Quest. Will all that blessed Company entirely love us Answ. Yes as they do their own Souls they were full of Love while they lived here loving even their Enemies after Christ's Precept and Example but especially the servants of God in whom they discern'd his Image But in Heaven they shall love us in Perfection and be full Ripe and Compleat in this as they are in all other Graces Quest. And shall we entirely Love all them Answ. Yes they shall all be so absolute in all amiable excellencies and continually discover such a boundless Love for us and our Natures will be so wholly framed for Love and Kindness that we cannot chuse but love them and that with the greatest fervour and intenseness of Affection And this will be all Pleasure and no Pain because they are incapable of doing any thing that may either shame or disgust us God is all in all in them and therefore they can do nothing but what we who entirely love God and them may perfectly delight in Quest. If we shall have such entire Love for all the Saints in Bliss we shall as all true Friends do partake in all their Joys and all their Happiness will be ours Answ. It will be so for Love of Happy Persons multiplies Happiness as oft as it multiplies Objects Because when we entirely love them we esteem and are pleased with all their Happiness as with our own And this way every Saint will be as full as if they had a Monopoly of Bliss and draw all the Happiness of Heaven to themselves Quest. But amidst all these inward excellencies and happy Company and Blissful intercourse of kindness shall they live in Honour and be eminent in Place Answ. Yes as Kings and Princes They shall Sit on Thrones and wear Crowns and Scepters and be Sons of God and Brethren and Joint-heirs with Christ they shall inherit all things and not only have the Priviledge to stand about Christs Throne but what would surpass belief if Truth it self had not assured us of it sit down with him thereon To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Rev. 3. 21. And besides this glory of their State and eminence in Place their Bodies as I observed shall be cloathed with the most Radiant Light and surpass even the Sun it self in Brightness Quest. In what place must they live to wear these Glories and Feast on all this immense Happiness Answ. In the Heaven of Heavens a Place scituate on High †far above all visible things unspeakably vast in extent and magnificent in structure and illustrious in Glory the Presence Chamber of the great God and King where he lives incircled with Lustre and Light inaccessible which no mortal Eye can approach unto for no Man as he told Moses can see my Face and live Exod. 33. 20. Here shall all Righteous Persons with their immortal Eyes ever see God and shine in his Glory and feast on all the forecited joys and fulness of Pleasure which is at his Right hand for evermore Psal. 16. 11. Quest. But if this happy enjoyment last long will they not grow weary of it in the end since humane Appetites are wont to love change and loath the best things if held constant to them Answ. No as the enjoyments are so is the desire and relish of them always the same The Goods are pure having no ungrateful mixtures to be discover'd and tasted by time and the Appetite and Relish perfect subject to no ebbs or flows no weariness or alterations So that we shall still desire as well as enjoy these pleasant things and find an inexpressible sweetness and satisfaction in them Quest. And to Crown all and render us secure in this Blessed State shall the happiness of it be no fading transitory Thing as all worldly pleasure is but everlasting Answ. Yes it will be always in its Spring and look fresh and flourish thro' Eternal Ages The Pleasures at God's Right Hand are for evermore Ps. 16. 11. the weight of Glory is Eternal 2 Cor. 4. 17. the Kingdom cannot be moved Heb. 12. 28. the Crown is incorruptible 1 Cor. 9. 25. that fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5. 4. 'T is not a limited happiness held only for a term of years or Ages but an Eternal Life 1 John. 5. 11. Quest. This is such a perfection of Bliss as is enough to make all Righteous men impatient of living here and long to dye as St. Paul did thereby to be possess'd of it Answ. It is so indeed if it contain'd no more than I have described But when they come to enjoy it they will find infinitely more than I have said yea than any Tongue can express or heart imagine and apprehend For Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the heart of man to conceive the Things God has prepared for those that love him 1 Cor. 2. 9. Quest. I perceive how Blissful the Eternal Life of the Righteous is But the Wicked too shall be raised to an Eternal State and what shall their Life be Answ. The most perfect misery both of Body and Soul whence in Scripture when by Life is meant not only the continuance in being but the happiness of it their state is call'd everlasting death 2 Thes. 1. 8 9. Rev. 2. 11. Quest. What sorrow and torment shall the Wicked for ever endure in their Souls Answ. The torment of all vexatious Passions being continually wracked with Envy Anger Fruitless Cares and Boundless Fears utter despair of all relief and yet extream desires of it And the Sting of Conscience which shall pierce them thro' with bitter remorse and gnaw perpetually like a Worm upon their Hearts and Vitals their Worm dieth not Mark 9. 44. Quest. Indeed all these mention'd Passions when at the heighth are so many Furies especially distracting and amazing Fears and Horrors And shall wretched Souls be wholly seized by these Answ. Yes as much as we may imagine they can possibly who are surrounded on every side with the most mischievous and spiteful Enemies and are left among them in the Dark which were it possible would magnify their Fears by fancy and make them infinite To express which utter uncomfortableness and insecurity they are said to be cast into utter Darkness Mat. 22. 13. and reserved unto Blackness of Darkness for ever 2 Pet. 2. 17. Quest. What is implyed in the Worm of Conscience Answ. Bitter and cutting remorse for their own wretched folly which has call'd down upon
as well as our own danger will constrain us not to live unto our selves but unto him that died for us 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Quest. We believe that he is now in Heaven at God's right Hand to present our Prayers and intercede for us and procure whatsoever we stand in need of What effect ought this to have upon us Ans. Make us look up to him with affiance in his Patronage and apply to God by him with confidence in all our distresses Having such an high-priest now passed into the heavens says the Apostle let us come boldly unto the throne of grace Heb. 4. 14. Quest. We believe that as by his Death he purchased so in Heaven he is now taking up and preparing Mansions of Eternal Bliss for all such holy Souls as by purity of heart and life are fit to partake of and delight in them What must every Man of this belief do to be true to his own sentiments Ans. Purifie himself that he may be meet to enjoy and qualified to relish the immaculate pleasures of that pure and spotless Place Every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure 1 Jo. 3. 3. Quest. We believe that at the last day Christ will judge all men according to their deeds 2 Cor. 5. 10. Eternally rewarding all that are truly Pious Humble Temperate Just True and Peaceable and eternally condemning all that are otherwise What should every Person do in common care and prudence that is fully persuaded of this Ans. Faithfully serve and fear God who will call him to this strict account He should be sober and watch unto prayer 1. Pet. 4. 5 7. and be temperate in all things 1 Cor. 9. 25. and owe nothing but love to any man Rom. 13. 8. and follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12. 14. Quest. We believe the Holy Ghost is ready to assist us in every good act and help all that will use his aid to be as Holy as God requires they should be What would all that seriously attend to this belief do upon it Ans. Obey his motions and concur with his assistances and never wilfully do any thing that will forfeit the aid and influence of so desireable and Divine a Guest as he is Have that is use Grace that you may serve God acceptably Heb. 12. 28. Work out your own salvation for it is God that worketh in you Phil. 2. 12 13. and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God Eph. 4. 30. Quest. We believe the communion of Saints which implies an obedient submission and adherence to our common Rulers and particularly a communion in Prayers and Sacraments What would God or Men expect from a Person of this belief Ans. To keep the unity of the Church and frequent the publick Assemblies where these Saints are to meet and unite in all Divine Offices Quest. So that to name no more these Points of Belief already mentioned if duly attended to would influence and act on all serious embracers of them into love of God and Honour and godly Fear and make them rest contented in all estates and trust God with all Futurities and have affiance in him in the greatest Difficulties and shew patience and perseverance under the most tedious Delays and purifie their Hearts and Lives and render them universally Righteous as God is and keep them Holy and Humble and Temperate and Just and Peaceable thereby to come off well at the Great Day of Accounts It would cause them to love honour and obey their Saviour Christ and repent truly of all their sins and put them upon Prayers and Devotions and keep them in the unity of the Church and the Publick Assemblies and make them encourage the Grace of God and joyn therewith their best endeavours all which are only the forecited particulars Ans. Yes where a belief of these things is these fruits may reasonably be expected from it For they naturally follow on such apprehensions and accordingly are ascribed to them and intended to result from them in the Holy Scriptures Quest. And as it appears in these so I suppose it might be made appear how we are led on by some Points of Belief to every other Point of Practice Ans. It might so but I judge these to be abundantly enough Quest. But although all among us profess to believe these Principles yet are few thus affected with them or influenced thereby into these practices Ans. Too true alas But therein they act most unreasonably and are false to their own persuasions Whereas if a Man has a real belief of these things and will both attend or dwell upon it and be true to it following on whither it leads him in its own natural tendency and according to all reason it would affect and influence him as has been declared From this Faith such Fruits are reasonably to be expected though where Men act out of reason and either forget themselves or to gratifie some unlawful lusts are wilfully false to their own opinions no such things will follow it Quest. If Faith be such a sertile Grace and so apt to usher in all others though it be but one in the Root and Cause yet in the Fruit and Effect it will be all Virtues Ans. Very right and so it is What in Nature Pleasure and Pain are among the Passions that in Religion Faith is among the Graces viz. the Source Root and Ground-work of all the rest which are only its different expressions according to its various Aspects as it looks several ways and is conversant about several Objects For as Pleasure simply offer'd and apprehended begets Love if offer'd as absent especially as remote it turns Desire if as attainable chiefly when that attainment seems near it becomes Hope if as attainable surely Confidence and as Pain doth the like with the Passions opposite So Faith as I have observ'd when it is of God's Precepts turns Obedience when of his Threatnings Fear and holy Awe when of his Promises Hope and Trust when the things promised are to be sought of him it becomes Prayers and Devotions when they are delaied Patience and Perseverance when they are bestow'd and receiv'd Thankfulness when 't is of his Providence it turns Contentedness when of the horrible nature and effects of sin Repentance when of the spotless rewards of the other World purification of our Hearts and Lives when of the last Judgment universal Innocence that may stand the trial of it when of God's Purity and Perfection Imitation of him or being Righteous as he is when of Christ the Lord and his Laws keeping the Commandments when of the Holy Spirit and his assistances godly Care and good Endeavours when of the Communion of Saints keeping Unity in the Church and attending Publick Ordinances So that according to several objects and occasions this one Principle of Faith transforms it self into all shapes and becomes all Duties which are all therefore ascribed to
it cut off all hopes of impunity and utterly discourage all future offenders Answ. Because God has no more Sons to die for us and when he was sollicited to remit the punishment of our sins he would not do it upon a less exchange When man sinn'd against the Law of unerring Obedience upon the Merits and Death of his Son God pardon'd that and admitted them to favour again upon their Repentance But if they shall offend against this Law too and be finally impenitent there are no Sons of God to suffer again to purchase their Forgiveness Quest. So that Christ's Suffering for us salved all the Honour of God's Attributes and served all the Purposes of his Justice that would have been served by our suffering for our selves Answ. It did so and to the full as well too the punishing of his own Son when he answered for Sinners shewing a more implacable hatred of sin and inexorable Justice than he could have shewn by punishing all the World who were Sinners themselves And therefore his death was a satisfaction to God for the sins of the whole World. Not only a satisfaction to Benevolence and yielding Goodness as when easy and indulgent Natures are appeas'd by any small returns and incompetent Recompences but a Satisfaction to Justice by way of full Compensation and Equivalence Christ by his one suffering displaying the Honour of all God's Attributes as much as God could have display'd them by punishing the whole Humane Race Quest. If the Death and Sacrifice of Christ were so full a satisfaction at first there is no more now to be paid and it need never be repeated Answ. No nor ever must it The Jewish Sacrifices needed constantly to be repeated because being of little worth and very imperfect their virtue was soon spent so that year by year they were continually offered Heb. 9. 25. and 10. 1 3. But his being full and perfect from the first and leaving nothing to be added He is not to be offered often but at once hath he put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Heb. 9. 25 26. and 10. 14. But altho his Sacrifice is no more to be really acted as it needs not the whole effect of it being as fresh and full now as it was at first yet is it daily still commemorated and the virtue thereof apply'd in every good Prayer but especially in every Sacrament Quest. What learn you from Christ's dying a Ransom for our sins Answ. 1. To abhor sin since it is so odioâ—â— to God that he can spare it in no person no not in his own Son when he took other men's sins upon him And if he spared not him when he would bear the punishment for us how can we hope he will in the least spare us when we come to undergo it for our selves If these things were done in the green Tree what shall be done in the dry Luk. 23. 31. 2 To give our selves up to the service of Christ who hath bought us for his own property at so dear a rate This is the least we can do in Equity and Justice Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Spirits which are God's by such costly purchase 1 Cor. 6. 20. And if there is any spark of Love and Gratitude in our Hearts we can do no less in Resentment of such stupendious kindness For the Love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that if Christ died for all they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. Quest. Ought it not also to teach us Faith in God and to beget in us a firm Trust that he will perform whatsoever he has promised Answ. Yes as plainly shewing that nothing is too great for his love to make good He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32. Quest. Must not his Patience and Charity in his Sufferings not reviling again but praying for his Enemies teach us the same when we are called to suffer Answ. Yes for in suffering thus without threatning and when he was reviled not reviling again he hath left us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. 2. 21. 23. Quest. Should not God's imposing so many and great secular hardships and sufferings on his own most dear Son make us have easier thoughts of these things than others have and reconcile us to Affliction Answ. In all Reason it should For it shews how inconsiderable worldly Goods and Glories are in Gods Eyes how temporal evils are allotted to the dearest persons how proper they are to Discipline and improve the most virtuous how they perfect Piety and what a step they are to Felicity and Glory Jesus himself tho' he were a Son yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered Heb. 5. 8. He was made perfect through suffering Heb. 2. 10. He ought to suffer and so enter into his Glory Luk. 24. 26. We see him for suffering death crowned with Glory and Honour Heb. 2. 9. And seeing Sufferings not only thus providentially allotted but also thus profitably undergone and highly recompenced in him the blessed Apostles and primitive Saints whose Ambition it was to be in all things his true followers did not repine and mourn but rejoyce and glory in them Quest. And since in dying for us he has shewed us such stupendious Love must not that mutually endear us and teach us if we would be his followers most tenderly to love one another Answ. Yes if God so loved us we ought also to love one another 1 Joh. 4. 11. Nay since hereby we perceive the love of God to us because he laid down his life for us we ought upon just occasion to lay down our lives for the Brethren 1 Joh. 3. 16. Quest. In the Creed you say dead and buried When Christ expired upon the Cross was his Body taken down and buried Answ. Yes it was laid in a Tomb and a great Stone roll'd before its mouth according to the Jewish Custom And for fear his Disciples should come by night and steal him away the Jewish Rulers when they had sealed the Stone got a Guard from the Governour to watch it Mat. 27. 64 66. Quest. What mean you by Christ's descent into Hell Answ. His abode in that state of Death and Separation or his Soul 's being in the place of Separate Souls till it was united again to his Body at his Resurrection as it is written Thou shalt not leave my Soul in Hell Acts 2. 27. which St. Peter there says was fulfilled in the Resurrection of Christ when he ceased to continue under the power of death and gloriously arose to triumph over it v. 30 31. Quest. Doth the word Hell sometimes signifie only the state of the Dead or the place of Souls departed Answ. Yes as David says of all men What man is he that
liveth and shall not see death and shall he deliver his Soul from the hand of Hell Psal. 89. 48. And as Jacob talked of going down to Hell to Joseph when he thought some evil Beast had devoured him Gen. 37. 33 35. In both which places the word translated Grave in our Bibles in the Greek is Hades the very word that stands for Hell here in the Creed Oft-times indeed especially in the New Testament Hell fignifies not in general the state of the Dead but particularly the state of the Wicked and the place of Torment In which sense it is not likely that Christ descended into Hell after his death because in his dying hour he told the Penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Luk. 23. 43. CHAP. III. Of the Resurrection of Christ and his sitting at God's Right-Hand The Contents An Account how Christ may be said to have been three days in the Earth His Resurrection proved The necessity of it He ascended to Heaven What is meant by his sitting at the Right-Hand of God. There he 1. Intercedes for us as our Priest. This intercession not vocal by Words and formal Pleas but by presenting himself and his own meritorious Sacrifice He intercedes only for Covenant-Mercies and on Covenant-Terms He is an Intercessor of absolute Power with God and truest Affection for us One part of his intercession is to hand and present our Prayers to God. Therefore whensoever we pray for any thing 't is both our duty and wisdom to apply by him 2. Governs his Church as a King. In what Acts this consists 3. Instructs his Church as a Prophet by sending to it the Holy Ghost Christ's Body having now taken up its fixt abode at God's Right-hand we are not in any Ordinances to expect his Bodily Presence but only a Presence by his Spirit which is more to be desired Some Inferences from Christ's sitting at God's Right-hand Quest. How long did Jesus Christ abide in the state of the Dead till his Body was corrupted Answ. No he staid not so long God did not suffer his Holy one to see Corruption Acts 13. 35 36 37. but reunited his Soul and Body and raised him from the dead on the third day before the time Corruption usually seizes the Bodies of dead men Quest. Christ said of himself as the Jews told Pilate That after three days he would rise again Mat. 27. 63. And as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales Belly so says he shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth Mat. 12. 40. But if he died as we commemorate his death upon Good-Friday and rose early on Easter-day in the morning there were only part of two days and one entire day between Answ. That is three days according to common computation of days both Ancient and Modern and particularly in Scripture reckoning Thus Lazarus is said four days dead though the fourth day whereon Jesus raised him up was one of them Joh. 11. 39. And eight days are said to be accomplished for Christ's Circumcision but the day of his Birth and Circumcision too went both in to that Reckoning Luk. 2. 21. And the Priests in their courses were appointed and reputed to Minister before the Lord eight days though the time of Entrance and Release was every Sabbath day morning And accordingly what in the currant way of expression is thus sometimes termed three days our Saviour speaking more exactly at other times expresses by on the third or within three days Jesus shewed his Disciples he should rise again the third day Mat. 16. 21. and 17. 23. and 20. 19. And destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up Joh. 2. 19. or within three days as the Jews who otherwhere call it after three days related it Mark 14. 58. Quest. How doth it appear that Christ was raised again from the dead Answ. It might appear to any who had the curiosity to look into the Sepulchre for they would see he was gone Quest. What said the Watch who stood to guard him Answ. They knew it full well for when the Angel with a Countenance like Lightning descended in an Earth-quake to roll back the Stone the Keepers saw it and shaked and became as dead men Mat. 28. 2 3 4. But the Jewish Rulers bribed them to say his Disciples came by night and stole him away while they slept v. 11 12 13 14. which was a foolish lie and bore along with it its own Confutation Quest. How so Answ. Because if they were asleep how could they tell any one stole him If they had any thoughts of what others did then it could be only in a Dream unless they would pretend to sleep with their Senses awake and their Eyes open Quest. But this saying saith St. Matthew is commonly reported among the Jews and passes for a Truth with them Mat. 28. 15. And by what other ways can you convince them that Christ is risen Answ. By those that saw him and conversed with him after his Resurrection For he appeared for the space of forty days to his Apostles and to satisfie them he had a real Body eat and drank with them after he was risen Acts 10. 41. Luk. 24. 43. He appeared to Thomas who searched the holes the Nails had made in his Hands and thrust his Finger into his Side where the Spear had pierced it before he would believe him Joh. 20. 27 28. To five hundred Brethren all at one time 1 Cor. 15. 6. To Stephen in a bright Glory from Heaven at his Martyrdom Acts 7. 56. and to Saul at his Conversion Acts 9. 3 4. Yea after he was risen and gone to Heaven he sent down the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles and followers which shewed not only that he is alive again but also that he lives in Power Quest. The Apostles seem extraordinary careful to confirm the Resurrection of Christ and call the ordaining one to be an Apostle ordaining him to be a witness of it Acts 1. 22. Was it necessary that Christ should rise from the dead Answ. Yes to shew the debt he died for was discharged and that his satisfaction was accepted He died as a Sacrifice to satisfie for our sins and till God raised him up again it did not appear that he was satisfied with what Christ had done for us If Christ be not risen ye are yet in your sins 1 Cor. 15. 17. Quest. But was not his death a full payment and on the Cross did he not relate to that when he said it is finished Joh. 19. 30 Answ. It was so indeed the price of Redemption then was fully paid But till he raised him up again God had given no publick Acquitrance nor done any open Act to shew we were discharged by it So that by his Resurrection we are said to be justified that is declared to be so He died for our sins and rose again for our
insensible State would have brought him no Advantage Phil. 1. 21. And when we are absent from the Body we are present with the Lord which presence notes happy enjoyment 2 Cor. 5. 68. And Lazarus when he dyed was carried into Abraham's bosom and Dives lift up his eyes in Hell being in Torment Luk. 16. 22 23. All which shew the Deceased Righteous to be Happy as the Wicked Wretched not only in expectation but present enjoyment Quest. You speak this of all the Righteous Answ. Yes for the Scripture makes no Difference This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradise said Christ to the Penitent Thief tho' he had been a very great Sinner and was but a very young Convert And the usual way of expressing the Death of good Men is by their falling asleep which notes Ease and Refreshment And in general it is said of these that dye in the Lord that from henceforth they are blessed and rest from their Labours Rev. 14. 13. So that this Present Life as our Lord notes in the Story of Lazarus is the Time of their receiving evil things And they are no longer exercised with Torments but what is inconsistant with them enter upon ease and comfort in degree more or less according to the difference of their virtuous Attainments immediately upon their Deaths Quest. But is the Happiness of the one or the Misery of the other so full then as it shall be after the last Judgment Answ. No for now their Souls only are Happy but then their Bodies shall be raised too and the Bliss of the whole man both Soul and Body shall be compleat And then they shall be happy in a fuller degree and have a more perfect measure of it This increase of Happiness they shall receive at the last Judgment and therefore it is called the Time of their being crown'd or rewarded 2 Tim. 4. 8. and they are represented as desiring it So the Souls under the Altar slain for the Testimony of Jesus do in the Revelations asking how long God would delay to judge the World for the Consummation of their Reward and of their Persecutors Punishment Rev. 6. 9 10 11. And so it is with the damned Spirits too the heaviest part of their Doom being still to come and their present Miseries tho' very great being but Foretastes and Beginnings of what they are to be consign'd to at the last Day Thus the Devils are said to be reserved in Chains against the Judgment of the Great Day their present State it seems in comparison of it being no more than the Misery of a Prison compared to that of the Day of Execution 2 Pet. 2. 4. and Jude 6. And the Devils ask Christ if he were come to torment them before the time plainly intimating that the Fulness of their Torment was not to be till the Great Day comes Mat. 8. 29. Quest. These Private Judgments then are much short of the Last Judgment because then is the Consummation of Reward and Punishment Answ. Yes And also because that Judgment shall be Solemn and Publick in full Audience and open Court before Angels and all the World Luk. 12. 8 9. and General whereat all both Angels and Men shall be Convened and Tried Quest. And must not this be till the End of the World Answ. No for it is Christ's last Act in Discharging his Mediatory Office and therefore must not be concluded till all Things are at an End. All the Time before the Judgment is a State of Trial for proving Persons wherein Christ gives Laws to direct us and sufficient Opportunities and inward Grace to help us to perform them But all the Time after it is a State of irreversible Recompences in sharing and dispensing promised Rewards and Penal Executions After the last Sentence is once pass'd there is no more place for Intercessions and making Friends but a New and Unalterable State of Eternal Joys or Miseries commences And thus Christ having consummated his Trust as Mediator will surrender up his Power and deliver the Kingdom to God the Father 1 Cor. 15. 24. Quest. The General Judgment you say is at the End of the World Has God decreed a set Time and fixed a Day for it Answ. Yes he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness Act. 17. 31. Which Day is called the Coming of Christ 1 Cor. 15. 23. and the Day of the Lord 1 Thess. 5. 2. 2 Thess. 2. 2. Quest. If every Mans Case must then be fully scann'd and all Actions inquired into and Pleas heard methinks that should be more than one Days Work Answ. So I suppose it will the continuance perhaps of a thousand Days nay it may be of a great number of Years For Day in Scripture is any Continuance of Time which is allotted for any Business As the Time of Israels forty Years Travel in the Wilderness is call'd the Day of Temptation Heb. 3. 8 9. and the Time of God's scourging and correcting the Day of Visitation Isa. 10. 3. 1 Pet. 2. 12. and the Time of the Gospel is the Day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 2. And so the Day of Judgment is not the Space of twenty four Hours but all that Time which Christ shall spend upon it Quest. It seems God has fixed the Day within himself but is that determinate Day known to any besides himself Answ. No For of that determinate Day knoweth no Man no not the Angels in Heaven nor the Son himself as Man but the Father only Mat. 24. 36. Mar. 13. 32. It shall surprise the World and its coming shall be sudden and unexpected as a Thief in the Night or Travel upon a Woman with Child 1 Thess. 5. 2 3. Quest. Who shall be the Judge at that Great Day by whom all Men shall be tried and sentenced Answ. Jesus Christ. For God will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordain'd and he hath assured them of it by raising him from the dead Acts 17. 31. He only is able to discharge this transcendent Trust having an Authority Paramount which none can question or appeal from an Infinite Understanding that can search the Hearts and discover the naked Truth of every Mans Case and the just Validity of their Pleas an incorruptible Integrity that cannot in the least be byassed by any Flatteries Offers Intercessions or Intreaties and an Almighty Power that can reward the greatest Services and punish the most high and haughty as well as the meanest Criminals And as he alone is qualified to Discharge so he is also to sustain the Honour of it For who is fit to sit as Judge of Princes and Potentates Men and Angels but he who made and governs them who is over all in Power and next in Dignity to the Father even the Son of God himself All Judgment is committed to the Son that all should honour the Son even as they honour the Father Joh. 5. 22 23. Quest. Who
crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell. Quest. What did Christ suffer Answ. Besides his previous Sufferings particularly in the Garden where the wrath of God was strongly represented and Hell let loose upon him under which 't is said he was exceeding sorrowful even unto death Mat. 26. 37 38. and thrown into an Agony wherein he sweat great drops of Blood Luke 22. 44. Besides these previous Sufferings I say he suffered also after his Apprehension all manner of rudeness from the inraged Rabble and Soldiery who mocked him spit upon him buffeted and scourged him bound his Head about with a wreath of sharp Thorns which every where like Darts pierced his tender flesh and at last nail'd his Hands and Feet to a Cross a most acute and lingring Death and to make that most ignominious Suffering more ignominious still hung him in the midst between two Thieves Quest. Who were the Executioners of all these Cruelties Answ. The Jewish Rulers and People went as far in it as they could But because the Romans who had conquer'd them had not left among them as they say any Power and Authority to put any man to death Joh. 18. 31. they drew in Pontius Pilate the Roman Governour to sentence his Crucifixion against his Conscience Quest. Did not Pilate believe Christ to deserve all this Answ. No he knew they had delivered him for envy and malice Matt. 27. 18. He declared he was a just person Matt. 27. 24. and that upon examination he found no fault at all in him Luk. 23. 4 14. No nor yet Herod when he sent him to be judged by him v. 15. But because by their importunity a tumult was made he yielded to pass sentence against him for his own quiet Matt. 27. 24. and to content the people whom he durst not offend Mar. 15. 15. Luk. 23. 23 24. Quest. What need had he to fear them that such an abject fear should betray him into so unjust and vile an Action Answ He had incensed them and made himself obnoxious to be articled against by his former violences being a man very Cruel and Tyrannical for which on the complaint of the Samaritan Jews he was presently after removed as Josephus reports And in this case they terrified him moreover by threatning to accuse him to his jealous Governour Tiberius Caesar as no friend to him for letting Christ go who called himself a King which they said was speaking against Caesar Joh. 19. 12. Quest. Christ did testify indeed before Pilate that he was a King and that for this end he came into the World that he should bear witness of this Truth Joh. 18. 37. And did not this give Caesar just cause to be afraid of him Answ. No because as he declared his Kingdom was not of this World neither should his Servants fight for him as the Subjects of worldly Princes do for them Joh. 18. 36. so that he would take nothing from the Emperor nor pretend to thwart him or resist his just Power But his Kingdom was in relation to another World a Spiritual Kingdom set up in men's Hearts and administred by the expectation of future Rewards and Punishments leaving Princes still to govern as they did in all the Affairs of this life And this did not intrench any thing upon the Prerogatives of the present Powers whom he left all in the same Authority and their Subjects under the same Duty as he found them As Pilate plainly perceiv'd by Christ's Answer wherewith he was satisfied and pronounced him innocent upon it Quest. These Sufferings of Christ you mention were most barbarous and horrible things But amidst all these bodily Tortures had he not ease within and great support of inward spiritual Comforts as he afforded the Martyrs and Confessors afterwards in theirs Answ. No the Horrours of his Mind were beyond the Anguish of his Body as if he were design'd to suffer the extremity of what Nature could bear His Soul was troubled Joh. 12. 27. very heavy Mat. 26. 37. Sore amazed Mark 14. 33. Exceeding sorrowful even unto death Mat. 26. 38. and in such an Agony as I noted at the apprehension of the Divine Wrath he was conflicting with as put a most unwonted force upon Nature and made him sweat as it were great drops of Blood Luk. 22. 44. Under all which he was so over-born with the Burden that he needed an Angel to be sent to strengthen him v. 43. Quest. Could Christ have avoided these Sufferings if he would Answ. Yes he could have had Legions of Angels for his Rescue Matt. 26. 53. But for our sakes he voluntarily submitted to them I have power to lay down my life and to take it again No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self Joh. 10. 18. Quest. And was God consenting to them Answ. Yes they came about not only by his Permission but by his Counsel and Determination He did no ways excite the Jews to this abominable Act but left them to their own envy and malice which were more than enough to push them forward But when they of themselves were wicked enough to do it he by his infinite Wisdom accomplishes what his Son and he had before agreed viz. the working our Redemption by it He suffered according to what was determined Luk. 22. 22. He was delivered to them by the determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God Acts 2. 23. Herod and Pontius Pilate did only what his Hand and Counsel had determined before to be done Act. 4. 28. And he was a Lamb fore-ordain'd to be slain before the foundation of the World 1 Pet. 1. 19 20. His death and his exaltation therefore to be a Mediatory King and our Redeemer was a Bargain driven and a Matter concerted long before betwixt him and his heavenly Father My Father hath appointed the word is covenanted to me a Kingdom that is in the everlasting agreement between God and him it was promised as the Reward of his undertaking Luk. 22. 29. And on this account his Servants are said to be given to him as a Retribution He gave himself for them that is to purchase them Tit. 2. 14. Thine they were says he to his Father and thou gavest them me that is on this consideration Joh. 17. 4 6. Quest. But since the things he endured were the absolute perfection of shame and sorrow why should Christ submit or God bring Christ to that end was it to punish his own sins Answ. No he did no sin 1 Pet. 2. 22. He was tempted in all points of Natural Infirmities as we are but yet without sin Heb. 4. 15. Quest. For whose sins was it then for all death is the wages of sin Rom. 6. 23 Answ. For ours for we had sinned and were all to die but he comes by the Allowance of God and bears our iniquity by dying in our place God laid on him the iniquities of us all Isa. 53. 6. He tasted death for every man Heb. 2.
9. He died for our sins 1 Cor. 15. 3. He poured out his Soul a Sin-Offering Isa. 53. 5 10. Quest. What are we the better for his dying for them Answ. Infinitely the better every way but particularly his death will save us from dying for them if we truly repent of them He hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law by being made a Curse that is enduring a cursed death for us Gal. 3. 13. 2 Cor. 5. 21. He bought us off from death by dying for us whence he is called our Redeemer and our Ransom 1 Tim. 2. 6. Quest. But has not his death bought us off from the Punishment of our Sins till we repent of them Answ. No for we must Repent and be converted that our sins may be blotted out for his sake Acts 3. 19. and being made perfect that is inaugurated into his Princely Power by suffering he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Quest. If men remain impenitent then they must die for their own sins I perceive notwithstanding Answ. Yes Except they repent they must all perish Luk. 13. 3. Quest. But since Christ hath died for them once already will not that be dying twice and so being twice punished for the same sin Answ. No for he profered and God accepted his death not as an unlimited exchange for all Sinners but only for those who will leave their sins and repent of them He died indeed for all men but he died as their Sacrifice Eph. 5. 2. and Sacrifices were accepted in lieu only of Penitent Offenders and as God still told the Jews would never put away sins without the Repentance of those they were offered for To what purpose is the number of your Sacrifices said he to those who went on still in their wickedness Isa. 1. 11. The Sacrifice of God is a broken Spirit that is the Sacrifice God accepts must be accompanied with it a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Psal. 51. 17. Quest. But was not his death a satisfaction for sins And if he has satisfied for them already what need we do more must we satisfie for them again Answ. All the fruit and estimate of his Satisfaction must be taken from the Argument between God and him His death who was an innocent man would have signified nothing at all towards our release unless God had been graciously pleased to admit of him in commutation and exchange for our Suffering It avails and operates nothing by it self alone but only so far as God accepted him And the nature and effect of his Satisfaction as it was joyntly designed and concerted between his Father and him was not that no sinner whatsoever should be accountable for his own sins but only that none should who had repented of them Quest. What then were his merits or that which he deserved and obtained of God for us by his death Answ. The Grace and Favour of Repentance or that if we truly repent we shall not die for our selves So St. Peter expresses that benefit the Gentiles had received in being admitted Christians then hath God also to the Gentiles granted Repentance unto life Acts 11. 18. And again God exalted him to be a Saviour to give Repentance unto Israel and remission of sins Acts 5. 31. So that the merit of Christ's death is the Pardon of all our sins on true Repentance and likewise the Grace to enable us thus to repent of them Quest. Is this Pardon on Repentance a Grace and Favour which we needed him to purchase for us Answ. Yes for the Law of Works which condemned us all was Do this and live not as thro' Christ the Gospel is either do it or repent where you fail So that God was not bound to pardon Sinners when they did repent Nay the Honour of his Holiness and Justice the maintaining the Authority of his Laws and the seriousness and veracity of his threatnings were ready to interpose and hinder him from doing it But when Christ came to die in our stead and pay his own Blood as a price to induce God pardon Penitents Then since he doth it not without such a valuable Recompence he might pardon them without any Reflection on those glorious Attributes And this is the fruit of his Satisfaction and the Merit and Purchase of his Death viz. the Favour of Pardon of sin upon Repentance Quest. Is there no other Merit and Fruit of Christ's Death Answ. Yes besides the forgiveness of sin and the gift of Eternal Life thereupon he has also merited as I said the Grace to cure it But this is so much favour and indulgence as he ever sought or has procured of God towards the pardon of it Quest. But if we cannot partake of the benefit of his death but upon these terms how is all the favour we receive by it said to come freely and to be of free Grace Answ. Grace may be called Free on two accounts either as it is not given us for our deserts or as it is not given upon any conditions Quest. Is the Grace of God free in the first sense as that excludes all Merits or so free as not to be given us for our deserts Answ. Yes and this is the Scripture-sense of Free-Grace for there Free-Grace is the same as Undeserved-Grace Quest. How doth that appear Answ. Because Free-Grace is there opposed to Boasting which has place only on the Plea of Merit or desert We are justified freely by his Grace then where is Boasting it is thereby excluded Rom. 3. 24 27. And by Grace ye are saved not of works i. e. by the desert of any works lest any man should boast Eph. 2. 8 9. Quest. If the Scripture had been silent 't is easie to apprehend this Grace must needs be undeserved by us because all we can do is by the help of his Spirit and is but his just due which we do not give but pay as Debters and were it our own it is yet defective and mean and utterly unwâ—rthy of so vast a Recompence But tho' it be thus absolutely undeserved by us yet has not Christ fully merited and deserved it for us Answ. Yes he was bound to nothing but voluntarily subjected himself to the Law and took our Nature upon him All the perfect Obedience he shewed either in doing or suffering the Will of God was his free and gratuitous Offering and was good in the highest degree and perfection and received an infinite estimate from the Divinity of his Person and gratified the Father in his greatest designs for his own Glory and mens Salvation So that by his Services so free and gratuitous in themselves and so worthy of the most infinite Recompence he has justly merited all that Grace which for his sake God bestows on us Quest. The Grace of the Gospel I see is absolutely free to us in the first sense that is it comes to us without the least of our deserts But