moved to eate of it perswading himselfe that there is no such danger in it as his father would make him beleeve and therefore no cause hee should obey him in that matter So hee eateth of it and poysoneth himselfe Now no man will deny but that both the father and the sonne have a hand in this yet not the father who giveth the occasion onely but the young man himselfe who doth willingly or rather wilfully take that hurtfull meat is to bee blamed and counted the cause of this evill See Gen. 3. and apply this to the fall of mankind Qu. But who can bee perswaded to thinke that Adam in the state of his innocency especially could bee deceived with such a thing as an Apple An. That which the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2.14 must carefully bee first marked and secondly expounded for Adam was not deceived that is not so soone or not so throughly but the woman was in the transgression And as for the sinne of Adam there was in it more of wilfulnesse then of blindnesse and indeed hee will rather disobey God then displease his wife Thus of the fall Qu. What did man lose in the fall An. Two things 1. The puritie of his person inherent and what hee lost hee lost not onely for himselfe but for his posteritie also See Rom. 5.12 For as if treason bee committed against a King wee know it taints and defiles the blood and posteritie also so in treason spirituall against the King of Kings it is See Rom. 5.12 2. The justice of his person also for the Scripture is plaine That whosoever shall keepe the whole Law and yet faileth in one point hee is guilty of all Jam. 2.10 Qu. But how lost hee these things An. It was not by any worke of God but as it is said before by a worke of his owne and such a work of himselfe as was not out of a wilfull desire of renouncing God and all holinesse but surely it was 1. By the craft of Satan that old Serpent 1 Pet. 5.8 2. By the nature of sinne expressed in the Word of God to bee like leaven which leavens the whole lump and like a fretting canker See 1 Cor. 5.7 2 Tim. 2.16 17. Qu. With what successe or event An. Alas a most fearfull one that is to say originall sinne came and like a deluge overflowed both him and all his so that now in sinne wee are all borne and in iniquitie our mothers bring us forth Psal 51.6 the issue whereof is that wee neither doe nor can know or beleeve love or feare obey or honour God as we ought to doe nay more the effect of our fall from God is a separation from God fraught with rebellion and deformitie and what not that is evill See Rom. 3. tot So much of the effect of the fall Qu. But how is this made visible and demonstrably plaine unto us if a man fall into povertie his rags craving of almes yea his very lookes doe shew it if into sicknesse there are signes thereof so of madnesse or any such corporall perplexitie but how is the spirituall misery in the fall of mankind made plaine and discoverable An. Thus it is made plaine and easie to every one that is able and willing to see That soule that was before holy excellent illuminate heavenly is now quite contrary and repleat top-full with those sinnes in their visibility whereof you have here a particular enumeration Qu. What is the first An. Infidelitie Of which wee have two remarkable instances or examples in holy Scripture of the first unbeleevers Devils in their and Adam in his infidelitie both whose sinnes were in this particuler alike to trust in something beside God for their happinesse Adam trusts the Devill the woman and the apple and the Devill seeing no creature more excellent then himselfe thought it best to trust himselfe for his happinesse too And this sinne is ordinarily practised and so common that the Lord sheweth us the very markes of our misery every day therein For victory men trust the Arme of flesh for health the Physitian for life the necessaries of life meate drinke c. for wealth our owne industry or that of our parents for honour and glory Kings and great ones in our preferment Hence comes it to passe that the difference betweene the state of the godly and renewed in this world is no lesse then thus big the godly have an affiance in God the ungodly a defiance of God which is a sad difference See Exod. 5.1 2. Job 21.14 15. Qu. What is the second sinne An. Desperation Is another sinne which is visible in man after the fall and indeed it is the next in order for the root of the tree being taken away what remains to the body the branches too but death and withering and if you take away the foundation of a building what will bee the end but ruine and overthrow So is it surely in the soule for Faith is the ground of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seene Heb. 11.1 Desperation once prevailing upon the soule hope must needs bee taken away and indeed all grace but especially hope because of the nearer conjunction it hath to faith then any other grace either hath or can have Qu. What doth desperation leave a man to the thoughts of An. 1. Nothing and indeed some men surely thinke they shall die like the brute beasts and there 's an end See 1 Cor. 15.32 2. Something and so such men as have some knowledge of the holy Scripture and of another life after this and yet wanting faith in the pardon of their sinne are in Scripture reputed to bee but men without hope See Eph. 2.12 1 Thes 4.13 See also Prov. 11.7 Job 8.15 Qu. What are the signes of desperation An. I shall give you a few of many of them 1. The want of all other grace where any radicall grace is in truth there all grace is in some measure Act. 24.16 2. No desire of glory to come 2 Tim. 4.7 8. 3. Immoderate care after things present Luke 12. 16. See Matth. 6.32 Qu. What is the third sinne An. Want of the feare of God In the innocency of Adam hee had the feare of God which if a man want hee lies open to all manner of sinne an universall securitie falls upon him then hee cries peace peace where there is none 1 Thes 5.3 and indeed the reason of every enormitie is there is no feare of God before their eyes Rom. 3.18 Qu. What is the fourth sinne An. Want of Son-like subjection All the other creatures which are in the world were created to be the servants of God but man onely was to become his Sonne that hee might receive the adoption of children and the Spirit being bestowed upon him hee might cry Abba Father but in the same fall of mankind 1. Hee changeth his father and is of his father the devill yea and the works of his father hee will doe
Act. 2.17 and bee sure you cleave close to the performance hee requires of every gracious man If you looke into Heb. 1.2 Christ is said to bee heire of all things then look into Psal 2.8 and there God saith Aske of mee and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance c. You may conclude hence that what God meanes to give to his naturall Sonne hee yet meanes hee shall aske him How much more doth bee require of his adopted ones Therefore Ephes 6.18 19. Brethren pray alwayes with all manner of supplications in the Spirit and watch thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints and for mee Your servant in the Gospel and a suiter at the Throne of Grace for you all Walter Bridges Minchin Lane Novem. 23. 1645. A CATECHISME for Communicants Question WHat is God Answ God is a Spirit Joh. 4.24 and such a Spirit as hath life in himselfe Ioh. 5.26 Quest What doe you thinke concerning the holy Trinity Answ That there is a Trinitie of Persons I undoubtedly beleeve namely God the Father God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost because the Scripture telleth mee so plainely as in many other so in these places Matth. 28.19 Matth. 3.16 Ioh. 14.16 Ioh. 15.26 Q. But I beare some Divines expressing themselves in strange tearmes Trinity unity essentiall coessentiall c. how shall plaine people understand A. They are grounded on the holy Scripture for example 1 John 5.7 There are three and these three are one a Trinitie in unitie Essence of God meaneth the being of God shewed in the Scripture Exod. 3.14 I am and Rev. 1.8 hee was is and is to come Coessentiall meaneth one being together with another Joh. 14.10 For the being or essence of God is considered either without distinction as it is perfectly in God himselfe or with distinction with respect to the Persons in Trinity absolutely or relatively so is the expression Q. What ought I distinctly to beleeve concerning God A. These two things first That God is onely one in power nature essence deitie Secondly that there are three persons Father Sonne and holy Ghost Q. Where doe you prove that these three Persons bee all of them God A. The Sonne is proved to be God Rom. 9.5 the holy Ghost proved to bee God Act. 5.3 lied unto the holy Ghost and ver 4. thou hast not lied unto man but unto God The Father to bee God who doubteth Q. Where doe you prove that these three are one God A. In that before mentioned 1 Joh. 5.7 And these three are one Q. What similitude would you use to make this plaine by An. By this the Sun hath three things in it heat light and motion every one of these is separate from other and yet all together make up one Sunne the heat is not the light neither is that the motion so in the Trinity the Father is not the Sonne nor the holy Ghost but the Father Sonne and holy Ghost make up one God Qu. What similitude would you expresse the being in God by An. By the very same As in the Sunnes light there are degrees Morning Noone Twilight and yet all make but one light or as in the heat of the Sunne there are degrees too and yet all make but one heat so the persons of the Trinitie or diverse manners of being in God do not multiply the divine essence Qu. What is the summe of that then which you thinke meet for private people to learne concerning the Trinity An. The essence or being of God Deut. 6.4 The manner of being in three persons as is said before Qu. What more should I understand concerning the Trinitie An. That there is something common to all the three persons of the Trinitie as the Godhead power and nature and so the Father Sonne and holy Ghost are God There is something proper to them also as the severall properties of the three Persons for example it is proper to the Father to beget to the Sonne to be begotten and to the holy Ghost to proceed Qu. What short expression would you use to expresse the Trinitie by to a man which you would have understand you An. Such as this 1. God the Father is God understanding 2. God the Sonne is God understood 3. God the holy Ghost is God loved Qu. What workes of the Trinitie am I to give regard unto in every sever all Person An. These 1. The Creation which is the Fathers worke and that of government too 2. The Redemption which is the work of the Sonne 3. The application or sanctification which is the worke of the Spirit All which a Christian is to raise his affection with all that hee may bee the better stirred up to the due praise of the Lord Psal 136. Qu. In what estate is all mankind An. In a very sad because sinfull estate Qu. But why was our estate of innocency mutable and why was man left to fall and to a changeable estate An. 1. That God may bee knowne to bee the onely immutable one see the Scriptures Rom. 3. James 1.17 I am God I change not Mal. 3.6 2. That God may bee just in punishing sinne 3. That a way may be made to the salvation of a lost world wherein God had appointed to shew himselfe as just and mercifull in our recovery as wee had shewed our selves unjust and miserable in our fall See Rom. 3.26 Rom. 9.22.23 Qu. How long stood men and Angels in their estate of innocency An. Wee cannot tell but certainly they stood so but a very short time Qu. Was there a condition annexed to this estate An. Yes and it was this So long as you continue holy by obeying my word so long onely you shall bee happy by injoying my presence See Gen. 2.16.17 with Gen. 3.24 Qu. But what were the causes of and the manner of mans fall An. God certainly neither commanded nor yet counselled it Let all bee expressed to you to avoid tediousnesse by this similitude a wise father purposing to let his sonne see his owne wilfulnesse and intemperancy together with his love and fatherly affection toward him resolveth with himselfe to make him fall into some mortall sicknesse out of the which hee knoweth himselfe to bee able to recover him this hee will effect not by giving him poyson to drinke for then hee should bee the cause and justly beare the blame of that evill but by laying it in his way as it were a bait in some sweet meat which hee knoweth that his Sonne loveth and will eate as soone as hee feeleth it And lest hee should plead ignorance and so avoyd the blame of wilfulnesse the father forewarneth him of that kind of meat charging him very instantly to abstaine from it as being unwholesome and hurtfull unto him yet he doth not tell him what hee intendeth This young man comming where this pleasant meat is remembreth his fathers counsell and commandement yet is by the entisement of evill companions and his owne appetite
priviledges so that there is in one person the condition and as it were the nature both of a King and of a Subject the one maketh that hee may bee put to death the other maketh that this death though it bee but the death of one person is more then a sufficient ransome for the offences of 10000. of his Subjects Even so did our great King with the Prince of peace in the worke of our redemption Qu. What is the benefit that wee reape by Christs death An. 1. By his merit wee have perfect righteousnesse 2. By his spirit wee have perfect holinesse here in part hereafter in full and perfection See 1 Cor. 6.11 Qu. How is the excellent faith of a Christian knowne An. Thus 1. It is a part of our regeneration 2. The subject thereof is the will of man 3. The meanes of working set forth 4. It cannot bee lost 5. Signes of it are as many as wee have graces Qu. But how is it that faith onely hath the power of justifying An. That question is worthy of our knowledge 1. Faith gives glory to God takes away creature boasting if for our love holinesse c. wee had beene saved man might have imputed something to himselfe but now all boasting is excluded 2. Another reason see Rom. 4.16 that it might bee sure to all the seed and not bee of works at all Qu. What is the relation betwixt faith and other graces An. It hath this qualitie to joyne us unto the Lord Jesus from and by whom wee come to bee partakers of the spirit of Christ and of the increase of all spirituall graces See Col. 2.19 Gal. 2.20 Qu. How doth faith and justification bring forth holinesse and sanctification especially seeing that to mans reason it is rather a motive to a wicked and dissolute life see such objections Rom. 3.7 and Rom. 6.1 An. 1. From the sense of the love of God in the pardon of sinne the heart is inflamed with an exceeding great love of God againe which the beleever desires to let appeare in the keeping of Gods commandements See Job 14.15 2. God doth worke upon the faithfull not as stocks and stones but acts and moves them and then they do worke out their salvation and adde grace to grace as is to bee seene plainely Phil. 2.12 13. 3. Sanctitie and holinesse is the onely and cleare evidence of a sound faith without and separate from which it is dead See Jam. 2.26 4. Faith without the rest of sanctification is not sufficient to attaine salvation for nothing shall bee perfect in the other world which is not carefully begun here and glorification is but sanctification perfected Qu. What is the fourth part of the mercy of God to man in his recovered estate An. Mans hope of which the use is to cure all our despaire For though it bee true that God deales with his sometimes as David did with his sonne Absolon 2 Sam. 14.24 to turne him aside and not let him see his face though indeed he love him dearely and doth intend to forgive him too yet sometimes God brings his to beleeve above yea against hope for faith cannot lose his nature which is to bee the ground of things hoped for c. See Heb. 11.1 Rom. 4. Job 13.15 Qu. What is the use of this grace in a beleeving Christian An. Threefold 1. God saith it is an anchor the use whereof at Sea wee know well enough namely to hold the ship that riding out the storme it may bee kept from splitting so hope keeps the soule among the rocks of impatience and distrust c. See it called a helmet too Ephes 6. 2. God saith it is a preservative against sinne 1 John 3.3 Hee that hath this hope purgeth himselfe as hee is pure See Job 2. Qu. What is the fift part An. Mans holy feare of God For whereas it may bee objected that feare seemes to fight with and to bee contradictory to faith and hope even in the estate of regeneration more then in the estate of innocency for there the estate was changeable and here it is not so yet it is a grace of great estimate and use as is to see Deut. 19.20 Qu. What use is this grace of now in the state of regeneration An. 1. To shew us that a great deale of corruption rests in us now after grace and beleeving and that wee had need not onely to bee constrained with the love but restrained also with the feare of God See Prov. 3.7 Prov. 14.16 and Prov. 16.6 with 2 Cor. 5.14 2. To keepe us from stripes for as it is said of the Lion that hee alwayes spares those that feare and lie prostrate before him for mercy so the Lion of the tribe of Juda Let us saith the Apostle labour to please God with reverence and feare For even our God is a consuming fire but fire never burnes the ashes that lie under it Heb. 12.28.29 Qu. What is the sixt part An. Mans filiall subjection to his God or mans son-like obedience to God as a father wherein the Lord doth for the sonnes of men two great and especiall things 1. Hee recovers them to the dignitie of sonnes and heires too Gal. 4.7 2. Endues them by the spirit of God with a disposition sanctified and sutable thereunto viz. they call him father Rom. 8.16 they love him Psal 116.1 feare him Gen. 42.18 imitate him 1 Pet. 1.15 in trouble run to him Psal 73. ult and most patiently abide his chastisement Heb. 12.5 let him doe what hee will Qu. What is the seventh part An. Mans servile feare and subjection to God as his servant which grace the Lord gives to his and of this the Scripture speakes under a twofold consideration 1. Some are such servants as are more eminent in the Lords service like Vessels of Gold and Silver in the great house serving him alwayes and in every thing faithfull in all his house Moses Noah Daniel were such yea and the Lord Jesus himself Behold my servant Esa 42.1 See Num. 12.8 Such Iosuabs now as lead his people 2. All beleevers are such they that serve him in any thing I finde that Divines delight to expresse it by that in the Epistle to Philemon Vers 10 11 12. to the 20. Qu. What more doth the Lord give unto his people An. Subjection unto the Lord God as to their teacher in which the Lord doth these two things 1. Himself teacheth all his people though not without the ministery too the wayes of God and godlinesse and therefore in Scripture wee read such places as these Mat. 23.8.10 and that excellent place in Iob 32.8 There is indeed a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almightie giveth understanding And therefore beleevers are called Disciples Act. 11.26 And 1 Thes 4.9 yee are taught of God to love one another 2. And hee is pleased so to indue them with a dependance upon him for instruction that they heare his voyce and a stranger they will not