beyond appearances Ans. Yes and the prospect of that animated the Apostles to go on couragiously in converting the World an attempt impossible in all human judgment And all Ancient and Modern Worthies to set on any Publick Reformations in evil times and do the World good against their wills And all honest Men whose cause was good and dear to God to hope he would stand by it and restore it even when they saw it reduced to the last extremities In summ in licentious times it has heretofore and must still strengthen Magistrates in asserting Laws and Justice and Ministers in preaching down prevailing errors and reigning vices and all Publick Spirits in pursuing Pious or Charitable Projects and all Good Men in supporting the oppressed in curbing vice in breaking wicked customs in setting on any great honour of God or good Men in their several stations They must not hastily think they shall not be able to effect what they have cause to hope God will set forward but believe as S. Paul said that they can do all things through Christ strengthening them Phil. 4. 13. But then their hope and confidence must still be fixed in God not in themselves or outward aids and when they go to meet difficulties it must be as David did to meet Goliah only in the Name of the Lord of hosts 1 Sam. 17. 45. Quest. Must this consideration of God's having in him the Power of all his Creatures teach us any thing else Ans. Yes to trust his Providence for the supply of any wants especially where he has given us any Word and Promise Nay then to hold on trusting even in the most destitute cases and against all probabilities For all things even the hardest and most improbable are equally easie unto God so that nothing must seem improbable which he declares he will bring about When Faith and Trust is in Man or any Earthly thing it is ruled by probability But when it is in a Power Almighty it makes no difference of likely or unlikely As Abraham's Faith did not when he believed Gods Promise to send him a son though at that time both Sarah and he were too old in course of Nature to have one and to make that Son a numerous seed which he firmly believed at the same time he was commanded to offer him up and so could have no Son by him unless he were first restored to him from the dead Quest. This indeed shows a high esteem and confidence in God to relie upon his Word when there is not the least sign of its taking effect but things look as if there were no way for it to be effected Ans. Yes so it doth And therefore among all acts of Religion there is none that doth more endear Men to God. This our Father Abraham found it being upon this account that he became so dear to God as to be called the friend of God Jam. 2. 23. and the father of the faithful Rom. 4. 11. 16. and that his bosom should be made the receptacle of the blessed Luke 16. 22. For his Faith saith the Apostle above all his other virtues was imputed to him for righteousness Rom. 4. 3 9. And among all his acts of Faith those God was pleased to impute to him as the most notable which were shown in these two difficult instances He staggered not at the unlikelihood of his having a son but was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able to perform and therefore saith S. Paul it was imputed unto him for righteousness Rom. 4. 19 20 21 22. And when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar says S. James then the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God Jam. 2. 21 23. Such is the extraordinary value and recompence of trusting God in a seemingly most improbable and desperate case where 't is visibly put to a push of Omnipotence to make good his Promise Quest. I see God can do whatsoever any things in the World can do But can he also hinder any things in the World from doing whatsoever they are naturally bent or wont to do Ans. Yes for as by him they were all made so as the Apostle says in him they still subsist and move and operate and therefore whensoever he pleases to suspend or withdraw their Power they have no longer use of it Thus the fire could not consume nor singe Shadrach Meshach and Abednego nor the hungry Lyons fasten on the Prophet Daniel nor the venemous Beast sting the Holy Apostle nor the destroying Angel touch an Israelite nor the Plague or Pestilence or other contagious Disease infect or seize the Psalmist nor the wicked Jews act their spite on our Saviour Christ nor the Infernal Spirits touch Job or try his Patience whilst God was pleased to withhold them He suspends the Operations of all hurtful Creatures evil Men and wicked Spirits at his Will so that they invade no Person and act at no time but only when and so far as he allows them Quest. And what must this teach us Ans. Not hastily to conclude any case of good Men desperate and incapable of cure or ease For when dangers or disasters from the most hurtful things or Persons threaten most 't is but for God to interpose and either divert or suspend their power and then the most fierce and mischievous things become tame and harmless and the dangers from them little or none at all And thus he is wont to interpose for good Men rescuing them as he did Holy David frequently out of the very jaws of Death and saving them as he did S. Paul after he had the sentence of death in himself 2 Cor. 1. 9. Quest. But what if we are at the last extremities must we hope still when evil is fastning upon us or at the very door Ans. Yes if we have any express promise of deliverance for God as I noted formerly never forgets his Word though sometimes he may delay the performance of it to the last Or if we have an express command for the work wherein the danger meets us as S. Peter had for coming to Christ upon the water For since Christ bid him do the thing he should have hoped to the end that he would stand by him and therefore was rebuked for doubting and staggering in Faith though it were when the wind was boistrous ready to bury him in every Wave and he already began to sink Matth. 14. 29 30 31. Or lastly if we have no other claim for relief but only from God's Providence whose Protection we may generally presume on in his own ways and in pursuit of all good and prudent enterprizes as our Lord intimates when he rebukes the Apostles for want of Faith in fearing Shipwrack though they neither had any particular command to Sail nor express promise of a safe Voyage but were to ground this Faith
of the Prophets themselves who if they gave any hints and interpretations of what they delivered in their own days were most likely to gather up and understand such traditionary Explications The reason of this difference is pretty obvious For those ancient Jews living before Christ looked only to the Prophecies themselves and the general sense and expectation raised about them by the Prophets But among the Jews since Christ several look also at personal prejudices and had rather deny any thing than own Jesus to be Messiah which they cannot well avoid doing if those places are spoken of him CHAP. III. Proving Jesus to be the Christ from other Divine Testimonies The Contents Jesus proved to be the Christ 2. From the testimony of John the Baptist. John knew this by Revelation and had it confirmed by a sign He was an acknowledged Prophet and of most clear and currant fame And gave this testimony before he was personally acquainted with Jesus 3. From the testimony of Jesus himself several considerations shewing the validity of this testimony though it were in his own case This not impugned by Christ's words John 5. 31. nor gives any colour or advantage to Fanatical Enthusiasts 4. From his Miracles These no lying wonders as may appear because shewn in several instances not imitable by Demons As 1. Foretelling future Contingencies An account of Demon-Predictions among the Gentiles 2. Discerâ—ing Hearts and Thoughts 3. Raising the Dead 4. Casting out Devils of most stubborn ranks and in greatest numbers and combinations It may also appear from their iâ—â—ent and design and from their numbers and the manner of working them No opposing the Miracles of Moses against Christ's Miracles because they were wrought to set aside the Law of Moses That Law was given with a design to be altered An account how for all that several of its Precepts are justly called Statutes for ever 5. From the testimony of the Father who declared Jesus to be the Christ by audible voices And by raising him from the dead and shewing him in full possession of his pretences Question BUT besides this proof of Jesus being the Christ from ancient Prophecies you said the same would be evidently made out by several Divine Testimonies other ways Pray what are those Testimonies Ans. The Testimony of John the Baptist who was sent into the World to give Witness to it the Testimony of Jesus himself which very well deserves to be trusted the Testimony of his miraculous works which are an evidence drawn up by the Finger of God and to name no more the Testimony of God the Father who himself became a Voucher of it So that he must give the lye both to Heaven and Earth to God and Men who shall disbelieve or gainsay it Ans. Did John the Baptist testifie Jesus to be the Christ Ans. Yes and that upon a most publick occasion when the great Council of the Nation the Sanhedrim sent Priests and Levites to him on purpose to know whether he himself were the Christ John 1. 19. For then his answer was That he was not the Christ verse 20. but that the Christ was come and was then among them verse 26 27. Yea the next day seeing Jesus coming to him he points at him and declares to them all that he is the Person Behold saith he the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world This is he of whom I said after â—e comes a man which is preferred before me verse 29 30. which Testimony he repeats again the next day upon another occasion verse 35 36. And this Testimony Jesus alledged for himself when he reasoned with the Jews in vindication of his own Authority Ye sent unto John viz. in the message from Jerusalem and he bare witness unto the truth John 5. 33. Quest. But how came John to know it and why in this case must we take his word Ans. Because he was a Prophet all the Jews as the Scriptures testifie held John for a Prophet Matth. 21. 26. Nay as Christ says he was one of the greatest of Prophets for of all that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist Matth. 11. 9 11. And he declares that the Spirit revealed this to him nay that for his greater confirmation it gave him a visible and most illustrious sign saying unto him Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descend and remain on him that same is he And this Spirit John declares he did see descend in a bodily shape upon Jesus at his Baptism and at the same time as S. Matthew adds heard a voice from God calling him his beloved Son for his fuller conviction John 1. 32 33. Yea since as the Nazarene Gospel relates it upon this descent presently there shone a great light about the place and a fire was lighted in Jordan wherein John Baptized him as Justin the Martyr testifies what would still be a more assuring proof to John in this case this bodily descent of the Holy Ghost was in a body of Light and dazling Splendor the usual Glory wherein God himself was wont to appear which hovering over our Saviour as a Dove doth when it lights and darting forth its bright Beams round about him did plainly represent what the Jews call the Schechinah and proclaim him to be a Divine Person Thus did John know Jesus to be the Messiah by an evidence infallible and every way convincing And this he testifies of him not as a thing by the bye but says it was the very Errand whereon he was sent and for declaration whereof he was called out by God to be a Prophet That he should be made manifest to Israel says he therefore am I come John 1. 31. Quest. Indeed if John had such Revelations of this matter as he declares 't is plain he was not deceiv'd about it himself but spoke out of sober knowledge and certain grounds So that if there is no cause to question his honesty there is no getting off from his Testimony But what can you say to show him a true and honest Man who would not feign things to deceive others Ans. His Sanctity and Integrity were the honour and admiration of his own times He led a most mortified rigid Life neither caring how hard his Fare was nor how coarse his Habit. He neither eat Bread nor drank Wine whence in Scripture he is said to come neither eating nor drinking i. e. not living upon the usual Diet of other Men Matth. 11. 18. compared with Luke 7. 33. His meat was locusts and wild hony and all his rayment of camels hair girt about him with a leathern girdle Matth. 3. 4. And thus voluntarily abandoning I will not say the pleasures but even the ease and common conveniences of the Flesh he was not capable to be tempted by them He was eminently above all affectation of Power or Praise insomuch that when all were ready to receive him for Messiah he told them he
his Bosom And these if they are untruths cannot be fancies but downright Forgeries and Impostures they argue not so much an Enthusiastical as a false and designing Man since no Person in his wits as 't is most evident he was could fancy himself into such persuasions And thus it seems the Adversaries of Jesus themselves believed For they never once accused him as being a deluded Enthusiast but always as a false Impostor who crastily invented those pretensions which he sought to impose upon the world Matth. 27. 63. John 7. 12. Quest. Was he also as apparently honest and undesigning Ans. Yes for never Man sought so little for himself or did so much for others making it his meat and drink to bring Glory unto God and dispense Blessings to the World. Whatsoever he claimed or did was in pursuit of those publick ends not at all to greaten his own secular State and Power or to gratifie his own Will and Humour And on this score he calls upon all Men to believe him as one that visibly could have no temptation to deceive and plainly sought to serve no ends of his own upon them My judgment is just saith he because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me John 5. 30. Quest. Two great things there are which Men may seek by such pretences Interest that ratifies the covetous and Honour that Idol of the ambitious and vain glorious And doth it plainly appear of Jesus that in pursuing his pretensions he sought neither of these Ans. Yes For as for Honour though by his miraculous Power he did every where the most stupendious things yet was he never tempted to do any one out of vanity to set on his own Praise but only as occasion was given him by the requests or needs of Men or as he saw they might serve to accomplish God's ends Yea after the miraculous Cures were done he several times imposed silence on those he cured or those who were privy to it to stifle the spreading of his own Fame He gave the Honour of all he did to God declaring That of himself he could do nothing but that his finger wrought all the works they so much admired and directing them to adore and laud him for them as accordingly they did And then as for worldly interest though he pretended to come as a Prince and Shepherd yet he declared that was not to serve himself of his People but to serve them and shed his Hearts Blood for them And all Men must needs say he seeks no private interest or self design who comes among Men only to have the opportunity to die for them And being thus apparently free from all designs or endeavours of seeking his own interest or applause upon this score he calls upon all reasonable Men to receive â—is Testimony The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep I am the good Shepherd for I lay down my life for them Jâ—â—n 10. 11 15. I honour my father says he again and seek not mine own glory He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same is true and no unrighteousness is in him John 8. 49 50. 7. 18. Quest. Indeed such manifestations of sober Wisdom and undesigning Integrity are enough to gain great regard to any Man's account But as you said it would be of more force still if God by extraordinary Providences and miraculous Events brought to pass for or about a Person should prepossess the World with a great Opinion and raise in all Men some extraordinary expectations from him And was this done for Jesus when he came Ans. Yes for besides that a confessed Prophet was sent in God's Name as I shewed on purpose to declare him a Train of Revelations and Miracles was laid by Almighty God to prepare his way and usher him in One Angel is sent to his Mother then and afterwards a Virgin with the news of his Miraculous Conception another to clear her Honour and satisfie her jealous Husband and a whole Host of them are heard to sing Anthems of Joy and Praise at his Birth declaring to the Shepherds that he was Christ the Lord. A prodigious Star of an irregular place and motion is created to lead some great Men of the East to the place where he was Who coming by its guidance to Jerusalem in search of him put King Herod and all the Jews into an anxious fear and consternation And being led on farther by it to Bethlehem to the very House where he lay they most solemnly paid their Homage and Devotion offering him Gifts Gold Frankincense and Myrrh And to heighten the observation and perpetuate the memory of these things a strange instance of most lamentable and unheard of cruelty accompanied them For at the Wise Mens report Herod growing jealous of this new King and not being able to learn where he was that under pretence of going to Worship he might seize and devour him they failing to bring him word according to their promise through God's warning them to the contrary in a Dream in his Bloody Rage he slew all the Children under two years old in Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof assuredly concluding he should cut off him among them Besides all which at the accomplishment of his Mothers days of Purification when he was brought into the Temple Simeon Son as is supposed to the Great Hillel and Father to Gamaliel and * Hannah two Persons eminent for Piety and Holiness and known though not in ordinary course yet at some times to be acted by a Prophetick Spirit which having ceased among the Jews for four hundred Years ever since Zechary and Malachy begun then to revive again did own him for the Christ of God and spoke of him to all that looked for Redemption in Jerusalem All these with a number of other great Signs shewed about him were most publickly known among the Jews and were the wonder and discourse of that time and must needs raise in Mens minds strange expectations from him And seeing him thus visibly sent of God they would be the more prepared when he declared himself to give him credit Especially when they knew him still more Gloriously set out and all the foregoing Signs advanced and confirmed by the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon him and the voice from Heaven accompanying it at his Baptism when he begun his Preaching Quest. And to all this did he also himself give them a Sign for his own justification Ans. Yes and the very same too that Moses prescribed for a proof of any Man 's being sent of God as a Prophet viz. his fore telling things to come Deut. 18. 22. For this Jesus did among them and that too on this very score according to the rule of Moses to justifie his Mission His own Resurrection under the Type of Jonas he gives to the Jews for
Predictions and which startled Cicero when the Quindecemviri who had the custody and exposition of them were bringing out thence the news of a King into the Senate were spoke of Christ and fully verified in him who was no abandoned Person And did not Demons here foresee and foretel such futurities as depend on God and were wrapt up as you said in his Counsel Ans. No for very probably the Spirit that revealed those things to these Heathen Sibyls was not any infernal Spirit but the Spirit of the true God which sometimes inspired Heathens as it did Balaam the Aramite to Prophesy of several events particularly of Messiah thereby even among the Gentile World to raise an expectation of him who was to be the desire of all Nations Or if they had it not from the Spirit of God at the first hand yet had they it thence at the second viz. by reading it in the Jewish Prophets by whom God had before foretold these things which is a thing not improbable since they express them sometimes in their very Forms and Allegories The Demons revealed not these things to their Prophets or if they did the Prediction was not their own but as Tertullian says they stole their Divination Quest. The powers of darkness then can only guess at such futurities whose causes are at work and whereof they see signs and appearances like Politicians or discover things ready to take effect when they have been in the club of the Actors and Conspirators or presignifie what they intend to do with such as God has delivered into their hands or repeat Predictions from God's true Prophets in the Holy Scriptures in some one or other whereof did their fore-sight consist in Heathen Divinations But as for the voluntary actions of all under God's Protection and all such remote and contingent futurities as are not determinable by natural causes but depend upon Mens free-will and God's free Providence they are above their reach so that we are sure of the true God where we have such Predictions Ans. Yes and therefore it is evident Jesus came from God because he as I said and his Apostles after him by his Spirit did foretel such as these as I have shewn in several instances Quest. What other Miracles did Jesus work which are peculiar to God and above the power of a wicked Spirit Ans. Secondly He saw into Mens hearts and secret thoughts discovering before any outward proofs and manifestations the fickleness of some Disciples John 2. 24. and the veil'd falshood of the Scribes and Pharisees who stood as insidious Spies upon him Luke 6. 8. and adapting his Answers and Discourses not only to Mens Questions but also to their inward Thoughts and Surmizes before they expressed and proposed them to him as he did with the Pharisees Matth. 12. 25. and in several other places And this is another work which God claims as peculiar to himself stiling himself the searcher of hearts and trier of reins yea claiming the knowledge of them for this reason which is peculiar to him because he is to judge and recompence them I the Lord search the heart and try the reins to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings Jer. 17. 10. And thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men saith Solomon 1 King. 8. 39. Quest. Did Jesus any more Miracles which are performable only by the finger of God and are above the force of Magick Ans. Yes Thirdly He raised the dead as Jairus's daughter and the widows son of Nain when he was carried out to be buried and Lazarus after he had been four days dead And this again is peculiarly God's work For when once Souls are separated from their Bodies they undergo God's Sentence and are secured in such places as he allots whence they cannot return or be remanded but by his Licence and Power that effects all things There is no God with me for I kill and I make alive saith God by Moses Deut. 32. 39. All separate Souls are under Locks and Keys and 't is a Divine Hand which holds the keys of hell and of death Rev. 1. 18. Quest. Have you any more instances Ans. Yes Fourthly Casting out Devils And those not only where they were of the most stubborn sorts which had proved too hard for his Disciples but also where they were in greatest numbers the Devils ejected by him out of one Man being called by themselves Legion which notes a Roman Army of six thousand Men Mark 5. 9. Yea not only expelling but as their awful Judge whose Rod they dread and at whose frown they tremble terrifying them and forcing them often to cry out Let us alone thou Holy One of God thou Son of God we beseech thee torment us not art thou come to torment us before the time Mark 1. 24. Luke 8. 28. Nay he impowered the seventy Disciples and afterwards the very meanest of his followers in virtue of his dreadful Name with like Triumph to eject them Luke 10. 17. And what is more when some that did not adhere to him would try to scare and controul them by his Sacred Name the trembling Devils fled before them Mark 9. 38. And this is another work peculiar to God which whatsoever some Potent Demons can to be sure they never will imitate Indeed in some particular instances the higher Orders may command and eject some particular inferiour Spirits and thereby serve their own designs But to go on ejecting all Ranks and Orders and those where they are in the greatest numbers and combinations and that with terrors consternation and torments is plainly to commence an open War among themselves which as our Saviour argued must needs destroy the Devil's Kingdom and therefore is a thing too foolish and absurd to be imagined of intelligent subtle and designing Spirits Matth. 12. 25 26. Quest. I see the Miracles of Jesus were evidently distinguished from the lying wonders of Satan by the very kind of them in these instances Pray now show also how they were as convincingly discriminated by their intent and design in all others Ans. Because all the Miracles of Jesus were apparently wrought to exalt the honour and service of the true God and to promote the real good of Men and to plant Tempers and Practices diametrically opposite to the way and genius of evil Spirits aiming to root out all those Errors and Superstitions which they had cultivated with utmost care through all former Ages to overthrow their Altars reduce their Worshippers and utterly exclude them from all that Domination which they had so long usurped among Men. And 't is certain that a worker of Miracles for these Pious Heavenly and Charitable purposes is not acted or directed by wicked Spirits For if they cease to be God's Enemies and ours they cease to be Devils If they turn Preachers of Humility Purity the Love of God and of
go and do so as Christ bid Judas when he went out to betray him as also the Devils when they entred into the herd of swine not thereby commanding and authorizing his Practice but only taking off his restraint and letting him loose to his own wicked purposes by way of permission and sufferance 1 King 22. 19 20 21 22. Quest. And is that S. Paul's meaning when under the great mystery of iniquity or Man of sin he says God shall send men who loved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness strong delusion 2 Thess. 2. 11. Ans. Yes that delusion was to be by giving evil Spirits Licence to delude them It shall come with all deceivableness of power and signs and lying wonders after the working of Satan verse 9 10. So that God's sending strong delusion in those days is letting Satan loose and permitting him to give plausible proofs and shows to seduce Men. Which with those that loved unrighteousness and had no love for the truth but would be glad of any pretence to embrace a pleasing error instead of it would be like enough to prevail Quest. Doth God often give Men up thus to evil Spirits to delude them Ans. Yes evil Spirits have a general influence in producing the errors as well as the sins and transgressions of all Men. But they have often a more especial Licence and extraordinary power of delusion in degree sometimes greater and sometimes less according as any Persons or Places through their own wickedness their pride and wantonness are left more or less to themselves and thrown out of God's protection Thus the darkness of the Heathen World or Age S. Paul ascribes to the spiritual wickednesses in high or heavenly places or to the wicked Spirits in the Air called Heaven in the Jewish Books who were the Rulers of it Eph. 6. 12. And in account of the deluded nations we are told that the old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan had deceived them Rev. 20. 2 3 8. And the general Apostasie and Delusion by the Man of sin is ascribed by the Apostle as I noted to the working of Satan 2 Thess. 2. 9 10 11. And on the rising of any notable Hereticks and perverters of the truth the crafty and malignant Devil is usually said to stir and rage in the Ecclesiastical Language The great deceits and delusions of the World are not owing only to the darkness of Mens own minds and hearts but to the malignant fraud of wicked Spirits who by themselves and their instruments miserably blind and mislead such as are forsaken of God and delivered into their hands And therefore it need not seem strange to us if we see Men abused into such gross absurdities as are against the plainest Scriptures Reason and common Sense Nay though they be as confident of them as if they received them by immediate inspiration and a voice from Heaven and think they have as sure Revelations for their sensless and absurd dreams as ever the blessed Apostles and Evangelists had for the Holy Scriptures For though several of these seem too gross for the natural folly of Men yet are they not for the malignity of a delusive Daemon When he has gained a Licence to besot and abuse Mens minds we need not stand astonished at the most extravagantly sensless or ridiculous Opinions Quest. If this is one method of God's Justice to give up those who abuse the Light and the means thereof to Satan's delusion must not this make us all exceeding careful with Humility and Reverence to keep in his ways and appointments that so we may abide under his Protection Ans. Most certainly And therefore by all means we must have a care not to set our selves above Ordinances to vilifie Prayers or Preaching to despise Sacraments to disparage the Sacred Scriptures to contemn superciliously and outbrave our Ministers making our selves wiser than our Teachers to cast off the Government of our Lawful Pastors or break the Unity of the Church or such things For this is breaking all God's Bounds and discarding his Methods appointed to keep us all stable in the knowledge and practice of the Truth And if we thus leave him and wantonly leap out of all his ways we have just cause to fear lest he leave us and then we are ready to become a prey to evil Spirits who as they get leave in more or less degrees will carry us away with their delusions Quest. You think then that there is less danger of these delusions whilst Men keep humbly and awfully in the Unity and Communion of Christ's Church than when they depart from it Ans. Yes by breaking out thence they are got into a place more insecure and more full of danger As out-lying Deer no more under the Eye and Care of the Keeper are ready to become a prey to every Hunter Or as Sheep without the Fold whilst they straggle from the Flock and out of the compass of that special Providence which protects it are in danger by every hurtful Beast to be made a prey and picked up Or as near an Enemies Quarters they who will run abroad without the Camp are in danger of being seized or slain by Adversaries so are Men without the Church by evil Spirits For they are more at liberty and let loose in the World though chain'd and fetter'd in the Church and if they find any leap'd out thence are more likely to seize them as straves in their own Dominions Quest. Indeed that which restrains their malice is the Protection of God which is called the Hedge that fenced off Satan from Job Job 1. 10. And since all have not an equal share in the Guardianship of Almighty God and of his good Angels 't is obvious to infer that these impure Spirits have more power in some Places and over some Persons than over others Ans. Yes and this the Daemon in Tertullian urged for himself who being charged by some that in those days of Miracles came to eject him and rebuked for daring to attempt and possess a Christian Woman who was listed under Christ's Protection constantly pleaded his seisure was most just because he found her in his own Precincts viz. at the lewd bloody and ungodly shows in the Heathen Theatres This Power of evil Spirits is greatest in the unhallowed World as the Scripture sufficiently intimates when Satan is called by our Lord the Prince of this world John 12. 31. and chap. 14. 30. and 16. 11. and by S. Paul the God of this world 2 Cor. 4. 3. and when the Apostle ascribes the darkness of the Heathen world to wicked spirits who had the rule and Empire of it Eph. 6. 12. and wrought in those that were disobedient or the unpersuadable part of Mankind Eph. 2. 2. So that they are able to do most before Men are entred into the Covenant and Church of God as from the danger Moses was in before he had Circumcised his Son the
were not in earnest or that his secret Will doth contradict his Word or that when he calls for their return he doth not desire it or has set some impregnable Decrees as a bar against them or will substract that aid which is necessary to them and without which it is impossible for them ever to return to him These and such like are ungodly and prophane suspicions which stain and blemish the spotless and absolute sincerity of the most true God with the faults and falshoods of wicked and deceitful Men. And where is Mens Reason or Reverence when they question whether God means as he says who yet are ready to resent it as a great affront if on their most serious assertions any Person shall make the same doubt and question of themselves Quest. And is he as able to make good his Word as he is sincere in passing it Ans. Yes he is the Almighty God that doth whatsoever he pleases both in heaven and earth the sea and in all deep places Psal. 135. 6. But as for the Explication and Remarques upon this Attribute I shall reserve them till it comes to be considered in its own place in the Creed Quest. But when God promises he oft-times drives long ere he accomplishes Ans. Though he delays yet he never forgets or alters Neither multitude of affairs nor length of time nor after-thoughts can either wear it out of his Memory or change his Purpose He will ever be mindful of his covenant Psal. 111. 5. He is the faithful God who keepeth covenant to a thousand generations Deut. 7. 9. who keepeth truth for ever Psal. 146. 6. And being sure of God's Promises at last we may well have patience in waiting for them as Abraham had who received not the Child of promise till he was very old and his seed after him who entred not into the promised land till above 400 Years after God had made him the promise of it Quest. But if in hopes of his promised rewards and dread of his just punishments we should take the pains to be Holy as he is Holy to make him our Friend is he never inconstant to his Friends and are we in no danger of losing him Ans. No. Quest. One thing we may be sure of that he will live as long as we shall do to stand in need of him Ans. Yes for he is Eternal from everlasting to everlasting he is God Psal. 90. 2. and when the heavens and the earth shall be changed he is the same and his years shall have no end Psal. 102. 25 26 27. Quest. And when once he loves and takes complacence in us will he be constant and not alter his affection Ans. Yes if we continue to love and serve him For he is the same yesterday and to day and for evermore Heb. 13. 8. with him is no variableness nor so much as shadow of turning Jam. 1. 17. Quest. But what if after we are the Friends of God we should return to live in sin Ans. Then we should lose his Love. For the constancy of his Affection lies not in loving and hating always the same Men but in loving and hating always for the same reason 'T is an immovable fixedness not upon the same Persons but upon the same carriage and qualities For if the wicked whom God hates turn from his wickedness he shall surely live and not die And if the righteous whom God loves turn from his righteousness and doth according to the ways of the wicked all his former righteousness shall be forgotten and in his sins that he hath since committed shall he die Ezek. 18. 21 22 24. Quest. Another Attribute above-mentioned is the Wisdom of God. What mean you by God's Wisdom Ans. His most absolute Understanding which clearly sees through all things and knows what means are most proper and what seasons best to move in to bring about every purpose Quest. Is it one part of God's Wisdom to set the justest rate and estimate on all things not only clearly apprehending the truth but proportionably valuing the worth of them never magnifying a little or undervaluing a great and weighty matter Ans. Yes to be fond of worthless things is no property of the Wise but of Children and simple Persons for such only are apt to be taken with Toys and Trifles Little things may greatly delight or disturb little Spirits but the Great and All-wise God is most Wise and Great in all his resentments never setting more by any things than is really in them or valuing them without or beyond just cause As all ill things he hates so all empty ones he slights proportioning all his resentments to the true weight and worth of Objects that they may be always wise and worthy of himself And therefore no Men must ever fancy to gain God or fear to lose him by such little things and trivial indifferencies as have little or nothing in them but are below the resentment of any intelligent and prudent Man. Quest. Indeed a small indifferent matter is not fit to bear a great resentment either on one side or other So that frequent Crossings or Sprinkling our selves with Holy Water or Visiting certain Shrines or putting on some Religious Habits or other empty and uncommanded Ceremonies are no more fit to gain the good presence and protection of God than the sight of a Surplice a Posture a Place or other unforbidden Ceremony are to forfeit and drive them from us Ans. Very right but what doth either the one or the other must always be things of weight and moment In particular his own Laws which are all about the most important matters contain the things he likes So that we gain and please him by obedience and offend and lose him by disobeying And therefore no Men must build on uncommanded abstinencies or severities or on any affected singularities nor in general must we ever seek the favour or shun the displeasure of Almighty God by arbitrary fancies and inventions of our own but always according to what is written Quest. If this All-wise God sees through all things he perfectly understands our Natures Ans. Yes he made our hearts and all our faculties and so thorowly understands them seeing clearly into all their turnings and windings tempers and inclinations what things will incite and draw them on and what again will effectually restrain and divert them from any purpose Quest. If he can tell how far every thing will work upon us he can foresee the issue and effect of all means and methods and in particular what force Preaching Persuasion Reproof Discipline Promises Threatnings or other means of Grace will have upon Mankind at large and what upon all particular Men of every genius interest and temptation Ans. Yes he knew assuredly that Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go no not for all his plagues Exod. 3. 19. And that the elders of Israel would hearken to the voice of Moses verse 18. And that Tyre and Sydon would have repented
Place of Bliss Of Eternal Life wherein there is Full and unmixed Happiness Of the satisfaction of their Senses Their clear and distinct Knowledge Perfect Holiness And without Reluctance Blissful Companions Perfection of Love and Kindness Honour and Eminence of Place All these to be injoy'd in the Highest Heavens without satiety or weariness For evermore Of the miseries of the Damned in Tormenting Passions The worm of Conscience Fire and Flames Disgrace Under all which no favour of God. No company but of Tormenting Devils and damned Spirits None to condole when they cannot relieve No rest and sleep for Recruit of Spirits No end of their miseries The Use of this The Practical Believer PART II. Of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ. CHAP. I. Of the Office and Natures of Jesus Christ. The Contents In what Salvation by Christ consists Being Christ notes his being 1. A Prophet to teach his Church We must hear and learn of him in the Holy Scriptures and at the mouths of his Ministers 2. A Priest to Redeem and Intercede for it 3. A King to Govern it by his Laws And by his Officers whom we are to submit to in his place Also to Protect it against all visible and invisible Enemies Jesus Christ is the Son of God as having receiv'd from the Father the Nature of God. And the Power of God. On both these Accounts and others he is our Lord. And to be worshipped What we learn from his being our Lord. Of Christ's being Conceiv'd of the Holy Ghost and Born of a Virgin. He was truly Man. And why he was so Quest. WHat is the Second Article of the Creed Answ. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord. Quest. Jesus signifies a Saviour from what doth Christ save us Answ. From two things 1. Our sins 2. Those eternal Torments which are the Punishment of them Quest. If he prove a Saviour to us must he Reform and save us from our sins Answ. Yes for this is the main Reason why that Name was given him Thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shall save his People from their sins Mat. 1. 21. Quest. Will he save none from the Punishment but whom he saves from the sins first Answ. No for except ye Repent ye shall all perish Luke 13. 3. and at last he will say Depart from me ye workers of iniquity Mat. 7. 23. Quest. But when once they are delivered from their sins they may make sure of being freed by him from Eternal Death too Answ. Yes for there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. Quest. Christ signifies anointed among the Greeks as Messiah doth among the Hebrews Messiah if interpreted being the Christ or anointed as St. Andrew said John 1. 41. But what mean you when you call Jesus the Messiah or Christ that is the anointed Answ. His being invested with the Office of a Prophet to teach his Church of a Priest to make Reconciliation and intercede for it and of a King to Govern and Protect it Quest. Why do you call such Investiture his Anointing Answ. Because anciently Investitures into these Offices were according to the Eastern Custom by pouring Oyl upon them as in the case of the Arch-Prophet Elisha 1 Kings 19. 16. and High-Priest Aaron Lev. 8. 12. And in Kings as the Jewish Doctors note when they received not their Office and Authority by Succession but by extraordinary Designation as in the case of King Saul 1 Sam. 9. 16. 10. 1. and King David 1 Sam. 16. 13. Answerable to which Messiah's Designation to his Office which was to include all these is call'd his being Anointed Isa. 61. 1 2 3. Quest. Was Christ invested in these Offices by pouring Oyl upon him Answ. No but by pouring a nobler thing the miraculous Powers and Gifts of the Holy Ghost which install'd him and answer'd to their anointing God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with Power Acts 10. 38. Quest. Was Christ in the Office and Quality of a Prophet to teach his Church Answ. Yes he was a Teacher sent from God John 3. 2. What he said he spake not of himself but as the Father gave him Commandment so he spake John 12. 49 50. So that the People spoke a great truth when they said This is of a truth that Prophet who was to come into the World John 6. 14. Nay he was not in the rank of an ordinary Prophet but in a pitch of Eminence far above all others For he not only had a Prophetick Spirit resting always on him which the best of them enjoy'd but on certain times and occasions but he knew the will of God by Personal Acquaintance and immediate intuition not barely at second hand by the Message of an Angel or by a Vision or a Dream as they all did The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him John 1. 18. And on this account among others of all Prophets and Interpreters of God's mind he alone is call'd the Word because lying in God's Bosom he had his mind without any thing intervening as immediately as a word expresses ones meaning Quest. What must this teach us Answ. Whensoever we would know the mind of God to seek only unto him and never to hearken to any other New Lights or Enthusiastical Pretenders In all times both in the Apostles days and ours several Impostors and false Prophets have come with pretended Messages to shew men the will of God and the way to Happiness But we are to give ear to none of these this work of communicating God's mind to men not being left at random but peculiarly intrusted with Jesus Christ that great Prophet of the Church who is especially constituted by God and anointed for this purpose This is my beloved Son said God in the voice from the bright Cloud in whom I am well pleased hear ye him Mat. 17. 5. Quest. But how shall we do to learn of him since now he is no more among us here on Earth but is gone to Heaven Answ. Two ways he exercises his Prophetick Office to communicate the mind of God to us 1. By the Scriptures What God told him he first by Personal Converse and afterwards by his Spirit leading them into all truth told the Apostles and Evangelists and they put it in writing in the Book call'd the Holy Scriptures to be preached and published to all others thro' all times So that when we hear them read we must think we hear Christ our great Prophet speaking to us And to be debarr'd or debar our selves of the use of them what is it but to be debarr'd of this great Prophet's free Communication 2. By his Ministers whom he has left and appointed to declare God's mind to the People in his place Thus the Priests were appointed among the Jews The Priests lips should preserve Knowledge and the People should seek the Law
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
Holy Ghost is God. What he hath done for our Salvation Of his extraordinary Gifts bestowed on Apostles and Evangelists which were for the Planting and Propagating Christ's Religion 1. The gift of inspiration in Revelations This bestowed upon the Apostles These Revelations they have fully set down in the Holy Scriptures after which we are not to look for any others This Gift of knowing Religion by immediate Revelation necessary only in Apostles and Evangelists And design'd for the Infancy of the Church Other Rules whereby to examine new Lights and Revelations in Religion As try them by the Scriptures Call for their Miracles wherewith God still empower'd men when he sent them to reveal new Things No need of Miracles when men pretend only to revive old and acknowledged Revelations If they shew Miracles for things plainly against Scripture they must work more than were wrought to confirm the Scripture An account of Joel 2. 28 29. Which seems to foretell the commonness of Revelations among Christians The first Inspirations were not only in Doctrinal Points but also in Devotions And about Temporal matters Subservient to this Gift of Revelations was the Gift of discerning Spirits This done afterwards by ordinary Rules And the Gift of utterance and boldness Their minds not influenced by this constantly and at all Times But ordinarily they were and especially when they had most need of it 2. Of the Gift of Miracles Miraracles a Proof of Divine Revelation How discernible from Lying Wonders by the Doctrines built on them By their ends and usefulness and being wrought on needful Occasions Of the miraculous Gift of healing Diseases This sometimes by anointing with Oyl And Prayers Of casting out Devils and other Miracles Of delivering to Satan what it was and why so call'd Of Joy in Tribulations and what was extraordinary in that of the Apostles To the working these Miracles there was always required Faith in him that wrought them And sometimes Faith in him that received them 3. of the Gift of Strange Tongues The ends of this And of the Gift of Interpreting such Strange Tongues What is meant by the Holy Ghost being a Comforter The Sin against the Holy Ghost is a Sin against these extraordinary Gifts Why Blasphemy against him more irremisable than against the Father or the Son. Extraordinary Gifts no mark of a justified State. Of Offices appointed by the Holy Ghost Some of these Temporary others to continue through all Times the present Officers ordaining Successors of the Holy Ghost's ordinary Graces By these we may know he dwells in us Our care required towards these Of Preventing Grace in outward advantages and inward good motions Directions how we are to endeavour after saving Graces in six Particulars How God gives them though we are thus to acquire them The Holy Ghost works also in us Spiritual Joys and Comforts This he doth not in all the minds he sanctifies because some are unfit for them through intrinsick impediments But they are withheld from none through his Arbitrary withdrawing which some count Spiritual Desertion Quest. WHat is the eighth Article of the Creed Answ. I Believe in the Holy Ghost Quest. Is the Holy Ghost very God Answ. Yes For Lying to the Holy Ghost is call'd Lying to God Act. 5. 3 4. And because Christians are the Temple of the Holy Ghost they are said to be the Temple of God 1 Cor. 3. 16. And all the Properties of Divinity are ascribed to him as knowing all things ubiquity or Presence in all Places Eternity or duration through all Times Creating the World being joyned with God who will not impart his Glory to another as an Object of Faith and Worship in Baptism and the Apostolical Benediction and the like Quest. But if both the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost be God are there not three Gods Answ. No because these three are One that is one in Nature or one Thing 1 Joh. 5. 7. There is a Trinity of Persons but these three are mysteriously united in Nature and dependance which makes but one God-head not three Gods. Quest. But why is he call'd Holy more than the Father or the Son Since Holiness was reckon'd one of the Divine Attributes are not all the three Persons who are equally God equal also in Holiness Answ. Yes But though they are equally Holy in Nature or Essence yet is he particularly styled so in respect of his Operations For as God the Father particularly undertook for the Creation of men and God the Son for the Redemption of them so did God the Holy Ghost for their Sanctification being always ready to work holiness in those who set themselves to fear God and to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by the renewal of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5 6. And purified through the Spirit 1 Pet. 1. 22. Quest. Why do we profess Faith and trust in him Answ. Because we are to receive all our Graces and preparations for Eternal Glory from him For after Christ had Redeemed us with his Blood and ascended into Heaven the Rest which was to be done further for our Salvation here on Earth was left to the care of the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent down as his substitute to supply his absence and minister whatsoever he left wanting to his Body which is the Church to perfect it in Faith and Holiness Quest. By this I perceive a great part of Christian Knowledge lyes in understanding what the Holy Spirit has done and is still to do for us Pray what has he bestowed for the effecting of this great work Answ. Gifts of two sorts 1. Extraordinary bestowed upon the Apostles and Evangelists for the Planting and Establishing Christ's Church and Religion 2. Ordinary that are given in common to all oothers for every particular man's Salvation Quest. What are his extraordinary Gifts bestowed upon the Holy Apostles for the Planting and Establishing of Christ's Church and Religion Answ. They consist not only of Gifts but likewise of Offices which he is the Author of Quest. What are the Extraordinary Gifts he gave them to this end Answ. I shall reduce them to three The Gift of Inspiration which revealed Christianity to themselves of Miracles which enabled them to prove it undeniable unto others and of Tongues whereby they could publish it over all the World and be understood by men of every Language Quest. When were these extraordinary Gifts bestowed Answ. First at the Feast of Pentecost upon the Twelve when the Spirit descended on each of them in the shape of Cloven Tongues Act. 2. 3. And afterwards generally upon others at the imposition of their hands as abundantly appears from St. Luke's account of the Acts of the Holy Apostles Quest. And all these you say were to enable them to Plant and Propagate their Religion Answ. Yes for by these Gifts which are call'd the Promise of the Father Act. 1. 4. that is that Spirit which Christ had promised
please God and go to Heaven But do you suppose that some may still be Prophets and have Revelations about other things Answ. Perhaps they may about Particular accidents to particular Persons or Families or about great Revolutions to States or Empires As to these Matters it is not for me to stint the kindness and care of God or to determine what intimations he may sometimes vouchsafe from the other World. And if any wise sober and good men by the forcibleness of the impression on their minds after the Prophetick way which convinces and satisfies themselves and by the correspondence of events which may satisfie others find they have any such thing I shall not withstand them and so long as they do not offer these to innovate in Religion the Revelations of the Scripture are no bar against them Quest. You have fully explained this first miraculous Gift of the Holy Ghost the Gift of inspirations Were there any other miraculous Gifts subservient to it which you would explain to me under this Head Answ. Yes First the Gift of discerning Spirits i. e. among all the Pretenders to inspiration who spoke true inspirations and who meer pretences of it or Satanical delusions We have received the Spirit of God saith St. Paul which reveals to us the Things of God. And he that is Spiritual judgeth all Things that are pretended by others yet he himself is judged of no man i. e. they who want his Spirit cannot judge of him For who i. e. of those who want this Spirit hath known the mind of the Lord to discern when another meerly pretends to it 1 Cor. 10. 12 15 16. And this Gift of Discerning Spirits was very necessary in that Age to warn the Church against False Prophets For when there was such a commonness of true Revelations it gave the greatest opportunity to Diabolical Enthusiasts or wicked Impostors to obtrude their inventions or delusions upon the Church hoping they should pass for inspirations among the crowd of others Now are there many False Phrophets gone out into the World saith St. John which makes it necessary not to believe every Spirit 1 Joh. 4. 1. Quest. This Gift indeed was necessary to discover them before the Scriptures were written but when once they had them could not any Christians thereby detect Impostors without the Gift of discerning Spirits Answ. Yes and so St. John and the other Apostles in their Epistles gave ordinary Rules for this purpose One of these Rules was confessing Christ to be come in the Flesh. Try the Spirits says he whether they be of God and hereby know ye the Spirit of God every Spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is of God and every one that denys it is not of God 1 Joh. 4. 1 2 3. and 2 Joh. 7. Another Rule was their submission to the Apostles and Governours of the Church since God would inspire no man to break Unity and make needless Schisms We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Errour 1 Joh. 4. 6. But the most comprehensive Rule of all was their agreement or dissonancy with the Holy Scriptures as I noted before and the Revelations of the undoubted Apostles If any man think himself to be a Prophet or Spiritual let him acknowledge that the Things which I write unto you are the Commandments of the Lord 1 Cor. 14. 37. But if any Man or Angel from Heaven preach unto you any other Gospel than that you have received already let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8 9. Quest. What other miraculous Gifts besides this of Discerning Spirits were subservlent to this Gift of inspirations Answ. Secondly the Gift of utterance i. e. of assurance fluency and volubility of speech whereby they were enabled to declare and make known their Revelations to advantage This St. Paul desired the Colossians to beg of God for him Praying for us that God would open to us a Door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak Col. 4. 3 4. Under which is comprehended that miraculous boldness which these poor men shew'd to admiration in asserting undauntedly a most exploded Cause in the face of their numerous and potent Adversaries That utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak Eph. 6. 19 20. Quest. Was this miraculous Boldness a Gift bestowed upon the Old Prophets Answ. Yes it was a part of that Spirit of Fortitude the Jewish Writers speak of wherewith God armed a Prophet before he sent him with a difficult and perillous Message in which he might foresee the greatest terrour and dread of men to stop his Mouth Thus God told Ezekiel when he sent him to the impudent and hard-hearted Israelites Behold I have made thy face strong against their faces and thy forehead strong against their foreheads As an Adamant harder than Flint have I made thy Fore-head Fear them not neither be dismayed at their Looks though they be a Rebellious House Ezek. 3. 8 9. Thus also he bid Jeremiah speak and not be dismayed at their Faces for he had that Day made him a defenced City an Iron Pillar and Brazen Walls against the whole Land against the Kings of Judah the Princes the Priests and the People thereof Jer. 1. 8 17 18 19. Quest. And did the Holy Ghost give this miraculous Boldness to the Apostles Answ. Yes in a wonderful measure They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spake the word of God with Boldness Act. 4. 31. And when the Jewish Rulers saw the Boldness of Peter and John asserting freely the Power and Authority of Jesus and taxing them openly as his wicked Murderers to their very Faces they marvelled ver 10 11 12 13. Quest. Had they this boldness of Spirit at all times Answ. No. For at Corinth St. Paul says of himself that he was with them in Weakness and Fear and much Trembling 1 Cor. 2. 3. In some great Dangers and pressing Necessities their Natural Fears would return upon them to trouble them for some time Thus it sometimes happen'd to St. Paul where he expected the most perillous opposition for after the hardships and hazards he had run through at Philippi and at Thessalonica expecting the like at Corinth too he was with them as he says in much trembling and so discouraged that he needed a Revelation to embolden him Act. 18. 1 9 10. And thus it did especially if at such time he were alone and had not his Companions with him When he came into Macedonia whilst he was by himself his Flesh had no Rest but he was troubled on every side without were fightings and within were fears But as soon as his Coadjutor Titus came to him he took heart and God who
But as for Pastors and Teachers to govern the Church and ordain Successors and to minister the Word and Prayers and Sacraments they will be equally wanted in every Age and therefore the Holy Ghost has appointed them to continue always Go Baptise all Nations teaching them to observe all my Commandments And lo in such Teaching and Baptising I am with you always even to the end of the World Mat. 28. 19 20. And tho as I say some of the Offices mentioned by St. Paul were necessary only in the first Age yet others which are equally necessary to the edifying of the Church and the Work of the Ministry in every Age are to continue as he says tiâ— we all i. e. all Christians that are and aâ— that shall be come in the Unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God untâ— a perfect Man unto the Measure of the Stâ—ture of the Fulness of Christ. So that the Church is to enjoy the Benefit of them to the Worlds end Eph. 4. 12 13. Quest. Since all that are at any time in these Offices die in one Age how are they to be continued in the next Answ. The Bishops or Governours are stilâ— to Ordain others to remedy their owâ— Mortality and supply the Necessities of the Church through all Times Thus Christ told his Apostles As my Father sent me viz with a Power of Commissioning you to succeed in this Ministry when I am gone sâ— send I you i. e. with Power of Ordaining others in like manner of Succession John 20. 21. Pursuant to this they Ordained Bishops in all Churches as St. Paul did Titus at Crete and Timothy at Ephesus And these in a constant Succession were to Ordain others as Paul bid Timothy give Commissions as he had been Commission'd himself or commit what he had heard of him to faithful Men who should be able to teach others also 2 Tim. 1. 14. and 2. 2. And with these in their Work of the Ministry God would be present and assistant in all after Times as he had been with the Apostles in the First Age. In thus Preaching and Baptizing lo I am with â—ou always even to the end of the World Mat. 28. 20. With you that is with your selves during your own Lives and your Successors in all after times which is the only way that in this Work he could be with them to the Worlds end who were all to die in that Age. Quest. Is the Holy Ghost the Author of these Offices Answ. Yes God hath set these Officers in the Church saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 12. 28. and Christ gave them as a Gift after he was ascended Eph. 4. 8 11. That is God gave them and Christ gave them by the Holy Ghost who now since Christ is gone to the Right-hand of God is come down to his Church as his Substitute from whom both the Authority and Ability of all these Officers is derived Feed the Flock saith the Apostle over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers Acts 20. 28. And when Christ ordain'd his Apostles giving them Power to send others as the Father gave him and to remit and retain Sins he breathed on them and said Receive ye the Holy Ghost Joh. 20. 21 22 23. And accordingly to shew from whom these Powers are derived in Ordinations of these Officers whether Bishops or Priests the Power is to this day conferr'd by saying Receive thou the Holy Ghost Quest. What shall we think then of those who reject the Ministry and cast off all Church-Officers and Ordinances and yet pretend in all this to be guided by the Spirit Answ. You may be sure it is not by that Spirit which Christ sent down upon the Apostles and which indited the holy Scriptures For that Spirit gave these Offices as the most necessary and greatest Blessing to the Church Whereas this Spirit of theirs plucks up what he planted and endeavours to abolish and overthrow them Quest. From what you have said I perceive how infinitely we are obliged to the Holy Ghost for that care he has taken in Planting and Propagating Christ's Church and Religion both in the miraculous Gifts he bestowed upon his Church so amply in the First Age and in the Offices and Governments he has appointed to Feed and Rule it in all succeeding Ages But besides these extraordinary Gifts bestowed only on some for the Propagation and Establishment of Christ's Church and Religion you mention'd another sort of Gifts for the effecting this Great Work of our Salvation which the Holy Ghost bestows ordinarily on Persons of all Times and Places What Gifts are those Answ. All the inward Graces and vertuous Endowments which are necessary to the Salvation of all particular Persons such as the Apostle reckons up Gal. 5. The Fruits of the Spirit are Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance and such like v. 22 23. Particularly he excites Devotion and helps to raise in us holy Desires and Life and Quickness in our Prayers There says the Apostle the Spirit helps our Infirmities making Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God by inspiring them with such Desires and Groanings as cannot be uttered Rom. 8. 26 27. Quest. Is the Holy Ghost the Author of all these inward Graces in us and can we not have them without his Gift Answ. No for the Renewing of our Nature is ascribed to the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. And St. Paul calls all the recited Virtues Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. And no Man can come to me saith Christ i. e. believe on me and obey me except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6. 44. All our Graces come from God and must be sought of him And because we are daily in want of them we are taught by our Lord himself to pray Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done Deliver us from Evil c. as constantly as we say Give us this Day our Daily Bread. Quest. If the Holy Spirit gives these then any Man that has them may know he has Grace and that the Holy Ghost dwells and acts in him Answ. Yes if he is affected and influenc'd not only by some few but by all of them For they are the Fruits of the Spirit as I noted and where we see the genuine Fruit we may make sure of the Principle that gives Birth to it as our Saviour said the Tree is known by its Fruit Luke 6. 43 44. Mat. 7. 16 20. And accordingly they are given as Marks of Grace and a sure Proof that Men belong to God in the Scriptures Hereby know we that we know him and that we are in him if we keep his Commandments 1 John 2. 3 5. We know that we have passed from Death unto Life because we love the Brethren 1 John 3. 14. He that doth Righteousness is righteous in this the Children of God are manifest 1 John 3. 7 10. Quest. But may
Foundation What mean you by the Foundation of Faith Answ. Such points of it as are the very Bottom and Ground-work of the Christian Covenant whereinto we are all Baptized and whereon the Church is Erected They are such Articles as are the Root of all that Worship and Obedience we are to pay to God of all that Submission Trust and Adoration we are to shew towards Jesus Christ and of all that Labour and Success we are call'd to here in the Prosecution of an Holy Life All the Points of our Christian Faith are a-like True but all Truths are not a-like useful nor all useful Truths a-like necessary 'T is necessary for us to believe all when we are sufficiently shew'd that Christ has taught them But 't is moreover necessary for us all to see he has taught some which are not only to be Believed because they were Revealed but were therefore Revealed because necessary to be Learned and Believed of all that retain to him And these Points which are not only Profitable but necessary to the Worship and Service of God by Jesus Christ and to the maintenance of the Christian Covenant and of the Church which is Built upon it are called Fundamentals Quest. Can you shew me what points are such Answ. One is the common foundation of all true Religion Mosaical and Natural as well as Christian and that is the Belief of the one True God not only of his Being but also of his Providence and Care to Reward those that seek him Thus St. Paul sets down Faith towards God as one Article to be first laid Heb. 6 1. For he that comes to God in any way saith he must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. This Faith in the one true God is overthrown not only when Men overlook or deny him but also when they joyn any Gentile Gods who were Apostate Spirits in Copartnership with him For every true Church must have Repentance from Idols towards God as well as Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Act 20. 20 21. And this is Life eternal says our Saviour to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Joh. 17. 3. And he is Antichrist saith St. John that denies the Father and the Son 1 Joh. 2. 22. If she cast off the Belief of the one true God the common Principle of all true Religion she is the Congregation of some Faln Spirits which set up for false Gods and not the Church of the Great God of Heaven As well as if she have not Faith in Christ she is no longer Christian. Quest. But when a Church professes Faith in the one true God the common Ground-work of all true Religion What is the Particular Foundation of the Christian Religion Answ. Belief of Jesus being the Son of God and the Christ and of Salvation by his Merits and Mediation When Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ the Son of the living God our Saviour said upon this Rock will I build my Church Mat. 16. 16 18. And St. Paul says the Foundation which he had laid and other than which no Man can lay is Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3. 11. And the compass of saving Knowledge marked out by our Lord himself as I noted is together with the Knowledge of the one true God to know Jesus Christ whom he has sent Whilst any Church retains this Faith in Christ it is Christian and has Right to Baptism as St. Philip declar'd to the Eunuch who was Baptized upon his making this Confession Act. 8. 37 38. But if it denys this Authority of Christ and its dependance upon him for salvation it is thereby unchurched and becomes unchristian like Jewish Mahometane or Heathen Churches and is put out of the ordinary way of Salvation there being no Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we may be saved but his alone Act. 4. 12. Quest. But doth not this Grand Article of Jesus being the Christ and Saviour imply in it sundry other Articles Answ. Yes if we Believe Jesus to be the Christ we must believe all the Holy Scriptures as his Word and they contain all Articles But it more especially implies his Incarnation Passion Resurrection and other great Articles of the Creed which must be expresly owned by every one that rightly understands it And accordingly in the various Repetitions of this Grand Article and Representations of the saving Faith one or other of these is oft-times added and given as the instance of it Believing Jesus to be the Christ the Son of God you may have Life through his Name saith St. John shewing the necessity of this main Foundation Joh. 20. 31. But St. Paul speaking of this Grand Doctrine says I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him Crucified setting out the knowledge of Christ in the knowledge of his Passion 1 Cor. 2. 2. And if thou confess the Lord Jesus and believe God raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved exemplifying the saving knowledge of Jesus in the Belief of his Resurrection Rom. 10. 9. And when he commanded us to preach him saith St. Peter he commanded us to preach and testifie that it is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge both of quick and dead illustrating the Preaching Christ by preaching the Judgment to come Act. 10. 42. Every Spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is of God And every Spirit that confesses it not is Antichrist and not of God saith St. John explaining the Confession of Jesus Christ by the Confession of his Incarnation 1 Joh. 4. 2 3. And speaking of the Record or Witness God had given to the Christian Doctrine he thus declares the matter attested by him This is the Record God hath given us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life Setting off the Christian Religion and the Saving Faith by the Belief of the Life everlasting 1 Joh. 5. 10 11 12. And as for the Belief of the Holy Ghost the necessity of that and of our Dependance on him to make any man a Christian our Saviour has sufficiently expressed by ordering our very Baptism which initiates us into Christianity to be into his Name Mat. 28. 19. All these Points are the very Ground and Foundation of our Subjection to the Father Son and Holy Ghost the Parties we contract withal in the Christian Covenant of all our Adoration Trust and Submission to the Blessed Jesus of our worshipping and serving God by him and of all that Holiness of Life which must gain us the Divine Acceptance on all which Accounts they are necessary and Ground-work Articles of Christian Faith and properly call'd Fundamentals Quest. By this it may seem as if the Believing Jesus to be the Christ were in more explicit words to believe the Apostles Creed since that sets