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spirit_n	father_n	jesus_n	son_n	14,487	5	5.3429	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47130	A Christian catechisme, for the instruction of youth, and others to whom it may be useful in the grounds of Christian religion, and practice of Christian piety wherein the twelve articles of the Christian creed, and the Godhead and manhood natures of Christ and his prophetical, priestly, and kingly office are briefly explained : and the true Christian doctrin, concerning Christ his being a sufficient saviour, as he is both God and man : and with respect to both the absolute necessity, and excellent consistencie of his outward coming in the flesh, and his inward coming, and spiritual appearance in our hearts, through faith in him, and love and obedience to him, in order to our eternal salvation, declared and demonstrated by testimonies of Holy Scripture : and the divine excellency of the light within, in distinction from humane reason, asserted and vindicated : and the question concerning its sufficiency to salvation, truly stated and resolved : where also many other Gospel doctrins, and practical Christian truths and duties are held forth / by George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1698 (1698)	Wing K150; ESTC R19823	60,929	128

the difficulty comes gradually to be removed and such an attainment becomes exceeding delightful and sweet as well as profitable to the Soul surely David had attained it when he said Truly my Soul is silent on God Psal 62. 1. as the best translation is and Unto thee O Lord silence praise in Zion Psal 65. 1. As intimating that as God is praised in silence so praise cannot be truly performed unto God while the Mind is unsettled disquieted and discomposed which it will needs be until it come to true Silence as also when he said My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed Psal 57. 7. and then it follows I will Sing and give Praise and divers places of Scripture hold forth not only the duty of inward Silence or ceasing from all Self-actings whether of the Understanding or Will but also the great profit and benefit of it Lam. 3. 27 28. Psal 4. 4. 46. 10. Isa 30. 7. 19. Q. How by Meditation A. After the Mind is cleared and disburdened of all Self-disquieting thoughts and actings then as a fruitful Soil having good Seed sown in it and being watered with Rain from above and warmed with the Sun's heat brings forth plenty of sweet smelling Herbs and Flowers both pleasant to the Sight and profitable for Use which it could not do while it was loaded with Rubbish being helped with the Rain and Warmth of God's Holy Spirit it bringeth forth with ease and pleasure precious and wholsom Meditations and Thoughts most sutable and proper to its present state upon variety of objects all which do greatly conduce to dispose the Soul for Prayer and Thanksgiving and any other religious Duty Q. Doth the holy Spirit help us in Meditation without all use of outward means of Instruction as Reading in the holy Scriptures Hearing Conference A. Nay but by using frequently these outward means the Holy Spirit by his holy Inspirations and Motions brings seasonably to our remembrance what we have formerly heard or read and have been taught out of the holy Scriptures of divine Truth and also brings to our frequent remembrance the great Love and the many Mercies of God to us both Spiritual and Temporal and his great and manifold Deliverances Preservations and gracious Providences which afford us matter of Praise and Thanksgiving unto God which ought to be offered up with our Prayers Q. What things more particularly are the proper and necessary matter and subject of our Meditation A. The Works of Creation and Providence both in general and particular and more especially the Psal 77. 10. 11. Psal 143. 5. Eccles 12. 1. great Work of our Redemption and the great Glory of God that is wonderfully demonstrated therein in his great Attributes of Mercy and Justice Wisdom and Power in most excellent Harmony and how the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are all concerned in that great Work the Father did not dye for us but he so loved us that he spared not his dear Son but gave him freely to dye for us and Christ so loved us that he freely gave himself for us to suffer the cursed Death of the Cross in our stead and the Holy Ghost so loved us that he is come to be a true and faithful 〈◊〉 so us in our hearts to assure us that Christ dyed for us and to apply to us the great Worth Essicacy and Merit of what Christ hath done and suffered for us who is the free gift both of the Father and the Son to us and also freely giveth himself to us by whom God through Christ doth work the true convincement in us of our sin and misery and the true Conversion from it begotting in us true Faith Hope and Charity and all other Evangelical Virtues and Fruits which are therefore called the Fruits of the Spirit all which ought to be the most frequent matter and subject of our most serious and devout Meditation together with the exceeding great obligation of duty that lyeth upon us of Love and Obedience as the reasonable return of such exceeding great and rich favour love and mercy freely bestowed upon us which are the great motives to Christian Obedience also the Laws and Commandments of God and Christ to the end we may obey them ought to be our daily study and meditation in the doing of which we may expect the Blessedness and Promises of God to be fulfilled to us Psal 1. throughout and likewise the precious Promises of God recorded in Scripture ought to be frequently in our Meditations that by them we may be encouraged to pray to God for the performance of them And we ought not only to have continually before the eyes of our Minds the great Love of Christ in his dying for us but his most holy Example in his most perfect Obedience Resignation Patience Humility Self-denyal Love to his Enemies that we may follow his Steps 1 Pet. 2. 21. Moreover the frequent consideration of our State past present and future with the most diligent and impartial examination of our selves and of our daily conversation both exteriour and interiour is most necessary for us that wherein we have failed in our duty either to God to our selves or our neighbours we may be humbled and sorry for it confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness of God for Christ's sake and wherein we have been helped by his Spirit and Grace to advance in the ways of Holiness to bless and praise God through Christ Jesus for the same also the frequent meditation of Death and Judgment the vanity of the World with all its Prouts Pleasures Honours and Preferments and the exceeding great advantage of Godliness which hath both the Promises of this Life and of the life to come is exceeding both profitable and necessary to us in all which or whatever is necessary to be remembred by us Cant. 1. 4. Psal 8. 3. 4. Psal 63. 5. 6. Psal 119. 23. 48. 148. 1 Tim. 4. 15. 2 Tim. 2. 8. Psal 104. 34. and made the subject of our frequent meditation the faithful may expect the assistance of God's blessed Spirit in the diligent use of the means and helps that God hath offered to us Q. To whom are we to pray and give thanks as the one intire object of Divine Worship Prayer and Thanksgiving A. To God the Father the Son Jesus Christ God Man and the Holy Spirit and who is also the one intire object of our Faith 1 Cor. 1. 2. 3. Revel 1. 4 5. 6. Q. Are we to make use of any Images in Divine Worship A. Nay Exod. 20. 4. 5. Acts 17. 25. 29. 30. Q. How are we to pray and give thanks so as to be accepted A. In Spirit and Truth in sincerity of heart in Faith without doubting in humility in holy fear with understanding with love and fervency of heart with frequency and constancy to all which we need the continual help of God's Spirit and Grace to aid and assist us John 4. 23. 1 Tim. 2. 8.

A Christian Catechisme For the Instruction of Youth And others to whom it may be Useful In the Grounds of Christian Religion and Practice of Christian Piety Wherein the Twelve Articles of the Christian Creed and the Godhead and Manhood Natures of Christ and His Prophetical Priestly and Kingly Office are briefly explained And the true Christian Doctrin Concerning CHRIST His being a SUFFICIENT SAVIOUR as he is both God and Man and with respect to both the absolute Necessity and excellent Consistencie of His Outward Coming in the Flesh and of His Inward Coming and Spiritual Appearance in our Hearts through Faith in Him and Love and Obedience to Him in Order to our Eternal Salvation Declared and Demonstrated by Testimonies of Holy Scripture And the Divine Excellency of the LIGHT WITHIN in distinction from Humane Reason Asserted and Vindicated and the Question concerning its Sufficiency to Salvation truly stated and resolved Where also many other Gospel Doctrins and Practical Christian Truths and Duties are held forth By George Keith London Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeous in Cornhill over-against the Royal Exchange 1698. To The READER Friendly Reader THere are a few things of which I thought fit to give thee notice in relation to the following Treatise First If thou happen to find some few things in it asserted which touch not any of the great Doctrins of the Christian Faith that do not seem well to consist with some passages in some of my former Books I desire thee to reckon them among the things since Retracted by me in my late Book of Explications and Retractations Printed in the Year 1697. which I have done with a sincere Conscience God having been graciously pleased of late times further to enlighten me I know not one thing here delivered in this Treatise that may seem to have any inconsistency with any of my former Books but is contained within those Retractations as to Matter and Substance As to the Doctrin of the holy Trinity namely the Oneness of the Essence of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and their true distinction by their Relative Attributes I thank God I have always had the sound Faith thereof wherein I have fully agreed with all Orthodox Christians in opposition to either Arianum or Sabellianism or any other Heretical Opinion but I acknowledge my weakness in being too scrupulous to own the manner of expressing that distinction by calling them three Persons as other sound Christians upon good ground have called them the which scruple upon good consideration and advisement I have now laid aside and have found freedom to use those terms with all other Orthodox Professors of Christianity for reasons sufficient as I judge I have given on that Head in my following Treatise but this doth not argue in me any change of my Faith seeing as my former Books sufficiently testifie I had the same Faith formerly as touching that great and glorious Mystery that I now have And providing that any do own the truth of the Mystery though they scruple to use the terms of Three Persons I agree with many other charitable Christians not to impose those terms upon them or to charge them with Heresie simply for their scrupling the terms though a needless and singular scrupulosity without any just ground is no wise commendable in any but such who seek to cloak their gross Error by only pretending a scrupulosity to use the terms as the Arguments that stand on Record in Print to this day never Retracted by them evidently prove who have argued not only against the Names or Terms Three Persons but against their being Three and against any distinction betwixt them other than Nominal or in Manifestations and Operations in time are no wise excusable until they retract their former Error For thus they have argu'd as it stands in some of their Printed Books Either they are three nothings or three somethings if three somethings they are three Gods And why should they scruple the word Persons more than the word Trinity since after great Cavillation against Trinity as well as Persons for their not being express Scripture Words some of chief Note among them have said in Print they own the Scripture Trinity and surely they were never desired to own any other nor blamed for not owning any other It is most certain that all the other parts of Christian Doctrin are built on this great Fundamental that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are one God having one Essence and yet truly distinct in their relative Attributes and Properties and to deny their true distinction is fully as great an Error as to deny the Oneness of their Essence and Godhead nor can the true Christian Faith be ever truly taught or understood without that Doctrin therefore it was that Christ commanded his Apostles to Baptise all who should become his Disciples in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost which to be sure they would not do before they did in some measure instruct them in the knowledge of this great Mystery From which it is evident that the Doctrin it self is a main Fundamental of the Christian Religion the denyal of which is a plain overthrowing of the Christian Faith as is likewise the denyal of the Twofold Nature of Christ the one of his Godhead the other of his Manhood by a personal Union constituting one Christ which I have always sincerely believed whereof my former Books are a sufficient witness without those Doctrins it is impossible that the way and manner of Mans Redemption by Christ and how he is given and sent of the Father unto us and how by and through him the Faithful receive remission of Sin and the holy Spirit with his saving Gifts and Graces both from the Father and the Son can ever be truly understood and the denyal of those Doctrins directly tend to establish Deism and Heathenism and subvert totally the Christian Religion Another thing I desire the Reader to notice That whereas I have not so particularly and fully treated of the Moral Part of Christianity as of the other Part respecting matters of Faith I request the Reader not to construe that he had any occasion thereby to judge of me that I laid not as great weight upon the necessary practice of the one viz. the moral Part in the careful observation of all God's Commands as upon the necessary Faith and Knowledge of the other in order to our attaining Eternal Life and Happiness for indeed I hold them both equally necessary to that end All true Christian Morality is built on the true Christian Faith and draweth its greatest motives and obligations to virtuous Living from thence whereby as great a distinction is made betwixt the Christians Virtues and these of the Heathen Virtues as betwixt Silver and Iron or Gold and Brass The great reason therefore of my not treating at present so particularly and fully on the Moral Part is because the necessity

or Voice or Written Q. Why is Christ called the word A. Because as the Word or Speech of a Man makes known his Mind and Will to the Hearers and is the Interpreter of his Mind so Christ the Essential and Eternal Word makes known the Mind and Will of God to Angels and Men and is the Interpreter of his Mind and Counsel unto them Which as he did from the beginning by his Holy Inspirations in the Prophets so especially when that Word became Flesh and delivered the Mind and Will of God most fully and clearly by the words of his Mouth in his Body of Flesh upon Earth Q Doth the Scripture contain all things belonging to Faith and Practice A. Yea 2 Tim. 3. 15. SECT II. Q. WHat doth the Scripture teach us concerning God A. That he is a Spirit of Infinite Understanding Power and Goodness unchangeable without beginning or end Omniscient Omnipotent Omnipresent Merciful and Gracious and long Suffering Faithful Just and Holy that he is Light and in him is no Darkness at all the Fountain of living Waters the one only living and true God without Body Parts or Passions John 4. 24. Psal 147. 5. Psal 62. 11. 1 Chron. 29. 11. Gen. 17. 1. Rom. 1. 20. Rom. 2. 4. Psal 31. 19. Mal. 3. 6. Psal 33. 11. Psal 139. 1. to 12. Exod. 34. 6. 7. Deut. 32. 4. Deut. 7 9. 1 John 1. 5. Jerem. 2. 13. Deut. 4. 6. Jer. 10. 10. Numb 23. 19. Q What doth the Scripture further teach us concerning God A. That this one God is the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God one Essence and Being equal in Wisdom Goodness Power and Glory 1 John 5. 7. Q. How are these three distinguished A. By their relative Attributes and Properties Q. What is the relative Attribute and Property of the Father A. That he hath begot the Son from everlasting before all Ages and Times and before all Creatures but he himself is begot of none Prov. 8. 22. Psal 2. 7. Prov. 30. 4. Micah 5. 2. Q. What is the relative Attribute and Property of the Son A. That he was begot of the Father alone from all Eternity or before all Ages and Times and Creatures and therefore he is called his only begotten Son and the word that was in the beginning with God and that word was and is God John 1. 1 14. John 17. 5. John 8. 42. Q. What is the relative Attribute and Property of the Holy Ghost A. That he hath proceeded from the Father and from the Son from all Eternity and before all Ages and Times and Creatures and therefore he is called the Spirit of the Father and of the Son John 15 26. John 16. 8. Q. Is it not therefore a great Error in them who say these three are only distinct in Name and are only three Manifestations and Operations in Time A. Yea. Q Doth the Scripture call them three Persons A. Though the express Names of three Persons are not in the Scriptures yet the equivalent to these Names are in the Scriptures for Personal Acts and Properties are attributed to them distinctly in Scripture the Father is brought in saying Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Psal 2. 7. Here is I denoting the first Person who is the Father and thou and thee denoting the second Person who is the Son Again the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool Psal 110. 1. Here is I the first Person who is the Father speaking to the Son who is the second Person Again the Father is said in Scripture to know the Son and the Son is said to know the Father and the Father is said to love the Son and the Son is said to love the Father Matth. 11. 27. John 3. 35. John 14. 31. Now to know and love are personal Acts and Properties and can belong to none but distinct Persons also the Father is said to give the Son and to send the Son and the Son is said to be given and sent of the Father or to proceed or come from the Father and the Holy Ghost is said to hear and to speak and is sent both by the Father and the Son and the Spirit is said to search all things even the deep things of God all which are Personal Acts and Properties and plainly denote three Persons John 16. 13. 1 Cor. 2. 10. Q. But as Peter James and John are not only three Persons but three distinct and separate Men why are not the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost if they be three Persons three Gods A. Because Peter James and John are three separate Persons having three distinct separate Beings and Essences and are in three distinct separate Places having three distinct separate Minds and Wills therefore they are three distinct Men but the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are not three distinct separate Persons having distinct Beings and Essences in distinct and separate Places and having distinct Minds and Wills but they have one Essence Mind and Will and where ever one is there is the other the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are in all things and over all and through all and their Operations and Effects in and over all the Creatures are the same the Father worketh all things by the Son and the Father and the Son work all things by the Holy Spirit Q. What is the true English of the word Trinity A. Three and one from the compounded Latin word tri unit as signifying God to be one in Essence and yet to be three not in Essence but in their Personal and Relative Attributes and Properties Q. Is there then any just occasion of Offence to say the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Trinity A. Nay Q. Whence then hath come so great Offence in some to find fault with those sound words as Trinity and three Persons A. It hath partly come in some from their not understanding the true signification of the words and it hath partly in others come from too great a scrupulosity because they are not express Scripture words whereas those very scrupulous Persons use many other words in giving the account of their Faith and Principles that are not express Scripture words and in others it hath come from a prejudice against the true Doctrine and Faith of the Mystery it self not only denying the three Persons but denying any distinction betwixt them other than three Names or three Manifestations and Operations in time and lastly in some it hath come from a Spirit of contradiction affecting singularity and to seem wiser than others whereof many other instances can be given in other Cases and particularly their finding fault with the word Humanity or Humane Nature of Christ which of late these very Persons have owned so that it may be expected that as they are become so tame and conformable to own the word Humanity and

inward Principle and Seed of God in Mens Hearts as some have most perversly construed a great part of which Blessing was forgiveness of Sins and Justification through the Righteousness of Christ without us freely imputed to us for that Abraham believed in Christ as he was to come and suffer death in the Flesh and rise again is clear Abraham saw my day and rejoyced said Christ yea he received Isaac after he had laid him on the Altar in a Figure that signified his Faith that Christ should not only suffer Death but be rais●d from the Dead And for Justification by Faith in Christ given to the holy Ancients Paul Cites that place of the Old Testament in Habukkuk 2. 4. The just shall live by his faith And Peter qu●●es a place in Isaiah 2. 8 16. 1 Pet. 2. 6. Behold I lay in Zion a chief Corner Stone Elect Precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded And that Cloud of Witnesses mentioned Heb. 11. Who are all said to have dyed in Faith their Faith did certainly respect Christ Jesus as he was to suffer death and rise again because he was and is the sure Foundation to whom all the Prophets gave witness that whosoever believeth in him should receive remission of Sins Q. How then is James to be understood who saith Abraham was justified by Works and Rachab A. Not in the sight of God but as an evidence both to themselves and others that they were justified Q. Are they not very fallacious who Teach Justification by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to the Faithful and mean thereby the inward Work of Righteousness or Sanctification wrought in them A. Yea. Q. And is it not Popish and contrary to Scripture to Teach that the Works which Christ works in us or which we work by the help of his Spirit are meritorious of Justification seeing Abraham whose Works were such was not justified by his Works A. Yea. Q. And is not the ground of their so Teaching false and proceeding from great Ignorance whereas they ●y the Works that Christ or the Spirit works in us are not ours but Christ's for though Christ by his Spirit is the efficient Cause of them yet he is not the only efficient for we also work with him and we are the only formal Cause of them it is not Christ in us that Repents Believes Obeys but we by his help and assistance and therefore tho' Christ is a perfect Agent yet while we are not perfect the Work is not perfect for the nature of the Effect followeth the imperfect Cause especially the formal Cause An Effect altogether good must have all its Causes perfectly good otherwise if there be a defect but in one of them the Effect is imperfect A. Yea. SECT IX Q. WHat use hath that inward Law of Righteousness or Illumination in all Men given them by Christ if no Man can be eternally Saved by it without Faith in Christ Crucified A. It is of great use as it is a preparatory Ministration of the Spirit in a lower degree and kind of Operation for convincing of Sin and giving the knowledge of Sin and working in the Soul a sense of God's Wrath and Judgment for Sin that is of that service to Men as when Men are Condemned to dye for their Crimes and afterwards hear of the King 's gracious and free Pardon their former Condemnation makes the Pardon the more precious and acceptable to them That was it that Paul calls the Ministration of Death and Condemnation 2 Cor. 3. 7 9. that was glorious in its Season that is antecedent and preparatory to the Ministration of Justification that followeth and is much more glorious For as God led Israel of old by Sin●●i where the Law was given with terror to Sion and Jerusalem that signifieth the Vision of Peace and where the Temple was built without the noise of a Hammer 1 Kings 6. 7. So God now leads his Israel through the inward Ministration of the Law to the inward Ministration of the Gospel and New Covenant of Grace of Life and Peace Q. What other use hath it especially to the Faithful who are come under the New Covenant A. So far as the dictates and teaching Light and Knowledge of it extends it serves for a Rule of Life together with the Scriptures in things of moral Honesty Justice and Temperance for if our Reason as Men be still of great use to us in things of Reason certainly that Law or Light in us and in all Men that is greater and more excellent than Humane Reason is of great use and service to the most Faithful And Obedience to it as a Rule of moral Life is so necessary that no Man can be saved without sincere Obedience to it Q. But doth not the more special Light and Illumination of Faith given to the Faithful under the New Covenant make the other void and useless and as it were extinguish it as the Light of the Day seems to extinguish the Light of the Night A. Nay For as Christ said he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them so he is not come either Outwardly or Inwardly to destroy either our Reason as Men or any former Light or Illumination that he had given nor doth the Light of the Day extinguish the Light of the Night strictly speaking though it may seem so to do but doth rather strengthen it and better it And why should the more excellent Light of Faith extinguish this other Light of Moral Justice more than it doth extinguish our Reason as Men which by experience is not so found but the contrary that the more we are enlightned by or with the Light of Faith our Reason is the more refined pure and clear strong and vigorous Q. What ground of Scripture is there for Two Lights or more than one Is there not rather one only Light which is God and the Word Christ which is one with him that inwardly shineth in the hearts of all Men A. The Light originally is but one and that is God and Christ the Eternal Word the Fountain of all Light Wisdom Grace and Goodness yet this one Fountain sendeth forth its various Streams according to his good Pleasure and though there is but one God yet there is diversity of Operations and but one Christ yet diversity of Ministrations and but one Spirit yet diversity of Gifts as the Scripture plainly declareth hence we find in Scripture that God is called the Father of Lights and the God of all Grace also we read both of the manifold Wisdom of God and his manifold Grace and of the seven Spirits of God answering to the seven Lamps or Lights in the Sanctuary which Solomon according to the Wisdom given him of God increased the number of unto Ten. Q. But can God or Christ as he is the Word be said to be a Light in Men either universally in all Men or specially in faithful Men A. Yea both universally

and hearing of the Word and Prayer and Thanksgiving A. Baptism with Water in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and the celebration of the Supper in the use of the external Elements of Bread and Wine with Prayer and Thanksgiving to remember and shew forth the Lord's Death till he come both which are not only proper means to preserve the Doctrin of the Christian Faith being duly practised but are means of Grace Seals of God's Govenant of Grace and Signs of our Union and Communion with Christ and one with another in him Matth. 28. 19. Matth. 26. 27. 28. 29. 1. Cor. 10. 16. 1 Cor. 11. 23. Q. To whom is Baptism to be administred A. To none but such as in the judgment of Charity may be reckoned Members of Christ and of his Church Q. Is it to be administred to any more than once A. Nay but once to the same Person Q. Why but once A. Because that signifieth our ingrafting into Christ and our entrance into the Church as into a new World or Kingdom which is but once Q. Is the Supper to be frequently administred to the Faithful A. Yea as frequently as with possible convenience it can be done Q. Why is it to be administred frequently A. Because we need to be but once Regenerated or born again whereof Baptism with Water is a Sign but being once Regenerated we need to be frequently nourished of which the Supper is a Sign that frequently ought to be used as appears both by the Command of Christ As often as ye eat c. and the example of the Faithful in the Acts of the Apostles Q. Doth not Baptism signifie remission of Sin and our Justification by Christ and his precious Blood shed for us as well as our Regeneration and the mortification and crucifying the Old Man with his Deeds A. Yea. Q. And doth not the Supper signifie remission of Sin and our Justification by Christ as well as our spiritual Nourishment by Christ's Body and Blood and holy Spirit with the saving Gifts and Graces thereof A. Yea. Q. Is the participation of the Body and Blood of Christ together with the holy Spirit and his saving Gifts and Graces so tyed and confin'd to the use of the external Elements that none can have the things signified without these outward Signs A. Nay Q. What need is there then to use them A. Because of Christ's Command and the great Spiritual profit that the Faithful have by the due use of them where they can be duly had even as in the Case of hearing the Word Preached by word of Mouth the ordinary means of Faith yet such hearing i● not of such absolute necessity so as none can have Faith without hearing a Minister Preach for many have had Faith wrought in them by the Word or Doctrin read by them or by others read to them who perhaps never heard the Word duly Preached by any Man Q. How are the words of Christ to be understood this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood shed for the remission of the Sins of many How is the Cup the New Testament A. By the Cup is meant the Wine in the Cup by an ordinary Figure in Speech call'd a Metonymie where the Name of the thing containing is given to the thing contained Q. How is the Wine in the Cup the New Testament in Christ's Blood A. By another Metonymie as Circumcision was called God's Covenant under the Law being the Seal of it so the Wine as well as the Bread in the Supper is called by Christ the New Testament as being the outward Seal of it Q. But what is the need or use of an external Seal of the New Testament or Covenant seeing the Faithful have the inward Seal of the Spirit A. The inward doth no more take away the use and benefit of the outward to the Faithful now than the inward Seal of the Spirit to Faithful Abraham did take away the use of the outward Seal of Circumcision from him which was given him of God to be a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith Q. What is meant by Christ's New Testament and whether it is one and the same with the New Covenant A. It is the same for Matter and Substance but that it further denotes Christ's Legacy left us in his Will and Testament and confirmed by those outward Seals appointed by himself that being the Nature of all Wills and Testaments to be in force by the Death of the Testator Q. How doth it appear that these outward things as Water in Baptism and the Bread and Wine in the Supper are Seals of the New Testament or Covenant of Grace A. Because the nature and manner of all Covenants require some external Signs or Seals for their stronger confirmation and as it is the usual manner of Nations to confirm their Covenants by or with outward Signs or Seals so it hath been always God's way in all his Covenanting with Men or with any People to confirm it by some outward Signs or Seals as the Sacrifices before the Law and Circumcision and the Passover and the Sacrifices under the Law Psalm 50 5. Q Is it not therefore a great Sin and highly provoking to God Almighty and doing contempt to our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ not only to reject the Seals of his Covenant and Testament from practising them so that they can be duly had but to deny and vilifie them with the reproachful Names of beggarly Elements and worldly Rudiments yea if God be not very merciful to them to provoke him to deprive them of the spiritual Blessings of his Covenant for their so great contempt through their great Ignorance God grant that it may not be wilful in some And do they not act as foolishly in the Case as if one that had a rich Legacy left him by the Will of his elder Brother should in his folly tear away the Seal of it which in Law renders it null and void A. Yea. Q. How do the faithful the eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of Christ A. Not by the bodily Mouth but by a true Faith and sincere and servent Love and Devotion Q. But may not Persons feed upon the inward Life and Spirit of Christ without feeding by Faith on the Flesh and Blood of Christ A. Nay according to Christ's plain and express words Joh. 6. 53. Unless ye eat my Flesh and drink my Blood ye have no Life in you the Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man together with the Fat and Marrow of the inward Life and Spirit of Christ even whole Christ God man is the Food of the Faithful by him if an e●●er in the true door he shall go in and out and find Pastore without in his Flesh and Manhood within in his Spirit and Godhead as Augustin and other spiritual Writers have applyed those words John 10. 9. Q. Doth not this hold forth the necessity of Faith in Christ as he was outwardly crucified