1.15 Another Answer to the Question may be that Christ hath not made by his death full satisfaction to the justice of God for mens sins upon any such terms as either to indulge or harden any man in the practise of sin by securing him from the stroak of Gods displeasure when he offendeth nor yet to deprive God of his Liberty to govern the World or particularly his own house the houshold of Faith in wisdome righteousness and equity and consequently to judge and punish delinquents in either when he seeth just cause but the compleatness or fulness of this Satisfaction standeth in this that God may in consideration thereof without the least reflection upon or disparagement unto his justice or perfect hatred of sin forgive all men all their sins upon their unfeigned Faith and Repentance notwithstanding he may in some cases as in that of David 2 Sam. 12. ver 13 14. upon another account as viz. for the vindication of his righteousness and impartialitie in the Government of the world before the men thereof correct with temporal chastisements great and known Offenders the truth of their Faith and Repentance notwithstanding Quest 17. How long did Christ remain in the state of death Answ By the space of three daies and three nights Mat. 12.40 that is of one whole natural day in the middle and part of two other of these dayes Now a natural day consisting of 24 hours and so comprehending the night in it our Saviour by the figure Synecdoche expresseth two parts of two of these dayes and one intire one by three daies and three nights So that he reckoneth that part of the sixth day of the week on which he was crucified which we call Friday which remained after his being crucified dead and laid in the grave being between three and four of the clock in the afternoon unto the end of it this part I say of this natural day he reckoneth for the first of the three daies and three nights of which he speaketh The seventh day of the week called Saturday the whole time whereof he remained in the state of death and in the grave he accounteth for the second That part of the first day of the week by us called the Lords day or Sunday which was before his resurrection he computeth for the third and last of these three daies and three nights Quest 18. Why did Christ remain thus long viz. three daies and three nights in the sense declared in the hand or state of death Answ Because God judged this a sufficient time to evince and prove the truth and certainty of his death for the full satisfaction of those whom it concerned to believe it some having been thought to be dead for several hours together who yet were not dead but in a trance only Quest 19. Why did he remain no longer in the state of death but only for three daies and three nights Answ First because by this time as was even now said he had sufficiently confirmed the truth of his death by which he had wrought the great work of Redemption and made attonement for the World So that there was no further necessity or occasion of his remaining in the bonds of death And it was most contrary to his will and pleasure to cause or suffer his Holy one to suffer impertinently who taketh care that his ordinarie Saints be not in heaviness except it be when need requireth it 1 Pet. 1 6. Secondly it was the unchangeable will of God according as it was foretold by David long before Psal 16.10 compared with Acts 2.27 c. that his Holy one meaning Christ should not see corruption Now it hath been the observation of some and is I conceive the judgment of more that a dead body after three daies lying in the Grave begins to putrifie and corrupt which seemeth also by that saying of Martha concerning the interred body of her Brother Lazarus Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four daies Joh. 11.39 to have been received for truth among the Jewes So that God to keep his Holy one in the grave longer then three daies from seeing Corruption must have wrought a Miracle and not long after another Miracle greater then that viz. in raising him from the dead But God is not pleased to multiply miracles but only to accommodate great necessities or occasions Quest 20. But if the death of Christ was only temporal and of no longer Continuance then three dayes and three nights how can it be a reasonable compensation to the justice or just severitie of God against sin which required the eternal death of so many millions as should sin Answ To this Question Answer hath in part been given formerly where it was in effect said that the infinite dignity of the person considered it was altogether as high ah act or as high an expression of Gods just hatred and severity against sin not to absolve those or any of those that had sinned but only upon the account of the death yea be it but of the temporal death of Jesus Christ as it would have been to have punished all and every one of the said sinners with death eternal Unto which this may be added that it was not eternal death as such I mean as Eternal which the justice of God required of those that should sin or had sinned but death simply In that day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die or according to the Hebrew dying thou shalt die Gen. 2.17 This death indeed consequentially and as it were by accident would have been eternal viz. through the weakness and inability of the creature on whom it was to be inflicted being not able to deliver it self from it For if for argument sake it could be supposed that any creature on which God shall inflict death for sin be it that death which we call temporal could recover it self from under this death or restore it self unto life again it is not reasonable to think that God would punish this creature with another death or inflict death upon it the second time for that sin for which the first death was inflicted The Apostle Paul I conceive insinuates this notion where he saith though by way of allusion that he that is dead or that hath died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is justified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from sin Rom. 6 7. meaning that a perfon having once suffered the sentence of the Law which is Death is not further responsible for his miscarriage but stands in the eye of this Law as innocent or righteous So that the death of Christ though but temporal yet is not only upon a geometrical or upon an equitable account but even upon an arithmetical strict or literal account a full compensation to the justice of God against sin uttering it self in that threatning In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Quest 21. Was there then any occasion or necessity for the Resurrection of
What may be the reason why God extendeth his Threatning of visiting the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation only and no further Answ Because the knowledge of the wickedness of Fathers or Fore-fathers may steadily distinctly and with certainty of report arrive at their posterity in the third or fourth descent by means whereof if they do not consider and take warning they become inexcusable whereas afterwards as in the fifth and sixth Descent and all succeeding the memorial of the wickednesse of their Forefathers begins to be as an old story the ground and original and consequently the truth whereof are uncertain and so the story it self not so apt to affect or make any lively impressions upon the minds of men Besides God limiting and confining himself in his pu nishing of sin unto the third and fourth Generation but enlarging himself in shewing mercy to those that keep his Commandements unto thousands plainly declareth how much more propense he is to reward the righteous then to punish sinners Quest 54. Why doth God in this Commandement rather then in any of the rest threaten to visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children Answ Because Children and posterity are not in so much danger of being wicked or of provoking God upon their Fathers account or by imitating and following them in any other way of wickednesse as in the way of Idolatry and superstitious worship of God especially if the Fathers have had peace and prospered in the world in the way of this sin and the Children been partakers with them in these things A lightsome Instance hereof we have in the contest of the people with the Prophet Jer. 44.17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven and to poure out drink-offerings unto her as we have done we and our Fathers our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem for then had we plenty of victuals and were well and saw no Evill But since c. And that Children generally are more apt to inherit and commonly do inherit the superstitious and idolatrous principles and practises of their Fathers and fore-fathers rather then any other of their sins not relating unto these as well the Scriptures as our own observation of the course of the world in this behalf may sufficiently inform us Hath any nation saith God himself changed their Gods wich yet are no Gods Jer. 2.11 See 2 Kin. 17.28 29. 30 34. ver 41. Thus So these Nations feared the Lord and served their Graven Images both their Children and their Childrens Children as did their Fathers so did they to this day For brevity sake I omit many other places pregnant with confirmation of the point in hand as Ezek. 20 24 30. Amos. 2.4.2 King 15.9 1 King 15.26 c. Quest 55. Why should Children be more prone to imitate and follow their Parents in waies of Superstitions and Idolatry then of other sins Answ One reason hereof may be because though these be very horrid and highly-provoking sins yet have they an appearance and shew of Wisdome Coloss 2.3 and devout affections towards God which no other sin hath We know how plausibly and confidently the Doctors of the Romish perswasion plead the cause of their Superstitions and Idolatrous worship Another in conjunction with this may be that Children for the most part are naturally inclined to think honourably and reverently of their Parents especially in things appertaining unto God and to Salvation and in this respect have a natural aversnesse to disparage their Religion by rejecting and exchanging it for another and by such a practise or means as this to seem jealous or doubtful at least lest they dyed under the displeasure of God and so are cursed eternally And because there is ordinarily such a strong inclination in Children to own and cleave unto that manner and way of vvorshipping God wherein their Fathers and Fore-fathers went before them hence I conceive it is that God in the Scriptures makes it an aggravation of the sin of such Children whose Fathers were true Worshippers of the true God when they turn aside into waies of Idolatry and Superstition that they worship gods whom neither they nor their FATHERS have known Jer. 19.4 Deut. 13.6 32.17 and so likewise that he stiles Idolatrous persons and Nations the Parents or the Fathers and Mothers of those who imitate them in their worship and Religion Thus saith the Lord unto Jerusalem Thy birth and thy Nativity is of the Land of Canaan thy FATHER was an Amorite and thy MOTHER an Hittite meaning that the Inhabitants of Jerusalem complyed with these Nations in their Religion such as it was as readily as if they had been their natural Parents Ezek 16.3 Thirdly out of that Hope and persvvasion which are very incident to Children and posterity That it is well with the souls of their Parents and Fore-fathers in the state of death they are inclinable yea and desirous though at some peradventure to be with them when they dye and to fare as they fare And conceiving that the same Religion and way of worshipping and serving God is a likely means to bring them into the same condition with them after death hence they resolve to professe and practise none other Fourthly and lastly that which is as considerable as any of the former Persons given up to Idolatrous and superstitious Worships are more generally if not universally given up likewise unto some other kind one or more of sin and wickednesse besides We need not appeal to the Authority of Scripture-record for the confirmation of this though here be plenty of it to be found that part of the Christian world which have made conscience of worshipping the true God purely and without the pollutions of flesh-devised worship for severall hundreds of years last past have given a loud testimony unto the truth hereof in one particular the crying sin of Cruelty wiith the bloud and heavy oppressions of many of them and besides have all along known enough and at this day know of the vitious and wicked practises of those who have turned aside unto their own-Idolatrous and superstitious inventions in the worship of God Now persons superstitiously addicted being conscious to themselves of many foul sins which they know to be displeasing unto God when through the patience of God they escape punishment for them and live on peaceably and prosperously in the world they are apt and wont to ascribe no lesse then a kind of mediatorie and attoneing vertue unto their superstitious observances imputing their prosperity and freedome from punishment under the commission of so many sins unto these as if God had as high an esteem of them as themselves This also might be evinced as a truth unquestionable from the Scriptures I mean that will-worshippers and persons devoted to Apocryphal rites and ordinances in the
of some lively resemblance or likeness between them be I say that shall duly ponder these things and follow the reasonable tendency and guidance of them cannot lightly but e're long arrive at this conclusion that this visible and terrene world was molded and formed by God with a kinde of subservient conformity to the world of invisible things o subservient I mean in special reference unto men as namely that these being naturally and without much care or endeavor acquainted with this present world wherewith as being members of it they converse daily might by the opportunity of this their knowledge be the more capable not only of conceiving or apprehending aright but even of believing also the things of the other world when God should cause these to be declared or preached unto them in and by their respective parallels of earth y things As for instance men seeing and knowing that God hath made such an earthly element as water which is proper to cleanse and to separate and wash off any soil or material filth that is contracted by or cleaveth unto their flesh or bodies they are hereby taught and assured the said proportion or parallel between the two worlds and their respective furnitures or things found in the one and in the other supposed that there is somewhat in the other the invisible world that is proper and effectual for the purging or cleansing their souls and consciences from the spiritual filth or defilement of sin And when it shall be declared unto men that this invisible or heavenly water which is so effectual and proper for the washing of the soul from sin is the blood of Jesus Christ this doctrine upon the advantage of the said supposition must needs come to their reasons and judgements with much credibility and likelihood of truth especially if it be considered withal that there was never any thing reported or heard of by any tidings from or out of the invisible world that had the property of washing and cleansing the conscience from sin vested in it but this blood only and yet farther that is not imaginable that there should be any other thing in this world it self I mean the invisible world alike proper for such a purpose There is the same consideration of the material Bread and Wine of this world with their natural and known properties and ends compared with the Bread and Wine of that other world and those properties and effects which the Scripture attributeth unto them So then if the notion of the sympathetical accord between the two worlds which hath been mentioned and which as you have heard is greatly favoured if not somewhat more by the Scriptures themselves will abide the touchstone and shall be found a truth the commodiousness of Sacramental Ordinances for the quickening incouraging and supporting of Faith will recieve much evidence and confirmation by it Or however there being an analogy or resemblance between those material and sensible things which have part and fellowship in these Ordinances and those heavenly things or matters of Faith which are here in their natures represented and in their reallity and truth ratified and confirmed the said Ordinances must needs be subservient unto Faith and to the joy thereof partly by occasioning or causing more effectual and lively impressions of the things to be believed upon the mindes and spirits of men then are usually wrought by hearings partly also and more especially by fixing or fastening them in their mindes or memories with less danger of losing them or suffering by the forgetfulness vanishing or slipping away of them For as a small key or the like being fastened and tied to a greater or to some other thing of greater bulk is not so soon lost as when it is carried or worn alone so neither are spiritual or heavenly things so apt to vanish or slip out of the mindes of men when they are delivered unto and received by them coupled with material and outward things these not being any way likely to be forgotten by them not consequently any thing that is fastened to them This then may be one reason of the Counsel of God in those Sacramental Figures Rites or Ordinances which he hath judged meet to plant in the Paradise of Christian Religion the accomodation of the Faith of the professors thereof Question 7. What is an other reason which you conceive may be given upon the same account or of the same disposition of things by God Answ The two Nations that had been in the womb of the world I mean Jews and Gentile until the blessing of Christian Religion came upon it were now under this and by means of it according to the gracious Counsel and purpose of God to be united and made one and the same body Ephes 2.14 15 16 3.6 Now one of these Nations the Jews having from their forefathers for many ages together been trained up in a Religion and this unquestionably and in a very extraordinary manner delivered unto and imposed on them by God which consisted of a multitude and great variety of external Rites and significant Ceremonies would in all likelihood have been much more averse from the embracing of Christian Religion if it had in no degree at all symbolized with that which they had received from their Forefathers and so lately professed And upon this account the Apostle Paul remindeth them upon occasion of the Sacramental significant Ceremony of Baptisme in Christian Religion as supplying the want of their circumcision endeavouring and hoping by thâ—â— means the better to accomodate this Religion to the temper and frame of their mindes Col. 2.11 In whom also ye are circumcised with incircumcision made without hands in putting off 〈◊〉 body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision Christ Buried with him in Baptism wherein ye are also risen with him c. So that very probable it is that one reason why God was pleased to temper the body of Christian Religion with Sacramental institutions in the frame of it was to render it the more accessible unto the Jews as having by this means somewhat in it of the notion and nature of that Religion which they and their Fathers for many generations as was said had professed and unto which in this respect they were very importunely addicted and devoted For as the Apostle Paul saith That unto the Jews he became as a Jew that is conformed or subjected himself to many of their humors and practices that he might gain the Jews 1 Cor. 9.20 So may it with reverence and speaking after the manner of men be said of God himself that he also in modelling the scheme or body of Christianity became a Jew condescended to the weakness of the Jewish genius that he might the better gain the Jews thereunto So that as the multitude of Rites and Ceremonies in the Jewish Religion whilst they continued were as a partition wall Eph. 2 14. that separated or divided the Jews from the Gentiles So on the
before and without his being made Man But he was not a Person actually and every ways accomplished and fitted to perform the great works of the Redemption and Salvation of the World until as the Scripture speaketh Joh. 1.14 He was made flesh that is assumed the Humane Nature into personal union with his God-head Quest 9. But did not his assuming the Nature of Man into Vnion with his Divine Person destroy the truth of his being a Person causing him to cease from being a Person any longer and to become some other thing Answ In no wise Because he did not take or unite another Person to his Divine Person but only another Nature namely the Nature of Man wherein his Divine Person subsisted without any breach made upon any personal propriety in Him For that Humane Body and Humane Soul which He assumed was no Person of Mankind nor did they ever subsist of or by themselves or apart from his God-head only his assuming and uniting them unto his Divine Person made this of a consideration by it self far differing from all other persons subsisting either in the one nature or the other I mean either in the Divine Nature or Humane Quest 10. What occasion or necessity was there for the Incarnation of the Son of God or that Christ should become Man Answ As it was one of the greatest highest and most wonderful dispensations wherein God ever appeared to clothe his Son with flesh and to invest him with the Nature of Man So was there the greatest occasion before him that can lightly be imagined to put forth his hand thereunto viz. The saving of a miserable lost and ruined world in a way which pleased him as excellently comporting with his Infinite Wisdom and Righteousness Quest 11. Was it then necessary for the Salvation of the World that Christ should become Man Answ Had it not been some-ways at least or in some respect necessary hereunto it is not likely that God would have lift up his hand to so great a Dispensation in order to it it being repugnant to Infinite Wisdom to levie great and more then ordinary means when the end may be otherwise obtained Quest 12. In what respect was it necessary for the Salvation of the World that Christ should be Incarnate and made Man Answ That God might save the World in a way and by means pleasing unto himself and well becoming him Quest 13. But might not God have saved the World without the Incarnation of his Son Answ It is the opinion of many pious and learned men both Ancient and Modern that He might And if we respect the absoluteness of his Power and the justness of his Prerogative to do with his own what he pleaseth unto which neither his Justice though Essential to him nor his Severity against sin are any Enemies it seems very reasonable to conceive that indeed he might But if we respect the Infiniteness of his Zeal not unto things or ways that are simply good or lawful but unto such which are best and most excellent and honourable for him it seems more probable that he could not inasmuch as he could not will so to do it Quest 14. But doth the Scripture afford any ground to conceive that it was more honourable for Him to save the World by means of his Sons being made Man then it would have been to have done it in some other way Answ The Scripture plainly affirmeth That it became him intending to bring many Sons unto Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings Heb. 2.10 Which words imply that no other way of saving the World would have become at least so well become him that is have been so honorable unto him as that which he hath now taken as viz. by such a Mediatour or Undertaker of the work whom he might Consecrate unto it or put into the most regular capacity for the performance of it by the suffering of death Now Christ had not been capable of this Consecration unto the great work you speak of the saving of the World by suffering death had he not assumed such a Nature wherein he might suffer it Besides if it should he said or thought that there is or was any other way of saving the World equally or as well becoming God as to save it by the Incarnation of his Son as now he hath done he cannot be said to have chosen or taken up this way by counsel but rather that he fell upon it as it were by lot For where several means are equally and in every respect alike expedient and this equality perfectly known before hand there is no place for counsel or for choyce properly so called Quest 15. But why might not God with as much honour to himself have saved the World by an Angel or by the Incarnation of an Angel as by the Incarnation of his Son Answ First The just severity of God against Sin being provoked by Man could not so well or so observeably satisfie or content it self by the Sacrifice of an Angel being a creature of another nature differing from that which had provoked it Secondly There being a world of men that had provoked God the death or annihilation of an Angel or of the Humane Nature though personally united to an Angel if such a thing could or should be supposed would have been a Sacrifice of no considerable Balance in the Eye of Justice to make an attonement for such a vast number of Creatures so considerable as Men are Thirdly and lastly The Honour and Dignity in Equity belonging to so great an Undertaking prosperously atchieved and performed as the Salvation of a lost World were too high and glorious an Investiture for the greatest of Angels and only becoming the only begotten Son of God See Phil. 2. v. 9 10 11. Quest 16. But though it be granted that the Incarnation of the Son of God was necessary for the Redemption and Salvation of the World yet whether was it necessary that he should be conceived and born of a Virgin and not in the ordinary way of natural Propagation Answ There may be several reasons why it should be necessary or at least why it should be more expedient and better becoming the Wisdom of God that he should be born of a Virgin then according to the course of ordinary Propagation Of which reasons one of the chief may be this It being the will and pleasure of God to involve Adam's whole posterity viz. which should according to the course of nature descend from him and which was seminally in his Loyns in the guilt of his first sin and condemnation due thereunto it was necessary that Christ should be conceived and born in a way besides the course of Nature that so he might be born free from this guilt and condemnation and so be in a due capacity to make attonement for those that were lyable unto them Quest 17. But if Christ were the Son of a Virgin or of a Woman only
and not of a Man also Why is he so frequently in the Scriptures especially in the Gospel both by himself and others styled the Son of Man and never the Son of a Woman Answ Although he be no where expresly called the Son of a Woman yet he is said to have been made of a Woman Gal. 4.4 And he is called the first-born Son of Mary Mat. 1.25 where it is likewise said ver 23. that a Virgin should conceive and bring forth a Son But when he is so oft termed The Son of Man the word Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek rather noteth the kind then the sex being a word as well of the Feminine as Masculine Gender and comprehended both sexes And though Christ was not the Son of any Man by immediate Propagation as all other men have been are and will be yet he was the Son of many Male-Progenitours as of David Abraham Adam and many others as is to be seen Mat. 1. compared with Luk. 3. Quest 18. But is Christ◠so oft styled the Son of Man for no other reason but only because he was a male-member of Mankind or because he had Men to his Progenitours Answ Although he could not properly be styled The Son of Man without the one and the other of both these yet neither the one of them nor the other nor both together seem to be the adequate or chief ground of that so frequent a denomination of him Quest 19. What then do you conceive or judge may be the chief reason or ground of that Appellation Answ I suppose to accommodate and relieve the infirmity or weakness both of the Faith and of the flesh of men For Christ being a Person so infinitely above them as in respect of his Divine Nature or God-head so in Glory Majesty Holiness Power place of Residence c. as he is the very thought of him without some allay or other to quallifie it must needs be burthensome if not over-whelming to their frail and weak flesh But the consideration that in the midst of all this his super-transcendent elevation above them yet is he bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh and communicates in the same nature with them that he is the Son of Man as well as the Son of God this much sweetneth their meditation of him and strengtheneth their flesh to bear the weight of his glory and of the apprehension of it much more comfortably CHAP. IV. Of the Life Death Resurrection Ascension and Glorification of Christ and of his coming to Judgement Quest 1. WHat necessity was there that Christ for the Redemption and Salvation of Men besides his being incarnate or made Man should live and converse in the world for several years amongst men Or If his life had been taken from him assoon as he received it or assoon as he was born into the world had ii not been sufficient Answ It was necessary in sundry respects that Christ should not only be conceived and born into the world but that he should also live to a good maturity of years walk and converse with men on Earth for a competent time c. This was necessary chiefly in four respects Quest 2. What is the first of these Answ It was necessary that the Captain of the Salvation of those that should believe should go before them in such a way of life and conversation wherein God judged it meet to impose it as a law upon all those that were to be saved to walk that is in a way of Innocency Holiness and all submissive Obedience unto God Heb. 7.26 1 Pet. 2.21 22. Mat. 11.29 Quest 3. What is a second consideration in respect of which it was necessary that Christ should live to the compleat age of a Man in the world Answ That he might kindle the fire of the Gospel in the world for which he was sent before he left it Luk. 12.49 that is that he might plant the Doctrine of it as it were by his own hands and make choyce of men for Apostles whom he might send forth with a charge and instructions to publish and preach the same far and near throughout the world Heb. 2.3 4. Mat. 28.18 19 20. Mar. 16.15 16 17. Quest 4. What is a third Consideration inducing the said necessity Answ That the laying down of his life might be a voluntary Sacrifice or Free-will-offering and consequently of the higher acceptance with God For had he not lived to years of discretion and to the use of reason he could not have offered himself unto God nor have given himself a ransom for all nor have laid down his life of himself c. In which voluntary resignments of himself into the hands of death according to the will of his Father the Scripture placeth much of the efficacy of his Death for the work of Redemption Heb. 9.15 1 Tim. 2.6 Joh. 10.17 18. with other places Quest 5. What is the fourth and last of the said Considerations Answ That by this means the truth of such Scripture-Predictions might be salved which either directly or implicitely presignified that his life should be continued unto him in the flesh until he arrived at the just age or years of a Man Quest 6. But Christian Religion doth not only teach that Christ was made flesh and that he lived in the world to Mans estate but that he suffered death also Was there any necessity of this for the work of Redemption and Salvation of men Answ It was declared in the former Chapter (a) Q. 16. how and in what respects the death of Christ was necessary for the Salvation of Men. In that way of saving them in which only as being most honourable unto him God hath been graciously pleased to do it the death of Christ is soveraignly necessary hereunto yea so necessary that it may be truly said No death of Christ ho life of Man Quest 7. How or what doth the death of Christ contribute towards the Redemption or Salvation of the World Answ It contributeth toward these by way of Ransom or Attonement that is it is in the Eye of Gods Justice or just severity against Sin a valuable consideration for the Sin of the whole World or for the discharge of all those from guilt and punishment who have sinned against him how many or how great soever their sins have been So that he judgeth and this according to the most apparent truth that he hath as fully manifested his just displeasure and indignation against sin by delivering up his Son Christ unto death as he should or could have done by inflicting the vengeance of Eternal fire upon all and every person of mankind that have sinned Quest 8. But for whom or for the expiation or taking away of whose sins did Christ suffer death Or Whose salvation did God intend by it Answ Doubtlesse Christ suffered death for all men and the Salvation of all men was intended by God by it For the Scripture expresly saith that
it should never do the like unto any of them Whereas it is most certain that God never yet denyed justification unto life unto any that relyed or trusted on him for it yea he hath made many promises great and precious pregnant and expresse unto the World yea and hath bound them wirh the greatest oath that himself or any other is capable of swearing that he never will deny it unto any such Quest 19. What incouragements or motives have men and women to believe in God and in Christ Answ Great and many yea greater and more then unto the performance of any other duty yea or action whatsoever and more especially Ten. Quest 20. What is the first of the Ten Answ The most great and invaluable Recompence of Reward which God hath annexed unto Faith both by an unchangeable Decree and by a Promise that can never fail Heb. 10.35 Silver and Gold and precious Stones Crowns and Kingdomes of the Earth with all the Pomp and Pleasures attending them are but dark and dull colours to shadow out or make a representation of the glorious Blessednesse of those that believe Quest 21. What is another of these incouragements or motives to believe Answ That whatsoever a mans sins hath been or how great soever his present unworthinesse is he shall not be rejected by God or by Jesus Christ in his believing nor upbraided with presumption boldnesse or the like but shall most certainly be accepted with favour and heavenly indulgence And him that cometh unto me saith Christ Joh. 6.37 that is whosoever believeth in me as ver 35. I will in no wise cast out which is as if he should have said I will sooner do that which is most abhorring to my nature and disposition yea or most repugnant to my glory then offer the least indignity or unkindnesse or send empty away any person whatsoever that shall come unto me by Faith for Justification or Saltion Quest 22. What is your third motive unto Faith Answ That the greater and more notorious and publique any mans sins have been the greater and more weighty will his Testimony be by believing both to the freenesse and fulnesse of the grace of God in Christ and to his truth and faithfulnesse also in his greatest promises as likewise unto the perfection and fulnesse of the attonement made by Christ in his death for the sins of men And therefore the acceptation of such persons with God and with Jesus Christ upon their believing is of all other mens the least questionable Quest 23. What is a fourth motive or incouragement to believing Answ That God is a great lover of that Creature of his which is called Man and that men have the precedency of the Angels themselves in his affections and good will and that he hath from the beginning of the world plainly declared such his inclinations and respects towards them by admitting such of them as were meet and capable of so great honour into friendly and familiar communion and fellowship with his Majesty imparting such of his secrets unto them as were expedient for them to know The Scripture-records concerning Abel Enoch Noah Abraham Jacob Ioseph Moses Samuel David Solomon with all the Prophets generally and many others give ample Testimony hereunto And Iesus Christ under the notion and name of the Wisdome of God is said to rejoice in the habitable part of his Earth not of his Heavens that is amongst men not among Angels as it followeth and my delight were with the Sons of Men. Prov. 8.31 Quest 24. What is your fifth motive to stirre up men to believe Answ That God in the heighth of his glory and unconceivable Splendor and brightnesse of his Majesty is altogether unlike the generality of those that are called Gods upon Earth Kings Princes Potentates and Grandees of the World who are more ready to tread and trample upon to grind the faces and to break the bones of those that are beneath them and under their power especially if they have at any time provoked them or been disobedient unto them then to commiserate or relieve them in their distresse or to lift up from dunghil or take them into any part or degree of fellowship with them in their worldly felicity The Lord saith David is high above all Nations and his Glory above the Heavens Who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high who yet humbleth himself to behold the things in Heaven and in the Earth He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghil That he may set him with Princes c. Psal 113.5 6 7 8. There is nothing at all in God but what rightly considered rendereth him lovely and desirable especially in the eye of his Creature-man Yea his Attributes and all his perfections as they stand declared in his word duely weighed and layed together commend and set him forth as a God to speak with all due reverence made on purpose to be trusted and depended on for every thing good and desirable Quest 25. What is your sixth incouragement or motive to believing Answ The consideration of that absolute and utmost necessity that lyeth upon all men to believe if they mean or desire either ever to be truly happy or to escape the heavy doom of being for ever most miserable Neither is there Salvation in any other said Peter to the Iews being filled with the Holy Ghost when he spake Acts 4.8.12 for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved And as there is no other name undr Heaven given by God unto men whereby to be saved but only the name of Christ so there is no other way or means whereby persons capable by years and reason of believing may be saved by this Name but only by believing in it See Ioh. 3.18 Mar. 16.16 with very many places beside Quest 26. Your seventh motive or incouragement the same way what may it be Answ Seriously to consider that to believe is not only if so much the benefit or advancement of the Creature believing as the honour and magnifying of the name of God of his grace and faithfulnesse in the great promises of the Gospel and so of the name of Iesus Christ and of the efficacy and fulnesse of that ransome which he hath paid for the Redemption of the World which are matters more highly considerable then the Salvation of any particular person that shal believe He that hath received his Testimony saith Iohn that is that believeth him teaching and affirming that God sent him into the World for the Salvation of all those that shal believe in him hath set to his Seal that God is true Ioh. 3.33 meaning that in doing this in that avouching of the truth and faithfulnesse of God in the Gospel which is done by any mans true and cordial believing he performes a very notable service unto him and of high acceptation with him And Abraham in respect doubtlesse
of the signal service of his believing was counted and called the Friend of God Iam. 2.23 The act of believing is frequently spoken of as an act of obedience unto God and under the like notion with the performance of any other duty commanded by God Rom. 1.5 16.19.26 1 Joh. 3.23 Quest 27. What is the effect or substance of your eighth motive unto men to believe Answ They may by the exemplarinesse of their believing be great and blessed Benefactours unto many others and cause them also to glorifie God in the day of their visitation according to what the Apostle informed the Corinthians in somewhat a like Case And your zeal saith he hath provoked many The greater and thicker the cloud of witnesses is wherewith men shall be compassed about as the Apostles phrase is Heb 12.1 the greater proportionably is their encouragement to believe and it is much more easie to fall in with a multitude in any way they shall go then to adventure solitarily upon any great action or to cast in our Lot in such a case only with a few The Faith of Abraham alone how generative hath it been filling the world all along the succeeding ages thereof with believers like unto the stars in the firmament of Heaven for number Upon the account of which service God himself honoured him with the signal Title or Appellation of being called The Father of Believers Romans 4.11.16 Quest 28. What may be your ninth Encouragement unto Believing Answ To consider that a man by meanes of his Faith especially when it shall be grown to any maturity and strength may live at a very excellent and Prince-like rate of Comfort Peace and Joy Yea and this under the greatest tribulations and afflictions that he is like to suffer in this World Rom. 5.2.3 15.13 2 Cor. 1.24 8.2 Heb. 10.34 1 Pet. 1.6.8 How costly or chargeable soever in one kind or other a mans Faith may be unto him either in maintaining or keeping of it or in the managing or profession of it in the world it will bear its own charges with a great overplus of Satisfaction The life that the Apostle Paul lived in the flesh and he lived like a Prince alwaies rejoycing and in possession of all things 2 Cor. 6.10 He lived by the Faith of the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him Gal. 2.20 Quest 29. What is your tenth and last motive to invite any man to believe Answ To consider that all that he adventures upon the truth and certainty of the Gospel in his believing it all the hazard he runns by depending upon God for Salvation is not much considerable Suppose that a mans believing should expose him to the losse of all that he possesseth or might enjoy in this World yea and that he should have no return of his Adventure but that impossibillities should interpose between him and his hopes and expectations as that the Gospel should prove a devised fable or that God should suffer his truth and faithfulnesse to fail or the like yet the lose which the person we speak of should even in this case sustain by his believing would amount to no great matter of lamentation or despondency it would be of nothing more then what many wise and sober men amongst the heathen despised and made little reckoning of I mean the transitory and empty enjoyments and contentments of this World Whereas on the other hand the matters of benefit and gain with the promise and hope whereof the Gospel inviteth men to believe are so unmeasurably rably vast and great that if the credit of the Gospel holds so that a mans Faith returnes safe laden with the Treasures of Life and Immortality he is a made man for ever all the desires of his heart will cease through an aboundance of Satisfaction and Joy Now such opportunities wherein little is expended or put to the venture and yet many hundreds and thousands of profit and advantage under the greatest probability expected are wont to be much taking with men of ordinary reason and understanding in the affairs of this wo ld and improved accordingly How much rather should men put to hazatd or were it to part with only that which is not for this is the Character or description of the best of this world given by the Holy Ghost Prov. 23.5 upon the credit of the Gospel when as there are greater richer probabilities yea and higher assurances of all the great things mentioned and promised therein then ever any Merchant or any the wariest adventurer of this world ever had to receive that which he parted with with advantage Quest 30. You have spoken much of Faith is not the grace of hope of much affinity with it Or how do they differ or agree Answ They differ in four things they agree in three Quest 31. What is the first particular wherein they differ Answ Faith or believing is before Hope in order of nature if not of time also Faith is said to be the substance or according to our former Translation the ground of things hoped for Heb. 11.1 And is for the most part if not alwaies mentioned before hope in the Scriptures where they are both named See 1 Cor. 13.13 Col. 1.23 1 Thess 1.3 1 Pet. 1.21 Quest 32. In what do they differ besides Answ Faith respecteth the word or promise wherein good things are promised together with the faithfulnesse and power of him that promiseth whereas hope properly respecteth the good things themselves conteined in the promises and the receiving and enjoyment of them in due time Quest 33. What is your third difference between them Answ The object of Faith in the proper notion of it is somewhat in present beeing The object of hope is alwaies somewhat that is future or to come according to that of the Apostle How can a man hope for that which he seeth Rom. 8.24 Quest 34. What is the fourth and last difference Answ Faith bears the relation of a Parent or of a Mother in respect of Hope and Hope the relation of a Daughter in respect of Faith For hope is a kind of natural result from Faith as the light is from the body of the Sun and hath it's dependence upon Faith both for the reception and continuance of it's beeing whereas Faith seems to have no dependence upon Hope for either For a man must believe the truth and certainty of such a promise wherein any good thing one or more is promised unto him or which is in effect the same the faithfulnesse of him that maketh this promise together with his ability to perform it before he can reasonably or upon any good ground hope for or expect that good which is promised especially when he that shall make such a promise was no waies obliged unto him unto whom he maketh it and most of all if he shall moreover have been greatly provoked by him which is the case concerning that Hope of which we now speak
them against their sufferings otherwise by suggesting to them that had they in the days of their flesh done their uttermost yet could they not have escaped the coming into that place of torment whither they have been sent by the irrevocable and irresistable eternal Decree of God Any circumstance which qualifieth the guilt of the offence for which a man is punished easeth the bitternesse or evil of the punishment proportionably Quest 16. What is your sixth Reason Answ If wicked men could truly plead that God gave them not power whereby to believe to sanctifie to make themselves new hearts c. we generally to do all things absolutely necessary for their Salvation they might wash their own hands in Innocency from the bloud of their Souls and resolve their destruction into the will and pleasure of God as the principal yea in effect the sole cause of if For he that can without sinning himself prevent the sinning of another who cannot but sin unlesse he be kept from it by the interposure of the other and shall refuse or neglect to do it is more justly chargeable with the sin committed in such a case then the actor in it and he that committeth it how much more when he might without the least trouble losse or inconvenience to himself have prevented the committing of it He that shall build an House with rotten or insufficient Timber especialiy when he might have built it as cheap with that which is found and substantial is more the cause of the downfal of it then the crazinesse or insufficiency of the Timber This would be the case between God and wicked men if it should be supposed that he sets them forth into the world lamely and defectively provided of strength and means whereby to do what he peremptorily and indispensably imposeth on them for their Salvation at least if it be not supposed withal that he supplyeth them afterwards with what is sufficient in this kind Nor is it either true or pertinent to plead that God gave unto men that sufficiency of power which we contend for in Adam and that they deprived themselves of it by sinning in his loyns For first It is not like that God should furnish a creature being in an Estate of Righteousnesse Innocency and Purity with means and abilities sufficient and proper to recover and save it self in a sinful and lapsed estate Secondly neither doth God now treat with Men one or other upon the terms of the Covenant made with them in the loyns of their Father the first Adam and so not according to those abilities which they received in him for the performance of that Covenant but according to those abilities wherewith he hath furnished them in the second Adam for the performance of that second or new Covenant which in him he hath made and established with the World according to the tenor and terms whereof he will judge the World as our Saviour plainly enough implyeth in his Doctrine Joh. 3.19 And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse rather then light because their deeds were evil See also very expresse to this point Mark 16.16 Joh. 3.18 with may others Quest 17. What is your seventh and last Reason Answ To teach men that God requireth of them Sanctification Regeneration Mortification Self-denyal c. and all this as peremptorily necessary unto Salvation and yet to teach them withall that they have no sufficient power given them whereby to perform or attain unto any of these directly tends to beget a very dishonourable and hard notion and conceir of God in the hearts and minds of men as that he is an hard Master reaping where he hath not sown and gathering where he hath not strawed add in this respect as in some others also must needs be a doctrine of expresse consequence to quench and stifle all thoughts purposes and inclinations in men towards seeking the face of God and exercising themselves in duties of Piety and Religion and using the means of Salvation yea a doctrine very plausibly comporting with and indulging that carnal slothfulnesse and indisposition unto spiritual and heavenly things which are so generally found in men This is apparent from that passage in the Parable Matth. 25. ver 24 25 c. where the Servant that was so hardly perswaded of his Master as that he was an hard man reaping where he sowed not c. is charged with being both sloathful and wicked v. 26. Therefore that opinion which denyeth a sufficiency of power to be given by God unto men whereby to sanctifie regenerate themselves c. is very dangerous and an open Enemy to all Godliness especially in persons who are at present ungodly although it be true likewise that the evil influence and tendency of it in this kind may be and in some is over-balanced with other principles of a better and more pious inspiration Quest 18. But how can the truth of such an opinion for which you have pleaded by the seven Arguments last recited consist with the truth of all those places of Scripture which attribute the Sanctification Regeneration Conversion of men and every saving work wrought in them unto God and his Spirit or grace Places of this import are these with many other like unto them And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed that thou mayst love the Lord thy God c. Deut. 30.6 that ye may know that I the Lord do sanctifie you Exod. 31.13 And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever c. Jer. 32.39 But I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me ver 40. Which are born not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh not of the will of man but of God Joh. 1.13 Of his own will begat he us with the Word of Truth Jam. 1.18 Answ These with all other Texts and passages of like import are well and clearly consistent with that Doctrine which asserteth a sufficiency of power vouchsafed by God unto men whereby to sanctifie regenerate and deny themselves to mortifie the deeds of the body and generally to act and do every such thing which God hath declared to be of absolute necessity for their Salvation The fair consistency between this Doctrine and the Texts of Scripture mentioned with their fellows may be well understood by these and such like considerations 1. It is one thing to be able or to have a sufficient power for the performance or doing of a thing an other to exercise or make use of this power for the actual performance thereof Christ had a sufficiency of power to save himself from death Matth. 26.53 Joh. 10.17 18. but he made no use of this power for such a purpose Men may be inabled by God to make themselves new hearts and new spirits c. and yet not be made willing by him no nor of nor by
an interest and felicity nor thinking it in any degree the lesse desirable or contentfull because it is not of a present enjoyment but must be waited for for a season and until the appointed time comes The very hope and expectation of such an unmeasurable Happinesse coming towards a man being lively and pregnant and not encumbred with any considerable feares or doubtings will fill the soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory and be a portion of rich and high contentment unto it And consequently will reduce it to such a state and frame that it will not think that it stands in need of any additions that can be made unto it by any sinful lust or way of unworthinesse and so will abstain from them without any trouble as generous Spirits being well apaied with their great revenues and estates in the world whereof they are lawfully possest as they have no need so neither have they any temptation upon them or inclination in them to steal which persons pinched with poverty and not able to bear the smart or pain thereof alwaies have Quest 50. Have you not yet one means more to offer upon so great and happy a service unto the World as to further men in the way and work of Mortification Answ Inasmuch as for the most part and in most men sinful lusts and inordinate dispositions and desires especially when they have been long habituated in the Soul and so are become next to natural are very stubborn and not easily subdued or expelled from thence and so are as it were of kin to that kind of evil Spirit of which our Saviour affirmeth in the Gospel thus This kind can by no other means come forth but by Prayer and Fasting Mat. 17.21 Compared with Mark 9.29 therefore I judg that the same kind of application prayer seconded and strengthened by fasting made unto God must needs be very proper and effectual also to dispossesse the hearts and souls of men of those hateful and unclean Spirits pride covetousnesse ambition envy malice wrath drunkenness adultery fornication with whatsoever else ought by the Law of Mortification to die When the Apostle saith but I beat down or keep under my body and bring it into Subjection lest c. 1 Cor. 9.27 it is the most probable sense of some that Prayer and Fasting were some of the principle weapons used by him in this warfare against his body It being the prerogative of God to bring means and ends together Psal 127.1 1 Cor. 3.6 2 Cor. 10.4 with many others and he never failing to do it when his interposure in this kind is by prayer sought for by his Creature Mat. 7.7 8. 2 Chron. 15. ver 4 compared with ver 7. though otherwise he sometimes resolves to with-hold the blessing of his concurrence in this kind Levit. 26.16 Deut. 11.17 c 28.38 Ezek. 36 37. Earnest Prayer made unto him that the means used by us for the mortifying of the deeds of the body with the lusts thereof may by him find their enterprize and accomplish their work must needs prosper accordingly How much more when the force and prevailing efficacy of it shall be doubled by fasting which it self also is an exercise not improper to abate the rankness and importunitie of the sinful cravings of the bodie which it is still presenting unto and obtrudeing upon the Soul Quest 51. You have declared your sense concerning the respective natures with some other particulars about them both jointly and severally of those three great points of Christian Religion Sanctification Regeneration and Mortification will you now shew in like manner what you judge and hold concerning self-denial which was the fourth and last particular mentioned with the three former And first what you concieve concerning the nature of it Answ Self-denial is such a grace or work in the heart or soul whereby the person in whom it is found is effectually inclined to neglect relinquish or part with his own lawful interest or right whether in matters of profit or pleasure or in any the concernments or contentments of the outer man or relating to this present world when either the glory of God or the interest of the Gospel or of any truth thereof or the spiritual wellfare or safety of men require such a deportment of him and are like to suffer without it Such a Christian principle as this in men is as I suppose called Self-denial because he that acteth according to the nature or guidance of it doth by such an Action as it were deny that there is any such person in being as himself or which is in effect the same that there is any such to be regarded or taken care of by him in matters of this world in such and such cases He that acteth self-denyingly behaveth himself in such an actiō as a man free among the dead in Davids expression Psa 88.5 and not as a member of the society of this world Quest 52. Is it not then a very difficult and hard work be raised in the Soul Answ The Lord Christ you know hath plainly told us that strait is the Gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it Mat. 7 14. And indeed if the work in the difficulty of it were to be estimated by the wisdome and strength of men only it will be found as difficult as our Saviour determineth it to be that a rich man should enter into the Kingdome of God With men saith he that is in respect of humane wisdome and strength only this is impossible but with God all things are possible Mat. 19.26 meaning that God by the excellency of his wisdome and might of his spirit is able and when desired and sought unto willing to enable men both to do and to suffer all things whatsoever that are necessary for their Salvation though they seem to exceed the capacity of flesh and blood never so farre See and compare Phil. 4.13 1 Ioh. 4.4 So that there is no reason why any man should be discouraged or troubled at the difficulty of the work seeing that God is so near at hand to direct and assist us in it and to blesse us in the use of such means for the raising and effecting it in the Soul as he hath graciously furnished us with for such a purpose Quest 53. What are the means which God holds forth unto us in the Scriptures as efficacious in the regular and due use of them to inrich and blesse the Soul with the grace of Self-denial Answ The chief of these means as farre as my memory at present serveth me to recollect them are Twelve Quest 54. What is the first of the twelve Answ To consider that the want of this grace in the Soul renders men uncapable of entrance into the Kingdome of God as well as the more scandalous and grosse sins of adultery fornication drunkenness covetuousness extortion idolatry c. Iesus then said to his Disciples If any man
sicknesse weaknesse or pain to be rescued and restored thereunto to prosper and be succesful in our counsells labours and honest undertakings to be comforted and well apaid in our families and relations here as in our consorts children servants as well in their towardlinesse comelinesse of behaviour c. as in the preservation of their lives limbs healths c. then in our other relations also abroad yea and in the peace and good condition of our neighbours round about us yea and of the land and nation of our abode These with many others are continual and constant occasions ingaging men to frequency of Prayer if they desire either to tast as little as may be of the sorrows and troubles of the world or to see as much of the good of it as is like to be enjoyed by men Quest 31. What are the standing occasions or some of the principal of them relating to the world to come which are ingaging upon men to pray frequently Answ If they be yet unconverted and unbelieving they stand in need of the Spirit of illumination by the help whereof the eyes of their minds and understandings may be opened to see clearly an effectual door of Salvation and eternal happinesse set open unto them in Jesus Christ through Faith in him and all other doors imaginable as leading or looking that way shut up and made fast against them with barres of Iron And in case this Spirit shall be obtained so that now they are converted and brought home unto God by believing they still stand in need of the daily and constant supplies of the same Spirit that they may be led into the way of all truth that they may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ that they may persevere and hold the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end and not by apostacie or backsliding ose the things which they wrought whilest they were faithful that they may be strengthned in the inner-man to all suffering for Righteousnesse sake with joyfulnesse that they may deny themselves and take up their crosse daily and so follow Christ that they may be increased in their Faith to the forgiving of all men all their trefspasses against them whatsoever that they may mortifie the deeds of the body and crucifie the flesh with its affections and lusts that they be enlarged and raised in their love and respects unto Christ beyond and above all the love and respects they bear unto Fathers Mothers Sons Daughters Brothers Sisters Houses Lands yea or their lives themselves that they may be brought to a resolvednesse of will to watch and pray continually that so they may be counted worthy to stand before the son of man in his great Day that they may be made both able and willing to quit themselves from time to time both in doings and sufferings so that they may be meer to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light c. These are some of the great and most important occasions relating to the world to come that strongly bind all men to the Christian behaviour of praying frequently if they make any Treasure of their Souls or put any difference between an equality with the Holy Angels in joy blessednesse and glory and fellowship with the Divells in everlasting shame torments and misery Quest 32. You teach and say that the standing occasions relating as well to this present world as to that which is to come are greatly pressing upon men to pray Frequently But what do you count Frequent Praying Or how oft must a man pray that it may be truly said of him that he Prayeth FREQUENTLY Answ I do not remember that the Scripture any where determines the case how oft a man must of necessity pray that he may be truly said to pray frequently or without ceasing And where God hath left it free to the consciences of men to judge of and satisfie themselves about any circumstance of a duty I judge it nor convenient or safe to prescribe or impose any thing positively or peremptorily in the case Yet he that hath As the Apostle speaks obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful may give his advice and sense in such cases By the way I suppose it neither reasonable nor safe to estimate frequency in praying by that which may properly enough be counted frequency or oftnesse in some other things as the word many applyed to some things importeth a far greater number then when it is applyed to some other things The Devill is said oft times or frequently to have violently caught or seized on the poor man Luk. 8.29 over whom he had power but he that shall not torment the Divell by praying oftner then in all likelyhood the Divell tormented this man by seising him cannot I conceive be said to pray often or frequently So the Apostle speaking of himself saith that he was in Prisons more frequent in deaths oft Yet he that is not more frequent and oftner in prayer then this Apostle was either in the Prisons or in the deaths he speaks of ought not to please himself with a conceit that he prayeth oft I conceive then by the best observations I can make f om the Scriptures in reference to the matter in hand as also by an equitable consideration of the thing it self that praying frequently requires at least praying daily or every day Except it be under some such providential dispensation which bereaves a man of the capacity or possibility so to pray as in case of such distempers by the rage and violence whereof the intellectual faculties of the Soul are disabled from their natural and proper functions or the like in which caâ—ses the sadnesse and extremity of their conditions do themselves intercede with God for them The Holy Ghost knowing so long before how the grace of God in the daies of the Messiah would operate in the souls and consciences of those that were willing to receive it foretold by the Prophet David that when he should come into the world he should daily be praised that is either that himself should be daily worshipped and prayed unto by his Saints or that he should be magnified in the prayers of his Saints which should be DAILY offered unto God the Father in his name Psal 72.15 This latter seems rather to be the meaning from the former clause Prayer also shall be made for him continually that is the Saints shall desire of God in Prayer and this very frequently and with great importunity that the Heathen may be given unto him for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his Possession Psal 2.8 and that all the Nations and Kingdomes of the Earth may serve him Dan. 7.14.27 Psal 72.11 This being the substance and effect of that petition Thy Kingdome come Yet praying daily in the low sense of the phrase that is praying once every day was not it seems judged praying frequently by the Saints of old For they as
reduced and unto which whatsoever can regularly be reduced may according to his Will be asked of him Answ The number of them is generally taken to be six though I find some that judge it more commodious to make them seven dividing the sixt and last according to the ordinary account into two The first Hallowed be thy Name The second Thy Kingdome come The third Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven The fourth Give us this day our daily bread The fifth And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespasse against us The sixth and the last And lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from all Evill Quest 48. What is the meaning of the first of these Petitions and what are the particular things or some of the chief of them by which an estimate may be made of the rest which are comprehended and desired therein Answ When we pray unto God that his NAME may be Hallowed that is sanctified as the word signifieth we pray that he will so interpose by his Grace and by the sending forth of his Spirit into the world and by his Providence that men may know him with such a knowledge which answereth the truth and as much as may be the adequate excellency of his being as that he is infinite in all perfections as in goodnesse mercy holinesse righteousnesse truth wisdome knowledg power c. And that in all these he doth not only excell the best and greatest of Creatures Angells and Men to a degree no not in the highest degree that is imaginable but that his nature or being though most singly and simply one yet eminently containeth in it the whole respective bodies or elements of them all For the name of God is then truly and properly Hallowed or Sanctified when in the minds consciences and souls of men he is placed upon a high Throne alone by himself and set apart in his due distance in respect of his most transcendent excellency and glory from all Creatures whatsoever whether in actual being or in possibility of being and withall is honoured loved feared served and obeyed answerably in some measure at least hereunto As on the contrary his Name is said to be polluted when any thing is conceived or done by men as if he had something in common with some Creature and were not ih his nature and being of an excellency in all perfections whatsoever appropriate only to himself Quest 49. When Christ teacheth us to pray unto God that his Name may be hallowed doth he intend that we should pray for any thing commodious or beneficial for our selves or for that which only concerns the glorifying of God Or had he an eye both to the one and to the other in prescribing unto us this Petition Answ It is not reasonable to conceive that Christ putteth men upon praying in one kind or other or upon any service whatsoever for any benefit or advantage that may possibly accrue unto God by it in one kind or other For he is of himself and from himself as blessed as blessednesse it self can make him full to the brim as of Goodnesse so of Happinesse and all satisfaction and contentment imaginable yea and above and beyond all imagination Nor can any accession or addition be made unto his glory by any service from the Creature though performed with the highest hand of wisdome zeal and faithfulnesse as neither can he suffer the least diminution in his blessednesse or glory by the greatest wickednesse that can be practised against him The Scripture is expresse and full of his truth My goodnesse saith David unto God extendeth not unto thee Psal 16.2 Can a man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable to himself Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art Righteous Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy waies perfect Job 22.2 3. Again If thou sinnest what dost thou against him Or if thy Transgressions be multiplied what doest thou unto him If thou he righteous what givest thou him Or what receiveth he of thine hand Thy wickedness may hurt a man c. Job 35.6 7 8. Neither is he worshipped with mens hands as if he needeth any thing c. Act. 17.25 Therefore when Christ teacheth us to pray unto God that his Name may be Hallowed he rather intendeth the benefit of those that pray then his to whom the Prayer is made Besides it seemeth somewhat improper for men to desire God to deal well by himself or to do himself right or the like unlesse it were upon an apprehension that by doing himself right he shall in one kind or other benefit and accommodate them Such requests are not wont to be made by us unto any sort of men but unto such only whom we look upon as incogitant and neglective of their own concernments Notwithstanding the petition in hand may commodiously enough be taken in some such sense as this viz. as expressing our desires unto God that his Name may be Sanctified or himself glorified like unto himself in the world out of an unfeigned Love and pure respects unto his infinite goodnesse without minding at present either any benefit like to redound thereby unto our selves or that he himself is capable of any benefit by having his Name thus Hallowed or sanctified by Men. Quest 50. But what benefit is like to accrue unto those who pray unto God that his Name may be Hallowed by having this their Petition granted unto them Or how are mâ—n profited by the Hallowing of his Name Or is the meaning of the Petition only this to desire that God's name may be hallowed by us who pray not intending or including any others in it Answ The Petition seems to intend that we pray for the Hallowing of God's Name as well by and amongst others as by our selves though principally by our selves Otherwise we shall not expresse by it any true love or affection unto God nor any sincere desire to have his Name hallowed but a desire only of our own benefit by our hallowing it For if we desire the hallowing of God's Name simply or out of any naturalnesse of Love to him or any otherwise then with respect unto our selves or our own profit we must desire and pray that it may be hallowed farre and near by and amongst all the Nations of the Earth as well as by our selves The benefit that will redound unto us by having out Petition granted us in this sense of it over and besides what we shall be advantaged by our own personal hallowing the name of God must needs be exceeding great as namely the reducement of the world to a more desirable state and condition unto the inhabitants of it by chasing away those pests of the peace and comforts of men on the earth covetousnese oppression fraud envy malice cruelty unmercifulnesse contention drunkennesse uncleannesse with the rest of the troublesome retinue of ignorance and propainesse For where the Name
be yielded unto both gave place unto the latter and was disobeyed without sin in him that did transgresse it who questionlesse had sinned if as the case at present stood with him and his company he had not disobeyed it Mat. 12.3 4. The Moral Law being the greater in the juncture of the competition superseded the authority of the Ceremonial as being the lesse Again where the Law injoyning a strict Rest or cessation from work on the Sabbath day as being a law of inferiour consequence did not oblige the Priests against that Law by which they stood charged to worship God by slaying and offering sacrifices in the Temple even on that day this being a Law of more considerable and rich import then the other Mat. 12.5 Another instance like unto this we find Joh. 7.22 The reason of this Rule is nothing but what the common light of reason suggesteth viz. That in all Competitions between two things of unequal worth and goodnesse where both cannot be chosen or embraced the more worthy and weighty in goodnesse ought to have the preheminence By the light of this Rule evident it is that the Commandements of the first Table which respect the glory and interest of God are to be preferred in obedience before those of the second which concern the interest of the Creature when both cannot be obeyed As when we cannot but either betray or deny some truth of God which he hath made knovvn to us and so sin against a great duty of the first Table or else disobey the Magistrate Father Mother c. and so expose our selves to the losse of our greatest comforts in the things of this world yea it may be of life it self which are all contrary to the sense of the greatest duties of the second Table in ordinary cases in this case we must obey the charge of the first Table and stand by the truth of God with our testimony and disobey superiours whatsoever be the consequence of it It is true and the instances lately mentioned do confirm it that the greater duties of the second Table are by Gods gracious permission and allowance to take place of the letter duties of the first Table when there happeneth a competition between them But the duties of the same degree in both Tables being compared those of the first being the more important ought to have the preheminence in Competitions Quest 32. What is the Sixteenth Rule Answ Affirmative Commands are alwayes binding but not binding to be alwayes practising or actually doing what they command but only at times convenient and upon regular and due occasions They are indeed binding alwayes to maintain the habits of those vertuous and worthy actions which they enjoyn or an inward disposition or readinesse of mind to be doing the things required in them upon all occasions Thus when and where I am commanded to call upon God to meditate of his works to reverence his Word c. I am not commanded to be alwayes imployed in the actual exercise of these or any of these duties but only to be alwayes prepared and ready for the performance of them respectively upon all opportunities and when opportunity serveth to perform them actually There is the same consideration of all affirmative Precepts in matters appertaining to the second Table The Reason of this Rule is because it is meet that every vertuous and worthy action ' as well one as another should have time and place to be practised and wrought the honour of God on the one hand and the conveniency of the world on the other hand requiring it But evident it is that this could not be I mean orderly and without sin if any Commandement which bindeth to the practise of any one of them should bind them to the continual practice of it inasmuch as a man imployed in one action during such his imployment is uncapable of any other Quest 33. What is the Seventeenth Rule Answ Negative Precepts are not only alwayes binding but also binding to the actual forbearance of what they prohibit alwayes at all times and in all cases whatsoever excepting only such wherein haply God himself who hath power over his own Lawes shall grant a relaxation from any of them unto any man Thus the Commandement by which I stand charged not to hate God not to despise him not to make him a lyar by not believing him not to murther not to commit adultery c. imposeth a charge upon me to refrain from all these misdemeanours at all times and never to be found in any of them The reason of this Rule is because every evil or sinfull action is alwayes and in every case whatsoever repugnant to the glory of God and contrary to the true and real interest of men Therefore such Commandements of God by which these are prohibited admit of no cessation or interval in their obliging authority under any circumstance or circumstances whatsoever Quest 34. What is the Eighteenth Rule Answ Where any external duty whether respecting God or Man is required the inward disposition of the heart and soul from whence such outward actions when they are regularly and duely performed do proceed is required also Thus where the outward Worship and service of God are commanded a devout humble and pious frame of heart is commanded also So where I am commanded to feed the hungry to relieve the oppressed to pray for mine enem es c. I am commanded withall to be inwardly loving mercifull tender-hearted c. The reason of this rule is because God being a Spirit delighteth in special manner in the beauty and lovelinesse of the spirits and Souls of men as also to see fruits that are outwardly good growing upon their own proper trees and not upon those that are counterfeit And being desirous to make his Law spiritual and not bulky or great of body judged it meet to include his mind and will concerning all things becomming the inner man in those precepts wherein he requires such actions and deportments which are proper to be performed by the outer man Quest 35. What is the Nineteenth Rule Answ Where the external act of any sin is restrained there all inclinations inward motions workings and stirrings of heart towards the committing of that sin are prohibited and restrained likewise Thus where Murther is forbidden wrath hatred envie malice desire of revenge with whatsoever moveth in the heart or soul towards the perpetration of that horrid action are forbidden with it So where the act of Adultery under which according to a former rule all acts of bodily uncleannesse are comprehended is forbidden all lustful and wanton thoughts all secret motions and desires leaning towards that sinful act are made sinful also The reason of this Rule may readily be conceived by that of the Rule next preceding Quest 36. What is the Twentieth and last Rule Answ One and the same sin may in different respects be prohibited in several Commandements Thus a mans coveting his Neighbours Servant
not hard to judge of these or the greatest part of them by the sins prohibited therein as they were even now named Notwithstanding it may be for the better information of the judgement and awakning of the conscience to give instance in some of the chief of them or su h to the practice and performance whereof we are most frequently called The duties then which God hath judged meet to charge us with in this Commandment are these with others confederate with them To live in some honest and useful calling or employment to be frugal and discreet in our expences not to consume or waste by improvidence or any unthrifty or vicious courses that substance wherewith God hath blessed us in our honest labours nor yet in the mean time through fear of want afterwards to steal from our bellies or backs that which is both by the Law of God and Nature their due I mean things convenient and comfortable to them nor from the poor and needy that which is necessary for their present relief for this is theirs and nothing but what is their due from us Prov. 3.27 and we are but righteous and just when we are merciful So again to borrow only to supply our present occasions these being necessary and warrantable and no more then what we know our selves able at present to repay and accordingly to repay willingly and with thanks what we have borrowed according to promise if we are able if we be not able yet to do what we are able to content and please him that shewed us kindnesse in lending to lend with an eye to the ease and benefit of him that borroweth and so not to use rigor in requiring it again if we be able still to forbear it until he hath reaped the just comfort of it and in case he falleth into poverty and be not able to pay the whole without manifest danger of being undone by it to accept such part of the sum at present as he is well able to pay and to forbear the rest or wholly to forgive it if his poverty be very deep and he not likely to come out of it not to cast poor men into prison for debt nor any that are willing to make due payment of what they owe or as far as they are able not to molest especially peaceable and good men with informations or complaints against them not to persecute them nor to put them to trouble or charge for their conscience not to circumvent over-reach or deceive any man in dealing not to make advantage of the unskilfulnesse ignorance forgetfulnesse over-sight poverty or necessity of any of those with whom we have to do in one kind or other but to deal justly truly clearly and faithfully by all to restore with all fidelity things committed to our trust with goods unlawfully gotten and things found when the right ovvner is known to us to prosecute with diligence care and faithfulnesse any honest cause or businesse which we undertake for another and to undertake none but such not to endanger our estates by surety-ship not to undertake for any person in a greater sum then we are well able to pay to use all Christian moderation in seeking to come by our own and not to put him to more trouble or expence then needs who putteth us to contend with him for the recovery of it not to impair any mans estate by oppression extortion unreasonable exactions for work or service done by robbing stealing wasting or endamaging any thing that belongeth to him but on the contrary as we have opportunity to endeavour to better the condition of every man as far as with reason and a good conscience we may and to preserve from hurt or spoil what is theirs as if it were our own not to inveigle or entise weak and inconsiderate persons unto vain and needlesse expences nor to flatter them in or into an humour of prodigality not to professe practise plead for or uphold any of those impertinent and unprofitable that I say not unlawful arts or crafts rather as of telling fortunes calculating nativities casting figures telling or rather pretending to tell where things lost are to be found c. which are a kind of superstitious stratagem to fetch money out of the purses of poor simple and ignorant people and of no other use or tendency unlesse it be unto matters of a far worse and dangerous import Quest 102. What is the sum of the Ninth Commandment Answ To charge us to refrain all things words gestures and actions tending to impair lessen or wreck either our own or any other mans name and repute in the world and that by all means as far as truth and a good conscience will permit we be careful to maintain and promote both the one and the other Quest 103. What are the more particular sins intended by God to be restrained by this Commandment Answ All neglect and omission of such things upon occasion which are proper and likely either to defend promote or procure either our own or our neighbour's that is any other mans good esteem or reputation in the world is when we are wrongfully accused or lye under a scandalous or evil fame not to beat testimony as occasion and opportunity serve unto our innocency or not to refrain all such actions and wayes if with the salvage of a good conscience we may which are like to feed or strengthen the suspicion or evil report concerning us so not to imploy faithfully and to the best of their service those good gifts and abilities which God hath given us when we have a Call or opportunity to do it so also to detrect or excuse our selves from undertaking such good services which we are well able to perform upon a pretence of insufficiency a diminishing of that esteem or good opinion which others have or gladly would have of us by any indiscreet behaviour rash or unadvised actings offensive walkings as if we be given either on the one hand to boasting or on the other to self-dispraising especially if it be beneath the line of our known worth or to minister occasion unto others to praise us In respect of our Neighbour these and the like are made sins by the commandment before us light or groundless suspicions of evil in him putting hard or uncharitable constructions upon any of his words or actions reporting either of them to his disgrace or contrary to his meaning or intention despising him for his infirmities or making talk of them unto others reviving without any warrantable cause or ground the remembrance of his former miscarriages refusing to stand by him in his cause when we are able to speak that upon knowledge on his behalf which may do him service especially giving in false evidence or information against him setting on foot untrue reports concerning him encouraging those that carry about such reports of him by hearkning unto them intending his disgrace though by speaking the truth all jearing mocking vilifying or deriding
hath delivered unto them all the said terms and promises not in writing only but sealed also ratified and confirmed with and by those Sacramental devisements which he hath appended and a fixed in the nature of Seals unto them and hath himself so interpreted and declared his intent and meaning in them I mean that they should be so construed and looked upon by men as signs from heaven whereby he most solemnly and as in the presence of heaven and earth and against all possibility of repentance or recedure ingageth himself to stand to and make good all those great precious promises how incredible soever and above humane belief they may otherwise seem to be which are issued forth unto the world and contained in that Gospel wherein the said Sacramental signs or seals are held forth likewise So that the Sacraments we speak of according to the most gracious counsel and intent of him that hath armed them as they are strongly and most severely engaging upon men who submit unto and use them unto their profession so are they no less if not rather more ingaging upon him that hath given them I mean God unto his profession also that is as was intels hinted to perform with all constancy and faithfulness all those terms of grace love mercy bounty c. which in the Gospel he professeth unto all those who love him and believe in him And as it will full heavy upon men who shall either revolt from their Christian profession or behave themselves scandalously in it when they shall have once Sacramentally engaged or obliged themselves unto it So were it passible to imagine or suppose that God should suffer his truth and faithfulness to fail by a non-performance of any thing he hath promised in the Gospel his own Sacraments here would testifie aloud against him to his high dishonor even as his bow in the Clouds also would in case he should destroy the world with a stood any more Question 11. How doth it or may it appear that the Sacraments of the New Testament were intended by God to serve in the nature or property of Seals for the full confirmation and final ratification of the truth of the Gospel and of the great promises here or that he is desirous that men should conceive of them as obliging him as being the Author and imposor of them to make good the gracious contents of the Gospel or which comes to the same all things signified and imported in them the Sacraments themselves Answ Concerning Circumcision which was one of the greatest and most properly called Sacraments of the Old Testament it is expresly said that Abraham received the sign of circumcision i. circumcision which was a sign or significant character a seal of the righteousness of the faith or of that faith i. e. of that kinde of Faith which he had yet being uncircumcised Rom. 4.11 This is not spoken of Abrahams being circumcised or of his reception of Circumcision in his flesh nor of his justification or being made righteous in particular but of his receiving order and command from God for the use and practice of Circumcision by all the males of his Family and Posterity Gen. 17.10 although himself was to submit unto it also with them The word received is used in such a sense elsewhere 1 Corinthians 11.23.15.3 In this sence John Baptist may be said to have received from God the Sign or Ordinance of Baptism and so Christ to have received from God the Revelation sent unto and recorded by his Apostle John Rev. 1.1 when it is said that Abraham received the sign of circumcision a Seal of the righteousness of the Faith which c. the clear meaning is that God delivered Circumcision unto Abraham and imposed it upon him his family and posterity with a purpose and intent that it should be resented and understood both by him and them as a sign given them that whosoever should truly believe in him as Abraham did whilst he was yet uncircumcised should upon the account of such their Faith be justified or accepted as righteous by him Now the state of righteousness or justification implicitly vertually and in a consequential way comprehending in it all the good things and blessings from first to last which the Gospel promiseth as sometimes the head or first Founder and sometimes some famous Ancestor is made the significate of their whole race and posterity and used to express them as Abraham signifies Abrahams posterity Gen. 13.17 18.18.19 So Jacob often his posterity with others So Justification being as it were an head priviledge or benefit of the Gospel highly considerable may well signifie and import the whole system and succession of all the good and great things promised in the Gospel And thus I conceive it is to be understood Rom. 4.25 For Christ did not rise again for our justification onely but for the procuring and obtaining all other benefits and blessings also which are consequential unto justification as the Scriptures testifie in several places In this sense it is likewise to be taken Rom. 5.18 and elsewhere it is interpreted by blessedness as by a word of a parallel import Rom. 4.5 6 7 8 9. the sealing or confirming of the promise hereof is interpretatively and in effect the sealing and ratifying the contents of the whole Gospel and of all the promises in it The Sacraments of the New Testament are of the same consideration and import sealing and securing the faithfulness of God in the performance of all things promised in the Gospel unto those that believe Concerning Baptism the brief description of it which we have Mark 1.4 Luke 3.3 clearly evinceth it In both these places John is said to have preached the Baptism that is the doctrine of the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins the meaning is that he preached and declared unto all that came to him that he had received from God a new Ordinance unto which he strictly required and charged them to submit viz. Baptism or such a wasshing which much differed in signification and import from all those with which they had been acquainted hitherto this being given or sent by God unto them to signifie and assure them of the forgiveness of their sins upon their repentance The expression by the way or phrase of stilling Baptism the Baptism of Repentance for the remission of sins much resembleth that of the Prophet Elisha concerning the arrow which the King of Israel by direction from him shot out of the window this arrow as it went from the Kings hand the Prophet termed The arrow of the Lords deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria meaning that the shooting of it by the King in the manner directed by the Prophet was a sign and pledge from God that he would deliver the King and his people from under the power of the Syrians 2 Kings 13.17 So is Baptism a sign from Heaven or a pledge of assurance from God that unto Repentance he
But he that doth truth cometh to the light willingly freely and of his own accord needeth not to be importun'd to it that his deeds may be made manifest that they are or because they are wrought in God that is according to the will of God John 3.21 The trial of any mans Pains as well by other means of tryal as by sufferings will be found as Peter expresseth it 1 Pet. 1.8 unto his praise and honor and glory not only at the appearing of Jesus Christ but even during his state of mortality amongst the Saints in this present world Now that which is done to any man having a direct tendency to his honor and without any prejudice to him otherwise and besides is fully comporting with his own disposition and will cannot reasonably be supposed or suspected to contradict any rule of Charity being so manifestly of a good and friendly accord with it On the other hand if the person desiring Sacramental Communion with a Church be unworthy this Church by detecting it and hereupon denying him that which would be sinful and of sad consequence unto him shall in and by one and the same act both please God as the Church of Ephesus did by discovering those to be lyars who said they were Apostles as we lately heard maintain the honor of his holy things keep a soul from making it felf actually guilty of the body and blood of Christ 1 Cor. 11.27 and withal consult the honor peace and safety of themselves or their own Church-body Quest 20. But are not the Sacraments converting Ordinances If so ought not sinful men and unbelievers be admitted to partake of them Answ It no where appears that God ever intended them for converting Ordinances nor doth reason lead us to conceive of them under such a notion Or if this should be granted or supposed I mean that they are converting Ordinances yet will it not follow from hence that therefore ungodly and unbelieving persons other then those that haply may deceive the Church under a plausible profession of Faith and Holiness should be admitted to receive or to partake of the elements themselves in their respective administrations Preaching of the Gospel is without controversie a converting Ordinance yet ought not prophane or unbelieving persons be admitted or perswaded to preach the Gospel in order to their conversion But as Faith and so Conversion cometh by hearing the Gospel preached by others orderly called hereunto not by preaching it a mans self so may Sacramental Administrations be ordained by God for the conversion of men yet not by their own acting or bearing a part in the execution of them but by being present and beholding and minding these administrations whilst performed by others But that God intended not the conversion of men as yet unconverted by a self-acting in Sacramental dispensations or that these by such an interposure of the said persons in or about them should be any means of their conversion but rather obstructions in the way thereunto is fully evident from that of the Apostle where speaking of the Sacrament of the Supper he saith thus For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh not conversion or Salvation but damnation unto himself not discerning the Lords body 1 Cor. 11.29 Doubtless an unconverted person or unbeliever cannot discern the Lords Body that is exhibit in any degree that reverence or those sacred respects unto it which a Sacramental memorial or participation of it requireth of all those who do partake of it in this Ordinance and consequently cannot but eat and drink unworthily at the Lords Table if he eats and drinks here at all Other arguments of a demonstrative eviction of the same truth might be readily drawn from verse 24 25 26. of the same Chapter Amongst many grounds in reason that might be insisted on to give further light and confirmation to this truth I shall at present mention only two First God is not wont to set up one Ordinance in competition with another or which is the same to appoint more then one for the effecting of one and the same end I mean one and the same proper and immediate end for otherwise all Ordinances are given by him to effect and bring about the same general remote or ultimate ends This principle the Apostle Paul supposeth to be a truth and argueth from it in several places I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteuosness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 implying that God accounteth more wayes or means of justification then one to be superfluous and vain and consequently that if he had ordained or appointed one for this purpose he would not have appointed another He reasoneth and concludeth from the same ground in the same case Rom. 4.14 thus For if they which are of the Law be heirs Faith is made void and the promise made of none effect So also in somewhat a different case he argueth from the same supposition Heb. 7.11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical Priesthood for under it the people received the Law what further need was there that another Priest should rise after the order of Melchisedeck c. From these and the like reasonings of the Apostle it is clear that when God hath sufficiently provided for the obtaining of any benefit or end by one means he never brings another as it were over the head of it but resolveth that that which is already or first established shall at least ordinarily have the honor entire to it self of investing men with the benefit or blessing for the attainment or procurement whereof it was appointed by him and that no corrival or competitor shall be set up by it to divide with it And accordingly the Apostle reasoneth Gal. 3.21 For if there had been a Law given that could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the Law So likewise David of old in another case Then David said none ought to carry the Ark of God but the Levites for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the Ark of God c. 1 Chron. 15.2 Now then it being certain that the attentive hearing of the Gospel preached is an Ordinance or means appointed and sanctified by God for the work of conversion it is no wayes consistent with the Counsel of God lately declared from the Scriptures to imagine that Sacramental participation should be a means also appointed by him for the same purpose It is true God may and sometimes doth prepare dispose and bring men nearer to conversion then they were before by other means then by the Gospel preached even in such places where it is preached and may be heard and where it is not preached I mean by men out of his great compassion to the precious souls of men he taketh a liberty though I believe somewhat sparingly to substitute other means in the place thereof and worketh conversion by these But where there is opportunity to hear the Gospel
Service pure and intire within the compass and pale of his own contrivance and commands free from all heterogeneal Ceremonies Formalities and Conceits of forreign device For having himself appointed some Ceremonies in his Worship he doth plainly enough hereby declare and say unto men that if he had a minde to be worshipped or served with more he both could and would have appointed them himself and not have entrusted the weak and wandering the over-officious and importune fancies of men either with prescribing the number or with inventing or devising the form and figure of them For as by the exquisite genius and frame of those which he hath now appointed he hath approved himself a better inventor of Ceremonies by a thousand degrees then men those invented by them being ridiculous and childish in comparison of his so by the fewness of them he clearly shews that he delights not in a multitude of them and consequently that he intended not to refer the matter of Ceremonies in his worship unto those who are so impotently addicted unto them that having once tasted the lawless pleasure of ingendring and imposing them they never know when or where to make an end Besides as God considering the weakness of the nature of man and how arduous and difficult a thing it is unto the generality of men effectually to resist such motions and temptations unto the sin of Adultery wherewith he knew they would be frequently and dangerously assaulted was graciously pleased to allow and appoint them the Ordinance of Marriage to prevent their falling under the guilt of that sin 1 Cor 7 29. but this allowance renders the guilt of the sin when contracted the more inexcusable Heb. 13.4 In like manner to keep men chaste and pure in his Worship free from Superstition and the use of all unclean and unsanctified Ceremonies in the exercise of that Religion which he commendeth unto them knowing how precipitately prone the generality of them are to such sensualities as these in their spiritual Services he hath mercifully condescended unto them in giving them those sensible Ordinances which are known by the name of Sacraments by which condescention nevertheless he hath doubled and trebbled the condemnation of those that shall pollute themselves with Rites and Ceremonies of a baser and more ignoble extraction The Sacraments of God make the Ceremonies of men to be high misdemeanors which upon other accounts are obnoxious enough also Quest 26. What my be a fourth end of Sacramental Institutions in the general Answ That the sum and substance of things that are most spiritual and so of greatest difficulty to be believed in the great profession of Christianity might as much as may be as namely in Figures Signs and external resemblances be exposed and exhibited even to the outward senses of men and so be rendred proportinably the more familiar unto their mindes and the more eâ—â—ie to be believed by them As God when of old he sent his holy Angels about any gracious message or treaty with men he caused them to cloath themselves with visible shapes and appearances whereby they were the better accomodated for â—onverse with them in respect of the infirmity of their flesh being otherwise in their simple natures very disproportionaâ—e hereunto in like manner in his Sacramental Ordinances he maketh the mysterious and spiritual things of his Gospel to represent and shew themselves and as it were to speak unto the understandings mindes and consciences of men in sensible forms and similitudes of outward things by means whereof they become the more familiar and hereby the more credible unto them In these words of Christ to Nicodemus If I have spake unto you earthly thingâ— that is spiritual things made as it were earthly and of as ready a perception as earthly and outward things are by fitting and explaining them by similitudes of such things spiritual things thus declared and set forth being â—ermed earthly things in such a sense or figure of speech as Angels are frequently called men in respect of their appearings in the likeness of men and ye believe not how will ye believe if I tell you or spake unto you heavenly things nakedly and without explications borrowed from earthly things as the Angels are wont to speak and discourse of them in this passage I say it is clearly supposed that sensible resemblances of spiritual and heavenly things aptly chosen and sitted to their natures render them much more passable with the reasons and understandings of men and give them an opportunity to contemplate or look upon them with the eye of the inner man more steadily and intensely then otherwise they would be able or at least were like to do and that such a contemplation of them as this is a great incouragement and advantage to their believing the reality and truth of them The reason hereof may be because it is not hard or troublesome to conceive or believe that whatsoever is found in this material or visible world hath its parrlel or some thing corresponding by way of analogy proportion or likeness with it in the spiritual or invisible world This notion was apprehended by some of the ancient Philosophers and believed as a truth one of them expressing himself in the point in these or the like words Deum uno sigi 〈◊〉 sa sigâ—â—re â—â—t◠〈◊〉 That God with one and the same Seal imprinteth different matters the meaning seems to be that though the matter or substance of the one world and the other the visible and invisible be very different yet God hath as it were cast them in in the same mold and made the one to answer the other much after the same manner that in Solomons expression faâ—e answereth to face in the water Prov. 27.19 For as in this correspondency the face in the water is but a shadow a light and empty resemblance of the substantial face unto which it answereth so is this visible and material world with the furniture and things belonging to it but a slender faint and transient representation of that world which is immaterial and invisible with the things appertaining unto it yea the Scripture it self oft speaket at least seemingly but I verily believe really and intentionally in favor of this opinion and more especially whereever it either calleth things of a spiritual nature and relating to the invisible world by the names of things that are visible or relating to this present world or else expresseth things relating unto the one world and the other by the same appellations Places of both these Characters are frequent and numerous Thus we read of men that are rich in this world and of men that are rich towards God Luke 12.21 compared with 1 Tim. 6.17 and other places of spiritual and true treasure Isa 33.6 â—â—a 6.20.19.21 and elsewhere and so of earthly treasure Prov. 15.6.16 Mat. 6.19 of spiritual bread which came down from heaven and is called living bread John 6.32.48.51 of material bread often Instances