Christian He had so digested Christ into his soul by faith that he could speak nothing but Christian So let it be with thee This can faith do and it is wonderfull in our eyes Tell me next 28. Q. How is this faith confirmed and made stronger in thee A. By hearing the same Gospel preached and using the sacraments Here thou knowest the means which confirm thy faith and truly there is not a readier way to do it under God The Thessalonians heard the Gospel preached unto them 1 Thes 3.20 2 Thes 1.3 Prov. 4.18 and though at first there was something lacking in their faith yet as they heard the Gospel their faith grew exceedingly as just men their path was as the shining light which shined more and more unto the perfect day And for the sacraments it cannot seem strange that they should confirm thy faith For if I make a promise unto thee that I will give thee ten twenty thirty forty pounds if thou think me to be in earnest and to be able and willing to give it unto thee the oftener I promise it the more thou wilt beleeve it but if I set my hand and seal to it then thou art sure of it and maist sue me for it Such is the case betwixt God and thy soul He promises to give thee salvation by Jesus Christ if thou beleevest The oftener thi promise repeated the more thou beleevest But when God hath set it under his hand and seal in the word of God and sacraments now thou hast cause to beleeve it more and maist humbly sue him for it at the throne of Grace Vse Therefore my childe remember this Thou wilt presse after assurances and confirmations in every thing for thy body and estate why not for thy soul Thou would'st be sure of houses lands portion and health do what thou canst to be sure of salvation by Christ And because this is the way to hear the Gospel often that the word of grace may dwell richly in thee Col. 3. and to receive the sacraments as thou lovest the comfort of thy soul neglect them not Hear in season and hear out of season and as oft as thou canst ply the seals of Gods love that thy faith may be encreased If thou still doubtest whether yet thou shalt be saved or no God loves the importunity of his children Go to the throne of Grace and implead God Blessed God hast not thou promised that if I beleeve in Christ I shall be saved Hast not thou sent thy Ambassadours to tender this promise again Hast thou not set thy hand and seal to it in the word and sacraments Hast thou not made my heart go out of it self to rest upon thy blessed sonne onely Oh why do I languish in doubting despairs Why do I begin to sink for want of hold on my Saviour How long Lord how long Let the light of thy countenance shine upon me and I shall have peace Thus I have cleared to thee the means to beget and encrease faith and because the Sacraments are one therefore tell me 29. Q. What are Sacraments A. They are signes and seals of the righteousnesse of faith Here thou layest down the nature of Sacraments The nature of the sacraments By the righteousnesse of faith thou must understand that righteousnesse which thou hast by the Covenant of the Gospel that is the meritorious obedience of Christ for thee as thy surety rested upon by faith And the Sacraments Rom. 4.11 are signes and seals of this righteousnesse of faith They are signes because they signifie something unto thee Thou knowest that a picture or similitude upon a poste at an Inn or Ale-house house dore is called a signe because it signifies that thou maist have meat drink and lodging there for thy mony so is the Sacrament called a signe because it signifies something unto thee When thou seest the bread and wine set apart on the Lords table for this speciall service it signifies that God the father hath set apart and sealed Jesus Christ for thy salvation Joh. 6. The bread signifies the body of Christ The wine signifies the bloud of Christ The breaking of the bread signifies the suffering of Christ upon the crosse The powring out of the wine signifies the shedding of Christs bloud upon the crosse The Minister presenting these unto thee signifies God the Father whose Ambassadour he is offering unto thee his sonne for thy salvation and thy receiving of it into thy hand and mouth signifies thy faith by which thou makest Christ and his merit thy own Thus by these signes thou discernest the Lords body and bloud 1 Cor. 11. without which thou catest judgement to thy self which is damnable without repentance will in the issue prove thy damnation So in the other Sacrament of Baptisme water signifies the bloud merit and spirit of Christ laying on of the water as well as dipping and plunging signifies thy death and buriall with Christ Rom. 6. washing and cleansing signifies forgivenesse of sinnes and wiping off the water as well as rising out of it signifies our rising with Christ to a new holy and cleansed estate Sacraments are also seals As Abraham was said to have received the signe of Circumsion Rom. 4.11 as the seal of the righteousnesse of faith so doest thou receive our Sacraments Now thou knowest the use of seals among men When men make a bargain and set their hands and seals unto it then the bargain is concluded When men make a promise and set their hands and seals unto it then their promise is confirmed we have just cause to beleeve it When men convey houses and lands either to other and set their hands and seals to an instrument drawn to that end then those houses and land upon delivery are conveyed and therefore it is called a conveyance For such like reasons the Sacraments are called seals because they do conclude confirm and convey In the Sacrament there is a Covenant or bargain betwixt God Heb. 8.6 and thee Christ is called the Mediatour of a better Covenant Heb. 8.10 By this Covenant God promiseth that he will be to us a God even our God and we shall be to him a people Jer. 31.33 even his people By vertue of this he gives the forgivenesse of sinnes Jer. 32.40 Heb. 8.10 11 12. illumination sanctification experimentall knowledge and perseverance in the wayes of grace This blessing and blessed covenant is concluded in the Sacraments In Baptisme thou publikely enterest into this covenant Rom. 4.17 and that God who calleth things that are not as if they were is pleased to call thee a beleever not so much by vertue of thy parents faith as by vertue of his covenant to Abraham and his seed according to the flesh Act. 2.36 and according to the spirit which makes parents and their children one and in one covenant In the Lords Supper thou publikely renewest thy covenant Conscience tels thee
the Scriptures doe not yeeld 2 Tim. 3.16 2 Pet. 1.19 For all Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and so is a sure word to which thou must take heed as unto a light that shineth in a darke place because it hath this threefold testimony in one God which cannot faile thee Doth the Scripture give any precept make any promise denounce any threatning Rest upon it that thou must obey it Imbrace it and tremble under it as Gods truth confirmed by three witnesses which shal stand when all other witnesses shall fail Wouldst thou powre out thy devoutest prayers to God Thinke upon this one God three Persons as a fountaine to supply all thy defects Hast thou any brack or defect in the nature of thy body and soule Pray to God the Father as thy faithfull Creator that for the merits of Christ and by the working of the holy Ghost he would perfect thy parts to doe him service Hast thou sinned against thy good Maker Pray to God the Sonne as thy faithfull Redeemer that from the love of the Father for his merits and by the operation of the holy Ghost he would procure a pardon sealed to thy conscience Hast thou for want of beleeving in his name sinned against thy good Saviour Pray to God the Holy Ghost as thy faithfull Sanctifier that from the love of the Father for the holy bloud-shed of the Sonne and by his blessing worke of preparation and Insition he would apply thee to Christ and make thee one with him that thou mayst have all the benefits of his Passion Now my child remember what I have said Q. Who made thee A. God Q. What is it to make thee A. To give mee that being which I have Q. Who Redeemed thee A. Jesus Christ Q. What is it to Redeeme thee A. To buy me again when I was lost Q. How camest thou to be lost A. By the sinne of Adam Q. How did Christ buy thee again A. By laying down his life for me Q. Who sanctified thee A. The holy Ghost Q. What is it to sanctifie thee A. To make me holy Q. How doth he make me holy A. By taking away sinne and giving me grace Q. By what means doth he this A. By the Word Sacraments and Prayer Q. How many Gods are there A. Three persons for all my necessities and but one God to serve alone Thinke of these points seriously and the Lord give thee understanding in all things It may be thou canst not so clearely conceive some of these high mysteries as of three in one in a more excellent way then can be expressed or of Essence which is one Nature in three or of Persons which are the severall manners of being in the selfe same God as in respect of Creation God is the Father in respect of Redemption God is the Sonne in respect of Sanctification God is the Holy Ghost These things I say are above reasonable capacitie But it is otherwise with thee in the understanding of other things and of these mysteries In other things thou must first know and then beleeve but in these things thou must first beleeve and then know as Peter said We beleeve and are sure Joh. 6.69 that thou art that Christ the Sonne of the living God And if thou adde but this Joh. 7.17 To will to doe thy God's will thou shalt know of the doctrine whether it be of God and so rest with confidence upon these most divine mysteries to comfort thy soule Now let us goe on Tell me 5. Q. What is God A. He is that Almightie one who made and governeth all things Know my child that we cannot know God as he is in himselfe Thou canst not know God as he is for he dwels in a light that no man can attain unto And therefore we may say as that Heathen did of old when he was asked what God was By how much more I thinke by so much lesse I understand what that is which we call God Yet may we know Gods back-parts that is those works Exod. 34. and names by which he is made known unto us in the Scriptures For thus he hath manifested himselfe unto us for this end Object Obiect It may be thou mayst thinke that if God cannot be known it is unlawfull for me to enquire of thee what he is Sol. Sol. This is true if it were impossible for us to know God any wayes But Yet thou must labour to know him as he will because we may and must know him as he hath manifested himselfe unto us therefore surely it is not unlawfull to search into him so farre For otherwise it might be said of us as Christ of the Samaritanes Joh. 4. They worship they know not what Yea without this we cannot according to our measure ascribe unto him such excellencies as his nature doth deserve for we cannot say that is gold which we cannot affirme to be gold or brasse Yea without this we cannot love and desire God We cannot desire and love what we know not The love of God must not be a groundlesse love which is more in the lover then in the thing loved but a well grounded love which must proceed from the knowledge of the amiablenesse of the thing loved Of this alone we can give a true reason from the worth of God or any person or thing else which we love Vse Therefore good child know the wickednesse of all our and thy natures which care least to know God Doe but mark and you shall see your selfe ready to know every thing and yet thou takest no notice of God though thou art continually in his presence Yet I hope better things of thee and that which doth accompany thy salvation If the Heathens groped after him and rather then they would not find him Acts 17. erected an altar to the unknown God much more wilt thou who art crowned with more blessed favours of light and love But why should I presse thee to enquire after God when thou tellest me plainly what God is You tell me that God is that Almightie one that doth make and governe all things Though thou knowest him not as he is in himselfe yet thou describest him as he hath manifested himselfe to the Church If I should aske thee what the Apostle Paul was You would answer that he was an able and extraordinary Minister of the New Testament Herein you did not tell me what he is or was in himself for so he was a living creature endued with a reasonable soule but you tell me what Paul was as God did imploy him in and for the Church so in this description thou tellest me what God is with reference to the whole world Thus thou tellest me two things of God 1. His sufficiency He is that Almightie one 2. His Efficiency or how he hath manifested it in part two waies 1. By making all things 2. By governing all things First God is the Almightie thou
the husband hath his wife Prov. 2. and the wife hath her husband by vertue of the Covenant of God by which they are made one flesh So mayst thou have God by Covenant when thou cleavest unto him by knowledge faith feare love confidence worship and the like Use Be thou sure my good child to have the true God onely to be thy God thus When thou knowest not God and doest not beleeve love and feare him nor put thy trust and confidence in him that thou mayst enjoy him and use him as thine thou hast him not no nor thou doest not give him these graces alone Thou hast there articles of the Covenant for him alone and for other things and persons under him and for his honour onely 10. Q. What is the second Commandement A. Exod. 20.4 5 6. Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven Image nor any likenesse of things that are in heaven above nor in the earth beneath nor in the waters under the earth thou shalt not bowe down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquitie of the Fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandements Here God requires the worshipping of God with his own outward worship What God requires in the second commandement God sees the vaine wickednesses of Idolaters Because they are carnall they must have carnall helps of their own inventions Hence is it because they have not bodily communion with their gods they ordinarily see them not heare them not feele them not therefore they set up their Images likenesses and similitudes they doe honour and worship to them in the place of their gods they adorn them they cense to them they kneele bowe courtesie and pray to them they think that there is a religious and divine power and presence in them to be a chariot of their devotions and to convey the Influences of their hearts and words to their patrons their great gods But God will not be worshipped in this carnall way Deut. 4.15 16 17 18. He manifested no similitude on the day that the Lord spake out of the midst of the fire lest we should corrupt our selves and make a graven Image the similitude of any figure the likenesse of male or female God is a consuming fire Deut. 4.24 and a Jealous God and will have none of his worship conveyed to any devises of man or by them to him but he will have his own worship by an acknowledgement of such divine excellencies as are in him in the way and by the means that he hath appointed that is by the Word Sacraments and Prayer Vse Therefore my child look upon all Idolaters so as to hate their abominable course Doe not thinke to please God by devices of thine owne or others Imagine not that Images or Idols either graven or carved or painted can carry thy worship to those Gods or divine things or Persons whom they represent Bestow not thy divine respects upon any thing or person but God alone Frame not any will-worship thy selfe for the true and good God But as thou learnest out of the word the worship to give him all manner of prayers and prayses to heare his word to receive his Sacraments and to offer up any spirituall sacrifices so doe that thou provoke not God to jealousie and so to hate thee and to plague thine before thy face to thy confounding discomfort 11. Q. What is the third Commandement A. Exod. 20.7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine Here God requires the worshipping of him in his owne manner What God requires in the third Commandement so as it may not be in vaine If it be not done as he would have it as good never a whit as not done as he would have it The name of God is God himselfe any wayes made knowne unto thee Thou art knowne by thy name and God hath a name whereby he is or may be made known to all mankind to wit his works his word his titles his attributes his religion his worship this is his name To take it signifies to take it up or to challenge it from contempt and blasphemy so as God may not be dishonoured by thine or others use of it To take it in vaine is to use it to no end to a fruitlesse end or to a wicked end as when thou usest the names titles and attributes of God to tosse them like Tennice balls to no use but as fruitlesse imbellishments of thy speech when thou usest them in asseverations and oathes to belch out the passions and bitternesse of thy heart to or against others and when thou usest them in word or actions to vent the malice or hypocrisie in thy heart Vse Take heed of doing thus my child Thou art a Christian and wouldest be accounted godly and so thou takest up Gods name Do it so as God and his people may not be ashamed to acknowledge thee for such Thou sometimes takest up the name of God in thy mouth doe it with all reverence When thou swearest doe it when thou art justly called unto it Joh. 7. Heb. 6. Jer. 4.2 to cleare the innocency or to end strife among men in truth in righteousnesse and in judgement When thou prayest hearest vowest or receivest the Sacraments doe them as sincerely desiring to draw thy self into communion with God in Christ If thou doe not though men are found to be carefull for preserving of their owne names more then Gods yet God tenderly respects his owne name and will account thee guilty and bind thee over to be plagued in this world and for ever 12. Q. What is the fourth Commandement A. Exod. 20.8 9 10 11. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy work But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt not doe any worke thou nor thy sonne nor thy daughter thy man-servant nor thy maid-servant nor thy cattell nor thy stranger that is within thy gates For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it Here God requires the worshipping of God by his owne meanes upon that time which is appointed It is said What God requires in the fourth Commandement That the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it which thou must not conceive to be an idle repetition of words of the same value in so short a summe and therefore compare other Scriptures and the sense will be cleare and distinct unto Esau cries out to Jacob Gen. 27. Blesse me even me also my father and then Jacob gave him a
in Adam the sonne of God by falling in him Joh. 8.44 thou becamest the sonne of the Devil thy Saviour comes to make thee the sonne of God againe without which thou canst not be the heire of glory Now marke God cannot give thee what he hath not The Father is not the Sonne neither is the Holy Ghost the Sonne but the Sonne is the Sonne Therefore he becomes thy Saviour to give thee sonship The Sonne of God becomes the sonne of man to make the sonnes of men become the sonnes of God He is made man that he might be a fit sacrifice Man is a more noble sacrifice then a woman Mal. 1.14 for cursed is he that hath a male in his flock and offers a corrupt thing Vse Now ponder seriously on this my child with thy selfe that thy Saviour is the eternall Sonne of God I tell thee that if thou have but any ingenuity in thee it will make thee both hate and avoid sinne Hadst thou such a Plague soare botch or boyle about thee that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Kings sonne and the King should be so loving as to kill his onely sonne for thy health would'st thou not hate such a disease and take heed that thou never didst fall into such a disease againe This is thy case Thy sinne is a soare wound and plague that nothing could cure but the heart-bloud of the Sonne of God God out of his infinite love did send him into the world to take thy nature upon him that he might be reviled for thee spit upon for thee scourged for thee crowned with thornes for thee sweat drops of bloud for thee be crucified for thee and shed the bloud of his hands feet and heart for thee and all to cover and cure thy finne Wilt thou not now hate thy finne and be carefull to suppresse it and never fall into the like againe I hope thou wilt or else thy latter end will be worse then thy beginning Goe on now and tell me 23. Q. What hath Christ Jesus done for thee A. He suffered the paines of death for me Thou hast seene what Christ was What Christ hath done for us and is now sadly consider what he hath done for thee Thou happly mayst thinke it little for him to be borne for thee to live for thee though it were infinite love but because the purity of his nature and perfection of his obedience have influence into the value of his sufferings therefore thou doest mention onely these paines of death Peter mentioneth these paines of death Act. 2.24 and Paul cals them Rom. 6.9 the Dominion of death Phil. 2.8 and his humbling of himselfe and becoming obedient unto death even the death of the crosse What paines and torments Christ endured for thee then is unexpressible yet they may be valued a little Heb. 5.7 by his offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares to his Father and by sweating drops of bloud when he grovelled upon the ground in so cold a season as made Peter creep to the fire in the high Priests Hall Surely there was fire nigh which caused this sweat What may the cause then of these paynes and torments be Surely the sight of our sinnes charged upon him Heb. 7.22 and the sense of his Fathers wrath He stood a Surety in our roome and was to answer for all our sinnes to God and not be discharged till he had satisfied for them all Look therefore as if a man were bound for a million of thousand pounds for other men when he was once attached his whole charge would be put in against him and this sight would be fearefull to him especially if he considered that they were his chiefe enemies for whom he was bound and a nest of unthankfull creatures who did load him with disgrace and obloquy Just thus was it with thy blessed Saviour Though he had the testimony of his enemies that never man spake as he did Joh. 7.46 Mar. 7.37 Act. 10.38 and that he had done all things well because the Lord was with him Yet when he was under arrests and executions Esa 43.24 he was made to serve with our sinnes and was wearied with our iniquities 2 Cor. 5.21 for he was made sinne for us who knew no sinne when all our sinnes were charged upon him and he was to make satisfaction to God his Father for them And whose sinnes were these The sinnes of those that were his enemies Rom. 5.10 the sinnes of his Disciples who runne away from him the sinnes of Peter who denied him and the sinnes of Jewes and Gentiles who crucified him The Jewes and Gentiles bare a world of enmity against him Eph. 2.16 yet he reconciled both unto God in one body by the Crosse having slaine the enmity in himselfe Thinke seriously whether this was not a torment and paine of death to have all the debts presented unto him of such sinners to be satisfied for Besides when God his Father saw him thus covered with sin in the State of a surety though the holinesse of his person was never polluted he withdrawes the blessed vision of the divine nature Wheresoever it shined abroad upon others yet though hee was personally united unto it it shined not upon himselfe but left him to sweat drops of bloud and his soule to be heavy unto death and his heart and tongue to cry out Psal 22.1 Mat. 27.46 My God My God why hast thou forsaken me Is not this an unutterable paine and torment of death Was it not enough for him to die but he must endure the sorrowes of death thus Use Oh my deare child forget not this point It will humble thee for sinne drive thee from sinne and comfort thee against sinne It will humble thee for sinne to think that it should present such a cursed visage to God that such a fearfull load must be laid upon thy Surety for it It will drive thee from sinne to thinke that if thou neglect so great salvation as Christ hath offered unto thee thou shalt be for thy sins in a worse case then he was He was able to slay hatred and enmity but thou canst not by suffering millions of millions of ages and therefore thou shalt have thy sinnes lye before thee for ever and the wrath of God will presse thee to all eternity It will comfort thee against sinne to thinke that thy Surety having endured this for thee it were unjust for God to impose it upon thee againe Onely be sure that thou keepe the Covenant of the Gospel that is when thou hast been translated out of the kingdome of darknesse into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne that thou honour the Father in the Sonne by beleeving in him with a faith working by love and then thou wilt have cause to triumph as Paul Rom. 7.25 I thanke God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now let me see what thou remembrest and
Commission is given to the sword to cut off not a few and to guild the Land with crying bloud the Enemy sowes tares to an aboundance at home to the hinderance of Reformation and to the disjoynting of many a good soul Some of the ancient exploded heresies are revived and such wide ruptures are made that a devout soul can scarce tell at which dore to go in to Christ my heart bleeds to see with what daring and violence private opinions are maintained I beleeve that I may have some private opinion of my own but I will rather bury it within my breast then suffer it to make a publike disturbance If others would do so too we might it may be have been wafted to our wished for haven before this day But alas all cry up the ways of Christ the ordinances of Christ the Kingdome of Christ but when it comes to be examined it is found to be nothing but self opinions and self practises Some look upon the Law as a School-master unto Christ and when they have learned him they would walk in Christ not onely by beleeving but by doing such holy charitable duties as the Law propounds and commands Some would have no use of the Law among Christians but pin all upon faith as if faith did not work by love Some look upon Baptism as unusefull in our Infantery though the beginning of it cannot be concludently grounded but from the Apostles and the practise of it was never opposed till this last age Some are for the grafting of it into the place of Circumcision because it can be no other then that was A signe and seal of the righteousnes of faith and God who caleth things that are not as if they were calleth by vertue of his Covenant Infants of Christians Believers much more thē infants of Jews Some again are for Congregationall Churches onely as if Christ had given any such precept or as if there were any such practise according to undoubted rule Others will have Classicall Churches under sweet and amiable subordination to help the Communion of Saints as in the dayes of Timothy and Titus Some would have excommunication in the power of the whole Body some in the power of the Presbytery some in the power of a mixt Presbytery some of an Eldership of Ministery which seemes to be the rightest way and some would have none at all though happly if excommunication be not a delivering over to Satan yet it may justly be a wary casting out and removing stones of offence till they are humbled and reformed Some would have all punishments in the power of the Magistrate some would have none but for such faults as clash against Publique Peace of the Common-wealth though it cannot be denied but that the sword of a good Magistrate for vertue and against vice is a back of Steele to a good Ministery Some are for admittance of members of the Church by I know not what Covenant because it is variously practised Others know no covenant but that of grace made in Baptisme and renewed in the Supper of the Lord except voluntary Covenants and according to the Rules of Christian libertie Now my much honoured friends when these digladiations are sharpned amongst good men great men will it not be a beame in the eye of many a good soul even to hinder them from walking with such a steady foot in the wayes of Christ as were to be wished I know no better way to help all then to follow Melancthons counsell to his Mother when she was troubled with the controversies of her time that she stick to her old principles of saving doctrine and practise and for the rest to wait the issue of Gods providence This is my humble and hearty counsell to you all Look upon the goodnesse of every good man and so far as you see Christ in them so far honour and succour them but for other opinions engage you not It will be more unseemly at last to cast out an errour upon further triall then not to admit it at first God hath his mighty work in these stirrings for the cleering of some truths yet more confusedly known When this is brought unto an issue it will more sweetly content you then a present engagement in the premises of many stirring spirits who do too much trouble themselves and others This is all I ayme at and therefore present you with old quiet grounds of faith and practise as well becommeth me who am the servant of Jesus Christ and under him From my Study in Southwick Feb. 8. 1646. Yours to serve you in the Gospell ROBERT ABBOT Secret Sinnes discovered OR A Sermon of secret Sinnes preached at a Publike Fast UPON PSAL. 19.12 Who can understand his errours Lord cleanse me from my secret sinnes WE are come to an humbling day and this is an humbling Text. It points at an infinite company of sinnes but it laments prays against secret sins Every Pulpit all the Town words it against open sinnes and if we amend not it is not for want of light but for want of love to piety but if we can make some discovery of Secret sinnes it makes us suspect the more those that are known and it may be casts us upon a bed of sorrow for all because our secret ones are so many and so bad David sues here to God for two blessings justification and sanctification The motives to set him on are the glory God hath by the Creatures and by the word By the creatures he is wonderfully glorified V. 1 2 3 4 c. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shewes his handy-work They glorifie God by working according to the Law which God hath put upon them and by bearing forth impresses of Gods Majesty wisedome and goodnesse By the word God is more glorified yet Vers 7 8 9 10 c. It is his law his testimonies his statutes his commandements and his fear It is perfect it is sure it is right it is pure it is clean it is truth and righteous altogether It converts makes wise rejoyceth enlighteneth and is everlasting It is desirable above the best Gold and sweeter then hony yea it brings great reward along with it David was so in love with the glory that God had both these wayes that no doubt he was heartily wishing that all men would honour him too But for himself he sets himself earnestly upon it and because he cannot do it without a Pardon of sinne and power against sin Ver. 12. he prays first for justification Lord cleanse me next for sanctification Ver. 13. Keep back presumptuous sinnes let them not have dominion over me and lastly for the fruit of both let my words Ver. 14. and meditations be acceptable in thy sight He knew that praise is not comely for the mouth of a sinfull fool He would not therefore care how farre he were from it even from the whole body of it that he might glorifie
let the counsell of a poor friend be acceptable unto you so to live that ye be not swallowed up of sorrow so to live as ye be not devoured by peace As it was said of Saul and David of old so may it of prosperity and adversity that adversity hath slain 1000. but prosperity 10000. It is a glorious thing to be in prosperity and not to be worse It is a glorious thing also to be in adversity and to be better But to be bad in both is to make both a curse prosperity to be made a sweet Ladder from which to break our necks from when we think we are climbed up to heaven and adversity to be a sowr Ladder to let us down into hell here and to bring us at last to the burning Lake which torments for evermore The only way to help all this is both in prosperity and adversity to live in Christ If like the Eagles you make your Nest in this rock your faith shall be your victory Let prosperity come faith in Christ will say Cursed is he that doth not account one days fellowship with Jesus Christ above all the glistering vanities in this world I will not be flattered out of Christ Let adversity come faith in Christ will say Farewell mony farewell life farewell all things for Christ I will not be frighted from my Christ That you good Ladies may be helped to do so with all thanks for your loves I humbly present unto you both this little Catechism expounded There is none of you both but have in your families heard me open these grounds either to your children or servants Then you were pleased to approve them and now you will be pleased to love them more because they lye by you for daily use There will many faults be found with them as brevity plainnesse imperfection and the like but above all that they want the living voice and tender heart to set an edge upon them As to the first faults I confesse them and in truth I make this but as a fore-runner to a larger Catechism thorough the whole body of Divinity If God send me health life and leisure you may see that if this mean while be acceptable to the Church and it will more copiously handle all the grounds by way of explication observation and cases of conscience which are most obvious As to the last fault indeed it wants my voice but not my heart For when you are warming your own and your childrens hearts with it I will follow it with my prayers to make it successefull Could I do more I would do it Could I do lesse I would not As becomes him that hath been is and by Gods blessing will be to both of you worthy Ladies Your poor yet hearty friend to serve you and yours in Christ Jesus ROBERT ABROT Erratá Page Line for Read 78 15 life lift 79 9 blot out then  89 25 of in 110 3 doth teacheth 119 3 faith life 122 19 of by 122 23 wife house 122 24 work in work it in 124 5 where they whereby they 125 6 connexion conviction 159 17 The by the. 163 28 In obedience In sacrifice 186 1 must mayst 198 21 of both for both Epistle 19,20 Infants of Jews Believers 242 6 creatures Creatour A Mothers Catechisme for her Children MY good Child Gen. 3.16 I have brought thee forth into this world in great sorrow I have nourished thee either with my own breasts or as I thought by those that were better able I now desire not onely to see thee a member of the Church by profession but by the power of grace and because thou canst not be thus without the knowledge of God Joh. 17.2 Pet. 3.18 and of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from the tender bowels of a compassionate Mother I desire to inform thee in thy estate by Nature created by nature corrupted and nature restored that in these things which concern thy self thou mayst know God and thy selfe and grow out of fellowship with thy selfe into communion with God in Christ that thou mayst have life Tell me therefore 1. Q. Who made thee A. God the Father It is true Esa 44.2 For thus saith the Lord that made thee And to make thee is to Give thee a being that is a body and soul and all the parts faculties and powers of them This is of great use 1. To enquire who made thee and 2. To resolve that it was God 1. Thou must enquire after him that made thee We must enquire who made us Both that thou mayst know to whom to ascribe the glory of the work and to whom to goe to supply the defects of thy nature for he can best repaire that first made as also that thou mayst be acquainted to whom to goe to sustaine nature Nature hath taught every thing to goe to that for sustenance which brought it forth as the Lambe goes to the Ewe and the Chicken to the Hens body Vse Therefore thou mayst see what fooles we are by nature who are more apt to enquire after any thing then after our Maker Every trick of our Trades every devise to help us to live or live comfortably is attended with all diligence but we desire not to be acquainted with our Maker But I hope better things of thee and that which accompanies salvation Be thou provoked to enquire after this and not to sacrifice to thy own nets or to run to naturall means chiefly for supplies when thou art necessitated 2. Resolve that it was God that made thee Galen himselfe when God made us as a natural Anatomist he did consider the frame of Man said like an Atheist that he sung a song in the praise of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But thou my child needest not to be beholding to his confession for thou must be made either of nature or of thy selfe or of thy Parents or of God But thou art not made of nature for it cannot give a good reason of every thing in thee They that have doted most upon nature could never give a prevailing reason of the strength of the nether jaw-bone which hath such weake supporters nor of the heat of the stomach which consumeth fit things put into it yet not those parts about it Nor art thou made of thy selfe For though the Maker know the parts of the thing made yet thou doest not know thine no not by anatomy neither canst thou command or refraine the pulse of thy wrist or the motion of thy heart Nor art thou made of thy parents for neither thy father that begat thee nor I thy mother that conceived thee knew what was begotten nor what was conceived and yet it is necessary that the cause should know the effect What then remaines but that thou shouldst acknowledge thy selfe to be of the generation of God Act. 17.28 Vse Remember this then and know that God doth know whatsoever is in thee even thy most secret thoughts
that though thou art sorry for thy sins by which thou hast broken thy Covenant of Baptisme and purposest to do so no more and therefore canst look back to thy Baptisme with comfort yet thou failest again and again And therefore thy God of mercy hath pleased to give thee leave to come and renew thy covenant again and again in the Supper of the Lord and if thou purposest to deal faithfully with God as thou renewest thy covenant with God so God renews his Covenant with thee Therefore it is called a seal to conclude this Covenant betwixt God and thee Again Joh. 3.16 in the Sacrament is confirmed thy faith in the promise when thou art of years to judge what thou hast done and doest God makes a gracious promise in the Covenant of the Gospel that if thou beleeve in Christ thou shalt be saved Oh how hard is it for thee to grapple with thy unbeleeving heart When thou lookest to Gods love and Christs merits thou art cheered but when thou lookest to thy own unworthinesse thy faith flags and faints Therefore thy good God doth send his Ambassadour 2 Cor. 5.20 with bread and wine to confirm thy faith and assure thee that as sure as thou hast this bread and this wine given unto thee so surely God will make good thy salvation to thee if thou beleevest in his Christ Lastly the Sacrament as a seal doth convey Jesus Christ and all his benefits to thee so as thou maist say I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine Look as houses and lands may be conveyed unto thee by a sealed writing and though thou never see either house or land yet in a court of Record thou maist have it made thine if it be within the Kings dominions So Christ by his promise and seal is made thine and though thou see him not according to the flesh yet thou hast communion with the body and bloud of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 by the court of Record in the Scriptures in the kingdome of the great King of heaven and earth The manner of this conveyance is sacramentall that is as a signe and seal For it doth not convey Christ as I can convey money to thy purse or hand or as cloaths to thy back by naturall instruments but as Sacraments can convey him that is they can signifie the conveyance of Christ and seal it unto thee by the covenant and ordinance of God Vse Therefore let me charge thee my good childe to prize this truth as a seal upon thy heart and a signet upon thy right hand Wert thou not most miserable if thou wert not in covenant with God If he did not take thee into speciall protection as thy God If thou didst not engage thy self to be one of his people who have illumination forgivenesse sanctification and perseverance All this God doth assure thee of in the seal of the Sacrament Would'st thou not account thy self in a sad condition if God had made thee a promise of salvation by Christ and when thou art beaten off by the sin of thy heart thou hadst no confirmation of it from the God of truth yet this is confirmed by the seal of the Sacrament Would it not adde to thy saddest thoughts If thou hadst many promises of comfort by Christ and yet hadst no performances Behold the seale of the Sacrament doth convey Christ unto thy soul by faith Is it not registred in the Records of heaven that this bread is my body Luk. 22. 1 Cor. 11. this wine is my bloud as Christ hath witnessed Hadst thou but a cut finger thou couldst not have the vertue of the salve to cure it except thou hadst the plaister of the salve it self nor canst thou have the merits of Christ except thou hast Christ himself though not in a carnall way Use the Sacrament as a signe to signifie but let it be a signe and not the proper thing signified Use it as a seal yet let it be but a seal to assure a possession of what thou hast though thou seest it not Get possession of Christ and it is enough In the mean time turn thou this doctrine into practice and plead with God from the Sacrament Good father let these signes signifie powerfully thy love to my soul Let these seals be a sweet conclusion of the covenant of Grace betwixt thee and me be a confirmation to my doubting faith and be a conveyance of Christ to me that he may live in my soul by faith and confound sinne more and more and quicken me to all Grace to thy Glory Now cast thy eye backward and tell me seeing thou must have faith or else thou canst not be saved by Christ Q. Who must work faith in thy heart A. The Holy Ghost Q. Why must he work it A. Because it is an infinite comfort against the infinite horrour of my sin Q. Where must it be wrought A. In my heart Q. Why saist thou so A. To put a difference betwixt the faith in the head and the faith in the heart Q. How must it be wrought in thee A. By the outward preaching of the Gospel Q. How many wayes is faith encreased A. Two wayes Q. Which is the first A. By the preaching of the Gospel Q. Why is faith encreased thus A. Because the oftner we hear the word of promise the more we will beleeve it Q. What is the second A. By receiving the Sacraments Q. Why is faith confirmed by them A. Because they are seals to assure Gods promises Q. What are Sacraments A. Signes and seals of the righteousnesse of faith Q. What is the righteousnes of faith A. The meriting obedience of Christ rested on by faith Q. Why are the Sacraments called signes A. Because they signifie something unto us Q. What doth the water in Baptisme signifie A. The bloud merit and spirit of Christ Q. What doth laying on of the water signifie A. My death and buriall with Christ Q. What doth the running or wiping off of the water signifie A. My rising with Christ to a new life Q. What doth washing or cleansing signifie A. Forgivenesse of my sins Q. What doth the bread signifie A. The body of Christ Q. What doth the wine signifie A. The bloud of Christ Q. What doth the breaking of the bread signifie A. The suffering of Christ upon the crosse Q. What doth the powring out of the wine signifie A. The shedding of Christs bloud upon the crosse Q. What doth the Ministers presenting them to thee signifie A. God the Fathers offering his sonne to me Q. What doth thy receiving them signifie A. The faith of the Gospel Q. Why are they called seals A. Because they do conclude confirm and convey Q. What is concluded A. A Covenant betwixt God and me Q. What is that Covenant A. That God will be my God and I will be one of his people Q. What is confirmed in the Sacrament A. Faith in the promise Q. What is that promise A. That if
Scriptures as may beat down sinne Doth thy faith work thus Gal. 5. True faith worketh by love and in truth it will work thee to love the word of Christ as the meanes Christ as the meriter and therefore thou must set an higher price upon Jesus Christ then all things else and the Saints Phil. 3. and members of Christ as those that are in communion with thee for salvation For we must not stroke the head and strike the members pretend to love Christ and hate those that are Christs Indeed thou must not so farre dote upon Christs members as therefore to suck in all errours and miscarriages in them who do but know in part 1 Cor. 13. and therefore may aym and practise imperfectly but so farre as we see Christ in them so farre we must love them and is thy faith thus then hast thou this faith fit for the Sacrament Fourthly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy thankfulnesse Thankfulnesse Luk. 22.19 This is one of the main duties of those that partake at the Lords Table and it will argue thy love to it and thy need of it and thy desire to enjoy the benefit of that for which thou art thankfull yea it is that rent Ps 116.13 Psa 107.1 and tribute which the Lord requireth upon the receipt of any favour Therefore thou must perform this both in word and work In word for before thou comest to the Sacrament thou must praise God who is pleased to ordain so familiar a means to confirm thy faith and give thee communion with Christ when thou art in the use of it thou must thankfully remember the Lords death which is signified and sealed unto thee with the fruits of it And when thou hast received thou must thank God for the benefit and comfort thou hast enjoyed by it yea though for the present thou feel it not Thou must be thankfull in work by a constant obedience unto his will 1 Sam. 15. for obedience is better then sacrifice In obedience thou might'st offer beasts and goods but in obedience thou offerest thy self Vse Therefore my childe put thy soul to the question here also O my soul hast thou this thankfulnesse meet for the Lords Supper Doest thou know the benefit of thy redemption of which this Sacrament is a seal Hast thou a secret joy in heart for it Doest thou admire the mercy providing and performing it Doest thou resolve to love God for it and to set forth his praises to him and his praises to others Doest thou resolve and endeavour by grace given to obey him in all things who hath comforted thee in this which is above all things unto thee If it be thus with thee then hast thou this thankfulnesse fit for the Lords Supper Lastly thou must examine the fitnesse of thy Charity Charity I would have thee know that there is no service acceptable without this charity If thou prayest thou must lift up pure hands without wrath 1 Tim. 2.8 If thou hearest the word thou must be slow to wrath Jam. 1.19 20. because the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God If thou sacrifice thou must leave thy gift at the Altar and go Matth. 5.23 24. and be reconciled And thus it is by way of proportion when thou comest to the Lords Supper Yea mark that it is impossible that sound faith should be without charity The pulse of faith beats this way therefore James saith Jam. 2. shew me thy faith by thy works Yea thy very coming to the Sacrament doth require charity A loaf of bread is made of many grains and we that are partakers of one loaf must be one bread 1 Cor. 10.16 17. We come to have communion with Christ our head and when members attend for direction and comfort from the head there must be no jars The shoulder must not say to the arm nor the arm to the hand nor the hand to the foot I have no need of thee and thee The God of peace will fill thee with all peace by beleeving and practising this Q. If thou ask me to whom thy charity must have respect A. I tell thee first to God in Christ and next to all Christian brethren for Christs sake Thou must love God any way made known unto thee but especially in Christ thy Saviour 〈…〉 He that that loves not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be an execration Maran Atha What Not to love him that is an Advocate a Surety all in all to us in us for us Too great punishment cannot be inflicted on such too much unworthinesse to come unto the Lords Supper cannot be imputed unto them Next thou must shew thy charity to all Christian brethren both by forgiving and performing the offices of reconciled persons In forgiving thou must pacifie thy heart from all bitternesse Ro. 12.19 and desire of revenge Vengeance is mine and I will repay saith the Lord and thou must discharge them from the offence to thee though thou canst not discharge them from the offence to God Indeed thou art not bound to think and judge him good or a friend who by long proof hath manifested himself otherwise neither art thou alwayes bound to discharge a penalty if it be great for then Christianity should give a license to ungodly men to offer all manner of injuries to the godly but thou must discharge so farre from the offence as it may seem to deserve the least revenge For thou must not be overcome of the evill of thy enemy Ro. 12.21 or of thy own malicious heart but thou must overcome thy enemies and thy own evill also with goodnesse In performing the offices of Charity thou must labour to unite others by making them friends if thou canst that all our matters may be done in love and thou must communicate to the necessities of the Saints For thou receivest an inestimable favour from God and therefore thou must do good Heb. 13. and to distribute thou must not forget for with such sacrifices God is pleased Vse Therefore my dear childe reflect once again upon thy soul and examine it Hast thou O my soul that charitie which fits thee for the Lords Supper Hast thou a ground of all true charity to men the love of God in Jesus Christ Doest thou love to walk before him that he may see and correct all thy wayes Doest thou love his familiar presence above the greatest presences of the world Doest thou love to hear him speak unto thee in the word and to speak unto him in prayer Doest thou rejoyce when thou seest the tokens of his love in his graces and Sacraments come rowling upon thee Doest thou for his sake love all that are his his ministery his worship his ordinances and his Saints Doest thou love to have peace with all men Rom. 12. so farre as is possible and to be friends with Christs members as they are such Doest thou really
him This was a poor provision Be you wiser and seeing your souls are spirits let them have spirituall provisions out of Gods Word Use 2 Secondly seeing the soul is a spirit joyn the soul to him that is a spirit Simile nutritur simili Every thing is nourished with that which is proportionable unto it The Lamb so soon as it is yeaned runs to the sides and dugs of the Ewe and the Chicken newly hatched covets the warm body and feathers of the Hen without which it thrives not so well so let your souls run to God that is a spirit He is the father of spirits who will provide for all of his image and superscription The Apostle hath an excellent expression He that is joyned or glewed as Joyners do boards to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 It would be a glorious priviledge to be one spirit with God that we may be made partakers of the Divine nature 2 Pet. 1.4 in the efficacie of it for our salvation This is the way joyn your souls to the Lord. They are joyned to the world and so they rot in a thousand vanities They are joyned to the flesh and so they perish in sin Oh let them be joyned to the Lord by faith in Christ working by love and then with the whole Church 1 Cor. 12.12 they shall be called Christ and according to their measure they shall fare no worse then Christ did Rom. 8.17 Luk. 24.26 first to suffer and then to enter into Glory Use 3 Thirdly seeing the soul is a spirit think of a better place for it then here You are apt to say with Peter Matth. 17. Master it is good for us to be here let us build Tabernacles Eccles 12. But Solomon tels you that the spirit returnes to him that gave it Let it learn the way now by having an heavenly conversation for it was not made for low places Fire is the driest and lightest element and it desires to be above and therefore it will burn up all combustible matter which lieth in the way So your souls are the divinest parts where should they desire to be Phil. 1. but to be dissolved and to be with Christ therefore secure that place for them Be acquainted with Gods infinite love and mercy in Christ Rest with confidence upon those merits and that intercession which are presented to God the Father in your room Love the Lord and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ Walk before God 2 Thes 3. Gen. 17. and be upright That when you dye you may be received into an everlasting habitation a place sutable for an high-born spirit Consider the order of creation and disturb it not God hath set the heaven above and the earth beneath and hath so framed us that our heads and our hearts are above to think upon heaven and to love and move to it and our feet and heels on the earth to teach us to set earthly commodities at our heels as the new-born Christians laid their money at the Apostles feet Act. 5. It is fearfull to see how ungodly men do disorder this course They set heaven at their heels and all earthly glory at their head and heart by thought loves and a thousand imbracings as if heaven were below and earth above But take you heed This is not the way to secure your souls they are spirits and should have better places then you lodge them in If you will be so earthy and neglect your own salvation there is a worse place even that where Judas is Act. 1. since he went unto his own place where is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Thus you have the nature of the soul now consider the Castle of the soul The Castle of the soul is Gods hands Gods hands into thy hands Mark then that the safety of a soul lies in Gods hands Properly the hand is an outward bodily instrument for actions and executions But when it is referred to God he hath three sorts of hands Correcting Revenging and Protecting hands His correcting hand is spoken of in these words Psal 38.2 Thy hand presseth me sore that is thy correction His revenging hand is spoken of in these words Jud. 2.15 The hand of the Lord was against them for evill that is his corrections and judgements were out against them for their sins But his protecting hand is of two sorts Eternall and Actuall The eternall protecting hand of God is the counsell of his will Of this it is said that the Jews did to Christ whatsoever Gods hand and his counsell determined before to be done and no more This is a safe hand without and above exception for as many as were 〈◊〉 this hand and so ordained to eternall 〈◊〉 believed It will preserve them to his everlasting Kingdome The actuall protecting hand of God is either Extraordinary or ordinary The extraordinary protecting hand is that which he holds over some and but at some times as when it is said Ezek. 1.3 the hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel that is the spirit of prophesie to guide and protect him in his propheticall way The ordinary protecting hand of God is threefold either General provision Psal 104.28 whereof the Psalmist speaketh thou fillest with thy hand every living thing that is thou providest for them or speciall favour whereof Luke speaketh Luk. 1.66 and the hand of the Lord was with him that is Gods speciall favour was with John Baptist from his infancy or the spirit of strength as when it is said of Elias 1 King 18.46 the hand of the Lord was on him that is he strengthened him with boldnesse and protected him against Ahab and Jezabel The issue is this when God doth provide for favour and protect the soul therein lies the safety of it And it is no wonder when you do consider what manner of hands Gods are What manner of hands God hath They are Holy hands They touch nothing in love but they are the better for them As when God sent an Angel with a coal from the Altar to touch the lips of the Prophet Esay Esa 6. he was the better for it and was very willing to go on his propheticall errand so much more when God toucheth our souls shall they be filled with all grace and goodnesse of which they are capable They are loving hands Cant. 2. therefore the Church cries out to Christ put thy hand under As when Ananias put his hands upon the blinde eyes of Paul Act. 9. they cured him and scales fell from his eyes and he saw plainly so when God toucheth our souls acts of grace love and bounty follow For love strives for such acts and all safety They are powerfull hands The little finger of the Lord is above all Rom. 8. therefore if God be on our side who can be against us His hands will guard us by a mighty power in all