A Treatise of Family Instruction, Chapter 3 · Section 14
SECT. 14. Of communing with our Children & Servants about their ſpiritual ſtate. What queſtions we ſhould put to them.
Direct. 14 THat you may know the ſtate of your Families, and carry on the work of Family-Inſtruction the more ſucceſsfully, It will be good to take ſome time to diſcourſe with them apart, about their ſpiritual ſtate, and to examine them in ſuch points as are of greateſt concernment to their Souls. And when you are communing with and examining them, it will not be amiſs to put ſuch kind of queſtions to them, as our Lord Jeſus Chriſt did now and then put to his Diſciples and others that were inſtructed by him: As for inſtance:
1. Try whether they underſtand thoſe things which you have taught them. Thus Chriſt examines his Diſciples, Matth. 13.51. Jeſus ſaith unto them, Have ye underſtood all theſe things? See what apprehenſions they have of Jeſus Chriſt, of his Perſon, his Offices, his Deſign in coming into the world, Matth. 16.15. Whom ſay ye that I am? Matth. 18.11, 12. The Son of man is come to ſave that which was loſt: How think ye?
2. Examine them about their Faith, John 16.31. Do ye now believe? Luke 8.25. He ſaid unto them, Where is your Faith?
3. Enquire whether they do believe and apply the Promiſes, John 11.26. Whoſoever liveth and believeth in me, ſhall never die; believeſt thou this? And whether they believe that Chriſt is able and willing to help them in all their ſtraights, Matth. 9.28. Jeſus ſaith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this?
4. Enquire whether they are convinced of their impotent condition, that they are unable of themſelves to do or ſpeak any thing that is good: Matth. 12.34. How can ye, being evil, ſpeak good things?
5. Commune with them about their love to Chriſt, whether they love Jeſus Chriſt above all things and perſons in the world? John 21.15. Jeſus ſaith to Simon Peter, Simon, Son of Jonas, loveſt thou me more than theſe?
6. Ask them about their ability and willingneſs to ſuffer for Chriſt, as, Whether they are willing to take up his Croſs, whether they could lay down their lives, and ſuffer the loſs of all they have for Chriſt: Mark 10.38. Jeſus ſaid unto them,—Can ye drink of the Cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the Baptiſm that I am baptized with?
7. Enquire what frame of heart they have; whether they have hard or ſoft, earthly or ſpiritual, ignorant or underſtanding hearts: Mark 8.17. Perceive ye not yet, neither underſtand? Have ye your hearts yet hardened?
8. Ask them what ground they have to hope that God will deliver them from eternal Damnation? Matth. 23.33. How can ye eſcape the Damnation of Hell?
9. Enquire how they ſpend their time when they are alone, and what manner of diſcourſe they have, when they are with others; whether it be ſavoury, profitable, and ſuch as makes for Gods glory? Luke 24.17. He ſaid, What manner of Communications are theſe, that ye have one to another, as ye walk and are ſad?
10. Enquire if they read the Scriptures, and how and in what manner they read the Word of God; whether they do it with an attentive mind, with a deſire to profit by it, &c. Luk. 10.26. He ſaid unto him, What is written in the Law? How readeſt thou?
11. Examine what they aim at in going to hear the Word of God, as Chriſt did thoſe that followed John the Baptiſt into the Wilderneſs, Matth. 11.7. What went ye out into the Wilderneſs to ſee?
12. Try whether they are able to reſolve the objections that may be brought againſt the main Articles of their Faith: Thus our Lord Jeſus tried his Followers with a difficult queſtion, How Chriſt could be the Son of David, when as David called him Lord? Mark 12.35, 36, 37. David himſelf calleth him Lord, whence is he then his Son?
13. If any of them are of a doubting troubled ſpirit, perplexed with fears, enquire into the Grounds and Cauſes of their Fears and Doubts, and whatever other troubles are upon their minds, Luke 24.38. He ſaid unto them why are you troubled?
14. Ask them, Wherein they excel others that want a Principle of Grace? What they do more than a natural man, a man that hath nothing more than a Form of Godlineſs? Matth. 5.47. What do you more than others?
Theſe and what other queſtions you ſhall judge meet, you may put to them, when you are diſcourſing with them: As, Whether they pray? How and in what manner they pray? Whether they have any anſwer of their prayers? What temptations they meet with? Whether they are prepared for Death? Whether they enjoy communion with God in his Ordinances? Whether they find Sin decaying, and Grace increaſing? &c. And when you put any queſtions to them, cauſe them to return an anſwer; as Chriſt, when he was reaſoning with the Jews, called upon them to anſwer the queſtion that he put to them, Mar. 11.29. Jeſus ſaid unto them, I will ask you one queſtion, and anſwer me. This communing with our Families about their ſpiritual eſtate, is ſeaſonable at all times, but more eſpecially when any of them are in affliction, and when they are under ſome eminent workings and ſtirrings of the Spirit of God, or when they are aſſaulted with temptations, or when they are to partake of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper.