Some Helps for Young Scholars in Christianity, Part 8
THE FORME OF DEmanding and anſwering, touching the third parte of this familier inſtruction.
Q. HOwe are yee ioyned with Chriſt, and ſa made partaker of him and of his righteouſneſſe?
A. By Faith only.
Q. What is Faith?
A. It is ane heartie aſſurance, that our ſinnes are fréely forgiuen vsus in Chriſt. Or after this manner: It is the harty receauing of Chriſt offered in the preaching of the word and Sacraments, by the working of the haly Spirit, for the remiſſion of ſinnes, whereby he becummes ane with vsus, and we ane with him, he our head, & we his members.
Q. When it ſall be ſaid, Hes euerie man this Faith? Ye ſall anſwer
A. No: for as all men hauehave not Faith, ſa natte can beléeue in him of whome they hauehave not heard by preaching: and none heares by preaching but they that hauehave eares to heare, & are ordayned to life euerlaſting. For many are called but few choſen.
Q. When it ſall bee asked, Can this bee ane dead Faith that receaueth Chriſt? Ye ſall anſwere,
A. How can it be dead that receaueth the Lord of life, and very lyfe it ſelfe.
Heir I demand ſome fewe queſtions touching the articles of the Beliefe: and whether they feil any cōfort in their harts through this Beliefe, and whether they finde this ſure belief wrought in their hearts by the preaching of the word: and ſo finds the preaching neceſſary, profitable, and comfortable to them. To the whilk I receaue many ſenſible, cheerefull, & pertinent anſwers, whilk is the frute and ioy of my labours that I craue. And therefore I chiefly labor this point of feeling knawledge of Chriſt in the people.
Q. What is ioyned with the preaching of the worde in the Miniſterie, for your farther ſtrengthening in this Faith? Ye ſall anſwere,
A. The twa ſacraments of Baptiſme and the Lords Supper.
Q. What are theſe Sacraments? Ye ſall ſay,
A. They ar actions cōmonded by Chriſt to be miniſtred in the Kirk, in ye miniſtratiō of viſible ſigns, ioyned with the preaching of the word, offering Chriſt Ieſus crucified onelyonly for ſaluation to the reſt of the ſenſes, that the word preached does to the eares and hearing.
Q. When I ſall aske what is the ſigne in Baptiſme, and what are the ſignes of the Lords Supper? Ye ſall anſwere,
A. Water in Baptiſme, & bread and wine in the Lords Supper.
Q. What ſignifies the ſignes? Ye ſall ſay.
A. They both ſignifie and truly offer Chriſt crucified to the receauers for ſaluation. The water applied, ſetting out the waſhing away of our ſinnes by the bludeſhed of Chriſt: and the bread and the wine the continual féeding and nuriſhment of our ſaules by his death to life euerlaſting.
Q. When ye ſalbe asked, Do the Sacraments mair really and power fully communicate Chriſt crucified vntounto vsus, then the word preached? Ye ſall ſay,
A. Not, but more ſenſibly.
Q. Laſt, when I ſhall demand, Doth any Sacrament more effectually communicate Chriſt crucified vntounto vsus, then another, or any ſigne more then another? Ye ſall ſay,
A. No: and therefore the bread in the Lords Supper, is no more tranſubſtantiat into Chriſt his body, thē is the water in Baptiſme, and the Cupe or the wine in the Supper into the new teſtament, or blood of Chriſt. Finally, all this communication of Chriſt by Faith into the Sacraments, is méere ſpiritual, and ſupernaturall. Sa that thereby Chriſt is not corporally and locally brought out of heauen (whilk muſt néedes containe him, and his bodily preſence to the laſt day) to bée in the place of the elements, or to be included within them. But contrariwiſe, by the vſe of the elementes, our hearts are conuoyed and carried, to the liuelye conſideration of his death and reſurrection, and from thence to heauen, (where hée ſits at the right hand of God) to feed vponupon him by Faith, to life euerlaſting, whilk is the verye waſhing of our ſinnes, & true eating of his body, & drinking of his blude.