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The method I am taking to instruct the Indians in the principles of our holy religion, are, to preach, or open and improve some particular points of doctrine; to expound particular paragraphs, or sometimes whole chapters, of God’s word to them; to give historical relations from Scripture of the most material and remarkable occurrences relating to the church of God from the beginning; and frequently to catechise them upon the principles of Christianity. The latter of these methods of instructing I manage in a twofold manner. I sometimes catechise systematically, proposing questions agreeable to the Reverend Assembly’s Shorter Catechism. This I have carried to a considerable length. At other times I catechise upon any important subject that I think difficult to them. Sometimes when I have discoursed upon some particular point, and made it as plain and familiar to them as I can, I then catechise them upon the most material branches of my discourse, to see whether they had a thorough understanding of it. But as I have catechised chiefly in a systematical form, I shall here give some specimen of the method I make use of in it, as well as of the propriety and justness of my people’s answers to the questions proposed to them.
Questions upon the benefits believers receive from Christ at death. 422 Q. I have shown you, that the children of God receive a great many good things from Christ while they live, now have they any more to receive when they come to die? A. Yes.
Q. Are the children of God then made perfectly free from sin? Yes.
Q. Do you think they will never more be troubled with vain, foolish, and wicked thoughts? A. No, never at all.
Q. Will not they then be like the good angels I have so often told you of? A. Yes.
Q. And do you call this a great mercy to be freed from all sin? A. Yes.
Q. Do all God’s children count it so? A. Yes, all of them.
Q. Do you think this is what they would ask for above all things, if God should say to them, Ask what you will, and it shall be done for you? A. O yes, be sure, this is what they want.
Q. You say the souls of God’s people at death are made perfectly free from sin, where do they go then? A. They go and live with Jesus Christ.
Q. Does Christ show them more respect and honour, and make them more happy 428 than we can possibly think of in this world? A. Yes.
Q. Do they go immediately to live with Christ in heaven, as soon as their bodies are dead? or do they tarry somewhere else a while? A. They go immediately to Christ.
Q. Does Christ take any care of the bodies of his people when they are dead, and their souls gone to heaven, or does he forget them? A. He takes care of them.
These questions were all answered with surprising readiness, and without once missing, as I remember. And in answering several of them which respected deliverance from sin, they were much affected, and melted with the hopes of that happy state. Questions upon the benefits believers receive from Christ at the resurrection. Q. You see I have already shown you what good things Christ gives his good people while they live, and when they come to die; now, will he raise their bodies, and the bodies of others, to life again at the last day? A. Yes, they shall all be raised. Q. Shall they then have the same bodies they now have? A. Yes. Q. Will their bodies then be weak, will they feel cold, hunger, thirst, and weariness, as they now do? A. No, none of these things. Q. Will their bodies ever die any more after they are raised to life? A. No. Q. Will their souls and bodies be joined together again? A. Yes. Q. Will God’s people be more happy then, than they were while their bodies were asleep? A. Yes. Q. Will Christ then own these to be his people before all the world? A. Yes. Q. But God’s people find so much sin in themselves, that they are often ashamed of themselves, and will not Christ be ashamed to own such for his friends at that day? A. No, he never will be ashamed of them. Q. Will Christ then show all the world, that he has put away these people’s sins, 429 and that he looks upon them as if they had never sinned at all? A. Yes. Q. Will he look upon them as if they had never sinned, for the sake of any good things they have done themselves, or for the sake of his righteousness accounted to them as if it was theirs? A. For the sake of his righteousness counted to them, not for their own goodness. Q. Will God’s children then be as happy as they can desire to be? Yes. Q. The children of God while in this world, can but now and then draw near to him, and they are ready to think they can never have enough of God and Christ, but will they have enough there, as much as they can desire? A. O yes, enough, enough. Q. Will the children of God love him then as much as they desire, will they find nothing to hinder their love from going to him? A. Nothing at all, they shall love him as much as they desire. Q. Will they never be weary of God and Christ, and the pleasures of heaven, so as we are weary of our friends and enjoyments here, after we have been pleased with them awhile? A. No, never. Q. Could God’s people be happy if they knew God loved them, and yet felt at the same time that they could not love and honour him? A. No, no. Q. Will this then make God’s people perfectly happy, to love God above all, to honour him continually, and to feel his love to them? A. Yes. Q. And will this happiness last for ever? A. Yes, for ever, for ever.
Notes
- 428. The only way I have to express their “entering into glory,” or being glorified; there being no word in the Indian language answering to that general term.
- 429. The only way I have to express their being openly-acquitted. In like manner, when I speak of justification, I have no other way but to call it God’s looking upon us as good creatures.
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