Theodore John - personal testimony

Together with his Confession of the Christian Faith

WHICH he delivered immediately before he was Baptized in the Presence of the Lutheran Congregation in the German Church in Little Trinity Lane, London, on 23rd Sunday after Trinity, being on the 21st day of October, in the Year of our Lord God 1692.

Translated from the High Dutch into English

TO THEM THAT LOVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN SINCERITY

Brethren and Fellow Christians:

Almighty God, having out of his unspeakable Goodness and Mercy vouchsafed to call me lately form the gross darkness to the saving Light of his Holy Gospel, I found myself obliged in conscience not to conceal from any of you the great Things the Lord has showed unto me but publicly to declare them unto you, and all them that see or hear this, to the end that we may all Rejoice together in him, giving Thanks unto the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light; who both delivered us from the Power of Darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son, in whom we have Redemption through his Blood, even the forgiveness of our Sins; as also that we may with one Mind, and one Mouth pray to God for the Conversion of my Brethren according to the Flesh, that God would be pleased to make good his blessed Word, spoken by his Holy Prophets and Apostles, that after the fullness of the Gentiles is come in, the Remnant of Israel and those that are escaped of the House of Jacob shall return to the Mighty God, and seek the Lord, and David their King, even our Blessed Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I was born in Prague in Bohemia, and lived thirty years in ignorance and abnegation of Christ. I studied the Talmud of the Jews, and the rest of their Fabulous Comments, and I became a Teacher among them at Treves in Germany. When the blind lead the blind, should they not both fall into the ditch? But God meant for good the evil I wrought against myself, as it is brought to pass this day, to the saving of my soul. I had strong convictions within myself from the Scriptures of the Old Testament (for those of the New Testament I had never studied then, and that is the reason why the principal Proofs in my Confession are taken thence) against those principles taught me from childhood, and maintained by me when I came to years of discretion, although some Precious Pearls discovered themselves unto me, even in the Jewish Fables; I would say, some marks of Divine Truth consonant to the Word of Everlasting Truth I met with among their Blasphemies; and although for several years I was doubtful whether to bury in oblivion, or to improve with solid management, these thoughts, yet so prevalent was the Grace of God upon me, that finding the former impossible, I attempted the latter, with fervent prayers imploring God’s assistance to guide me into the way of saving Truth.

But being fearful lest my Brethren, should discover and put a malicious stop to my Good Intentions, I durst not venture to address myself to any professor of Christianity, but resolved to go for England; and coming hither, I happened by Divine Providence to lodge in the same house with one Mr. Heipel of Strasbourg, M.A., and a person well skilled in Divinity.

Here is my Confession, presented to you all, as some of you have desired, you can expect no curiosity in the Translation, the Translator being a German, and not so well acquainted with the English Tongue; but if you examine the strength and firmness of the Arguments contained therein, by which I was convinced, I hope you will find the Truth of our Savior’s Gospel faithfully expressed, and ingeniously confessed therein.

(From my lodgings at Mr. Mears, Hatter, in Puddle-Dock, March 16, 1699.)

Theodore John’s CONFESSION, delivered at his Baptism, &c.

Q. What religion are you of?

A. I am a Jew.

Q. Where were you born?

A. At Prague, in Bohemia.

Q. What is your age?

A. I am 30 years old.

Q. What was your Calling?

A. I was a Teacher among the Jews, at Treves, in Germany.

Q. What reason have you to turn Christian?

A. Because by the Grace of God I have got a true account from the Writings of Moses and the Prophets, concerning the Person and Office of the Messiah, by which knowledge I was convinced of the gross and blind errors of Judaism, and of their vain waiting for a Messiah, an Earthly Prince (as they would have him), and having farther made a diligent exploration and trial of the Christian Faith, according to the Rule of the Holy Scripture in the Old Testament, compared with the Expositions of the ancient Jews themselves, I found the said Christian Faith to be in all its Articles firmly grounded upon the Word of God, and agreeing with the Faith of the former true Israel, in the time of the Patriarchs, as well as that of Moses and all the Prophets; which I praise God for, and heartily rejoice in.

Q. Do you believe then, and are you fully convinced that the Messiah is come?

A. Yes, I do believe it, and am fully convinced of it.

Q. By what Arguments?

A. Because it is known to all the World, that the Scepter is departed form the Jews, Jerusalem, and the Sanctuary destroyed, Bethlehem the native Town of the Messiah desolated, the Sacrifices and Oblations ceased, and the seventy years of Daniel passed long ago.

Q. How does the departing of the Scepter from the Jews convince you?

A. Jacob did prophesy, Gen. 49:10, that the Scepter should not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his Feet, until Shiloh came, and unto him should be the gathering of the people. But the Scepter has been taken away long since; the Jews have had neither King nor Duke, nor Sanhedrin, for these sixteen hundred years past, therefore the Messiah must needs be come.

Q. But how are you assured that Jacob did speak of the Messiah?

A. I am sure of it, first, by the Name Shiloh, which by interpretation is Peace-maker, being almost the same with Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace, one of the Messiah’s names, Is. 9:6. Secondly, by the gathering of Nations here expressed, a thing belonging to the Messiah without question, according to the parallel Prophecies of Isaiah 11:12 and Micah 4:1, and all Nations shall flow unto him, and at Isaiah 11:10, the Gentiles shall seek him. The Chaldaic Paraphrase translates Shiloh with Messiah. I also find similar in Baal Turim.

Q. How does the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Sanctuary, evince the coming of the Messiah?

A. It was prophesied by Malachi 3:1, that the Messiah should come suddenly to his Temple, which was the Second House then standing, and but lately finished. But Daniel we are told, Daniel 9:26, that the Messiah should be cut off, and the City and the Sanctuary destroyed. Wherefore since it is true that Jerusalem and the Temple have been destroyed, it is most certain, that the Messiah was come and cut off before.

Q. By what name is the Messiah mentioned there?

A. God calls him Lord of the Temple, and the Messenger of the Covenant.

Q. Is the Messiah signified hereby?

A. Yes, he is. For none other, neither Man nor Angel, could be called for; the Temple was the Lord’s Temple, and the Covenant was to be made by the Messiah, Dan. 9ff.

Q. How can you prove the Coming of the Messiah from the cessation of the Jewish Sacrifices and Oblations?

A. The Messiah himself, according to the prophecy of Daniel, should make the Sacrifices and Oblations to cease, but they have ceased long ago; therefore it is plain that the Messiah is come.

Q. By what means should the Messiah do that?

A. By his Death and Passion, as it is written, that he should make his soul (that is himself) an Offering for Sin, Isaiah 53; which the Jews themselves cannot deny, but plainly confess, that the Messiah should be in place of the sacrifices, and that Sin, as to the guilt and punishment thereof, should be taken away by him, as formerly it was done by the sacrifices.

Q. What account can you give of Daniel’s seventy weeks?

A. Every week making seven years, the whole amounts to 490 years.

Q. What should be done in that time?

A. Jerusalem and the Sanctuary should be restored, the Messiah come to finish the Transgression, to make an end of sin, and to seal up the Vision and the Prophecy; the Messiah also should be cut off, and all this done within the space of these seventy weeks, determined to that purpose, without any prolongation, as the original words import, Daniel 9:24.

Q. Are these 490 years expired already?

A. They are expired four, nay, almost five times since, by which it plainly appears, that the Messiah is come long ago.

Q. What do the Jews oppose against it?

A. They do not know what to say to it. They do confess in their own Talmud and elsewhere, that all the Terms appointed for the coming of the Messiah are expired, and that the Messiah was really born, and yet for all that they expect him still.

Q. But how can they expect him, seeing he was born, according to their own Confession?

A. They confess, that he was born before the destruction of the Temple, but they deny that he was come or discovered.

Q. But if the distinction between Birth and Coming of any value?

A. Not at all. Scripture knows of no such distinction. It is laid out everywhere of the Messiah, He shall come, come to his Temple, come before the Scepter should depart from Judah, come and be cut off, which needs must import an appearance or discovery; For, how could he be cut off without being discovered?

Q. What Reason do the Jews allege for the hiding of concealing of the Messiah?

A. The Sin of their Nation.

Q. Is there any ground for this Pretence?

A. None at all. The Coming of the Messiah was absolutely promised by God, and not upon condition of either the Piety or Impiety of the Jews. It is not to be believed that the Sins of a Nation should make the absolute Promises of God to be void, and of none effect. it is more probable, that for the transgressions’ sake the Messiah would have hastened rather than delayed his Coming, because his intention was to take away Sin, and to finish Transgression; which the Jews themselves confess in the Talmud, in these words, that when the Jews shall deserve it, then God will hasten the Messiah’s coming; but if they deserve it not, yet he shall come at the time appointed.

Q. What does Messiah signify in English?

A. One that is anointed.

Q. Wherewith should the Messiah be anointed?

A. With the Holy Spirit, the Oil of Gladness.

Q. Have you Scripture for that?

A. The Messiah himself says, Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. And Psalm 45, we read there the words, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; thou lovest righteousness, therefore, O God, thy God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness.

Q. What threefold office should he have?

A. That of a Prophet, an High-Priest, and a King.

Q. How can you prove that the Messiah was to be a Prophet?

A. God has spoken unto Moses, Deut. 18:18,19, concerning the Messiah, thus: I will raise up a Prophet from among their brethren, like thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Q. Does God speak there of the Messiah?

A. Yes, he does. For we read, Deut. 24:10, that there arose not a Prophet like Moses, but the Messiah should be not only like to him, but greater than Moses, according to the judgment of the Jews themselves in Ikkarim.

Q. What did belong to his Prophetical office?

A. The preaching of the Gospel, Isaiah 61:1, and the establishing of a new Covenant, Dan. 9, Jeremiah 31.

Q. What Scripture have you to prove that the Messiah should be a High-Priest?

A. This, Psalm 110. The Lord has sworn thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.

Q. Are you sure that the Messiah is intended here?

A. Yes, he is the Object of the whole Psalm, according to the confession of the Jews themselves; and it will plainly appear to be so from the Context, especially when he is titled a Priest for ever, since it is known that all other Priests did cease from their Priesthood by way of death.

Q. What makes him to be called a Priest after the Order of Melchizedek?

A. Because he was to be both a Priest and a King, as Melchizedek was; he should have neither Predecessor nor Successor, neither beginning of days nor end of life; none of which were mentioned in Scripture form Melchizedek, for the Messiah’s sake.

Q. What was he to do, in respect to the Office of his Priesthood?

A. To make Oblations and Atonement for us.

Q. The High-Priests made their Oblations of several sorts of Beasts; What was the Messiah to offer?

A. Himself, according to the Prophecy of Isaiah 53, where it is said, that the Messiah shall make his Soul, that is himself, an Offering for Sin; which is the same with the Jewish Tradition before mentioned, that the Messiah should be in place of the Sacrifices.

Q. What is the meaning of that expression?

A. As formerly, the Sin of the whole Congregation was to be confessed over, and put upon the Goat of the Sin offering, and then the Goat bearing all the Iniquities was to be killed for the reconciliation of the People; So upon the Messiah should be laid all the Sins and Iniquities of Mankind, both as to Guilt and Punishment, for which he should be put to death, whilst we were healed and reconciled to God.

Q. Have you Scripture for this Assertion?

A. Yes, the whole 53rd chapter of Isaiah does plainly affirm it. Do but consider verses 4,5,and 6. Surely he has born our griefs, and carried our Sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed; the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Q. But are you sure that this Prophecy is spoken of the Messiah?

A. The Context makes it clear, because it is said, he had done no Violence, neither was any Deceit in his Mouth; and further, that by his Knowledge he should justify many, and bear their iniquities. Besides, I find it in the Jewish Talmud, in Zohar, and elsewhere, by the Rabbins unanimously applied to the Messiah.

Q. Was it said that the Messiah should be a King?

A. Yes, God himself declares him a King, Jer. 23:5. He shall reign a King, and prosper. In Zechariah and other places he is titled the King of Zion.

Q. Let me know the quality of his Kingdom?

A. His Kingdom should be a spiritual Kingdom, not a worldly Kingdom, and for this reason the Messiah is said to be anani, humble, in the same place where he is called King, Zech. 9:9.

Q. Does this refer to the Messiah?

A. It is impossible any other man could be intended here but the Messiah; this is Rabbi Solomon Jarchi’s own Confession, which he proves principally from these words in the Context: He shall speak peace unto the Heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Q. What should the Messiah be as to his person?

A. Both God and Man in one Person.

Q. How can you prove this?

A. I prove it by several Arguments; first, by the Names given the Messiah.

Q. What Names?

A. He is called by the Name YHWH, which is God’s own peculiar and essential Name.

Q. Show me a place where he is called so?

A. Jer. 23:6. God himself saith, that the Messiah’s Name, whereby he should be called, is Jehovah Zidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness.

Q. But does God here speak of the Messiah?

A. Yes, by all means; as easily will appear not only from the Context, but also from the Jewish Talmud, and other Rabbins, who unanimously apply this Prophecy to the Messiah. You will find more than seventy instances collected from the Jewish writings by E. Edzard in his works.

Q. What does it argue, that the Messiah is called so?

A. This: that he is God.

Q. Are there any other Names besides this, that prove this?

A. Yes, his Name should be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6. Also, Immanuel, Isaiah 7:14. David calls him his Lord, Psalm 110:1. Jacob calls him the Angel, the Redeemer, Gen. 48:16. by Malachi he is titled the Lord of the Temple, v. 3:1. Elsewhere he is called The Angel of God’s presence, or rather, the Angel, which is his Face, according to the Explication of the Rabbins. Also, Ex. 33:14; Is. 63:1; Ex. 3ff. He says of himself, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. All these Names do evince most clearly, that the Messiah must be God, else he could not be called by these Names.

Q. From whence do you further prove his Divinity?

A. From his eternal existence. By Micah it is said, that his goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Q. Have you any other place for it?

A. Yes, in the eighth Chapter of the Proverbs, Messiah the eternal Wisdom of God, says of himself, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, ere ever the Earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no foundations abounding with water, before the mountains were settled before the hills, I was brought forth; while as yet he had not made the earth nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the clouds about, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandments; when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by him.

Q. What divine actions do you find of the Messiah?

A. The destroying of the Power of the Devil.

Q. Was there such a thing foretold of him?

A. Yes, God speaks to the serpent, Gen. 3:15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Q. What is here meant by the Seed of the Woman?

A. The Messiah.

Q. Why is he called so?

A. Because he should be born of a Virgin, according to Isaiah 7:14.

Q. What is meant by the Serpent?

A. The Infernal Serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.

Q. Are there any Divine Works besides this attributed to the Messiah?

A. Yes, there are, viz, the Creation of Heaven and Earth, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

Q. What says the Messiah of them?

A. Concerning the first he says, Isaiah 48:12,13, I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also has laid the Foundation of the Earth, and my right hand has spanned the Heavens. As for the other, these are his words, Zech. 12:10, I will pour out upon the House of David, and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of Grace, and of Supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.

Q. What do you infer from this?

A. That the Messiah is God, which if he were not, he could perform neither of these works.

Q. Do you know any other Divine Properties attributed to the Messiah?

A. Yes, several, viz, the Power to forgive sins, Exodus 23:21. But who can forgive sins but God? Therefore the Messiah must be God.

Q. Being the Messiah is God, tell me then how many Gods are there?

A. There is but one God, that is without doubt, but there are more than one Person in the Deity.

Q. Prove this.

A. God speaks of himself in the Plural, Gen. 1:26, Let us make man in our Image, after our likeness. And Gen. 3:22, Behold, the man is become as one of us. Also Gen. 11:7. Let us go down.

Q. Perhaps God speaks of himself after the manner of earthly Princes?

A. No, that is not his way. Intending to declare the greatness of his Majesty, he describes himself in this Singular, viz., I am the Lord Jehovah. I am the Almighty God. Also it is against the Custom of the Oriental Princes. Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar were wont to say, I, Pharaoh; I, Nebuchadnezzar; besides the expression, as one of us, makes it evident, that there are more than one Person intended.

Q. But it may be God speaks so in regard of the Angels.

A. That is Nonsense. God wants neither their Counsel, nor Assistance, nor Approbation. Moreover this would import the Creation of Man after the Angels’ Image, which is plain absurdity and falsehood.

Q. But do others speak of God after that manner?

A. Yes; for instance, Moses, Gen. 19:24, says, The Lord rained upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, Brimstone and Fire from the Lord out of Heaven. Says Job, Job 35:10, Where is God my makers? David, Psalm 149:2, Let Israel rejoice in those that made him. Solomon, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Remember thy Creators.

Q. How many Persons are there in the Divine Essence?

A. There are three, and those revealed by God in the Old Testament.

Q. Show me the Trinity of Persons there.

A. Deut. 6:4. The Hebrew Text has it thus, The Lord our Gods the Lord are one.

Q. Who taught you to explain these words thus?

A. Not only the original, but the Context also, where Moses stirs up his Auditors to hear him in these words, Hear, O Israel; from whence it is clear that he intends to propose an especial Mystery of God, viz, the Unity of the Three Persons.

Q. Give me more proofs, out of the Old Testament, for the Trinity.

A. It is said in Psalm 45:6, Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever; thou lovest Righteousness therefore, O God, thy God has anointed Thee with the Oil of gladness. Here you find three Divine Persons. 1. A Divine Person anointing. 2. Another, anointed. 3. The Oil of Gladness, by which is to be understood the Holy Spirit.
In Is. 48, the Messiah says, I am the first, I am also the last; mine hand hath laid the Foundation of the Earth, and my right hand has spanned the Heavens--And now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit. Here are again three Divine Persons, two sending the Lord and his Spirit, and another Divine Person sent, the first and the last, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
Moses in his Blessing regarding the Three Divine Persons, repeated the name of YHWH three several times, Numb. 6:24,25,26. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee Peace. Again, David says, Psalm 67:6,7, God, our God, shall bless us; God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Q. Why is the Second Person called Ours, elohenu, Our God, after a more especial manner?

A. Because he would be Ours, more especially, by taking our Flesh and Blood upon himself, and becoming our Redeemer and Savior.

Q. Are these three Persons called by different Names?

A. Yes, they are; the first we call the Father, the second Son, and the third the Holy Spirit.

Q. Are these Names expressed in Scripture?

A. Yes. Psalm 89, God says, the Messiah shall call him my Father. Psalm 2:7, God the Father says, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten you. See also Proverbs 31:4. The Holy Spirit is often mentioned among other places. See Isaiah 48:16, 63:10.

Q. How should he be the Son of God? Adopted of God, or begotten by God out of his Essence?

A. Begotten by God, as he is out of his Essence. Thus God says to the Messiah, Psalm 2:7, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten you.

Q. This day, what is meant by that?

A. From Everlasting; so the Messiah himself explains it, Prov. 8, as mentioned above.

Q. How are you sure that the second Psalm does not speak of David, Solomon, or any other, but the Messiah?

A. Because he promised to give him the Heathen for his Inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth as his possession; whereas David as well as Solomon were so far from possessing them, that a great part of them were not in their time discovered. Again, the same Psalm towards the end says, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Of any one that is no more than Man, the Prophet Jeremiah says, Chap. 17:5, Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and maketh flesh his gain.

Q. But was the Messiah to be the Son of Man also?

A. Yes, for that Reason he is called the Seed of the Woman, and the Son of Man.

Q. From what Family should he descend?

A. From David’s; he is styled the Branch of David, Isaiah 11:1, Jer. 25:5.

Q. Having made so good a Confession concerning the Coming of the Messiah, as also of his Person and his Office, tell me now who the Messiah is?

A. The Lord Jesus of Nazareth.

Q. Do you firmly believe, and are fully convinced that Jesus of Nazareth is that Messiah which was promised to the forefathers?

A. Yes, I do firmly believe it, for I can find no other but him that could be the same.

Q. By what Arguments do you prove this?

A. It is plain and evident to Mankind that all the Characters and Properties attributed to the Messiah by Moses and the Prophets, are undeniably fulfilled and made in the said Jesus of Nazareth.

Q. Explain this more clearly.

A. All the World is sensible that Jesus of Nazareth did come at the time appointed for the Messiah, viz., before the Scepter departed from the Jews, before Jerusalem and the Sanctuary were desolated, before Oblations and Sacrifices ceased, and before the Seventy Weeks, mentioned in Daniel, were expired.
It is without question that he came to the second Temple, and taught in it, according to Haggai and Malachi’s Prophecy.
Also it is evident that he was born at Bethlehem, the place appointed by Micah.
It is undeniable that Forty Years after his death the City and the Temple were destroyed, and the Oblations ceased.
It is universally known that in the latter end of those Seventy Weeks he died, being murdered and killed after a violent and horrible manner, like a Malefactor, crucified according to the sense and sound of the word “cut off” expressed in Daniel 9:26.
It is past contradiction, that the Jews were offended at Jesus of Nazareth, the same which Isaiah foretold should befall the Messiah, as is expressed, Isaiah 8:13,14, and 53:2,3. All which happening thus to Jesus of Nazareth, is a clear Demonstration of his being the true Messiah.

Q. Is there anything more foretold of the Messiah, and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth?

A. Yes, there is, viz., It is evidently known that the People and Nations do cleave to the Lord Jesus, as they should do to the Messiah, according to Isaiah 2:2. Also, the Jesus performed those Miracles, which the Messiah should do, in making the Blind to see, the Deaf to hear, the Lame to walk, Isaiah 35:5,6. Also, that he is the Offspring of David, born of a Virgin, as the Messiah should be. Also, that he has given a New Covenant, as Isaiah chp. 2 and Jeremiah chp. 31 had foretold. In fine, there is not one jot or tittle excepted of all that which was prophesied of the Messiah, but was most exactly competed in and by Jesus of Nazareth; therefore it is no less true, that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah, than that God Almighty is a true God.

Q. What Appeal to the veracity of God do you make here?

A. I observe, that to give false Attributes to the Messiah when promised, or to alter those that once were given or published, are things too absurd and blasphemous to be thought of God. God is not a Man, that he should lie, neither the son of Man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Much less probable is it that God would have suffered the true Characters of the promised Messiah to come to pass in a fallen one, to the loss of so many millions of Souls; to say this, is no less than to make God a liar and imposter, which is horrid Blasphemy all over. Thus upon the impossibility of God’s being a Liar, is grounded the necessity of this Truth, that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah.

Q. What is Jesus in English?

A. A Savior.

Q. Who is the Lord Jesus, according to his Office?

A. That which the Messiah should be; A King, an High-Priest, and a Prophet.

Q. How does he perform his Office?

A. Like a King he Governs and Protects his own. Like an High-Priest he did Sacrifice himself for us, and makes intercession for us; And like a Prophet he did Preach the Gospel and has given us a New Covenant.

Q. What is Baptism?

A. Baptism is not mere Water; but it is Water related and joined to the Word of God.

Q. Did God in the Old Testament promise such a Baptism as should be a Remedy against Sin, and for Regeneration and Restitution?

A. Yes, in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, 36:25, God made this Promise: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. Also in Zechariah 13:1, In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the House of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for Sin and for uncleanness.

Q. What has Christ done in order to save you?

A. He died for me, and shed his most precious blood for the forgiveness of my Sins.

Q. What has he done, more for you?

A. He has fulfilled the Law of God instead of me.

Q. How do you lay hold on the Merits of the Lord Jesus?

A. By believing in him with a lively faith.

Q. Do you steadfastly believe then in the Lord Jesus, according to this Confession of yours? And will you lie and die upon this faith, which you have professed here before God and this holy Congregation?

A. I will, with the help of God.

After this, the rest of the Solemnity was performed according to the settled Form and Rites.

SOLO DEO GLORIA
 

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