Contempt upon the Sacrament of the Lords Supper but upon the Sacrament of Baptism likewise and so both the positive Institutions of our Saviour are insignificant and of no account to him The two Sacraments have a special relation to each other The Lords Supper is a high Priviledge which Christians have valued above their lives It is the Souls Feast of Fat Things It is that Spiritual Banquet with which our Saviour entertaines those who are dearer than his Life was to him Baptism is the Ordinance which opens the door and lets us in to the Banqueting-house None but those who are Baptized are to be admitted to the Lords Supper If then the Non-Communicant regards not the Lords Supper he doth not regard but slights his Baptism at least so farr as it hath relation to it He that slights the Feast must needs slight that which gives Admission to it The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is a renewing of that Covenant which we made with God in our Baptism and is not only a renewed Engagement on our parts to Believe in God and to Serve him but on Gods part likewise by which he seals to us the Forgiveness of our sins that we are his Children and Heirs of Eternal Life If we care not for renewing this Covenant it is a sign that we value not the first Agreement that we made with God in our Baptism Besides the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is a great means for our obtaining Grace to enable us to keep the Covenant of our Baptism If we come not to it 't is a sign that we have no mind to perform what we promised which of our selves we are not able to perform Were it not a little besides my present purpose I could easily shew that those who are Non-Communicants if they had not been Baptized in their Infancies would never have received that Ordinance No adult person can be admitted into the Church of Christ by that Ordinance who doth not own the Faith and Solemnly engage to live as becomes the Gospel And those that perform this which Baptism engages men to are Worthy Communicants If we ask the Non-Communicant how he came to be called a Christian he must say My Father made me so when I knew not what was done and he or others promised that which I never intend to perform I would argue thus with the Non-Communicant Either you own your Baptism or you do not If you do not why do you not declare it Why do you call your self a Christian and profess that you expect Salvation from him who appointed that Ordinance to all that expect to enter into the Kingdom of God If you do own your Baptism why do you not take care to perform that reasonable and necessary Engagement which you made in it by going to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper for Strength and Power to perform it But I had rather make another digression which I hope the Reader will excuse considering that it may tend to the satisfaction of many who are in doubt concerning Baptism as it is now generally used in the Church of Christ As there are a great many whose Practices shew that they make no great account of their Baptism so there are a great many whose Principles are utterly against it and especially against Infant-Baptism And in regard that the practice of the Church depends more upon Grounds and Reasons from Scripture than from any Express Instances in it and there are some places which seem to some rather to speak against it than for it and to disallow of it rather than to commend the practice of it I shall for the satisfaction of those who encline to the Anabaptists and are willing to be satisfied such as have not taken up an Opinion and are resolved to stick to it what ever any say against it which is the great Cause of all errours lay down these following Assertions which I desire all such persons soberly and with humble and modest and not with haughty and stubborn minds to consider 1. Children were members of the Jewish Church as well as Adult Persons and there was an Ordinance appointed for them which was their great Priviledge And it is not to be imagined that our Saviour who took little Children up in his arms and blessed them should allow no Ordinance for them by which they should be admitted into his Church Wheresoever God entred into Covenant with the Parent he entred into Covenant likewise with the Children of that Parent that is the Children were included in the Covenant and the Blessing of that Covenant belonged to the Children as well as to the Parent 2. Our Saviour took this Ordinance of Baptism from the Custom of the Jews who were wont to Baptize those who forsook Heathenism and embraced the true Religion And whensoever they made Proselites they did not only Baptize the Parent but the Child likewise upon engagement that the Child should be brought up in the same Religion So that it was not necessary that our Saviour should give an Instance of that which every one to whom he came knew was practised But it was necessary that he should have declared his Exceptions aganst Infants Baptism if he intended their exclusion To what purpose should our Saviour declare that Infants should have the Seal of a Covenant when 't was never otherwise Or how can we imagine that our Saviour sent to Baptize Nations in which Infants had been commonly Baptized before and yet intended that they should be excluded If indeed our Saviour had declared that Infants should not be Baptized Or if we had read of the Apostles Refusal of them Or if there had been no Infants Baptized before nor any Ordinance for Infants the Anabaptists opinion had been built upon a good Foundation but otherwise 't is very weak 3. As a consequent of this Infants were all along Baptized in the Primitive Church by the Holy Martyrs that Suffered for Christianity of which those who write against the Anabaptists have given undeniable proof And we are sure that if our Saviour had intended their Exclusion they would never have done it And it is not to be imagined that Anabaptists know better what was the Mind of Christ than those Christians did If those who are now of that perswasion had lived in those dayes and had considered from whence our Saviour took that Ordinance with the Grounds and Reasons of it they could not have been of that Opinion which they have now espoused because then the Original of it was fresh in the World and the Use and Practice of it was continued by the most Holy men in the World It is not only great Haughtiness of mind by which men think themselves wiser than the most Holy and Learned men in all ages of the World but Ignorance through length of time that makes an Anabaptist 4. Infants are Believers in a sence or else they could not be saved nor have any right to the promises of Christ in the
there were nothing of sad Experience to be alledged So long as men keep in societies though but civil Societies and are Obliged to observe Rules and Orders If any Controversie arisie the dissatisfied person partly by his obligation to those rules and orders and partly by the advice and councel of the rest of the society doth not presently separate but submit or if he be stubborn and insolent he may be turn'd out of the Society and be liable to severe penalties till he be more modest humble and compliant But if he thinks himself under no obligation to observe the rules and orders of that Society and no penalty be inflicted then he breaks away and makes Parties and brings all into confusion and disorder In the case of the Sacrament If every one who is admitted by Baptism to be a member of the Church of Christ doth account it his duty as a member of that Society to observe the rules and orders of the Church Peace and Union is maintain'd but if men think they are not oblig'd but wholly left at their liberty whether they will partake of this Ordinance or let it alone then it 's no wonder if the members of that society be Scattered into as many divisions and parties as the great Enemy of the Sacrament and of their Salvation please For many years after our blessed Reformation from Popery there were so many received the Sacrament that the number of inhabitants in every Parish was best known by the number of Communicants In those happy dayes of the Churches peace Masters and Mistresses came at one Communion their Servants after publick Catechising and private Examination by their Ministers came the next Communion It could not be Imagined but that there were some Unworthy Communicants amongst them There were such in the Church of Corinth and will be in all Churches to the end of the World But that Evil was nothing in comparison of the mischiefs that have happen'd since men took their Liberties and forsook the Sacrament Parishes now may better be computed by the number of Non-Communicants and those that run from the Sacrament rather than of those that come to it I cannot in this place forbear mentioning the substance of what I lately heard from a very Aged Grave and Pious Person who is now very conformable to the Church of England We were lamenting that the people would not be perswaded to come to the Sacrament and that their absenting was occasion'd by the sad Distractions and Divisions that are in the Church I was said he one of those who in the begining of the late troubles found fault with the Surplice and with the Cross in Baptisme and there were others who were discontented at those things who were good and holy men But I am confident if they could have foreseen the dreadful mischiefs that have happened unto the Church they would never have so much as opened their lips much less have done any thing against the Church as it then was I know there ought to be great care taken to keep off scandalous Communicants and there would be greater care taken if the Divisions of the Church did not hinder it But I think all sober People will say that if all the vicious men in England came to the Sacrament it would not be so great a scandal to Religion as the dreadful Divisions and Separations that have been in the Church since the People took their liberty to turn their backs upon that holy Ordinance and many Ministers made it their business to make them afraid of it by Preaching the danger of Unworthy Receiving but not of Unworthy Neglecting of it Another great Evil which is the Consequence of Non-Communicating is horrid Debauchery and Prophaneness such as never was or could be whilst the Sacrament was Frequented There are thousands in this age who call themselves Christians and often say that they hope to be saved but are so far from living like Christians that they would be abandoned by sober Heathens as unfit for Humane Society If we look into the Records of antient times we shall find that though there were grievious Wickednesses Impieties yet they were attended with some kind of fear and shame but in our age Wickedness insults as if it hoped to have a better reputation than Piety and Vertue in the World The Apostle speaking of the sins of Heathens Eph. 5.11 calls them the Vnfruitful Works of Darkness And in the next Verse he tells the Ephesians that it is a shame to speak of those things which are done in Secret But in our age wickedness appears Openly as if there were no fear or shame that belonged to it In former times they that were drunk were drunk in the Night but now t is Scarcely accounted a sin and therefore is become a Noon-day Entertainment In former times it was the sin of a rude ungovern'd Rabble When Hannah was falsely accused of being drunk count not said she thine handmaid for a Daughter of Belial Belial signifies without Yoak and it is as if she had said I am none of those unruly forlorn Miscreants that will be drunk I suppose the proverb may be very antient As drunk as a Beggar But now t is the sin if I may be so bold as to call it so of Lords and Gentlemen and is in as much Esteem amongst too many of them as if it were some brave Atchievement for which a man is willing to adventure the Ruine of himself and family Whoredome is another sin which hath exceedingly abounded It is an Old sin but the Impudence that attends it is new In Jobs time the eye of the Adulterer waited for the twilight Chap. 24.15 The Whore which Solomon speaks of Prov. 7.9 was only to be found in the Twilight in the Evening in the black and dark night and she was accounted to have an impudent face v. 13. But how impudent are those Whores who appear in the open streets at noon day tempting all that pass by to their filthy Embraces Wee read in the Scripture of the Attire of a Harlot but now there is in this immodest age no distinction but by the shew of women wee may suspect that the Attire of Harlots is all the fashion These two Sins have of late years so much abounded that there are thousands who are so far from living like Christians that they are degenerated from the common Principles of Humanity and would be a shame to Heathens if they lived amongst them These sins have made many to become worse than beasts in the esteem of all that are vertuous And I am sure they have made them become Devils to themselves and families There is another dreadful Sin which abounds and that is profane Swearing A Sin which men commit only because the Devil will have it so for there is neither profit nor pleasure in it Some are seldom guilty of it but when they are provoked to Anger and then they must be revenged by abusing the name
Gospel And if they are in any sence such Believers as are entituled to Salvation they are such Believers as have a right to Baptism If the Estate belongs to a Child in the Cradle the Indentures and Seals of that Estate belong to him likewise The Child of a Believer may as well be called a Believer as the Child of a Proselite was called a Proselite If God gives Children but the Denomination of Believers it is sufficient to entitle them to Baptism 5. Those that consider the Case of the Anabaptists must needs be of another Opinion This in conjunction with the former Arguments must needs be of great force to those that are serious and considerate and not conceited and resolute in a case which they have espoused As the condition of the Jews is a living Argument of the Truth of Christianity and the badness of their case So I may say that the Condition of the Anabaptists and their Unsuccessfulness in all their attempts to establish their Opinions doth shew that God doth not nor ever did shew any such Favour to them as might give any sober person cause to think that they were Gods Church and People however they plead his Word to be their Rule but that Infant-Baptism is an Ordinance which God allows of and hath countenanced ever since there was any opposition made to it There is a Writer yet alive who gives a large and strange account of the mischievous Practices of the Anabaptists in Germany and other places what Disturbers and not Promoters of Religion they have been wheresoever they have come But I wave all that can be said against them either in this Nation or beyond the Seas and will only say That if I had the highest Opinion of them for their Morals that I have for any sort of men in the World yet I could never believe That all the Primitive Christians who owned and practised infant-Infant-Baptism and the Martyrs in all Ages were not Members rightly admitted into the Church of Christ That not only the Papists but all the Reformed Churches in the World are mistaken in this point and that the Anabaptists are the only True and Rightful Members of Christs Body He must be very weak and notorously partial who considers these things and doth not conclude that they are a Sect that Separate from the True Church which God hath owned in all Ages and not the True Visible Church of Christ This I thought fit to mention in Conjunction with other Arguments by which many wavering minds have been established in the Truth and God grant there may be the like success to those in the like case who shall read them V. Those Excuses which men generally make for their not Receiving are so far from Justifying their Neglect that they do not so much as extenuate it Nay they exceedingly aggravate the Guilt of most Non-Communicants The Truth is no Excuses must be made in such a weighty matter as the Sacrament is There may be Interruptions but there must be no Excuses An Interruption is when a man really intends to receive the Sacrament but somewhat happens by which he is prevented and it is a great trouble to his mind that he is so It is with Christians in this case as it was with those Israelites which we read of Num. 9.6 7. who being hindred from eating the Passover by the legal defilement of a Dead Corps were extremely troubled and came to Moses to know what they should do There were certain men who were defiled by the dead body of a man that they could not keep the Passover on that day and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day And those men said unto him we are defiled by the dead body of a man wherefore are we kept back that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed Season among the Children of Israel Observe how farr those men were from making Excuses for neglecting Gods Ordinance in that they were extreamly troubled at an interruption which probably they could not help for he that was in a Tent in which a man dyed or came into it was unclean chap. 19.14 and continued so Seven-days This being of great moment Moses said unto them stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you And we read that God in that Case appointed that they should keep the Passover the next Month. God allowed of the Interruption for that time but there must be no Excuse We read Num. 9.13 that the man who was not thus hindered if he did not keep the Passover at the time appointed The same soul shall be cut off from his people because he brought not the Offering of the Lord on his appointed Season A place of Scripture very fit for Non-Communicants to consider who if they have no Impediments will make Excuses instead of them they will pretend somewhat to be the cause of their Neglect which is not really the cause but the little regard which they have for the Ordinances of their Religion is the cause of their Neglect I shall first consider what the General Excuses are and then consider some more special Cases 1. Some pretend that the Solemninity of the Ordinance is the cause of their Neglect It is a very great Ordinance and they durst not adventure to make their approach to it I know that there are some very good Christians to whom this is not an excuse but is a real Cause of their absenting from the Sacrament They think that it is too great an Adventure for such as they are to come to their Lords Supper although they are such as love him and do sincerely desire and endeavour to keep his Commandments What I have already said may give satisfaction in this Case viz. That Humility and a Sense of Unworthyness is a good qualification for a Communicant and that as the Sacrament is a great and Solemn Ordinance so it is a very great Duty to partake of it and therefore Christians must take care that they do not complement our Saviour but that the examine themselves and reverently observe his Institution Great men do sometimes allow of such excuses when they make Invitations but the Great God commands when he invites and there can be no Neglect but it is a great sin as I have already shewed But this is not the Case I have now in hand My design is to speak of those who make this a Pretence for their Non-Communicating They say the Sacrament is a solemne Ordinance and therefore they dare not come to it But I would have such persons to consider whither they go when they turn away from this Solemn Ordinance If it be to their Lusts and a continuance in a sinful course of Life their condition is unspeakably miserable What an Affront is this to the Great God and our Blessed Saviour I may say to them as the Apostle to the Galatians Be not deceived God is not mocked The best that can be
of God destroying their own Souls which lets us see what fools the Devil makes them that forsake Religion Sometimes it is attended with mirth and jollity Laughter and Swearing go together as if to abuse the Holy Name of God were a help to Mirth But the reason of it is this the Devil will not have his servants to have innocent Mirth if they should their Damnation would not be encreased as he would have it upon all occasions Sometimes we observe men swearing in their ordinary Converse as if it were a grace to their speech Of which the truest account that I can give is that their Hearts are so full of Wickedness of contempt of God and of Religion that it continually as a thing in course runs out at their Mouths I may add another Impiety which doth exceedingly encrease and that is Contempt of Religion upon the Lords Day Men of other Religions may call it the Devils Day considering what horrid Wickednesses men are guilty of on that Day He hath more service done him on that day than in all the week besides 'T is become the Ale-house-keepers Market or rather Fair-day If Christians should regard their Souls on that day they could not pay their Rents These Wickednesses and many more have abounded since the days of Non-Communicating If these Ungodly Wretches had not turn'd their backs upon the Sacrament at first when they were of years in which they might have been capable of Receiving it and the Church requir'd it if they had been under a Necessity of receiving it no man can imagine that they could have been guilty of such horrid Sins and have lived such wicked Lives 'T is possible that they might have been in a sinful State and so have been Unworthy Communicants and thereby have eaten and drank Damnation to themselves But now they do most apparently damn their own Souls to the bottomless Pit of Destruction and they damn the souls of others and in a sense they may be said to damn all Religion If these profligate Wretches were strictly required to come to the Sacrament they would be under a Necessity of reforming that they might be admitted to it There would be an Admonition from the Minister There would be trerible Checks from their own Consciences which the Sacrament would rouze and cause to terrify them And if after upon their promise of Amendment they are admitted to the Sacrament they shall return to their former courses Other Communicants would take notice of them and give them friendly and godly Admonitions and if those prevail not they would at length complain to the Church by which they should be forced to live better or be abandoned the society of Christians But when men turn their backs upon the Sacrament they are then strangers to their Neighbours or at least there is no acquaintance with them as they are Christians They are little or nothing concern'd with one another in the things of Religion And if they are reproved they answer to the Reprover that he is nothing concern'd with them which they could not do if they Communicated together at the Blessed Sacrament There is a great complaint of Unworthy Communicants and I hope it is greater than there is Cause for But what a fearful cause is there to complain of the Unworthyness of the horrid and shameful Wickednesses of Non-Communicants The consequence of Non-Communicating may come likewise under a more special Consideration There are Thousands that are not openly scandalous and profane whose condition would not be so bad as it is if they frequented the Sacrament There would not be so much guilt and trouble in their minds when they are in health nor so much fear and disquietment when sickness comes This is a plain case and almost every days Experience proves the truth of it Let every man who lives in any known Sin examine his own Mind whether if he were under a necessity of Receiving the Sacrament he would not be more afraid to commit that Sin whether he would not be more afraid to neglect his Duty to God both in publick and private And when he hath Received after a solemn and devout manner and know that he must shortly renew his engagement to God again He would not be more careful of his wayes I know there are a great many who are afraid to come to the Sacrament but if they Examin themselves and seriously consider the state of their own Minds they will have cause to conclude That it is from a suggestion of the Devil and that he makes them afraid to Receive that they might be the less afraid to sin He may be Unworthy who does Receive he may be one that lives a sinful Life but we have much more cause to think him Unworthy and in a sinful state who Receives not at all There is likewise a more dreadful Consequence in respect of Grief and Sorrow when the Non-Communicant is sick and forc'd to look back upon his former Life which I have had such frequent occasion to take notice of that I visit the Sick with some kind of Fear lest I should find their Neglect of the Sacrament tormenting their Consciences I never yet heard any say that they had damned their Souls by Receiving the Sacrament although I must confess I have heard some lament that they did not come to it so qualified as they might have done I never yet heard any say I wish I had never received the Sacrament although in some cases as I shall shew there may be cause for Persons to wish so But that Men and Women have not received is the Torment of their departing Souls because then their guilty minds tell them that they ought to have received it and might have done it to their great Benefit and Advantage I lately heard this Expression from a Sick bed which I mention because I think very useful As for the Sacrament I was afraid in my health to receive it but I think if I had received it I should have been more careful of my wayes than I have been We do for the most part find that Persons are Comforted or Tormented upon their Sick-Beds according to their Communicating or Non-Communicating in the time of their Healths I know not which is more rare in visiting the Sick to find a Communicant troubled in mind or a Non-communicant that is not There is another dreadfull Evil which is the consequence of Non-Communicating which I might have mentioned under the former head and that is most gross and scandalous Ignorance There never was any Age in which there were Ministers more able to instruct the People and it is well known their way of Preaching the Gospel is most plain and intelligible to the meanest Capacities And yet The People perish for want of Knowledg In many places by reason of the vast number of Inhabitants it is impossible there can be a particular care of their Souls by Converse with them in Private which is of great necessity