and of the highest importance too 1. Consider that is the Command of Christ your Soveraign Lord who as your King and Supream Governor has an absolute right and a just Claim to your Vniversal Obedience nor can you deny it in any instance whatever without the highest Injustice 2. Consider further that 't is the dying Command of Jesus your Saviour and Redeemer your greatest Friend and your best Benefactor who stopt at no Dangers nor declined any Sufferings to do you service who freely parted with his own dearest and invaluable blood to ransom and redeem your Souls to purchase for you the pardon of your Sins the Graces of Gods Spirit and the immortal Joys of Heaven Who was contented to undergo all the Malice of Men and Devils to be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief through the whole Scene of his Life to endure the greatest Torments of Body and Agonies of Mind to sweat and groan to bleed and die to deliver you from Eternal Death 'T is this Jesus that commands you to do this in remembrance of him So that here is both the highest Authority to command and the greatest Love in the world to invite your Obedience Will you then disobey a King and a Saviour too a Soveraign Lord and a Merciful Redeemer at once Alas What unpardonable Rebellion What scandalous Ingratitude is this Blessed Jesu What return can be sufficient What thanks can be big enough for such amazing Love And yet it is no hard or difficult but a very easy requital that the Son of God expects from us 't is only that we frequently remember his dying Love in that Memorial Feast he has appointed for that purpose that we there thankfully commemorate his Mercy solemnly renew and ratify our Baptismal Vows and Engagements and enter into a sacred League of Peace and Love and Charity with all the world A poor return God knows this is for so great a Mercy and shall we yet refuse to pay this 3. Consider that you are bound in Interest as well as in duty to pay a constant Attendance on this sacred Ordinance For 't is the most likely means in the world to make all your Prayers successful at the Throne of Grace and to fetch down even temporal Blessings upon you And 't is the most probable means in the world to promote and advance your everlasting well-being to confirm and increase your Faith to heighten your Repentance to raise your Sorrow for Sin and your Hatred against it To inflame your Love your Praise and Gratitude to God and your crucified Saviour and your Charity to all your Fellow creatures 't is the best way to advance your Hope to improve all your Graces to make all your Sins give up the Ghost and yield themselves perfect Victims to a Redeemers conquering Love In short the blessed Sacrament to every devout and worthy Receiver is full of divine and heavenly Blessings 't is not only our greatest Duty but 't is our highest Priviledge too What Reasons what Pretences then can be strong enough to keep you from so sacred and advantageous a Duty You know what I have formerly said at large to remove them all There are two faults that you may be guilty of in this affair Either by a careless refusal and neglect of this blessed Sacrament or by an unworthy abuse and profanation of it by unworthily coming to it or by profanely turning your backs upon it Both these are Sins equally dangerous and I beseech you by all the Hopes of Heaven and Fears of Hell to avoid both I have formerly and often told you how this may be done But if there be any Soul amongst you that wants either farther Instruction or Satisfaction in this matter I once more earnestly desire and invite all such to come to me for my private help and direction Come freely and without scruple the Poorest the Meanest of you By the Blessing of God you shall not go away without the best Assistance and Incouragement I am able to givé you And in order to the fitting your selves for the Blessed Sacrament I must beg and entreat you to lead pious and sober just and Christian Lives Impenitence and an obstinate going on in Sin is the only thing that makes men unworthy of the Sacrament A good man a true sincere penitent who understands competently the Nature of the Sacrament and is heartily resolved to forsake all his past Sins and to lead a new Life such a one is fit to come to the Sacrament at any time And he who will not do this is not fit to die nor can he go to Heaven And to enable you to lead this pious Christian Life let me beseech you often and daily upon your bended Knees to petition Almighty God for his preventing assisting and supporting Grace Morning and Evening at least let me desire every Soul amongst you to spend some little time in that divine and heavenly that honorable and advantageous duty of Prayer You that have Families must pray with them and teach your Children and Servants to live in the Fear of God Instruct and Catechize them in the Principles of Religion as well as you are able and send them to the Church to be instructed better As they grow up you must warn them often of the baseness and danger of Sin in general of Swearing and Cursing of Drunkenness and profaning the Lords day Vices to which Youth are extreamly addicted Tell them of the Excellency of a pious sober righteous Life and of the glorious rewards that attend it teach them by your Example as well as by your Instructions You will have the Comfort of it in this Life and be rewarded for it in a better From the Prayers of the Church I would desire you never to be wilfully absent Come at the beginning and behave your selves devoutly at them And for your Private Devotion I have here composed a short Form which I desire all such of you as have not better helps at hand to say daily humbly and devoutly upon your Knees O God the Father of Heaven have mercy upon me a miserable Sinner O thou God of Angels and men the Creator and Preserver of all the world I have sinned I have sinned against Heaven and against thee I have been a stubborn and a rebellious Child but do not thou O Lord cast off the bowels and compassions of a Father I have perverted all the ends of my Creation I have despised thy Authority abused thy Mercy and provoked thy Vengeance But O thou who willest not the Death of a Sinner have Mercy upon me For thy Names sake pardon mine Iniquities for they are great for thine own Mercies sake for thy dear Son and my Saviours sake have pity upon me a miserable Sinner O blessed Jesus the High-Priest the Saviour and Redeemer of Souls have Mercy upon me Let thy Stripes and Wounds thy Cross and Passion plead and intercede for me By thine Agony and bloody Sweat by all that thou didst and sufferedst for Sinners save and deliver me in the hour of Death and the day of Judgment And suffer not O holy Redeemer my Soul which is the purchase of thine own meritorious blood to perish O holy Spirit of Grace the Sanctifier of all the Elect People of God inspire I beseech thee into my Soul the Principles of an Vniversal Piety Sanctify me throughout in Body and Mind in Heart Will and Affections I am undone if thou leave me to my self follow me by thy motions and awaken my Conscience by thy blessed Suggestions or I perish for ever Quicken and excite my languishing Vertues Allure my hope by the glorious rewards of Obedience Alarm my fear by the stedfast belief of a judgment to come Affect my gratitude and love by a deep sence of the amazing mercies of my God and Saviour and by all let me be led to a speedy and vigorous Repentance to such a pious and godly sober and humble just and charitable life us becomes a Disciple of the most holy Jesus O God the Father Son and Holy Ghost three persons and one God! O holy and undivided Trinity have mercy upon me a miserable sinner Glory be to thee O God for all the mercies I have received Take me into thy Protection this day or this night and all that belong to me Bless all my Civil Spiritual and Natural Parents Relations and Governors Reward all my Friends and Benefactors Forgive and turn the hearts of my worst and greatest Enemies Let thy Gospel and Truth thy Peace and Salvation extend it self to all the World for the sake of Jesus my Saviour In whose Name and Words I further pray Our Father c. Canon 14. ALL Ministers shall observe the Orders Rites and Ceremonies prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer without either diminishing or adding any thing in the Matter or Form thereof Canon 38. If any Minister after Subscription shall omit to use the Form of Prayer or any of the Orders or Ceremonies prescribed in the Communion-Book Let him be suspended And if after a month be do not reform and submit himself Let him be Excommunicated And then if he shall not submit himself within the space of another month Let him be deposed from the Ministry Canon 81. There shall be a Font of Stone in every Church and Chapel where Baptism is to be administred In which only Font the Minister shall Baptize Publickly that is no doubt with the Form of Publick Baptism FINIS
the force of the strongest Arguments and of the most convincing Reasons in the World Nothing but This could possibly have prevailed with so many members even of our own Communion to persevere so obstinately in Baptizing their Children in Private houses without any just Necessity and with the Publick Form a Custom confessedly Indecent and undeniably Vnlawful That it is so is the design of this following Treatise to evince and I hope to do it Vnanswerably by insisting on these several Arguments 1. That the Baptizing Children in Private houses is contrary to the nature and design of Christian Baptism 2. 'T is contrary to the constant and universal Practice of the Catholick Christian Church in all ages 3. 'T is contrary to the express Laws and Rubrick of our own established National Church of England 4. 'T is contrary to every Ministers solemn Promises and Subscriptions And 5. 'T is Absurd and Irrational If I can prove beyond denial these several Assertions I hope it will be granted that I have sufficiently performed my promised Undertaking and that I had good reason for refusing to comply with this Illegal Custom But to prevent all mistakes it must be remembred that Exception and Allowance is still to be made for the Case of invincible Necessity of extreme Sickness and danger of Death at which time the Church admits of Private Baptism and has composed a particular Form for that purpose of which I shall say more in its proper place This being premised I assert First That the Administration of Baptism in Private houses is contrary to the Nature and Designs of Baptism for Baptism is a great and most solemn part of Gods Publick Worship 'T is that Divine Sacrament by which we are entred and admitted into the Christian Church and Covenant by which we are made members of that Holy Catholick Church and united to that Communion of Saints and common Society of Christians which makes one fundamental Article of our Creed Baptism is also an open and solemn profession of our belief in the Sacred Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost in whose names we are Baptized but especially 't is a Publick declaration of our Faith in Jesus the Mediator an open acknowledgment to all the Woald that we heartily embrace that Gospel and Religion which Christ reveal'd from his Father to mankind and which distinguishes us from Jews and Mahometans and all other Religions in the World For this reason 't was that the Font was always placed near the door or entrance into the Church Vid. Dr. Patricks Aqua Genitalis to signifie to us that 't is by Baptism we are first entred into the Christian Faith into the Religion and Church of Christ Now all this evidently proves that Baptism is not of a Private but of a Publick Nature and that its ends and designs are Publick And from hence it as evidently follows that it ought to be administred according to its Nature See Dr. Sherlocks Rel. Assemb p. 291. that is not Privately but in the Publick Assembly and Congregation of Christians The force and reason of this Argument is plainly founded upon that Apostolical precept 1 Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in order If this be Scripture and the word of God it certainly obliges us to perform all the Sacred and Publick offices of our Religion with all that Decency and Solemnity that the Nature of the things and the Majesty of God requires In this sense the most learned Commentators understand the words Nor can any other interpretation be put upon them without offering a manifest violence to the design of the Apostle throughout that whole Chapter which was to correct abuses and indecencies in the service of God and to give such standing rules and general directions as he thought necessary to be observed in Gods Publick worship by all Christian Congregations This being granted I now appeal to the sense and reason of all the world whether it be not more for the Decency and Solemnity of Christian Baptism to be administred in the Church and House of God than in a Private room of common and ordinary use The Sacraments of our Religion are certainly the most solemn parts of it We admit but two of these and Baptism is one And does it not best agree with the solemn Nature of this Sacrament that it should be Administred in the solemn place of Gods worship Since Baptism is an open profession of our Faith in Christ how can this be duly performed in Private or any where out of the Publick Assemblies of Christians And since Baptism is designed to enter and admit us into the Church what place can be so decent for its Administration as the Church To this purpose we have Dr. Burnet telling us Hist Reform Abridged Lib. 2. p. 63. That Baptism being the Admission of a New Member to the Church 't is most suitable to the design of Baptism to do it before the whole Congregation and withal adds that the Liberty of baptizing in Private which was at first indulged by the Church only as a provision for Weakness is since become a Mark of Vanity and a piece of affected State If Baptism be designed to make us members of the Christian Church I would willingly be satisfied how this can be decently performed out of the Church and out of the presence of the Church or can any other place be so fit and convenient for so sacred a thing as the Place that is dedicated and devoted to the service of God These are plain Questions I know but I believe they are unanswerable and I leave them to the Conscience of all Unprejudiced Readers with this serious and earnest Exhortation viz. That they would not look on Baptism to be a trifling or inconsiderable thing as if it were only the giving a Name to the Child and no more but that they would consider it as a most solemn part of Gods Worship as that Divine Sacrament by which their Children are dedicated to God and to the Religon of Christ The want of which Consideration I am convinced is the cause why so many otherwise good and well meaning Persons are so regardless provided it be done at all how or where in what place or after what manner this sacred duty is performed I do not say that there is any Positive Holiness in one place above another or that the place alone can sanctify the worship performed in it without other due Qualifications but this I do affirm and all the sober part of Mankind did ever yet grant that as there is a Relative Holiness in the Lords day above other days of the Week so there is at least a Relative Holiness in the Church above other places both as 't is set apart and consecrated to the service and worship of God and as Almighty God is more especially and immediately present in it Upon this account it was that the pious and Primitive Christians
the way to others without which 't will hardly be effected the fault of which will one day lye at their doors Thirdly I do not well know what to call it but another thing I have heard pretended to put off this Duty is to this Effect All our Children hitherto have been baptized at home we never had one baptized at Church Let it be remembred that I have already proved this to be a Duty and then the force of this mighty Objection amounts to this We have hitherto done amiss all our Lives and therefore we are resolved to do so still We have never yet done our Duty and therefore we never will I will not expose the Folly of this pretence it is enough to expose it self My Discourse has hitherto been in General But now I must apply myself more particularly to you of my own Charge You see what the plain Laws of the Church are in this respect and what strong Obligations we all lye under to obey them You see upon what great Strength of Reason and Antiquity those Laws of the Church are founded Fathers and Councils Abundance of the most eminent Divines both Ancient and Modern giving their Testimonies to them After all which I cannot but hope that you will readily comply with what is here so plainly proved to be your Duty I am very sensible of the great Tenderness both of Infants and of Parents and therefore tho I never yet heard of one Child that was injured by being brought to the Font yet if your Children be at any time really weak and in danger of Death if by any accident whatever it so fall out that they cannot safely be brought to Church do not by any means suffer them to dye unbaptized The Church in those cases of Sickness and extreme Necessity has provided a Form of Private Baptism and this you may be assured I will always be ready to administer tho it were at Midnight In this Office of Private Baptism all that is Essential to the Sacrament is contained and enough to secure the Salvation of the Child tho it should die before the other Solemnities and Circumstances be performed in the Church And therefore when Persons pretend a tender regard to the Weakness of the Child to excuse the bringing of it to the Church and yet will not be contented to have it baptized at home by the Form which is composed for that purpose and sufficient for the Childs Salvation 'T is evident that something else is at the Bottom and that 't is not so much their regard to the Safety and Welfare of the Infant as the indulging of their own Humor that is the cause of this Obstinacy for as for the Child that is secured by the Private as well as by the Public Form But if it live and recover then the * See Dr. Combers Disc upon the whole Com. Prayer p. 338. and the Rubrick for Private Baptism Rubrick advises that as soon as it is fit to be carried abroad it be brought to the Church not to be Baptized again for that is done already but that the Congregation may be certified of the Truth of the Baptism before privately used and that the Covenant may be solemnly entred into for it by the Sureties And do not think that this shall put you to any double Charge or Trouble for if in case of Necessity I come to your Houses to baptize any sick Child I expect no manner of Company nor the least Provision nor any Reward from you If you are Poor I had rather you should have something from me My readiness to serve you in all other respects and particularly to come to the meanest of your Houses in case of Sickness My despising present Interest and dealing impartially with all Persons alike in this affair cannot but convince you if any thing will that I am acted in it by pure Conviction and Principles of solid Reason Nor should any thing else in the world have ever prevailed with me to refuse any of your Requests in this matter I desire you to excuse me only from this Vnlawful Custom and in any thing else the Poorest of you may command my Attendance If Liberty of Conscience that is a Discharge from complying with Laws be thought reasonable for others all I desire is a Liberty of Obedience a Liberty to observe and obey those Laws to which I have subscribed and which stand unrepealed and 't will be very unreasonable to deny me this Whatever the Event be I have now this satisfaction that I have done all that in me lies to reform a bad Custom which I thought to be my Duty You see I have not refused it morosely without giving you any reason for so doing but I have ventured that which is dearest to me of any thing in the World I mean my Reputation to satisfy you that this Practice ought to be amended I believe I have studied this business more than you and may modestly be allowed to understand it better which is no more than I will readily grant to you in your proper Callings and Imployments I confess I shall never look upon my self to be answered by an angry Reflection or a disdainful Smile Scurrilous Railing and Reviling are things which I have both Charity enough to forgive and Magnanimity enough to despise But if you can procure any one in the world to make a solid Answer to my Reasons and Arguments I promise you I will readily retract my mistakes and shall be glad by that means to be put into a capacity of obliging you in this as well as in other things For I am so far from thinking it any real dishonour that I know 't is a manly Generosity and a Christian Vertue to change my opinion upon the Evidence of better Reason and that to persist in an Error out of pure Obstinacy and Stubbornness does neither become the Ingenuity of a Man nor the Religion of a Christian And therefore if you find the Arguments of this Discourse are such as cannot be fairly answered Let me beg and beseech you then as you love your own Souls not wilfully and stubbornly to resist the Truth Remember that to him that knoweth to do good in any instance of Duty and yet doth it not to him 't is a Sin in the highest Degree Ja. 4.17 I have now done with what I have to say of Baptism But before I conclude I cannot but take this Opportunity of leaving with you a brief Exhortation to the constant receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper a duty too much neglected amongst you Confider then I beseech you the Plainness and the Positiveness of the Command Do this in remembrance of me And withal remember that the Only way to enter into Life is to keep the Commandments in general this as well as the rest and that Christ will one day execute his Vengeance on all that obey not the Laws of his Gospel 2 Thes 1.8 of which this is one