But then secondly To the keeping a man's Baptism pure and undefiled that which was thought further necessary was that from falling into an habitual practice of any of those smaller and less scandalous sins which carelesness and culpable ignorance would be very apt to betray a man into the Acts of he ought to indeavour to secure himself by great cautiousness and sincere enquiry after the knowledge of his Duty that from sins of omission from growing cool in Religion and remitting of his first Love he ought to indeavour to preserve himself by constant Meditation and hearty Prayer to God for the assistance of his holy Spirit that in order to grow in Grace he ought to be always humble and teachable penitent and devout meek in spirit and pure in mind and that to attain Perfection he ought to be always pressing forward towards the mark of the prize of the high calling with a perfect contempt of the World an entire Love of God and a boundless Charity to all Mankind 3. This was what the Primitive Christians understood by keeping their Baptism pure and undefiled viz. A regular and constant practice of all Holiness and Virtue from the time of their Baptism to their Death And to this they thought themselves most strongly obliged by the very Form of their Baptism They were immersed into the Water and they rise out of it again and this great Solemnity was never after to be repeated in token that as Christ once died for Sin and Rose again never to come under the power of Death any more so they were this once to have their Sins perfectly washt away by his Blood and were bound never to return under the Power of them any more Thus St. Paul himself most expresly and excellently argues Rom. p. 6. v. 9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him For in that he died he died unto Sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof The force of which Argument is plainly this When we descended into the Water and rise out of it again we made publick profession that as we hoped for pardon of our past sins through the Merits of the Death of Christ so we our selves would thenceforth die unto sin that is utterly cast it off and forsake it and for the future rise again to walk with Christ in newness and holiness of Life So that unless from the time of our thus putting off sin we continue constantly to live in all holiness and righteousness we have no just reason to expect Remission by virtue of the Death of Christ into which we were baptized For it being the express Condition of the Remission of sin that we continue no longer in it but live from thencefotth unto God the Blood of Christ it self which was shed to be a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World can avail nothing for one that continues in Sin whom our Saviour himself has particularly excepted from the benefit of the Pardon purchased by his Death and Passion 4. Accordingly Persons after their Baptism were instructed That they must now utterly and for ever renounce all the sinful pleasures and desires of the World They were told that they now received remission of their past sins by vertue of the Death of Christ and therefore they must take great heed that they sinned no more They were told that they now washed their Garments in the Blood of the Lamb for a signal whereof they were accordingly cloathed in white and that they must take care to bring this unspotted Innocence with them before the Tribunal of Christ To which Custom our Saviour himself seems to allude Rev. 3. 4. Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis which have not defiled their Garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy They were told that they were now baptized for the remission of all their past sins and if they kept not this Baptism pure and undefiled they could not be sure they should ever be able to obtain the like full and perfect Remission again They were told that they now started in that great Race which they were to run for the Crown of Immortality and if those who were found tardy in an earthly Race were beaten and disgraced of how much sorer punishment should they be thought worthy who negligently faultred in the race of Immortality They were told that they now entred into that Covenant of God the Seal whereof was Let every one that Names the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity and if they kept not this Seal their punishment would be among Apostates whose Worm shall not die and whose Fire shall not be quenched They were told that they had now escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and if after this they should be again intangled therein and be overcome and turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them their Punishment should be double to that of those who had never known the way of Righteousness Finally They were told that they were now enlightned and had tasted of the heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and were sealed thereby unto the day of Redemption and if after this they should fall away it would be exceeding difficult to renew them to Repentance That they had now received the perfect knowledge of the Truth and if after this they sinned wilfully there would remain no more Sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which should devour the Adversary In a word That they now received a certain Promise and Assurance of Eternal Life but if they would sell this blessing for the momentary gratifications of sense they might perhaps afterwards be rejected when they should desire to inherit it and find no place for Repentance though they might seek it carefully with Tears 5. These were the severe cautions with which the Primitive Church obliged baptized Persons upon their utmost Peril to keep themselves stedfast from the time of their Baptism in all holy and blameless Conversation Those who did continue to walk suitably to this Profession were said to be washed to be sanctified to be justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God And because in those purest times there were hardly any among Christians who did not walk suitably to their Profession it being the same thing then to be a Christian and to be a good Man therefore those Terms Elect Regenerate Sanctified born of God and the like which we now appropriate only to the best and most holy Men are not in Scripture
Strangers from the Covenants of Promise having no hope and without God in the World did by Baptism enter into that Covenant wherein God assured the promise of Eternal Life to all those who should believe and repent And this is what the Apostle intends by our having our Citizen-ship in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. and by our being Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Christ that we may be glorified together with him Rom. 8. 17. 5. Another Privilege which was represented and conferred by Baptism was the Influence and Assistance of Gods Holy Spirit All Persons that were baptized as their Bodies were washed and purified with Water so their Minds were sanctified by the Spirit of God But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6. 11. At their Baptism they received the Holy Ghost as a Gift constantly annexed to that Ordinance and unless they quenched and grieved it by their sins committed afterwards it always continued with them from thenceforward assisting and enabling them to perform their Duty strengthning and comforting them under Temptations and Afflictions and bearing witness with their Spirit that they were the Children of God At the first Preaching of the Gospel this influence of the Holy Spirit frequently discovered it self in those extraordinary Gifts of Speaking with Tongues Working Miracles c. as appears in the History of the Acts of the Apostles But these by degrees ceasing it afterward continued to evidence it self in the strange and almost miraculous change which it made in the Minds of Men from the most corrupt and vicious to the most virtuous and heavenly Disposition almost in an instant upon their being baptized And when this effect also grew less frequent as the Zeal and Purity of the Christians declined it yet continued always by its secret Power to renew and transform Mens Minds to instruct Men in their Duty and to inable them to perform it Hence Baptism is called the Renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. and a being born of Water and of the Spirit John 3. 5. and by the Antients frequently Illumination And Persons baptized are said to have been enlightned to have tasted of the heavenly Gift and to have been made Partakers of the Holy Ghost Heb. 6. 4. 6. The last Privilege which Persons Baptized were intitled to by virtue of that Ordinance was an Assurance of a Resurrection to Eternal Life They received as hath been said the Holy Spirit of God and that Spirit so long as it dwelt with them was a Seal and Earnest of their future Resurrection For if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Rom. 8. 11. And this was most significantly represented by their descending into the Water and rising out of it again For as Christ descended into the Earth and was raised again from the dead by the Glory of the Father So Persons baptized were buried with him by Baptism into Death and rose again after the similitude of his Resurrection They were planted together in the likeness of his Death and they were by this Sign assured that they should be also in the likeness of his Resurrection Thus the Apostle St. Paul Colos. 2. 12. Ye are buried with him in Baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the Faith of the Operation of God who hath raised him from the dead To which St. Peter seems likewise to allude 1 Pet. 3. 21. The like figure whereunto viz. to the saving of the Ark by the Water of the Flood even Baptism doth also now save us by the Resurrection of Christ. 7. These are the Spiritual Graces or Privileges which were represented by the Outward and Visible Signs in Baptism and conferr'd by their means And These are what God on his part engageth and assures to us in that Great and Holy Covenant There are other things which the Persons Baptized obliged themselves to on their part in that Covenant and These are the Duties which by their Baptism they vow and take upon themselves to perform represented also by the same Outward and Visible Signs The first of these Duties which the Persons baptized promised and obliged themselves to perform was a Constant Confession of the Faith of Christ and Profession of his Religion They were admitted by Baptism into the Church and Family of Christ and they were bound at all times to own themselves his Disciples They were solemnly baptized into his Death and they were oblig'd not to be asham'd of the Cross of Christ and to confess the Faith of him crucified They owned publickly at their Baptism their Belief in God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord and they were bound at all times to make Profession of this Faith They had with the heart believed unto Righteousness and they thought that with the Mouth Confession was necessary to be made unto Salvation They were assured that if they confessed Christ before Men he would also confess them before his Father which is in Heaven and before the Angels of God but if they were ashamed of him and denyed him before Men he would also be ashamed of them when he came in the Glory of his Father with the Holy Angels And so mighty an effect had this consideration upon the primitive Christians that in the times of Persecution when they were tempted to deny their Saviour and renounce the Faith which they had once Embraced they chose rather to endure the most exquisite Torments that the wit of Man could invent than either to renounce or dissemble their Christianity and those who out of Fear denyed or were ashamed to confess their Faith they looked upon to have forfeited and renounced their Baptism as having crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame 8. The Second Thing to which Persons baptized solemnly obliged themselves by their Baptism was a Death unto Sin and a New-birth unto Righteousness i. e. they engaged utterly and for ever to forsake all manner of Sin and Wickedness all Idolatrous and Superstitious Worship of false Gods all Injustice Wrong Fraud and Uncharitableness towards Men all the Pride and Vanity the Pomp and Luxury of this present World all the Lusts of the Flesh Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Gluttony Drunkenness Revellings and such like And for the future they promised to make it the business of their lives to fulfil all Righteousness according to the strictest Rules of the Christian Doctrine and Discipline to Worship the only true God with all Devotion Reverence and Humility to be exactly just in their Dealings with Men and generously charitable upon all occasions in fine to be Temperate and Sober Chast and Pure as the Worshippers of
publick profession of at their Baptism They were fully instructed in the excellent Moral Precepts of that Divine Religion which they were to practise the remaining part of their lives And then they were thought prepared for the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost CHAP. III. In what manner persons converted to Christianity were baptized to what Privileges they were admitted and to what Duties they were ingaged by their Baptism 1. WHen the person to be baptized was thus prepared and the time appointed come which was usually at Easter or Whitsontide the Commemorations of our Saviour's Passion and Resurrection and of the great Effusion of the Holy Spirit things principally respected in this Sacrament though it might also upon occasion be celebrated at any other time When the Person I say was thus prepared he was brought by the Priest to a convenient place where there was plenty of Water and being stript of all his cloaths he in the first place with stretched out Arms in a most solemn manner renounced the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all not only the absolutely sinful but also the lawful desires of the flesh so far as to keep them within the most strict bounds and most exact obedience to the Laws of Reason and Religion Then he made Profession of his Faith in One God the Father Almighty c. in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord c. and in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church c. After which he was baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost being immersed in the Water three times once at the Name of each Person in the ever Blessed Trinity Which being done he came up out of the Water and then according to the Custom of some Churches he was anointed with Oil with the addition of some other Ceremonies which as they were in their own nature indifferent so they were used only in some places and that diversly according to the different usage of particular Churches After all which he was clothed with a white Robe and so admitted among the Faithful to the Communion of the Church which last Ceremony the Greeks as a Learned Writer of our own observes keep up to this day putting upon the Child immediately after Baptism a white Garment with this Form Receive this white and immaculate Cloathing and bring it with thee unspotted before the Tribunal of Christ and thou shalt inherit eternal life 2. This was the Form and Manner in which Persons converted to Christianity were Baptized in the Primitive Church And by all these outward and visible Ceremonies were significantly represented certain inward and invisible things which were either the Privileges to the injoyment of which the Person Baptized was intitled or the Duties to the performance of which he was engaged by his Baptism 3. The first Grace or Privilege which God annexed to the right use of this Ordinance of Baptism and to which the Person Baptised was consequently intitled was Remission of all past sins The design of our Savior's coming into the World was by the Merit of his Death and Suffering to purchase Pardon and Remission for all those who should believe in his Name and obey his Gospel Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Now the Means by which this Pardon is applied and the Seal by which it is secured to all those who Believe and by Repentance begin to Obey the Gospel is Baptism Whosoever therefore was converted to Christianity and was baptized was baptised into the death of Christ i. e. was by Baptism intitled to the benefit of the Pardon purchased by his Death and Passion As his Body was washed with pure Water so his Sins were absolutely done away by the Blood of Christ and his Heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience Heb. 10. 22. Hence Baptism is called the Washing of Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. and they who by the Apostles Preaching or by any other more extraordinary means were convinced of the Truth of the Gospel were exhorted immediately to be baptized and wash away their sins Acts 22. 16. And now why tarriest thou Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the Name of the Lord And Acts 2. 38. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins To which those Places also seem manifestly to allude Rev. 1. 5. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and Rev. 7. 14. These are they which have washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. The plain meaning of all which passages is this That as a new-born Infant is without Spot Innocent and Sinless so every one that is born of Water i. e. regenerated by Baptism is in the account of God as if he had never sinned cloathed with the white and spotless Garment of Innocence which if he never defile by gross and wilful sins he shall walk in white with Christ for he shall be worthy 4. The next Privilege which Baptism principally and most significantly represented was the Admission of the Convert into the Church or Family of God All that received Baptism were thereby actually admitted into the Society of Christians and to the participation of all the benefits which God bestows upon his Church They were admitted to the Communion of the Saints of God and to the Fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 1. 9. They were made Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Eph. 2. 19. being come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant c. Heb. 12. 22. More particularly they were made first Members of Christ i. e. they were incorporated into that Body whereof Christ is the Head Secondly They were made Children of God i. e. they were enroll'd in the number of those whom God had chosen to be his Peculiar and Elect People and whom he designed to govern with the same tenderness as an affectionate and merciful Father does his most beloved Children which is what the Apostles express by our being called the Sons of God 1 John 3. 1. by our having received the Adoption of Sons Gal. 4. 5. and by our having power given us to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. Lastly They were made Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. they who before were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and
to live with all the Strictness and Purity of the Gospel in the constant Practice of every one of those Duties of which I have briefly set down the Heads in the former Chapter 3. And consider that you promise all this most solemnly in the Presence of God and before the whole Congregation Consider that you enter into this Promise with such solemnity as lays upon you the strongest possible Obligations to Virtue Consider that you so enter into this Promise with Knowledge and Deliberation that if you shall afterwards fall into any Course of sin in contempt of such repeated Obligations to the contrary the Guilt thereof will be extreamly increased and that therefore you ought now to affect your Mind deeply with a sence of the heinousness of sin and to strengthen mightily your good Resolutions Antiently every one that was baptized was taught to look upon himself as entring into so solemn an Obligation of Religion that if after that Great and Sacred Vow he should fall into any wilful and known sin it could not be forgiven him but upon a proportionably great and long Repentance And the same Reason there is now why every one that by Confirmation dedicates himself to the Service of God and makes publick Profession of his being a Disciple of Christ should look upon himself as entring into such a solemn Obligation as should make him exceeding fearful of falling for the future into any great sin the Guilt of which will be extreamly increased by being committed after such repeated Vows and Promises to the contrary 4. Yet is this no Reason why any one should defer being Confirmed as if by omitting to bind himself by this New and Solemn Promise he might continue to sin with less guilt and less danger For though the guilt of sin be indeed mightily increased by being committed after repeated Obligations to the contrary yet if any one omits to renew his Obligations only for that reason that he may continue in sin his sin is then equally heinous and against Knowledge as if he had renewed his Obligation Baptism is a solemn Obligation to be Religious and many of the Antients because they thought sin would be more heinous after so solemn an Obligation did therefore defer to be Baptized till the end of their Lives The Lord's Supper is also a solemn Obligation to be Religious and many in our days because they think sin will be more heinous after so solemn an Obligation do therefore defer receiving the Communion all their Lives But 't is plain these men run into a very great Errour For the reason why sin after repeated Obligations to the contrary becomes more heinous is because it is committed with greater Deliberation against clearer Convictions When therefore a man who Believes Religion and Understands its Obligations omits these Duties for no other reason but that he may sin as he thinks with less danger his sins are then equally deliberate and against equally clear Knowledge and he moreover adds to them a contemptuous neglect of the means of becoming more Religious CHAP. VII Of the Certainty of God's Grace and the Assistance of his Holy Spirit 1. SEcondly Consider that you come now to have Sealed and Confirmed to you all the Privileges which the Condition of your Baptismal Covenant intitles you to receive At Baptism we are admitted into the Church of God and have a Title to the Graces and Assistance of the Holy Spirit and at Confirmation this Grace is Sealed and Assured to us by the external Sign of Imposition of Hands When therefore you come in this solemn manner to make Profession of your Religion and to dedicate your self to the Service of God be sure to come with earnest desires and a longing Soul with firm Faith and a well-assured Hope with a pure Heart and a Mind prepared for the reception of the Holy Ghost and God will not fail to pour down upon you the abundance of his Grace to give you strength from thenceforward to overcome both the inward corruption of your Nature and the outward temptations of the World and the Devil to inable you to continue firm in the Faith of Christ and in the Obedience of his Commands to preserve you always from the Dominion of Sin and to bring you safe unto his Kingdom of Glory 2. There is nothing more pernitious to the Souls of Men than an Opinion of the Uncertainty of the Grace of God and it s not being annexed constantly to the use of means If we imagine that our Nature is so utterly corrupted that we can no more do or will any thing that is good than a dead Body can move or bring it self to Life till we be acted by such a mighty and extraordinary Grace of God as nothing that we can do can in the least prepare us to receive If we imagine that the Temptations of the World and the Devil are so strong that we cannot possibly overcome them without such a powerful Assistance of the Holy Spirit as God has not annexed to the use of any Ordinances or Means of Religion If we imagine that the Commandments of God are so impossible to be kept that after all we can do we must sit still in expectation of being converted suddenly by an irresistible Grace this must needs make all our Indeavours weak and faint dead and without heart and we shall certainly never be able to overcome our Temptations and to Persevere in Well-doing 3. It must indeed be confessed that the Corruption of our Nature is really so great that we cannot do any thing as of our selves It must be confessed that the Temptations of the World and the Devil are really so strong that we can never meerly by our own strength be able to stand and Persevere unto the end It must be confessed that the Commandment of God is so exceeding broad that by all that we can do by our own power we can never be justified in the sight of God But then if our Saviour has deliver'd us from this Corruption of our Nature and has broken all the Powers of Sin and Satan If Christ by his Death has purchased this Grace for us that upon our attending the Ordinances and Means of Religion which he hath appointed God will as certainly bestow upon us the sufficient Assistance of his Holy Spirit as a tender Father cannot deny his Child any reasonable Request If God will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able but will with the Temptation also make a way to escape and whenever he requires more of us than we are naturally able to perform will certainly afford us an extraordinary Assistance proportionable to the difficulty we are obliged to encounter as he constantly did to the Primitive Christians who through the mighty Power of the Spirit were enabled to bear all the most exquisite Torments that either the wit of Man or the Malice of the Devil could invent with less concern than we can even
the Time before them and are so happy as not to have been yet seduced through the deceitfulness of Sin consider these things Let them consider what a Prize they have in their Hands and let them be zealous that no Man take their Crown Let them consider that if God and Angels rejoyce at the Conversion of an old and great Sinner much more must they be pleased to see a young Person amidst the alluring Glories and Pleasures of the World bravely resisting all its Temptations Let them consider that That time which a dying Sinner would if it were possible give Millions of Worlds to redeem is now in their Hands and they may make a glorious use of it Let them consider that they are yet cloathed with the white Robe of Innocence and if they be careful never to defile that Garment they may attain to a Portion among those few who shall walk with Christ in white for they are worthy Let them consider that if they zealously continue to maintain their Innocence and their good Works for a few Years they will soon be almost out of the danger of Temptation they will escape the bitter Pangs of Remorse and Repentance they will be wholly above that greatest of human Miseries the dread and horrour of Death and may not only without Fear but even with exceeding Joy expect the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment of the great Day and in the Glory of the World to come Lastly let them consider that if they hold fast the confidence and rejoycing of their Hope firm unto the end they shall be intitled to all those great and inconceivable Promises which our Saviour has made to those who shall overcome To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Rev. 2. 7. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second Death ver 11. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white Raiment and I will not blot his Name out of the Book of Life but I will confess his Name before my Father and before his Angels Rev. 3. 5. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem ver 12. And To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am sit down with my Father in his Throne V. 21. CHAP. X. Of making Religion the principal Business of our Lives 1. THirdly Resolve to make Religion the main Scope of all your Actions and the principal Business of your Life One great reason why Religion which was the reigning Principle that wholly governed the Lives of the Primitive Christians has now so little influence upon the Actions of Men is because those Holy Men sought first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and relied upon the Providence of God to have all other things added unto them whereas now Men make Religion not their first but their last care and while their whole Hearts and Affections are set upon the things of this present World they think themselves sufficiently Religious if they spend but some small Portions of their time in the outward and Ceremonious Acts of Religion But if Religion be the same now that it was in the times of the Primitive Christians if the Happiness proposed to us be the same for which they so painfully contended if our Obligations excepting perhaps some few particular Cases be the same with theirs this slight careless and superficial Religion will not serve our turn He that will obtain that Crown of Immortality which God has promised to those who Love and Obey him must be effectually and Substantially Religious in the main Course of his Life and he that will be so truly and sincerely Religious must make that Religion his principal and his first Care 2. By making Religion the Principal Care and Study of our Lives I do not mean that Men should withdraw themselves from their Business and Imployments in the World to spend their time anxiously in Reading Praying Meditating the like I hese things are not the whole nor the principal part of Religion and it is an Antient and Notorious Errour to think that Men can become more truly Religious by the continued Exercises of a private Retirement than by living Soberly Righteously and Godlily in the World The Life and Substance of Religion is to have our Minds habitually possessed with the profoundest Veneration of the Divine Majesty and with a desire of expressing at all proper opportunities our Devotion to him and our Zeal for his Honour To endeavour constantly in the whole Course of our Lives to promote the good and the happiness of all Men and to be Temperate in the use of all earthly Enjoyments as those who expect their Happiness not in this World but in the next This is the Essence of true Religion And These things a Man may make his principal nay even his whole Care without any way neglecting or in the least withdrawing himself from his Secular and Worldly Business There is no Imployment wherein a Man may not be always doing something for the honour of God for the good of Men or for the Improvement of the Virtues of his own Mind There is no Business wherein a Man may not make it his main Care to act always like a good Man and a Christian There is no state of Life wherein a Man may not keep a constant Eye upon a future State and so use the things of this present World as that the great and ultimate Scope of all his Actions may always respect that which is to come 3. And to make Religion thus far the principal Business of our Lives is absolutely and indispensably necessary No Man can overcome the Temptations of the Word No Man can be truly and effectually Religious unless he stedfastly proposes to himself one great Design of his Life and indeavours to Act always regularly upon that Design He must constantly keep an eye upon his main End and in every thing he does must be careful always to have a respect to that Every thing he undertakes must be either directly conducive to that end or at least not contrary to and inconsistent with it In a word he must be True to himself and to his own happiness and be resolute never to be tempted to do any thing which he knows he shall afterwards wish undone For otherwise if a Man acts only uncertainly according to the present Appearances of things and without any fixt design it must needs be that every violent temptation will either surprize or overpower him and his Religion will be as inconstant as his Resolutions His Life will be at best no other than a continued Circle of sinning and repenting and his End will be in
of the Apostles and from the general Sense of the Primitive Church 2. God is a Being as of infinite Purity and Holiness so also of infinite Goodness and Mercy and as he cannot possibly be reconciled to Men so long as they continue wicked so when ever they cease to be so and return again to the Obedience of Gods Commands and to the imitation of his Nature we cannot suppose but that he will again admit them to his Pardon and Favour Goodness and Mercy are our most natural Notions of God and the Discoveries which he hath made of himself by Revelation are most exactly agreeable thereto At the passing by of his Glory before Moses he proclaimed himself The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquities Transgressions and Sins Exod. 34. 6. By the Prophets he declares and swears by himself As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. 1â— And above all by that stupendous Instance of Mercy the sending his only Son out of his Bosom to give himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men he has discovered such an earnest desire of our Reconciliation and Salvation as will be the everlasting subject of the Praises of Men and the Admiration of Angels If therefore God when he had made a Covenant of perfect Obedience and had not promised Pardon at all to great and presumptuous Sins did yet give Pardon and declare also to the Jews by his Prophets that he would do so And if when Men were yet Enemies to him he was so willing that not any should perish but all should come to Repentance yea so desirous to have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth that he not only spared not his own Son to deliver him up for us all but tells us even of Joy in Heaven at a Sinners accepting the gracious Terms of the Gospel and represents himself as a tender Father running to meet his returning Prodigal and falling up-his Neck and kissing him If this I say was the Compassion which God shewed to Man in his first sinful and miserable State 't is very reasonable to conclude and hope that his Mercy is not so entirely exhausted at once but that the same Pity may be yet further extended even to those also who after the knowledge of the Truth having been seduced by the Temptations of the World and the Devil to depart from God and to forsake their Duty shall again return unto him with Sincerity and Perseverance 3. The Design of the Gospel is to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And certainly whensoever it comes to have this effect upon a Man it gives him a Title to the blessed Hope and a well-grounded Assurance of Mercy at the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Foundation of the Christian Dispensation upon which the whole Summ of Affairs is now established is Faith and Repentance and whensoever a Man so truly repents as to purifie himself effectually from every evil Work and by the Spirit mortifies the deeds of the Body he shall certainly live Our Saviour himself gives express Directions when a Man's Christian Brother trespasses against him to use all possible means to reclaim him both by private and publick Reproof before he rejects him utterly as a Heathen Man and a Publican He commands us though our Brother sins never so often against us yet if he turns again and repents to forgive him and has promised upon this Condition that we also shall in like manner find forgiveness at the Hands of God And in the Epistles sent by the Apostle St. John to the Bishops of the Seven Churches of Asia he exhorts them earnestly to remember from whence they were fallen and to repent and be zealous and do their first works and promises that if upon this Invitation any Man would hear his Voice and open the Door that is would be moved by these Exhortations to repent and amend he would come in to him and sup with him that is would again receive him to his Mercy and Favour 4. Accordingly the Writings of the Apostles though directed to Christians are yet full of earnest Exhortations to Repentance and their History contains many Instances of those who after great falls were thereby restored to their first state St Peter exhorts Simon Magus who thought the Gift of God could be bought with Money to repent of this his wickedness and gives him encouragement to hope that he should thereupon obtain forgiveness Acts 8. 22. St. John tells us That if any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins 1 John 2. 2. St. James tells us That if any one err from the Truth and one convert him he that converteth the Sinner from the Error of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of Sins Jam. 5. 20. St. Jude advises us to have compassion of some making a difference and to save others with fear pulling them out of the fire ver 23. St. Paul exhorts Timothy to instruct in meekness those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth and that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil who are taken Captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2. 25. He advises the Galatians that if any Man be overtaken in a fault they which are spiritual should restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness considering themselves lest they also be tempted Gal. 6. 1. He threatens the Corinthians to excommunicate those who had sinned and had not repented of their uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they had committed 2 Cor. 12. 21. And even the Incestuous Person who had been guilty of such a Sin as was not so much as named among the Heathens themselves he delivers indeed to Satan for the destruction of the Flesh but it was that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 5. 5. For when the punishment which was inflicted of many had been sufficient to reduce him to Repentance he writes to the Church to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow 2 Cor. 2. 7. 5. And this excepting as I have said one Sect of Men was the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Church To those who were yet Innocent they thought indeed no Promises too great and no Threatnings too severe whereby they might make them infinitely careful to preserve their Innocence But those who had already sinned they incouraged to repent and upon their Repentance admitted them again to the Peace of the Church and
yet he may retain such an affection to it such a readiness to return to it in his former Circumstances or at least may have so little Hatred and Resolution against it as may make him very far from a true Penitent In all such Cases therefore where a Man may break off a Sin upon any other Consideration than the Love of God and a true Sense of Religion 't is necessary for the evidencing the Truth of his Repentance and for the preserving him from imposing upon his own Mind that he testifie his Sincerity and the Reality of his change of Mind by some such afflictive laborious or expensive Duties as will prove him to have indeed attained such a religious temper of Mind as would be sufficient to preserve him in the like Circumstances from returning again to the same or to any other the like wilful Sin Were this rightly considered Men would not so easily sin on securely at present and impose upon themselves with vain hopes of growing better afterward with less Pains when some particular alteration of their Circumstances of Life or perhaps Age and Sickness shall have removed their Temptations 3. But Secondly When amendment of Life does alone sufficiently evidence the sincerity of Repentance as generally and in most Cases it does yet ought those who have sinned to do something to testifie their Sorrow for past Offences and to judge themselves that they may not be judged of the Lord. They ought to take Shame to themselves that after having received the knowledge of the Truth and having been made partakers of the heavenly Gift and having tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come they should again have returned to Sin and Folly They ought to consider with Confusion of Face the Ingratitude of having again committed those things which are so hateful to God that he has threatned to punish the continuance in them with everlasting Destruction and would not once pardon them under a less Ransom than the Blood of his only Son And these Considerations ought to work in them that Carefulness that Indignation that Fear that vehement Desire that Zeal and that Revenge of which St. Paul tells us consisteth that godly Sorrow which worketh Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of 4. Thus when St. Peter had thrice denied his Master the Consideration of the Shamefulness and Ingratitude of the thing made him when he thought thereon weep bitterly Thus when David had committed those crying Sins of Adultery and Murder the Consideration of the foulness and baseness of the Fact made him every night wash his Bed and water his Couch with his Tears and extorted from him those bitter Complaints of which the greatest part of his Penitential Psalms are made up And all the Saints who ever fell into any notorious Sin were very severe in their Humiliation earnestly desiring that God would give them their Punishment in this World that their Spirit might be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus 5. For this Reason St. James advises those who had sinned to be afflicted and mourn and weep to let their Laughter be turned to Mourning and their Joy to Heaviness and to humble themselves in the sight of the Lord that he might lift them up And the Primitive Church always taught That Sins committed wilfully after the knowledge and belief of the Truth were to be done away with Labour and Sorrow That such Sins were not immediately forgiven upon a Mans beginning to repent but after he had afflicted his Soul and humbled himself deeply and undergone many Troubles That the afflictive Duties of Repentance ought to bear some proportion to the greatness of the Sin That the Penitent ought to spend much time in Watching Fasting Praying and giving much Alms And that by how much the more severely he judged himself here by so much the more might he hope God would spare him and be merciful to him hereafter 6. 'T is true the Sin which the Ancients particularly respected when they preached up the necessity of this severe Repentance was no less than that of denying our Saviour But if we consider the Matter impartially what great difference is there between renouncing Christianity and living in an open and profane contempt of Religion in the Practice of manifest Injustice Fraud and Oppression or in notorious and habitual Intemperance Only they who denied Christ did it being compelled by great and long Torments but these other Vices are committed wilfully and of choice 7. Very great Reason therefore there is why those who have been guilty of great and wilful Sins should enjoyn themselves a great and remarkable Repentance But yet because after all the End and Design the whole Summ and Life of Repentance is Reformation therefore no Man ought to impose upon himself any other Penitential Severities than such as are directly conducive to this main End Ridiculous and foolish were the Penances enjoyned Men in the dark and more ignorant Ages of the Church because they neither tended to improve the Virtues of Mens own Minds nor to make Men more Useful and Beneficial to others But such Penitential Exercises as directly mortifie Mens Lusts and Passions or lead them to be more Charitable and do more Good in the World in these by how much the Penitent is more strict and constant by so much is he more secure of the Sincerity of his Repentance and of the Fulness of his Pardon 8. The best therefore and the greatest and the most effectual Repentance that a Man can possibly exercise is to endeavour to be so much the more careful in mortifying his Vices and so much the more zealous in improving all Opportunities of doing Good by how much he has formerly been more faulty in any Particular And to resolve by how much the more he hopes to have forgiven him to Love so much the more Let him if he has been vanquished by any Temptation resolve to strengthen himself so much the more against it and to become for the future the more heroically Virtuous He that thus endeavours to appease God and by the Repentance and Shame and Sorrow of his past Faults is spurred on to exercise greater Faith and Virtue and Courage such a one by the assistance of God may become a Joy to the Church which he before made sorrowful and shall obtain not only the Pardon of his Sins but also the Crown of Righteousness 9. Particularly a Penitent ought above all things to endeavour after a great and fervent Charity This is a Duty which all wise and holy Men have in all Ages thought to have an especial Efficacy to procure Pardon of Sin And very great are the Promises which are made to it in Scripture Alms saith the Son of Sirach make an atonement for Sins Ecclus. 3. 30. And Charity saith St. Peter shall cover a multitude of Sins 1 Pet. 4. 8. And the merciful saith our Saviour
himself shall obtain Mercy Matth. 5. 7. Only Men must not hope by this or any other means to obtain a Liberty of continuing in Sin For Charity shall procure forgiveness of Sins past repented of and forsaken but not of Sins committed upon presumption of their being expiated thereby CHAP. V. That true Repentance must be Constant and Persevering in its Effects And of the One Repentance of the Ancients 1. THirdly and Lastly True Repentance must be Constant and Persevering in its Effects that is it must put a Man into such a state as that he will not any more return wilfully unto Sin Till it arrive to this Pitch Repentance is not true and however Men may deceive themselves with vain Imaginations about it can never be effectual to Salvation The Condition that our Saviour expresly requires in his Gospel is a continued Holy Life from the time of our knowing and embracing the Truth But certainly he will never accept of any thing less than a Life of Holiness and Persevering Obedience from some Period of Reformation and Repentance 2. He therefore that repents ought to be infinitely fearful of relapsing into Sin as one that is recovering out of a dangerous and almost mortal Sickness When ever he wilfully relapses he makes his Case worse than it was at first and his Disease more in danger of being mortal It becomes much harder for him to renew himself unto Repentance and much more difficult to procure Pardon 3. 'T is true evil Habits are not to be rooted out at once and vicious Customs to be overcome in a moment So long therefore as a Man does not return wilfully and deliberately into the habit of Sin many Surprizes and Interruptions in the struggle with a customary Vice may be consistent with the Progress of Repentance But 't is then only that it becomes compleat and effectual when the evil habit is so entirely rooted out that the Man from thenceforward obeys the Commandments of God without looking back and returns no more to the Sins he has condemned 4. Let no Man therefore think that he has truly repented of any deadly Sin so long as he continues to practise and repeat it He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead Body if he touch it again what availeth his washing So is it with a Man that fasteth for his Sins and goeth again and doeth the same who will hear his Prayer Or what doth his humbling profit him Ecclus. 34. 25. He may fast and pray and lament and use all the apparent signs of Repentance imaginable but God will never esteem his Repentance true nor accept it as available to the forgiveness of Sin till he sees it Pure and Constant and Persevering 5. And this I understand to be the Reason why the Ancient Church never allowed but one Repentance after Baptism They taught that if any one after that great and holy Calling should be tempted by the Devil and Sin he had one space of Repentance but if he should often Sin and Repent it would not profit him for he should hardly live unto God They taught That Man covenanted with God in Baptism for a Holy Life but God foreseeing the Weakness of Man and the Subtilty of the Devil made Provision that if any one after that great and solemn Covenant should either by the violence or deceitfulness of Temptation be drawn into gross and deadly Sin he should still have another place of Repentance but if after this he continued to go on in a Circle of Sinning and Repenting that then he was to be look'd upon as no other than a Heathen and an Infidel only as he differed in the wilfulness and in the guilt of his Sin And according to this Doctrine did they constantly deal with their Penitents always admitting those that repented to the Peace and Communion of the Church once but if afterward they sinned oftner and pretended to Repent excluding them utterly 6. Now by this 't is plain they did not mean that if any one sinned and repented and after that sinned again that such a one was utterly lost and absolutely excluded from all hope of finding further Mercy and Pardon with God For though the Church wisely appointed that a place of publick Repentance for great and scandalous Sins should be allowed but once lest the Remedy by being made too easie should grow useless and contemptible as afterward by Experience it was found to do yet no Man presumed to set Limits to the Mercy and Forgiveness of God And therefore they always exhorted and incouraged Men to Repent so long as they had Life and Health Let us Repent saith St. Clement whilst we are yet upon the Earth For we are as Clay in the Hand of the Potter For as the Potter if he make a Vessel and it be mishaped in his Hands or broken forms it anew but if he has gone so far as to throw it into the Furnace of Fire he can no more remedy it So we while we are in this World let us repent with our whole Heart of all the Evil we have done in the Flesh that we may be saved by the Lord. For after we shall have departed out of this World we shall have no Place to confess our Sins or to repent any more 7. The Primitive Church therefore I say by allowing but One Repentance for great Crimes committed after Baptism did not mean that true Repentance would at any time be in vain or unacceptable in the sight of God But because Repentance never is true and effectual till it restore a Man to such a state of new Obedience that he will not wilfully fall into gross and scandalous Sins any more and because he that having once done long and publick Penance for a gross and scandalous Crime did yet afterward fall into the same or the like again could not possibly give any greater Evidence of the sincerity of his Repentance to the Church than he had done before therefore they did not think fit to admit such relapsed Criminals to the Peace and Communion of the Church any more lest they should again give occasion to blaspheme the Name of Christ and his Holy Religion 8. Thus infinitely solicitous were those holy Men not to give Men the least possible encouragement to continue in Sin and yet very careful at the same time not to drive any Man to Despair Let us consider these things and while we rightly maintain that true Repentance cannot at any time be in vain or ineffectual to procure Pardon let us be careful not to entertain any such Notions of Repentance as will take away the Necessity of a Holy Life and that Persevering Obedience which is the express and indispensable Condition of the Gospel-Covenant THE END †See Lightfoot's Harm of Evangel * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Strom. 6. Sed enim nationes extraneae sacris quibusdam per lavacrum initiantur