upon us Of which you should endeavour to make your People sensible whereby they may be induced to observe them with Religious Joy Especially the three chief Festivals in memory of our Saviour's Nativity Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost But it is time to proceed to the other part of this Discourse which I propounded in the beginning And I must be the shorter in it because I have been longer in this than I at first intended PART II. HAving laid before you the Duties both private and publick which belong to your Holy Function I come now to treat a little of the Spirit wherewith they ought to be Performed SECT I. And above all things you must labour to possess your Hearts with a Spirit of Love to God whose Servants you are and who employs you in the most Glorious Work in the World A Spirit I say of Love to God the Father who hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the World and to God the Son who loved the Church and gave himself for it and to God the Holy Ghost who hath by a peculiar Grace separated you from other Men to Minister unto Christ in his Church Which was a Witness of what was said to you at your Ordination Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of God These were not empty words nor mere lofty Expressions without any Power in them But an effectual Prayer for the Holy Spirit of Grace which was then conferred upon you And should mightily move you to serve the Church of Christ in the love of the Spirit as St. Paul speaks XV Rom. 30. That is in the Love which the Spirit of God inspires you withal For as he saith before in that Epistle V. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us So we pray in the Hymn which is recited at the Ordination of Priests Come Holy Ghost our Souls inspire And lighten us with Coelestial fire Thy blessed Unction from above Is comfort life and fire of Love These are not vain words if sent up with ardent Affection to God but procure for us the power of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and enliven and warm our Hearts with the Knowledge and Love of God our Saviour Which Love we should every day endeavour to stir up by reflecting upon the wonderful Love of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost unto us For so St. Chrysostom notes upon those words of St. Paul XV Rom. 30. He mentions the Love of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For as Christ and the Father hath loved the World so hath the Spirit Upon this Love we ought to reflect every Morning and ponder it so long till we find it excite in us that Heavenly fire of Love to God which we prayed for at our Ordination For if we preserve this Flame in our Hearts it will make us cheerful as well as diligent restless and unwearied in the work of the Lord. Nothing can carry 〈◊〉 thorough it like this and render it so easy and sweet to us as to think we are serving our good God in that which he loves and delights to have done and to feel that every thing we do proceed from love to him and to his service Our Saviour teaches us that this is the Principle by which 〈◊〉 his Ministers ought to Act in that Question which he asks St. Peter and repeats it thrice after his Resurrection Simon Peter lovest thou me XX◠Joh. 15 16 17. And in the command which follows upon his profession that he sincerely loved Him Feed my Lambs and feed my Sheep take care of the Souls of Young and Old that they want not their proper Food For they are so dear to him as Theophylact there Notes that he makes our care of them to be the mark of our Affection to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is therefore a certain token of our Love to him because it flows from thence as from its Fountain and Spring If we love him we can never neglect them This will make us studious and industrious to promote the Salvation of those Souls whom Christ so dearly loved It being the truest Expression of our Love to Christ So St. Chrysostom upon this place Christ repeated this so often to show us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After what manner we ought chiefly to love him by taking care of his flock Can any Man read this then and be negligent No not if he Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity who hath bid him demonstrate his Love by feeding his Lambs and his Sheep There are several other things saith that great Father of the Church which may give us some Confidence towards God nay make us Illustrious and Famous But that which above all things wins us the favour of Heaven is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tender care of our Neighbours Which leads to the next thing SECT II. Which is a sincere Love and Affection to the Souls of Men which Christ hath redeemed with his precious Blood If we make an estimate of them by the price which was paid for them we cannot set too high a value upon them And if we look upon them as invaluable Beings purchased at so dear a rate we shall do all we can to save them and be exceeding fearful least any of them should be lost through our Negligence Preserve therefore and keep alive in your Hearts a Spirit of love to the Souls of Men especially to your Parishioners And there is no way to do this like to the Consideration what it cost to Redeem them no less than the Blood of the Son of God who demonstrated thereby how precious they are in themselves and how dear to him Bestow a few thoughts upon this every day and it will beget and continue in you the greatest Kindness and tenderest Compassion towards them And that will move you to lay out your selves with the utmost Diligence in all the Offices belonging to your Function And this both for his sake and for theirs that he may see of the travel of his Soul and be satisfied as the Prophet speaks LIII Isa 11. and that they may obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with Eternal Glory 2 Tim. 2. 10. I shall conclude what I have said of these two things a Spirit of love to God and to the Souls of Men with a notable Discourse of St. Austin's Who in a Letter to Longinianus a Pagan Philosopher remembers him of this saying of one of the Ancients quibus satis persuasum esset ut nihil mallent mallet se esse quà m viros bonos his reliquam facilem esse doctrinam unto those who were perswaded so far as to desire no thing but to be made good Men all the rest of the Instructions that Philosophers could give them would be very easy This he saith he took to be a saying of Socrates which must be acknowledged to
be taken about the due Performance of it That is 1. First of all you ought to invite your People to a frequent Participation of it We are not told in Scripture how oft we are to do this in remembrance of our Saviour But when we consider that this is the end and intention of it to Commemorate the wonderful Love of our Lord in his Death and Passion for our sakes we cannot think fit to let there be a long time between one communion and another Especially when we consider that the first Christians it is manifest met together every LORDS Day at least to magnifie the mercy of God in giving his only begotten Son to be our Redeemer and the inconceiveable love of the Son of God in making himself an Offering for our Sins This they thought their great business when they assembled together so that our Assemblies never look so like Christian Assemblies as when the Holy Communion is celebrated 2. In order to which frequently open to your People the Nature Necessity and the great Benefits of communion with Christ and one with another in this Holy Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood Answer their Scruples and remove their Objections but especially awaken them out of that lazy indifference wherein too many live whether they live like Christians or no. 3. When the time is appointed for its Administration warn them to prepare themselves for it and direct them how to do it and require them who intend to partake of it to signifie their Names to you at least sometime the day before So the first Rubrick before the Order for Administring the Holy Communion requires with great reason because you ought to have time to do what follows 4. If any Person in your Parish be a notorious evil liver or have done any wrong to his Neighbours either by word or deed so that the Congregation be thereby offended you ought having knowledge thereof to admonish him as the next Rubrick directs to amend his naughty Life and not presume to come to the Lord's Table till the Congregation be satisfied of his Repentance and that he hath made such a recompense to those he hath wrong'd as they accept of The like is to be done when you perceive Malice and Hatred to reign among any of your Parish endeavouring to bring them to a reconciliation before you suffer them to partake of the Holy Communion 5. And more than this the Third Rubrick requires you if these private endeavours have no effect openly to repel such Persons from the Communion if they offer themselves to receive it who will not be reconciled nor reformed giving notice of their obstinacy to the Ordinary within the time there prescribed 6. In the Administration of the Holy Communion compose your selves to the most serious and solemn deportment and perform every part of this most Christian service with the highest degree of Devotion So St. Justin Martyr tells us in his Second Apology where he gives an account of what was done in the Christian Assemblies in his time that Bread Wine and Water being set before him that presided He sendeth up Prayers and Thanksgivings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with all his Power or Might Which is an expression that hath been much abused by those who separate from us to prove that no forms of Prayer were used in the Church in those days but he who officiated conceived a Prayer of his own as well as he was able So they interpret that Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is manifestly an expression of that earnestness of Devotion with which the Bishop or Priest came to Consecrate the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood It being a Phrase very much used among the Jews when they speak of their Prayers For their Ancient Doctors have this saying among them as our excellent Mr. Thorndike observes Whosoever saith Amen WITH ALL HIS MIGHT the gate of the Garden of Eden is opened to him And Maimonides describing their Morning Service useth the same form of Speech The People answer Amen be his great name Blessed for ever and ever WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT See Service of God at Religious Assemblies Chap. VII To which may be added what we read in the Apostolical Constitutions where there is a large Form of Thanksgiving at the Eucharist for all Gods Blessings Especially in our Lord Christ from his Incarnation to his Sufferings Death and Resurrection And then it follows Therefore being mindful of these things which he suffered for us We give Thee thanks O Almighty God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not so much as we ought but as much as we are able Which exactly answers to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ALL THE MIGHT in Justim Martyr and explains the meaning of it But there have been so many excellent Books written about the Holy Communion that I will enlarge no further upon this Subject SECT V. In that Office there is a Rubrick directing where the Sermon is to come in and therefore I shall in the next place say something to you concerning Preaching Which is a Duty to be performed by every Priest according to the Authority given to him at his Ordination in those words Take thou Authority to Preach the Word of God and to Minister the Holy Sacraments in the Congregation where thou shalt be lawfully appointed thereunto And the Prayer made after the Ordaining of Priests That God's Word spoken by their mouths may have such success that it may never be spoken in vain Now to make it thus successful a great many directions might be usefully given concerning both the Matter of Sermons and their Form their Stile also and manner of Delivery with distinct Pronunciation and such like into which if I should launch out they alone would be sufficient to fill a little Book I shall therefore only briefly desire you to consider the state and condition of your Auditory and to suit your Discourses thereunto Country People are not to be troubled with Controversies and Disputes but to be plainly taught what to believe and practice 1. Therefore endeavour to instruct and settle their minds in the Principles of Religion And for this end study well the Works of Two Late Bishops of Chester One of which Dr. Wilkins hath wrote a Treatise of Natural Religion and the other Dr. Pierson hath given a full account of the Christian in his admirable Book upon the Apostles Creed 2. Especially instruct them in the great Fundamental Article of our Religion the Divinity of our Blessed Lord and Saviour and of the Holy Ghost showing them how all our comfort is built upon this And truly I look upon it as a singular Providence of God that he did not 〈…〉 Hereticks who now boldly strike at this great Article of our Faith to start up in an ignorant Age but in a time when there are so many able Men in the Church to beat them down God hath furnished us with a great number of such excellent Persons as have throughly studied
explain with greater care or inculcate more frequently than the Covenant of Grace which God hath made with us in Christ The terms and conditions of which you should endeavour to make your People thoroughly to understand both on Gods part and on their own together with the Mediator of this Covenant and the means whereby he purchased such gracious Conditions of Salvation for us But above all things we must take the greatest care that our life do not contradict our Doctrine for it is not sufficient that our Conversation in this World be innocent and unblameable but we must endeavour to make it exemplary and useful It must be so ordered as to convince the People that we firmly believe the excellence of those Vertues which we commend to them and that our chief aim and design is to save their Souls This will procure us love and esteem and make the People look upon us with Reverence as Men of God Our Office which is indeed very honourable is not sufficient to secure us from contempt if we act not according to it Nay men are prone to pry into our lives to see if they can find a justification of their own evil Practices by ours Which is the argument that Isidorus Peleusiota uses to a Bishop to be very cautious Lib. IV. Epist 219. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his Life is scanned and strictly examined by a thousand eyes and tongues I shall say nothing particularly of our care to avoid any tang of Vain Glory and desire of applause in our Preaching but conclude this matter with this plain admonition That in an age so degenerate as that we now live in we ought to give all diligence to shine as Lights in the World as well as to be harmless and blameless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation holding forth the Word of Life by our examplary conversation that is as well as by Preaching II Philip. 15 16. This St. Paul there makes the duty of all Christians but above all it concerns the Ministers of Christ whom he himself calls V Mat. 13. 14. in a peculiar manner the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World And there never was greater need than now that we should study to season Men not only with wholsome Doctrine but an holy Example that we may preserve them from the Corruption which is in the World through lust There is a most dangerous putrefaction of manners as I may call it which hath so universally spread among us that I look upon the Nation as lost if we should lose our Savour Nothing can then preserve it from utter ruin and destruction And therefore let us distinguish our selves from others by our diligence in our calling by our exemplary Piety and Holiness that if it be possible we may save our Nation from perishing SECT VI. The next Office wherein you are concerned is the Ministration of Baptism of Infants Concerning which I shall only briefly admonish you of these things following 1. First that it is your duty to instruct your People frequently in the nature of this Sacrament that they may not imagine it an indifferent thing whether their Children be Baptized or no nor bring them carelessly to the Font as an old Ceremony that hath been long used in the Church But they may look upon it as indeed it is a solemn dedication of their Children to Christ and their entrance into the Covenant of Grace which they stand bound sacredly to keep And consequently call upon them often to consider their Children after this as Christ's Children by whom they are regenerate and boru again and therefore ought to be carefully brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. VI Ephes 4. 2. More particularly put them in mind that in Baptism a solemn profession is made of belief in the Blessed Trinity that is of God in Three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost Unto whose Service we are there devoted For it is no frivilous observation of Theophylact upon those Words of our Saviour XXVIII Mat. 19. Go and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he does not say Baptise them into the Names but into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost For though they be three yet their Name viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Their Godhead is but one as he there explains it One God in three Persons of whose Love and Favour we are assured in Baptism and should value it above all the Riches in the World 3. And therefore admonish them what care they ought to take to give up their Children as soon as they can to this Blessed Trinity That they may be under their Care and partake of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Love of God and the Communion or Communication of the Holy Ghost as St. Paul speaks 2 Corinth XIII 14. And the first Rubrick before the Office for private Baptism directs them to admonish the People often that they defer not the Baptism of their Children longerthan the first or Second Sunday next after their birth or other Holy-day falling between unless upon a great and reasonable Cause to be approved by you 4. Next of all you are bound by the following Rubrick to warn them that without great Cause and Necessity they procure not their Children to be Baptized at home in their Houses The reason of which is given in the first Rubrick before the Office of Publick Baptism which sets forth the convenience of administring Baptism only upon Sundays or other Holy-days when the most number of People come together First For that the Congregation there present may testify the receiving of such as be newly Baptized into the Number of Christ's Church and Secondly that every Man present may be put in remembrance of his own Profession made to God in his Baptism Which are such wise and holy Reasons that every Man of Conscience who is Considerate will yield unto them 5. Advise Parents also about the Choice of Godfather and Godmothers and of the usefulness of them First about their Choice that they be such Persons as have a sense of Religion and understand it and will take some care it may be hoped of their Children if they themselves should die before they be grown up It is supposed that as long as Parents live they will put their Children in mind of their Vow in Baptism which is the reason that no new Obligation besides that they have already is laid upon them by making them Sureties for their Children But without this solemn undertaking for them other Men would not be so ready to assist them and look after their Education as it is to be hoped this will make them Which shows the other thing the usefulness of this Institution Which in the beginning of our Religion was in a manner absolutely necessary For when